Hullo. I was thinking of what would actually be interesting to read, and I figured I should detail a bit of my creative process in making up my versions of tried-and-true fantasy race concepts. Nothing ground-breaking, just what I have in mind when I write their details.
Elves are pretty much meant to be the outsiders of common society. They don't quite fit in, and they don't entirely understand us humans. For cultural inspiration I have gone a bit less Celtic/Gaelic and more into Finnish, Lapish, Mongolian and generally migratory Caucasian peoples. They still like a lot of the swirly in their arts, but an elf is more likely to be called something like Mikkel than Blirfnirnirnddirffnirfel. Not being much for iron (they're part fae, after all) they prefer bone or obsidian weaponry, and their use of rune magic allows for such weapons to be on the level of decent steel (not superior, though).
Drokla are pretty much Eastern-European, think Transsylvania, Romania, Hungary, those areas. Colorful clothes, oral traditions, a lot of superstition and pretty deep religious beliefs.
Dwarves...are migratory, and inspired by various Traveling peoples, like the Roma for example. They're a rootless people wandering all over trying to find a place to call home, hoping their old homes will be free one day. They're not subterranean, but they were, once. Most are wandering traders, tinkers, craftsmen, with their own ambulatory culture and with a bit of a bad rep in the big cities (whereas most country folk will at least let them camp in the woods near their fields). They travel by ox-drawn carriage, for the most part, and are probably the most mono-cultural race in the setting.
...phew. I actually kind of like these better than my original ideas, which have been done better in Dragon Age anyway...
lördag 2 januari 2010
söndag 27 december 2009
Drokla and humans
...I'm salvaging my dignity a bit by writing up some thoughts and design ideas on the Drokla, or "trolls" as the humans call them.
Drokla are humanoids, usually about 6½-7 feet tall, with pointed, leaf-like ears, sharp, slightly canine teeth, thick manes of scalp-hair and a tail. Their skin tends towards fair, with definite hints of bronze or even orange, and their hair is usually some hue of red, blond or black, though brown is not uncommon either, and their eyes are generally gold, gray, green or blue in color. The irises are rimmed with a darker trim, much like the eyes of a wolf, and the pupils are slightly larger than those of humans. Their tails are mostly hairless, long and slender and about the same thickness from the base (just above the buttocks, at the end of the spine), but they always have a thick tuft of hair at the tip, similar to that of a lion. The tail is somewhat prehensile, they can't pick things up with them, though, and they're mostly for balance. Touching the tail of a troll is tantamount to grabbing the buttocks or breasts of a human, it's very much only done between lovers, and a troll will respond to such harassment with aggression. This might be related to some suggested tales that the tail has erogenous surfaces...
Most Drokla live in closely knit tribal societies, in the inhospitable regions of the north where elves, dwarves and humans won't go, and they usually keep to themselves. Trolls and humans do not get along. It's a basic fact of life that has a lot to do with the way the Church of Seven, or Sept, has taken over old traditions and ways that aren't all that compatible with human nature, and everything to do with troll biology. Because humans and trolls do get along. A lot. Too well, in fact, especially for a church that teaches human superiority over the other races. It spreads tales of trolls as flesh-eating monsters, savage barbarians who lure humans with various wiles only to feast on their intestines while they're still alive, evil inhuman beastly feral grotesques who can turn from human-like to monstrous in a heart-beat.
The truth is far from this. Just ask any male human shepherd in areas close to troll territories, and he'll give you a somewhat more...positive description. There is a reason for this.
Troll gender dimorphism is much the same as human, males are broad-shouldered and strong-limbed, females have wide hips, large mammaries and are somewhat stronger in the legs than the males. There the similarities end, for the most part. Troll males have little to no interest in sex. Troll females, for some reason, have human-like sexual urges.
You see the problem?
For most of the year, female trolls have very little congress with the males, who for eleven months out of twelve have about as much interest in procreation as an ant does in studying other languages. Thus, for most of the year you have very frustrated female trolls, with only a tiny minority engaging in homosexual experimentation (there is an actual gay minority among trolls much as all humanoids have, but not every troll who tries lesbian sex is an actual lesbian). There's a lot of hormones and not much outlet, and so, when a hapless human male wanders by, well...
