Antheel

[TerishD]

Well, with the coming of 4ed, our D&D group is waving good-bye to WotC. We have debated and fought with 3.0 and 3.5, and finally come up with a number of decisions that fit our style of game. We have been using the 3ed books as references for our debates, but more and more came to read from our house rules than the manuals. I hope by summer to have our own books. These will be printed by some company, and kept in house to be used by the players. Some have told me that they will buy one. I really am not going to promote Antheel, but simply keep it as my 'official' books.

Antheel is being put into our wiki. A lot of information is already in the ADnD.Com wiki, but that is more geared to interpreting 3.0 rules. Antheel will be the rules as THEY SHOULD BE (yes, my opinion). I am using the wiki to help me organize my notes and assure that my rule book will be complete.

Should anyone else care, I will gladly talk with them.

[VisionOfMalkav]

It's not really pertaining to the setting per se, but perhaps it would be a good idea to start a thread here about setting design using wiki's? I've toyed with the idea of setting up a wiki to help me organize some content for a setting I want to use, but I started using Google Docs to store the material and never got to putting it all up in a wiki. Just a thought, but if you have any suggestions for wiki-makers, you should start a thread, as I'd be interested in hearing about your (and anyone else's) experiences in the matter.

[TerishD]

I find the wiki to be wonderful, because it works. It is also easy to use. It also demands some understanding of naming conventions and html (not much, but some).

I find others recognize wiki, because it works. They however do not use it because they do not find it easy to use:
1) Proper use demands more than a picture and a cute phrase
2) It demands some understanding of naming conventions
3) It demands some understanding of HTML (not much, but more than zero)
4) It demands some ORGANIZATION of material

Actually working with wiki is simple. I will get to that in a bit. Before you start to work however, get a feel for your material.

Let us say that you want a page on Hotdogs. Fine, okay, now what is the reason you want to speak about hotdogs? Do you plan on a number of pages speaking about various sausages (weiners and such)? Do you plan on a number of cooking recipes for basic American kid fare? Do you plan on a generic overview page with other pages about local styles of making hotdogs (get into the classic Chicago/East Coast debate)?

Let us say that you want to eventually discuss at least a number of various sausages. Okay, so choose a category name for your page accordingly, say Sausage_Types (no spaces, as this is a classic naming no-no, so use underlines instead). Good, you are set to go.

Get into the wiki. I recommend getting into some page other than the main page -- like, you know, the link above. Now, look at the Address line (hint, it is the line with the address of the website -- okay, second hint, it is the line with 'http://evilwiki.pitsofevil.com/' etc. etc.). Now, see the word 'title=' (come on, look INSIDE the jumble of text -- yes, I know, it takes thought, but you can do it). Now, put the cursor at the end of the line, and backspace until you reach the '=' sign -- DO NOT DELETE THE '=' SIGN. Now type the name for your page (Hotdogs). Hit [ENTER].

Question: "Do I have to do this each time?"
Answer: "No, this is the only time you will have to do it this way."

Question: "A page came up." <Not really a question, but it could happen>
Answer: "Well, somebody is already using the page name you picked. You need to pick another one. Note that CAPITALS are important, and the page Hotdogs and HotDogs are two separate pages."

Question: "I have a page saying that no page is available."
Answer" "That is not a question, but that is GOOD! Click on the words: 'edit this page.'"

Okay, type whatever you wanted to type. At the bottom, put the text
[[Category:Sausage_Types]]
Save and you are done.
Well, okay, you are not done, but it is a start.

Question: "What did I do wrong?"
Answer: "Nothing. I only saved you from one error report (I did have you give your page a category). Your page has other problems. One problem should IMMEDIATELY concern you, the other should be a concern. However, until you do that first page, you really cannot appreciate the problems."

First problem: Your page is called an 'Orphaned Page.' That means that no links connect to your page. This should IMMEDIATELY concern you, because if you left the wiki now then how would you return to this page? You now have two options:
1) Edit the main page to put a link to your page
2) Edit YOUR personal page (look up at the top and you should see your logname) to put a link to your page

This is a wiki, so you can put a link to your page (personal or otherwise) on the main page. This is fine, as no one can easily access your page otherwise.

Question: "I don't know how to make a link."
Answer: "Okay, pay attention."

There are two types of links: Direct html and wiki.
Direct html are direct urls. They are done in the following manner.

Direct html - a direct link to some webpage
[http://evilwiki.pitsofevil.com/index.php?title=User:TerishD This is my homepage]
1, ONE, SINGLE, UNO, EINE open bracket '['
The url
A space
Whatever you want to type
ONE CLOSE BRACKET ']'

Wiki - another page in THIS wiki
[[HotDogs|Cheap American Hotdogs]]
Two open brackets '[['
The name of your webpage (typed EXACTLY)
a bar '|'
What you want to type
Two close brackets ']]'

With a proper (it is NOT red - if it is red, hit edit and make corrections until it is not red) link, you can now go to your page. Cool, now you have a page that people can access.

