NEW Fantasy Ideas?

[badger3k]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious

Crap. I was hoping to see some cool new campaigns or magic systems or what have you, and here this thread has devolved into a slam-fest, with excellent authors being slammed mercilessly by both sides.

 

Any chance this thread will go back on track?

 

Could be - has happend in the past.

 

Here's an idea based on the dragon-elves idea I posted before. Elves are a race of elementally-linked beings. This is the source of the Wood Elves, Desert Elves, etc.

 

Desert Elves were fleshed out somewhat, since they played a part in the war between two countires whose names I can't remember now. The Elves (Milyanu I believe was their name) were taller than humans, with bronzed skin and hair, long legs, and larger than human proportioned feet. They ran barefoot over the desert sands, and lived by hunting and gathering. Other than less need for water and food and resistance to heat, they possessed some spell abilities (the same with all elves). These nomadic beings were prosecuted by the desert dwelling humans, and sided with another country fighting them. They worked with human ranger types who were commando style - they had gone native, so to speak, and were feared by the humans (sometimes on both sides). In Hero terms they'd have immunity to heat, Diminished eating, extra inches running (or maybe flight, only to run on sand). Magic would be water/food finding, sand magic, mirage, or heat/light magic. I used them originally in a Rolemaster game, then tried transferring them to Hero (may still have sheets somewhere).

 

Maybe not original, but there's an idea - the Milyanu themselves never used "elves" as a term, but humans (in the game) did, and the stats were based on the elven stats for the game system. I forget the name for the desert rangers, but their enemies were the Golden Lances, an elite cavalry unit.

[Old Man]

I wonder if the Milyanu were borrowed from Dark Sun or vice versa.

[AnotherSkip]

Erm try this one for really fantastic:

 

There is a part of the world that almost has no government above the level of village. no nations, kings or Armies. any problems above that level are solved entirely by an intertribal/intervillage community of lawgivers and adjucators. the members of the society are culled from each village as the best and brightest of the village children. They then are trained by their tester and serve other villages.

 

And the graet thing about it is :

This is an archeological theory about a part of South Africa.

[Galadorn]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious

Crap. I was hoping to see some cool new campaigns or magic systems or what have you, and here this thread has devolved into a slam-fest, with excellent authors being slammed mercilessly by both sides.

 

Any chance this thread will go back on track?

 

There is a chance. But excellent authors are in the eye of the beholder, unless you have some empirical evidence.

 

And who's slamming? Don't critics critique? Critique is not slamming, it's; commenting, evaluating or judging. I'm not "slamming" other authors, when I point out what I think is wrong with their work, and tell them how I think they can improve. And btw, I did compliment Tolkein far more then I critiqued him.

[tkdguy]

Here's an idea I discussed with my group. How about setting the campaign in the modern world, except gunpowder was never invented.

 

That leads to a change in technology. Perhaps crossbows and longbows fired projectiles that could pierce the strongest armor, so eventually, armor would be phased out.

 

One of my friends said planes and tanks would still exist. Tanks would fire projectiles propelled first by steam, then by petroleum. Perhaps an electromagnetic propulsion system would be next in line. However, this would be impractical for handheld weapons. If chemically propelled weapons exist, however, flame throwers would exist as well.

 

Now, without armor, civilian weapons like rapiers and later smallswords would be used in the cities. And if duelling is outlawed (as it was in many cities) AND the authorities can enforce that edict, unarmed combat would flourish as well.

 

How would history change without gunpowder? For one, maybe Constantinople wouldn't have fallen to the Ottomans in 1543. And perhaps colonizing Asia and the New World would have been more difficult, but not impossible. I get into that more after I've thought about it a bit more.

[tkdguy]

And furthermore...

 

Another setting I've thought about but never tried mixes science fiction with fantasy. Sure there are knights, but they ride cyborg horses and wield light sabers. And flying ships look like galleons and sloops sailing through the sky. And several floating cities exist, although the majority of people live on the ground. Crossbows fire laser bolts rather than quarrels, like Chewbacca's bowcaster. And the bow used by Hank the Ranger in the D&D cartoon in the 80's (remember that one?) would be popular with the elves.

[danbuter]

Re: Re: Why Tolkein-ish?

 

Originally posted by D-Man

Three words:

 

Edgar Rice Burroughs

 

Tolkein wasn't the first - he was simply the first to define a particular style of fantasy, which became much more the standard for fantasy role playing than it did fantasy literature.

 

Actually, Lord Dunsany was the first "modern" fantasy writer. HIs works heavily influenced H.P. Lovecraft, and numerous others. I highly recommend you find some of his books and read them, they are still very good, even though they are something like 125 years old.

[Vondy]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious

Crap. I was hoping to see some cool new campaigns or magic systems or what have you, and here this thread has devolved into a slam-fest, with excellent authors being slammed mercilessly by both sides.

 

Any chance this thread will go back on track?

 

Probably.

 

My intent was more to express a minority view in the face of "religious fanatics" unwilling to consider dissent in the face of their narrow definition of the genre more than it was to trash tolkein (who I honestly don't care for).

 

I think the Princess of Mars series is an excellent example of a "new" (alternative) fantasy idea, the word new meaning something that isn't recanned from the tolkein mold we've been straightjacketed into for the past fifty years or so.

[Vondy]

Re: Re: Re: Why Tolkein-ish?

 

Originally posted by danbuter

Actually, Lord Dunsany was the first "modern" fantasy writer. HIs works heavily influenced H.P. Lovecraft, and numerous others. I highly recommend you find some of his books and read them, they are still very good, even though they are something like 125 years old.

