Traveling the Multiverse: Winterscale

This is the first installment in a series of posts which will present a few aspects of the different dimensions the PC will be visiting throughout the module.

We open up with Winterscale, the area I'm currently working on, and incidentally the biggest in terms of areas as well as NPCs and quests. This seemingly peaceful coastal city is one of the first stops in the quest of the PC - out of a total of 7 planned dimensions.

Pictured: a perfectly peaceful morning.

However appearances are deceptive, and our fair city is on the brink of war with its elven neighbors. Playing an elf will will slightly up the difficulty, but it might also open up new paths...

The streets are deserted at night.

To make matters worse, a new cult is on the rise in this part of the continent, and people are not quite sure what to make of it. The worshipers of the Red god seem harmless for now, but is it gonna last?

An evil temple? Not at all, why do you ask?

Fortunately, a city this size means you can enjoy all the wonders of civilization. The famous Golden Duck Inn, the finest Inn of the continent, will offer you the most restful night of sleep you've ever had - for the right price, of course. If you're feeling particularly wealthy, you can rent the Royal Suite, which is comprised of two bedrooms and a lounge.

It's also the most costly Inn of the continent, but it makes for a far less catchy title.

Or why not visit the Great Library? The monks running it claim it houses every single book ever written - the interesting ones, that is -, but that can't be true, right?

(It's not, because I didn't have time to write them all.)

And finally, the obligatory magic shop.

What's going on with all the lights?

Those are just a few examples of what you can find in Winterscale. I tried to find a balance between a realistic numbers of areas and what I needed to tell my story. The PC isn't supposed to linger in any given location, but rather follow the path taken by the sphere as soon as they know where it went. Hence there won't be a lot of quests in Winterscale - I've got three done at the moment, and about 4 more planned, but a lot of those are mutually exclusive. It's about choices and quality rather than quantity. I've chosen the same approach with areas: many are just optional, intended to give flavor to the world.

In truth I have to restrain myself from constantly adding new areas, quests and NPCs, and I do this by reminding myself that I actually want to finish this module.