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Saturday, April 25, 2020

The Gygax 75 Challenge Week 1

To participate go here: https://rayotus.itch.io/gygax75

Alright week 1, I needed to come up with a pitch and the inspirations behind the pitch.

PITCH

*  Every corner of the land is filled with magik whether good or evil.  The countryside is cut off from the outside world, it is protected by magical barriers created by the Mage King.  All forms of life have some kind of inheritant magik. (1)

*  Monster's are unique and not always evil.  They have their own motivations.  Ancient  monsters inhabited the land prior to the magical barriers being raised. (2)

*  The citizens of the land are all humanoid woodland creatures (Mice, Foxes, Bears, etc).  They have a basic understanding of medieval technology (Leather, Iron) and commerce.  Most citizens rarely have a use for weapons, other than for hunting fowl.  The creatures mingle together in small towns & villages. (3)

*  Since the disappearance of the Mage king the magical barrier is failing.  Evil slowly spreads, turning ordinary plants & animals into their darker cousins.  These evil creatures occupy ancient ruins, regaining their strength before they plunge the world into darkness.  The general population is only slightly aware of this, as the decay has been slow.  (1)

*  The setting is very high fantasy, with all the usual troupes you would expect (Princess's locked in towers, Knights, Old wizened wizards).  However with a twist. 

Inspiration 


Here is my inspiration board: https://www.pinterest.ca/obdgil/gygax-75/

Bibliography 

(1) Xanth Books https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanth Written By Piers Anthony. 
Darksword Trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darksword Written By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Magic Kingdom For Sale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Kingdom_for_Sale%E2%80%93Sold!
Written By Terry Brooks
Shannara Series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannara written by Terry Brooks

In all of the above books there are magical barriers in place (or fairy mists), a wizard or king who rules the world, creatures that are magical by nature, people being shunned if they have no magic. 

(2) Greek & Roman Mythology
A lot of the monsters in Greek mythology are unique, there are not hoards of Minotaurs.  The idea behind this is a bit lotfp in that when encountered the monsters will be terrifying.

(3) Robin Hood (Disney Animated Film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_(1973_film)
Rabbits & Rangers https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/191133/Rabbits--Rangers--LL Written By James V. West

I'm working thru the concept mechanically that every PC and NPC will have some form of magic, likely a d20 table.  Something similar to a cantrip, but only once a day.  As well I will probably add in some Race as a class for each woodland creatures.  I intend to pull inspiration from Rabbits & Rangers (Which is currently FREE!).  I've always loved Robin Hood by disney, and I really like the idea of having a mix of different woodland creatures, that should hopefully not have any racial bias towards each other, just live their life.  (ie the old Elves & Dwarves not getting along thing).

Hopefully this is a good starting point? I'm onto week 2 now, going to start working on a hex map.  I haven't quite decided on scale just yet.  I'm thinking 1" hexes, scale might be 3 miles per hex possibly (I know its weird!) here's the link http://www.printfreegraphpaper.com/gp/h-i-1.pdf




   


4 comments:

  1. Cool Shane, I too am a HUGE fan of the old Disney Robin Hood (my family would tell you that it is my favorite Disney film) so I really dig this idea.

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    1. I'm glad you are liking it. Robin hood along with sword in the stone are my two favorite Disney movies. Did you look at the Pinterest board? Some things I may not post here as I intend to run this. It's hard not to go back and tweak things!hahaha.

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  2. Nice. Classic fairy tale feel along with the disney stuff. I like the idea that the good people (animals?) of the realm have lived in peace with little need for weapons and will now have to adapt as evil creeps in.

    Will the fact that most of the plants and creatures started as good be a dilemma for the heroes? Can they redeem them?

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    1. That's exactly what I was thinking. There's a lot of high fantasy built into it. But also dealing with things like the forest has become evil etc.

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