What do you want out of a Fantasy Setting?
- Thread starter Saelune
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In terms of the game universe, I'm not too picky. But it does need to be a place that wows me somehow. A place that has mysterious and powerful things and people/beings in it. It needs to have places of beauty and darkness both. Also, game-wise, it should have:
Absence of crappy Diablo-style loot systems.
Every item being at least somewhat useful instead of just vendor trash.
Rare but powerful potions.
A very powerful and complex but balanced magic system.
The first Fable is actually a really great example of a universe like this, besides Elder Scrolls. The gameplay systems themselves were kinda simplistic, sure, but putting that aside to look at its world, it's easy and awesome to get lost in. Also, it's a small thing but the lore behind and the look of the Sword of Aeons and how it drove the plot of the first Fable is hella awesome.
Absence of crappy Diablo-style loot systems.
Every item being at least somewhat useful instead of just vendor trash.
Rare but powerful potions.
A very powerful and complex but balanced magic system.
The first Fable is actually a really great example of a universe like this, besides Elder Scrolls. The gameplay systems themselves were kinda simplistic, sure, but putting that aside to look at its world, it's easy and awesome to get lost in. Also, it's a small thing but the lore behind and the look of the Sword of Aeons and how it drove the plot of the first Fable is hella awesome.
I love everything about Dragon Age's fantasy world. It has a lot of the basic fantasy tropes (elves and dwarfs and dragons), but builds on them in unique ways, with their culture, and how things work.
For example: Mages exist in Dragon Age, but they are considered to be very dangerous by the majority of the world, so they are locked up in Mage towers, where they may study magic in as safe of an environment as possible. They are also under constant supervision of the main religious group (The Chantry), and their military force (The Templars).
Mages who have fled the Mage Towers, or were never a part of them, are hunted by The Templars, and are either sent back to the towers, or killed on site.
Mages are also at constant risk of being possessed by demons, and dangerous mages can be stripped of their powers by being made Tranquil, which also strips them of their emotions, and their ability to have dreams.
Dwarves are also unable to become mages, because they cannot connect to the dreamworld, and they are in constant proximity to the magic-dampening mineral known as Lyrium.
I just find this stuff so fascinating.
How this would be reflected in a D&D setting would be that Mages are powerful, but they need to be careful where they use their abilities, as it may attract unwanted attention, especially around religious centers.
TL;DR - Use basic fantasy tropes, as they are easy to understand and visualise, but give them faults.
I am also a sucker for cool names like Apostates, The Circle of Magi, and the Tevinter Imperium
For example: Mages exist in Dragon Age, but they are considered to be very dangerous by the majority of the world, so they are locked up in Mage towers, where they may study magic in as safe of an environment as possible. They are also under constant supervision of the main religious group (The Chantry), and their military force (The Templars).
Mages who have fled the Mage Towers, or were never a part of them, are hunted by The Templars, and are either sent back to the towers, or killed on site.
Mages are also at constant risk of being possessed by demons, and dangerous mages can be stripped of their powers by being made Tranquil, which also strips them of their emotions, and their ability to have dreams.
Dwarves are also unable to become mages, because they cannot connect to the dreamworld, and they are in constant proximity to the magic-dampening mineral known as Lyrium.
I just find this stuff so fascinating.
How this would be reflected in a D&D setting would be that Mages are powerful, but they need to be careful where they use their abilities, as it may attract unwanted attention, especially around religious centers.
TL;DR - Use basic fantasy tropes, as they are easy to understand and visualise, but give them faults.
I am also a sucker for cool names like Apostates, The Circle of Magi, and the Tevinter Imperium
I have a preference for magic being present as instant and/or temporary effects and can be quite powerful, but +3 swords are pretty freaking rare. I don't mind the usual demihuman tropes, but not too typecast. For what it's worth, I'd recommend the "World of Hats" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isdaYjET9cg] video from Overly Sarcastic Productions if you haven't seen it already. And "The Nature of Cliche's" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ3FnbzNwss] from Terrible Writing Advice. It could help you avoid common ruts with a well-used trope.
Turn offs? Drow. You don't need to have black skin and white hair to be an cruel elf. And please, do not wield dual curved longswords.
Turn offs? Drow. You don't need to have black skin and white hair to be an cruel elf. And please, do not wield dual curved longswords.
Ever since I read Tolkien everything feels like it's trying to be Tolkien. Always with the elves and the dwarves and the orcs. So not that, please. The man already did it way better than you already.
I would like the story in the Souls games if it was told properly rather than being concealed in item descriptions and lengthy Wikia entries surmised from I don't know where.
I would like the story in the Souls games if it was told properly rather than being concealed in item descriptions and lengthy Wikia entries surmised from I don't know where.
