Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

[zippercomics]

Hi all!

 

Once again, I bow to the omnipresent opinions of the great and powerful Hero boards for opinions on a topic at hand. Today, I'm inquiring about the creation of a Fantasy world, and what it means to the players and the campaign. First, some very light background information.

 

Morwold is a world of conflict and unexplored danger. Morwold (or, the "MOdern WOrLD", as it's sometimes called) has quite the list of races and species, of cultures and advancements. It's "high fantasy" as defined by the genre, but with a bit of a darker edge. It's a world where conflicts and wars have all but elimintated a few of the races from the planet, and threaten to do so to more should conflicts not be set aside. Blah blah blah. In other words, it's nothing terribly new.

 

The catch is, I'm trying to write a history of the Morwoldian times, as broken down by "times". In doing so, I want to level the realism of real world history with the energy and fantasy of a, well, fantasy setting. And therein lies my biggest hurdle.

 

Obviously, we have no proof of how the world came to be. Just theories. It makes sense to me that Morwold would operate in much the same manner. But when I try to write an oblique and generally non-commital manner of world generation, I find myself stymied to a few contrived conventions. Mainly, two: either the world was created by the Gods, or by some act of super-science.

 

Most races in a Fantasy setting, if not all of them, I would think would subscribe to Godly aspirations when it comes to how the world came to be. In Morwold, the Gnomes are incredibly science-minded and refuse to leave their creation in the hands of an immutable and untouchable "higher power", so they'll take the science route ...

 

Is that enough though? Does anyone have any suggestions on "world creation" or "how it came to be" mythos that I can touch on? I'm trying to be original without being "wierd" (and it's tough, when I see source material like Killer Shrike or Kieth Curtis' pages) enough to scare away potential players. More than anything, though, I want to make the world unique enough to warrant existing. After all, if I'm just pumping out a Fantasy World to play in, the Turakian Age does that for me, right?

 

I know I'm not giving a lot to go on, but the last two times I've asked for help here, the best questions have come from the questions of the people involved. So, to reiterate, here's where I stand:

 

Theory a) The Tens create The Three

 

Morwold is a world of tens, not unlike our own. Ten is an easily divisible number, it's a staple of math since we can count it on our own hands, and it's just plain handy. Morwoldian faith points to "the Ten Who Cannot Be Named"; ten Gods who created three planes of existence - The World That Is (Earth), the World That Was (the Afterlife), and the World That Cannot Be (Heaven / Hell / Extra Planes). In doing so, life was created for the same reasons that a painter paints - simply to create. Some of the Gods grew tired of us, some didn't, blah blah blah, and the Ten disappeared. Since then, the troubles have begun.

 

Theory The Gnomish "Large Kaboom" theory

 

Gnomes were the first race to largely abandon concepts of mass religion in favor of scientific reasoning. When they did so, they started to postulate that large enough quantities of raw materials, if given the right conditions, would've created a Large Kaboom, big enough to solidify rock, dust, and other inanimates into a single form, vis a vis, Morwold. Since Magic is an undisputed form of energy, the Gnomes believe that Arcanite (Mana) created the Large Kaboom through simple collisions. "Like two drunken Dwarves, banging together so much that invariably, a third and unexpected young Dwarfling will soon appear".

 

Any ideas? Thoughts? I'd love to have a "theory c" and "theory d" (with full due credit where it's due).

 

Thanks!

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

Well, nothing specific to add, but here is the origin and history of my setting:

 

http://www.killershrike.com/SanDora/SanDoraHistory.htm

[zippercomics]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

Well, nothing specific to add, but here is the origin and history of my setting:

 

http://www.killershrike.com/SanDora/SanDoraHistory.htm

 

 

Mmm hmm. At first, I was reluctant to use a creation mythos like this, as I felt that most of the creation myths I'm familiar with in fantasy stereotypes didn't involve races being created in quite that fashion. On re-read, though, I think that's a theory I could adopt for a proud, stoic, "look at us, we're still alive" type like the Centaurs. They're an honorbound and proud people, and something gives me a feeling that a creation mythos that starts out with them as slaves or servants to a higher power - only to eventually break free - would be quite the rallying point.

