Essential Calidar Links

[Thorf]

This is a collection of important links for the World of Calidar.

BH = Bruce Heard's Blog
TT = Thorfinn Tait's Blog

Bruce Heard's Blog

• Bye Bye Princess Ark (BH, Apr 2013) — the original announcement of the start of Calidar's development.
• Bye Bye Princess Ark... Hello Calidar! (BH, Oct 2013) — the first detailed overview of the setting.

In Stranger Skies Kickstarter Campaign (BH, Dec 2013-Jan 2014)

• Calidar Kickstarter Has Begun! (TT, 12 Dec 2013)
• Calidar Hex Map Stretch Goal Reached (TT, 27 Dec 2013)
• Calidar Pathfinder and Expanded Gazetteer Stretch Goal Reached (TT, 2 Jan 2014)
• Next Calidar Stretch Goal: Skyship art by Ben Wootten (TT, 3 Jan 2014)
• One last Stretch Goal for Calidar's Kickstarter (TT, 9 Jan 2014)

In Stranger Skies Previews & Updates

• Sneak Preview: The Orcs of Ghüle (BH, 16 Jan 2014) — the home world of the orcs of Calidar.
• Preview: The Soltan Ephemeris (BH, 27 Jan 2014) — previewing Calidar's solar system.
• Soltan Ephemeris (TT, 2 Feb 2014) — more previews of Calidar's solar system.
• Calidar Status Check (BH, 10 Feb 2014) — In Stranger Skies development update.
• System-Neutral Character Rankings (BH, 2 Mar 2014) — asking for feedback on system neutral notations.
• March Update (BH, 7 Mar 2014) — In Stranger Skies development update.
• Calidar Moving Ahead (BH, 9 Apr 2014) — In Stranger Skies development update.
• Voices of Calidar (BH, 10 May 2014) — asking for help developing labels.
• Behind the Maps (BH, 27 May 2014) — looking at the southern half of the Great Caldera and its labels.
• Behind the Maps Part 2 (BH, 2 Jun 2014) — looking at the northern half of the Great Caldera and its labels.
• Great Caldera Poster Map Finished (TT, 4 June 2014) — looking at the design of the Great Caldera map.
• Behind the Maps Part 3 (BH, 21 Jun 2014) — looking at Meryath's hex map and the Royal Domain province map.
• Kingdom of Meryath Finished Map thread at The Cartographers' Guild.
• Royal Domain Finished Map thread at The Cartographers' Guild.
• On a Sail and a Prayer (BH, 30 Jun 2014) — previewing the deck plans and Calidar's skyships.
• On a Sail and a Prayer (Part Two) (BH, 10 Jul 2014) — looking at the beta design for an Osriel skyship.
• In Stranger Skies Mapping by the Numbers (TT, 28 Jul 2014) — preview of all the maps, plus statistics for Thorf's work on the project.
• A Guided Tour of the Great Caldera (YouTube) (TT, 7 Aug 2014) — also at Bruce Heard's blog and Thorfinn Tait's blog

• Calidar Short Story Guide (TT, 7 Jan 2014)

The Rat Hunter Short Stories — introducing the massive Lao-Kwei treasure ship, the Tiang Feng, through the eyes of one of its crew

1. The Rat Hunter (BH, 23 Jul 2014)
2. The Rat Hunter (Part Two) (BH, 29 Jul 2014)
3. The Rat Hunter (Part Three) (BH, 4 Aug 2014)

Interviews

• Bruce Heard Interview in Threshold Issue #1 (30 Sep 2013)
• Bruce Heard Interview at SlimGamer.com (20 Dec 2013)
• SlimGamer extra text at Bruce's blog (BH, 21 Dec 2013)

World of Calidar Pinterest board

Map of the Day — a series previewing Calidar's continents and their maps. (TT)

• Maps of the Day 1-3: Mapping the Great Caldera (TT)
• Maps of the Day 4-8: Building the Mountains of the Great Caldera (TT)
• Map of the Day 9: Feorad Isle (TT)
• Maps of the Day 10-13: Eerien (TT)
• Map of the Day 14: Mormoroth (TT)
• Map of the Day 15: Omfall (TT)
• Map of the Day 16: Meryath – the First Hex Map (TT)
• Map of the Day 17: The Western Hemisphere (TT)

Thorf's World-building Techniques: The Making of the World of Calidar (TT)

• Thorf's World-building Techniques: Introduction (TT)
• World-building: Continental Outlines and Map Projections (TT)
• World-building: Scale (TT)
  • A Study in Scale: Meryath (TT)
• World-building: Building Base Height Fields (TT)

Miscellaneous

• C is for Calidar — Jeff Grubb expressing his support for Calidar (3 Apr 2014)

[Ambreville]

Neat list! Thanks for posting this, Thorf.

[julius_cleaver]

Yes...this is comprehensive.

Bruce and Thorf, would you both say this is "everything"?

I mean there are probably likes on Facebook and Google, but is the Piazza the only current discussion board for Calidar?