Let's just say there is always a sizable human minority in any troll clan.
Trolls mate for life, but also have a skewed birth-rate, only one in four children are male, and this, added to the biology and society, makes for many lonely troll women. And here comes the thing the Sept has an issue with: trolls can conceive with humans.
Half-elves are extremely rare, most such unions end in stillbirths or deformed infants who rarely live more than a year. Humans and dwarves have never produced offspring in the history of the world, but humans and trolls...works like a charm. The offspring usually get the best of both worlds, the strength and resilience of the troll and the brains of the human, and the traits often carry for several generations before being too watered down to be obvious. Though half-trolls rarely have the balance their troll parent has, due to the tail usually not following along the bloodline.
So a church that teaches of how the humans are destined to rule because the Gods love them best now has to deal with how in the North, humans and trolls can interbreed. How do you teach someone to look down on non-humans when half the congregation is half-troll?
Now, things aren't as bad as they might sound. Most Northerners think the Sept is teaching nonsense, and the royal family of Birkwald (largest northern nation) has so much troll blood in them that the Sept is wisely keeping their mouths shut there, though they are trying to undermine the royal family's power among the nobles, slowly and...subtly.
As for the south, most people believe trolls don't exist. It's just a northern fairytale, just like their stories of elves in ice palaces and subterranean albino dwarves who kidnap children...
...too bad they're wrong on all points.
Drokla are humanoids, usually about 6½-7 feet tall, with pointed, leaf-like ears, sharp, slightly canine teeth, thick manes of scalp-hair and a tail. Their skin tends towards fair, with definite hints of bronze or even orange, and their hair is usually some hue of red, blond or black, though brown is not uncommon either, and their eyes are generally gold, gray, green or blue in color. The irises are rimmed with a darker trim, much like the eyes of a wolf, and the pupils are slightly larger than those of humans. Their tails are mostly hairless, long and slender and about the same thickness from the base (just above the buttocks, at the end of the spine), but they always have a thick tuft of hair at the tip, similar to that of a lion. The tail is somewhat prehensile, they can't pick things up with them, though, and they're mostly for balance. Touching the tail of a troll is tantamount to grabbing the buttocks or breasts of a human, it's very much only done between lovers, and a troll will respond to such harassment with aggression. This might be related to some suggested tales that the tail has erogenous surfaces...
Most Drokla live in closely knit tribal societies, in the inhospitable regions of the north where elves, dwarves and humans won't go, and they usually keep to themselves. Trolls and humans do not get along. It's a basic fact of life that has a lot to do with the way the Church of Seven, or Sept, has taken over old traditions and ways that aren't all that compatible with human nature, and everything to do with troll biology. Because humans and trolls do get along. A lot. Too well, in fact, especially for a church that teaches human superiority over the other races. It spreads tales of trolls as flesh-eating monsters, savage barbarians who lure humans with various wiles only to feast on their intestines while they're still alive, evil inhuman beastly feral grotesques who can turn from human-like to monstrous in a heart-beat.
The truth is far from this. Just ask any male human shepherd in areas close to troll territories, and he'll give you a somewhat more...positive description. There is a reason for this.
Troll gender dimorphism is much the same as human, males are broad-shouldered and strong-limbed, females have wide hips, large mammaries and are somewhat stronger in the legs than the males. There the similarities end, for the most part. Troll males have little to no interest in sex. Troll females, for some reason, have human-like sexual urges.
You see the problem?
For most of the year, female trolls have very little congress with the males, who for eleven months out of twelve have about as much interest in procreation as an ant does in studying other languages. Thus, for most of the year you have very frustrated female trolls, with only a tiny minority engaging in homosexual experimentation (there is an actual gay minority among trolls much as all humanoids have, but not every troll who tries lesbian sex is an actual lesbian). There's a lot of hormones and not much outlet, and so, when a hapless human male wanders by, well...
Let's just say there is always a sizable human minority in any troll clan.
Trolls mate for life, but also have a skewed birth-rate, only one in four children are male, and this, added to the biology and society, makes for many lonely troll women. And here comes the thing the Sept has an issue with: trolls can conceive with humans.