 

What of this, though - a side thought. Goblins will play much the same role in Morwold as they do in most other Fantasy; they're cannon fodder, dumb little whelps with a taste for the iron in blood and fingers too quick to find another man's pocket. They've always been that way, but they're a bit more "roach like" in that twice, the Intelligent Races of Morwold have organized great attempts to eliminate all of the Goblinoids, and twice the Goblins have survived. Orcs (being Goblinoids themselves) have done one better, and are just now being recognized as Intelligent in some of the major Human areas.

 

But back to the Goblins. Is it inconceivable, or rather futile, to have a race that believes itself to be a servant to another? I'm wondering what it would be like to have the Goblins so devoutly and wholly follow the Orcs; those who have survived both the Goblin purges, who now walk with men, but who any smart Goblin knows could crush any being on this Earth if they tried. Would it be silly to have the Goblin mythos of the creation of the Earth centered around the Orcs? Hmm ...

 

Something to think on.

 

Thanks for your website again, Mr. Shrike. It's served as an inspiration.

[i3ullseye]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

C) When a Mommy Fantasy World and a Daddy Fantasy World love each other very much......

 

Seriously though, the best approach is you allow multiple ideas to take hold. having a creation mythose like Krynn does is fine, but boring. Unless you have a rival faction who believes it was done differrently, there is no real conflict between them. And this conflict is often what propels real history.

 

So the orders of one religion believe the 10:3 theory. The problem is, they have gods actually communicating with them and telling them this is truth! Or do they? First you have to decide how personal the godly interaction is with priests. Sure, they have spells and powers, but can that just be a misinterprations of normal arcane forces? Could they all be latently psionic?

 

Many worlds use the same gods for every race, but each race elevates their own view in the creation mythos. But if we model it on our real world, you can have a completely seperate pantheon form another region. They can say their gods are true, but their one deceptive demon god is folling all of the others, and they don';t realize it. Sort of the "it is all the devil fooling you" ploy.

 

If you add this, always make sure to really constrast this. Not to delve too deep, to start any theological debates, but let's look at a real world example. Early Aryan beliefs, and pre Zoroastrian/Parsi beliefs said that when the gods created all, there were beings known as Devas that came to earth to help us... but there were also malicious Asuras who looked down disdainfully form the heavens and held creation in contempt. In modern day Judeo/Christian dogma, the Devils (from the Deva) life in a hell, often thought of underground... while the beautiful Angels (form the Asura) are gods helpers in heaven. The older story is NOT what is common belief today, and the religions are thus at odd but still based on the same basic premise.

 

Jewish faith tells us there is only god, and Satan is his appointed served to act as an adversary to men. Later Christianity would say that he is in hell, and opposes god directly which the Old Testament clearly does not support.

 

The Serpent in the garden of eden was merely a snake. No old testament reference says he is anything but. No Judaic source says otherwise. But New Testament adherents have linked him with Satan... and also Lucifer which technically there is even less of a link to in all the the writings of Judeo/Christianity.

 

So we have a basic framework, but differrent factions favoring differrent sides of it. all of them woudl unify in calling the 'Gnomes' wrong as it were, and woudl believe their origins have the real hint of truth... btu they woudl still disagree at what that truth is.

 

We even have the Gnostics which believe (and have quite a bit of historical scripture to support) the idea that Lucifer and Christ were one and the same, and he was here to save us form YHWH, the imposter creator god... who did no create all in actuality, but has lied to the people of Abraham and the people of Moses in order to secure their adoration.

 

This is all from jut real world sources, and I haven't even touched on religion form the various other regions of the globe.

 

I do this for many fo my games... but it is one of my passions. You have to ask yoruself something... how important is it really? If no one will ever ask abotu the creation mythos, why map it out? If you have no one playing a priest, how often will it come up? I tmight be best to just jot down the 2 or 3 basic ideas you have, and not get into specifics. If they want specifics, make them seek it in game.

 

This does 2 things nicely. First you never establish a basis of fact. Thats a real problem with pre-completed pantheons. The players know right away fact from fiction... and fact and faith don't really go together. Once you know soemthing to be true, it takes no faith to believe it. what they are told from a wise old mans view point might not match that of the academy professor, and that is all the better when they can not say for sure which one is fact or fiction outside of game knowledge.

 

The second nice thing this does is buy you time. Time to come up with a world view form a certain perspective to answer these questions. And better still, a month down the road, in another kingdom maybe, all that flies out the window.

 

At the early points i would instead focus on these few questions.

 

1) Is there magic?

2) Is there scientific/arcane magic?

3) What is it's real source?

