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Castle Oldskull Fantasy Role-Playing Game Supplements #4
Game World Generator
(CASTLE OLDSKULL is a universal supplement series intended for all game designers and all Fantasy Role-Playing Games.)
Wolf-haunted wastelands of frigid tundra,
Veiling lost cities sunken and frozen into the ice …
Mist-wreathed mountains teeming with orcs,
Goblins, demons and dwarven underworlds …
Burning battlefields, reigned over
By imperious and ancient dragons …
Steaming jungles, filled with headhunters
And savage apes, guardians to ancient temples
Filled with accursed gold …
These are the realms of old school fantasy role-playing, the world of your imagination. This world is a dark and wondrous place, an endless milieu teeming with danger, intrigue, exotic wonders, epic quests, and the bold heroes and villains who dare to conquer all.
And you, as the Game Master, are tasked with creating those kingdoms from scratch. It is your mission to forge an entire alternate universe filled with infinite possibilities, a world which your friends and fellow role-players can explore for years to come.
But how do you create a world? How do you even begin?
The CASTLE OLDSKULL GAME WORLD GENERATOR is the only guide specifically and solely designed to assist you in creating an entire old school fantasy world. This is no “It is time for you to take the world into your own hands, and no one but you can decide what to include” cop-out dodge which demands everything of you and gives you nothing. This is a 350-page step-by-step guide, from blank hex paper to the fully-realized game world, which explains the entire process to you in granular detail. Even better, this book is filled with dozens of helpful graphics which illustrate the entire mapping process.
If you love lost worlds like Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom and Pellucidar, Gary Gygax’s Flanaess, Robert E. Howard’s Cimmeria and Hyboria, Fritz Leiber’s Nehwon, H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Michael Moorcock’s Melnibone and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, then this is the book for you!
Highlights include: world conception, mapping, scale, landforms, terrain, kingdoms and fiefs, wilderness design, feudal realms and foreign equivalents, city and wilderness names, treasures and resources, hierarchies of nobility, ruler classes and levels, realm alignment, campaign-tailored population formulae, demi-human enclaves, humanoid tribes, starting area development, dragon lair placement, dungeon placement and much more. Everything you need to turn your ideas into a solid, coherent and adventure-filled world is right here at your fingertips.
The GAME WORLD GENERATOR is brought to you by Kent David Kelly of Wonderland Imprints, a role-player and Game Master with over 30 years of play experience. Best of all, if there are any other materials you would like to see relating to world or dungeon design, feel free to contact the author. I create the supplements that Game Masters want. Many more CASTLE OLDSKULL supplements are being prepared specifically to support the players, initiates and Game Masters of the Old School Revival (OSR). This book is your gateway to the realms of sword and sorcery. Join us for the adventure!
(A complete reference work designed to supplement existing pen-and-paper Fantasy Role-Playing Games. 3 parts, over 100 section topics, 44,000 words, over 350 pages; organized via a fully hyperlinked table of contents. Just one of the proud creations available now from Wonderland Imprints — Only the Finest Works of Fantasy.)
Wolf-haunted wastelands of frigid tundra,
Veiling lost cities sunken and frozen into the ice …
Mist-wreathed mountains teeming with orcs,
Goblins, demons and dwarven underworlds …
Burning battlefields, reigned over
By imperious and ancient dragons …
Steaming jungles, filled with headhunters
And savage apes, guardians to ancient temples
Filled with accursed gold …
These are the realms of old school fantasy role-playing, the world of your imagination. This world is a dark and wondrous place, an endless milieu teeming with danger, intrigue, exotic wonders, epic quests, and the bold heroes and villains who dare to conquer all.
And you, as the Game Master, are tasked with creating those kingdoms from scratch. It is your mission to forge an entire alternate universe filled with infinite possibilities, a world which your friends and fellow role-players can explore for years to come.
But how do you create a world? How do you even begin?
The CASTLE OLDSKULL GAME WORLD GENERATOR is the only guide specifically and solely designed to assist you in creating an entire old school fantasy world. This is no “It is time for you to take the world into your own hands, and no one but you can decide what to include” cop-out dodge which demands everything of you and gives you nothing. This is a 350-page step-by-step guide, from blank hex paper to the fully-realized game world, which explains the entire process to you in granular detail. Even better, this book is filled with dozens of helpful graphics which illustrate the entire mapping process.