Half-elves are extremely rare, most such unions end in stillbirths or deformed infants who rarely live more than a year. Humans and dwarves have never produced offspring in the history of the world, but humans and trolls...works like a charm. The offspring usually get the best of both worlds, the strength and resilience of the troll and the brains of the human, and the traits often carry for several generations before being too watered down to be obvious. Though half-trolls rarely have the balance their troll parent has, due to the tail usually not following along the bloodline.
So a church that teaches of how the humans are destined to rule because the Gods love them best now has to deal with how in the North, humans and trolls can interbreed. How do you teach someone to look down on non-humans when half the congregation is half-troll?
Now, things aren't as bad as they might sound. Most Northerners think the Sept is teaching nonsense, and the royal family of Birkwald (largest northern nation) has so much troll blood in them that the Sept is wisely keeping their mouths shut there, though they are trying to undermine the royal family's power among the nobles, slowly and...subtly.
As for the south, most people believe trolls don't exist. It's just a northern fairytale, just like their stories of elves in ice palaces and subterranean albino dwarves who kidnap children...
...too bad they're wrong on all points.
söndag 6 december 2009
Dragon Age ruined everything...in a good way.
Yeah, I'm having a massive problem with the setting I had cooked up: Bioware beat me to it. The setting they've created is very similar in large portions to what I had in mind for Enoa, and so I find myself having to rewrite some sections to compensate, and alter others to fit the re-written stuff.
The dwarves and trolls/drokla are the only races I can keep much as they were, to my great horror.
Ah, well. Shit happens. :-)
The dwarves and trolls/drokla are the only races I can keep much as they were, to my great horror.
Ah, well. Shit happens. :-)
söndag 15 mars 2009
A final note on the setting ethos and genre
To finish the opening, before moving onto Reputation and Story Hooks, I'd like to list some suitable viewing and reading, things that fit the setting tropes and general ethos of Enoa. It's a way of making sure people don't walk into the setting with different expectations (much like someone suggesting a sci-fi game and those listening think of Alien and Star Wars, respectively, which have completely different setting conceits and genres within science fiction).
Suggested Reading: Jack Vance's Lyonesse-trilogy is a good start, though the general magic level is much higher than in Enoa, it is a fairly lighthearted, old-fashioned fairytale with evil kings, good kings, alien non-human humanoids and Fair Folk that doesn't bring Tolkien to mind. Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, while somewhat dark and depressing at times, is also a good choice. For a more Arthurian spin, there's Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, about a bunch of college students drawn into a very Tolkienesque Arthurian alternate universe, it's uneven and can be very grim, but is also a very nice example of Good Triumphs. Neil Gaiman's Stardust is an excellent example of the setting tropes and ethos of Enoa, both book and movie.
Suggested Viewing: Dragonslayer has a very medieval world, that feels real without everyone having facial boils or dying at the end, it's also at times very funny and very scary. It works very well with Enoa, some of the newer Western Kingdoms are very much like the kingdom depicted in Dragonslayer (clumsily built castles, self-absorbed kings who have no real hold on their people without their soldiers, and a common folk who're already wondering why they went with monarchy). Krull is a weird romp through a very odd fantasy world, and the whole magitech aspect of the setting is very reminiscent of the Old World of Enoa. The Princess Bride (based on a somewhat more cynical yarn by William Goldman) is an excellent example of the whole Enoa vibe, heroes who are good but not stupid, bad guys who are evil but not boring, and Good Triumps alongside Love Conquers All. The old miniseries Merlin, starring Sam Neill, is another good watch, it's light, fluffy and not too challenging, and has a surprisingly good cast (even Martin Short as a Fair Folk!). Finally, Dragonheart has a medieval kingdom where the common folk have surprisingly good dental plans, the bad guys are mostly ugly, and the dragon talks like Sean Connery (well, he is Sean Connery, so...). But it also has, at points, oddly accurate dialect placement (the bad guy's chief thug is an Irish viking who speaks with an Old Norse accent, Dennis Quaid's hero Bowen is an Irishman, and the king is a Northerner). Now, in some cases this is to explain the lack of accents on some of them (David Thewlis is a Northerner and Quaid is from the US), but in the case of Brian Thompson's oafish viking it's pure actor skill. Don't watch it expecting anything like historical accuracy, though.
