Kevin Crawford
Kevin Crawford
All right. The (draft) final Word list for the Lexicon of the Throne is done.
There will be five concept Words that wrap a loose bundle of powers together under a conceptual rubric, both as playable choices and worked examples for GMs: Artificial Intelligence, Dragon, Faerie Queen, Lich King, and Peak Human.
There will be twenty more traditional Words: Birds, Cities, Dance, Deserts, Desire, Engineering, Entropy, Fear, Insects, Intoxication, Madness, Murder, Music, Network, Protection, Thieves, Underworld, Vengeance, War, and Winter
I've gotten all these Words written, but now I need to decide whether to put them in straight or to pair each with a page with an example NPC antagonist and design notes for how the Word was balanced. The latter would be nice, but it's also a lot of extra work, and I haven't finished the religion section yet.
Nik May"design notes for how the Word was balanced" would be amazing and amazingly useful to home-brewers. More so than the NPCs, which, imo, are a nice-to-have at best.
Mike ThompsonTwenty times NPC's & design notes is a lot, maybe compromise and pick a few that illustrate different aspects of how the Word has been balanced
Samuel S. (GottJammern)
In the interests of home brewing, I would love to see the design notes. Example NPCs are great, but for my user at least not necessary.
I can't wait to buy the Lexicon Hardcover!
Tavel Gorge
+Kevin Crawford
NPCs for each one may be a bit much or may be fantastic. Godbound has a lot of Resources for critter selection out there already.
My suggestion would be for each Word to get a Thing. Like a Cult, or a NPC, or an Artifact, or even a Strife. It's a lot of work, but then the Throne book also doubles as a Religion Tool, and an Idea book for thematic Things to toss into other settings. Like rare artifice or premade characters couched around a theme.
Isaac CarrollSounds great! I'm looking forward to getting the book. Is there any way to get a sneak peek at the content you've got so far?
Lord Darkview
So, I'm a big Godbound fan. I would find the commentary and examples to be immensely useful as a GM. I also recognize that it won't be as interesting to players, nor have as much use beyond a Godbound game. But count me as one of those people who is incredibly interested in the paired page (even more so than the religion tables).
Also, I know this is probably something that you've already decided upon, but if there is a way to get this with color formatting akin to the Godbound book and, even better, in hardcover, I'd totally be willing to shell out the extra cost that might entail as a customer. The color scheme of Godbound just worked magnificently, and the contrast level is perfect both on paper and monitor.
Geoffrey Walter
I really like the page with examples and explanations. That'd be just the best. If you want that input.
If that makes the book more expensive, I'm comfortable with that.
Henry de VeuveAgreed on designer notes over NPCs for the Words. Example characters for the Concept Words would be nice to have, tho. Artificially Intelligent Dracolich Emperor might be overkill, but awesome.
Jeremy PuckettCommentary, design notes, and NPCs would be super helpful and welcome. If you have to drop one of them for space, I'd rather see the design end of stuff than the NPCs, but I really hope there's room for both.
Ian Borchardt (Reverance Pavane)I'm seriously much more interested in an expanded Religion section. If you wanted to have a separate section on how to design and balance Words that would possibly be more useful than individual commentary on any specific word. NPCs don't really interest me all that much and wouldn't be all that useful to me.
Von Redrikk AlleneguiWhat would the Peak Human Word be like? I mean, would taking Fear, Vengeance, and Peak Human basically make me demigod Batman?
Kevin CrawfordPeak Human is more or less Batman-in-a-box. It kits you out with everything you need to emulate "I am human, but the best possible human at X". The gifts involve sphere-specific super-competence, immunity to mooks, super-determination, fast HP recovery, vast human contact networks, and so forth. You could make a Batman clone with it alone, but adding on Fear and Vengeance would make you a demigod-scale version.
Lord DarkviewWouldn't it be Vengeance and Night?
Dave Sherohman/me opens up his list of character concepts for future use and adds "Artificially Intelligent Dracolich Emperor".
Matthew SkailDesign notes please! Maybe a couple of nice.
Mason Munden
+Kevin Crawford
I'm entirely excited for this; I'd find design notes to be quite nice as well, but I do have a terrible question to ask of you.
While I understand this book is in the planning processes, I also understand that you are a man of most eminent workflow discipline and understanding. It is with that in mind that I would inquire: do you happen to have any estimations that you'd care to share on where your stages of the work process will line up with the coming months and weeks? This is, essentially, my asking "when do you estimate this to be ready for sale?"
Again, an awful question; please know that I (and other fans) will be grateful to see the product once its completed, regardless of how long that takes.
Joseph MeyerNice. Thanks for Murder and Madness.
Geoffrey Walter+Joseph Meyer now THAT is one hell of a sentence.
