Chrysogon's Coterie: 288 NPCs for your Basic Fantasy RPG Campaign

Ойын-сауық

Reflections on writing my "Monster Manual of NPCs." What, how, and why.
Maybe watch 15-20 minutes at a time, over a few days?
"Chrysogon's Coterie - 288 NPCs for your Campaign" now on Amazon printed-at-cost:
www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYN1PZYC
Download for free at: basicfantasy.org/downloads.ht...
Do you like my writing or videos? paypal.me/ToddRPG
My Amazon Wish List : www.amazon.ca/hz/wishlist/ls/...
00:00 Introduction
03:10 The Rogues Gallery
07:55 The Beauty of BX
08:23 Discovering Basic Fantasy RPG
14:25 Creating the NPCs
16:05 From Fan to Contributor
17:36 More Credits
20:00 Design Philosophy
23:36 Love, not Money
26:22 Everything is a Suggestion
28:47 Why This Design?
32:23 An Embarrassment of Riches
34:13 Character Connections
36:20 Become a Contributor
38:23 Flawed Characters
39:24 PD Art / Original Art
44:32 Artists Own their Art
49:14 Matching Art to Characters
52:34 Experience and Bio Length
53:20 Delight and Surprise
54:09 Willow and Blossom
I am a writer / game developer for Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game, an open source retro-clone role-playing game that emulates, and is largely compatible with, the 1981 Basic and Expert sets of Dungeons & Dragons. I love Basic, but am also a fan of 1st Edition AD&D, White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game, Top Secret, Gamma World, Call of Cthulhu, and many other legacy and retro systems.

Пікірлер: 40

  • @toddlyons
    @toddlyons9 ай бұрын

    Here is a link to the most recent cover for people wishing to print their own copy: blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlV-YRC2O_DgsQdosRbnM0S9vG9KLQYlkwNeSgURcgYDD8VJIOuhEgq_dPPUQYbDPtJJevZP_PHhmZ_Am3tDBWmxpn_4jnbnLm5uZp5ivPSQ9HyhiYR6NVKN5ecKwwsFAkmtDoh42ZQuhUTbzCSTql12qfDZzGd0xBY-lxfoIgDwsaieoQQbxosMrl/s3127/Cover-r3.jpg

  • @ultimategabriel
    @ultimategabriel10 ай бұрын

    Thanks for entrusting me with making the cover for your book!

  • @paavohirn3728

    @paavohirn3728

    8 ай бұрын

    That's a stunning piece!

  • @DMTalesTTRPG
    @DMTalesTTRPG10 ай бұрын

    I know you apologized for it being “long” in the FB group… your opening story is engaging and worth watching.

  • @jocool4606
    @jocool460610 ай бұрын

    Fantastic! So great to hear the reason for your choice of what to write and why. Make the book you wish you had... Can't wait to see it in print and get a copy.

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    10 ай бұрын

    Thanks for being a part of it. I'm grateful for your work, Jo.

  • @ChronoSapien815
    @ChronoSapien8159 ай бұрын

    I just began wading into the BFRPG waters and I watched about 1/3 of the vid before I decided I needed to print this out. Thank you so much for your contribution, this is an incredible book. You should be very proud!

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    9 ай бұрын

    Glad it was helpful! I hope to see it in print (perfectbound) before the year is out, but I think it's actually more useful in a comb-bound format like I printed at home. I like it to lie flat. Enjoy the book and welcome to BFRPG. It's a wonderful community that supports this game.

  • @incongruentgames
    @incongruentgames8 ай бұрын

    I love how you guys give your pdfs for free to the community. I plan on buying alot of your books in print by the holidays. Great Vid.

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    8 ай бұрын

    Thank you! Sharing the full version of the product -- including all the artwork -- is the open source way. Fortunatey, our artists have consented to the distribution in both the free PDFs and the -at-cost books. Sounds like happy holidays are ahead!

  • @magehammerChad
    @magehammerChad10 ай бұрын

    This is an excellent resource. After all my years of gaming, many of my NPCs are starting to be samey. A resource like this will spice up my role playing interactions!

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    10 ай бұрын

    Thanks, Chad. Love 'em or hate 'em, hopefully there are plenty of personalities that could be the starting point of characters in your future campaigns.

  • @paavohirn3728
    @paavohirn37288 ай бұрын

    Super cool to hear about the background for the book and your thoughts like how you talk so fondly of that one NPC who's living in another GM world. I downloaded this just a week ago or so when I hoarded BFRPG adventures. Only browsed through it so far but I'm going to take a deeper look into it soon. That cover art is gorgeous btw! Would love to see more pieces like this from the artist!

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    8 ай бұрын

    Hey, thanks! Welcome to our community. Gabe Fua is a great artist and truly a super-nice guy. I was grateful when he accepted my invitation to do the cover. For more of his work, he has a dedicated thread on the BFRPG forums: basicfantasy.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3695

  • @paavohirn3728

    @paavohirn3728

    8 ай бұрын

    @@toddlyons Thank you! I'll check out the link!

  • @rburley77
    @rburley779 ай бұрын

    Just downloaded the book. Thanks for sharing the methodology and impetus for it. I look forward to using some of these characters in the future. Btw, I love the option of rolling a d8 to get random results.