Suggested Listening: Epic opera metal like Nightwish (before they switched out their lead singer for a decidedly lesser voice) or the likes works well, all bombast, fluff and not so much content but lots of heart and most importantly, fun. Other than that and various bombastic motion picture scores (start with Dragonheart and go from there), I'd suggest music from video and computer games such as Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, World of Warcraft, the Fable games (the main theme of the first one was written by Danny Elfman), and most of Bill Brown's work in fantasy games (he has free, legal samples for download on his website).
Suggested Reading: Jack Vance's Lyonesse-trilogy is a good start, though the general magic level is much higher than in Enoa, it is a fairly lighthearted, old-fashioned fairytale with evil kings, good kings, alien non-human humanoids and Fair Folk that doesn't bring Tolkien to mind. Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, while somewhat dark and depressing at times, is also a good choice. For a more Arthurian spin, there's Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, about a bunch of college students drawn into a very Tolkienesque Arthurian alternate universe, it's uneven and can be very grim, but is also a very nice example of Good Triumphs. Neil Gaiman's Stardust is an excellent example of the setting tropes and ethos of Enoa, both book and movie.
Suggested Viewing: Dragonslayer has a very medieval world, that feels real without everyone having facial boils or dying at the end, it's also at times very funny and very scary. It works very well with Enoa, some of the newer Western Kingdoms are very much like the kingdom depicted in Dragonslayer (clumsily built castles, self-absorbed kings who have no real hold on their people without their soldiers, and a common folk who're already wondering why they went with monarchy). Krull is a weird romp through a very odd fantasy world, and the whole magitech aspect of the setting is very reminiscent of the Old World of Enoa. The Princess Bride (based on a somewhat more cynical yarn by William Goldman) is an excellent example of the whole Enoa vibe, heroes who are good but not stupid, bad guys who are evil but not boring, and Good Triumps alongside Love Conquers All. The old miniseries Merlin, starring Sam Neill, is another good watch, it's light, fluffy and not too challenging, and has a surprisingly good cast (even Martin Short as a Fair Folk!). Finally, Dragonheart has a medieval kingdom where the common folk have surprisingly good dental plans, the bad guys are mostly ugly, and the dragon talks like Sean Connery (well, he is Sean Connery, so...). But it also has, at points, oddly accurate dialect placement (the bad guy's chief thug is an Irish viking who speaks with an Old Norse accent, Dennis Quaid's hero Bowen is an Irishman, and the king is a Northerner). Now, in some cases this is to explain the lack of accents on some of them (David Thewlis is a Northerner and Quaid is from the US), but in the case of Brian Thompson's oafish viking it's pure actor skill. Don't watch it expecting anything like historical accuracy, though.
Suggested Listening: Epic opera metal like Nightwish (before they switched out their lead singer for a decidedly lesser voice) or the likes works well, all bombast, fluff and not so much content but lots of heart and most importantly, fun. Other than that and various bombastic motion picture scores (start with Dragonheart and go from there), I'd suggest music from video and computer games such as Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, World of Warcraft, the Fable games (the main theme of the first one was written by Danny Elfman), and most of Bill Brown's work in fantasy games (he has free, legal samples for download on his website).
lördag 7 februari 2009
Genre, Ethos and Tropes - A Declaration of Intent pt. the second
It's important for me to emphasize that the setting and general world ethos of Enoa is that of light-hearted adventure movies. To go for more cinematic examples, it shares genre tropes with The Princess Bride, Willow, Merlin (the miniseries), to an extent the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (the slightly over-the-top combat, in particular) and most definitely A Knight's Tale.
Generally, it's assumed that player characters will survive the campaign (this is what Luck points are for), and that opponents will come in three categories, Mook, Named Villain and Main Villain. Mooks are treated akin to environmental hindrances, they're not a main threat, they're not meant to be a main threat (at all), and they're basically just there to, as mentioned, be a temporary hindrance (so that a Named or Main Villain can get away) and to make the player characters (PCs) look good. The orcs in the LoTR movies are an excellent example, especially the fight at the end of Fellowship.
