Nord Games created a number of Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition projects, many of them reaching a wide audience via Kickstarter. After an impressive track record of 18 successful Kickstarters under their Nord Games account, including The Ultimate Guide to Alchemy, Crafting & Enchanting for 5E, which reached over 4,500 backers, I was curious to see what they planned to create in 2021. Fortunately, Chris Haskins, CEO of Nord Games, was kind enough to answer my questions about their new Kickstarter, Dangerous Destinations, and name some of the other projects coming this year.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): Thank you for talking about your newest Kickstarter, Dangerous Destinations, with me. Nord Games has a new RPG supplement on Kickstarter, what can you tell us about this project?
CHRIS HASKINS (CHRIS): We’re creating a book designed to help game masters and storytellers create parts of their world. In 2019, we released Spectacular Settlements, the definitive guide to creating rich and diverse settlements for storytelling and fantasy roleplaying games. It set a precedent on how to organize and present such a vast resource for world building. Dangerous Destinations is the antithesis to Spectacular Settlements.
EGG: The antithesis? Nice. Since this is the follow-up to Spectacular Settlements for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition. How will these two products compliment each other?
CHRIS: When it comes to world building you want to establish things in broad strokes first. Coastlines, forests, mountains, etc. After that, discovering the points of interest is the next step. Spectacular Settlements will guide the reader through the complex process of creating points of interest where the adventurers should be relatively safe, while Dangerous Destinations is for points of interest where the adventurers are likely to face many dangers, even death. The two books can be used together to enhance one’s fantasy world or build one from scratch.
EGG: As with many of your books, you’re using a modular approach to inspire the GM, how does that work?
CHRIS: Each aspect of the destination that you’re creating has a large selection of options. When combined, these options create unique variations.
EGG: How many pages will this come in at? Breaking this down, what will the book contain? NPCs? Maps? More? What can players expect?
CHRIS: The book is likely to be similar in size to Spectacular Settlements, which is nearly 500 pages. The first portion of the book is the builder. This contains options for 12 destination types, 12 environment types, and 6 danger types. Obviously there will be premade dangerous destinations that a reader can pluck right out of the book, and we’re working on a huge selection of antagonist NPCs.
EGG: Will the destinations have attached cultures/cities to them or is the concept broader than a specific location?
CHRIS: The history and residents of the dangerous destinations in question is an important detail, so it’s one of the first aspects that’s established during the creation process.
EGG: Will there be any focus on fantastic elements like floating islands or underground lakes or what not?
CHRIS: Any and all fantastic elements that our creative team can imagine will be in the book, but the reader is of course welcome to incorporate their own ideas during the creation process.
EGG: With a title like Dangerous Destinations, how will the danger level up with the party’s level?
CHRIS: We believe that the destination should exist independently from the party. With this in mind we’ve left it up to the reader to choose to best way to challenge their players.
EGG: Who is working on this book?
CHRIS: The creative team consists of Andrew Geertsen, Josh Parry, and Chris Haskins. Ralph Stickley is in charge of all artwork and layout.
EGG: Beyond Dangerous Destinations, what else is coming from Nord Games in 2021?
CHRIS: More books in the Ultimate NPCs, Ultimate Bestiary, and Heroes of High Fantasy series are in the works.
EGG: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Where can fans follow your work?
CHRIS: All of our products are available at [our site] and we encourage everyone to follow us on social media platforms including: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and video platforms including: YouTube and Twitch.
Dangerous Destinations Hardcover or PDF for any Fantasy RPG! from Nord Games
“The definitive guide to creating intriguing and dynamic destinations for storytelling and fantasy roleplaying games!”
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