New Years

The View staff would like to wish you and yours a Happy New Year. We'll see you on Monday when we resume our original content.
 

Morning Coffee Break - New Year's Edition

 Got your morning cup of coffee and a few minutes? Great! We're trying out a new feature at the View - we're going to be asking a series of questions and we want to know your answers! The question is posted below. So while you sip your morning beverage of choice, ruminate on this one:

What is your character's resolution for the new year 1022?

Head back over to Facebook and let us know!

Caption This

Here's a photo from a Realms event lacking any specific context. Go on back to Facebook and comment with the best caption you can think of.

What You Missed- A Very Merry Yule at Crazy Uncle Cecil’s Tavern: Fifteen Years and Going Strong!

 by Tyler "Thoril" Chase

Hello everyone, another year has come and gone, a year full of tidings, both good and bad. This evening of festivities was different than our usual Yule gathering with a new location and limited time together, but it was no less important. The time we get to spend together, along with the memories we make with one another, are more important than any amount of ale or any mcguffin.

This Yule, I arrived at the tavern and set up with my friend Avendar who had beaten me there. We chatted and passed the time as we waited for the others of our nation to arrive, mingling with other partygoers and conversing. The King of Chimeron arrived and gave his traditional opening toast. He disappeared as quickly as he came, as is often the way with those who bear the weight of a crown- likely being called away to deal with critical business in these dark times.

Some reindeer games were happening on the other side of the tavern with Father Yule's helper Florentine Fizzysocks. Unfortunately, I did not partake in them, so I am unsure what kind of fun people were having. I thought I spied some present wrapping and whimsical headwear. Father Yule showed up, later on, granting his yearly gifts to both child and adventurer alike. I was greatly surprised and thrilled by my gift, but that is all you're getting out of me on that.

After Father Yule departed, my attention descended upon my annual quarry, the yuletide raffle… With a generous donation, I was able to secure a respectable pile of prizes to the cheers and jeers of my fellow adventurers, both supportive and jealous of my tactical ticket dispersal. With my treasures gathered and re-dispersed to both friends and family, only keeping a couple items for myself, it was time for us to leave the tavern for another year. My kin and I headed back to the Nation of Voraniss to continue the festivities around warm fires and strong mead.

So, until next time... when we are once more upon the field dealing with the threats of our world and others, protecting those both old and new to us in the uncertain future, remember you are strong. You will continue to become stronger than you once were. Our work is not yet done, and we are strongest when we are together. Merry Yule, everybody, and happy new year.

Meme Monday

by the Meme Team

Merry Christmas!

The View from Valehaven staff wishes a Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it. We'll return with regular content on Monday.

Morning Coffee Break - Holiday Edition

Got your morning cup of coffee and a few minutes? Great! We're trying out a new feature at the View - we're going to be asking a series of questions and we want to know your answers! The question is posted below. So while you sip your morning beverage of choice, ruminate on this one:

What does your character hope to see in their Yule stocking this year?

Head back over to Facebook and let us know in the comments!

What You Missed - Uncle Cecil's - Photo Version

 photos by View Staff

Aeston's Cartography Corner 2 - Long Road to Ruins

Hello everyone. I don't have anything new to show on the map itself, this week. I have been adding new things to it, it's just not far enough along to display the progress yet. Instead I'd like to take this opportunity to start a small discussion and solicit some feedback.

As an overarching thought that I'd like everyone to consider, I think it is important for us, as a community, to decide what the map is "for". Of course that answer will not be the same for everyone, it has certainly not been in the past. Some people have treated the map as a loose guide to where everything is while others have managed their corner of it with painstaking specificity. Some have used it as a method to display their in-game power with the size of their huge tracts of land, others barely care that their nation is represented on it. We're not a game that relies on a map the same way a TTRPG might, but the map does have a lot of capacity to enrich our world.

So my first question is just that: To you, what is the map for? What goals should we consider while we recreate it?

Now, a couple of questions that will more practically help me in my design and drawing of the map.

