Borchardbriar Roadmap

So. How did we get here and where are we going?

For the past 2-3 years (do I have longtime readers?) I've been tinkering part time with a Savage Worlds setting called Borchardbriar - a fantasy world of talking animals on perilous adventures and sowing rebellion to overthrow the Fox King Reynard, a grim and terrible monarch. But the pitch wasn't that concise. It hadn't been honed to that razor point.

Stemming from a mash up of  Redwall/Robin Hood + The Old Kingdom + Armello, the summary/pitch meandered and often restated the initial post from May 2017. Trying for a twist on the dark/gritty fantasy settings and stories that have become increasingly popular. And in many ways filling a gap in Savage Worlds' extant settings since Evernight hasn't been updated for a couple of editions.

We even did a podcast mini-series set in this earlier iteration here.

If you listened through the series you'll notice some other influences creeping in, shades of noir like True Detective and Blacksad creeping in. Continued exploration saw bits of Jesse Bullington's Folly of the World (Early Modern period instead of pseudo-medieval), Charles de Lint's Riddle of the Wren (folklore as a window into a mis-remembered past), and Daniel Polansky's The Builders (why you fight) surfacing. At that point I felt ready to start pulling the blogposts and handwritten notes together into something resembling finished work.

However, mapping the older material to Richard Woolcock's Savage Worlds outline showed gaps in the material. Ultimately gaps that were kinda there on purpose. Holes for players and other GMs to fill in, to make their own mark on things. Additionally the scale for Borchardbriar had shifted with SWADE's release. Instead of a paperback, probably a zine. Maybe in time for ZineQuest 2. We'll see.

So what's next for Borchardbriar? How much is being recycled?

Am I reinventing the wheel completely?

Maybe a little bit.

Not to give too much away but, here are the blog posts coming down the pipe:

• Introduction to Borchardbriar - a revised pitch and world overview
• The Furred Folk and Their Kith and Their Kin - how I'm handling different talking animals
• The Way of the World - setting rules new and old, additional edges
• Unseen Principalities and Unclean Spirits - arcane backgrounds and the Watchers
• Odds & Ends - equipment, charms, and superstitions
• The Resistance - a character above your characters
• Conquest of Vittles - hard to rebel on an empty stomach
• We All Lift Together - developing the Resistance
• The Accord - the line that holds us
• Becoming Monsters - when that line breaks
• Clowdertown Blues - The Southern Corner
• How It All Comes Together - session structure
• Smashing of the Van - counterinsurgency, blowback, and other high stakes
• The Hunt - hounded from your boltholes
• Castle Borchardbriar- Reynard's stronghold
• The World Turned Upside Down - The Final Battle
• Hands Raised Against You - foebeasts and the privileged who command them