4) Is there divine magic?

5) Does this power come form direct personified gods? Or is this just a misperception of the priests?

6) Is there psionics?

7) Can the 3 types of power impact each other? Or are they differrent SFX?

8) Is one of them the true underlying sourc eof all the magics without people perhaps realizing it?

 

Answer that and the rest is merely window dressing. And your players will need never know the true answers to these questions.

[zippercomics]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

At the early points i would instead focus on these few questions.

 

1) Is there magic?

2) Is there scientific/arcane magic?

3) What is it's real source?

4) Is there divine magic?

5) Does this power come form direct personified gods? Or is this just a misperception of the priests?

6) Is there psionics?

7) Can the 3 types of power impact each other? Or are they differrent SFX?

8) Is one of them the true underlying sourc eof all the magics without people perhaps realizing it?

 

Answer that and the rest is merely window dressing. And your players will need never know the true answers to these questions.

 

 

Wow. Great advice. I thought that almost as soon as I posted my question, in that I figured "we don't know in the real world, so how should they know it in Morwold". Nor do I want them to - yet. I MAY one day explore those as overthemes to campaigns, but as this is really just world creation for the sake of world creation so far, it doesn't seem pratical to go too far. Thanks for the advice!

 

As for your questions:

 

1) Yes. Magic is a real and accepted form of the world. While it's still kinda uncommon, it's common enough to be taught to gifted kids in schools. The concern is, it's on the downslide, not the upslide.

 

2) Yes and yes. Gnomes have discovered there to be a source of energy from the third Plane, the Godly plane, known as Arcanus. It can be "mined" into Arcanite, which is the source of most items of magic and mystery. Arcanus functions much like Mana, in that it is a source of magical energy that magicians tap in to. Anyone can learn how to tap into those magics, but there's definately a talent to it. Like painting; anyone can paint, but there's always a few people who do it better.

 

3) See above. This is something of an interpretation. Whether or not Arcanite and Arcanus are what they seem to be or not seems a moot point, as it's believed to be true, and that's all it takes. All magic is manipulated through Arcanite.

 

4) Yes, but it's not nearly as "mapped out". Divine spellcasters have been able to conjure miracles and amazing feats of pious power for years, but they seem to manipulate Arcanus in a different way. Haven't gotten into too much detail here, so any opinions are, as always, appreciated.

 

5) There are Gods in that everyone prays to one to conjure their effects, but as you noted, this is as regional as it is racial and more. Joe A calling to God 1 will get effect x, where Joe B calling to God 2 gets effect y. They think themselves separate and wholly mutally exclusive, but they may well be calling to the same arcane energies. Again, I'm more than willing to accept opinions or forms on this.

 

6) I don't think so. I don't see a need for them.

 

7) Yes. Divine and Arcane magic can influence one another.

 

8) Theory is, Arcanus is that overlying energy. I wonder, though; should this be seen in the world as an acceptance of convenience? That Arcanus is blamed for all magic if not for any other reason than "it's there, we see it, it must be that"?

[i3ullseye]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

I like the Arcanum idea alot.

 

So again, this need nto be answered right away, and maybe even never. But in your secret GM file, you know the one with the Cheeto and Mountain Dew stains... you now just need to focus on the ways this resource is tapped.

 

And a note. If this mystic plane is the source of all magic, arcane and divine alike, that does NOT mean the gods don't exist.

 

1) The belief in those gods, the collective faith of their worshippers, might be the willful force creating them into real being out of that mystic force. So the collective, while having little or no power in and of themselves, when guided as a group grant the energy to give life to the shared concept. This then becomes the religion being as strong as the cummulative will of its faithful.

 

2) The gods could be very capable spell casters, perhaps who have ascended to a higher state of being. Maybe they are form that dimension, and only seem as gods on your main world.

 

3) The gods may indeed be the source of that mystic plane. Maybe the priesthoods actually serve to grant those without the innate ability to wield these magics some chance to harness that power for the betterment of the faithful. This then is the god acting as a guiding hand, and empowering a non-spellcaster ready human with the ability to weave magic.

 

4) And again, maybe the truth is everyone is a latent psionic, and that is the true source of all this energy.

 

Fun part is, everyone can think that ALL of these are true, and many of them can be right at the same time. If the collective will is actually creating the god... then that factions gods do exist. If those gods are now enabled to actually empower their priesthood, then that faction truly does have divine intervention.

