Yaztromo Fri Feb 28 21:13:05 2014	Ulysses, Andy, unless the jade statuette of Courga in Hummingbirds Island isn't already booked for another adventure connection (I'm not 110% sure), please feel free to turn it into a statuette of Sindla (the goddess of Luck on Titan) and we canuse it for Jest's Lucky Island. If that statuette is already booked by somebody else, just let us know and we'll think up something else...:-)
	I'm going to leave it as it is until a gamebook requiring either Sindla or Courga actually exists. It will be very quick and easy to change if and when necessary.

Jest Sat Mar 1 09:04:11 2014	Hi. I've looked back and found that it was Duffmeister who originally suggested putting the statuette on an island somewhere (a post from the 4th of Dec). I don't know if this helps?
	As far as I can tell, duffmeister hasn't mentioned the statuette at all. I think the suggestion you are referring to was made by Ulysses, to which duffmeister did not reply one way or the other.

ffproject
Sat Mar 1 10:03:12 2014

Progress

As I've been suddenly very busy in general for the last few weeks, I haven't done much more here. Papagayo Island is quite close to being finished, admittely a long way behind the bullish time estimate I gave Gaetano a few weeks back.

I have updated the map :

- I only just noticed that Isle Of The Cyclops mentions two more islands : Morkatal and Nen-Tai. They are visible from the east of Goi Han.
- I've moved pi4t's unnamed island further east to accommodate the above.
- D-L-T's island now has a name : Crescent Isle. I've drawn it a bit more crescent shaped than it was before.

Ulysses
Sat Mar 1 12:19:19 2014

Re: map

This is a minor thing, but I have been imagining Blackfort Island as roughly circular, being the peak of an extinct and mostly submerged volcano. This is why it has such imposing walls (formed by steep lava flows) surrounding a now lush interior which was once actually the crater of the volcano.

At some point we may have to introduce scale. I can't imagine a cone volcanic crater being more than a few (probably less) kilometres wide.

I don't know a great deal about the size of volcanoes, but doesn't Blackfort Island need to be quite big (much bigger than Goi-Han) to plausibly house the advanced civilisation you have planned?

The shape of the island and the overall scale ultimately derive from this map - so Sempura, for example, would be about 80 miles from north to south.

It's always been entirely up for discussion though. I drew the map originally simply because there had been a request for one, and it looked like nobody else was going to do it. I did try to make it consistent with everything we already know about the Bird Islands, but I'm not attempting to lay down the law about their geography. If you want it changed, or even to draw up your own map, then that's no problem as far as I am concerned.

Jest
Mon Mar 3 12:16:34 2014

Hi all.

Yes you are right on all accounts.
I love the map, gives it all something solidifying in my opinion.

Ulysses. To make my writing easier, would it be ok to insert stuff onto Blackfort island and into Blackmaw itself? I'm not trying to take over or manipulate your island in any unfavourable way at all, just a few shops that I wouldn't be surprised if you had written into the book all ready or at least had ideas for. Also a small logging village at the other end of Blackfort, and a half way house/tavern called 'The Dark Horse' or something (I liked the name).
The reason being is Blackfort is the main trading location in the 'Bird islands' and it is the most logical place for me to put them.
I don't wish to be a pain but I didn't want to write them and find out it couldn't be done. And don't worry, nothing strange, just normal shops where you can buy and sell and have things made?

I'm also extremely intrested in the ship combat and trading idea (had you guessed?). My islands depend quite heavily on this and I've even written a rough draft on how I'd like this to work (yet again I'm not trying to take over! I know Ulysses is doing this and that he is busy and delayed at the moment and I am not trying to take the idea?)
Just it would (again) make writing my games a lot easier if I knew the 'ins and outs'. And i quite like my ideas, I think they will be fun and engaging.
I will post them once I tidy and tighten them up. It's going to be a little bit more complicated than Andrew Wrights original idea (there is a 'Ships manifest' at the end of the 'IOTC' down load that I think gives you a rough idea of where he was going with it). I don't know if Ulysses has worked from this or not.
Hope you like the ideaswhen they get here, shouldn't be too long.