Question: "What is the second problem?"
Answer: "Okay, well, that one SHOULD solve itself. Assuming you really want to develop your topic. You see, the other problem is called 'Dead-end pages,' which means that your page does not go anywhere (and the category does not count). Look at the page you typed, and see -
1) What key words need explaining
2) What topics those interested might be interested in jumping to

Now, work on your page adding links to move people on through your topic. Don't get into a rush. I did an ENTIRE 3.0 database with a strategy of two pages a day. The point is to keep working, learning, and improving. Slowly, your information gets broad and becomes interesting even to you - and hopefully others enjoy it as well. (I considered my 3.0 database worthwhile when I started referencing it during gameplay).

[VisionOfMalkav]

Once my computer is fixed (see Rants and Raves or Announcements) I'll try to get a few pages set up for my as-yet-unnamed setting. Don't expect any mechanics though, since we (myself and the two others I brainstorm with) have decided to wait until we see 4E before deciding what system we're using for a release version. I imagine it will provide a good story reference for us to work from/edit until we have some mechanics to work with though.

[TerishD]

I am chasing down a story that I started long ago, as it has a character race that I am considering making official into my game. It is a type of lizard man race, but I am uncertain if I can make the rules that use for the characters actually playable in the game. The story actually is not set in Antheel however (honestly, it was set in Eberron, as the story began as my story submission to WotC for the 'new' setting). It is the only reason that I am not yet making the text of the first section of my rules open for inspection.

The wiki is however loaded with a LOT of information of my coming rules. This link will take you to the outline of material so far.

[TerishD]

Okay, a number of things have happened.

1) The outline has been moved to here.
2) The Kevalla have been added as a race.
3) All classes, regular and prestige, have been added.
4) Skills are going in.
5) The first part of the text (intro and races) is being edited (again).
6) My server is going to again be fired up, new ip put into certain locations, so website will be back up.
7) Link to download first section will thus be forthcoming (for those that want to look or harass me about errors).

Note that I set this summer as the date for version 1.0 of the rules. I will consider the first printing to be the playtest version. While most rules have been heavily tested, having them all together and official as stand-alone (no more core books as support) might reveal some problems.

Oh, and will soon be starting another Antheel story in the Niche.

[TerishD]

All feats are in. A whopping 78 of them.

I am going to spend some time on house-cleaning (making my outline a little neater and handling any pages with errors). I will then start working on the next parts: Facets of Antheel, Combat, Magic (and the spells). Since I am off school, I am hoping to move through this stuff rather quickly (naive person that I am). Now - spells - there are hundreds of them. I also am making a few changes to them (technically minor, functionally important). Still, I can work on the manuscript at school, so my June/July deadline seems still realistic.

[Clay_More]

I've read through a substantial amount of the material on your Antheel wiki-page (and there's quite a lot to read, so I naturally didn't go through every little thing). It was a little bit hard getting a deeper perspective on the setting, but I think I managed to get the general flavor, that it is a kind of light-hearted high-fantasy setting. I was pondering, are you putting a greater emphasis on roleplaying than combat when designing classes? It seemed like many of the classes had some implements that only impact roleplaying (like the Cavalier and Gypsy Noble). I also noticed that some classes seem to be quite open to interpretation (the alchymist, in particular, seems rather vague and I presume he requires quite a bit of elaboration from either the player or the DM? Or do you intend to elaborate further on the class?). Some of the classes were good, such as the Rage Mage, and others were silly, like the Girly Fighter (but as you say, its mostly a joke-class, despite being playable). The witch was also pretty interesting.

I noticed you use a special coinage system, is there any specific reason for using that? I always have a tendency to stick to "the basics" on some rudimentary things for the sake of simplicity, even though logic would dictate otherwise. I use our normal names for the months and days, and there's 7 days to a week and 12 months to a year, and I also stick to normal D20 currency. I did read up on your coinage and I was pondering if there was any specific reason why it was different?

Anyways, hard to say a lot about the setting itself, as I couldn't really find any map or descriptions of countries or cities. Are you still working on the setting?

[TerishD]

THE BOOKS ARE IN!!!

Let me give credit to Kinkos. I am sure that there are ways to reduce the charge, but for about $50 a book I received a wonderful product. The paper quality is wonderful. The covers are as I hoped. The printing is clean. 416 pages of solid text, no pictures, and it is very readable.

I am looking forward to gaming.

Oh, sorry that I missed your question, ClayMore. Well, my answer is that decimal coinage is NOT historic. Pieces of eight, so many shillings, etc. I came up with the idea for petals and crowns long ago when we began discussing coin sizes and weights. What I originally perceived as a cute oddity of carrying standard units of weight (coins from different realms have the same value, because they have the same amount of metal), has slowly become a symbol of the odd 1ed/3ed game that I play. One needs to remember that 1ed had 1/10 of a pound coins (over an ounce in weight), and then slowly the coins seemed to shrink in size to the modern 50 to a pound. I thus tend to think of crowns as 1ed coinage and petals as 3ed coinage. Units of four actually made sense (I left it open for half a coin to be called a piece of eight, but I have never used that). Anyway, i find modern decimal coinage as dumbing down the game. I want my world to be different, and it helps get that message across to the players when they have to use a different money system.

