Okay, so I've had an idea. I want more (any) TROS mini-supplements--Fan-written books on nations, campains, races, whatever...

These would be on-line and the author gets to keep the money for every PDF sold. Any "help" from us would probably not be free, but it would be very, very reasonable (or it might be free, we'll see...if you really get me going, we might fund the project and take it under wing!). I would like to print some of these mini-supplements. The printed versions would be Driftwood's cut, and any printed versions sold would be our profit. Mini supplement authors that get a book in print will, of course, get a small number of complimentary copies. If a mini supplement is looking large enough to be a real supplement we could possibly even go that way.

Here's some projects that were started and need finishing:
The Riddle of Gold (Theives' book)
TROS Gladiators
TROS Sci-Fi (Riddle of the Force?)
Taveruun Nation Book

Here's some projects that I would like to see, either because once upon a time I was going to write them, or because they sould "cool" to me.
Book of Knights and Nobles
Books for nations/regions/cultures
Holy Wars, book of TROS religions and the violence surrounding them, including things like the crusades and the inquistion. This could actually be several mini-supps, later bound into one hoss book.
Alternate magic systems (put your money where your mouth is, guys)
Campaign settings for things like the Fey, Trollspaw, and Siehe.


Takers?

Jake

Damn, now I really, really wish I had the money to buy TROS...I have a perfect setting for the Fey (or something enough like them) that would fit with TROS so much better than where I'm using it right now (3E D&D).

Here's the short version: savage, immortal, faerie-type elves with a serious thing for bloodshed. Where it would really shine, however, would be in dealing with those elves cast out from their own kind, and effectively stripped of their immortality.

So, you have legendary warrior-sorcerers trying to find or make a place in a world filled with bloodshed and warfare, the same things which they excel in and are sought out for; yet no longer possessed of their former invulnerability, they are now subject to the threat and fear of final death in their pursuit of such.

I think that, or a modification of it, would make an awesome campaign setting for TROS' fey.

"When all you've ever known is warfare and bloodshed, and all others see you as is a means to those ends, but you've lost your edge, what do you fight for? (Who do you fight to become?)"

I was thinking of working abit more on my rules regarding souls/undead: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=9093

Including some work on demonics, maybe some vampires, campaign seeds, NPCs, etc etc.

Perhaps I might take a whack at the Riddle of Gold.. I have alot of things I wish to see in the underworld.

Things that should be included in the final version are:
Stories of great heists, unsolved crimes, allowing GM's to add to a storyline.
An expanded list of items sold in the underworld.
NPC's galore.
Story-hooks.
Motivations.
Expansion on rogues, brigands, con-artists... assassins etc.
And anything else that people think is missing.

-Ingenious
Also, the work Sirogit is doing interests me and I might help him out.
I might also write something on Tzaul and why I think it should mirror egypt's culture, etc.
Finally.. something for me to do with my free-time.

I'm in, as soon as my copy of the rulebook arrives (see below).

I have several large campaign settings almost ready, complete with slightly different magic setups.

How about adventure modules? I have 3 scenarios up and illustrated already.

I even have an illustrator lined up :)

The sci-fi bit I would also be interested in, as well as the riddle of gold...

James

Note to Jake: I originally ordered my copies of TRoS and OBAM through Leisure Games. Still waiting, so decided to order directly from you (can always sell the second set if and when they arrived). BUT... PayPal seems to believe South Africa is an evil place. So it appears that route is out. However, being in Norway with no local bank account means that I am having extreme difficulties organising an international money order. Any suggestions?

(Of course, I could use a Norwegian address for PayPal, but that is the last resort).

I am already hard at a work on a mini-supplement, detailing a region west of the main continent, as many know from another thread. It looks to be at least 100 pages, so I'm not sure if that qualifies as "Mini" :-)

I am hoping to finish this project in the next month or two.

I'm psyched for more TROS material to come out, but not 100% sure what you've got in mind. Is it mostly setting information you're looking for, additions to the rules (ie new social priority tables, weapon stats, setting specific combat manuevers, etc) or brand new mechanics (ie a new damage table for laser guns, new combat pool rules for fighting with energy shields)?

Maybe a better question is what are the "core" elements that make TROS what it is, and what are you looking to modify/add to?

Crap, two of those are projects I'm involved in. Better get busy. :-)

Mike

Raven-
I'll trade you a copy for some art, how's that sound?

Mike-
Slacker. And where's Socercer in Space, anyway? I better hear "GenCon"

Loki-
The joy of the mini supplements is that you write what you want and if it gets approved, it becomes an "official" mini-supplement. Send me a proposal if you have something that YOU want to do. What I want is already outlined in the first post, with as much detail as I care to for now.

Tywin-
Can you send me a 3-page summary, and a schedule?

