Editing Rules & Actual Play Testing

I finally have a first draft of all the rules of chapter one (realm creation mode) and have been play testing.  Even with a limited ruleset and no real game loop yet, the emergent relationships and interactions between the civilizations, features and creatures are quite entertaining.

Five Kingdoms and a Crater

In my first play test, most of the dice landed along the edges of the hex grid, so I ended up with a large doughnut shaped realm populated with 5 coastal kingdoms and a Dwarven civilization. I in-filled the doughnut hole with a wasteland, which resulted in me rolling three wasteland features: A Black Monolith, Scorched Earth, and (in a stroke of luck) I rolled a Meteor Crater on the same hex as the Scorched Earth. Clearly the main conflict in this story was about the Meteor, and the blight it created, the sickness it spread, and the wizards trying to harness its power, which explained the Lunatics I rolled near that site.

An Elven War
In my second test, I rolled what appeared to be an underwhelming map: no mountains, only two human kingdoms, both already consumed by the same darkness. Was this story over before it even began? Then I noticed something. I rolled two healthy sized Elven Civilizations…in the same forest. Their territories overlapped, so they were in conflict with each other. One of their territories contained a mushroom forest and a witch! The other contained wolves and a petrified forest! The story of this realm quickly became one of my favorite play tests. It was about two very different Elven Kingdoms on the brink of war. One was led by an elven witch and mind controlled by an enchanted mushroom forest, and the other was comprised of wolf riders trying to save their forest from petrification. And just for good measure, there was a new Dark Power creeping into the contested woods from the north… 

Here are more detailed descriptions of the outcome of each play through:

Maps Of Solace

Play Test 1: 10/24/16

Five Kingdoms And a Crater

Five Human Castles dot the coastline of an island Realm. Four are active Sea Ports. The fifth hosts and protects a bustling Village just beyond it’s north wall.

A Road connects Southport and Shadowdawn, traversing the Southern Bluffs around the Shadowhorn Mountains. 

Veins of gold run through the Shadowhorns, discovered and mined by an industrious unnamed Dwarven Civilization that rarely mingles with humankind. Few men explore these mountains, for an Abominable Snow Monster feeds upon those who stray too high into the snow zone.

East Port and Northdon have built their own trading Road through the relatively benign Northern Woods, save for a Sentient Fog lingering off the coast. East Port is on the receiving end of the realm’s Tradewinds, which would be great for sea trade, but for the Sea Serpent which feeds along the route. Legends are also told of a Lost Civilization sitting at the bottom of the sea, a mere two days off the coast from East Port, but separated by a thousand vertical feet of water.

The isolated Bogmoor Keep stands alone on the northwest shore of the island, at the edge of Dim Bog. Bogmoor began building a road to Northdon years ago, but the road was never completed…

The center of the island is a vast Wasteland. On the western edge of the Great Waste, at the foot of the the Tallest Summit in the kingdom—Mt. Apex—is a blight of Scorched Earth, the center of which is marked by a deep Meteor Crater containing shards of glowing rock. All who approach it have become sick and died, but Wizards have been working to harness the power of the rock. It’s no wonder that Lunatics have been seen running in the hills northwest of the crater.

On the western edge of the Great Waste is a Black Monolith, taller than any castle, and blacker than total darkness. It’s material and purpose are unknown. It not only casts a dark shadow across the wastelands, but also a dark shadow through the minds of those who gaze upon it.

Lastly, no one thinks much about the Lost Forest beyond the Farmlands of Shadowdawn, or the caves hidden within…

Maps Of Solace

Play Test 2: 10/24/16

An Elven War

Only two functioning Human Castles occupy this remote realm, and both have been compromised by a Dark Power emanating from Scorched Earth. A third castle has fallen into Ruins to the east. Beyond the ruins lies a Sea of Bones, and beyond that, Two Elven Empires are just beginning to collide. 

The Northern Forest is home to the oldest of the two elven kingdoms, the Enchanted Fungus Eaters. This Elven Kingdom is ruled by an ancient Elven Witch responsible for beginning to turn the opposing Elven kingdom’s forest to Stone. 

Along with the Magic Fungus that drives their entire civilization, and the ruling witch that petrifies entire swaths of enemy territory, there is also a Dark Power emerging from the Wastelands to the north and infiltrating their forest.

The younger Elven Kingdom, The Wolf Riders, are gearing up for an epic Elven war that could destroy all Elvenkind.