Let’s talk about Titansgrave for a moment.

Here’s a picture of Aqualad as a pirate, from one of the funniest episodes of Teen Titans Go I did.

Aqualad is a Pirate

I realize that TTG has its detractors, and respectfully request that they don’t use this post to list their grievances. I liked the show, I loved the cast and creative people involved, and there’s always the older, more serious Teen Titans for you to watch.

Speaking of older stuff: you know what holds up surprisingly well? The Land of the Lost (not that abominable movie; the original series). In fact, I used some elements from Land of the Lost as inspiration for some elements in Titansgrave.

Titansgrave. Let’s talk about Titansgrave for a moment.

Holy shit you guys Titansgrave is looking amazing. I desperately want to share some of the art images we have, including some of our character models and locations, but there’s this whole marketing plan that I have to follow, like I’m an adult who is part of a successful business or something.

Yesterday, I watched a rough cut of our first episode, and I loved it.  The photography and the set are beautiful, the actors I cast to play the adventuring party are just fantastic, and as I watched it, felt like the cameras and editing captured the experience we had when we filmed the show. This was really important to me, because translating the emotional and visceral excitement, tension, curiosity, triumph, despair, and joy we all had while we played the game and told the story into something an audience can enjoy is the only way this show will be a success.What I saw yesterday did exactly that. However, I know that, I’m not entirely objective, so I’m going to screen a few edits for some people at Geek and Sundry who weren’t on the set and don’t know anything about the campaign — basically what the audience will know going into it — to make sure that my instincts are correct: Titansgrave is a hell of a lot of fun to watch, and the characters who you’ll get to know are pretty damn compelling.

Lots of people are asking if we’re going to release the campaign setting, and what game system we’re using. These questions have been answered elsewhere, but I’ll put it here just so it’s here: the game is powered by the AGE (Adventure Game Engine) system that Green Ronin created for Dragon Age RPG. This is a version of the AGE system called Fantasy AGE, and we’re adding a few elements to the rules that are specific to our setting, that allows us to incorporate some science fiction elements, as well. At the moment, a lot of us are developing the world, writing fiction that takes place in Valkana, creating NPC allies and adversaries, imagining areas that we touch on in the show but don’t fully examine (so players at home can have their own adventures in our world) and building out the lore of this world we created. It’s a lot of work on a very tight schedule, because we are going to release the campaign setting this summer, but I’m not complaining because I have been itching to just write and write and write some more.

Speaking of writing, here’s a little bit of fiction I wrote while I was figuring out what a particular district of the city of Nestora would feel like.

Grell’s Alley

Korram put one hand on the pommel of his sword, and the other deep into his pocket. He pressed together the two sovereigns he found there, lest they make a sound and draw unwanted attention in this rough part of Nestora. Korram knew his way around a back alley, and was indeed using one at this very moment to make his way to the Shal, but there had been enough killing today. Far too much killing for the two sovereigns he had to show for it. Best to not attract attention, he thought. Some distance away, a concussive boom shook the air. Not thunder, Korram knew from instinct he had long forgotten how to explain. It was more likely a Guilder strike. The flashing of lights reflected off buildings at the end of the alley, as emergency and security hovers sped past, confirming his suspicions.

So much killing. He thought. Too much killing. Korram was tired.

He straightened his spine, pulled his shoulders back, and walked deliberately down the alley. Garbage bins and foul waste piled high around him. Rainwater dripped down from wires and off of rooftops, forming foul puddles between the cracked and broken cobbles beneath his feet.

“Oi!” Called a voice from the darkness in front of him. “Oi! Trellem!”

Korram grunted, and kept his eyes fixed on the end of the alley. With one thumb, he imperceptibly slid the leather guard off his sword.

A stocky dwarf stepped out of a shadow, and blocked his way. No dwarf would stand against a Trellem alone, Korram knew. He sniffed the air, drawing as many scents as he could, forming a mental image of everything around him: Wet brick and urine — human urine — eight hours old to his right. Garbage, a dead rat, a slowly leaking gas line to his left,  and there, above it, tucked into a fire escape made of rusting metal and rotten wood, an elf, wearing soaked Darham leather.

“Stop a bit and visit with old Grell now, won’t ya?” The dwarf said.

