Stone Horizons

One Horse Town · February 25, 2009, 05:47:45 AM

Today, i am mainly discussing the dreaded tax-man, talking about grave-robbers and adding a 'disposable income' section to each feature entry.

One Horse Town · February 26, 2009, 04:10:19 AM

Today i am mainly finishing animal attributes, looking at the arm breakers guild and finishing off craft guild goods & services.

I have a question, however. I've been thinking on the layout of Stone Horizons and a rather radical idea hit me. Given the nature of character creation and the goodies contained in the feature entries which takes up most of the book, i was thinking that the Rules, Goods & Services and Flora & Fauna chapters could appear at the back of the book as Appendices. It's a departure from the norm, for sure, but sort of suites the way the game treats character creation. As long as i point people there in the game text, hopefully there won't be any confusion.

What do you reckon, Clash?

flyingmice · February 26, 2009, 08:33:20 AM

Quote from: One Horse Town;285865Today i am mainly finishing animal attributes, looking at the arm breakers guild and finishing off craft guild goods & services.

I have a question, however. I've been thinking on the layout of Stone Horizons and a rather radical idea hit me. Given the nature of character creation and the goodies contained in the feature entries which takes up most of the book, i was thinking that the Rules, Goods & Services and Flora & Fauna chapters could appear at the back of the book as Appendices. It's a departure from the norm, for sure, but sort of suites the way the game treats character creation. As long as i point people there in the game text, hopefully there won't be any confusion.

What do you reckon, Clash?

This is not my strong suit. Remember, I'm the genius who put the Magic chapter first in Book of Jalan. It made sense at the time, I swear!

After that fiasco, I try not to change the standard order, though I had to with Wild Blue. My gut instinct is to say go with it, but my gut lies like a rug when it comes to layout.

-clash

One Horse Town · February 26, 2009, 09:32:12 AM

Quote from: flyingmice;285882My gut instinct is to say go with it, but my gut lies like a rug when it comes to layout.

-clash

Ha!

I thought of it because character generation is, when you think about it, most of the book. I'd rather have a checklist of what to do in chargen and point people to the sections they need in order to do it. Chargen in SH isn't linear, it's players chose a feature, note down occupational skills & status score, then the GM expands the feature to inculde NPCs & problems, then players assign Affiliations and goals & ambitions to their characters with the created features plots & npcs in mind, then equip yourself. Choosing a feature takes up 3/4 of the book. Therefore i thought distinct appendices for parts of chargen and the rules would be better than shoehorning stuff in and breaking up the flow of the book.

flyingmice · February 26, 2009, 10:15:52 AM

Quote from: One Horse Town;285900Ha!

I thought of it because character generation is, when you think about it, most of the book. I'd rather have a checklist of what to do in chargen and point people to the sections they need in order to do it. Chargen in SH isn't linear, it's players chose a feature, note down occupational skills & status score, then the GM expands the feature to inculde NPCs & problems, then players assign Affiliations and goals & ambitions to their characters with the created features plots & npcs in mind, then equip yourself. Choosing a feature takes up 3/4 of the book. Therefore i thought distinct appendices for parts of chargen and the rules would be better than shoehorning stuff in and breaking up the flow of the book.

Oh, I agree entirely, which means I'm probably dead wrong. Bitter experience tells me I transgress against the NATURAL AND ACCEPTED ORDER OF THINGS at my peril! This is like asking a blind guy "Hey! What do you think of these colors together?". "Looks good to me, mate!"

-clash

One Horse Town · February 27, 2009, 06:50:21 AM

Today, i am looking at apothecaries and their curatives, botanists and their herbal remedies and alchemists and their concoctions. Once that's done, the Goods & Services chapter is only waiting for the Assassins Toxins section, which i'll get to once i've completed the Underworld feature entry.

One Horse Town · February 27, 2009, 01:26:23 PM

I have made the last tweak to the master feature table. Criers Hovels has been renamed Criers Guild House as that describes them better (town criers), Curates Chambers have been renamed as Curiosity Museums, which again is more descriptive of its function and Work Gang Campuses has been replaced with Archivists Guild House. The campuses feature was nigh identical with Reclaimation Crew Digs and i wanted a feature designed to document centuries old laws, traditions, and customs and have an anthropologist vibe.

One Horse Town · March 01, 2009, 04:39:53 AM

I lied. The Smithies feature is now subsumed in the Craft Guild feature, so i have replaced it with Investigators Offices. Gotta have some private detective type action - Stone Horizons is a big place with lots of information to ferret out and people to find!

So, today, i am mainly exploring the world of the investigator and explaining why it always pays to keep your servants sweet.

One Horse Town · March 02, 2009, 04:57:35 AM

Today i am mainly looking at the high places. I am exploring iron-oak groves and their inhabitants and those poor souls suspended in the air with nothing but bits of crumbling masonry and a bed of canvas to stop their fall...

Edit: Yay, i'm finally running downhill...

One Horse Town · March 03, 2009, 03:50:28 AM

Today i am mainly a filthy liar, as i've replaced 2 more features...Now, i am tackling Stonemasons Terraces - given the nature of SH, i figure they need their own feature instead of being a subsection of craft guilds and i am exploring Geodes, which replace Whorehouses. I didn't think that this feature fitted the source material, so instead, the oldest profession gets a section in Entertainers Halls. Geodes are awesome.

flyingmice · March 03, 2009, 09:04:19 AM

Quote from: One Horse Town;286893Today i am mainly a filthy liar, as i've replaced 2 more features...Now, i am tackling Stonemasons Terraces - given the nature of SH, i figure they need their own feature instead of being a subsection of craft guilds and i am exploring Geodes, which replace Whorehouses. I didn't think that this feature fitted the source material, so instead, the oldest profession gets a section in Entertainers Halls. Geodes are awesome.

It's sad to see whorehouses slip this far down the list. Is Disney talking to you about a movie? :O

-clash

One Horse Town · March 03, 2009, 09:20:58 AM

Quote from: flyingmice;286906It's sad to see whorehouses slip this far down the list. Is Disney talking to you about a movie? :O

-clash

Yep. Eddie Murphy is signed up!

Don't worry, there are going to be Pleasure Palaces. This place is where you go for your sex, 'n' drugs 'n' rock & roll. I've been mulling that one over for a while. So whilst Whorehouses as such are out, now you have places which cater to lots of vices. I had to get drugs into the game somehow and so decided to put the two together.

flyingmice · March 03, 2009, 09:34:04 AM

Quote from: One Horse Town;286908Yep. Eddie Murphy is signed up!

Don't worry, there are going to be Pleasure Palaces. This place is where you go for your sex, 'n' drugs 'n' rock & roll. I've been mulling that one over for a while. So whilst Whorehouses as such are out, now you have places which cater to lots of vices. I had to get drugs into the game somehow and so decided to put the two together.

Well, there's good news! One stop shopping for all your vices!

-clash

One Horse Town · March 03, 2009, 09:39:07 AM

Quote from: flyingmice;286909Well, there's good news! One stop shopping for all your vices!

-clash

Yeah, that seemed to have more of a Book of the New Sun vibe to it and a bit decadent like the Melneboneans in the Elric books. Puffing on a fat one whilst watching the ladies dancing. Goods & Services include: Optional extras...

One Horse Town · March 04, 2009, 04:10:17 AM

Today i am mainly discussing the parasitic moneylenders, and looking at some of the 'outside' features.