Sorry Sorry Sorry that it's got so long again. Only a couple more (and less important, to me anyway) things.

Is there any more Gods or Godess' I should know about on Titan? Sindlar is the Godess of Luck right? Is there a description of her anywhere (It's not that important, a statue of Sindlar as a descrption will do if it has to).
Is there a God (or Godess) of Peace and / or Nature? These two and Sindlar are the three Gods my religion worship. I'd like to keep it as close to the original books as possible, but no bother if there are none, I'll just make them up.

Is anybody writing (or going to write) a game book for 'Sempura' and the other two 'newly found' islands?
I know Andrew Wright (again) had an idea or two for the island and gave an outline of what he had intended for 'Sempura' in an earlier post, and of course it would be great to keep it as he intended (or even better have him write it himself!)
I'd give it a go but I seem to have Bogged myself down with four other ideas for the 'Bird islands'.

Maybe one or both of these islands might be perfect for you and your new idea Yaztromo? Just an idea.

Jest
Mon Mar 3 13:52:47 2014

Is there a fire God for that matter?

Ulysses
Mon Mar 3 21:23:02 2014

@ Jest

I don't mind Blackfort Island being included by other authors. We just have to make sure it is all consistent. To that end, here below is the first entry on my gamebook, which describes the approach to the island and the layout of Blackmaw.

You stand at the prow as your ship cuts through the placid sapphire waters, the hot sun overhead making the sea sparkle. The breeze of your passage provides a welcome cool and you gaze ahead, wary for the emerald patches of shallow water, but mostly your eyes seek the dark mass of your destination: Blackfort Island.
Slowly it emerges like a block of darkness standing above the waves, attended by white clouds floating above. As you draw closer the featureless black resolves into towering volcanic cliffs, the bases lapped by foaming white water. Screeching flocks of gulls and croaking terns greet you as the ship turns to sail by the cliff side. The imposing cliffs of Blackfort Island surround the entire island and are broken at only one point.
You eventually reach the break, remnants of the great stone cliffs lying half submerged in the water, tumbled piles of rocks on top of and surrounding the great stone piers. Cormorants and other fishing birds rest or nest on rocks whitened by guano. Guided by the expert hands of your crew, the ship tacks to sweep through one of a number of passages through the rocks scattered across the entrance to a deep harbour. Watchtowers built of the same black volcanic stone stand to observe your entrance, though you see no watchers. The wind does bring life to blood-red banners hanging off the battlements, each filled with the head of a snarling black tiger.
The town of Blackmaw is situated in the harbour, overlooked by a large fortress of black stone that forms a barrier to the interior of the island. The town is a chaotic jumble of mismatched timber and stone buildings packed into the C-shaped patch of land around the large harbour. The timber piers cover as much areas as the town itself, providing moorings for hundreds of ships. The majority of the ships seem to be an extension of the town itself, too old and damaged to do any more than float at their moorings. With their masts cut off many have been converted to housing and shops without any hope of being able to set sail again.
As a trading port Blackmaw thrives on the spice trade and numerous trade ships are coming and going despite the countless derelicts. It doesn’t take long to find a vacant mooring and your crew manoeuvres the ship in, thudding gently against the dock. Longshoremen resting in the shade of a crudely erected canopy drag themselves away from their hookah and rum-flavoured tea to secure the mooring ropes before lingering with hope of employment.
Without waiting for the gangplank to be lowered, you climb over the side of the prow and leap over to the pier. Given the number of piers and ships here, it would not be surprising to be able to moor here without being counted; but you see an official hurrying towards you as if afraid you are going to flee without paying. The little man wears a blood-red tunic, and an official looking black cap with a short tassel on one side. His dour, wrinkled face manages to convey both distaste and boredom, as if he would be distusted by you if you were worth the effort. Stalking up to you his narrowed eyes dart in all directions to seize anything trying to escape his attention.
“5 Talons a day,” he says without preamble.
“5?” you query the high price.
He doesn’t bother to reply. Instead he holds out his hand impatiently.