“I don’t think so,” Korram said. His sword settled into his hand, ready to become an extension of his arm, of his will. A single-shot blaster, tucked into his belt, felt warm against the small of his back.

“How about you just give me yer gold then?” The dwarf said, “To, uh, ensure yer safe passage through Grell’s alley.”

Korram breathed deeply. The elf was tensing its — her, he now realized — her legs and was about to pounce. He exhaled a sigh.

“There has been enough killing today.” Korram said.

The dwarf flashed a grim smile, revealing a mouth of broken teeth behind his filthy beard. “Disagree,” he said. The elf pounced.

Korram spun in place and drew his sword in one motion. The elf fell on it, sliding down its blade and catching her jaw at the hilt. She hadn’t had time to register surprise, Korram thought, as he yanked her head from her body. Dual daggers clattered to the ground and Korram turned back to face the dwarf.

Korram didn’t need to use his highly evolved sense of smell to know that Grell had pissed himself. “Too much killing,” he said, advancing on the dwarf, who fell as he tried to turn on stubby legs and run away.

Minutes later, Korram wiped his blade clean along the back of Grell’s tunic, elven and dwarven blood mingling together on the rough, heavy cloth. The lifeless heads of Grell and his companion kept watch over the alley, while Korram pulled a small bag off the dwarf’s body. Several coins inside jingled together.

Too much killing, Korram thought, but at least he had more than two sovereigns to show for it. He walked to the end of the alley, and down the lane toward the Shal.

Valkana is a broken and wounded world, a post-apocalyptic land of science fantasy that is so much fun to create and explore. I’m having a fantastic time imagining it, and I’m really excited for you all to come and visit, later this summer.

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50 thoughts on “Let’s talk about Titansgrave for a moment.”

  3. My 4yo granddaughter loves TTG. Seeing her love for both animated shows and her reactions to each has made it possible to recognize they are separate entities. I’d sooner complain about an apple not tasting enough like an orange.
    I miss Land of the Lost. Time to introduce 4 to some of the 70’s finger Saturday morning fare.

  6. Hm. I follow you on Twitter Wil and I’ve read all the posts on your blog in the last couple of years – I get updates via IFTTT RSS to E-Mail – but I don’t have the faintest clue what TItansgrave is headscratch

    DuckDuckGo gave me nothing, so I searched Google – nothing. Alright, off to Twitter it is – “titansgrave @wilw” showed me that you mentioned the name first on April 2nd.

    I follow about 200 people on Twitter and I am a completenionist, but I did not make the connection between the TableTop RPG show and you having named the show Titansgrave…

    Just wanted to mention this because your first paragraph is about how you have a marketing strategy in place and since I do follow you (yet I did NOT fund the Kickstartet, hence get no updates) I thought it might be helpful for you to know that this all went right over my head when I got the email with this posts content in it and started reading… I know. Weird. I thought I was a fan, apparently I’m not paying close enough attention I guess :-/

  7. I like the idea of Thundar the Barbarian, It will give it a very different feel than Dragon Age or DnD. I am a big AQI fan, I hope you hit a homerun. Kinda worried about the whole youtube/ twitch transition.

  8. I’m really looking forward to this. Watching people play RPGs in real life can be dull but your Dragon Age and Fiasco episodes showed that the editing makes it perfectly watchable.
    Regarding the setting, have you by any chance been inspired by the OASIS in Ready Player One (the audiobook of which I just finished, I don’t think they could have found someone better to read it than you.)? Many OASIS avatars use both fantasy and Sci-Fi weapons and items so I saw a connection there.

  9. This show is going to be great! I wish I knew people that are as into storytelling and imaginative gameplay as I am–I love writing fantasy and sci-fi, and I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to explore new worlds with others.

    Pretty darn impressed by your little flash fiction piece, too. Pretty gripping, and gives lots of interesting details hinting at the world beyond the alley…

  11. I love the fiction Wil! Definitely looking forward to the show and the published campaign.
    If you find any inspiration in Crawling Under a Broken Moon, let me know.

