Ideas for future Annuals
In a previous thread, Ralf encouraged us to post ideas for future annuals and artists we’d like to see. I know there’s been threads of these sorts of ideas before, but I thought I would take the opportunity to start a new thread, and I hope folks will add their own thoughts.
There’s this one artist whose style I really love. She’s super busy right now, but if she ever has a spare moment, I always love new additions from … Sue Daniel! ;-)
This month’s annual highlighting Mike Schley’s Overland symbols really emphasizes how much of his stuff we have to work with – not just overland, but city and dungeon, too. Since he’s been a longtime D&D designer, his style is great at capturing the same vibe when designing your own maps for D&D campaigns. In deciding what style I want to use for a new map, I often gravitate to his because of how much variety there is to work with. (If he’s looking for city and dungeon level ideas, I would love more Greco-Roman buildings and furnishings.)
So in that spirit, I would love to see more annuals with stuff that is compatible with other styles, particularly Darklands City and Spectrum Overland. I know that might be tricky to do an expansion of an annual released years ago. When an annual has an expansion, it’s generally in the same year (Marine Dungeons, Darklands City, Forest Trail, Monkey Frog Overland, etc.) so that a customer doesn’t have to buy two annuals to use both sets together. But what about expansions designed to stand on their own but also work complimentarily with previous sets? I’d love to see more settlement and adventure-hook symbols that are compatible with Spectrum Overland, and more structures/buildings for Darklands City (and the snowy versions for Winter Village). Right now I’m on an elves & dwarves kick, so elven/dwarven Darklands City structures would be awesome.
Other ideas:
Jungle/Swamp Adventures: something compatible with Creepy Crypts & Forest Trails, but with more jungle elements – palm trees, tropical trees, swamp trees (like trees in water with the ripple effects from Marine Dungeons), bright flowers and other foliage, monster/beast footprints, vines, traps, treasurers you might find adventuring in ruined temples.
Castle Construction: something like CA149 Beaumaris Castle, but with design tools and more castle-specific symbols. Symbols like gargoyles, varicolor flags & banners, crenellations (like the way Marine Dungeons lets you drop crenellations onto walls), machicolations/murder holes, plate armor, thrones, weapons, murder holes, siege/warfare equipment…
Inlays: I’ve mentioned this before, but I would also love more varicolor vector symbols that could be used for so many things like heraldic charges, floor inlays, stitching on fabric (rugs, banners, etc.) – animals, weapons, flowers, runes (in dwarven and elven styles), Celtic or elven design patterns, astrology and astronomy symbols, etc.
Comments
I would like to second Royal Scribe's suggestions, and add a few of my own.
I would like a Polynesian / Australian based overland annual.
I would dearly love the Spectrum style to be one of the additions to the basic CC3+, and for the monthly expansions to alternate between Mike Schley and Sue Daniels for the Spectrum style.
I would like extra house symbols (including the house tool) compatible with CD3A styles - perhaps an addition with far eastern, south Asian and other styles, as well as additions to the Gothic/classic/wooden, Mideast/thatch styles. Perhaps more unique buildings, like blacksmiths, warehouses, apartment blocks, inns and taverns, stables etc. As well as street furniture compatible with this CD3A style - benches, flowerpots, pillories, gallows, stalls, etc.
And especially more unique buildings for Greco-Roman - bath houses, temples, shrines, insulae (Roman apartments- need well off, middle class and poor), villas, Colosseum, hippodromes, theatres, stadium.
I would like to see conversions of the old city, temple and castle sets, just as Sue did with Beaumaris castle.
I very much would like to see more stuff for Character Artist - especially different stuff for them to carry, and adornments on the clothes, and ideally, semi-side on portrait faces and torsos (a very big task). I can get fatter and thinner using asymmetric tool, so that isn't a problem. But things showing aging would be nice, like wrinkles, etc