Heya Folks! Chris Lindsay here to present a design diary from an esteemed friend and colleague.
... and now a word from Dr. Greg Marks!
When I start a project, I have questions about timelines, word counts, and templates, but most importantly, “What’s the goal or vision for this project?” The folks at Goodman Games had some huge ideas for an aerial-based campaign that really struck a chord with me as being unique. There are many underground or underwater campaigns, and even some in space! But there are not many in the air, especially not where every character gets a special mount! I immediately realized that there was a lot that could be done, both narratively and with design, and I was very excited to join the author team.
I was particularly interested in working on mounts. When Chris Lindsay first asked me, Toni Winslow-Brill, and Shawn Merwin to work on them, he asked for about thirty mounts based on fantastic animals, another thirty based on insects, and another thirty that involved the skydrakes which would reappear throughout the book. The three of us talked and decided that instead of taking one section each, we would each do ten of each to get the greatest variety. I knew pretty quickly some of the mounts I wanted to do: some sort of sphinx-related mount, a giant goose, and a dung beetle. The animals and the insects were pretty easy to round out, but the drakes presented a bigger challenge for me. Animals and insects could largely be giant versions of things that already exist, though we did create some totally new creatures, but the drakes as a concept stymied me at first. Are they related to dragons with specific colors? Are they tied to elements, climates, or something even more esoteric? In the end, rather than unify them, I am pleased the answer became YES! Why have them all be same? A few could have an elemental or climate theme, while others might be something new like drakes that feast on dreams, sadness, or magic. This let us created some really unique abilities for your mount.
Once the contract is signed, I start brainstorming. What rules would be cool? At this stage, I’m not worried about balance. I’m thinking about what feature would be really fun for a player to have. I make a list, coming up with not only the obvious (a spell that makes you hover), but also far out ideas that give interesting narrative hooks (a drake that feasts on sadness). With this list in hand, I start reading. I go through my library for books about flight, peruse RPG supplements for old ideas that might spark something brand new, or even climb down a disturbing rabbit hole of a Google search about the lifecycle of the dung beetle.
Then I write. My style is to get it out. All of it. As quick as I can. Thousands of words rapidly fly across the screen, not always the best words, but the ideas are there. I usually end up with more words than I need for any given rules items, but I’ll fix that when I start revising. For me, at least, the energy for creation usually comes from the start of a project, or with the threat of a looming deadline. Because of that, I try to shoot for doing as much as possible right away. Usually I type, but when the weather is nice, I sometimes write out longhand, whether it’s a café or a park. In this case, I wrote a chunk while at Gamehole Con in Madison, Wisconsin, and then the rest sitting on my couch while the TV played in the background!
We got to work on some really interesting subclasses as well. Chris wanted to make sure we had a new subclass for every core class and I got to work on the bard, paladin, and rogue. Chris wanted the paladin to be called Oath of the Aeronaut so I came up with a long pitch to sell him. I started with “Imagine a sky paladin inspired by Firefly and…” Chris cut me off with a loud “SOLD! Start writing.”
The hard work comes at the end. You have to take the mass of words and pare them back under the word count, make them actually good, and also check for balance. This last part is the hardest. It’s easy to rephrase or cut away wordy parts that aren’t as exciting as other ideas you had. But going over similar creatures, classes, or spells to see if your new rules match up power-wise, while still being narratively cool is the real art. Your creation might still be slightly stronger or weaker, but as long as it’s fun and fills a unique niche, then you have something worth turning over.
Another one of the things I wanted was an example overview of a campaign that not only let the characters earn their mounts early on, but also included a number of challenges that would require the characters traverse long distances and engage in aerial combats to reach fantastic out of the way locations. Along the way they would grow their mounts and need the spells and magic items in the book. I came up with the Battle Against the Sky Lords. In this campaign I wanted the characters to start small, and explore a kingdom a few hexes at a time as they gain more fame and importance to the people they were helping. Eventually it would become clear that what appeared to be a local problem was backed by more powerful lieutenants, and even more terrifying beings that only the greatest heroes could face. I was inspired by the “wheels within wheels” style of the early Greyhawk setting and wanted to combine it with the feel of 1980s film from the wonder of The Last Unicorn to the high action of Conan or Flash Gordan. While only a few pages, the outline gives the Gamemaster a unified idea for an exciting campaign that crosses all tiers of play!
So that was my process. I’m sure our other writers have different approaches, but that’s how I did it. In the end, all that matters is that we made something that you enjoy!