  13. He sniffed the air, drawing as many scents as he could, forming a mental image of everything around him: Wet brick and urine — human urine — eight hours old to his right. Garbage, a dead rat, a slowly leaking gas line to his left, and there, above it, tucked into a fire escape made of rusting metal and rotten wood, an elf, wearing soaked Darham leather.

    “How about you just give me yer gold then?” The dwarf said, “To, uh, ensure yer safe passage through Grell’s alley.”

    If I apply myself, I can probably come up with a pretty decent joke about elves, dwarves, and golden showers.

    …

    …

    …

    Nah. Lost it.

    I’m gonna go get a bagel if anyone wants me.

  17. It sounds like you are going for a “Thieves’ World” feel to the game, in which case I like it.

  18. And not only Walter Koenig, but a lot of big names in science fiction wrote those scripts for LOTL. I’ve been watching a few myself Wil, and I just turned 50.

  20. Ooooo! Very nice! I can hardly wait for the RPG show, and I am hoping the convince my DM that we need to play in this universe.

  21. I am not likely to play this as a game (it’s absolutely nothing personal, my game-world is just full right now) but I would be all over more of that story if you were to release it as an eBook or something.

  23. I had a DM I used to play with try this. He used the D20 rule set with a fantasy/ American Western theme. We had Dwarf slaves/2nd class citizens making guns with to combat the Elves who filled the part of American Indians. Put an unusual twist on the fantasy theme.

  24. I don’t know who Aqualad is but he totally looks like ADR. drake. From Kim Possible.

    1. Aqualad was Aquaman’s (of the Justice League, etc) teenaged sidekick, in much the same way that Batman had Robin as his protege.

  25. This does sound very, very cool. I was always interested in the Dragon Age ruleset. Now that it’s going to be it’s own thing, I’m probably picking up Fantasy Age first chance I get.

  26. Wow- great work, man! My wife and I have been looking forward to this project since you announced it as a stretch goal last year. I’m going to post this in my RPG group page to share the epicness!

  28. Holy Cow. Look at the writing credits for the original land of the lost. Larry Niven (Ringworld!), Ben Bova and Walter Koenig among others. That show scared the crap out of me as a child. I loved it, but I still remember how scared I was of the Sleestacks

  29. This looks fun. Is it for baby gamers like me?

    Also, testing WordPress, as I can’t seem to make a comment on Anne’s blog and it’s telling me dumb things. 🙁

      1. Sort of. She enabled moderation. Once a comment from a person is approved, future comments from that person should not go into the moderation queue, but it takes a few days for the system to get trained.

        1. I understand totally. I told her of my support for her on Twitter anyway. I can understand respectfully disagreeing with someone and that arguments get heated. But death threats? Rape threats? Wishing someone harm? Like who are these psychopaths anyway?

        2. WordPress is being dumb and won’t let me log in over there, but I can here. Weird. No biggie. I let Anne know I’m in her corner on Twitter, so it’s all good. 😉

  30. Oh. Right. That. Probably disabled comments, huh? Smart. Sigh. I’ve been off Twitter for a while…but I heard through the grapevine. Now I get it. Again…sigh.

  31. I’m so confused: what is Titansgrave? I only read the blog (or should I say “teh blog”) This post doesn’t make any sense.

  32. Great work Wi, especially the short story at the end of the blog. I was listening to Moonage Daydream by David Bowie as I read it and somehow the two just fit perfectly for me. Really looking forward to Titansgrave. Keep up the good work.

  33. My kids love Teen Titans, and it’s one of the shows I enjoy watching with them. No, it’s not as gritty as some of the other DC stuff, but it is not intended to be. Instead it is light, humorous, and intended for more audiences.

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  35. They eyes of the mechanical spider focus on her cheek. A patch of light from above, filtered trough blue rain.
    She tries to move, and one of its legs snaps out, it pins her against the wall.
    “What do you want?” she cries.
    It seems to adjust, some clicking noises, and then the faint recording is plaid back:
    “What do you want?”

    1. His strong hand holding hers. Those eyes. Those ears. She sensed a sudden elatedness in the parties strange members.
      “We’re going to elven land” said a voice.

  36. Thank you for the opportunity to imagine with you as you tell your story. Can’t wait for your next installment. I love it when the written word translates so easily into an imaginary world behind my eager eye. Thanks again Will.

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