The thing i like to see most in a fantasy setting is a magic system that makes sense.
The thing i like to see more in a fantasy setting is how a magic system affects the world and its people.
A thing i like to see even more is a setting that accomplishes the above with multiple systems of magic.
The thing i like to see most is how systems of magic interact with each other.
The thing i like to see more in a fantasy setting is how a magic system affects the world and its people.
A thing i like to see even more is a setting that accomplishes the above with multiple systems of magic.
The thing i like to see most is how systems of magic interact with each other.
Why does it have to be fantasy? For me personally it's magic that drives me away from such games, yet it seems a vital part of the fantasy genre. Hence I'm wondering why we can't have a different genre. Like Dieselpunk, for instance.
I prefer towards the lower end of fantasy, magic is still there but its just not common and it should inspire wonder in the characters as much as the readers.
I like things that take a familiar kind of fantasy, but make it their own. Dragon Age was good for that, you had your Dwarfs and Elves and werewolves and golems and stuff, but they wern't all just Tolkin's Elves, Dwarves, whatevers transplanted into another setting, the Elves were an ex-enslaved race that barely remembered their glory days, the Dwarves had their ridged cast system and so on.
Divinity's flesh eating elves are another thing that I quite liked and its things like that that inspired me to keep playing.
Of cause with this being fantasy I like the opposite of what I just said every now and then, just to keep a bit of variety. Anime seems to go for high fantasy a lot more than low I would say, I just don't think I can take them as seriously as more low fantasy settings. Maybe its just the stuff I've seen, I don't know.
One thing I do think is essential for me, low or high, is that the magic system has to be consistent. If you set up the laws of magic as being can do X but can't do Y, don't have the main character do Y and hand wave it as being because he's special or something.
I like things that take a familiar kind of fantasy, but make it their own. Dragon Age was good for that, you had your Dwarfs and Elves and werewolves and golems and stuff, but they wern't all just Tolkin's Elves, Dwarves, whatevers transplanted into another setting, the Elves were an ex-enslaved race that barely remembered their glory days, the Dwarves had their ridged cast system and so on.
Divinity's flesh eating elves are another thing that I quite liked and its things like that that inspired me to keep playing.
Of cause with this being fantasy I like the opposite of what I just said every now and then, just to keep a bit of variety. Anime seems to go for high fantasy a lot more than low I would say, I just don't think I can take them as seriously as more low fantasy settings. Maybe its just the stuff I've seen, I don't know.
One thing I do think is essential for me, low or high, is that the magic system has to be consistent. If you set up the laws of magic as being can do X but can't do Y, don't have the main character do Y and hand wave it as being because he's special or something.
No matter what world you create or how much passion you poured into it, it will always be shit compared to IRL, because you are shit and your ideas aren't original. And this isn't an insult to your thinking capabilities - every single human being on Earth is bound to this planet, its realities and can only create what he knows. This is the core problem of all fiction.
So, I don't ask a lot. All I ask is structured internal and consistent internal logic. As long as it makes logical sense within the context of the world we're in, I'm OK with whatever you throw at me.
So, I don't ask a lot. All I ask is structured internal and consistent internal logic. As long as it makes logical sense within the context of the world we're in, I'm OK with whatever you throw at me.
DMs are supposed to have fun ... and players are the ones that kind of need to compromise on what they're looking for. With my Fragged Empire game I wrote up a starting 'mission' chain that explains how the players get their spaceship and let them build up to a suitable level and realistically gain influence to be able to afford a decent starting ship.Saelune said:
I set up these mission chains as specific events in a timeline ... introduction of other posthuman races as the timeline evolves. Different feels (survival, exploration, war, and answering an ancient mystery) ... and basically wrote up the themes of each time in the timeline and what the 'central core' of what the specific timeline's events will bring in terms of big changes to the setting.
Group has 5 players so it's useful for voting purposes.
The players chose the war theme, and went full Battlestar Galactica with their starting ship.
Hunk of Junk Twi-Far Dreadnought that was all about the point defence weapons and a super-expanded manned combat fighter group bay. Low CPU, all about the Hull (for additional supplies to maintain longer trips), Engines, and Crew with multiple large rooms for roleplaying-wise carrying refugees and soldiers.
Made for some epic scenes given the central theme starting with them persistently retreating ... and given the shitty CPU score the combat jumps to get away from fights they can't really win made it really tense ... and often resulted in persistent combat fighter casualties helping to blow up missiles and intercept enemy fighters, and cripple the occasional enemy frigate if it got too close. Immediately landing back on the dreadnought right as it was about to make its final combat jump check.
