Gygax 75 Challenge: Week 1

So, the challenge for Week 1 is very basic. The steps are:

1. Develop Your Pitch

Come up with 3-7 bullet points that describe what you conceive of the campaign to be. The pitch for my home game idea is pretty simple. This is to be shared with the players to give them an idea what the campaign is about.
  • Fairie Tale Frontier. The campaign takes place in a frontier coastline where the fantasy has a fairy-tale air. Any faerie tale or fable could conceivably have taken place here.
  • Beastmen and Wild Men. The frontier is infested with magically-created and -influenced creatures that have reverted to a feral state.
  • Empires and Outlands. The campaign takes place on a frontier far from the reach of any nation-states, but that doesn't mean they ignore the area. The great, merciless empires tread the frontier with no regard for the natives.
  • Points-of-Light Hexcrawl. The campaign will proceed in a hexcrawl fashion. The players will begin in a small frontier town, and be able to explore at their own pace. While they do so, events outside of their immediate purview will unfold; they can intercede or not, in their own discretion. If they do not intercede, it is unlikely anybody else can.
  • System. Is undecided. I have worked up material in Fantasy Hero 6E, D&D 5E, and OSE formats, and would prefer something on the crunchy end rather than a narrative end.

2. List Sources of Inspiration

This is basically the Appendix N of your campaign. Again, no more than 7 individual sources, and you should include a sentence or two to explain what it contributes to your campaign. This should not be shared with the players -- but none of mine hit my blog, so...
  • Bernard Sleigh, An Ancient Mappe of Fairyland. Basically, there are several sources that could have gone here, which assume all fairy-tales, fables, and similar stories take place in the same place, so I chose my favorite.
  • Jack Vance, the Lyonesse Trilogy. This fits in well with the above; while no actual fairy-tales are referenced, the feel of the series is definitely out of Grimm's, or Andrew Lang's Fairy Books.
  • Alexander Afanasyev, Russian Fairy Tales. I know I already mentioned fairy tales in general, but while I'll be drawing a feel and vibe from other fairy tales, I'm taking actual characters from these.
  • Carlos Castaneda, the Don Juan Matus series. When I originally read these, they were considered important works of nonfiction; now, after further analysis and experience by others, they are widely regarded as fictional. Nevertheless, they are basically the description of an apprenticeship to a shaman from the point of view of a cultural outsider. I intend to use them to inform myself of the ways, beliefs, and powers of the beastmen of the wilderness, who will have a "noble savage"/feral dichotomy going on.

3. Assemble a Mood Board (Optional)

Me being me, this was the step I took first. The mood board was fun for me, since I've been collecting images that speak to me for a while. I love the /r/ImaginaryNetwork on reddit.com, and there are always great, inspiring images on there, with links to the artist's gallery so you can find similar work. My mood board can be found here: https://pin.it/6Twqe0t

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