Plans and Resolutions for 2024
The year 2023 was an interesting one, providing further evidence of the often paraphrased wisdom of the above-quoted Prussian general. The year 2024 promises to be equally interesting. I'm taking this brief opportunity to review the past year and maybe make a few plans for the upcoming one.
This article described an interesting article of clothing of great importance, holding the power of a goddess. Unfortunately, it was not at all clear what magical abilities it had. (There were suggestions that the cloak was "used", but no indication of any special effects was provided.)
A chalice used for religious rituals, but apparently those rituals grant magical abilities to the priests that partake of liquid from the chalice. This gives me the idea for a vessel of some sort that imbues mundane liquid with magical properties - mostly good, but perhaps bad as well.
These are arrows imbued with magical/divine enchantment designed for use against a specific non-human foe that are apparently a great threat to the world of Caelum Prime. Threat-specific weapons are one inspiration, but this article also reminds of the possibility of such special items being only in the hands of some special or secret organization.
An item of jewelry that acts as both a defense against a particular magical effect and a deliverer of the same effect by its wearer. The possibilities of an item that redirects or rechannels incoming magical energy are endless!
This article is worth mentioning if only for the fantastic presentation mechanisms demonstrated. Excellent CSS work, and an interesting story as well!
A magical quill that can write or draw whatever its owner is thinking about! Some variant of this is certain to find its way into my Forgotten Academy of Magic!
Dragon scales have been turned into armor in TTRPGs for decades, but this is a blade derived from the scales. An interesting twist to an otherwise common approach! This article is a reminder that you can start with an overused game trope and still come up with something fresh and interesting.
TTRPG players are used to runes and symbols carved into walls or doorframes, or appearing as glowing symbols of light floating on their own. This article brings up the possibility of other sources of the warding magic - sources that may well be overlooked by "seasoned" players and characters.
A burial cloth that can preserve the body from decay - or from the taint of undeath! A valuable item in a world filled with necromancers - and a suggestion that perhaps its counterpart also exists!
When is a mimic not a mimic? When it's a Traveler's Trunk! Mixing these in with actual mimics could make for some very interesting adventures!
Major goal #1 is to have version 1 of the rules system ready for publication before the end of the year (and ideally sometime in the summer).
Then it's back to Cartyrion itself. Many existing critters and characters will need to be re-spec'ed for the L&L system. At that time, I'll also decide on whether new, unique creatures will be be spec'ed out for other systems such as D&D and Pathfinder. Major focus will be on the Forgotten Academy (the original Dungeon23 project) - with the intent to get it publication-ready as a campaign-level dungeon crawl. That's major goal #2.
And then it's back to refitting the Feywood as a second campaign setting within the greater world. All along the way, I'll be keeping up with the various WA challenges - especially Summercamp and Worldember, of course!
Those are the plans for 2024. Getting something - anything - publication-ready will be a major achievement. And with that said, it's time to get back to that work!
How Did I Do in 2023?
A first glance at my Plans and Resolutions for 2023 article, and comparing my accomplishments doesn't look great at first - but it's not really all that bad. Shortly after publishing that article, the "Great Hasbro OGL Crisis" struck - and as somebody planning to publish in the fantasy TTRPG space, I had to take notice. Plans changed. Original projects were delayed, and a great new one was put into action. A good portion of 2023 was spent first on re-thinking the game system targets for my campaign material, and then on developing an entirely new game system. The World of Cartyrion continued to grow, but now the older bits - bits I thought were very close to publication ready - would need reworking. The #Dungeon23 challenge sort of fell by the wayside, but not entirely as it was morphed into the campaign platform for developing and testing my Laurels & Loot gaming system.Looking for Inspiration
I decided to look for inspiration regarding unique magical items. As I'm building a long-forgotten magical academy dungeon crawl, interesting magical items would be an excellent addition. As such, for the reading portion of this exercise, I focused on the Item Category entries from Worldember 2023. Following are 10 articles that I read and commented on.The Cape of the Four Winds
by Amazingchi
This article described an interesting article of clothing of great importance, holding the power of a goddess. Unfortunately, it was not at all clear what magical abilities it had. (There were suggestions that the cloak was "used", but no indication of any special effects was provided.)
