Development on the Rose of Relange RPG

Art by the talented: Rebecca Elisbet Coulthart

Setting development continues to evolve for my role-playing game.  

These last few days have been filled with activities such as contacting additional artists, responding to artists wishing to publish, correspondence, research, and writing (thankfully the writing part is coming along easily and feels very natural and relaxing in comparison to all the other activities).

The writing over the last few days has been touching upon various areas. Setting development has been a particular focal point as I have been working to flesh out elements that haven't seen play in previous incarnations of the setting. 

Below you will see some of the things I've been working on these last couple of days.  I hope that these little snips give you a taste of what is to come.

Some things you can look forward to with the Rose of Relange RPG:

1)  A broader range of cultural references.  There are tribal lands occupied by peoples whose cultures are based on traits seen in certain north american native tribes.  Myths, monsters, spirits, and certain practices carry over in the game.  These are not direct translation of existing beliefs.  They are fictions influenced by certain traditional practices and stories.  They are also not all from the same tribal sources, so you will find a rich culture among the tribes.  Not simply barbarians, far from it in fact, these tribes revere nature and live in close harmony with the land.  These tribes are animists in their religious outlook, revering natural spirits and beings while practicing their own unique ways of life.  These tribes share a continent littered with the ruins of Elven cities, thriving kingdoms, small settlements and villages of various sizes, and strange cultures on the eastern coast and along the western shores. A variety of cultural elements are explored in the setting.

2) Tolkien-esque fantasy races and creatures as well as creatures and monsters whose legends are known in India, Japan, China, Australia, and Africa.  The world is a large place, and players will soon be encountering legendary monsters of whom they may have never before been aware.

3)  Game mechanics that encourage unique character advancement.  (more on this after the play testers have had the chance to try things out)

4) A pantheon of divine beings, a great variety of nature spirits, demonic entities, forgotten gods, and cults.  Religion and clergy take many forms.  Players can enjoy playing a wandering priest who reveres the pantheon while practicing devotional invocation, and later have that character join a cult devoted to one particular deity.  Religious / Cult rites and rituals carry unique abilities into the game.  Marriage rituals bind spouses in mystic as well as symbolic ways, blessings aid the common folks, and exorcisms can banish possessing entities. 

5) Psychic abilities that explore the potential of the mind. Not merely a collection of powers, the psychic abilities explore the classical psychic phenomena as well as integrate legendary abilities.  Those characters pursuing psychic abilities can do subtle and amazing things.

6)  Diverse magical abilities.  Beyond combat spells, characters can practice magic for many different benefits.  Design spells and rituals of your own, or discover spells eons old. Undertake rites to infuse magic into the character for particular benefit. Summon creatures from other dimensions and barter with them for service or bind them to your will.   Grow more powerful to enhance the effects of your magical pursuits.

7) Earn experience based on the fun of the session.  Play to have fun, and earn experience from laughing with your friends.  Do you like the game enough to play again?  If so you earn experience when you come back for the next session.    Do you share the role of game master in the group?  If so, earn experience for your character based on how well your group enjoyed your adventure.  😊

8)  The forbidden art of necromancy and its many dark paths will tempt the casual practitioner to unspeakable dark acts.  Then reward them for their sins, while tainting the necromancer's soul.

These things are a tall order to pull off.  I'm feeling very confident that things are coming together nicely.  Play testing should begin in the end of June or early July (2017).  I'm looking forward to hearing from the groups what worked and what didn't.

I was very fortunate to get some great advice from Steve Sechi (the creator of the Talislanta role-playing game), this week as well as some kind words of encouragement.  Thanks Steve!

I want to thank you, dear reader, for joining me on my adventure.  Less than a month of blogging so far, and I find it remarkable how many people are reading these musings.  

I hope you enjoyed these insights to what is in development.  

I hope you will join me next time.😉

You can follow Sinopa Publishing on Facebook, and see new art produced for my products (I try to release  a bit of new art every week or two).

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