New Magic System in Far Away Land (part 2)

(This is the second post on the new magic system in FAL). In recent years, I have been fascinated with procedurally created worlds and systems, the replayability in video games like #Minecraft and #Dwarfortress, to name a couple of the procedural games I have spent way too much time on, specifically. In a TTRPG, I am really intent on players being able to create stories and narrate as much as possible during play. I think it is an easy way to get players involved in the game and give them a sense of ownership and agency over their interactions and actions. It gives them that wonderful moment to shine and be the center of attention. That feels good.

I wanted a magic system that reflected this style of play, so in the second edition FAL Enchiridion, I have done away with the spell lists of old and replaced them with a more freeform system. The goal here was to allow players to come up with their spells and definitions based on the type of character and play they want. The system uses two keywords, a descriptor (like provoking or weakening) and an effect (like plume or blast). With this two-word combination, the player then uses the guidelines provided to determine the spell specifics. So, while a freeform system, it is not necessarily an on-the-fly freeform system, as spells do require preparation. In play, the system has been incredibly rewarding and fun to test. Spells now feel intimately linked to the PC and grow with the PC over time, not just in the number of dice rolled and damage but in actual descriptions and effects. Also, as a side note, the descriptors and effects don’t need to be the name of the spell (like weakening plume), they are simply the ingredients providing direction for the spell.

Part 3

The New Magic System in Far Away Land pt1

Not all wizards have beards. But all wizards, sorceresses, mages, necromancers, and other practitioners of magic definitely cast spells. The new magic system in FAL allows for a more freeform approach to magic by providing players and GMs a list of descriptors and effects to build the basic description of a spell. As a character increases in their magical abilities, the effects of that spell likewise increase. In the next few posts, we’ll break down the new magic system and give some examples.

Check out part 2 here.

FAL Lore: Agnuns

 

This is an early piece from FAL circa 2016-ish. Agnuns riding grizzle bears facing off against some adventurers in the snow. Agnuns are telepaths (with one another and their bonded grizzle bear companions) thanks to a half-formed creepy face each Agnun has on the back of their head. They come from the world of Nevermore and were brought to Far Away Land during fissures opened thanks to the Boom War.

10 Years and New Horizons

 

In 2012-ish, I started on what would eventually become the Far Away Land Role-Playing Game. That project was a sort of culmination of stories, artwork, and ideas that had been swimming inside my head for several years. In 2014, I ran the first FAL Kickstarter, and amazingly, the game far surpassed its funding goal. Since then, the game and the world of Far Away Land have expanded through adventures and additional expansion books. Skip to 10 years later, and somehow I am still just as dedicated and devoted to building this fictional world.

FAL has evolved and continues to grow into the thing I originally imagined: a big, sprawling, epic world that I could play in, tell stories in, and create maps and artwork in, all while allowing others to share in that experience as well. I look back at the early artwork in those first books where I was drawing with a pencil, scanning, redrawing the images, and coloring on my old computer (the first thing I did with that first Kickstarter money after all rewards had been fulfilled was buy a digital drawing tablet). I think about the difficulty of completing even a single image. Although I had always drawn and painted, I was learning and developing a style that would eventually become my own. I was also developing a world that would grow with time.

Next year is the 10th anniversary of Far Away Land, and to celebrate that milestone, we will be running a Kickstarter for two new books. The first of these books is a second edition set of core rules called "The Far Away Land Enchiridion," which features rule revisions and compilation from all of the previous books, plus new content. The second book is the "Far Away Land Book of Lore," which explores the world/universe of Far Away Land, compiling current lore and adding to it greatly.

Over these next months, we will be teasing artwork, rule revisions, new content, maps (hex maps are back!), stories, and other elements of the new books. This is a huge project with big, thick, colorful books, and I hope that you will join us as we explore all the new awesome.

- Dirk

Getting Serious and Progress

I noticed that I have been quite the non-poster considering the last post on this page was from FEBRUARY 2023! Well, all that is about to change. With the upcoming 10th-anniversary of FAL fast approaching, as well as a Kickstarter for a second edition to launch in late spring or early summer next year, it is of paramount importance to get serious and start paving the way for both the celebration and the Kickstarter. Luckily, I have some help, not only with the writing of Far Away Land Book of Lore but also with the whole social media aspect. Social media has never been my thing, but apparently the 1990s were like 25 years ago, and I have continuously missed that digital train.

