vdonnut

It seems fine. I guess the light load/easy terrain speed is a strain depending also on how you interpret "easy terrain". I can imagine doing it on a well maintained road.

Also choosing to go light/easy looks like a statement from a player "We gotta make it on time". It deserves extra speed. And without load of food/water/tent they need to do it in friendly and inhabited areas.

you try making a potion of sleep... and it is regular beer

oh, I see, then case dismissed

I usually take a look at names from one language and choose those I like the most. Recently I held the game in another random fantasy world where PCs were new and I made sure my players don't have a lot to do with French and gave every NPC a French name. But they can be hard to pronounce and to note by players if you don't know it.

Good picks are Nordic names - Norwegian/Danish/Swedish - because of popcultural references. I'm thinking of making repository of semi-Polish fantasy names for all those who like Slavic themes but there is a long way before me.

yeah, I know, but I wanted to contribute somehow

I don't have anything of my own at the moment but recently I recalled this post:

http://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2023/02/making-magical-items-feel-magical.html

I haven't played over half of the games I own. And I won't play them probably because it is so hard to find willing players. But I have so much fun just reading some of them I don't worry about it.

As long as it is fun for you, don't worry.

my main thing at the moment is the untold stories behind Silmarillion - the humans of the East who neither had help from benevolent Valar nor had to endure the powers of Morgoth. The places forgotten by good powers but still messed with by distant evil powers.

I wanted to make a setting with somewhat powerful PCs, heroes of the land, but at the same time give players the feeling they need to be that powerful because the world around is tough. Not necessarily magical evil lord-god as the enemy.

I just don't want to make it too grim. I don't want DnD Midnight where all is essentially lost. I also don't want counting every slice of bread because this is not the harshness I'd like to impose.

Have you considered more than farm plots in such domain? I think a forest, patch of a barren land or a quarry could make it two to three hexes.

I always think in such case about a polish book in which a group of villagers fought against lome local knight/lord over the ownership of a local forest.

There is also some old AngryGM rant about biological and cultural traits of starting characters https://theangrygm.com/why-race-isnt-broken/

maybe try making the mechanical part of lifepaths as short descriptive abilities rather than stats? Something very narrow yet helpful. Check out this blogpost too http://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2023/08/pointcrawling-character-creation.html?m=1