Ulysses
Mon Mar 3 21:25:56 2014

@ Jest

Most likely the tavern you want would be located in an old ship permanently moored in the extended town. I have three already:

The Swill and Spit tavern is inside a decommissioned cutter complete with rusty cannons that have been moved to the upper deck. The sails have been transformed into broad awnings and several workers and sailors lounge in the shade with beer and pipes. You head below deck into the cleared-out hull, several tables scattered through a common room with a bar and the clanking of pots coming from some hidden kitchen.

The Blooded Swan tavern appears to have once been a luxurious pleasure craft of the same name. Its days of sailing are long past, so dilapidated that it has actually settled on the bottom of the harbour, only the upper decks and the raised prow and stern standing above the waves. The masts have been removed and a rigid timber walkway has been constructed leading directly into the former dining room of the ship.
Despite the once colourful paint outside that is now cracked and peeling, and the crude addition of boards and pitch to the exterior; the inside is clean and well-maintained, the brass and rosy timber fixtures polished to a reflective shine. The floor is even covered with a worn, but still rich red carpet.
You approach the bar and settle on a stool, reading over the menuboard.

The Princely Frog is small ketch which retains its main mast as the core of a spiralling staircase up to the crow’s nest. The mizzen-mast has been removed and the deck covered with a trellis-walled pergola heavy with flowering vines. Crossing the gang-plank to the swaying deck you find yourself in a wine bar, a rotund woman with a broad smile greets you. She is wearing a bright green sarong and very much looks like a frog; but politely you refrain from asking if the tavern is named after her. She shows you to a table and leaves you with the wine list.

Of course you are welcome to create another in your book.

Regarding the logging village at the other end of Blackfort Island, that isn't possible as I have written the island so far. But we can discuss exactly what you are trying to do and come up with an alternative.

Jest
Tue Mar 4 01:26:29 2014

@Ulysses.

:)

Love the writing! I really do. Isn't it funny when you think someone is thinking along the same lines as you and then you find out there route is completely different, unexpected and better. Assumption is the mother of all muck ups! as they say.

Cannons? This means there is going to be gunpowder around. I half expected this but didn't plan to write it in, just incase. I assume this means muskets and pistols and the like. This changes things a little for me, but not too much. If you are using it then I might aswell, and I bet others are too, now I think of it.

No probs about the village and tavern idea.
My idea was simply to have a little logging village that was supplying a shipwright at blackfort harbor. He in turn was knocking out warships, cargo ships and fishing boats ten to the dozen for the Baron and making a fortune for himself, and helping the Baron in his conquest to rule the 'Bird islands' and all its treasures and trade (and later the world?)
Loggers and villagers are going missing (men only, never women or children), as are the newly garisoned guards and the traders who work back and forth from Blackmaw.
Of course there is more than meets the eye going on here, something a little sinister.
The 'Dark Horse' tavern idea was (obviously) a halfway house/tavern for the traders. But it was more famous for being full of smugglers, pirates, thugs and the like, people who didn't really want to be found. Full of the Barons spys too, this was a pretty good place to go before the attacks started.
Now it's full of guards on Sentry duty at the tavern and patroling along its trade routes. And even they have started going missing in a scarily consistant manor!
The few survivors claim to see completely different beasts with only some similaritys, but it was dark and they were scared.

Not to worry though.
I'm now planning on putting them onto 'Sempura' if that's ok with all, just for simplicitys sake. I'll say it has one of the few remaining forests on the islands that has good ship building timber. I've got no plans for 'Sempura' (for now anyway), other than a jetty or pier, a tavern, a logging village and maybe a trading post. I know there is a post about this island. If some one else wants to write the rest (or a community effort anyone?) then great, I might even give it a go if it's left for long enough.

Is this ok? To use 'Sempura' like this?

What about the shops and the shipwright, can I insert them? I was assuming (again I know!) that Blackmaw was going to have a pretty big and well defended harbor, a market (or two) and a blacksmiths and other shops of the like found on a capitol island?

I'm also very wary of putting anything on your island that is ugly or out of place or you simply don't like. I'm pretty sure my writing skills are not up to your standards (I bow down to you) and I'd hate to change the flavour of your island in the slightest.