Lets talk about towns, ruins, and other landmarks

In the previous version of the map, population centers and ruins were designated with the following symbols:

So there were four available sizes of population centers and ruins which were mostly meant to mark historic Realms nations that no longer exist, though they were certainly used for other things as well.

I would like this version of the map to be a little more information-dense and give nation-owners a little more choice as they design where things are in their borders, so I propose an expanded set of symbols. This is what I whipped up after a little consideration:

Most of the descriptions on the symbols above are hopefully self- explanatory. I'll just add that the "important location" symbol is meant to be a catch-all for any landmark not already on the list - a lone tavern, an academy, etc.

I'm not wed to these particular symbols, it was only my first attempt. So for my second question I'd like feedback on people's opinions on these symbols. particularly if this is too much specificity or not enough, if there are important symbols that would be widely used that are missing and need to be included.

Lastly I'd like to bring up the issue of roads.

When Carrie made her original map she decided to add established roads and paths. This was something Doug "Remissil"Aucoin did not have on his version. This was Carrie's map key at the time.

When I inherited the map from her I continued that element of the map and Doug carried it over to his version of the map as well. The issue, however, is how much more complex the map has gotten over time. When Carrie made her first map there were only about 30 or so nations and they were pretty small, relatively.

Even during the later part of my tenure with the map, while things had certainly expanded since then, the information on the map was not so dense that the system of roads was out of control, though you can see it trending in that direction.

Doug made the map much more of a work of art than Carrie or I ever did, and in doing so added a lot of visual information to it. Forests, hills, mountains, and other map elements left very little negative space. 

The above three pictures illustrates how much more complicated the map has become as it has spanned three decades and has absorbed the community world-building from everyone across the Realms.

So, back to roads. The question I asked myself, and now to you, are: what are they really for? There's never been any kind of doubt that you can get from one location in the Realms to another. I don't think many people consult the highways on the Relams map when questing and say in their best Maine accent "Ya can't get thar from here." Is it worth adding roads to the new version of the map or will it just add clutter? Is it worth still specifying which roads are paved and which are dirt? My personal opinion is that they are vestigial and we can move on without them but this is a community project and I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

So the third and final question is: Roads, what do we do?

Thank you for taking the time to read this article and thank you in advance for any feedback you want to give over the Facebook comments, through PM, or over the Realms Discord #cartography channel. 

In service,

Jason "Aeston" Rosa

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Flashback Friday - Pictures from 2002

 

The Coronation of King Pyr

The Coronation of King Pyr

The Coronation of King Pyr

The Coronation of King Pyr

The Coronation of King Pyr

Feast of the Leviathan 4

Feast of the Leviathan 4

Feast of the Leviathan 4

Feast of the Leviathan 4

Feast of the Leviathan 4

Feast of the Leviathan 4

Green and Gold

Green and Gold

Green and Gold

Green and Gold

Green and Gold

Green and Gold

Tournaments of Creathorne 9

Tournaments of Creathorne 9

Tournaments of Creathorne 9

Tournaments of Creathorne 9

Tournaments of Creathorne 9

AITA - An Ask Zarine Special Edition Series

by Sara "Zarine" Jessop

Issue #3: Exhausted and Out of Spells

Dear Madame Zarine

I have been in the Realms for years now. I have met extremely lovely people who I would give my life for, or better yet live for so that I may protect them. 

Then there are those whom I despise. Who’s actions and corner cutting and backstabbing sour my stomach. They lie and cheat and are selfish in our adventures who swoop in once all those at the frontline have either been successful/killed/or distracted by combat to reap the rewards. They are obvious favorites of gods because their magic and armor are endless and I envy their blessing. 

As blatant as this is, all of the people of the Realms love them. They are held on pedestals and patted on the head and encouraged to milk their deities' graces.  They are never called upon their hoarding of treasures. While we protect them through our adventures and tarnish ourselves with blood sweat and tears, they proclaim to be the heroes of the day while we are tossed to the side as useless pawns. 

I feel wrong for having this bitterness boil in me, but am I wrong?

AITA for not loving these people? AITA for thinking they are despicable and need to be punished like the spoiled rotten children they are behaving like? AITA for intentionally not being nice to them and plotting with others to commit atrocities that will lead to their downfall? 