Relinian Chalice
by worldkeymaster
A chalice used for religious rituals, but apparently those rituals grant magical abilities to the priests that partake of liquid from the chalice. This gives me the idea for a vessel of some sort that imbues mundane liquid with magical properties - mostly good, but perhaps bad as well.
Gloombane Arrows
by Lady Wynter
These are arrows imbued with magical/divine enchantment designed for use against a specific non-human foe that are apparently a great threat to the world of Caelum Prime. Threat-specific weapons are one inspiration, but this article also reminds of the possibility of such special items being only in the hands of some special or secret organization.
Cold Snap Bangle
by Myth-X
An item of jewelry that acts as both a defense against a particular magical effect and a deliverer of the same effect by its wearer. The possibilities of an item that redirects or rechannels incoming magical energy are endless!
Witch Brew
by Dylonsphere123
This article is worth mentioning if only for the fantastic presentation mechanisms demonstrated. Excellent CSS work, and an interesting story as well!
Scrivener
by Myth-X
A magical quill that can write or draw whatever its owner is thinking about! Some variant of this is certain to find its way into my Forgotten Academy of Magic!
Wyrmshard
by Greytailza
Dragon scales have been turned into armor in TTRPGs for decades, but this is a blade derived from the scales. An interesting twist to an otherwise common approach! This article is a reminder that you can start with an overused game trope and still come up with something fresh and interesting.
Candela Ward
by Rubyodegee
TTRPG players are used to runes and symbols carved into walls or doorframes, or appearing as glowing symbols of light floating on their own. This article brings up the possibility of other sources of the warding magic - sources that may well be overlooked by "seasoned" players and characters.
Shroud of Armaitia
by Blackdeath90
A burial cloth that can preserve the body from decay - or from the taint of undeath! A valuable item in a world filled with necromancers - and a suggestion that perhaps its counterpart also exists!
Traveler's Trunk
by Greytailza
When is a mimic not a mimic? When it's a Traveler's Trunk! Mixing these in with actual mimics could make for some very interesting adventures!
Note: Greytailza's world settings did not permit comments or likes, so in addition to the "required" like & comment on the other articles listed above, I continued to read past the listed ten, and left quite a few additional likes and comments in my wake.
Plans for 2024
This brings me to plans for 2024. At the moment, Laurels & Loot is perhaps 80% finished and about to enter serious playtesting. (The unfinished bits are higher-level content, so I've got a bit of time to get it done before it's needed in playtesting.) Even more exciting, the system is currently being coded for implementation in the FoundryVTT platform, where much of the playtesting will be happening. This work will continue, and I hope to actually get playtesting started in February.Major goal #1 is to have version 1 of the rules system ready for publication before the end of the year (and ideally sometime in the summer).
Then it's back to Cartyrion itself. Many existing critters and characters will need to be re-spec'ed for the L&L system. At that time, I'll also decide on whether new, unique creatures will be be spec'ed out for other systems such as D&D and Pathfinder. Major focus will be on the Forgotten Academy (the original Dungeon23 project) - with the intent to get it publication-ready as a campaign-level dungeon crawl. That's major goal #2.
And then it's back to refitting the Feywood as a second campaign setting within the greater world. All along the way, I'll be keeping up with the various WA challenges - especially Summercamp and Worldember, of course!
Those are the plans for 2024. Getting something - anything - publication-ready will be a major achievement. And with that said, it's time to get back to that work!
Grab your hammer... and go World-Build !!!
Thanks for including me in your Resolution! I'm very happy to know that you found some uses & benefits for these magical items! : D I kept telling myself during WE that I wished I had a Scrivener! LOL! ^^ Thanks again and happy new year!