This week’s post was supposed to be about a trade system. It’s not. I had the basics worked out, but once I started to apply the details I could see the problems in my design. I need to work on it more. So this week’s post is going to be about starships…
…Kinda.
As I’ve said before, I want Crowfield to feel like a fantasy version of a Traveller merchant campaign. In that kind of campaign the players1 travel from star system to star system across the inhospitable, barren reaches of space. At each system they try to buy cheap cargo that they can sell for a profit at the next port.2
In the Crowfield campaign, the “star systems” are “oases” and the “inhospitable, barren reaches of space” is instead the “inhospitable, barren desert of the firelands.” And the starships? Those are beasts of burden.
Beasts of Burden
Normally the answer is horses. But horses don’t work well for long desert journeys, and they’re kinda normal. So I thought about…
Camels
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| Egyptian camel transport passing over Olivet. (1918) |
Being a desert, my first idea was the traditional camel caravan. Each camel could carry a few hundred pounds of cargo. Plus players would need to account for food and water and other supplies. As the party gets more resources, they can hire “crew” to guide extra camels, maybe working for a silver piece a day.
I liked this idea, and I mentioned it to James. He liked it, too.
There was one thing bothering me, though. I wasn’t sure if camels were “fantasy enough.” Did I need to pick something else?
Bantha
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| A Bantha as shown in Star Wars. (1977) |
My next thought was the bantha from Star Wars. They were the sand people’s beasts of burden on Luke Skywalker’s home planet.
I liked this idea. They seemed different enough, yet most gamers would know what I meant if I mentioned them. Even those that didn’t, I could easily show them a picture.
But then I started to over-think it like I tend to do. How does something that huge find enough food to eat in the dunes of Tatooine? Why is it covered in so much thick fur when it lives on a hot desert world?
I asked a co-worker who is a bit of a Star Wars fan if he knew the answers; he didn’t.
So I asked James for an idea of a fantasy beast of burden and he suggested…
Giant Lizards
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| A pack lizard as illustrated in TSR's Dungeon Module D1 Descent Into the Depths of the Earth. (1978) |
James suggested giant lizards. I loved this idea. A caravan of giant lizards loaded with barrels and crates and stuff. Sounded awesome.
So I did a Google search for “pack lizard.” I was surprised with the number of results. I began to worry that this wasn’t original enough, and that the players would be bored, thinking “yeah, they’re pack lizards. We get it. Everyone does that.” This is another fault of mine, much like over-thinking the bantha.
So I though about it some more. I thought about desert and pyramids and…
Giant Scorpions
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| Photo by daniele paccaloni. Used with permission. (2017) |
I briefly entertained the idea of giant scorpions with cargo racks on their backs, but the giant stingers scared me. So finally I thought about…
Giant Scarab Beetles
What’s more desert mythology-themed than scarab beetles?
I told James this idea, and he hates it. I’m not sure why. He just doesn’t like it. Maybe he doesn’t like bugs.
Other Considerations
One “problem” with horses and camels is that they exist in the real world. So it takes a lot of research to determine how much the can carry as well as how food and water they need. With the other animals I can just make it up.
So let’s make it simple. Whatever beast of burden I pick can carry 1 ton, and it consumes 100 pounds of food a day. It can go a week without water, but then it needs a lot. One person can lead one animal.
That’s it for this week! Which animal do you like the best? One of the ones I mentioned, or do you have an even better idea?
Footnotes:
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Actually it’s the player’s characters that do the travelling. The players themselves remain here on Earth, playing the game.↩
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They also pick up passengers and carry freight for others. However those activities are only possible when the planets are more politically and economically connected than the isolated settlements of the Firelands.↩
Honestly my favorite is what seems like your least favorite; the scorpion. =D
ReplyDeleteYou could implement a 'muzzle' idea for the stinger, where it prevents the rider from being injured and also serves to make it easier to train the scorpion.
But my first, and personally preferred thought, is why not a mix?
I could see all of these creatures existing in the dessert and having their own appeal for travel purposes. You could even use your creature-generating strategy to help define them, since then there could be a chance of running into them in the wilds (which would lead to the option of the party learning to train them and such). I could see varying tradeoffs with each - perhaps the lizards move more quickly and can go longer without food, but cannot travel at night due to the cold. And scorpions would be harder to train and few could utilize them, but they could double as offense mounts and perhaps were more fiercely loyal than others. And you could make an amalgam of the camel/horse/bantha concept into a herbivorous mammal with appropriate attributes - a more steady option, with average speed, capacity, and easier to train.
Anyways, my few cents anyways.
Also, I thoroughly appreciate footnote 1. =)
I haven't been ignoring you! I got some additional feedback "offline," and there will probably be a follow-up post in a couple weeks!
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