So I'm left with two options.
Either dump it all on 'Sampura' -blacksmith, shipwright and all (or on another island?)
Or write my own game book that revloves around Blackmaws shipwright and couple of shops, which I really don't mind doing (and had been intending to do if I'm honest).
I'd even send it to you if you like, so you can scratch out anything you don't like and re-write it to your liking and standards. It is your island after all.

I'm not trying to be a pain or give you more work I promise, and of course if you are really against the idea then no probs, I understand.

:)

Jest.

PS Sorry again, my posts seem to get sooo long.

Ulysses
Tue Mar 4 05:57:33 2014

@Jest

You've spotted a redundant reference to cannons I should have taken out. I believe to preserve the sword and sorcery style we can't allow gunpowder...

Blackmaw does feature a shipyard where some reparing and building of small ships takes place; but the Baron's wealth and power is built on trade. Blackfort has no significant resources and has virtually no manufacturing. Therefore, having logging, shipyards and smithing taking place on Sempura is very appropriate.
However, the Baron is the kind of person who would try to blackmail or make some deal with whoever was in charge of those shipyards on Sempura so that he could get those who serve him cheaper products and services, and deny products and services to others. Therefore his presence would certainly be felt on Sempura and shady deals at the Dak Horse in Blackmaw may well be required to get anything done.

With that in mind, I suggest you just go ahead and start on your gamebook. We can still change things later. It would be a lot easier for you if I had finished mine already; so apologies for that. Alternatively, the fact I haven't finished yet means I can easily incorporate some of your ideas into my depiction of Blackmaw.

Jest
Tue Mar 4 14:15:20 2014

@Ulysses

Please, no need for apologys.
It's making so much more sense now. Thanks.
No major manufacturing or resources on blackfort has really taken me by surprise (assumptions again!) It's starting to sound like a fortified-volcano-pirate-stronghold. I love it!

To this end moving everything to 'Sempura' (as you said) makes perfect sense. I'll probably have to take 'The Dark Horse' as well, so the Baron can keep an eye and foothold on the centre of the island.

Without knowing it I think I've half written (ideas wise anyway) the equivalent of what Andrew Wright had in mind for 'High Lords of the Archipelago', which in turn was based on a 'Fabled lands' book? A bridging book I believe that you go to every time you leave an island to go elsewhere?
Is this what you have been planning Ulysses? Gulp?
I've never played 'Fabled lands', infact I ownly heard of the books from this website.

This is why I've been so desperately eager to get the ship fighting info? No rush still though. I'll post mine first soon.

My 'Voyage' book (I'll call it for ease, it had no name untill now) involved ship to ship combat , trading around the islands (the ones that have ports or trading posts at least of course) in quantitys up to box/crate sizes. Pretty big profits if you get it right!
I've got two islands that I'm planning to write that that you can trade like this on. My 'Lucky-religious-island' and another that is quickly being converted to 'Sempura'. Funnily it makes more sense being there in many ways.
I had assumed (again!) Blackfort was going to be the main manufacturing town and trading port of the Archipelago. It wont take much to change though.

Do you like the idea of buying and selling of cargo at Blackfort harbor?

I think I/We need at least three locations to buy and sell stock to create variety and a little game play?
Of course traveling around the islands wont be easy. Avoiding or dealing with pirates (and worse) becomes a priority. The Kraken was even planning an appearence (Insta-doom!)

There would also be a new skill involved (like Anatomy and spearfishing and climbing skills mentioned earlier, I hope they are all still in and more!)
It's called 'Captaincy' and I'll go into more detail about it when I post my 'Voyage' book ideas later.

I fear this book is the most important to write (or at least submit ideas for) as it effects my other island ideas (and other peoples maybe) the most?

One more thing.
I'm not joking about a group effort for 'Sempura'.
I'm getting more ideas the more I think about it, but the island is huge!
Ideas?

Yaztromo
Thu Mar 6 22:16:37 2014

@ Jest

Here you are a few links to Titan deities descriptions:

http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Primal_Deities
http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Celestial_Court
http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Lords

Enjoy!

