The Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil is moving right along. I still don’t have a definite start date, but I’m progressing as if it’s next in the queue (which may be true). I’ve made some Lego purchases for miniatures now, so I’m definitely “invested” in seeing this to production.

I’ve been mostly concerned with casting the Hommlet NPCs and organizing them; and getting to know them in the process. Ironically perhaps, I’ve found that while the campaign material does give quite a lot of detail on the town’s NPCs, it gives essentially nothing with regard to their operations. For example, it might say this guy over here is a spy, but it doesn’t say why he’s spying, or what he’ll do if something interesting happens. I suppose the designers intended the GM to be responsible for that sort of thing, but I think a little direction would have made sense. That said, my plan to make up for that shortfall is to use a combination of the Story Forge cards for the town-based meta-plot, and tarot for the rest—I’ve had a good experience with both, and I think it will work out. I’m planning to work in some interactions with personalities outside the town itself, to give it a feel of being a small part of a larger world.

There are a few other minor systems I need to work out, like weather—random or reality-based? Minor enough I don’t really need to be bothered about them right now.

I have done a fair bit of research and work on the CP wagering system, the preliminary results of which will be posted in the near-future here. I will probably be posting some of the Non-Player Groups here and there, as I find myself satisfied they aren’t likely to change.