Sincerely,

Exhausted and Out of Spells

***********************************************

Dear Exhausted and Out of Spells, 

This is actually three questions and you spelled ‘Madam’ wrong, but I am nothing if not forgiving so I shall answer your questions. Yes, all three of them. Some of this is similar to a question I already answered, so for my feelings on ‘jumping the line and collecting loot like an opportunistic twit’ please refer to Issue #2: Frustrated Front-Line Fighter.

Now, as for them being ‘favored by their gods’ I am going to assume from context that you mean ‘drawing upon more power than the rest of us are blessed with’. I too have encountered these adventurers. The ones who never seem to run out of magical energies. They always have a spell handy, even though they clearly used their daily allotment hours ago when we were stuck on that bridge because we couldn’t figure out that puzzle that was there for literally no discernible reason. 

We could call it a lot of different things; over channeling, favored by the gods, fraud, fortuitous tidings, aggressive borrowing … but the word for this in the mundane language is ‘cheating’. I like that word because it feels harsh and wrong, so that’s the one I’m going to go with. Why do we allow it, this cheating? It clearly bothers people to the point of plotting crimes of their own, so why don’t we do something about it?  I’ll tell you why. No one likes a cheater when they are cheating against them. However, a whole lot of people love a cheater when they are cheating for them. Yes, there are a few who are legitimately good and just people who would call those folks out regardless of if it benefited them. Unfortunately those types are in limited supply and we recently lost one of them. Most people either encourage ‘helpful cheating’, or at the very least overlook it - victimless crime and all that. Add to that the political and social ramifications involved in calling someone out for something ‘harmless’ and most people will just look the other way. 

So we all turn a blind eye while these fine patrons of more powerful gods than the rest of us worship are running amuck with unlimited power and ever growing egos. Do we think this won’t become a problem eventually? That literally sounds like an exact description of like, eighty percent of the articulate villains we’ve fought in these lands. Perhaps this is where our villains come from. Not from far off lands, born under a bad sign or cursed by an even bigger and badder villain. But from here, from our own ranks. The evil within them lovingly curated by us, the citizens of the Realms. We saw it at its infancy, and instead of doing something about it we nurtured it and fed it until it grew out of control. Suddenly, we shun them when they step over some invisible line that moves constantly, then act surprised when they destroy a few nations, move into an abandoned castle, and spend the rest of their natural (and unnatural, I suppose) lives trying to destroy all of us. 

So, are you the arsehole for not loving these people? No, you’re not. You don’t have to like anyone. And you especially don’t have to like people who actively work against the common good in the guise of helping us succeed. There are actually quite a few folks who dislike these people, they just don’t want to make a political and/or social misstep and actually admit it outside their own circles. 

Are you the areshole for thinking they are despicable and need to be punished like the spoiled rotten children they are behaving like? Again, no. These problems need to be dealt with lest they become bigger problems later. As much as I said we create these problems ourselves, that does not mean that the offenders are absolved of responsibility. We create the bigger problem by not dealing with the smaller problems from the start. They start the fire, but we throw on more kindling rather than attempting to put it out, so to speak. So they are sort of the arseholes, but honestly the collective population of the realms are the real arseholes for allowing it to continue and maybe we deserve what we get. 

Are you the arsehole for intentionally not being nice to them and plotting with others to commit atrocities that will lead to their downfall? Alright, so you might be the arsehole here, but I suppose it really depends. Have they already become a supervillain beyond saving? Then no, you're not the arsehole, you're just doing what needs to be done at this point. Are they still savable? Then yes, you’re an arsehole for being a shady little walnut who takes them out from the shadows rather than facing the problem head on. Two wrongs don’t make a right, sadly. Punishing ‘problem adventurers’ should really be a realms-wide effort done openly and honestly and not the secret agenda of small groups on witch hunts. But then again, if no one is willing to do anything about it, sometimes you just need to be the arsehole and take matters into your own hands. 

Verdict: Well, two out of three isn’t bad and you're mostly not the arsehole. Though since you are a part of the greater realms community and really we’re all the arseholes for putting up with this cocamamie, then in a roundabout way you kind of are the arsehole. 