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    9 ай бұрын

    Glad it was helpful! As I mentioned in the video, I'd be interested to hear which characters make it into an adventure and how that goes... if you're so inclined. I really enjoyed watching Beathan O'Brien grow up a little... and the party he adventured with developed real affection for him, so he was well played by that GM.

  • @MarkHyde
    @MarkHyde9 ай бұрын

    Amazing resource - reminds me of BECMI's 'The Shady Dragon Inn' too but with much more detail and a larger (MUCH larger) NPC collection. A beautiful inspiration too for creating my own variations of what's here if not just as drop in NPCs. Thanks so much for making the effort to create this and I am looking forward to it being published in print. Great channel.

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    9 ай бұрын

    Thanks, Mark. Solomoriah hopes to have it printed before the end of the year, but there are so many other books on the go right now with the mass-move over to CC-BY-SA. I'm still optimistic. I'd like it for Christmas. In hardcover, if possible.

  • @MarkHyde

    @MarkHyde

    9 ай бұрын

    @@toddlyons Oh sure - would work on other books include a consolidated and complete Field Guide for example? All good - I am patient - and we have a local print shop here that can print up the PDF at a decent price anyway :)

  • @sharpmountaingames9303
    @sharpmountaingames93039 ай бұрын

    Thanks for the peek behind the curtain into the writing process. This is a great book and thanks also for the shout out. I'm hoping for a print release of it soon too.

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    9 ай бұрын

    Thanks, John. I tried to mention you in several places as I kept seeing more of your work. I mentioned Sharp Mountain at about 44:16 too, but then said "RPGNow" (old site) instead of "DriveThruRPG". Ooops. I'm sure people will find you though (especially with your reply now!).

  • @sharpmountaingames9303

    @sharpmountaingames9303

    9 ай бұрын

    @@toddlyons I appreciate the mentions and subscribed to the channel. I still have to go back and watch the older videos. All the best!

  • @patkelley8293
    @patkelley82933 ай бұрын

    Enjoyed your comments on getting back into the hobby. My first TSR game was Top Secret ( I think that's what it was ) then Frontiers. We were playing Advanced DnD and Gamma World.

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    3 ай бұрын

    Thanks! Glad you liked it. I still have my boxed copy of Top Secret but I've lost most of my Gamma World set. Might get reprints made someday.

  • @TheLostAdventurer
    @TheLostAdventurer10 ай бұрын

    Made me jump through some hoops to find your channel Todd, make more videos, you have a voice for it! I claim 2nd subscriber spot!

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    10 ай бұрын

    Aw, thanks. I have 2 profiles, each with different videos. I'm shocked you found this one so quickly. It's my first video for this channel in years. I'm not really much of a KZreadr but I am going to try to produce a few about my upcoming books and other supplements that I like from the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game.

  • @steveyoungwork
    @steveyoungwork9 ай бұрын

    Interesting stuff!

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    9 ай бұрын

    Thanks, Steve.

  • @MarioGarcia-pq9pr
    @MarioGarcia-pq9pr7 ай бұрын

    I’m really looking forward to purchasing the physical copy of this. I just bought the Basic fantasy RPG 4th edition and Morgansfort: the western lands campaign. I’m new to fantasy Wargaming, usually I play ww1 and seven years war Wargaming. I saw a review on you rule book and thought that it was cool and interesting. Hopefully I can learn the new rules well enough like the other games that I play.

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    7 ай бұрын

    I was hoping it would be in print for Christmas, but it's not looking likely. November 25th will make it one year since I wrote and released the first draft.

  • @paavohirn3728
    @paavohirn37288 ай бұрын

    Heck! I think Heath will offer his expertise when one of my groups gets back to town and tries to hire help 🤣

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    8 ай бұрын

    Heath Lyndone?! OMG. By the time they realize who they've brought along, it'll be too late. 😆 But it will be a... hmm... "interesting" adventure for your players. Maybe they've come to expect competence in hirelings. That's about to change.

  • @paavohirn3728

    @paavohirn3728

    8 ай бұрын

    @@toddlyons Actually in only now really beginning to use hirelings so it's a good time have them learn why the PCs get full xp 🤣 Will be interesting to see if Heath is the NPC they both love and hate 😆

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    8 ай бұрын

    @@paavohirn3728 Some of my NPCs are just immature, but Heath doesn't have any redeeming qualities as-written. However, there's nothing stopping you from making him redeemable. We'll see where it goes.

  • @paavohirn3728

    @paavohirn3728

    8 ай бұрын

    @@toddlyons I don't know.. Somehow the description inspired my sympathy. 😄

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    8 ай бұрын

    @@paavohirn3728 Good! These characters are only a starting point, after all. There must be a reason he's looking to work with others after being alone for so long. Maybe he's ready to change. But the PCs will have to be supportive or he might bolt. He'll need patience and encouragement. I wonder if they'll be up to it?

  • @AdventuresWithDice
    @AdventuresWithDice7 ай бұрын

    Any idea when your book will be in print on Amazon?

  • @toddlyons

    @toddlyons

    7 ай бұрын

    Chris was hoping to have it published by the end of this year. I don't know how close to that estimate it is, currently. More art was recently submitted, so it's a moving target.

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