Kevin Crawford+Mason Munden If I'm reasonably lucky, it'll be out by the end of April. If reality is less kind, it may be the end of May. I need to get it put to bed rapidly, because I still need to get Wolves of God whipped into shape for a Kickstarter this year, and that's a 5-month writing project easy.
Nik MayEnd of April? Wow, that's fast! And awesome.
Carl Pellegrini
On the Concept Words maybe I'm missing something but they seem quite different, too much so, compared to the more normal words.
It seems weird to me to be a Godbound with the Word Peak Human.
Especially considering how basically the Words seem to represent aspects of the celestial engines that maintain reality.
Maybe I'm missing something that will become clear once I see one of these Words written out.
Geoffrey Walter
+Carl Pellegrini
Well, I mean... They're pretty obviously supposed to be very different from normal Words. They're concept Words. As in Words that embody an entire character concept or creature type.
It honestly wouldn't surprise me if they're cosomologically different from normal Words.
Lord Darkview
I think another way to think about it is this: You became a Godbound. For some reason, an aspect of your pre-Godbound nature mattered enough to... well, still matter. It is now also divine, with the rest of you. Hence it is a Word.
This alone is going to open up a lot of PC concept space.
Kevin CrawfordThe concept Words are quite different, but they're as much teaching tools as playable Words. They're meant to show GMs how to bundle conceptual abilities into a Word-analog so they can make them work smoothly with the rest of the game. These "Words" might not be actual Words, but instead just an accretion of divine-level magical abilities or Fated Destiny or whatnot. Or they might be actual straight-up Words of Creation. The fiction doesn't really matter as much as making them playable and convenient for the users.
Carl Pellegrini
Okay, cool. Thanks all.
So many good points. Points which make the book even more something I want in my hands.
I especially like this - "These "Words" might not be actual Words, but instead just an accretion of divine-level magical abilities or Fated Destiny or whatnot."
Of course everything else you said is useful, fun to know, and informative but I like this. A word which provides ideas on how to create our own is never not useful.
Thanks for all the responses.
In fact as an idea their presence totally aids in character progression without requiring the class or template route. The character became a primordial dragon and to represent the packaged abilities he chooses Dragon. Which I could see as starting as a catch all term for his magic BUT in the cause of play and his spending of dominion because an actual celestial engine backed Word. :)
I'm ɡreatly lookinɡ forward to this :) Will this be purely Words and Gifts or will there be other thinɡs?
I will refrain from lobbyinɡ for certain words to be added as I ɡuess you would have had to winnow down a bit.
Eh, sod it! A Word of Disease/Pestilence/Miasma would be nice.
Lord Darkview+Rebecca Ashling It has been indicated that the book will contain discussions and methods to generate religions and cults as well as Words, and perhaps discussions of the design and balance principles of those Words and examples of them in practice.
Bob SomethingWill there be more support/help in creating our own Words?
Mason Munden+Bob Something Kevin had mentioned, yes.
Mason Munden+Kevin Crawford I apologize for posing such a useless question to you, as I'm sure that I'd known your pricing guidelines from someplace else... but what sale price are you looking at for this product?
Kevin CrawfordI'm expecting it'll be $9.99 in PDF and probably $19.99 in softcover.
Mason Munden+Kevin Crawford Does softcover come with PDF?
Kevin CrawfordYep- I always bundle PDFs with any print-product purchase. I can understand why some people would want to charge a premium for having a PDF enclosed, but frankly, from a marketing viewpoint, it's better to just fold that premium into the base cost of the print book and include the PDF automatically than try to unbundle it.
Lord Darkview+Kevin Crawford No hardcover version? Unfortunate. Would have preferred that. Guess I'll get the softcover, then.
Mason Munden
+Kevin Crawford
(Psst, your next project for Godbound should include a bunch of theurgic invocations/artifacts/strifes.)
(I personally would not mind shelling out 20-40 bucks for the content.)
Carl PellegriniSo I'm reading Stars Without Number Revised and I can't help but think of how cool it would be to have AI or Transhuman characters at Godbound levels. :)
Timothy LamMan, I need this book as soon as possible. I'm joining a PbP Godbound game soon and I would love to bust out the Dragon and Lich King word. I'd be willing to throw down 10 bucks just for those two. Looking forward to the release, it's going to be quality.
When is this scheduled to be released?
Kevin CrawfordTonight I'm finishing the rough set for the Words and for the power-creation guidelines, which amount to about 50 pages. Then I need to finish writing and rough-setting the religion-creation section, which should be about another 30 pages, and while this is going on the art is getting completed. If I'm lucky, I'm thinking it will go live mid-April, and if not, mid-May.
Marshall Brengle