I always make it a point of order to spend a few hours memorising the sheets players make. Because that often tells me what they're looking for in a game ... so if they compromise for a theme and worldbuilding I'm outlying loosely with an intial campaign readout ... it gives me a chance to smoothe over people who might feel somewhat out of the loop of what the rest of the group chose.
It's also pretty important to memorise player sheets not only to provide challenge, but also because no one wants to go into a game expecting something, and building a character that they feel fills that niche, only for them to find out that their character is kind of persistently pointless.
I remember a game of Traveller where my character actually rolled up owning their own Free Trader. I was psyched because I love roleplaying merchants, smugglers, and the more socially inclined characters. And it turned out the "exploration" aspects of the setting were more survival orientated sessions, in unexplored sections of space.
I was kind of hoping by 'exploration' they meant things like prospecting, discovering new trade routes, etc...
You kind of don't want to fall into that sort of situation where players enter your campaign with one idea of what you mean by something, and end up with a character they desperately do not want to play after they spent hours creating a backstory, naming their now useless equipment, and simply having nothing to do.
I will say that the big advantage D&D has is if you pick a setting, players kind of have a pretty good idea of what they're getting into. They understand what they're getting into with a Planescape game, or Ravenloft, or Forgotten Realms...
The more esoteric the game, the more confused your players will be.
I like fantasy settings combined with others kind of settings. The steampunk feel on Final Fantasy VI (where magic almost destroyed the world 1,000 years before the main plot), and the amalgam with the modern world in Final Fantasy XV were some of my favorite parts from those games.
I admit going in that I'm no great fan of the traditional swords and sorcery type fantasy genre, but I think a lot of it is just because of the things I would want out of the genre, namely less grimdarkness for its own sake, and at least a token attempt to not be a shameless reskin of Tolkien's archetypes.
Given the choice of setting for fantasy I like urban fantasy or low-magic settings, like ASoIaF did a pretty good job with, though the more recent seasons of the show pushed the magic a bit too far for me.
Caitseith above mentioned FFXV, and that's actually an excellent example. Narrative shortcomings aside, XV's setting and sense of aesthetic were perfect to me.
Given the choice of setting for fantasy I like urban fantasy or low-magic settings, like ASoIaF did a pretty good job with, though the more recent seasons of the show pushed the magic a bit too far for me.
Caitseith above mentioned FFXV, and that's actually an excellent example. Narrative shortcomings aside, XV's setting and sense of aesthetic were perfect to me.
- A sense of the world having its own history. It doesn't need to dump massive amounts of lore on my head, but it should feel lived in, not like a themed playground.
- "Low fantasy". Magic is crazy rare. The average person will go their whole lives never seeing anything remotely magical and will likely not believe in its existence.
- Protagonists don't get magic. It tends to necessitate explaining the magic and the more you explain magic the less magical it is.
- Tries to avoid at least some of the vanilla fantasy setting cliches. I like fantasy races, but if someone trots out forest-dwelling elves with bows I'm already half asleep.
- Massive bonus points if it's based on something other than Medieval Europe or Feudal Japan.
- Moderate bonus points if it avoids Greek or Norse mythology.
- "Low fantasy". Magic is crazy rare. The average person will go their whole lives never seeing anything remotely magical and will likely not believe in its existence.
- Protagonists don't get magic. It tends to necessitate explaining the magic and the more you explain magic the less magical it is.
- Tries to avoid at least some of the vanilla fantasy setting cliches. I like fantasy races, but if someone trots out forest-dwelling elves with bows I'm already half asleep.
- Massive bonus points if it's based on something other than Medieval Europe or Feudal Japan.
- Moderate bonus points if it avoids Greek or Norse mythology.
Make it something fantastical.
I'm tired of humans, elves and dwarves gallavanting around pastoral European hills. Make the world unique! Give it three moons that cause extreme weather conditions when they align. Make it tidally-locked to its sun so that the inhabitants are forced to live in the thin temperate band in the center, and measure things by "sunward" and "spinward". Swamps populated by sapient jellyfish creatures that don't think the way mammals do, but aren't inherently hostile. A mountain of thinking crystal that dispenses prophecies through mathematics.
Just stop trying to be Tolkein, y'know? We already had one. He did the job really well.
I'm tired of humans, elves and dwarves gallavanting around pastoral European hills. Make the world unique! Give it three moons that cause extreme weather conditions when they align. Make it tidally-locked to its sun so that the inhabitants are forced to live in the thin temperate band in the center, and measure things by "sunward" and "spinward". Swamps populated by sapient jellyfish creatures that don't think the way mammals do, but aren't inherently hostile. A mountain of thinking crystal that dispenses prophecies through mathematics.
Just stop trying to be Tolkein, y'know? We already had one. He did the job really well.