ALSO: I find it mildly amusing that Calidar shows up as unknown or a misspelling in its own forum...

[Thorf]

Julius, you have to add "Calidar" to your spellchecker manually.

This list is pretty comprehensive, with everything from Bruce's blog as well as mine, and some other stuff besides. But please feel free to add any more you may find, and I'll add them in to the list. Perhaps we should get this thread stickied.

Good call on the Facebook and Google+ links — I'll add these in later.

[Thorf]

Added three new links:

• On a Sail and a Prayer (Part Two) (BH, 10 Jul 2014) — looking at the beta design for an Osriel skyship.
• On a Sail and a Prayer (Part Three) (BH, 23 Jul 2014) — the first part of a new short story introducing the massive Lao-Kwei treasure ship, the Tiang Feng.
• In Stranger Skies Mapping by the Numbers (TT, 28 Jul 2014) — teaser preview of all the maps, plus some statistics for Thorf's work on the project.

[Thorf]

Added a new link:

• The Rat Hunter (Part Two) (BH, 29 Jul 2014) — the second part of Kai's story arc on the Tian Feng. The plot thickens!

I also noticed that the link to part one (formerly titled "On a Sail and a Prayer (Part Three)") was wrong, and corrected it. This is a great little story for an absolutely humungous ship, so please check it out.

[Ambreville]

I also noticed that the link to part one (formerly titled "On a Sail and a Prayer (Part Three)") was wrong, and corrected it.

My bad. Thought the story would be better if all its parts had the same title, although they're all really part of the previous series.

[Thorf]

Update: I made a few tweaks to the list, moving the Rat Hunter arc to its own section underneath In Stranger Skies Short Stories, and also adding the new Great Caldera Tour link.

I also noticed that the link to part one (formerly titled "On a Sail and a Prayer (Part Three)") was wrong, and corrected it.

My bad. Thought the story would be better if all its parts had the same title, although they're all really part of the previous series.

It was actually my link that was wrong — I had it linking to the previous article by mistake. I agree changing the title was a good idea.

[Spellweaver]

The two links under the headline Calidaran Languages appear to lead to broken pages on Bruce's blog?

[Ambreville]

The two links under the headline Calidaran Languages appear to lead to broken pages on Bruce's blog?

The blog page on the dwarves' language was removed from the blog when this material was updated and moved to the promotional PDF (Kickstarter backers only). This PDF will be made available once again with the next Kickstarter for those who could not participate in Calidar's first crowd funding effort. (Sorry).

[julius_cleaver]

Is this the only thing that has been removed from the Blog?

[Spellweaver]

The two links under the headline Calidaran Languages appear to lead to broken pages on Bruce's blog?

The blog page on the dwarves' language was removed from the blog when this material was updated and moved to the promotional PDF (Kickstarter backers only). This PDF will be made available once again with the next Kickstarter for those who could not participate in Calidar's first crowd funding effort. (Sorry).

No worries. I got the pdf because I participated in the Kickstarter. I just wanted to let you know

[Ambreville]

Is this the only thing that has been removed from the Blog?

All the short stories were removed as well.

[Angel Tarragon]

The blog page on the dwarves' language was removed from the blog when this material was updated and moved to the promotional PDF (Kickstarter backers only). This PDF will be made available once again with the next Kickstarter for those who could not participate in Calidar's first crowd funding effort. (Sorry).

Approximately when is the next Kickstarter going to happen? I'd like to know so that I can be sure to have money set aside for it.

[Ambreville]

The blog page on the dwarves' language was removed from the blog when this material was updated and moved to the promotional PDF (Kickstarter backers only). This PDF will be made available once again with the next Kickstarter for those who could not participate in Calidar's first crowd funding effort. (Sorry).

Approximately when is the next Kickstarter going to happen? I'd like to know so that I can be sure to have money set aside for it.

It's too early to say. I want to write as much as possible of Book II before the KS event. I would think nothing until April 2015.

[Angel Tarragon]

Plenty of time to save up. Thanks, Bruce!

[julius_cleaver]

Is this the only thing that has been removed from the Blog?

All the short stories were removed as well.

Oh...Damn!! I hadn't read them all...

Are they included in the Kickstarter PDF?

ALSO: I might have mentioned this already...but I have yet to "download" my copy. I hope there is not going to be a problem doing this in the near future. I wanted to see the printed copy first, and draw my initial opinions from it, rather than the PDF.

As a humble opinion. Part of the reason I am excited about Calidar is the potential to constantly possess, and keep up on all of the material. It's part of the reason I "gave up" on Pathfinder. There was so much material being put out, I didn't think I would be financially able, aside from having the time to read all the material, to keep up with everything that was being published.

I like the idea of being able to return to your blog and find things you have added or written years ago. I understand that some of the material, such as the Black Bat adventure, might be material you would like to further develop into printable modules. And why would people want to buy it, when it already exists on your site. But perhaps, this is incentive to include additional material to these "products." I think true fans, and the people that will continue to purchase Calidar material/products, will always "pony up" the cash necessary to keep this project going. Whether or not this material exists on your site.

