Favorite Game Worlds (and Possible Collaborations)

[SilentThief]

Yeah, if you don't put it in a sleeve, you can't get top dollar mint condition re-sale out of your ring

-SilentThief

[manikus]

So, is there still interest in doing collaboration?

I would like to do a fantasy setting. I would prefer the Forgotten Realms, but would do Greyhawk as well. (I have a few books that deal with the setting.) (I am not anti-Greyhawk in the least, just don't know that much about it.)

[Uatu]

I think a collaboration would be fun!

I guess we do have to decide on what setting to do - Forgotten Realms would be fine for me, too (just have to color the elves/dwarves different, mainly ).

If we go in that direction, what kind of materials do we want to create?

[manikus]

Are you familiar with the worldhacks done for FRUA? Essentially, you replace all of the default art and databases with those for a specific theme. They did Underdark, Super Hero and Oriental Adventures worldhacks which are all very well done and useful for all.

If we started with a worldhack, or perhaps the same thing but with a better name , we could add an adventure as time went on. That is unless someone has a good story idea that the rest of us want to work on now... I'm definitely open for anything.

I say, knowing the folks who are showing the most interest, that we go 1e.

[Uatu]

So, a worldhack (heh) for Forgotten Realms 1e then? What kind of stuff would we be making here?

I guess I can see:

1. Icons/Pics/Sprites of the Forgotten Realms-themed races (moon elves, sun elves, gold dwarves, jungle dwarves, arctic dwarves, etc.)
2. Icons/Pics/Sprites of Forgotten Realms-themed PCs/NPCs (priesthoods (Sune, Helm, etc.), specific characters (Elminster, Drizzt, etc.))
3. Icons/Pics/Sprites of Forgotten Realms-themed creatures/monsters (avariel, lythari, tressym, divine avatars, etc.)
4. Spell effects for Forgotten Realms-based spells (Snilloc's Snowball, Frost Fingers, etc.).

That sort of thing?

Forgotten Realms does seem to me to be a mostly 2e system (since the campaign setting really thrived during the 2e period), though - a lot of materials happened after 2e (i.e. the specialty priests, a lot of campaign material, etc.).

The Serosian aquatic elves I did (icons) also are from 2e.

[manikus]

When you say a lot of material happened after 2e, do you mean the switch to 2e or the switch to 3e? I've got a book about specialty priests, well not just about specialty priests, that is 2e.

Right now I'm going through my FR materials and trying to figure out which material is 1e and which is 2e. So far, only one book states explicitly that it's 2e, but I know some of the other ones must be just going by their (c) date.

I'll take a look through my Greyhawk books as well. If that's easier to figure out (which is 1e and which is 2e), we should go with that. Though, the only monster stuff I have that is specific to Greyhawk is from the Monstrous Compendium, which makes it 2e...arghhh. Such a mess to figure out.

[Uatu]

The switch to 2e (for example, specialty priests were a 2e thing in the first place (although 1e Greyhawk and Dragonlance had something like that anyway); Forgotten Realms had a lot of variant rules for this, though (different experience tables, for example)).

I dunno if we need to define 1e vs. 2e (or should we?)... Well, I guess we might have to in terms of timeline. In general, 1st Edition Forgotten Realms follow the 1st edition rules - so you see half-orcs, monks, and old-style rangers and bards (movement/range is given in inches, which should give them away). Various deities exist, but their priesthoods are not as fleshed out as in 2nd Edition. Most FR material is 2e, with kits (i.e. Rashemaar berserkers), specialty priests (i.e. Helm's watchers), new classes (i.e. the rather useless Harper class), and so on. To match the changes (following the rule changes), the FR background stories have some large event that changes everything (was it the Godswar for 1e to 2e?)...

The Monstrous Compendiums I think are a bit unfair in ascribing certain monsters to Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk - since a lot of these monsters were in the old 1e Monster Manuals or Field Folio, anyway. The Dragonlance MC is probably the most accurate in terms of campaign-specific monsters (of these three, anyway). So it is rather difficult to say for sure what monsters are FR-only; I can think of Tressym, Lock Lurkers, Baneguards, Weremoles, and the like.

[manikus]

Since my last post, I've been researching the matter, and it seems that there was 1 hardback and 1 boxed set for FR for 1e, and everything else was 2e. The magic year was 1989, though several 1e items were published after that (not sure what they are - just going by the article I was reading) b/c they didn't want to put anymore time and effort into editing the books.

I do have the 1e materials, as well as almost all of the 2e materials, for the Forgotten Realms. But, the same is true for the Greyhawk setting.

I like your list for areas to work on. To that I would add maps of particular regions in big pic format, and customized databases.

Now, if we do the Forgotten Realms, do we want to include any material from the subsets? By subsets, I mean any of the boxed expansions or source books (Maztica, The Horde, The Dragonomicon, Drow of the Underdark, etc.) I'm thinking about this in terms of the databases more than the art, but I suppose there might be some things in that category we would want to add as well. Also, we should do a new Title image. I think we should do it at 640x480, b/c that will be a lot easier to manage.
And since we'ce come this far, we should through in new border artwork, a new icon set, and maybe new icons for combat.

[Uatu]

Maztica and the Horde and Kara-Tur and Al-Qadim ARE Forgotten Realms material, but in a way they are also not Forgotten Realms material, I guess. The Horde (via wars with Cormyr, etc.) and Maztica (via sending of Helm's watchers there) have a bit more connection, I guess.

The Draconomicon, Drow of the Underdark, Sea of Fallen Stars, etc. are all basically just part of the Forgotten Realms campaign, I would say (they are more expansions than new campaign settings). They are also geographically located close to other typical FR locations as well. So I think that anything in these expansions would be game as well (but not the previously mentioned Maztica, etc.).

Arcane Age is a bit more iffy, as it is another time era; it is definitely FR, but it is a quite different campaign and not easy to visit (since you need to time travel)! So I would leave this one out.

But I like all your suggestions for things we need (Forgot databases, that is a big one...)

[manikus]

So, new settings are out, but source books are in. I have the Dragonomicon and Drow of the Underdark and wanted to include spells (if they work out) and any unique items, etc.
I forgot all about the Arcane Age. That should be out, too. It can always be done as an add-on at a later time if we change our minds.