I finally started opening up the toolset the other day after having it closed for the better part of two months. This work was done before I closed the toolset a while back. Right now I'm working on filling in the main plot. Since I had initially made Crimmor a smaller concept module I had to expand the plot.
Initially it was just a "find and get the item" plot, without explaining why you would want it. A fairly straightforward plot designed to drive something that was just a proof of the gameplay concepts.
Developing the reasoning behind things and expanding the plot proved a challenge.
As an urban module, many of the traditional villains one might find in an adventure were out. No orc tribes, drow, dragons etc. No imposing temples of evil dominating the landscape either. With the player being an employee of the Shadow Thieves, I wanted to play up the intrigue that the Shadow Thieves are known for, but of course couldn't use a thieves guild as an enemy, since the Shadow Thieves already run things and you work for them.
Don't worry, I found some things. ;-)
I finally started opening up the toolset the other day after having it closed for the better part of two months. This work was done before I closed the toolset a while back. Right now I'm working on filling in the main plot. Since I had initially made Crimmor a smaller concept module I had to expand the plot.
Initially it was just a "find and get the item" plot, without explaining why you would want it. A fairly straightforward plot designed to drive something that was just a proof of the gameplay concepts. 
As an urban module, many of the traditional villains one might find in an adventure were out. No orc tribes, drow, dragons etc. No imposing temples of evil dominating the landscape either. With the player being an employee of the Shadow Thieves, I wanted to play up the intrigue that the Shadow Thieves are known for, but of course couldn't use a thieves guild as an enemy, since the Shadow Thieves already run things and you work for them.
Don't worry, I found some things. ;-) 
Nice to see you getting back in the toolset buliding shining new toys for us to play with :)
ReplyDeleteHi Kamal,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear you are back to building.
I was amazed at those screenshots. The place looks so exciting. Are you going to be able to "fill" many of these places with relevant quests or are many of them for visual effect only? I am guessing the latter, as it would be a huge task to make interiors for them all.
Lance.
As in most modules, they won't all have interiors. Only quest related buildings, merchants, and maybe a few "flavor" places and generic homes to look around in. Two people tried the initial module when it was just a proof of concept and felt that the areas were full enough.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of Path of Evil quests I've adapted. I've filled in two of the five city exterior areas with those (the first, third, and last screenshots are one of the two areas). The other areas aren't so dense, or are somewhat smaller.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually not short of ideas of my own. Also I find that ideas just grow out of having interesting characters and thinking about how they would act what they might want. I also take quest ideas from official sourcebooks, the Candlekeep Compendium series, etc. There are lots of quest ideas out there for adapting to your adventures.