MOAR Region Content! :cool: (finishing up the Unaligned NPCs.)

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persons

Name: Aabi Nomads, Qashi's Caravan
Descript: Moose-drawn, tin-bottomed, canoe-sleighs. 'Hammock' tents. "Off-road."
Job: Quiet survival on tribal lands annexed by Krovikya
(routine) Capitol Way roadside peddling (2x wk.) Relocates hidden camp (2x mo.)
Secrets: "Move silently, let Marit Lage sleep."
Quests:

Name: The Zborshchya Family
Descript: Gaunt and dour. Various deformities. Anxious to return home within 3 days.
Job: … to wither and fail.
(routine) Watch homestead dilapidate, bare minimum sustenance (daily). Visits depot for trade & news (1x wk.). Visits Ruined Manor to spit and curse at (irregular).
Secrets: Warlock ancestor 'blessed' own descendants to remain and inbreed.
Quests:

Name: Old, Lonely Yaphek
Descript: unassuming, wiry old man. salt & pepper hair & beard. stares.
Job: hermitage atoning for an assassin's past life. struggles with being humane.
(routine) maintain goats & garden (daily). gather firewood, herbs, & fungi (4x wk).
Region's last resort apothecary (by appt., large favors, or found dying alone).
Secrets: his past profession. his apothecary's lethality.
Quests:



places

Name: Drift of the Dead
Descript: Frozen wave of iced-up animal and vegetal corpses, dripping icicles.
Job: Landmark and windbreak. Notoriously lethal windbreak if used too long.
(routine)
Secrets: It moves, slowly, yet especially during warm winds.
Quests:

Name: Mottled-Stone Cairn
Descript: stone pile against an upright, oblong, jasper boulder in black, red, & white.
Job: Landmark and Emergency Winter Cache
(routine)
Secrets: Maddening complex 'mana flux' barometer of the greater Regions.
Quests:



things

Name: "Spring's Breath," abandoned racing sleigh
Descript: Scarlet sleigh decorated in colorful arabesques
Job: famed sleigh that 'makes itself available' to those in mortal danger.
(routine)
Secrets: motif's grotesques psychically whisper pleas of those needing rescue.
Quests:

Name: Smuggler's Run
Descript: Thunderous evening wagon chases, with decoys & hidden turnouts.
Job: Black market booze. Egress offending dignitaries out of trouble.
(routine) Outrun Sheriff Posse (2x wk.). Outrun Capitol Posse (2x mo.).
Secrets: white marketers avoid this route.
Quests:

MOAR Region content!

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persons

Name: Jorjo Valjasky
Descript: Drowsy bear of a man. Polite yet few words, staff obey his looks & grunts. Signs of a large family, yet unseen or mentioned.
Job: Inn Owner
(routine) Manage staff, central hearth, house stew (excellent!), and common room cots (daily). Stock emergency supplies (during lulls). Afternoon roadside shrine vigil (1x wk.).
Secrets: Has a serious enemy.
Quests:

Name: Elmo Toom
Descript: Tall, moon-faced teen. Forgetful, yet brave & tidy.
Job: Stablehand
(routine) Care for horses & stables (daily). Laborer & guard for delivery jobs (by appt.).
Secrets: Crush on an unknown Baron's "commuting debutante" daughter.
Quests:

Name: Anatoliy Burchenko
Descript: Forgiving, political realist easing into senility. Aging addled advisor.
Job: Bard
(routine) Gregarious inquirer & idle musician (daily). Performs (crowded nights).
Secrets: Not going senile; quietly hiding from political fallout.
Quests:



places

Name: "Life's Edge" Beacon Tower, ('Capitol Way Crossing' Krovikan Border Beacon)
Descript: Three-story, rough-hewn, wooden tower. Large brazier for beacon fire.
Job: Landmark and Signal
(routine) Quarter light (nightly). Half light (for VIPs). Full light (emergencies).
Secrets: Cache of colored-flame powder for royal emergencies.
Quests:

Name: "Warmed Bones" Carriage Inn
Descript: Tiny interior rooms nestling the lobby's great hearth, like chicks to a hen.
Job: Shelter, Food & Drink, Community Gathering Place
(routine) Host travelers (daily). Entertainment (1x wk.). Courthouse (by appt.).
Secrets: Surprisingly large cold storage, several hidden rooms. Big crawl space.
Quests:

Name: Szlarakov Bros. Wainwright
Descript: Warehouse - foundry, 3x smithy stations, walls of tools, & stored vehicles.
Job: Fix vehicles, wagons and sleighs mostly. Everyday goods smithy.
(routine) Make charcoal, pipe its flammable vapor for everyday smithy work (daily). Repair Traveler's vehicle, or Livery's fleet (as needed).
Secrets:  
Quests:

Name: 'Capitol & Old Fen' Livery
Descript: Stables parallel flophouses. Vehicle warehouse & lobby at alley's front.
Job: Mounts and servants care for a fee. Vehicle rentals. Deliveries.
(routine) Maintain stable & flophouse guests (daily). "Mail" (2x mo.).
Secrets: Is a nearby hideout for flaking duelists from the Capitol.
Quests:

Name: "Mama's Cottage" Supply Depot
Descript: Cozy, "rotating souvenirs"-filled home; old barn full of corded woodpiles.
Job: Trading Post, Pawn Shop.
(routine) Old barn buys local firewood, sells Beacon's imported dried goods (daily). Displays 'treasured souvenirs" (daily). 'Evening tea' pawn chat (by appt.).
Secrets: Stolen goods cached well amid the property.
Quests:



things

Name: Secondhand Farmer's Market
Descript: Last quality foodstuffs market - souring offal, rotting vegetables...
Job: Food market dumping ground, "Life's Edge" cash influx from repairs & services.
(routine) Food market, mostly for farmers trading future market advice (2x wk.)
Secrets: Distant rumors hotspot.
Quests:

MOAR (and last) Region content!



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persons

Name: Jackpine Penitents, Druid Circle
Descript: Sloven eccentrics, seem woefully unprepared for survival?
Job: Heal these swamps from Capitol Way flood-water disruption.
(routine) Connect wet ponds to dry (summer), Make inconveniently large mulch piles (autumn), Entice herds to die here with mulch piles' warmth & wind breaks (winter).
Secrets: Occasional 'animal' Burnt Offering to Tevesh Szat to 'keep the balance'.
Quests:

Name: 'Lena, with her frozen tears', Bog Wraith
Descript: Despondent, middle-aged brunette with a white forelock, in grey robes.
Job: The approachable aspect of the bog wraith known as Lena.
(routine) "Looking for her babies" behind trees (rare, dawn & dusk), Guides the lost to large mulch piles for their survival (during whiteouts).
Secrets: Regional lore for over a millennia… for a price.
Quests:



places

Name: "Ashen Vigil," the Zborshchya Ruined Manor
Descript: Dilapidated complex rimed in ice, both inside and out. Covered walkways connect the clustered two-story Manor, Livery, Chapel, & Garrison. Oddly well-stocked.
Job: Lure; false sense of security; foster a desperate dependency.
(routine) Teleports visitors' useful supplies to random places in the complex, one at a time, starting with critical survival items first (tries at each visitor, during each hour).
Secrets: Arrested decay, will repair or replace any damage or loss to the complex by each new moon.
Quests:

Name: "Szat's Own Nesting Doll," 'Lost' Warlock's Tomb
Descript: Massive mulch mound buries a broad mausoleum complex. The dressed stone halls are steamy warm, low in oxygen, and has pockets of methane.
Job: … incubate an old, evil pact.
(routine) Astronomical ritual may open a deadly planar portal (secret; every 4 years).
Secrets: Known to most of Loc 2 & 3. Deliberately not spoken about from fear…
Quests:

Name: "Wandering Moss," Druid Camp (mobile)
Descript: Traveling dump of hoarded garbage, half-hung hammocks, and foul-smelling campfires. Bloated carcasses as 'fermentation barrels' hung from trees.
Job: A place for odds and ends to churn as they 'over-ripen' into new uses.
(routine)
Secrets: Several ingredients for rarer made goods come from this mess.
Quests:

Name: "Gathering Grievance," Orc Camp (mobile)
Descript: Worn mountain goat hide tents up in the gnarled trees (for storage and the weak), campfire circles surrounded by patchwork-clothing-upholstered logs.
Job: Traveling refugee home for the "Frost-Bitten Femurs" band
(routine) Hide tents remind of the home they lost, a "dressed" log represents an ancestral enemy that must be killed to avenge their exile (a new log each year).
Secrets: Their "dressed" logs enemy effigies make quite cozy seats and pillows.
Quests:



things

Name: Hag's Icy Heart
Descript: Ancient, weathered, wooden lump, engraved with initials inside a heart.
Job: Fuels the raging, humid, howling gales that torture this frosted bog… so they say.
(routine) Get found by the ill-fated, to either help this bog, or get hurt trying (DM's choice), Freezing cold when Hoary Hag's Bog whiteouts will happen soon (random).
Secrets: Indestructible. An initial was damaged, on purpose, by something long ago.
Quests:

Name: Wraith's Diadem
Descript: Asymmetrical, silvered, crossed stylized-antlers, whose tips end in bezeled jet. Antlers seem to be one male (6 pts) and one female (2 pts). Unsettling allure…
Job: Lets region's undead pause and parley telepathically, for a minute. Be a key.
(routine) Get found by lost fools or weeping mourners, to lead them home or 'home' (near such type). Stay lost from power seekers (near such threat).
Secrets: Almost resembles a known constellation, except too many points.
Quests:

Now I need to format this into something .pdf presentable. Sorta make it like a free adventure like Dragonsfoot, except for TheRPGSite. I am thinking some way to structure NPCs onto printable index-like cards on a typical 8.5x11 sheet. I am thinking MtG-sized cards with the words done in Landscape format. That way people can print, cut out, and use the NPCs straight away, to slip them into sleeved cards for storage or shuffling as needed.

I do not intend to profit from this 'Duel' structure, or sample adventure. But I do worry about WotC getting all pouty about their MtG Ice Age names being used at all, even if it is repurposing MtG cards as an RPG tool and world building resource. Any legal issue avoidance advice would be appreciated. As would usability and aesthetic opinions on my made NPCs, such like bryce0lynch does for adventure reviews.

Does this tiny scope region breathe creatively? Is there a sense of foreboding or malice? How does it dance upon the line of evocative viewpoint vs. open to table customization? Is it comprehensible and easy to use for a sandbox?

Thanks!

These are really great, extremely evocative! Hag's Icy Heart is awesome. I like the high-utility format of information, too, I might steal that for detailing my own regions. Thanks! I really do hope you put this into a PDF at some point.

Thanks for the feedback! I hope it is useful to you and others. I now am tinkering woth Word/Pages to see if I can get it on a typical MtG size, Landscaped, in at least 10 pt. font (because of my aging eyes ).

One of the latest "readings" I did for this as a 5 life v. 5 life contest is interesting, as it is nigh-total "Howl from Beyond" aggression. Three of the 6 cards drawn is HfB, with a Soul Burn (like Drain Life), Ashen Ghoul (Nether Shadow with Haste), and a Brine Shaman. A lot of sudden "Life NPCs" roaring into attack against the PCs or their allies. I am thinking of a Wendigo Spirit Hegemon; high-aggro TPK lethality, surprise possessions, recurring cannibalism...

Anyhoo, if people wanna try conversion of their favorite MtG deck into something similar, drop its Deck List here and we'll try to hammer out a new example!

OK, how is this? Each are 3.47 in. x 2.47 in. which is close to MtG cards size and fits penny sleeves (and should fit better sleeves like MtG-sized Dragon Shield). This allows for eight NPC blocks on a typical 8.5"x11" paper. The font size is either 11 pt. or 12 pt. font size, dependent on text amount.

Any formatting recommendations? How is ease of reading? Should I go down to 10 pt. font so as to leave GM writing space? Should I keep or omit the [person, place, or thing] clarifier at the end of the Name field? Other thoughts?

After enough advice I will later make a full "NPC Cards" .pdf attachment, organized by Locale>Person>Place>Thing. Then I want to produce various Hegemons, their Drawn Card Spreads, Starting Life Lands and Assets, and Strategic Agenda. Next a specific example of a Hegemon's "Life NPCs," their relationship, and adventure hooks. Finally perhaps a serial adventure for one Hegemon, so it's Pick Up n Play.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3987[/ATTACH]

Hmm, just eyeballing them without having physical representation, I think these look good. It would be nice to have some writing space, but I suppose the backs could be used for that? Although it might be "information breach" territory if the players can see notes on the back of what's drawn. Not sure about the legibility of smaller font but some form of note taking space (even just a line or two) would be nice for practical use. Based on my hazy memory of my Magic card collection, this text seems like it's larger than for example the card mechanics and flavor text? So it might work with smaller font... old eyes aside.

Would it be possible to format the person/place/thing tag in the top rightmost corner, inline with the locale name? It's definitely useful IMO to have on the cards but it's slightly too buried currently to easily/quickly refer to at a glance. You might consider italicizing the "routine/nightly/x per week" as well to break up the text more.

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, I was torn on where to put that Noun Clarifier. Somewhere up at a corner seems better, even if it is the wrong field line. What if I put it as the first word after "Name:"? Hmmm. Let me try a 10 pt. font version (it might give enough GM note space), put the italicised noun clarifier at the start of "Name" line, and rework the routines with time period italics first, too.

As for card backs... most CCGers tend to have card sleeves and are used to slipping paper proxies into 'sleeved commons'. It aids in shuffling otherwise flimsy paper. But yes, that would be a concern for those who are using them on cardstock. However at that point this project gets more complicated. I think I can get away with recommended best practices, or expect GM & Player discretion? :confused:

Quote from: Opaopajr;1114329Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, I was torn on where to put that Noun Clarifier. Somewhere up at a corner seems better, even if it is the wrong field line. What if I put it as the first word after "Name:"? Hmmm. Let me try a 10 pt. font version (it might give enough GM note space), put the italicised noun clarifier at the start of "Name" line, and rework the routines with time period italics first, too.

Yeah, that sounds like it would make it more visible. Maybe in parentheses?

Quote from: Opaopajr;1114329As for card backs... most CCGers tend to have card sleeves and are used to slipping paper proxies into 'sleeved commons'. It aids in shuffling otherwise flimsy paper. But yes, that would be a concern for those who are using them on cardstock. However at that point this project gets more complicated. I think I can get away with recommended best practices, or expect GM & Player discretion? :confused:

Ah, good point! I didn't think of card sleeves.

OK, all done with the .pdf of NPCs. I also filed off any reference to MtG cards, just in case. Also there are several blanks with the format structure for future DIYers.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4001[/ATTACH]

Now people can print these sheets, cut them out into cards, and slip them into sleeved commons (as you would proxies). This way you can keep the NPCs in piles ordered by Locale>People>Place>Thing. Or you can shuffle the NPCs for random selection or adventure generation.

The cards' dimensions are just under 2.5 in. x 3.5 in, which is MtG size, and should fit into most sleeves. They are Landscape at 10 pt. for more words and easier reading. There is some space for notes, and the whole back if you print one-sided copies.

With this done, now I can work on starting mini-adventures under a Hegemon's Aegis. My first pile of tiny adventures will relate to the Hegemon already mentioned here. I do not anticipate providing any floor plans -- however some new treasure might be fun. It will mostly be Starting Situations, several "And Then!" events (not all related), and a final "Ta-dah!" event for the mini-adventures. Certain PC interference (on some unrelated events?) will start the Hegemon's reaction to prepare for a reputation war, starting a parallel series of events explained in the Hegemon's Strategy section.

Hopefully the structure is loose enough for GMs to create new content. I will try to random shuffle and draw to create these mini-adventures (little single conflict tidbits). Feel free to let me know what you think!

Very nice, thank you for uploading these! Would it be possible to get a full page of blank templates to themselves, so one could print out several pages to write their own additions?

Sure thing! There is little decoration or flash in my formatting, I hope no one minds that. I do it for my aging eyes and simplicity.

Here is a field-blank .pdf format of said NPC card structure.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4002[/ATTACH]

And since we are talking about NPCs as note taking, I recall making "Carlotta Duriel" as a fast way to scribble up an NPC on an index card. The format is not much different, except it adds for physical Description, Personality, Goals, etc. on one side... and News, Rumors, Quests, etc. on its reverse. I made a two page .pdf here of that example NPC format: page one is the NPC example, and page two is the field-blank version.

(The dimensions presume a 5x7 in. index card, so almost half a typical 8.5x11 in. plain printer paper. I moved the lined text boxes to the paper's edge on both for less cutting -- or if people just want to reverse fold the paper in half and glue it shut.)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4003[/ATTACH]

Spoiler

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4004[/ATTACH]

Hope that helps GMs out there!

Fantastic, thanks for sharing Opaopajr!

OK, Mini-Adventure A has been completed! AND it is scrubbed of MtG IP -- so it can be nice and generic to provide an example of this procedural content generation!

It's a basic Rescue quest intended for Beginner PCs. It only touches upon two mandatory NPCs (both places) and a third event site connecting these two in mystery. Everything else is open investigation and NPC attitudes, so sandbox-compliant galore.

Here is the pdf. It is four pages. It does break with typical adventures, with no maps or floor plans, abstracted instead into Locales.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4006[/ATTACH]

Hope some find it useful and fun!

edit: Mini-Adventure A brought to you by the song "Belief" by The Danse Society on repeat.