 

If those god forms were once mortals, than even the ascended concept is true at the same time as all others. And lastly, if the true source of power is latent psionic force, and even those great ascended spellcasters of old never saw it for what it was... EVERYONE is 100% correct in their assumptions.

 

It isn't even important if you know all this going in. I would just focus on it one new magic school or church at a time as it enters the game. If you purposely try to add new and unique twists to this as the campaign goes on, this will grow to add so much detail to your world it will help write its own scenarios for you.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

But back to the Goblins. Is it inconceivable, or rather futile, to have a race that believes itself to be a servant to another? I'm wondering what it would be like to have the Goblins so devoutly and wholly follow the Orcs; those who have survived both the Goblin purges, who now walk with men, but who any smart Goblin knows could crush any being on this Earth if they tried. Would it be silly to have the Goblin mythos of the creation of the Earth centered around the Orcs? Hmm ...

 

Jack London said something in White Fang to the effect that a dog never lacks for faith in his gods, because they (humans) are there in front of them. It wouldn't be beyond belief that goblins would think of orcs as gods, or at least semi-divine servants of gods. Those goblins who have slain orcs, and know better, would be counted as heretics and blasphemers, and would be outcast.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

Oddly, I was going to quote the same bit that CQ did. Now I have to find something else to quote. *pause* Meh.

 

It took a while, but y'all reached the point I would've made originally anyway; the only person who needs to know how the world came to be is you, the author. That's just the way the cookie crumbles for players sometimes. If you want to understand a group, then one of the things you look at are their creation mythos. Hence, my suggestion was, simply, allow each group (or faith, of barrel of monkeys) to have their own creation myth.

 

Some of those people will take those creation myths and hold them very tightly, and claim the myth as their own. They will then inflict the myth on others, but never share it. These people will become grotesques (paraphrased from Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio). My point here being that if you're really concerned with creation myths, you might want to recall that religion is a major cause for war. In your original premise, that your Modern World is ripped all to **** because of said wars, than creation myths actually become quite important.

 

Let's say you're a Gnome. You believe in the Pay Per View event, the Cataclysic Smackdown, the Wrestling Match between Herbert & Zane, which knocked the firmament around so badly it created craters from elbow drops, and mountains where the dirt collected outside of those craters. They sweated rivers, and their showers afterwards didn't drain properly and left behind the oceans. Well, Herb & Z felt bad having mussed up the otherwise pleasant turf on which they'd fought, and being benevolent wrestlers, introduced other Gods to the place and asked for some help fixing it. These other 8 Gods hung out for a bit, had some lunch, populated the planet, and most wandered off again.

 

Your best friend is an Elf. He hates wrestling and thinks your idea is totally moronic. "ROUND 2! FIGHT!"

 

Socities define themselves and thier personal self-view through their creation myths. If Goblins are little more than slaves, than it makes absolute and total sense for them to believe they were created that way; millenia of being the water boy to the much stronger races of the deep will do that for you. It doesn't occur to them to challenge it because they know it to be true.

 

To mix in real world theology here for a minute (please hold flames, this is merely an example) many people believe the story of Adam & Eve to be literally true. That's how it happened, and no amount of evidence will ever convince them otherwise, because they know they're right. Who are we to disagree? The Hindus believe something else entirely, and some folk go with the Big Bang (we're here by accident, thus relieving us of the whole 'original sin' concept). These views change people's outlooks and how they handle certain situations, or what topics they'll approach.

 

From a world construction stance (what works, why does it work?) this isn't quite as relevant. But considering that it's people and NPCs that make the world actually interactive, it becomes huge.

[zippercomics]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

Let's say you're a Gnome. You believe in the Pay Per View event, the Cataclysic Smackdown, the Wrestling Match between Herbert & Zane, which knocked the firmament around so badly it created craters from elbow drops, and mountains where the dirt collected outside of those craters. They sweated rivers, and their showers afterwards didn't drain properly and left behind the oceans. Well, Herb & Z felt bad having mussed up the otherwise pleasant turf on which they'd fought, and being benevolent wrestlers, introduced other Gods to the place and asked for some help fixing it. These other 8 Gods hung out for a bit, had some lunch, populated the planet, and most wandered off again.

 

Your best friend is an Elf. He hates wrestling and thinks your idea is totally moronic. "ROUND 2! FIGHT!"

