Nameless Coast - Now with Name!

So I've decided to run with the Nameless Coast as the overarching name for this place. I've also started to frame out how I'm going to populate at least parts of it. I'm going to start with pure wilderness with no established populations of intelligent, community-forming creatures (so no humans, elves, dwarfs, goblinoids, or similar). Of course this is a bit of a fuzzy set, since depending on how you interpret creature-descriptions they could be in or out (things like trolls and giants).

Next I'm going to start sending in groups, each with a set of characteristics that include why they're here, how many they are, and how they got here. For example I may introduce a tribe of goblins looking for new territory since their old area is getting overpopulated. They're traveling in from the south-west on foot, they're well-prepared for survival, but they're relatively few in number. Another group might be a shipload of human refugees fleeing a distant war. They stole the ship, are poorly organized, and have little in the way of supplies. Where they land could well determine how long their pseudo-colony survives.

I figure I'll run about 100 years of this sort of thing, with new arrivals coming in randomly over time. Not exactly sure what system will be a fit for this, so I may pull together something in Fudge. I did a quick brainstorm on group motivations / attributes (really quick), and came up with this:

Why are they here?

• Looking for something
• Fleeing something
• Population pressure
• Invasion

Who are they?

• Leadership
• Numbers
• Unifying characteristics / aspects
• Underlying divisions

Resources

• Military
• Survival
• Trade

How did they get here?

• Ship
• Land
• Magic

What is their attitude toward others?

• Friendly
• Xenophobic
• Hostile
• Cooperative
• Neutral

When did they get here?

• Which decade / year

Obviously this is still very rough, and I haven't really framed how I'm going to achieve forward progress, but it's a start.

Coast of [something] Hex Sandbox

Terrain is done! I spent a few hours (OK, more than a few), finishing off all the six-mile hexes with basic terrain, and then dropped in a couple islands for good measure. Here's the final result.

Final Terrain Map

Wilds - Into the Darkness (again)

Usually I trim down and polish up the turns from this game. Today I decided to just cut and paste the message that went out to my players (minus the contacts section with email addresses and such). The main difference is the addendum that outlines standard marching orders and watches.

Nameless Hexes

I really need a snappy name for this project, but I'm not feeling inspired yet. I had the time to add to the previous map. I'm still using the same basic filling strategy with Ground Rules, and now that I have the edges finished off, it's easier to deal with a full hex at a time. Detailing out a hex worth of terrain takes me about 20 minutes now.

The Wilds - Don't Drop Him!

With spells depleted, and worried about the noise of the elevator room drawing foes to the area, the party decides it's time to get out and recover. "We've only been here for a morning and we're already leaving," grumbles Raúguey as he helps Locky and Mordikarr drag the searched goat-thing's corpse to the Reptile House.

Sandbox Update

Just a quick progress image from this map. Finished off all the border areas, and I'm now working on the coast, including where I anticipate placing my "civilized" area.

And here's a cheesy GIF animation of the process, which may or may not work in Blogger's image viewer.

• Next!

The Wilds - Pull the Other One

With the current level mostly explored, the party decides to make a trial of the lever room after a final bit of exploration. This eventually results in the party splitting up, so the following is a bit piecemeal in places. It also covers several turns, because there was a fight in the middle of it all.