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About two weeks ago, I shuttered development on the Sea of Shadows. Questions of cultural appropriation had hounded me from the beginning, but seeing JB's new project, I realized that 1) the Sea of Shadows was, no matter my care and attention to detail, an appropriative project and 2) there are some phenomenal designers already working on places and spaces like what I wanted the Sea of Shadows to be (Zedeck Siew's and Munkao's http://athousandthousandislands.com/ is an excellent example). I felt an ethical need to refocus my (colonizing) attention away from the Sea of Shadows. I'd love to return there with other, better qualified designers, but that is a dream for another time.
Instead, I have started work on a new region within the same world: Gelgelim, from the Hebrew word for wheels. As a Jew and a Pole, there is a vast treasury of Slavic, Ashkenazi, and Polish folklore that is weird and interesting and worth exploring. My players agreed to take the plunge with me and we created new characters and begun a new game within Gelgelim a couple of weeks ago.
The following is the description of the setting as it appears in the Core Book. I'll have posts on bears, birds, boginky, bells, and kabbala coming out in the next week or so (I'm on a half-vacation with WiFi, so I've the time to bang all of this out).
“Gelgelim channels Polish, Slavic, and Ashkenazi lifeways with a dollop of Irish and Welsh folklore into an area some 360,000 square miles large (about the size of Germany or Japan). To the north lie the toxic ruins of the Azintheen Empire, filled with bronze monstrosities and powerful magics. The rugged lands to the west resist exploration. And Chornilis, the black woods, blocks southward and eastward travel.
“The time is a century after the Scorching, a man-made cataclysm that destroyed the Azintheen Empire, boiling the land and souring the sea. In Gelgelim, the forest responded to the Scorching by expanding hundreds of hectares in a single day, consuming towns and cities and blocking passage east. The remaining towns and villages of Gelgelim have yet to fully recover. Toxic ashfalls and contaminated water have claimed many a would-be explorer, and the bears roaming wild have claimed many more.
“For money, fame, power, or the good of your village, you have decided to brave these dangers and explore the wilds. Good luck.”
Dear Danielle, I recently stumbled upon you itch.io and blog and got interested in Gelgelim. I think it is something I would like to run with my local group, given the flavour you speak about and what I could read from your style on your blog.
ReplyDeleteI did not see anything resembling a "core" or rule book in what you have on itch.io , but you mention that copies are available upon request.
May I procure such a copy?
(I did not see an option to contact you via itch.io, which is why I wrtie here in hope that this message gets to you.)
Best,
Wandrille
Hello Wandrille,
ReplyDeleteI'm flattered by your interest! I'm still unpacking from a cross-continental move, but I'll post what I have on itch.io in the next couple of days (as that seems the best way for me to get you a copy). I'll enable forums on the release as well, which should be a better way to communicate in the future.
Thank you for reaching out!