There, the Named Villains (the elite Uruk Hai) capture two of the PCs, while the orcs and Named Villain Uruk Hai leader slows down the other PCs. The only one posing a slight threat to the PCs is the Uruk Hai leader, who is nevertheless dispatched with some fancy stunting and good die-rolls from one of the more combat-oriented PCs (Aragorn), and even then he deliberately impales himself on the sword just to slow them down a bit further.
Named Villains usually begin either at or slightly below the PCs level of skill/expertise. They work for the Main Villain for their own reasons (fanatic loyalty, self-interest, blackmail), and serve as plot devices, environmental hindrance and someone to focus attention on. Named Villains can easily be used as either Hidden Villains (a Main Villain who covered his own plot up by manipulating the previous Main Villain), Heel-Turn Villains (a Villain who only works for the Main Villain out of duress, like a hostage loved one or for misguided reasons such as vengeance, despair or love) or Enlightened Self-Interest (the moment they see the writing on the wall, they are so outta there, and might even help the PCs if they're not too villainous).
It's often necessary to inform players of these genre tropes, since many roleplaying gamers assume any villain (or NPC in general) is there to be killed and looted. I intend to solve at least part of this problem with a story hook system included in the character creation process, but for now it's more efficient simply to tell players that killing everything that moves is a bad thing unless they intend to become villains (another mechanic will be Reputation, negative and positive). Good guys don't stab someone helping them in the back, even if they're annoying and weaselly (they can kill them when the Named Villain tries screwing them over later, if he or she does so).
The point of this mild rambling is a repeat of the previous post: This Is Not Your Father's RPG. Many play roleplaying games as if they're first-person shooter video games or hack-and-slash fantasy videogames, where everything that moves, talks or breathes is something to be gunned/sworded down and stripped for ammo/money/loot. In Enoa, Player Characters are not the equivalent of wandering brigands/hitmen. They're Heroes, in the 20th century version.
Next, Reputation and Story Hooks.
Generally, it's assumed that player characters will survive the campaign (this is what Luck points are for), and that opponents will come in three categories, Mook, Named Villain and Main Villain. Mooks are treated akin to environmental hindrances, they're not a main threat, they're not meant to be a main threat (at all), and they're basically just there to, as mentioned, be a temporary hindrance (so that a Named or Main Villain can get away) and to make the player characters (PCs) look good. The orcs in the LoTR movies are an excellent example, especially the fight at the end of Fellowship.
There, the Named Villains (the elite Uruk Hai) capture two of the PCs, while the orcs and Named Villain Uruk Hai leader slows down the other PCs. The only one posing a slight threat to the PCs is the Uruk Hai leader, who is nevertheless dispatched with some fancy stunting and good die-rolls from one of the more combat-oriented PCs (Aragorn), and even then he deliberately impales himself on the sword just to slow them down a bit further.
Named Villains usually begin either at or slightly below the PCs level of skill/expertise. They work for the Main Villain for their own reasons (fanatic loyalty, self-interest, blackmail), and serve as plot devices, environmental hindrance and someone to focus attention on. Named Villains can easily be used as either Hidden Villains (a Main Villain who covered his own plot up by manipulating the previous Main Villain), Heel-Turn Villains (a Villain who only works for the Main Villain out of duress, like a hostage loved one or for misguided reasons such as vengeance, despair or love) or Enlightened Self-Interest (the moment they see the writing on the wall, they are so outta there, and might even help the PCs if they're not too villainous).
It's often necessary to inform players of these genre tropes, since many roleplaying gamers assume any villain (or NPC in general) is there to be killed and looted. I intend to solve at least part of this problem with a story hook system included in the character creation process, but for now it's more efficient simply to tell players that killing everything that moves is a bad thing unless they intend to become villains (another mechanic will be Reputation, negative and positive). Good guys don't stab someone helping them in the back, even if they're annoying and weaselly (they can kill them when the Named Villain tries screwing them over later, if he or she does so).
The point of this mild rambling is a repeat of the previous post: This Is Not Your Father's RPG. Many play roleplaying games as if they're first-person shooter video games or hack-and-slash fantasy videogames, where everything that moves, talks or breathes is something to be gunned/sworded down and stripped for ammo/money/loot. In Enoa, Player Characters are not the equivalent of wandering brigands/hitmen. They're Heroes, in the 20th century version.
