Location/NPC Philosophy's and Advice

 More in-depth advice/description on location-based adventures

-Balance between wonderfully whimsical with weird reality. (It is not obsessively dark just that it is reality)

-Example

WHIMSICAL: A Colorful flower and beehived-filled swamp that extends to some forests and mountains

REALITY: The colorful flower fields are spreading warping nearby lands. The spread of these flowers originates from a being/flower titled The Red Tyrant.

-The Red Tyrant has transformed surrounding fauna into blossomed husks (think of the mushroom zombies from TLOU).

-Key Places and people, are NUANCED and generally GREY. Instead of focusing on entirely new ideas try to see how Places and Persons can interact with the world, This is how I define NUANCE.

-Example. !we are following along the previous example!

BANES: As stated previously the spreading flower fields are warping nearby biomes and settlements. Additionally, the abundance of pollen in the air proves to be lethal to most creatures. Horrifying after days of being exposed to the flower environment 

BOON: The obvious but minor benefit to the flower fields is that it makes biomes and places colorful and pretty.

NUANCED BOONS: Digging deeper the infection has actually subdued a dangerous and wandering beast by infecting it with the RED TYRANTS ROT ( That's what I'm calling the flower infection now). Since the Beast has blossomed it now only roams under the RED TYRANTS’ domain. Additionally, farms bordering the RED TYRANTS’ benefit from the bees wandering in and pollinating the crops, causing them to grow 3X the average size, Although this is VERY RISKY.

-TIME is a resource. The world does not wait on the adventurers. There should be a timeline independent of the player that is followed for each key person, place, or thing. The timeline could be simulated or simply planned. Timelines can add a sense of urgency but more importantly is vital in telegraphing the PCS that this world is indeed real.

-Example! we are following along the previous example!

MON	TUE	WEN	THUR	FRI	SAT	SUN
The Baron orders a shipment of cargo from a nearby town for Sunday			The nearby town that is owned by the local baron is infected with the RED TYRANTS ROT		The remaining survivors of RTR turn into a Bee-keeping cult devoted to the Red tyrant	The baron does not receive the shipment of goods the baron has requested from the infected town does not arrive
The nearby baron creates an open contract to eliminate the red Tyrant

Other Bits and Pieces

NOTE: The Referee should only mark out events in the calendar that affect the PC.

The Cold Road Pt. 2 "Healing word" (Campaign Diary) - YouTube

Emphasis on a large portion of the dynamics between the townships

How people approach towns adapting to the oddities