 

Socities define themselves and thier personal self-view through their creation myths. If Goblins are little more than slaves, than it makes absolute and total sense for them to believe they were created that way; millenia of being the water boy to the much stronger races of the deep will do that for you. It doesn't occur to them to challenge it because they know it to be true.

 

To mix in real world theology here for a minute (please hold flames, this is merely an example) many people believe the story of Adam & Eve to be literally true. That's how it happened, and no amount of evidence will ever convince them otherwise, because they know they're right. Who are we to disagree? The Hindus believe something else entirely, and some folk go with the Big Bang (we're here by accident, thus relieving us of the whole 'original sin' concept). These views change people's outlooks and how they handle certain situations, or what topics they'll approach.

 

From a world construction stance (what works, why does it work?) this isn't quite as relevant. But considering that it's people and NPCs that make the world actually interactive, it becomes huge.

 

Right. And that's a point I'm quickly coming to as I develop the sketch of Morwold. That it's a regional world, with big wide gaps, and frankly, "how" the world came to be simply isn't as important as what it became in so doing. I think it helps me, from a purely creationist standpoint, to have something to hang my creation of the world hat on. But it's not necessary. It's like when I run superhero worlds; I can't abide just saying "there's powers, deal with it" - there needs to be a reason, no matter how irrelevant or moot that reason may be.

 

I've got some good building blocks here, and I like where this is headed. I've got other questions and opinions I'm seeking on topics, though, so perhaps I could do a quick "about face", and focus on another issue that I'd like feedback on: Races.

 

I love whacky races. But I also like the staples. So I'll be using Fantasy Hero brand Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, Orcs, Goblins, etc etc. Centaur are a big one for me too. But when I was doing up a list of races last night, I found I could easily justify about 20 of them having cropped up in different regions of Morwold. Again, kinda a moot point, since the Fish Men of the Eastern Plains won't really have an impact on a land-based campaign on the Mainlands, but still ...

 

Where does a race need to be written? When is building a race just doing so for the sake of adding another visual look? Or is that enough? Is it enough that I wanted there to be a difference between "Dog Men" and "Fox Men"? Any thoughts on racial creation, and where I should focus my attentions?

 

A good exmaple of somewhere I think I may be going wrong is the Desert Wastelands, and the three insect races raised there. I have Ant Men, Wasp Men, and Scorpion Men. Why? No clue, just like the look of all three. To make them more logical, I've written it up that the insect species all follow - or did, in the case of the Scorpion Men - the Insect King, blah blah blah. Again, insert more trite Fantasy conventions here, but my question is, is this kind of thing excessive? Three insect species?

 

Just rambling out loud at this point. But I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

[i3ullseye]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

Think ecology. The Scorpions would likely eat the ants, as woudl the wasps. So if they exist, they shoudl WAY outnumber the other two, and probably fear them.

 

I think it is reasonable to assume a unique race to inhabit any vast area not already dominated by humans. Normally this means mountain tops, and deep deep forests, the desert and even caverns or sewers.

 

Decide which humanoids you have, and where they rule. This often means the Dwarf/Elf/Human/Gnome/Etc... and possibly include the goblinoids ... and divvy up the world. This is a LOT. This becomes cliche or staple only because it is most logical.

 

So anyr ace that woudl exist outside fo this has to be clearly designed to fit in a unique ecological niche. Rat men in the sewers is a great one. Some races can exists by looking human, or humanoid... like the Ogres in Krynn. Having multipel races can be fun... but it needs to be well planned in order to not feel out of place I think.

 

This also ties into the religion. Religion can unite people of differrent races... but it often segregates them. Further, some dark religion make create an underling race. But how unique would it be to make the glorious elves, with healing magic and beauty and grace, a clearly good aligned race... what if their gods created Gnomes as servants for them? Property to be traded and bought and sold? Maybe they are winged so they can fetch things quickly for their masters in various places in the trees?

 

Sure, to see one treated as property. To see one punished for a minor infraction. To see one sold to another. All of this woudl outrage most 'good' races. But if their gods have created this race for JUSt that purpose, and they accept that role willingly, how can an outsider call it evil?

 

And yes, I can be a very cruel bastard when I run my games. If your interested I will tell you the tale of my jungle goblins and the prophecy!

[ghost-angel]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

One of the things I do when I create a world is .. well, I've always got one underlying thing in every world I create, and it's a layered issue.

