Post by Van Davis in Wilderlands comments

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I just finished flipping through this, and I think it's a wonderful condensation and restatement of the Into the Odd rules! It does a very good job of concisely restating all of the general rules and concepts of ItO, while injecting your own small tweaks without them feeling "tacked on."

I VERY much like your one-page takes on the different races, and the similarity to the Bastionland and Cairn layout of a short description with some randomized backgrounds and gifts for each. This really is a great, rules-lite method of injecting any heritage or background variations anyone could ask for, regardless of genre!

I was puzzled by one thing...there are no wizards? I could almost understand if we didn't focus on making them a player option, but there isn't even discussion of magic-using entities in the NPC/Enemies section.

You mention "spells" a couple of times, instead of "songs" or "sagas," and I was wondering if this is a system you plan to expand upon later?

DedZeppelin21 days ago(+1)

Hello Van Davis, thank you for checking out Wilderlands and giving your thoughts! To your question on spells and wizards, for the initial release on the book I wanted to focus on creating a game that could feasibly play directly in Middle Earth, where the only wizards are named characters or far away to the east. However, some of my playtesters have pestered me to create some kind of wizard supplement in the future, and I am tempted as more people ask as a separate PWYW publication.

On the context of the spells of the enemy, Tolkiens heroes often fought against the sorcery of spectral foes such as the Barrow Wights and the Witch King. Tolkien also has a great passage differentiating the Art of the Elves from the sorcery of the Enemy. Thinking on your point, I could have included a spell caster villain in the bestiary to make this point clearer! I do have an adventure in mind with a spell casting villain, and I will be sure to include how they are “different” to the Songs of the free peoples in that publication.

If you have any other questions about the game or future releases, please reach out.

Van Davis20 days ago

Thanks very much for the reply! That all sounds reasonable.

Again, I really love your layout and style on this...concise explanations, more classic fantasy than Into the Odd and closer to my feelings playing D&D as a kid than Cairn, yet still easily compatible with either. I'll definitely be following for more.

If you're ever looking for any more art collaborators for future products, I'm more than willing to send some samples.

itch.io

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