Next, Reputation and Story Hooks.
tisdag 3 februari 2009
Genre, Ethos and Tropes - A Declaration of Intent
The setting of Enoa is one of cinematic adventure-movie high fantasy. It's a world where princesses and pig-farmers can fight a dark overlord, where a wizard's apprentice can save the world, a world where a disgraced knight can help a short person defeat an evil queen.
It's not Tolkien. It's not Jordan, and it's definitely not George RR Martin.
Enoa is light-hearted, with night-black villains and heroes who might not be supermen but can still save the day thanks to pure motives, luck and a heaping helping of authorial fiat. Player characters (protagonists) are expected to be nice people, not ridiculously so, but still, the kind of people you wouldn't be afraid of.
Enoa is what is sometimes called "light fantasy". It's the kind of medieval world you'd see in the average Hollywood movie, no bad teeth, no plagues, no disfiguring boils and no bad hygiene. Barmaids are cute (and probably have implants), queens and princesses do not look like Richard Simmons and kings do not look like members of ZZ Top.
In short, it's not like the real middle or Dark ages were, at all.
Magic is everywhere in Enoa, but very little is wielded by people. There are elves, dwarves and drokla (basically seven foot vaguely feline people with tails), but none of these races are all that inherently magical, not even the elves. Most of the more powerful magics are either dark arts (and forbidden), wielded by powerful entities or simply too slow and complicated to be applicable out of the laboratory. Healing magic is fairly common, but bringing people back from the dead is not possible.
Most magic available to characters will be in the form of simple charms to ward off the mundane perils of the night (gestures to ward off evil, putting iron in your shoes to avoid the meaner types of fairies, stuff like that), or magical items, which there are still plenty of.
The general gist of the world of Enoa will be of fairly light action-adventure comedy coupled with a fairly serious world. Death isn't funny, here, but avoiding it narrowly might be. Mass murder is never funny, but a villain might be charming and almost funny (until you remember what they do for a living). Basically, the general mood is unlike the way a lot of people play fantasy role-playing games. Instead of heroes being wandering thugs who hunt down harmless goblins in their lair, they're the type to be attacked by said goblins.
Part 2 will be up in a while.
It's not Tolkien. It's not Jordan, and it's definitely not George RR Martin.
Enoa is light-hearted, with night-black villains and heroes who might not be supermen but can still save the day thanks to pure motives, luck and a heaping helping of authorial fiat. Player characters (protagonists) are expected to be nice people, not ridiculously so, but still, the kind of people you wouldn't be afraid of.
Enoa is what is sometimes called "light fantasy". It's the kind of medieval world you'd see in the average Hollywood movie, no bad teeth, no plagues, no disfiguring boils and no bad hygiene. Barmaids are cute (and probably have implants), queens and princesses do not look like Richard Simmons and kings do not look like members of ZZ Top.
In short, it's not like the real middle or Dark ages were, at all.
Magic is everywhere in Enoa, but very little is wielded by people. There are elves, dwarves and drokla (basically seven foot vaguely feline people with tails), but none of these races are all that inherently magical, not even the elves. Most of the more powerful magics are either dark arts (and forbidden), wielded by powerful entities or simply too slow and complicated to be applicable out of the laboratory. Healing magic is fairly common, but bringing people back from the dead is not possible.
Most magic available to characters will be in the form of simple charms to ward off the mundane perils of the night (gestures to ward off evil, putting iron in your shoes to avoid the meaner types of fairies, stuff like that), or magical items, which there are still plenty of.
The general gist of the world of Enoa will be of fairly light action-adventure comedy coupled with a fairly serious world. Death isn't funny, here, but avoiding it narrowly might be. Mass murder is never funny, but a villain might be charming and almost funny (until you remember what they do for a living). Basically, the general mood is unlike the way a lot of people play fantasy role-playing games. Instead of heroes being wandering thugs who hunt down harmless goblins in their lair, they're the type to be attacked by said goblins.
Part 2 will be up in a while.
tisdag 27 januari 2009
An Introductory Post
With this post I officially begin this blog dedicated to the building of my very own, not very original fantasy world (mainly for use in roleplaying games with whatever system).
It's not much, but it's mine.
It's not much, but it's mine.
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