So, general plebs of the land, do you think they are an arsehole? No? Maybe? Well, don’t hold back, we all want to know! Feel free to weigh in in the comments. 

Have a query about your potential arseholishness? You can send your questions directly to me  (sarajjessop@gmail.com if you have no other contact information for me) or you can reach me through the View’s offices at  areni.daru@gmail.com . 

WIWTG: UCCT 2021

 Why I Want To Go to A Very Merry Yule At Crazy Uncle Cecil’s Tavern: Fifteen Years and Going Strong!

By Ryan “Orion” Welch

It’s time for another Uncle Cecil’s Crazy Tavern! Except only kind of because the name changes every year. This year’s acronym is CUCT but nobody uses that because they don’t want to get confused with the off-brand HVAC adhesive CUCT TAPE. I don’t recommend using CUCT TAPE on your boffers; you can’t trust any product that uses a goose as their mascot.

The staff has worked so hard to maintain this tradition while faced with a hand of fate which seems determined to take these good times away from us. Besides, let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment: were you really looking forward to going questing in the cold, wet, mushy snow? No, I didn’t think so. Better to stay inside where it’s warm and dry. The site will be damp, but you don’t have to be!

Now with it being Yule and all, it seems appropriate that I give you all a present. That’s ok, you can open it now. What is it? It’s the gift of knowledge! Secret knowledge! An answer to the question that has plagued us for weeks: What are the Yuleympics??? I can tell you this: Pater Yule's Holiday Helper, Florentine Fizzysocks will be taking a break from managing the workshop to bring us some Yuleympics! We’ll be able to compete with and against friends in seasonal contests and games! Many Bothans died to bring us this information; make sure you honor their sacrifice by entering into the Yuleumpics. 

I love UCCT! It’s a great way to celebrate the end of the year with all of my favorite people. So what if the site is different and the format is a bit shorter? We’ll still be together, and that’s what Yule is all about!

Aeston’s Cartography Corner

 TLDR: I’m launching a new Realms Map project. Instead of this being a project that’s entirely mine I would like it to involve a lot of community consensus and I would like to communicate progress and solicit feedback through View articles. I know many of you have updates to make to the map. I’m not quite ready to start accepting all of your information but I will in the near future. I will also be publishing guidelines that we create for map addition in order to make the project most sustainable. Here’s the link to see it so far: https://www.realmsnet.net/maps

Hello Realms,

It’s been almost two decades since I last attempted to make a map of the entire Realms. Since some of the people reading this are probably unaware, I was the manager of the Realms map for about five years in the early 2000s after inheriting the project from Carrie Dolph and before passing the project on to the very talented Douglas Fisher who is the one who really transformed it to the version that exists today. 

I’ve learned a bit since those early days about how to manage projects sustainably, about digital art and graphic design, and about how to balance many expectations and opinions to create something cohesive and amenable to many parties, and so I’d like to beg all of your indulgences and ask you to help me make this map so it’s less on an individual effort and more a result of the many voices of the Realms working together to create something valuable for our community.

This will be a project done in many steps and over the course of a few months. I don’t think it makes sense to hurry when we are trying to make something that endures. It’s also important to me that we build it in such a way that makes it easy to understand and edit over the long term. The map is something that needs regular updates and I expect that other people will inherit the map management from me one day and I want them to be able to continue to work on it seamlessly based on the foundation we make.

First, for those interested, please allow me to explain a little bit about how I am building the map and the techniques that I am using.

I am creating the new map file on a 27” iMac using CorelDraw 8. I know the Corel suite of programs is significantly less popular than Adobe but I’ve been using it since high school, so it’s what I know. The map is being created and displayed using vector graphics. A little bit of a technical explanation, the benefit of vector graphics over raster graphics (png, jpg, etc) is that it will not become pixelated at higher levels of zoom and allow for very fine detail. The overall document is sized for printing on an 11”x17” (tabloid) sized paper. The image is being created in layers depending on terrain type and the individual vector objects are named for their type and location on the map. Hopefully this system will allow us to stay organized and allow for easier future editing. Here is a screenshot of how I have things set up for those who are interested.

