One of the first things I started to think about was where the Keepers of the Broken Circle hang their hats. When The Kandris Seal was originally conceived and written, the answer was easy: the Realm of Chaos. With the advent of D&D 4th Edition, the answer’s not quite so simple.

Elemental Chaos was my first thought. It’s got the Abyss, which is kind of what I envisioned the Keepers’ backyard being like. However, they’re not really into destruction. They want to corrupt the natural world and rule it.

Corruption of forces outside of the natural world brought the Far Realm to mind, but the Keepers don’t render any being instantly insane. Still, I like the idea of the infection and aberrant aspects of it, so I’m going to find some way to hang onto that.

There’s the Astral Sea, with the Nine Hells and Shom. The Keepers’ realm could fit in there, and as the Manual of the Planes says, the “islands” in the Astral Sea are very remote, and only the most powerful of heroes would go there.

Many different things to think about, but I’m going to have to make a decision about it at some point.

We’ve put together a number of bundles of our books, to help you get started with your Kandris Seal campaigns.

Capers, Cliffhangers and the Kandris Seal bundle – contains The Kandris Seal and Capers, Cliffhangers and the Kandris Seal.

The Kandris Seal bundle has The Kandris Seal and the Dragon Hunters Advanced Class.

The Steam, Savants and the Kandris Seal bundle has The Kandris Seal and Steam, Savants and the Kandris Seal.

The Kandris Seal Universe bundle contains everything published to date for the Kandris Seal campaign setting.

There are two more campaign books planned for The Kandris Seal line, both of which are for the fantasy genre. The first has only the working title of “Fantasy Kandris Seal”. The second is The Cross, the Crescent and the Kandris Seal, which has information about running a Kandris Seal game set during the Crusades.

The outlines for the two books originally started out as an outline for a single book, created by Matthew A.J. Gregory. Given the scope of the material, I decided that it would be best split into two separate books. Fantasy Kandris Seal (or FKS) will be written first, and will contain information on how to adapt The Kandris Seal to a standard fantasy setting, along with a campaign world created as a backdrop for a fantasy game.

As I work on FKS, I’ll be posting these Design Diary entries. Some will be snippets of the book (in draft form, of course), others will be discussions about the decisions I make about the world and how things will be presented.

In a 19th century that never was, dirigibles fly from Europe to America, and clockwork robots and steam-powered computers are fact, not fiction. Consulting detectives, alchemists and daring young ladies wielding parasols pit the skills against criminal masterminds and dabblers in the dark arts to combat the demonic menace threatening all of humanity.

Steam, Savants and the Kandris Seal contains:

* An overview of the Steampunk genre and how to apply it to the Kandris Seal universe.

* A timeline covering the Age of Steam and Savants Organizations to help or hinder the heroes.

* New feats and advanced classes

* How to create Chaos-Tainted characters

* New spells, magical items and wondrous devices

and more!

From the Victorian-style drawing rooms of London to ships that sail through the Aether to get to the new colonies on Mars, bring the power of this age of wonder to bear against the forces of the Keepers of the Broken Circle.

Steam, Savants and the Kandris Seal by Bill Keyes is available for purchase at DriveThruRPG and RPGNow.

Steam, Savants and the Kandris Seal will also be available soon for purchase in print.