If you love lost worlds like Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom and Pellucidar, Gary Gygax’s Flanaess, Robert E. Howard’s Cimmeria and Hyboria, Fritz Leiber’s Nehwon, H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Michael Moorcock’s Melnibone and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, then this is the book for you!
Highlights include: world conception, mapping, scale, landforms, terrain, kingdoms and fiefs, wilderness design, feudal realms and foreign equivalents, city and wilderness names, treasures and resources, hierarchies of nobility, ruler classes and levels, realm alignment, campaign-tailored population formulae, demi-human enclaves, humanoid tribes, starting area development, dragon lair placement, dungeon placement and much more. Everything you need to turn your ideas into a solid, coherent and adventure-filled world is right here at your fingertips.
The GAME WORLD GENERATOR is brought to you by Kent David Kelly of Wonderland Imprints, a role-player and Game Master with over 30 years of play experience. Best of all, if there are any other materials you would like to see relating to world or dungeon design, feel free to contact the author. I create the supplements that Game Masters want. Many more CASTLE OLDSKULL supplements are being prepared specifically to support the players, initiates and Game Masters of the Old School Revival (OSR). This book is your gateway to the realms of sword and sorcery. Join us for the adventure!
(A complete reference work designed to supplement existing pen-and-paper Fantasy Role-Playing Games. 3 parts, over 100 section topics, 44,000 words, over 350 pages; organized via a fully hyperlinked table of contents. Just one of the proud creations available now from Wonderland Imprints — Only the Finest Works of Fantasy.)
- GenresFantasy
387 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 7, 2014
10 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 28, 2017
I just recently purchased a copy of the Realm Works software... the wealth of tables in this book are proving to be quite useful.
May 14, 2019
Castle Oldskull books are my secret DM weapon. They're responsible for the vast majority of all my preparation and designs nowadays, and have breathed a whole new life into our games - capable of infinitely better work in a few hours than what I alone could do in weeks.
July 13, 2015
A good idea, but let down by only being available in e-book format.
You're going to end up either flicking backwards & forwards, or read once then go back to the beginning to put the ideas into practice.
The first half of the book explains how to start creating a fantasy world (the book is aimed at RPG game-masters, but could also apply to someone wanting a world for a story). It looks at various types of terrain, population centres and people/creatures that might populate it.
The second half is just lists of all the different types of commodity (wood, gems, metals) that could be found in each type of land, types of inhabitants, numbers etc. Some are generated by a random roll, others depend on the climate of the area or whether it's forest, mountains and so on.
If you're reading the book through first then the second half is pretty much skimmer material that you can get through quickly.
If this book was available in physical format then would be at least 3.5 stars - would be the sort of book you'd keep coming back to, flicking through and refining your approach to your world.
You're going to end up either flicking backwards & forwards, or read once then go back to the beginning to put the ideas into practice.
The first half of the book explains how to start creating a fantasy world (the book is aimed at RPG game-masters, but could also apply to someone wanting a world for a story). It looks at various types of terrain, population centres and people/creatures that might populate it.
The second half is just lists of all the different types of commodity (wood, gems, metals) that could be found in each type of land, types of inhabitants, numbers etc. Some are generated by a random roll, others depend on the climate of the area or whether it's forest, mountains and so on.
If you're reading the book through first then the second half is pretty much skimmer material that you can get through quickly.
If this book was available in physical format then would be at least 3.5 stars - would be the sort of book you'd keep coming back to, flicking through and refining your approach to your world.
January 17, 2016
Great!
Good to see someone is putting to words on how to create realms, it took me three tries to get it right! Good for all levels of DMing!
Good to see someone is putting to words on how to create realms, it took me three tries to get it right! Good for all levels of DMing!
November 8, 2016
Amazing Resource!
I'd recommend this book to any GM. Mr. Kelly provides sound, logical, step by step world building instructions that make World Crafting seem easy!
I'd recommend this book to any GM. Mr. Kelly provides sound, logical, step by step world building instructions that make World Crafting seem easy!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews