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| terraleon |
 Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 11:43 am Post subject: [Streets of Zobeck] The Obligatory Thread. |
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Posts: 2013
Location: upstate NY
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If you've got questions or commentary about something in Streets, post it here and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
-Ben.
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| Cerunnos |
| Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 30 May 2010
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How's the magic level in Streets? I know it's standard D&D fare to have things along the lines of openly-vampire politicians, griffins in the military, and outright colleges for magic that are treated like modern colleges, but would it be that usable by someone who wanted to really make magic subtle and rare, have monsters be confined to the woods or otherwise actually portrayed as monstrous, and mythological creatures not being common?
For instance, I'm currently trying to build a private campaign setting for games I might want to run (once I actually start DMing), including lots of KQ stuff like Old Margreve and Sunken Empires, and one thing that bugs me is the commonality of magic. I think it's not longer really that "magical" for PCs, and want to have a world where you won't run into a store that sells magical flaming swords at the local market corner, even in a big trade city. There'll be magic, but it'll be rare or at least not something every noble would have access to.
Would Streets of Zobeck still be useful enough to my setting for me to spend the money to buy it on PDF? Or are most bits filled with things like a public population of magical creature civilians?
(I guess I can sum it up as I like a magical wild, but not magic in cities except for maybe plot points) |
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| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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Kobold Overlord
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 4985
Location: The Mines
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There's quite a bit of magic around the edges in Streets, as the setting does have an Arcane Collegium and the town has a kobold ghetto. Zobeck does not, however, have vampires or the like running around openly: it's very much a human-centric town.
The emphasis of the adventures is on street-level noir and dark fantasy. Less wizards, more thugs and criminals. I think it might be useful to anyone running Riddleport, Sharn, Thieves' World, Dragon Age, or Black Company adventures, for instance.
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Wolfgang Baur
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| Cerunnos |
| Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Hmm, okay. What about magic items, and clockwork items? How common are they (in terms of likelyhood of players to run into them or people with them) and what are they like? |
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| terraleon |
| Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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Location: upstate NY
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It's certainly not Sharn or Waterdeep. They don't have a lightning rail, or flying chariots, but there's a definite Steampunk element to it which means there are definitely constructs and steam powered gizmos, but certainly not everywhere. But this is the "Clockwork City," so take that for what it's worth.
The urban environment is gritty and there are some supernatural foes and encounters, but I don't think this is a high fantasy supplement.
Tell you what-- if you pick it up and absolutely hate it, I'll take care of the tab for you. I don't think you will, though-- there's a lot of love in those covers.
-Ben.
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| James Thomas |
| Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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Cerunnos - I also run a low-ish magic fantasy world. Magic items ARE hard to come by because there's almost no market for them and the knowledge to do so is largely unavailable. That said, I plan to run Zobeck as a rare center of wonders. If you're truly going LOW magic RPG then when using published materials you can always substitute magic items for something else... or simply not include them. It works for me.  |
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| Cerunnos |
| Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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Alright, I'll consider giving it a shot. Thanks, guys. 
James: Heh, I was kind of wondering if there was enough room to do that and still have a good amount of workable material afterwards, though. Hence the questions. |
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| terraleon |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:40 am Post subject: |
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Here's the first review I've been able to find on it, over at Robot Viking!
-Ben.
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| mightymongo |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:21 am Post subject: Nice! |
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| terraleon wrote: |
| Here's the first review I've been able to find on it, over at Robot Viking! |
"McFarland (and the authors who wrote the adventures) really nailed the sparse, straightforward style of gritty detective fiction, applying it to a fantasy setting. From the NPC bios to the adventure read-alouds, the text is a pleasure to read. This book is another one in the win column for Open Design."
Great review! Good job, guys! |
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| James Thomas |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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| I gotta agree with the the text being a pleasure to read. From the content to even the print on the page it was great! Everything flows! Good job! |
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| ChristinaStiles |
| Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Reviews seem to be coming out slowly on this book. I was hoping to see many more by now. |
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| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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Kobold Overlord
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
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Location: The Mines
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I agree that reviews have been slow arriving, but some of the reviewers were attending PaizoCon. Give it a few more days.
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Wolfgang Baur
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| ChristinaStiles |
| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| Wolfgang wrote: |
| I agree that reviews have been slow arriving, but some of the reviewers were attending PaizoCon. Give it a few more days. |
What? They'd rather go to a fun gaming convention and meet the Kobolds instead of staying home to write reviews? Where are their priorities?
Said firmly with tongue in cheek. I spent the previous weekend at a con when I had writing and editing to do, so I have no room to judge. |
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| mightymongo |
| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 12:06 pm Post subject: Was my keyboard always this loud? Just say NO to free ale! |
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| ChristinaStiles wrote: |
| What? They'd rather go to a fun gaming convention and meet the Kobolds instead of staying home to write reviews? Where are their priorities...said firmly with tongue in cheek. I spent the previous weekend at a con when I had writing and editing to do, so I have no room to judge. |
No kidding - I have a turnover for Wolfgang on the 20th, but still went to be a "booth bunny" at Paizocon....
(Kids - going to a convention and then proofing 16k words in a week is only for professionals - do NOT attempt this at home...) |
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| ChristinaStiles |
| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 12:21 pm Post subject: Re: Was my keyboard always this loud? Just say NO to free al |
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| mightymongo wrote: |
No kidding - I have a turnover for Wolfgang on the 20th, but still went to be a "booth bunny" at Paizocon....
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Ok, so where are the "booth bunny" pictures, Mightymongo?
I was one of the gaming guests at ConCarolinas, so, I really couldn't have stayed home, now could I? What would my fans say? (All 2 of them)
But, yes, playing catchup on word counts...I'm with ya! Life stuff has put me far behind. |
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