 

Infinite Probability creates Infinte Realities. Each reality sits in an infinite universe, or series of universes. Each universe has a unique creation point - some are big bangs, some are Gods, some are made by bigger things than Gods, some are the dreams of others. Some just are.

 

Then there's How We Got Here from the POV of whatever race, on whatever planet on whatever plane of existence. Sometimes they don't believe in anything, sometimes they believe in God(s), sometimes they can interact with God(s).

 

I think it's important from a cultural point of view to see how a culture views creationism, whether or not it's accurate, as that myth goes a long way to forming a lot of the basis of that culture.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

Good morning, zippercomics! Glad to hear that some of what the collective chatted over yesterday helped out. Leaving world religion and creation myths behind for a moment, I'll attempt to assist in your new question:

 

Originally Posted by zippercomics

Where does a race need to be written? When is building a race just doing so for the sake of adding another visual look? Or is that enough? Is it enough that I wanted there to be a difference between "Dog Men" and "Fox Men"? Any thoughts on racial creation, and where I should focus my attentions?

 

One of the things I've discovered about HERO is in its insane flexibility. So let's say you want to include both 'Dog Men' and 'Fox Men' as you say. Hey, canines come in breeds. People come in breeds (White, Black, Asian, Jewish, Indian, AmerIndian, etc. etc.) Why not build in a variation on a theme with minor mechanical changes? Foxes tend to be more sly, and a little faster. Wolves are hardier & tougher, but are more even tempered. A little research into breeds & types will give you ideas as to how they hunt, live, socialize, etc. Also, AmerIndian Shamanist mythos will give you a lot of ideas as to the roles the Spirits of these creatures play in their creation myths.

 

Bottom line of point one: it's very easy to justify what you want to do, the only decision you need to make is whether you truly want to do it that way. So you develop a city, and instead of loading it up with different races of people, you load it up with one 'race' - Canids, and multiple breeds within that race. If anything that becomes more believable in an open ended world than a strictly defined group, such as all Wolves or all Chihuahas.

 

Originally Posted by zippercomics

A good exmaple of somewhere I think I may be going wrong is the Desert Wastelands, and the three insect races raised there. I have Ant Men, Wasp Men, and Scorpion Men. Why? No clue, just like the look of all three.[/Quote]

 

i3ullseye brought up a good possible interpretation of this, asking essentially how is their evolution currently dictating their behavior? That was a nice one. Again, a little research on the internet reveals all sorts of fascinating things about insects. We all know that Ants are communal, and tied to a hive mind. They probably all have some sort of low-level Telepathy that allows them to 'sense' requests/orders from the Queen.

 

You may want to eschew the Queen and make them independent, thus writing in their own personal rebellion. "Heck with you lady!" and over she goes. Scorpions can be anything, really - you can cast them as tanks, you can cast them as Assassins, you can decide the only way to tell one from another is distinct splash markings on their carapace, and the way their antennae swing when they talk.

 

Wasp Men? They could be the most loyal to your current King; you can have a cycling monarchy between Wasps & ants. You can grab convention by its neatly knotted neck tie and say "Look, I'm really sorry about this, but you gots to go," and build in a whole new hierarchy. Perhaps they faced down a larger threat and managed to unite, thus developing a caste society among the three of them (Workers/Ants, Warriors/Wasps, Spies/Scorpions). You can have some cross polination among the castes. You can foment a rebellion. You can have two tons of insect laden intrigue going on in the back, so that if your players ever do encounter the Desert People, good heavens, are they going to be in for a shock.

 

ghost-angel and I are saying the same thing about creation myths, so I hope that you don't abandon that process. He also raises a great point in regards to layered thematics (how things evolve, and why).

 

Good morning!

[zippercomics]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

Good morning' date=' [b']zippercomics[/b]! Glad to hear that some of what the collective chatted over yesterday helped out. Leaving world religion and creation myths behind for a moment, I'll attempt to assist in your new question:

 

 

 

One of the things I've discovered about HERO is in its insane flexibility. So let's say you want to include both 'Dog Men' and 'Fox Men' as you say. Hey, canines come in breeds. People come in breeds (White, Black, Asian, Jewish, Indian, AmerIndian, etc. etc.) Why not build in a variation on a theme with minor mechanical changes? Foxes tend to be more sly, and a little faster. Wolves are hardier & tougher, but are more even tempered. A little research into breeds & types will give you ideas as to how they hunt, live, socialize, etc. Also, AmerIndian Shamanist mythos will give you a lot of ideas as to the roles the Spirits of these creatures play in their creation myths.