[Clay_More]

Hiya Terish!

Cool, you got your setting printed? Thats pretty awesome, didn't sound like it cost a fortune either.

I can see your point about the monetary system, it does add some flavor and uniqueness to the setting.

Just a quick question, do you have a map of the setting in an online format somewhere?

[TerishD]

It is coming. My website is back up. It is really simply at the moment, but I want to get a wiki running and a little better front page. Right now I am working on my first scenario - EVERYTHING has to be recreated, if I want a monster, I have to write it up; if I want a magic item, I have to write it up; etc. Will be working on web site and other features as I find time.

[TerishD]

well, the games on Thursday are going well. The first night had a low attendance, but it did help get the setting established. I have done my usual of beginning a story arch with a completely outlandish story, but grounding it in the fantasy setting.

I kept the location and main city from my previous campaign. This signaled everyone that while there was a new official rule book, that the actual rules had not changed significantly. They noticed some changes, harassed me about some wordings, but otherwise accepted things as my version of reality according to how I had been griping for a number of years now.

One player made his character my own reptile race, Kevalla (note to self, finish working on the story that introduces them), although no one actually created an odd character class. I have a Monk, Fighter, Cleric, and Thief. The major NPCs are a Monk, Wizard, Cleric, and Thief (with a group of Kobolds and a couple of Sahaugin).

The tale is of the Monk wanting to secure his own nobility by obtaining the lost wealth that he believes exists and is marked by the existence of an ancient map (a picture by Lee Gibbons that went with some scenario/computer game) that is going to take a number of adventures and problem solving to even begin to understand how it even applies. I play the Monk as very idealistic and driven with even my most capitalistic players choking on his speeches of one day ruling a vast organized land where everyone follows the order and benefits (especially those starting with him). The characters can see that Pholos pays his staff (ie. the NPCs), and are presently going along while they determine their own directions.

I threw some very rough fights against the party. I knew that I was throwing some very rough fights against the party. The fights were very rough. While I intend to back off on the strength of the encounters, I was pleased with what I saw.

First, the characters did not hack through the opposition. The fights WERE rough. What I will be watching is development to assure that a balance is maintained.

Second, the enemy did not just walk over their opposition. The opponents were at a higher CR than the PCs, but they did not simply stomp their opponents. I want a world where Kobolds can exist with Giants, so progression is not so flamboyant as WotC has tried to make their rules.

Third, as odd as I make my scenarios, there were rules to handle it. Intuit Direction actually came up. Character background was referenced. Some of the ease was the quality of my players, but a lot simply worked because the rules clearly indicated success or failure.

I promised my players that the next leg of the story would not be so strong with fights, but they know that I will try and trip them up another way. My mind is a strange place, and when doors are closed there are still windows to some really weird landscapes. I am trusting in my rules to handle it, and we shall see.

[TerishD]

well, 4 new players tonight with one being permanent. My daughter brought two of her friends over to play, and they seemed to have fun for a period. An old friend (rather a kid who I knew and has now grown up) also came, and he claimed to now be a regular (my daughter and her friends has school/jobs, so will be irregular at best).

After working on CR tests last week, I had already set up this week to be more of a standard encounter run. Even though I had a large group, I went ahead and allowed a single gnome Wizard (3rd level) have it solo. As is usual with such a character, he put on a good show and forced some decisions by first levels. Once actually faced in combat however, he went down. The encounter could not have been more classic.

I then had a usual ambush encounter using oil flasks (using my modified oil rules). This was more of a challenge for a large group demanding tactics. I dropped a couple, but nobody bled to death. It thus went down as a victory for the group.

The encounters stayed challenging and everyone left claiming to have had a good time. I told them that I have done CR tests, now I have proven that straight par opponents can be a good fight, so next week I am going for weird. All however know me pretty well, and they no longer think of my stuff as weird - just normal stuff for me. I am thus considering how to tweak up my scenario to really catch them off guard.

[TerishD]

The Pdf is AVAILABLE!!

The game is being regularly played. Some issues have been found, but almost all problems were simply me working alone to get the original manuscript together. Most silly one-person-cannot-do-it-all mistakes have now been corrected. If you notice the front page, there is now a section devoted to giving the names of those who are helping with the game (more names should go there, but those were the major names). If you want your name to go there, find and DISCUSS any errors that you see (or think you see).

Anyway, the book is HERE! Enjoy.

[TerishD]

Version 1.3.1 of Antheel Rules is now printed. This version is in hard back and has an index. The link is in my signature.

The next book planned is the actual manual on the setting. I am in no rush to put this manuscript together, as it is my world and I am not finished playing in it yet. The other book is the usual monster manual. I have been looking to odd areas to get my monsters, and a few standard ones have not acted as they players thought they should. Still, I am watching the monsters as the game develops to check on how things change with increasing CR. I am thus not willing to say that my monsters have been locked down enough to codify.

Anyway, the softback manuals from Kinkos served me well. It however will be better to have hardbacks, and I expect these to last longer.

[TerishD]

The new books are in. They look magnificent. Lulu gave me a wonderful product at almost half the cost.