 

I shall - though it will have to come after my reread of some of the Solomon Kane anthology I have.

[Vondy]

Originally posted by Storn

 

 

But creation is a hard thing to do... to those who complain about how bad Fantasy Genre writing is... rise to the challenge... go write something good.

 

 

You don't have to be a chef to be an epicure.

[cutsleeve]

I have no problems with tolkien and his works they where good reading. But that doesnt mean that other works are worse then his. But Tolkien is not the standard for other fantasy fiction. Tolkien because a standard for fantasy role playing games because D&D was created during a high point in the popularity of his books. But since then people have become addicted to fantasy roleplaying game settings have definate similarities to his written works. This is not because he is the standard in fantasy literature it is because D&D was the first Fantasy RPG. This has caused it to be the fantasy game all games are compared to. It has also caused another problem and that is copykating and cloning or whatever you wish to call it. People decide to make a setting for a game. campaigne, or adventure based on what they have played before which was a clone/copy of a copy of D&D which was roughly based on Tolkien.

 

I personally have gotten very tired and bored of some of the settings that people create, because of the "dungeon cloning". They create settings which use the same barely defined cultures and stereotypes as some i have played before. Nowadays i enjoy something new and original something that keeps me on my toes. I cant really get that in most peoples settings. thats also why i like making settings for the games i run which are fresh and new. The players dont automatically know whats rude to an elf or where they live or how they conduct themselves. This can create excitement and can be rewarding when the players feel they are learning something new and exploring a world they dont know by heart.

 

In essence it isnt tolkien i dislike but instead i dislike the abberant clone of his work also being cloned over and over again. After a time it becomes diluted and doesnt retain the same strength it had originally. These games are good for a passing bit of fun but for a long term story driven game i always prefer revolutionary ideas in those settings. There are so many variations of fantasy and fantasy settings that you end up with many differant worlds that can be explored.

 

Im not sure if these arguements or assertions will cause a pause for thought or discord. Whether they make a sort of sense or are rambling misplaced lines. I do know what i personally enjoy playing in fantasy settings and what i enjoy running in fantasy settings. I am not trying to devaluate anothers likes or dislikes nor am i trying to enhance anothers position or diminish anothers views. But i think you should always approach a setting with the expectation of being suprised and the desire to explore that setting rather then know everything about it.

 

Thats about all i have to type in this reply you can attack, it rip it apart, destroy it, and throw the peices into the fire. But i would like to ask you read it thouroughly before you do. Thats all.

[Storn]

Cutsleeves, you make good points.

 

I think it is fairly hard to move away from Tolkien in some respects, because he went to such a raw source... Beowulf, Celtic & Finnish myths. If you have ANY element of western european setting, either in the landscape or in the book's culture(s), there is going to be someone saying that you are ripping off Tolkien and being a clone.

 

And I don't think we have to reinvent the wheel every fantasy book.

 

I think subtle twists and turns within the context of Tolkien are possible. One doesn't have to have a Fellowship. Or an evil Sorceror-God. Or long journeys to gain/destroy the mystical knick-knack... yet still tell a good yarn with a lot of Tolkien elements intact.

 

But I run Forgotten Realms. I do that precisely to play against expectation. I don't like a majority of what the published material is and I downright loathe D&D 2nd ed or can barely stand d20.... both which put their mark on the Realms thru the game system.

 

So I don't use d20. And I bust a lot of balloons... which is SO much fun for me. Busting Balloons is only possible in the context of ALL those fantasy cliches. Heck, I hate what hobbits, kenders have become within in the gaming vernacular. My realms has dwarves. That's it. No other little people allowed... just no need for it. Why be redundant? If you want to play a dwarven theif with furry toes... go to it...

 

Now, I'm mixing Gaming and Fantasy Writing a bit here... but my point is this: I'm reading Katherine Kerr's books at the moment... very celtic, very grim and has a lot in common with Tolkien, but has a lot that is not. Is it great writing? It ain't bad. And its got some fairly engaging characters and situations.

 

The only author I know who puts together sentences that just sing to me is Michael Chabon. But ya know what? It is Tolkien's ideas that sing to me, not his sentences... my best friend would seriously disagree with me... but words are beauty in the mind of the reader....

[Galadorn]

Originally posted by Storn

 

But creation is a hard thing to do... to those who complain about how bad Fantasy Genre writing is... rise to the challenge... go write something good.

 

I agree, and I'm working on it. Building a quality: fantasy world, magic system, storyline, setting, etc. takes a long time. I've been working on one novel series for three years, and I'm not quite there. So I'm not just complaining, I'm learning and creating as well.

[Brett]

I had a campaign setting with a few non-standard Ideas.

 

The player character races were mostly based on animal (Aquatic, Reptile, Feline, Avian, and an Anime-type human variant). No elves or orcs.

 

Magic was also different. There were no spells. Long ago this land was visited (and benignly conquered) by a powerful wizard race. (Actually these were regular humans) This wizard race could wield raw magic, but could not teach their new subjects to do so. What the native races did learn to do was to store magical energy, and then use that energy to provide power to magical items created by the wizard race.

 

About a century or so later, a great war broke out among the various factions of the wizard race and they practically destroyed each other or drove each other from this world.

 

Now, 500 years later, the only magic items available are those that are made from raw magical materials (gems that glow, rocks that provide heat, or leaves that aid healing when infused with magical energy) or more powerful magical items left behind or found in the ruins of the past war. No one can make new magical items.

 

Items with maintenance and repair spell are fairly common (clothing, tools, or weapons that are magically cleaned, repaired, and maintained when infused with magical energy). The more powerful the item, the more rare it is.