Ship of Fools Developer Diary 1

Hello, fellow Rooks!

Andy Law here to welcome you to the first of our Developer Diaries for Ship of Fools. As many of you know, we here at Rookery Publications are working on finalising our first full adventure, Ship of Fools, and are also working on a complete RPG campaign to follow it, The Coiled Crown.

In preparation for the release of Ship of Fools, we're going to be running a weekly series of developer diaries inviting you Inside the Rookery to discuss the realities of creating and finishing the adventure.

And we've had a few ups and downs...

We'll cover the adventure's development, including what we've changed since our playtest, how the extensive appendices work, and much more besides. 

Of course, we'll also do another one of our favourite things: SHARING NEW ART FROM MARK GIBBONS! And more on that with the first new image below...

This series of developer diaries is just as much about you as it is about us, so if you have questions you'd like to see us discuss, post them here or in the #itr-rookery channel on Discord, and we'll sort answers.

Each diary entry will go to patrons first, and will then go public after two weeks, giving our patrons time to read and digest our behind-the-scenes chat and then ping us with any questions they may have for future diaries.

And, with that in mind: do you have any burning questions you'd like us to cover about Ship of Fools?

While you're mulling that, let me take this opportunity to introduce you all to the first of the new NPCs in the adventure: Harenzo Moreno. 

Harenzo is now one of my favourite characters in the entire book. 

Why? 

Well, perhaps appropriately for an eel-guild agent, they're just so slippery!

INTRODUCING...

In the playtest version of Ship of Fools, Plot 6, Fishy Business, had a group of NPCs called 'Guild Sloughers' – three eeler toughs called Marrin, Garth, and Addi who were sent to... well, spoilers. Let's just say their actions formed a central pillar of the early-adventure set-piece.

These guilders didn't have much character beyond being burly, nor did they have a great deal to do.

And that is no longer the case.

The Guild Sloughers have been significantly expanded. Now they have a fully detailed Principal NPC leader (and if you want to know more about Principal NPCs, just ask). This leader is Harenzo Morena, and they replace 'Marrin'. As we've developed them, Harenzo has become one of our firm favourites here in the Rookery.

To quote their introduction:

Guildmaster Birn Varty of the Sloughers’ Guild describes Harenzo, his best spy and infiltrator, as an ‘eel within an eel within an eel, and three times as wriggly!’ And never were truer words spoken.

Just who is Harenzo Morena?

This is a question with an elusive answer. 

Indeed, establishing the answer forms a large part of this character's background as an inveterate liar, a consummate spy, and a representative of a guild of slippery eelers.

Okay, so how is that answer uncovered?

In Appendix 5, called Ship of Tools – which examines narrative tools you can deploy to expand the Ship of Fools adventure in new directions – we provide a fun improvisational mini-game to explore Harenzo called The Pride of Harenzo Morena. 

Such is Harenzo’s hubris, they take little care with maintaining a coherent backstory, shedding personas and relationships alike as they move from one identity to the next. 

And, with the arrival of the PCs, that wriggly eel of a character flaw comes to bite Harenzo on the ass...

So, are there other expanded NPCs other than Harenzo?

Oh yes, very much so!

Every single NPC from the playtest has been examined, developed, and then re-examined, taking into account all the feedback we received. 

That process has been enormously beneficial for the adventure and enormously fun for us to resolve. Everything from the NPC stats downward has been carefully reconsidered to ensure each has the maximum opportunity to create memorable moments when you play the adventure.

And are there other 'narrative tools'?

Again, very much so, yes. The Ship of Tools appendix offers seven different ways you can not only expand the Ship of Fools, but also expand any adventure.

The appendix uses examples drawn from Ship of Fools to explain how these tools can be used in practice. The Pride of Harenzo Morena, for example, explains how you can use shared narrative control to take your adventures in unexpected directions.

Want to know more about any of that?

Then ask and we'll jump on it for a future blog post!