While D&D's points of light setting typically treats the city as the "home base" where characters are safe and can rest between trips to the dungeon, Caldera is not safe. The points of light in this setting are a friendly noble house, a guarded workshop, a quiet private library, or a fortified apartment. Furthermore, the most dangerous places in the city are still populated.
I love this. This is a good place to start. Keep heading in this direction.
The plane of reflection and mirror magic are ideas I formed a looooong time ago for a 32-page 3E supplement I was gonna write for Mongoose. They've been pining for a new home for a long time.
Hooks are one of those things I think a number of indie designers forget about, figuring it is just obvious. Sometimes it is. Sometimes, it isn't at all.
Here's why: Caldera is clearly a whole lot about politics, it can't help but be, whether that is political scheming or class-oppression. But I'm not a politician. So I wouldn't know where to start making or setting up political schemes or how they might influence what is going on in the city.
I think a long, decent list of obvious hooks to build characters and adventures -- short or long term -- is an excellent addition to any setting: basically just an outline of what people want, who is in their way and why, and what they'll do to get where they want to be. Consequences of doing/not doing are also good.
I wouldn't have thought of doing it that way! I definitely think it would be a great idea.
If nothing else, it's a good way to make sure the material you're providing is usable as actual adventure seeds, and not just empty gamebook fluff (you know, pages and pages of things like: "the river is 52 degrees in summer, and 36 degrees throughout the winter" etc).
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I love this. This is a good place to start. Keep heading in this direction.
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I just edited the post and added two more things that make the Caldera setting unique: crowd magic and mirror portals.
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Here's why: Caldera is clearly a whole lot about politics, it can't help but be, whether that is political scheming or class-oppression. But I'm not a politician. So I wouldn't know where to start making or setting up political schemes or how they might influence what is going on in the city.
I think a long, decent list of obvious hooks to build characters and adventures -- short or long term -- is an excellent addition to any setting: basically just an outline of what people want, who is in their way and why, and what they'll do to get where they want to be. Consequences of doing/not doing are also good.
Reply
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If nothing else, it's a good way to make sure the material you're providing is usable as actual adventure seeds, and not just empty gamebook fluff (you know, pages and pages of things like: "the river is 52 degrees in summer, and 36 degrees throughout the winter" etc).
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