Muggins-
Adventure scenarios, especially if they're properly TROS-ish, sound great.
Leisure games is usually very reliable. I'm not aware of what other avenues exist...you could try SJG's Warehouse 51 or tundra-sales-org.com.

Cory-
The Riddle of Gold is probably a half-or-more written mini supplement submitted to me a long time ago. I actually have several people waiting to see it. Email me, and I'll make you one of them.

sirogit-
Cool. Let's do it.

Jake

Are there any kind of format suggestions for regional supplements so that there is some unity in layout/content between different ones?

currently, no. That will probably depend most on who gets done first.

Jake

I'm currently working on alot of stuff for our campaign.

Does it matter if it is an alternate setting with all the appropriate source material?

Would "The Riddle of Stars" be a better title for the sci-fi supplement? It has the same acronym as The Riddle of Steel, and I think it has a nice ring to it...

Just a quick question... is the Japan sourcebook confirmed or is it only an idea? i think i read somewhere that Jake was doing one i just wanted to confirm that.
I have been doing a fair bit of source material for a Japan based game i will be running soon. I have actually been doing two seperate settings. One based in mythical Japan which is coming along really well and the other based around the Samurai rebellion as portrayed in the movie 'last samurai'
This again is looking pretty cool :)

I will send you a summary as fast as I can, Jake.

Thelibrarian, "The Riddle of Stars" sounds cool.

I startet creating a detailled Stahl and Ouestenreich Map. With Provinces (Grafschaften, Landesmark) in Ouestenreich and "Prinzschaften" "Freie Städte" and "Königreiche" in Stahl. These includes some detailed descriptions of leaders, law, important sights, without going too much into detail. Just trying to draw the maps with fractal mapper, but it seems more difficult to me as I thought. And I have to translate it frome German into correct English. But I You are interested I will send it to You when I am finished.

Ah and because in my Campain Setting, Shiehe races appear a little more often as in the original TROS setting. I have worked out about 5 fey races for PC Players. 2 of them my players took in my campaigne and only one of them has problems when he is with human characters. ;)

A Star Wars supplment is one thing. Science Fiction is an entire genre and extremely expansive, with all kinds of odd creatures, unusual weapons, and unfamiliar environments.

Making such a blanket supplement is pretty absurd, though I do like the title. :P

Now that I'm back into TROS (I took a slight detour) I may resume my work on Riddle of the Force, and I'm looking toward reconstituting the unique magic system I came up with, and writing it down this time.

Alright, you now have me psyched, and the ideas circulating around my head are solidifying.....

The whole reason I originally looked at TRoS (besides some unknown person extolling its virtues at Swordfroum), was because I needed a realistic combat system to go with my long awaited (!) next campaign. The idea for that was based on the Malazan Tales of the Fallen by Steven Eriksen- ordinary people in a world dominated by very much more powerful creatures, human and otherwise. I needed a system where people would be reluctant to enter combat, but could through malice and forethought conquer all. But the magic and the Weyrth setting still need a bit... Hence, I present:

TRoS Ye Book of Dreadeful Ancientes

The world is a lot older than we ephemeral mortals think. Buried beneath the surface of old tales, or hidden in books of forbidden lore, are the stories of those who came before. Stories of ancient immortal sorcerors, of tyrannical inhuman despots, of the waste they created, of the civilisations they destroyed, and the entire races that sacrificed all to imprison them. These then, are those who came before us, and who may still wait in the shadows. These, too, are the ones who walk hidden amongst us, demigods, legends of yore, and immortals of power.

Contents (wishful thinking perhaps!):

1) Ancient Magic: rules for a form of magic wherein the user's own lifeforce is not spent (I need immortal sorcerors)
2) Demigods and rules for above mortal feats (am looking at a variation of the SA system to allow accumulation of mystic abilities- characters can earn or acquire, for good or bad, "gold" SAs which can be used to purchase extreme abilities)
3) Immortality, and the paths to attain it...
3) Precursor races and artefacts
4) Lots of evil ancient forces and the plot hooks to get your PCs involved!
5) Anything else that strikes me as cool....


The magic might eventually become two different systems. Overall, it will alter the tone of Weyrth if used, but I will try to make it as universal as possible. By harking back to eras in the far past, geography becomes less important: continents shift, cities are destroyed, and only legends and occasional scraps of old tomes survive. One aim of the sourcebook will be to give sorcerors in TRoS something to fear- the idea that powerful magic-users attract the attention of these beings and/or those who hunt them down...

And anyhow, most of this information has to be committed to paper before I start the next campaign. My largest campaign handout so far was 50 pages, so there is a record to beat!

