Game in the Brain

Bloating word count, normally this cripples a project. Will try to keep things organized and develop a way to prevent the project from escalating to the point of being to big to do and to overwhelming.

Defaults

1. It is about the impending First Crusades. Focusing in 1095 and leaving what may happen in the next few years open. 
2. All the major cities and towns, leave the rest to be filled up or changed since: i can’t research that deeply (neither money, time, or effort available) and it allows replay ability and changing.
3. The Intro is designed for people familiar with medieval history; will design a introduction to RPGing in Low Powered Medieval Settings. One of the key focuses or strengths I can write about is Cultural Difference: not just a purely western view of “Middle Ages”. Cultural Nuances, Dominant Strategies, and economics will not be explained. Leave that for another book, the primer. 

55,000 fluff
30,000 crunch

• averaging 900 words per page  makes it about 94 pages
•  having about 30 letter sized maps makes the total size of booklet about 124 so far with no Art. 
• if I make art it has to be utilitary – Picture Profile Cards of various NPCs – the Crusader Lords, Alexius and his generals (Manuel, Takitios, John Doukas etc.) and various Blank Lords.  Probably 10 pages of NPC cards and a blank card template. 

Generate your own House. The ability to make your own house: there are a lot of noble houses in New Rome. There are a lot of families and real-estate to be assigned to nobles. The Maps can allow me to assign coordinates, hexes, to houses and give these stats like: resources, army and possibly some family members.

NPC Cards. I can be the one to personally make/draw the cards, sadly I can’t get the counter maker in inkscape to work but libreoffice>view>toolbards>form controls allows me to make some cards that can be “auto-filled” by data placed into a spreadsheet/database. I can make a space that accepts images. Basically I’ll try to make as many CCG character cards with NPC portraits as I can, and then some to be used as other NPCs.

The NPCs are set up so that they can have different resources and abilities; this allows different motives and roles in the story allowing GMs to replay this game with the same group and to make every group that plays this a different game.

Introduction to Medieval Settings. This is a document design to introduce people into the mindset of the medieval setting; it is for newbies and role-players who want to try to identify modern concepts they may be taking into their ancient game. This also helps newbie GMs consider the medieval mindset.

Focusing on 11C, Europe, Byzatium, Levant, the Middle East, and Far East (China and Japan; as well as South East Asia). That is the cultural range I can write about. I’m not that familiar with Indian Subcontinent in the 11C I’ll leave that open for other gamers to write about. I’ll try to break elements down to cultural adaptations based on circumstance. This way people can get ideas in creating cultural elements that suit the economic and physical circumstance.

Finished reading GURPS medieval I and got pretty disappointed. It was england centric, as many of the other critiques were about it said. You only get a better idea of how english centric it is when you look at the examples; very poor in examples from german, french, spanish and italian areas and cultures.

I’m looking at a fantasy gamer and how they may not like low powered historical games and how it is simple of change of mindset to accept the limitation and the mortality of a low powered game. (are we more “mortal” in low powered games? does that mindset affect the way we role-play?) I guess approaching that a GM has to be more forgiving in a more lethal setting until the player has been given a chance to learn each lesson. Anyway, something to cover that aspect of why people like settings like harn, banestorm, castle and crusades, etc…

How to imagine medieval structures: more mud, packed earth, logs and less quarried stone.

Basic Medieval Economic Considerations. Manorial, Town and City life.  Must find a way to organize this in a booklet that is easy reading.