My favourite examples of fantasy are:
a) XenoClash
b) Gormenghast
c) Dishonored
The former has clear inspirations in Dali, Picasso and Gaudi works, but it invents its own "cavepunk" setting in which a giant hermaphrodite bird rules a tribe of chimera people who are too primitive to understand the concept of money or crime.
Gormenghast focuses on the seemingly banal minutae of living in a fantasy world - it stays entirely in one location, and examines the intricate politics of a world obsessed with tradition, class and procedure.
Dishonored is steampunk done well; without resorting to gears, top hats, and airships. It focuses on the detail (blood stained fish markets and hair tonic labels) and builds a world that you can practically taste, feel and smell. Also it has interesting magic to apply, beyond the "shoot fire/ice/electricity".
a) XenoClash
b) Gormenghast
c) Dishonored
The former has clear inspirations in Dali, Picasso and Gaudi works, but it invents its own "cavepunk" setting in which a giant hermaphrodite bird rules a tribe of chimera people who are too primitive to understand the concept of money or crime.
Gormenghast focuses on the seemingly banal minutae of living in a fantasy world - it stays entirely in one location, and examines the intricate politics of a world obsessed with tradition, class and procedure.
Dishonored is steampunk done well; without resorting to gears, top hats, and airships. It focuses on the detail (blood stained fish markets and hair tonic labels) and builds a world that you can practically taste, feel and smell. Also it has interesting magic to apply, beyond the "shoot fire/ice/electricity".
I actually sat down and committed to starting my fantasy novel this past week. I've been thinking about it for around 2 years and I needed a chapter of something to turn in for school, so I decided to just start it.
In context of the discussion here, it's a pretty low-magic world, at the level where everyone knows magic is a thing but it's mostly hoarded by the upper class of society. I'm focusing on building a believable, thorough, and logical world; I think maybe the most important thing about a fantasy setting is being consistent and having a sense of history, the aspects of living in a real world that we take for granted. It's hard to believe in a place without feeling like it's bigger than any single person, or even any civilization.
This story was actually partially inspired by Dark Souls. Not so much in the "dark" aspects, although I do plan to go to some dark places. It's a world that, about 20 years ago, suffered a world-altering calamity, and the universe is basically in a slow spiral of decay. There is little to no hope and people are starting to realize that, but there's still no choice but to persevere.
I'm also far too familiar with the traditional character tropes in fantasy, which is something I want to avoid. They have their purpose, but part of the idea here is to subvert or just ignore the expectations of fantasy. My protagonist is not a teenage prodigy, or a chosen one, or even a hero. He's a bitter man in his late 20s who is perfectly willing to live and die in his small town, but when he's confronted with the opportunity to make more of himself and gain some influence, he can't resist it and gradually evolves into a power-hungry and paranoid person. He makes friends, who turn into enemies, and by the end he has the chance to actually change the world for the better, and chooses not to take it and to let the world slip further into chaos. No happy ending, no ultimate evil to be destroyed by the virtuous, no satisfying answers to the world's problems.
Oh, and, Patent Pending. No taking my ideas.
. >
In context of the discussion here, it's a pretty low-magic world, at the level where everyone knows magic is a thing but it's mostly hoarded by the upper class of society. I'm focusing on building a believable, thorough, and logical world; I think maybe the most important thing about a fantasy setting is being consistent and having a sense of history, the aspects of living in a real world that we take for granted. It's hard to believe in a place without feeling like it's bigger than any single person, or even any civilization.
This story was actually partially inspired by Dark Souls. Not so much in the "dark" aspects, although I do plan to go to some dark places. It's a world that, about 20 years ago, suffered a world-altering calamity, and the universe is basically in a slow spiral of decay. There is little to no hope and people are starting to realize that, but there's still no choice but to persevere.
I'm also far too familiar with the traditional character tropes in fantasy, which is something I want to avoid. They have their purpose, but part of the idea here is to subvert or just ignore the expectations of fantasy. My protagonist is not a teenage prodigy, or a chosen one, or even a hero. He's a bitter man in his late 20s who is perfectly willing to live and die in his small town, but when he's confronted with the opportunity to make more of himself and gain some influence, he can't resist it and gradually evolves into a power-hungry and paranoid person. He makes friends, who turn into enemies, and by the end he has the chance to actually change the world for the better, and chooses not to take it and to let the world slip further into chaos. No happy ending, no ultimate evil to be destroyed by the virtuous, no satisfying answers to the world's problems.
Oh, and, Patent Pending. No taking my ideas.
. >
I would kill for an Arabian Nights themed fantasy Role Playing Game, but alas, Torchlight 2 Act II is the closest thing.