Ian Pushee has graciously agreed to host the new map on RealmsNET and has created a page that will allow the file to display as an SVG (scalable vector graphic) along with in-browser zooming and panning controls. Even more impressive, Ian has created a way that will allow layers of the map to be turned on and off in-browser, something you’ll be able to experience as the elevation, forests, and mountains can be toggled in the current version. As more detail gets added to the map this ability to zoom in will allow for very specific detailing to be visible at high magnification levels through the use of layers that only appear when the zoom level is high. Essentially, I’d like it to feel sort of like Google Maps. The more you zoom in the more fine detail you can see about each nation. Thank you, Ian, for your considerable help with making this project feasible.

Anyway, I’m sure you’re eager to see it. Here’s the link to the page. https://www.realmsnet.net/maps

For this initial unveiling of my work and the announcement of the project, I have spent the last few weeks creating the basic landform of the Realms. You’ll notice that my art style differs somewhat from previous versions of the map. What I’m creating is more of a technical drawing than it is a painting. I’m not really an artist of any merit, I’m a cartographer. I’m trying to create a definitive guide to where things are in the Realms and how our world is put together. The emphasis is on accuracy and less on aesthetics though of course I still have the goal of making it look nice.

The topography of the land is indicated through different green and grey colors and lakes, rivers, and forests are represented as well. A map key to make all of that more clear is forthcoming.

I’ve tried to stay very true to the last iteration of the map even as I change the overall art style. In some places where I have made subtle changes it is because I have already had considerable conversations with owners of those lands though the View’s O’er The Lands of the Realms series from a couple of years ago.

I know many of you are eager to have your nations added to the map, especially those of you who have had changes to your lands since the last time the previous version of the map was updated. I’m going to ask for your patience before we dive right into that part. Because I’d like to build this with community input I’m going to be getting feedback on one component of the map at a time and making adjustments as we go.

Please enjoy looking over the work I have done so far. It’s only the tip of the iceberg but I’m confident we’ll be able to make something awesome for our community. I’ll happily accept feedback by way of private message, responses to the View post on facebook, or over Realms discord and if you notice that something looks wrong in the topography, especially if it's in an area of the map you know you “own” please let me know so that I can address it.

In service,

Jason “Aeston” Rosa

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Rumors for December 1021

 [Chimeron]

Laborers of all professions have been gathering at a site north east of Chimeron City on the banks of the Rowan. The location hosts a clutch of temporary structures seemingly constructed to provide shelter from the winter elements as well as a modest riverport which regularly receives barges laden with stone from upstream.

[Creathorne]

Traders report a slew of activity over the past several months. There has been a lot more wagon traffic than usual on the northern roads and a number of ships have been seen coming and going from various Creathorne ports.

Morning Coffee Break

Got your morning cup of coffee and a few minutes? Great! We're trying out a new feature at the View - we're going to be asking a series of questions and we want to know your answers! The question is posted below. So while you sip your morning beverage of choice, ruminate on this one:

Who is your character's best friend? Do you have any cool memories of doing something fun with them at an event?

Head on back to Facebook and let us know in the comments!

Many Months on the Emerald Path

It's been a while but many of you might remember a monthly feature on the View From Valehaven called "Happenings on the Emerald Path". Since we have a lot of newer players, I'll explain that the Emerald Path was a term coined by the Bedlam plot team to refer to the adventures our real selves go about in our real lives. Happenings on the Emerald Path was a place where members of our community announced things like marriages, births, new jobs, graduations, retirements, buying a house... any sort of great new adventure members of this community were about to undertake.

While there have been a handful of events since this summer, in total balance all of us have spent a lot of time away from one another and maybe have been less aware of what is going on in each other's lives. The View would like to post a "Happenings on the Emerald Path" that covers basically all of 2020 and 2021. If there's something cool that has happened to you or your loved ones over the past two years that you'd like to have announced, please send a message to Jennifer over Facebook Messenger or in an email to areni.daru@gmail.com. If you'd like to include a photo, please do so.

