I didn’t intend to make this a weekly post, but that would certainly make a lot of sense. The goal remains to use this publication as a friendly pressure device to make me more productive when it comes to the various TTRPG ideas I love, but are very far away from completing.
A comprehensive list of works in progress is available here.
Here’s what I was able to push forward a little since then:
The Great Green Room
(Mausritter adventure site inspired by the children’s book Goodnight Moon, which I might actually call Goodnight Maus)
I went through my daughter’s Goodnight Moon and listed all the possible points of interest.
Here’s what I’ve got to work with:
Telephone
Red Balloon
Painting: Cow jumping over the moon
Painting: Three little bears sitting on chairs
Two little kittens
Pair of mittens
Little toyhouse
Young mouse
Comb
Brush
Bowl full of mush
Quiet old lady whispering hush
Moon
Two carriage clocks
Socks
Fireplace
Firewood
Poker
Tiger fur rug
Book case
Stuffed giraffe, elephant, baby doll
Painting of rabbit fishing
Chest of drawers
Bed
Rocking chair
Curtains
Currently I’m thinking the toy house is a powerful motivating factor for why mice would want to adventure here. I imagine it full of scaled down silver cutlery, candlesticks and other prizes that a Maus baron or burgher would send adventurers out to swipe.
The young mouse could be a lost adventurer who needs saving.
The two kittens are our biggest threats. I’m calling them Tomasina and Tabitha right now. I see them eager to use mice as play things, but they play rough.
I was planning on releasing this as a 16 fold pamphlet, but that might overly complicate things. I think I’ll plan for two pages; map on one side, details on the other. But I also don’t want to get too deep in the weeds with layout at this stage.
Steam Thieves and the Soaring Metropolis
(Steampunk FitD)
This concept has had some new life injected into it. That’s thanks to this blog/newsletter. One person told me they were excited about this (thanks Will!) so I think that’s a sign that I need to advance this concept on my list of priorities.
I know it’s just one person’s feedback, but that person is also someone who knows games and has played dozens of them. He’s seen everything, so if this feels fresh and exciting, I might be onto something.
I’ve always loved the concept and the setting. And I think Forged in the Dark is a great fit for it.
One of the challenges for this one (a challenge I really like) is how to manage the resources of steam and spark.
Steam, which is what keeps the enormous city in the air, is needed to power the steampacks our players zip around with. During missions I imagine players banging stents into great steam pipes and wrestling with valves to refill their rigs. Steam is also our players’ main motivation. The leaders of Cloudminster control the distribution of steam across the great pipeworks that dominate every view within the city. Steam is life in Cloudminster.
Many places in the city are struggling, thanks to scant steam allotments (diverted to make sure the elites have all they could wish for). Steam Thieves are Robin Hood characters. They want to steal steam, contain it in special cartridges, and deliver it to those who need it. A bootlegged steam cartridge, siphoned from a city councillors gymnasium, can heat a family’s home for a week or provide the blast needed to propel a steam thief skywards.
Spark is electricity collected from lightning strikes, which is then transferred around the city on a rig. Spark can also be used as a resource for special rigs and weapons. Imagine arcing electricity guns and shock batons.
A lot of this concept is in my head and not yet on paper.
Here are some things I do have jotted down, though:
Classes
Aerobat: Avoid attacks and deliver precision blows.
Tinkerer: Manages resources well and can change tactics on the fly.
Breaker: Powerful attacks, but easier to hit.
Sparketeer: High risk, high reward.
Governance
Lord Mayor of Cloudminster
City Council
Ward Council
Corporations
Cloudminster Steamworks Company
The Spark Corporation
Factions
Church of the Clouds
The Tunnel Folk
Cloudminster Constabulary Force
The Airborn Gentry
The Potter Gang (east end crime family)
The Management (west end crime family)
Free Steam Revolutionary Front
Other soaring cities
Remains of New Jorvik
The Mombassa Project
Kyoto 2