TBO World Building
The server lore for The Bonded Ones has been built up over the 5 seasons that I’ve occupied the Story Lead position. I’ve had a team of Story Tellers that I was charged with organizing and a server full of players to disseminate all this lore to, in order to keep everyone on the same page and avoid incongruities in people’s RP. This took a lot of coordination and communication, not to mention creativity. We were often faced with situations like server wipes, map changes and new content that we had to tie into the metaplot of the server. This would often require a bit of narrative gymnastics as we quickly assessed the story of a new map and tried to work it into the world somehow, giving characters a sense of the larger world and avoiding some lazy explanation like magic portals. The result was a rich and vibrant world with a storied history.
While there is perhaps too much story to cover in this case study, I will do my best to highlight interesting aspects. We’ve always tried to make our lore intricate without insisting upon itself. Players come and go, and no one is going to read a 20-page summary of everything that’s happened so far. So we keep the essentials minimal, covering what every player ought to be aware of, like the effects of the bracelets and the general geography. But there are players that have kept the same character for many seasons and they spread word of past events, keeping that lore alive. Internally we keep track what each NPC faction is up to and plots we might like to run with in the future, while keeping things loose enough to pivot if a better idea presents itself.
Creating Narrative Bridges
One of the bigger parts of being Story Lead is creating continuity between seasons, as each server-wipe (every 6-9 months) would bring changes and necessitate some narrative explanation for the loss of everyone’s builds. We tried to keep it fresh by mixing it up. Great sandstorms had been used in the early days, since that was an in-game mechanic. But we would often build up large scale conflicts between factions that would draw players in before wiping them out from one side or another. We worked with players to give them ideas for how to explain the time between seasons as they rebuilt. Sometimes the changes between seasons were more drastic though.
When we went to the new Isle of Siptah map, it was reachable through a hole in the Cursewall that had kept players confined to the Exiled Lands until then. The passage by sea was fraught with difficulty; storms and winged demons harried ships and their crews. But the result was allowing players to move their characters between maps as we ran both simultaneously. Later when we decided to move to a new map mod called Savage Wilds, a large segment of the northeastern wall collapsed after the release of Tsathoggua, opening a passage through deadly jungles leading north to the new map. Here we took bits and pieces of the loosely thrown together lore included by the mod makers and fleshed it out into something more cohesive. Then every time they’d add something new (and they added a lot to that map) we’d try and tie it in with our lore. After playing on that map for some time, we eventually made our own modded version of the Exiled Lands, bringing characters back in time to experience first hand, the war between the Giant Kings and Lemurians, something that had only existed in Lorestones and NPC exposition in-game.
INTRODUCTION (Season 7)
What came before this is hard to say. Perhaps you're a new character, living life out in the world and by some misfortune you had this bracelet clamped onto your wrist. Once it takes hold you fall unconscious and wake up here in the Bonding Pools. Or you may have chosen to bring over your character from TBO 6.0, in which case you can see down below how things came to a head within Savage Wilds.
You awaken in a round pool. Before you, graven images of the Triumvirate, looming large like powerful tyrants. These alien creatures, whose images are spread across the land, are given form in flesh beside you. You are flanked by a pair of the giants who explain your position. You are here to serve penance for the crimes of your past, here within their empire. These Giant Kings would go on to claim that they are fair masters. You are permitted to make your way into their lands and establish yourself. While the bracelet on your wrist can be used to compel your obeisance if necessary, they would prefer to remain civil. You are also warned of a great war with the people of the sea; the Lemurian followers of Dagon under their mad Witch Queen. Recent strife has cost countless lives on both sides. The Red City, capital of the Triumvirate, has been devastated. Many refugees now flock to the Khari city to the west, on the site of what would one day be Sepermeru.
There are many who arrived the same way you did, spread across these lands. They would tell of a world similar to the one you left behind. But many in these lands have been here all their lives. The Giant King's empire is all they know. At a certain age, most are fitted with a bracelet to prevent to facilitate communication and keep the population in check. It became apparent after the Lemurians arrived, some generations ago, that such measures would be necessary to avoid over-taxing the land. It had the added aim of preventing an uprising, but it failed in that goal, as the people of the sea rose up against their stewards and overseers. You find yourself now in a lull, a break in the conflict as both sides lick their wounds, at a time in the distant past when the history of these lands was still being written. What will you do exile?
SERVER GUIDES
The Bonded Ones - Getting StartedIn this video Ghazi will show you how to get started with a new character on the Bonded Ones server; Conan Exiles RP with a custom edited map.
https://youtu.be/O2be-XAPCJ0
The Bonded Ones - Character Sheet SetupIn this video Ghazi will walk you through how to setup your RP Redux character sheet (shift+R to bring it up). Includes information on the Spheres of Mastery system and choosing your Class.https://youtu.be/EStX6K61BOA
The Bonded Ones - PvP RulesIn this video Ghazi will walk you through what to do at the end of a PvP encounter, using RP Redux and the Fate system.
https://youtu.be/GjeP3zLdLD8DUNGEON TOURS
Conan TBO: Temple City TourA walkthrough of the Temple City dungeon on The Bonded Ones, a Conan Exiles RP server. -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/primematerialcast
https://youtu.be/jtL6-Fyu5xc
Conan TBO: S04 Dungeon TourToday Kurzan and Deirdra take a look at the Tsathite dungeon for the season 4 finale of The Bonded Ones. Plus a quick look at the Murun Prison Break. Lots of behind the scenes info on how we pulled it off. Some neat uses of the new Pippi tools, plus some RP Redux trickery. You won't want to miss this! Probably! -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/primematerialcasthttps://youtu.be/UqKfo0wCCyg
TBO7 - The Red CityJust a quick look at a few changes we made to the "Unnamed City".https://youtu.be/McJSrU3IX_I
THE BLACK HYDRA
A ship and her crew, developed for a continuation of TBO set in a port-town in Argos. The crew was used to bring characters across from the Exiled Lands to the mainland after the fall of the Cursewall. Running it currently as session-based RP with a smaller group. Eventually this story will tie in with the new map when it’s ready.
THE BLACK HYDRA
GAME MAPS
NOTES