Caption This

Here's a photo from a Realms event lacking any specific context. Go on back to Facebook and comment with the best caption you can think of.

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Morning Coffee Break

Got your morning cup of coffee and a few minutes? Great! We're trying out a new feature at the View - we're going to be asking a series of questions and we want to know your answers! The question is posted below. So while you sip your morning beverage of choice, ruminate on this one:

In regards to the SMAS Nations Faire a couple days ago, why did you join the nation/group/knightly order/etc that you are in? What most attracted you to them?

Head on back to Facebook and let us know in the comments!

Throwback Thursday - From December 14, 2018

 [Editor's Note: in this in-depth guide, Jason "Aeston" Rosa walks you through both the thought process and the building process behind the production of the viking airship from an Echoes of Ragnarok event]

Ever Upward

Building the Viking Airship for Echoes of Ragnarok IV

by Jason "Aeston" Rosa

"Come, my friends.
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
the sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die."

-Ulysses. Alfred Lord Tennyson

Sometimes big ideas have very humble origins. In this case, it started at my son’s birthday party in July where a table of Rhiassans amused themselves by talking and making jokes about moon encounters that could be utilized in our upcoming event (yes, cheese was mentioned several times). We had yet to really plan any more than the very basic concept of the dungeon crawl and this was our first real brainstorming session to try to nail down rooms and mechanics that could be used.

We spent a lot of time talking about moon tropes and concepts and at one point someone asked “What about a room where they actually have to get to the moon in the first place?”. That was it, that was all I needed to hear. Immediately my mind started reeling with concepts of a viking longboat being propelled through the skies by players rowing. Though the specifics would come later as the concept was revised again and again I knew back then that the lion’s share of this event would take place on what I planned to be one of the greatest ships the Realms had ever seen.

The creation of this ship, the painstaking work that went into the props and mechanics and puzzles, was one of the most fun and satisfying aspects of preparation and event holding that I have ever experienced. My goal in the aftermath is to tell you all as much as I can about the experience of the ship’s genesis and execution so that it can be preserved for history. In my usual manner, this article is bound to be verbose. Feel free to skim through and just looked at the captioned pictures. I won’t be offended.

The Control Panels

As many of you know, this event was first scheduled to take place in early October. That didn’t work out as planned, of course. Due to reasons beyond anyone's control, I ended up needing a rather major abdominal operation. I’ve had a couple smaller operations in the past which I recovered from relatively quickly, and I remember thinking to myself “okay, after a couple of days I’ll get started on the props for the event”. Boy was that incorrect. For weeks after the operation I was incredibly limited in what I could do. But i was determined to still accomplish what I could to start bringing this vision to fruition.

As I worked through my convalescence I knew I needed to occupy my time in some productive way, and though I couldn't do much physical activity, small woodworking projects were possible. I decided to get started on making the controls for the ship. The first part of that was laying out what they should all look like in blueprints. With Google drawings I drafted up different control ideas drawing most of my inspiration from what Star Trek TOS instrument panels looked like.

Examples of my original schematics for three of the eight instrument panels.

Once those ideas were drafted and I was satisfied with the placement and variation of different types of controls, I could start putting them together. In my limited capacity I was still capable of using the band saw and drill press and doing some amount of sanding before I got tired, so every day I spend a few hours slowly putting together levers and dials and making knobs and switches. I looked forward to it every day, actually. I think it was an important part of my healing process.

A dial and a lever prototype I created as I made all of the control components.

It took weeks to complete all of the individual controls before I could even start to put them together. By the time I had to cut the plywood to actually make the instrument panels themselves, I was feeling more or less back to my old self. As I assembled each panel according to my blueprints I started to think about what type of puzzle I could create that necessitated using all of the controls properly in a high-intensity situation.

Four of the instrument panels actually coming together as the controls are assembled.

It was then I recalled an iPad game that I used to play with some of my friends that lended itself to this idea. Space Team. The game itself was sort of a Star Trek parody. Each connected iPad had a set of controls on it, levers, switches, etc, and each would give a read out of commands for controls that were on other players’ displays. Games usually devolved into shouting matches after a few minutes as everyone was shouting commands at one another and simultaneously not listening for commands directed at them. It was equal parts hilarious and frustrating. Perfect for the Realms.

