Sunday, July 11, 2010
Little Settings: A Bridge to Farn
(c) 2010 Andrew C. Durston (permission granted to use w attribution)
One of my favorite parts of game mastering is creating settings, their backstory and the maps that go with them. Hence the "Settings" series of posts that I will be creating. Little Settings will be a single map with some background information and perhaps a sample plot thread. Similarly Big Settings and Epic Settings will be similar but larger and much larger in scope. The format may churn as I get a feel for how I want to present the material. But for now, here's my first offering:
Little Settings: A Bridge to Farn
The Description: A Royal highway burns a straight path through the countryside. A brook had the temerity to cut across the course of the road. Years ago a ford sufficed. Later a small wooden bridge. But erosion and spring rains formed a gully 60 feet deep and so a larger construction was required. The King asked the local Dwarves to construct a sturdy bridge of white stone to bridge the gap. They responded with a fine span of about 150 feet standing upon pairs of pillars. Horseshoes and wheels clik-clak across the fine stones forming the roadbed of the bridge.
The Thread: A pair of carriages, containing notable peoples or notable cargo, trundles along the road. The players, moving swiftly, pass the caravan and cross the bridge. An adventurer of sharp eyes notes that someone or something has been digging about the south side of the bridge. The digging was done by Cave Trolls, directed by Orcs, about the southernmost support pillars. The Orcs plan to topple the pillars as the caravan crosses and then loot what survives the plunge into the gully.
One of my favorite parts of game mastering is creating settings, their backstory and the maps that go with them. Hence the "Settings" series of posts that I will be creating. Little Settings will be a single map with some background information and perhaps a sample plot thread. Similarly Big Settings and Epic Settings will be similar but larger and much larger in scope. The format may churn as I get a feel for how I want to present the material. But for now, here's my first offering:
Little Settings: A Bridge to Farn
The Description: A Royal highway burns a straight path through the countryside. A brook had the temerity to cut across the course of the road. Years ago a ford sufficed. Later a small wooden bridge. But erosion and spring rains formed a gully 60 feet deep and so a larger construction was required. The King asked the local Dwarves to construct a sturdy bridge of white stone to bridge the gap. They responded with a fine span of about 150 feet standing upon pairs of pillars. Horseshoes and wheels clik-clak across the fine stones forming the roadbed of the bridge.
The Thread: A pair of carriages, containing notable peoples or notable cargo, trundles along the road. The players, moving swiftly, pass the caravan and cross the bridge. An adventurer of sharp eyes notes that someone or something has been digging about the south side of the bridge. The digging was done by Cave Trolls, directed by Orcs, about the southernmost support pillars. The Orcs plan to topple the pillars as the caravan crosses and then loot what survives the plunge into the gully.
