 |
| White Dragon by Storn Cook |
Yes, I know this is going to be a project with a long gestation. Doesn't mean I can't map out the basics now so I have a direction to work in.
My quandary is this - do I go with a single solar system with a dozen and a half worlds or so (plus moons) that ships travel between OR do I go with a cluster of star systems that ships travel between.
The first lends itself more towards fantasy with some scifi and / or steampunk elements while the second seems more sci-fantasy. At least, that's how it seems to me.
I was working on the elevator pitch during training today at work (I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep in the middle of it - day two is tomorrow) and both are appealing in their own ways.
Single solar system is probably easier to tap down but the cluster of stars has many more options to play with, not least of which is the solar systems themselves.
All of which would get released in the one-sheet format I discussed months ago, but it would be modular in nature. A one-sheet for the system as an overview, a one sheet for a world overview, a one sheet for a nation / country / empire overview and a one sheet for a city / town / location of interest overview. The one-sheet system should keep things manageable.
Well, in theory in any case ;)
I think I like the idea of just a solar system, seems like it become more involved, like political, territorial and in the end more manageable.
ReplyDeleteGo with something like the multi-star system of Firefly/Serenity... but with a twist. Say, all the stars orbit a central point, and have been separated and difficult if not impossible to reach for centuries... but now in a "grand conjunction of the systems," they are all coming together again, within easy travel distance of each other... for better and for worse.
ReplyDeleteOh... and each star is one of the chromatic dragon colors (red, blue, green, white, black), and each of them has their own system of planets, and all of them orbit the central Gold Star... which has its own system of planets.
Deletei think this is going to deny me sleep tonight...
DeleteThen my job here is done!
DeleteUp, up, and away! ::whoosh::
"Oh... and each star is one of the chromatic dragon colors (red, blue, green, white, black), and each of them has their own system of planets, and all of them orbit the central Gold Star... which has its own system of planets."
DeleteYou know, I was going to vote for a single system, but that idea is pretty enticing.
Go big or go home.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't jam the spells.
I'd go with the single-system as it makes it easier for GMs to plug into their universe if desired.
ReplyDeleteSingle system! I don't think you really gain anything by having multiple star systems. The scale doesn't really get utilized because there's not enough play time to visit all the major cities or cultures that could potentially exist; the players are already travelling to a completely different system.
ReplyDeleteSince it's Fantasy you could have very weird planetary configurations. You could have planets that are in non-magical flight range of one another. Perhaps the Court Astrologers have forseen that Demon Planet X is going to be in teleport range and you'll all have to brace yourselves for an influx of Tanari.