Spaceteam game screenshots.

So the next task was a gargantuan one. I had to create each set of commands for each console. Draw each state of each console for each step to create a marshalling guide. Distribute those commands from each console to other consoles to create the puzzle itself. Create the displays that the players would actually see and the print-outs that had the commands on them. Then double and triple check everything so there were no mistakes in any of the materials (there was still one mistake left when all was said and done, thank goodness it was on the tutorial level). It was many, many hours on the computer to say the least. Adding a paper cut out of a computer screen with some clear cellophane completed the illusion that the players would be looking at display.

Creating command lists on my laptop.

The last task was to add color and detail. I spent several nights writing on runes, painting the switches and other controls, and adding text. When all was said and done I had eight instrument panels all with varied and interesting points of interaction, all which fit the medieval-steampunk aesthetic I was going for. I was very proud of the end result.

The eight instrument panels in detail.

Row Row Revolution

The concept of the controls put aside, I also knew that I wanted the players to have to row the vessel in viking fashion. I imagined long oars with giant leaves on the end, very elven in concept. Building them was easy enough. Just some work on the band saw and some sanding.

Part of the construction process for the oars.

When I tried to decide how rowing would work I thought about everyone moving their oars according to a drum beat. It would be easy enough to play a beat over a speaker system but that was just too simple, there was no challenge or interest there. I thought about varying up the beat to make it more involved. Not quite the right solution. Then I thought about a system where we could instruct different oars to move at different times according to the beat. And then I realized I was reinventing Dance Dance Revolution… well in this case Row Row Revolution, instead.

Very fortunately for this endeavor, Alex Groom had quite a bit of experience and skill making digital music, so they were able to take my instructions regarding beat timing, genre, and aesthetic and put together several amazing soundtracks to row to. Once I had the music, my PowerPoint skills were all I needed to create animations and movements of different colored oars coinciding with the drum beats in each song. The last step of the whole process was simply painting the oars to match.

Scripting a Row Row Revolution level in PowerPoint.

The painted oars

I just happened to own a captain’s wheel. I bought it on a whim at the Christmas Tree Shop near Worcester probably about 15 years ago and had been able to use it as a prop here and there over the years. Obviously any ship needs a wheel and it was easy enough to integrate the it’s turning into the Row Row revolution game by adding color to it and a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation instruction (as a side note the wheel was taken by a player at the end of the event and I’d really like it back someday if that’s at all possible).

The captain's wheel, mounted and marked with color.

The need to use powerpoint to make Row Row Revolution work gave way to another idea. I could control the entirety of the boat parts of the event through an on-screen display. It could introduce encounters dramatically, provide visuals for things that were happening outside the ship. Display a countdown timer for the ships control puzzles. Everything I needed to keep the pace of the event on track and clearly communicate goals and instructions to the players. So I set up a projector and screen to act as the magical “display” of the ship, and hooked my computer up to both that and a speaker system. It all worked exactly as I imagined.

A selection of slides used in the PowerPoint deck that the event was paced with.

Other Ship Interactions

So the main mechanics of the boat were the control puzzles and the group rowing. Beyond those there were several side mechanics that were invented to keep many people busy and invested in the ship’s operation.

When I knew I was going to have a viking longboat, I knew the sides of it had to be equipped with shields. I turned to Tom Gallagher for his expertise and after he spent a bit of time chastising me for the size of the task, agreed to be of enormous help in the creation of those ten shields. Each painted differently, each with specific plot-powers. In designing our encounters we knew that there would be a great number of projectiles thrown at the ship. Creating magic shields that could block any of those projectiles, no matter how destructive they were, gave ten people on the boat a very vital job to do.

A selection of some of the shields Tom made for the event.

I wanted there to be a mechanic where the ship could become damaged and the damage was both obvious and visually concerning. The answer to that was to make a number of foam flames, and place them about the ship as it became damaged. When something like an enemy firebomb or a dragon’s fireball hit the ship, we could place fire down to represent that damage. Also when switches and dials were entered incorrectly into a console panel we could place fire on that as well to apply a penalty for not solving the puzzle correctly.

