Work on Khoras and the New Game

[David Roomes]

The forum here has been awfully quite for awhile and also I have not been doing much work on Khoras lately and I thought I'd explain why.

I've mentioned this a couple of times in the Spotlight section this year, but thought I'd take this opportunity to elaborate on what I'm doing.

So, for those of you who don't know, the World of Khoras was originally created as a D&D campaign world and it still functions as that. I and friends still game in it. However, over the years, I grew increasingly frustrated with the D&D game. I have a whole host of complaints about the D&D game. It's historically inaccurate, the game has a lot of logical contradictions, it's overly complicated and so on. Don't get me wrong... I loved D&D and played it for DECADES. But as I got older, I have grown to want a better game.

So after years of thinking about it, I finally took the plunge in late 2022 and started building my own game. A roleplaying game (RPG) specifically, like D&D. Throughout all of 2023 and 2024 I have devoted a good chunk of time into building this new game system. And after more than 2 years,  the bulk of the rules are done. I'm actually quite proud of it and can't wait to share it with the world. It's going to be awhile yet, though. There are 15 chapters planned. The first 12 chapters are finished and polished.

I am currently working on chapters 13, 14 and 15. However, those 3 chapters are going to take a very long time because they will be quite long. Chapter 13 is Priests and Religion and will include a detailed description of several Khoras religions. Chapter 14 will be a compendium of magic items. Chapter 15 is the bestiary. All 3 of those chapters will be long and take time. I expect to be working on this game for at least another year.

One of the things I'm trying to do is incorporate a bit more realism into this game. I have been following several YouTube channels for years and some of them have been absolutely invaluable to my research. Modern History TV (featuring Jason Kingsley) and Todd's Workshop (featuring Todd Cutler) have both been an absolute gold mine of accurate medieval historical information. Todd Cutler, in particular, conducts a type of "experimental archeology" by recreating medieval weapons and armor and actually testing them. I have incorporated a lot of that data into the weapons and armor of my game. And Jason Kingsley has been a wealth of information about medieval culture, knights, horses and more. I'm a huge fan of his. In fact, I'm currently reading his book "Leading the Rebellion". I highly recommend it.

One of the reasons the game is taking so long to build is become I'm doing a lot of research to get things right and research takes time. But it pays off.

I and some friends have been playtesting the new game system, on and off, for the past two years. I figure I need another 12 to 18 months to truly finish the game and market it. I'll be selling it online at various sites.

Now, work on Khoras has slowed because this game is taking a lot of my time, but Khoras has also benefited from much of the research. I am making numerous changes in the site to match up with the game. I am in the process of converting a lot of weights and prices and such to be more historically accurate. These changes in Khoras are subtle, but needed. And they will continue for the next 12-18 months, right along side work on the game.

So, if anyone is reading this and likes Khoras and wants work on Khoras to continue, don't worry. Khoras is not going anywhere and will continue to grow and evolve. But this RPG is important to me and is taking priority, at least for awhile. And Khoras is benefiting from a number of "spin off technologies" as it were.

I may make other announcements about the game as I hit certain milestones with it. And I'll definitely let everyone know where and when it's available.

I have no grand ambitions with this game. I don't expect to sell many copies. I'm basically just building the game that I want to play. I hope others like it too.

[tanis]

Glad to hear that the game is coming along, and especially that all of your research is beginning to feed back into your worldbuilding!

Due to a number of factors, including finally beginning to wrap up my undergrad, I haven't had much time to devote to my own game, but I look forward to seeing what you come up with when you get there!

As far as research, obviously I've mentioned channels and other sources before, but two in particular that you might find enlightening while you're continuing your research are any talks or interviews with Dr. Tobias Capwell (who was involved with Tod's Arrows vs. Armor project; many interviews with him have been conducted by the channel Schola Gladiatoria) and the channel Sandrhoman—which does a lot of videos about historical warfare, but in particular a lot of coverage of pike-and-shot and other periods of early Modern warfare along with the siegecraft of the period, all of which have actual military history texts cited in video which might help you with the more Renaissance-level cultures in particular.

Anyway, keep up the work, man! All the best.

[tanis]

Also, it's worth mentioning that I periodically check the forum, even when I don't have anything to say, so I at least will continue to be around whenever someone pops their head back in to say something. No worries on the slowness of posts, I just keep the tab open until something happens.

[David Roomes]

I appreciate that I've got at least ONE fan who pops in to the forum from time to time. I really do appreciate that, Tanis!

I remember Dr. Capwell from the Arrows vs Armor project (I absolutely loved that series) and I like him alot. He has been in several of Todd's videos. Also, I am familiar with Schola Gladiatoria and have seen some of his videos. I should watch more of them. Not familiar with Sandrhoman, but I'll check it out. I am always looking for new information channels. I do want to branch out more.

Thank goodness for YouTube and, more broadly, the whole of the internet. There is SO MUCH good information out there. I can't say enough good things about Modern History TV, Todd's Workshop, Schola Gladiatoria and others... they have all been so helpful.

Once I publish the game, I will be very interested in comments and feedback. Absolutely. I think it may drive a surge of activity here on the site as well and in the forum.

From time to time, I'll comment here in the forum about how things are going with the game.

[tanis]

Indeed, lol.

A large portion of my free time consists of just such information consumption. I'd say research, but... it's really more like sticking a dry sponge in a filled tub and then letting it drip all over the house.

As for the game, take your time, obviously, but I'll be here ready and waiting for the buzz when it comes.