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Saturday, November 10, 2012

Community World Building- Name That Khanate!




In addition to seeking the help of an experienced cartographer to help me make a good looking map of my new “Yassa: Legacy of the Khans” campaign world, I also have been stumbling a bit on names for the lesser Khanates. See, in our world Khanates, or Hordes, are named after the ethnic make-up of the people in them, like the Kipchak Horde*, or a color/metal like the Golden or White Hordes, or they are named after the founding leader, like the Chagatai Khanate, or just the geographical place where they are, like the Crimean Khanate. Now I have done this all, but I have also been trying to give them some more flavor, some descriptor that evokes something when you hear the name. Frankly, the well is running dry.

So I decided to run another contest- here on my blog: Name a Khanate (or Horde), I'll put up a poll and the top entries will be put into my new campaign world and you'll receive a credit, my thanks, and if you send me your mailing address, a cool refrigerator magnet! The envelope it arrives in will probably be decorated by my lovely wife Mona too! Send me your prospective Khanate or horde name at williamjdowie AT gmail DOT com sometime before the 27th of November and we'll run the poll from then until the 1st of December, finishing both of my Mongol themed contests at once. Four days of voting should be enough, right? I picked the 27th because it's my anniversary.

Now, while this is a fantasy world, it is more Swords & Sorcery style, there are no “common” monsters, no tribes of humanoids roaming around. The commonest “monster” is man. Think “Conan the Barbarian”, but in a world where the Mongols stomped every other kingdom into the dust. Now it's a couple of centuries after they peaked, and they've broken into a bunch of squabbling sub-empires and the ethnic groups that they conquered are re-asserting themselves in an attempt to overthrow their steppe descended overlords.

Essentially this world's Genghis Khan is a mixture of our Genghis Khan and Conan the Barbarian. He has Genghis Khan's background and ambition and Conan's absolute bad-assery. Think of him like a Frazetta Mongol leading a horde to conquer the world, kind of like this guy-



Anyway, I'll repeat my request for artists again, since I got no response last time. I always bury the lead on these things, ARTISTS AND CARTOGRAPHERS NEEDED, contact me if you are interested in helping out with this world design project. I am married to an artist, I appreciate the effort it takes and that you don't want to work for free. That said, this is not a commercial product, but a gift to the community. I can give credit and I'll be happy to send a refrigerator magnet to anyone who helps on the project at all, but as much as I'd like to, I can't afford to budget for artists on a project that's going to be free. I just wanted to get that out there so there wouldn't be any misunderstandings or anything. More art is better, more artists is better too. I'd like to put this together with a cool piece of cover art, some interior illustration and nice maps.

*Yes, I am aware that the Kipchak Horde is an alternate name of the Golden Horde.








8 comments:

  1. Im gonna have bash at my 1pg ruined stupa generator today. If goes well ill be keen to help a bit if i can - i do simple maps, page borders (torn burned stitched hide?) - could point out copyright free B&W line art too - im bedridden mostly today - i could start something smallish to get started - some simple stuff here but i would probably try more faux historical look - http://www.flickr.com/photos/konsumterra/sets/72157631656547261/

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  2. I would happily contribute some drawings to your project If you want, of course for free, here're some of my drawings:

    http://barbaricfrontier.blogspot.com/p/my-barbaric-frontier-sketches.html

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    1. I'd be happy to have you aboard! Welcome to the project.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. posted rough draft on flickr - ended up 2 pages - ill digest a bit, get someone to proof and make some more spot graphics - any feedback welcome - i avoided using stats hope ok - if i feel crazy i might do a cliff complex in a more dungeon style with stats

    p1
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/konsumterra/8174295159/in/photostream

    p2
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/konsumterra/8174298689/in/photostream/

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    1. Wow, that is not only really cool, but it is something I hadn't considered. Looks great and is pretty useful. Kudos and welcome to the project!

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  5. Crimea is a travel pearl of the Black Sea. It is perfect not only for a beach vacation but also for funny time in night clubs. There are such beautiful girls! Good music, good drinks, etc. this is a list of my favorite Crimea night clubs http://ukraine-vacation-guide.com/dir/night_clubs/crimea/260 Maybe, you can add some more.

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  6. As naming conventions and language development go try protoindoeuropean roots as the basis - it worked for TSR's Mystara Setting.

    Its the language on which all is based.

    I only do D&D hexmaps and I'm a little tied down with one for '& magazine'.

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