Vast in the Dark Returns and Other News
Howdy folks, Charlie here, and happy belated New Year!
Hope everyone is doing well, keeping safe, and making time for friends and family as the cold weather moves through the north.
Just a few updates and teasers from the studio:
Vast in the Dark Returns
After scraping some funds together, the second printing of Vast in the Dark is here and available on the site! The second print run allowed us to fix a few mistakes and typos, including the Cinderhowl spell. Other than that, the work remains unchanged, this is a second printing with a few corrections NOT a second edition.
Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo
Both Alex and myself had the pleasure of attending The Philly Area Gaming Expo (better known as P.A.G.E.) alongside Planet X Games, 321RPG, Plus One EXP, Gossamer Coast, Stations, Severed Games, Goodman Games, and Arcane Library. Despite being tucked away in the “ass-end of the convention hall” (as we affectionately referred to it) we had a blast chatting with folks who made it a point to stop by our booths, especially the grognards and game-designers. Special thanks to Zachery Ellis, designer of Peasantry, for getting me to play my first game of Shadowdark; Rest in peace Dweaky the Dwarf and Þumí the Thief.
Salt and Surf Update
Finally, some work from Into the Salt and Surf:
Guilds
Guilds are the organized bodies of labor and craft that hold sway over the businesses and community projects that take place along the coastline. Those who make nice with the various guilds can find work and assistance, while those who actively participate and work alongside the guilds will find valuable experience; so long as they can survive the toil that comes with such work.
Crafter’s Guild
Tradition dictates that there are Seven Noble Crafts: stone, wood, metal, textile, bone, glass, and leather, each learned and mastered by the members of the Crafters Guild. It is through practiced hands and sharpened minds in both work-halls and hermitages that these artisans and craftsfolk build the world around them.
While there is no official governing body of the guild, the Masters of Crafts and their apprentices convene at a moot once a year. Here they discuss business, share knowledge, nominate new Masters, and have their apprentices compete by showing off crafts they have constructed under their tutelage. Apprentices will also have the opportunity to find work under new masters of different crafts, an important step in their journey to becoming a master, as they must try their hand at all seven crafts before they can attempt mastery of one.
Both journeying apprentices and masters find homes and purpose along the coastline. Some establish themselves in work-halls to produce functional goods for the communities they serve, others take on more artisan works of beauty and splendor, finally a rare few eschew society for hermitage as they seek a third path that transcends both function and art…
d6 Guild Hooks
A master has had their prized drawings and notes stolen by a rival...
An apprentice seeks a rare material from the deep sea for their master piece...
One star apprentice has disappeared after been taken by a fell mood and must be found...
The great work of a hermit master is being undertaken, their old apprentices fear its grandeur…
Every member of a work-hall is being haunted with dreams and visions of an unspeakable craft…
Fierce dispute between two work-halls that must work together to complete a project…
Guild Favors
Guild members will offer their services to those they owe favors to. The services they offer are based on their expertise and means.
Apprentice: Any simple tool or object found on the coast.
Master: Master quality tools and objects or works of artistic value.
Work-hall Master: Large-scale projects or mass-produced items.
Seven-Noble Master: An artifact or object of power.
Crafter’s Boon
Prerequisite: Working under an accomplished Master for a season.
Fledgling of the Noble Crafts: You may recreate any mundane tool, armament, or object after studying it for a day. You must have access to a workshop and materials.
Dockhand’s Guild
The first and final stop of any trading vessel or merchant is at the docks, thus they must pay tithe to the Dockhands Guild. They are the many industrious hands that move precious cargo from ship to warehouse using cranes, carts, and strong backs.
The guild operates as a horizontal hierarchy, each member required to vote on pay and shares each season. While this means there is no hard power, some more influential managers and foremen fashion themselves as petty tyrants and lords of the docks. Such “Dock Lords”, a pejorative coined by merchants, are all too aware of the power they hold over commerce and relish in exploiting it.
Seasoned merchants know to keep in good standing with the guild, for even the laborers have an eye for appraisal and attempting to swindle them is met with fearsome ire. Once great merchants have been rendered destitute as their vessels have been turned away and goods left to rot in the salt wind.
d6 Guild Hooks
“Remove” a ship that has been blocking the harbor…
Payment dispute between a dockside merchant and captain as valuable cargo withers.
A dangerous piece of cargo needs unloaded by someone skilled with a blade…
Recent tidal swells have left the docks and equipment in critical condition…
Penny Crab infestation leaves merchants wary of using the docks…
Valuable goods are being smuggled through the docks, but how..?
d6 Guild Favors
Being in good standing with the Guild allows for one of the following favors per day.
Access to the crane for unloading small cargo.
Appraisal of goods and cargo.
Room and board (except during the busy season).
A spot at the docks to anchor.
Access to the confiscated and “missing” goods.
Personal meeting with one of the merchants.
Dockhands Boon
Prerequisite: Assisting with a season of labor on the docks earns one of the following abilities:
Strong Back: Lift, carry, and perform twice the amount of physical labor per day as you normally could.
Appraiser’s Eye: Determine the value of common goods at a glance and mysterious goods after an hour of study.
Hearth Guild
While fishers travel the waters, laborers tend the fields, and tradesfolk tend the shops and work-halls, it is the Hearth Guild that tends to matters of home and community. The guild includes everyone from household heads, local historians, inn keepers, and even the occasional Salt Mystic who work together to protect and tend their community.
In some communities, the Hearth Guild operates as a de-facto governing body, offering members and the public a forum to enlist help, voice concerns, and be part of the community network established by the Guild. Such public participation is necessary for the guild, who take extensive counts and surveys of the larders, stocks, and warehouses within the community to ensure that all members have food and means in case of disaster or hardship.
However, the Guild’s activities don’t stop at food and amenity censuses: genealogical audits, opinion polls on business practices, permits or denials of constructions, and surveys of religious or folk practices, all recorded and stored in vast well-protected archives. Such information and power can easily warp the minds of Guild members who, if not monitored themselves, can turn from community organizers into exploitative petty tyrants.
d6 Guild Hooks
Someone is buying many of the businesses and properties, with no plans of stopping…
A new faith is sweeping through, destabilizing the current traditions…
Old records from the archives reveal a dark secret about the community’s history…
Surveys are disappearing from the records…
Conflict between two powerful families threatens to tear the community apart…
A mysterious blight is tearing through family larders, creating whispers of famine and unrest…
d6 Guild Inquiries
Those in good standing with the Guild can inquire about any person, place, or business and receive a random piece of information.
Nasty and scandalous rumor.
Accurate financial records dating back 1d6 decades.
Connections to various families’ genealogy.
1d3 long-forgotten secrets, even to the subject.
One enticing point of fame, followed by a point of infamy.
Long list of petty slights against the Guild.
Hearth Boon
Prerequisite: Assisting the Hearth Guild for a season to conduct lengthy and mind-numbing audits of local records, census counts, and canvassing surveys.
Conversational Auditor: 1 hour of conversation with an individual reveals an accurate picture of their means, possessions, and influences.
Closing out
That’s all for now, take care and stay safe out there; we’ll be keeping busy in the studio.
- Charlie