Monday, October 8, 2012

Another d30 Sandbox Updated: Content Listing

Last week, I revealed the new cover image for the d30 Sandbox Companion. Today, you're getting a look at the re-drawn back cover image, originally intended for the back cover of the d30 DM Companion, and then for the front cover of the d30 Sandbox Companion. The original was done at a time when I was just getting back into the illustration thing, and I was testing out various pen types and tips, and it just ended up being a little too... "chunky" for my tastes. I'm much happier with the re-draw (as is usual for me.)

I know, I know... you're asking...
"Where's the damn content listing you promised me in the title of this blog post?"

Here you go...

FORMS/TEMPLATES
Wilderness Mapping Master Key
Hex Crawl Worksheet
Settlement Worksheet
NPC Record Sheet

WILDERNESS AND LOCALES
Hex Terrain Generator
Natural Features, Phenomena, and Locales
Weather Events
Foraging & Hunting by Terrain & Season
Caves & Lairs Generator
Ruins Generator
Temples & Shrines Generator
Cult Generator
Magical Places
Pilgrims Generator
Road Encounters (2 pages)
Castle Stronghold Generator (2 pages)
Heraldry Generator
Expanded Heraldry Generator

SETTLEMENTS
Settlement Background: Government, Disposition, Economy, Issues, and Threats
Misc. Settlement Encounters: Attacks, Annoyances, Propositions, and Observances
City Guards, City Watch, Border Patrols
Methods of Torture & Execution
Settlement Suppliers by Size of Settlement
Shop Stocker
Tavern Name Generator
Tavern Accommodations, Features, Reputation, and Food

NPCs
NPC Attribute Generator
Classed NPCs
Quick Character Inventory: Weapons, Armor, and Class-specific Equipment
Quick NPC Magical Item Determination by Class/Race
NPC Motivation and Personality + NPC Family Background
NPC History by Class/Race + Added Skills
NPC Physical Traits, Personality, and Quirks
NPC Height Determination by Race
Freeman NPC Occupations
Nobles and Noble Household Personnel (Villani/Bordars)
Sage Generator (2 pages)
Quick Language Determination & Languages Spoken Crib Sheet
Advanced Language Determination
Henchmen/Hirelings Recruitment (2 pages)

Obviously, this is subject to change, re-arrangement, and what not. But I'm feeling like this is pretty close. Last week, I thought I'd be looking at about 44 pages. Now I'm feeling like it's going to be 54. After talking to my co-conspirator Welbo, we felt like we might need as many as 3 pages for the "How to Use This Book" section, and 2-pages for the index. (These sections took only 1 page each in the d30 DM Companion.)

In addition to the intro and index page additions, there was a point a while back when I took out 2 pages of "Road Encounters" as well as a "Pilgrims Generator" page from the d30 Sandbox Companion layout; they just felt like they were out of place and interrupted what I call "conceptual chunking" of pages (really, just the natural flow/connection of content). However, I found a natural way to work those pages back into the layout (such that I'm happy with their placement, and they don't feel like they impede the flow/use of the other content.) That being said, it doesn't mean I'm not still considering a d30 Encounter Companion!!!

2 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to this. . .

    Your d30 stuff puts the old Armory books to shame.

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  2. Thanks, Matthew. Welbo and I were discussing the Armory d30 book the other day. He's doing a preview edit on the content and felt like me devoting an entire page to "height by race" was "page filler", and thought I could accomplish the same thing with a list of d30 based formulas (e.g., 40"+1d30"). Until I mentioned to him that the Armory gave an entire page for the heights of each race, filling in the page with illustrations of their miniatures. THAT is page filler. And while I agreed that formulas would reduce square inch requirements, they aren't exactly "DM Friendly" (Who the hell wants to calculate that shit? Roll a d30 and give me feet/inches. Bam!)

    ReplyDelete