Points of Light

Posts: 63 · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:55 am

I am pleased to announce Points of Light by myself and Goodman Games. Points of Light is a gazetteer for four separate lands. It is 48 pages and retails for $12.99. Each land has a map done in old school style with numbered hexes. Each lands has text describing a series of geographical locations and locales keyed to the numbed hex grid.

The product is system neutral with minimal stats. What stats there are are suitable for all early editions of AD&D/D&D. I hope this would be of interest to fans of older editions as much of this product was written with them in mind. By happy chance the concepts and idea used for several of the lands was similar to those promoted for the latest edition which makes it easier to market. The product had it's origins in Wizard's rejection permission for doing a Wilderlands style treatment of the Outdoor Survival Map.

Hopefully this will popularize the Wilderlands and Judges Guild style of setting so that there will be more interest in these types of products.

Example

Quote:
0913 Sam’s Landing (Hamlet)
This small hamlet of mud huts is the marshalling area for Baron Beldon’s raids on the trade caravan passing between Westguard and Bolzak. There are usually several dozen canoes and a handful of barges pulled onto shore at any time. In the center of the hamlet is the Green Frog Inn, where Tom Lodon (Rog6) rules the thugs and pirates of Sam’s Landing with an iron fist. Nailed to a post next to his “throne” is the shriveled head of Sam Dalton, the former chief of the hamlet. Over 40 pirates and raiders live in the hamlet, along with a dozen women, and twenty slaves to tend potatoes patches. A good portion of the crop is used to brew Silver Lightning, a type of hard liquor. A dozen wererats (1 HD) live on the outskirts of town and are used as scouts on raids.

Each land is about 125 miles by 100 miles. They are provided with a minimal background to make it easy to add it to any referee's campaign.

The four lands presented are

Wildland: The fall of the Bright Empire left warring factions in its wake. As savage barbarians and wicked humanoids roam the land, the last bastions of civilization cower behind their crumbling city walls. A dark age has come, and none may live to tell the tale.

Southland: On the frontiers of the Great Kingdom, the nations of men, elves and dwarves join together against the wicked elves of Nighportal Keep and the Orcs of the Bloody Fist. A realm is yours for the taking, if you can carve it from the wilderness.

Borderland: Two factions clash over war-torn fields, battling for dominance in a civil war that that has torn a once-mighty empire in two. When brother strives against brother, and blood runs in the streets, who will emerge to unify the broken land -- and at what cost, peace?

The Swamps of Acheron: In the Outer Planes, amid fetid swamplands and ice-choked mountains, the fell god Sarrath holds court. In a realm where gods stalk the earth, will you dare to take a stand, or will you succumb to evil's siren song and take up the Serpent Banner?

http://www.goodman-games.com/4380preview.html

Enjoy

Rob Conley

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:39 am

Interesting project, Rob.

What was the logic behind them?

Was Goodman looking to establish a new gaming world for their Eldritch materials?

Posts: 63 · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:03 pm

FormCritic wrote:

Interesting project, Rob.

What was the logic behind them?

Was Goodman looking to establish a new gaming world for their Eldritch materials?

You have settings, you have modules, but you don't have a whole lot in between. The realms in PoL are small chunks of land that can be plunked down in your campaign. The four lands are essentially separate.

When I first presented the idea and Southland to Joseph Goodman, he didn't really understand what I was getting at. So I wrote up about half of the locales. When he looked at he grasped the idea and decided that it would work great a parallel series to Dungeon Crawl Classics.

Because there isn't really a whole lot of room for stats it was decided to keep the stats minimal and market it as suitable for any RPGs. At first it was going to be a retro product then he decided to call the series Points of Light when we became aware of the Rich Baker's article on Points of Light. Obviously that gives this systemless product an appeal to fans of the newest edition of the world's most popular RPG.

Now that I have the 4th edition DMG and read the included setting. I will say that PoL will equally appeal to both sets of fans.

Now I am not going lie. I did include the possibility of later tying everything together like DCC's Aerth. Because I have only 48 pages I reused concepts from one land to the next. For example the God Sarrath the evil god of tyranny and order appears in three of the lands. Delaquain the goddess of Honor and Justice in all four. However right now the lands are separate and could only join together if you thought of them as being in different times of the same world.

I am in the middle of the next one which is based on a completely different theme than these four.

I don't know when Goodman will bring in other authors. Likely they will be creating their own lands with their own mythology for referees to use.

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:07 pm

I think the idea is outstanding.

Consider this...how about NO stats.

The people of a given region are not supposed to be a list of monsters to kill...even if the Dungeon Crawl Classic line says they are. Why do we need the stats of anyone not directly involved in killing the player characters? Even then, there are plenty of stats for baddies already out there.

INSTEAD, replace the space that would have been used for stats with adventures hooks and (especially) MAPS!

A product with nice, black and white, maps of fortresses, towns, villages, outdoor settings and adventure locales....now....that is a boon to gamers without any need for stats.

Posts: 63 · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:30 pm

FormCritic wrote:

I think the idea is outstanding.

Consider this...how about NO stats.

INSTEAD, replace the space that would have been used for stats with adventures hooks and (especially) MAPS!

I am definitely receptive to feedback about what I wrote. While it is pretty bare bones as it is. (Ftr1) (3HD) etc. It is an experiment so feedback is important.

Out of 23,000 words about 1,000 is game related information. Most of that are general descriptions of magic items or effects (like drinking from the River Acheron. Not a good idea).

Tim, my editor and long time gamer (1980), made sure Dwayne and I packed the goodies in.

Posts: 2512 · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:08 pm

Very interesting....definitely looking forward to it Robert. Thanks for the heads up.

Posts: 63 · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:36 pm

I got permission to post this preview of a Points of Light Map. This from Southland the one I made when Wizards said no to using the Outdoor Survival Map.

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 2:24 am

WOTC owns Outdoor Survival?

Posts: 63 · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:38 am

Yes they own all the Avalon Hill Titles as well as SPI inherited from TSR.

Posts: 2512 · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:33 am

Very nice looking map! Definitely something I will have to pick up. And look....Ryne Creek, an homage to the best second baseman to ever play the great game of baseball. Very Happy

Chicago Cubs' Ryne Sandberg for you infidels who don't follow baseball. Wink

Posts: 3156 · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:24 am

Kingofpain89 wrote:

Very nice looking map! Definitely something I will have to pick up. And look....Ryne Creek, an homage to the best second baseman to ever play the great game of baseball. Very Happy

Chicago Cubs' Ryne Sandberg for you infidels who don't follow baseball. Wink

Okay none of that now!
Very Happy

ShaneG.

Posts: 396 · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:28 pm

Kingofpain89 wrote:

Very nice looking map! Definitely something I will have to pick up. And look....Ryne Creek, an homage to the best second baseman to ever play the great game of baseball. Very Happy

Chicago Cubs' Ryne Sandberg for you infidels who don't follow baseball. Wink

Sooo... that little island in the lake can be the "Sand Berg," a tall dune of sand, amidst which can be found small round stones that fit perfectly in halfling hands for throwing...

Posts: 3156 · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:47 pm

That's pretty cool blurb..but stop before the Wolfwood becomes a place where female wolves tend to congregate to give birth to their litters of cubs. Oh damnit!

ShaneG.

Posts: 63 · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:56 am

This has been released in stores starting this week.

Enjoy
Rob Conley