Dark Fantasy X: Converting SOG to a novel outline

Friday, May 17, 2024

Converting SOG to a novel outline

Because I'll be moving several states over shortly, my "D&D" game will be on hold probably permanently, although we are talking about possibly playing over Teams or Google Meet or something similar. But I'm getting kind of motivated to revisit it regardless right now, so I'm thinking what else I can do. The first thing, and one that I've literally been talking about for years but never really done much with, is trying to put together a story, book, or even full-on novel based on the SOG outline. Honestly, it might be more than one novel, given that there are more than five fronts in SOG, especially if I keep my novel length to modest novel lengths before High Fantasy doorstoppers from the likes of Robert Jordan changed the landscape of fantasy publishing forever. Although its funny to think about, the Lord of the Rings volumes are only about 350 pages each, which was considered a long novel at the time. Heck, the entire LotR saga has less than half a million words. Even when you add The Hobbit to the count, it's still only 550,147 (according to the internet.) There are single books in Erikson, Jordan, Sanderson or Martin sagas that are nearly as long as the entire LotR. Sometimes truly less is more.

I think, although I wouldn't run the game this way, that it would make the most sense to split the plot points between two groups of characters who are only occasionally in contact with each other. The obvious choices here are one group with Dominic and Kimnor and the second group with Ragnar and Cailin.

I also, as pointed out in an earlier post, need to tamp down the urgency of the main front so that it doesn't seem "irresponsible" for the characters to spend more time doing other things rather than focusing on it. I think it makes sense for the groups to start out in Barrowmere together, and then travel together towards Burham's Landing. As they pass Rabb's Hill, they'll meet Eoman Gast on the Savages of the Thursewood front, and that will be the impetus that causes them to split up. Ragnar and Cailin will therefore handle the Savages of the Thursewood and then bring Joan Wilmore back to the Northwoods region where they also run into The Tazitta Death Cults front. Dominic and Kimnor will board a ship and immediately start running into The Pirates of Chersky Island problems, and handle the original Chaos in the North front too. Because Ratling Scourge of the North Shore is a natural outgrowth of Chaos in the North, they'll handle it too.

I need to figure out how they can have a meet-up partway through; maybe in Lomar, and then how to get Ragnar and Cailin to Garenport for the big finale. My outline currently doesn't tie up Chaos in the North and the Tazitta Death Cults very well together, because they're independent, but I've got to get Jairan involved in the Chaos in the North somehow, or at least make the way to reach her in Garenport.