 

Bottom line of point one: it's very easy to justify what you want to do, the only decision you need to make is whether you truly want to do it that way. So you develop a city, and instead of loading it up with different races of people, you load it up with one 'race' - Canids, and multiple breeds within that race. If anything that becomes more believable in an open ended world than a strictly defined group, such as all Wolves or all Chihuahas.

 

 

 

i3ullseye brought up a good possible interpretation of this, asking essentially how is their evolution currently dictating their behavior? That was a nice one. Again, a little research on the internet reveals all sorts of fascinating things about insects. We all know that Ants are communal, and tied to a hive mind. They probably all have some sort of low-level Telepathy that allows them to 'sense' requests/orders from the Queen.

 

You may want to eschew the Queen and make them independent, thus writing in their own personal rebellion. "Heck with you lady!" and over she goes. Scorpions can be anything, really - you can cast them as tanks, you can cast them as Assassins, you can decide the only way to tell one from another is distinct splash markings on their carapace, and the way their antennae swing when they talk.

 

Wasp Men? They could be the most loyal to your current King; you can have a cycling monarchy between Wasps & ants. You can grab convention by its neatly knotted neck tie and say "Look, I'm really sorry about this, but you gots to go," and build in a whole new hierarchy. Perhaps they faced down a larger threat and managed to unite, thus developing a caste society among the three of them (Workers/Ants, Warriors/Wasps, Spies/Scorpions). You can have some cross polination among the castes. You can foment a rebellion. You can have two tons of insect laden intrigue going on in the back, so that if your players ever do encounter the Desert People, good heavens, are they going to be in for a shock.

 

ghost-angel and I are saying the same thing about creation myths, so I hope that you don't abandon that process. He also raises a great point in regards to layered thematics (how things evolve, and why).

 

Good morning!

 

I like that. I'm going to try to incorporate some of those characteristics into the "flavour races" that populate Morwold. While the insect races of the Desert Wastelands seem like the most evident example of what you're referring to, I could also work that into the Dog Men of the Mainlands, or for that matter, any race, really.

 

I also like the idea of treating them as breeds as much as species. Definately something to look in to!

 

So much work to do!!!

[Markdoc]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

It might be worth looking at the vast steaming cesspit of Gloranthan material on the net - it has much of the feel that you seem to be going after: many wacky races (but well-integrated into the setting) and a mass of religions that interact, agree on the basic structure of the universe (that the world was created, that it was almost destroyed, that the devil is trapped under that huge block of stone you can see poking up over the horizon...) but disagree on virtually everything else.

 

The dwarves think the universe is a giant machine put together by the maker and that they were created to oil the cogs and keep the whole thing running smoothly. Other races think the world was grown, or created by the uttering of a word, etc. They resolve these religious debates in the usual way - by spattering the brains of heretics on the ground with a sharpened piece of bronze - which offers plenty of excuses for player-friendly conflict situations...

 

cheers, Mark

[zippercomics]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

It might be worth looking at the vast steaming cesspit of Gloranthan material on the net - it has much of the feel that you seem to be going after: many wacky races (but well-integrated into the setting) and a mass of religions that interact, agree on the basic structure of the universe (that the world was created, that it was almost destroyed, that the devil is trapped under that huge block of stone you can see poking up over the horizon...) but disagree on virtually everything else.

 

The dwarves think the universe is a giant machine put together by the maker and that they were created to oil the cogs and keep the whole thing running smoothly. Other races think the world was grown, or created by the uttering of a word, etc. They resolve these religious debates in the usual way - by spattering the brains of heretics on the ground with a sharpened piece of bronze - which offers plenty of excuses for player-friendly conflict situations...

 

cheers, Mark

 

 

Duely noted. Thanks for the tip!

 

(one of these days, I gotta learn how to "rep" people; I got a lot of rep to give for the help I got here ...)

[ghost-angel]

Re: Morwold: So how does a Fantasy World Come to Be?

 

Duely noted. Thanks for the tip!

 

(one of these days, I gotta learn how to "rep" people; I got a lot of rep to give for the help I got here ...)

Click on the scales in the top right hand side of a post, you get a dialogue box to write a comment and hit submit. You will have just Repped someone.