Freshly painted flames.

And of course if we were going to have ship damage we needed a way for the players to repair it. We added several regional spells and effects that could remove the damage from the ship but another simple addition was giving the players a couple of looms and a couple skeins of yarn. This allowed them to weave the yarn into patches which could also repair damage to this ship. It was a way of creating other vital jobs for players to do and trying to make sure everyone had a valuable role in the operation of the ship.

Another simple addition that added a lot of value to the experience was the ballista at the aft of the vessel. The weapon itself was a Yule gift from a couple years ago, given to me by Josh Fitzgerald. I confess that up until that point I hadn’t found too many excuses to utilize the present, but the need for weaponry on the ship was a fantastic reason to bring it out of storage. With some slight modifications made by Alex, and some dramatically oversized bolts that I put together with foam footballs and large fluorescent light tubes, we created a very engaging feature to the ship. The ballista could be used to fire at any enemies around the ship to devastating effect, but the primary utility we wanted to add was that it could deflect asteroids that were headed towards the ship, the only thing that could prevent them from doing damage to the vessel.

The ballista and special bolts.

The Final Touches

So with all of the working parts of the ship decided upon and created, I now had to make sure it could all be put together in a way that was usable and useful and that conveyed the feeling and emotion that all the players were apart of the same crew, sailing the skies of Norlund. An important part of that aesthetic, then, was the dragon figure head and the tail on either end of the craft. To create these, Lani Jones and I drew out their forms on an 8’x4’, 2” thick piece of foam and cut it using an electric foam knife. The whole concept worked fantastically except for the part where Lani opened the garage door while the dragon head was leaning against the track, thus completely decapitating it. Oh well, nothing some hot glue wouldn’t fix. Some layers of brown paint to create the illusion of boards, and the primary decorations were done.

Cutting out the dragon figurehead.

The head and tail laid out on the same piece of foam.

After a brutal decapitation.

Layer one of the paint.

Spray paint used to make it look like it was made of boards.

Building oarlocks for rowing along with the pillars that would define the sides of the boat and hold up the shields was an easy task done with just some lumbar and screws. The problem that I really had to solve, however, is what the rowers would sit down on while they completed their task. Those of you who are familiar with the UCONN arena know that there really isn’t reliable furniture lying around to make use of. I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to spend more money than I wanted to buying or making stools of some kind. Fortune smiled upon me, however, when I noticed a bunch of sturdy wooden library chairs were being disposed of in the dumpster at my school. I barely fit ten of them in my car for the drive home. One of them had to sit upside down on the front passenger seat. But I got them all. Cutting the backs off was easy enough and I ended up with nicer looking seats for the rowers than I could have ever hoped for.

Absconding with a car full of discarded chairs.

So that was it. All of the puzzles. All of the components. All of the decor. Everything was planned out as best as it could be. The night before the event we built wooden stands for all of the command consoles and glued the figurehead and tail to stands that would keep them upright. The day of the event we arranged everything in place, hooked up the screen and electronics, added paper covers to the stands, strung rope between the oarlock posts, and surveyed the overall quality of our work.

Throughout most of the event, I got to watch the players have an incredible amount of fun interacting with the vessel and engaging in all of the challenges that we subjected them and it to. It was immensely satisfying watching such a set of big ideas come to fruition and having so many concepts work out in real life like I imagined them in my head.

The completed ship on the morning of the event.

This ship was the most ambitious prop with the most ambitious set of interactions that I had ever planned for an event. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Alex, Tom, Lani, and to all the Rhiassans that came to paint the different components and help me work through ideas. I especially want to thank the players for being so enthusiastic about it all and simply allowing themselves to engage the spirit of the event and have fun.

I doubt I’ll ever do another ship event. I wouldn’t want to even try to compare it to this one. But I do know that my desire to create new and interesting things for my player base to engage in has never been stronger. Look forward to the next installment of the Echoes of Ragnarok storyline. I know I will.