Castle Xyntillan

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
Not trying to poke the bear
You reviewed this, didn't you? (quick check) Yes you did. It's on my list, but the low score has me passing over it for other things...
Not a huge Guy Gavriel Kay fan, but he's got a good novel set in the aftermath "Children of Earth and Sky"
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?

Osrnoob

Should be playing D&D instead
I'd love to see it too, but might writing about one's own product be construed as egotistical?...
I would equate it to a directors commentary track on a DvD for a film they made.

Thats pretty normalised for me, but maybe all those were egotistical.

If anyone knows Marty S make sure to tell him I enjoyed his audio tracks. And also we forgive you XD
 

Melan

*eyeroll*
I'd love to see it too, but might writing about one's own product be construed as egotistical?...
Yes. I am also concerned about pulling back the curtains fully, since my post might be taken for gospel and constrain the reader's imagination.

The Byzantine did the upper levels a while ago, and, having run a long campaign in the castle, he is about as knowledgeable about it as anyone can be.
 

Osrnoob

Should be playing D&D instead
I will check it out! Thank you!

I still think you can provide commentary without contributing to a gospel.

Pablo Abodavar, G Del Toro, Quintin T, M Scorsese have done so on commentary tracks.

I think the tactic they focus on is how it was made. Not the meaning of the art. Focusing on the construction.
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
I think the tactic they focus on is how it was made. Not the meaning of the art. Focusing on the construction.
Yeah @Melan : Don't think of it as "bookseller plugging their own work" - think of it more as "designer diary" or "author walkthrough". Those have real value to communities like these, like when a director does a Q&A after a film screening, or a panel of celebrities talk about their experience making a TV series at a convention. People here won't see it as self-horn-tooting; they want to hear that stuff.
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
It's true, @Malrex has done a fair amount of reflection on his own work here, and it's been very instructive.
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
I checked out that link and this really stood out for me:

In the earlier, easier areas, straight combat and highly lethal traps are de-emphasized in favor of interactivity, and where tough combats do exits they are usually placed at the end of short chains of rooms, and not far from an exit.

Where heavy NPC or environmental interaction is present, room progression is often much more linear, though I can't say for sure this is a pattern rather than my spurious assumption.


I'm interested to know if this was indeed intentional or just happened organically...
Now that I'm thinking about it, the pacing was noticeable in the manor. There are some OSR-style over-powered NPC's that can be encountered on the 'lower levels' [more easily accessible areas of the manor] but there's room to flee the encounter or, in many cases, there's room in the NPC description for smart PC's to talk their way out of trouble Planescape-style.
 
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