FAQ

I keep meaning to post a FAQ for folks that stumble across the site. I will link this post to the right and update it as necessary.

> What is Valley of Blue Snails?

Valley of Blue Snails is a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting. It is created for a cousin (Lt. Moree) who will soon be in Iraq. We chose to do an online game to prevent boredom and as a escape from the realities of things sucking over in Iraq. Incidentally this opportunity seems a decent time as any to write some homebrew material and chronicle it for self indulgence.

Mainly this blog will cover my notes in the creation process. I don't even know what exactly I will be creating yet; perhaps a new rule set, most likely a setting, and definitely some kind of starter for a online rpg.

I will occasionally post other things I am interested in. I am in a Dark Heresy game at the moment. I play World of Warcraft. I paint minis, and so forth.

> Why 'Valley of Blue Snails' name?

It was a technical error on the part of my cousin. He misread the title of an adventure in Dungeon 'Valley of the Snails' as Valley of Blue Snails (the pic in the adventure had some blue snails in it). Simply put, I like the name so it just a matter of semantics.

> What is the scope of Valley of Blue Snails?

To clarify the scope of the Valley of Blue Snails, it is intended to have a working rule set and setting in May / June of this year (2009). Namely because this is when Lt. Moree deploys and I work better with deadlines. The rules will be primarily written for a DM and 1 or 2 player model with online play in mind - email, pbp most likely since live play will almost certainly not work with the time difference. I will leave open the possibility that some other soldiers can be included but probably no more than a couple.

The setting will be more broad and will likely be applicable beyond this campaign so I am hoping to get a refined version out by May / June and adapt it as we go. It should be broad enough to not be limited to a specific rule set and probably any D&D rules would work fine, but I will keep B/X in mind if I need to stat something out. I want the campaign to last the full tour of duty, so possibly 12-14 months. After this point it will be finished and I will adapt the events of the campaign for the setting and make it official canon. I will probably rewrite it at this point, get a couple pieces of art, and publish a couple copies and give it to a handful of people. I will also put it up somewhere as a .pdf for free. That is assuming it is not a steaming pile of crap and worth the effort to do all that.

> Are you looking for other players?

Sorry no. The only exception would be any soliders that Lt. Moree wishes to include. I am not counting on any other players however. I may post some game sessions or make the forum threads public, but I am not looking for other players. There is a slim possiblity this could change but I would say it is unlikely.

> Will this be useful to other gamers?

Maybe. The setting is be based upon a single player (with the possibility of a few more) and DM model. The setting material should be open enough to be useful for those interested. I will likely post maps, adventures and other material that may be useful.

> What rules will Valley of Blue Snails use?

I am not sure yet. I may create a modified version of B/X and intermix it with the setting. I may just settle for standard B/X and be done with it. Ultimately the setting should be open enough to be workable for any D&D rules (well, except the travesty that is 4e).

> About Me

I am Sam Kisko, 36 year old D&D fan. I am systems administrator at a non-profit company. I have played D&D off and on since I was about 10. I do some amateur art and writing.

> About my Cousin

(I will let him this in)