With all of this said, moving forward, social media for FAL will very much be handled with regularity and attention. Posts will be scheduled and driven by logic as opposed to whims. This is all well and good and honestly makes the whole thing more approachable and doable on my end. A special announcement will soon be made as I begin to share some of the load.

Okay. That's out of the way.

Progress on the new books has continued without interruption (even though I can't say the same thing for my updates). The second edition of the Far Away Land RPG will be called The Far Away Land Enchiridion of Awesome, and that book is essentially done. I have posted previously about updated mechanics and systems and additions, but I'll not go into that here (a comprehensive list will follow soon). That book is a bit over 400 pages, and unlike previous FAL books, it will be 8.5 x 11 inches.

The other book, The Far Away Land Book of Lore, is in the midst of being worked on. The focus so far has been gathering all of the various writings about FAL and getting them together in a single place - thus the Book of Lore. Preliminary work on that project has seen a revision of the maps and locations with two new continents added, completing the entirety of the world. The maps have not undergone any significant location changes, although I have decided to return to hex maps. I have created an entire custom set of hexes in the style of FAL so that these maps very much feel a part of the aesthetic of FAL in general. More to come on that in later posts (but I am really excited about the maps and the revisions to location descriptions).

Alright. I promised myself I would keep this brief. So that's where things are. I'm looking forward to being a bit more connected, working on the project with someone else, and moving toward the 10th anniversary of FAL.

- Dirk

FAL 1.5 Change Log 2/22

 Well, it seems Im not so great keeping a change log as I dive into the revision and editing and often forget to keep notes. But, here is where things stand as of work these last few days (some of this may be repeated from earlier logs or have undergone further revision)...

• Constructonomicon revision - crafting golems and clockworks (changed from mechanix) has been greatly simplified - less maths 
• Crafting mechanix type constructs uses the Tech Boon instead of Crafty
• Magic and Abilities chapters have an overview on spell and ability creation along with examples
• Advancement change - Ability upgrades are purchasable with XP (cant remember if I already listed this and too lazy to recheck)
• Settlement builder revised and expanded to include settlement descriptor lists
• Castle Builder included
• Character Grinders and Deadly Games have been updated
• Mass Combat greatly revised and simplified - no more charts and ridiculous maths - what was once a huge chapter is now just a couple pages
• 30 magic items have been added along with multiple lists for magic item generation
• All lists now use d6s in some form 
• Level 0 PC builder has been revised
• Necronomicon included
• Travel revised and simplified
• All Encounter lists have been revised and included

Whats next?

• Sea combat, ship building, crews and all that good stuff - Im happy with these rules and have no plans to make in-depth revisions
• Level 0 Character Sheets will be included (for multiples on a single page)
• Scouring Adventure Awesome for items to include
• 
  

FAL 1.5 Change log

One thing I want to point out as a major change to magic and abilities are the scaling system based on the score (from 1 to 5) indicating the magnitude of the spell/ability. This doesn't change the mechanics but allows for a more narrative approach to the handling of spells and abilities. 

Other changes these last few days...

• Mass Combat has been greatly simplified - the goal here was to provide a basic set of rules to allow for mass combat to take place - dense bookkeeping has been removed 
• Travel has been simplified
• Travel and Weather has been updated and simplified - trying to allow GMs the ability to make decisions without having to refer to charts for everything - ugh
• Training Montage rules have been reworked to be more specific and elegant in the information presented - the section flows better and is more specific with examples, explanations, and options (such as preparation advice) - montage scoring and cost/time modifications have been simplified - a chart of specific montage upgrades with costs and times has been included to make upgrade less vague
• Training rules have been included
• Treasure has been revised and expanded, a mini game has been included to create random treasure values - treasure types and random treasure has been included
• Monsters - this is a huge work in progress to the massive length of the section - so far, Actions have been reduced to fit the new Action system, small editing fixes have been made to correct errata in grammar, punctuation, 
• Downtime rules and guidelines have been added and simplified to allow for sessions between adventures
• Hireling rules have been updated to be more concise and elegant - new rules have been provided as to how to obtain hirelings - hireling costs have been revised
• Example names and spoken languages have been added to all PC character templates - languages will also be added to creature entries where applicable
• Gear has been expanded to included some elements from AitM - various weapon types and armor specifically
• Ability examples have been provided with broad categories as inspiration - 
• Magic and Abilities chapters have an overview on spell and ability creation along with examples
• More changes on the way - specifically getting ready to tackle the creature section and revamp the way spells and psionics are listed