Jest
Sun Mar 9 09:49:26 2014

Thanks again Yaztromo!
Was exactly what I needed.
I had no idea there were so many Gods in the Fighting Fantasy Universe.
Helpfull and intresting both at the same time.
Thanks again.

ffproject
Sun Mar 9 21:45:53 2014

Ship Combat

Ulysses has sent me this draft ship combat proposal. Opinions invited.

At the risk of causing disappointment, I should state up front that I'm not expecting the online version to end up with anything this complex, but that needn't affect what rules are used in the paper version.

Yaztromo
Sun Mar 9 22:30:53 2014

@ Jest
have a look around in Titannica (Titan's Wiki) and you'll find plenty of pleasant surprises.

Yaztromo
Sun Mar 9 23:53:41 2014

I haven't included any ship to ship combat in Hummingbirds Island (and I have no plans in that direction either for Albatross Atoll), so I won't comment the draft.

(The truth is that I'm not good with game mechanics at all, and I'm really glad I found that aspects already covered in this project....)

Jest
Thu Mar 13 10:34:27 2014

Have been delayed, sorry.

I liked your idea Ulysses!

My Naval combat system was based more on the established Fighting fantasy system.

Roll 2 six sided dice and add your 'Overall ship attack strength'.
Your 'Overall ship attack strength' (or 'ship attack') is a mixture of various stats from your ships info sheet. These being your capataincy skill (A skill earned through voyaging and winning naval combats) + your crew (who are influenced by there numbers and condition-good or poor-and there armarments) + your ships attack bonus + your ships manoeuvrability.
Then roll another 2 six sided dice and add your enemys 'overall attack strength'.
Whoever has the higher roll wins the combat round.

If you win
Damage is dealt directly to the enemys Hull. The enemy ships have no armor rating, simply if they are considered to have armor they are given more Hull points to similate this. Once the enemy boats Hull points reach zero it is sunk. You mop up any survivors and immediatly put them to work on your own vessel (this cannot exceed your crew capacity, any extras must be thrown in the hold to be set free at the next harbor). Any cargo or treasures that comes floating up is also taken (obviously).

If your opponent wins
Damage is reduced by the amount of your ships armor rating (the minimum amount of damage that can be inflicted on you is one).
This damage is split amongst your ships Hull score and crew casualtys as follows.
One damage = One Hull point reduced.
Two Damage = One Hull point + One crew member killed.
Three Damage = Two Hull ponts + one crew member.
Four Damage = Two Hull points + Two crew members.
Five Damage = Three Hull + Two crew.
Six Damage = Three Hull + Three crew.
If you have no crew members left then all the damage is deducted from your Hull score.
If your Hull score is reduced to zero or less your ship is doomed and is sent down to the deep dark depths. You are set adrift on a lump of your own wrecked ship (not saved) and wake on a random (?) island.

Only your crew and Captaincy skill will change much throughout the game. Your boat stats will stay the same untill you change it for one or another.

What do you all think?

Ulysses
Thu Mar 13 11:17:48 2014

Apparently there was ship combat in "Seas of Blood", but I haven't been able to find a description of it.
If anyone can or if they have the book, could they post it here for us to look at?

yaztromo
Thu Mar 13 19:13:40 2014

I have "Seas of Blood".
I can have a look at it for you some times across the weekend (if I manage to remember).

Yaztromo
Sat Mar 15 16:36:11 2014

@ Ulysses

Now I'll copy the relevant bits of Seas of Blood rules.

Your Crew
Roll one die. Add 6 to the result. Enter this total under the CREW STRIKE section of the adventure sheet. This value is used when you engage in large scale battles using you ship (e.g. when fighting enemy shipping).
Roll two dice. Add 6 to the result. Enter this total in the CREW STRENGTH section of the adventure sheet.this scor represents the manning level on board the Banshee and is used to determine how efficiently you sail. You will lose CREW STRENGTH when you engage in large scale battles.
Certain actions will allow you to recover CREW STRENGTH points, but you may never exceed the initial score. If your CREW STRENGTH ever reaches zero, then you and your crew have been wiped out.

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