James

I've been working on another setting to play in. I guess it could just be another part of Weyrth, or maybe an entirely new world.. (although some of the things in it are similar to Weyrth, such as TrollSpawn and other things) It is going to have several nations, a few complete religions, some new races, and bits and pieces of legends and folklore.
I imagine I could have it done in the next month or two, if I hurry.

I also had an alternate magic system in the works, which i could finish somewhat soon, also.

Jake Norwood wrote: Raven-
I'll trade you a copy for some art, how's that sound?

I'm still working, quietly, on TRoS: Gladiators. Working title right now is Blood on the Sand, from something Mike said a while back that I liked.

For a while, impetus stalled and we ended up losing the boards where we'd done a lot of our work. I managed to find them again, and I've contacted Mike and John, my two original collaborators. Now I'm working on parsing the information, and attempting to get it into an orderly format, so we can tear it down and rebuild it again.

Guys,

Science Fiction is fine (although there was someone already working that last I heard) but for Gods sake, no Riddle of the Force or anything even vaguely resembling anything that Lucas Films may have made. It's fine as a fan project, but anything that even remotely looks like Star Wars isn't something we could ever publish, offer on the webpage, or even "officially recognise" - Driftwood can't afford the lawyers that George Lucas can.

Brian.

I was wondering when someone was going to get around to pointing out copyright law.. :-D
Oh and dude.. Brian.. you need to seriously start checking the IRC chat more often.. Instead of talking to you on there about your character generator/book rules.. I had to post here.. and wait for an answer.(My impatience knows no bounds as you know)

What you CAN do for Riddle of the *****, is rename it.. redfine its theme.. redesign it. In game mechanics terms.. you can base the book entirely on 'movement' spells.. so there, that has nothing to do with the Force.. but it does have force-like effects.. I'm quite sure you can even come up with some spells that with a house-rule... allow the sorceror to cast it non-verbally(with gestures), and instantly. But keep the aging, or don't. I aint a fan of aging.

Hell, it doesnt have to even BE magic based. Enter... telepathy/telekinetics... nobody says aging is involved in that. It's the 'mind over matter' stuff. Literally. BUT you CAN use a pool for it.. Call it the TP(no not toilet paper!). Base it off of Primarily mental attributes.
Make the 'kaa' as it were a combination of Wit, MA, and WP.. divided by 2.
Have the 'form' be the same. 'Art'? Fuck it. That deals with aging.
Discipline? Yea.. I can understand that.. but not for how cautious and detailed a sorceror is in rituals.. But for maintaining the telekinetic control over an object.. say if you were moving something slowly like a giant stone tower or something that would shatter into lots of bricks if moved too fast over a short period of time.. for shit like 'throwing' arrows telepathically.. disregard the discipline.. or use it if you want them suckers to be 'homing missiles'...
Draw? Screw that too... that deals with magic.. and 'mana'. Unless you seriously want to have this mirror what magic is in a quasi-functional way..

But I bet you the $500000000000000000 I'm going to possibly need to hire a lawyer for saying this.. but what is most 'force-like' is not not use Draw.. because they didnt have to refresh their minds after moving a starfighter or a rock.. correct?


If even after all of the renaming and re-themed stuff happens... and the guys at Driftwood ain't got the stones to post it.. I will. I'm pretty sure freedom of speech covers most of the finished product.. so long as 'force' and such is not used(unless credit for inspiration is given in it). Regardless, if I end up having to post it on my quasi-existing website.. I'm damn sure going to cover my ass and edit it. I ain't stupid... I'm smart.. I just gave ya'll a loop-hole :-D
-Ingenious

Jake,

I know I don't really post anymore, but I figured this would be an important question for you to answer:

Beyond the help that you mention, what kind of 'final review' do you have? I'd imagine if you reference these of the Driftwood website you'll have a degree of final approval. But do you have any clear-cut standards or goals you want supplements to achieve? I'm not happy with the terms 'standard' or 'goal,' but their the best thing I can think of. I apologize if I'm not making sense.

Edge wrote: Just a quick question... is the Japan sourcebook confirmed or is it only an idea? i think i read somewhere that Jake was doing one i just wanted to confirm that.
:)

Jake Norwood wrote:

Edge wrote: Just a quick question... is the Japan sourcebook confirmed or is it only an idea? i think i read somewhere that Jake was doing one i just wanted to confirm that.
:)

The rumors are true.

Jake

Nick Pagnucco wrote: Jake,

I know I don't really post anymore, but I figured this would be an important question for you to answer:

Beyond the help that you mention, what kind of 'final review' do you have? I'd imagine if you reference these of the Driftwood website you'll have a degree of final approval. But do you have any clear-cut standards or goals you want supplements to achieve? I'm not happy with the terms 'standard' or 'goal,' but their the best thing I can think of. I apologize if I'm not making sense.