For myself, the summer months are incredibly hectic, and I don't always have the time to keep up on everything. I have acted with the idea that I would always be able to look at the blog. It is kind of neat to see the world unfold there, as well as in printed projects. When you remove material, it feels like part of the timeline is missing, and that I have missed out.

This was another part of my concern with Pathfinder, and why I like the idea of print on demand. Of course most obviously is this thwarts the need to have a warehouse to store printed copies. Yet the other is that even if I, or others have arrived late to the game, it is always possible to join in...COMPLETELY. With Pathfinder material going out of print, just like Mystara and TSR products in general, the possibility of finding this material at regular price disappears. The world then becomes the province of collectors and online warehouses, who buy up product and then sell it for exorbitant prices in the future...defeating the purpose of RPGs. Part of the reason I always despised Magic: The Bankrupter. With print on demand, and products ALWAYS remaining available, I think the interest and zeal for Calidor will always remain high, as people years from now who discover Calidor will realize they can "catch up" with everything. Additionally, the money it produces will go were it belongs...to you and your fellow creators!

I actually found B10 Night's Dark Terror on Amazon recently. The seller wanted 1600 dollars for it...ridiculous!

I think one of the best things going for Calidar is that the owner creator has complete control over where it is going. And as long as ALL the products and stories can be found somewhere at normal/reasonable prices, I can't imagine that the enthusiasm, and fandom, will grow!!

Well Bruce...here's to another failure to keep things concise!!

[julius_cleaver]

I guess if in the future, as things progress and you feel people are buying the printed products, you might consider reposting some of this material?

Of course it would be "out of order"? Call me silly, but I liked seeing the dates on the blog, denoting a real world Calidor timeline to match the one in the book!!

1512....it going to be a good year isn't it!?

Edit: I should also add, you will always have my support on future kickstarters Bruce. You and Thorf have done an absolutely amazing job at answering questions, and keeping people updated, and solving problems. I think the Mystara community in general is thrilled your new setting exists, and is anxious to keep Calidor alive and kicking!

[Ambreville]

The reason for removing the dwarvish guide and the short stories from the blog is because they were relocated to the promotional PDF. This only increases the value of that PDF. It will be available to those who didn't already get it during the next Kickstarter in 2015. So far as I can tell, it's going to remain a freebie. There shouldn't be any problem downloading it. I'll have to remember to date-stamp the pieces that are pulled from the blog and moved to the PDF*. As with all things in life, procrastination isn't an ideal thing, so, if you haven't downloaded it yet, you might want to do so. Fortunately, the output I can sustain is nowhere near that of big publishers, so I doubt anyone will have any trouble keeping up with me.

(*) For the record:

Kragdûras Primer 12/28/2013

World Souls 1/9/14
The Anger Within 1/6/14
The Unexpected Pact 1/3/14
In the Belly of the Beast 12/30/13
Fire and Steel 12/26/13
Before the Storm 12/23/13
Tyrran's Gambit 12/20/13
Eternal Glory 12/16/13
The Oracle 12/12/13
Queen's Fury 12/8/13
For Queen and Glory 12/5/13
Flesh of the Queen 12/2/13
Reborn 11/27/13
The Cleansing 11/25/13
Into the Vortex 11/23/13

[julius_cleaver]

Both these things made me laugh!

As with all things in life, procrastination isn't an ideal thing, so, if you haven't downloaded it yet, you might want to do so. Fortunately, the output I can sustain is nowhere near that of big publishers, so I doubt anyone will have any trouble keeping up with me.

And thanks for the dates...that's awesome! I just like seeing the timeframe of the world unfolding.

Now that I have the hardcopy...there really is no excuse to no download the PDF. I'll get on this soon!

[Boneguard]

viewtopic.php?f=91&t=12893

The Gods of Calidar links (5-6 so far)

[Angel Tarragon]

April came and went. Any news right now as to when the next Kickstarter might happen?

[Ambreville]

I'm in the process of writing CC1 "Beyond the Skies." Based on present estimates, this book will be 180+ pages. I don't want to launch the Kickstarter until the writing is complete (rather than do what many other folk do -- launching their KS halfway through and adding many long months of production time afterward). Realistically, I would say not before September. Between now and then, there may be another KS taking place, for a player's book to complement CAL1 "In Stranger Skies." More later on this.

[Yaztromo]

Great choice, Bruce!

[Angel Tarragon]

I'm in the process of writing CC1 "Beyond the Skies." Based on present estimates, this book will be 180+ pages. I don't want to launch the Kickstarter until the writing is complete (rather than do what many other folk do -- launching their KS halfway through and adding many long months of production time afterward). Realistically, I would say not before September. Between now and then, there may be another KS taking place, for a player's book to complement CAL1 "In Stranger Skies." More later on this.

Awesome, and thanks for getting the writing done before the KS.