If even after all of the renaming and re-themed stuff happens... and the guys at Driftwood ain't got the stones to post it.. I will.

Guys this is an initial concept for a setting that I've thought could be well represented by TROS's Spiritual attributes as a roleplaying game. I would welcome any comments.

The setting I am thinking of, is the eastern medritterrean and near east circa BC 1200-900 and the tales of heroes and capricious deities which originate from events of this period and have become legend since. The Illiad and other stories from the oral traditions of the mycenean Greeks are the main source of inspiration however other contempory civilisations' recalling of this period of history and its events will also be used to flavour the setting. Of course the other source of inspiration is the evidence which historians have discovered about this period and so the overall feel aimed for is the powers and magic of legend against the equally awe inspiring backdrop of historical events.

Anyway here's a few things I hope to include.

- There will be immensively powerful supernatural entities who interfere in the affairs of mortals for a number of reasons but particularly as means of resolving conflicts amongst themselves. Though these are archetypes of the Olympian gods I want to put in a bit of twist to make them alot more shadowy and enigmatic as well as allowing other cultures such as the Egyptians and Hittites to have a piece of the pie too. As a result though some known names such as Zeus, Athena and Anubis and less known names such Istra and El from history will be dropped in background text the true names of the 'Gods' and even their true number will remain subject for spectulation. Whether every deity is one of these powers or there are a few powerful ones who use many different identities and names to interact with mankind, there will a number of clues for each Sensacle to make up their own opinion. What is known is that the 'Gods' are in conflict with each other and they not above maniplulating mortals into fighting their battles for them, or hindering other mortals who anger them by mistake or otherwise. Rest assured the 'powers that be' will influence how magic is done in the setting and SAs...

-Races. Sorcerors will exist in the setting though their abilities will of be particularly geared towards less overt natures, however the other races will be new. Particularly there be a racial classification for archetypes of Achilles and other such almost super-human characters which the tales of the era appear to be so fond of. The other thing I am considering is a classification for the less bestial (hardly but the ones that are near human) monsters of the legends such as Centaurs and Satyrs.

Combat rules- Currently thinking about rules for fighting from chariots as this era is definitely the high period of chariot warfare. Also be interested if anyone has any knownledge on any melee advantage iron weapons and armour (which the Hittites had developed by the period concerned) had over bronze (the standard equipment of just about everyone else).

Finally I am real bad with names. Anyone got any ideas for this concept?

Jake Norwood wrote: Currently, if it's going to be "official," and sold through our site, it needs to go through review and acceptance by me. As this is a new thing, there's not much in the way of guidlines. It has to look professional, and I want to see a project *before* its done so that nobody has to undo work. Does that make sense?

well seeing as Jake has confirmed he's doing a Japanese setting already is there any chance I can get some smallish details regarding its theme and degree of historical accuracy. Reason? well we've been working on a Japanese setting for some time now and I'd hate to have done all this work and have it for nought. Essentially Katanapunk! is less about historical accuracy and more about attitude and style though. The game itself has morphed into a setting book for Edo with a more serious manga tone (no Kuronin Kenshin though...*shudder*) and the emphasis away from sword schools and more centering around the characters and their lives.

Some features we're looking at:

- Weapon stats for authentic and fantastical japanese weapon including ancestor weapons that offer specific SA boosts
- A distinct system for "Special Moves" or secret teachings from wizened old masters and powerful sword schools. It'll be non-magical and not using the current rules for sorcery though will integrate with the current combat rules obviously. The source of these techniques can be varied and we'll be detailing schools, mystic masters and rogue sword saints who blaze their own trail and how they impact upon the character's development.
- A fully researched and detailed setting of Edo at the turn of the 18th-19th Century, with a twist. Instead of a dry historical text offering real world characters we're going to breath life into them, twist them into the kind of antagonists you'd love to read about in a dark manga comic or see in a Kurosawa flick and the Katanapunks in between will have to deal with all of them. Assassins, Ronin, corrupt Samurai and government officials, murder, intrigue, blood, steel and attitude.


So there it is.. if it's starting to cross over too much with your stuff Jake, let me know so we can do something about it soon.


cheers

jason

I remember your KatanaPunk! stuff. I thought it was pretty damned interesting, and I believe Jake expressed an interest in it becoming an Official mini-supp too.

As for The Riddle of Jade, from what I recall Jake saying, it's going to be essentially two parts.. The major part will be TRoS: Japan, and the lesser part will detail some small part of Tengoku and surrounding regions. Hence, the part dealing with Japan will be as accurate as Jake is willing and able to make it.

There's room for Katanapunk! too.

Jake

Excellent well I'll kick it into a higher gear and look at giving you a draft sometime soon then...