tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post432310641816564415..comments2024-03-27T03:18:19.290-04:00Comments on Aeons & Augauries: Breaking the mold [Rant of sorts]JDJarvishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07691101939920824546noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-87957980587304238882010-12-30T15:58:33.143-05:002010-12-30T15:58:33.143-05:00@gregor I can go with "original" and out...@gregor I can go with "original" and outright freakish as long as there is some detectable patterns and reliable consistency somewhere.JDJarvishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07691101939920824546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-22865560644419239842010-12-29T06:57:42.761-05:002010-12-29T06:57:42.761-05:00I think there's an inherent limit or problem w...I think there's an inherent limit or problem with being "original". Even our imagination functions on the familiar, it's not infinite in every direction, but stretches outward from a point (it can stretch very far indeed, but it's still a stretch).<br /><br />Example: I once made a world that was orbiting a red dwarf sun, meaning that the planet was tidally locked - half of it was always day, half of it was night. Guess what, we constantly forgot to apply that in play, because our mind are so used to the familiar day-night cycle that it was hard to remember that there was no darkness in some places.<br /><br />That said, I'm all for innovation. I've got a basket of very non-Tolkien settings all ready to grow.Gregor Vugahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10290626264301416468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-44598177119429961102010-12-28T14:33:48.680-05:002010-12-28T14:33:48.680-05:00Can I rant about the Rakshasa - it's a creatur...Can I rant about the Rakshasa - it's a creature more like the Western idea of a demon than a spirit. It shapechanges at will - up to the size of a giant. At least it does in Sanskrit epic sagas. Then Gary or whoever watches an episode of Kolchak and it becomes a furry forever. <br /><br />I wonder if designers reject the OGL and the SRD and go for the jugular of creativity, setting first then system - will anyone play, or will it get lost, adrift in the interweb sargasso. Because D&D isn't always the best fit for more outre settings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-90841235221000094452010-12-28T13:24:38.140-05:002010-12-28T13:24:38.140-05:00me- I want to play in the campaign where folks dra...me- I want to play in the campaign where folks draw elixirs through long straws which dip into their hip flasks. I can go drink out of a mug in a bar any day of the week.JDJarvishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07691101939920824546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-62756594696770505472010-12-28T13:23:32.947-05:002010-12-28T13:23:32.947-05:00I argue that D&D has never been a very creativ...I argue that D&D has never been a very creative endeavor. Look at the Monster Manual - very few original ideas in it. Yet from that mish-mash of mythological and folklore sources, comes fun.<br /><br />Everything in D&D is better if the player already has a passing familiarity with it. If everything is brand new, you have no idea how to react to it. And there's the chance that your brand new idea just plain stinks on ice.<br /><br />Where I think a lot of campaigns seem "flat" to me is in being too self-referential. D&D has come to define its own brand of fantasy, and campaigns that recycle orcs and gnolls for the umpteenth time seem incredibly stale. Ideally people should borrow ideas from more sources.<br /><br />So coming up with more original material - fine if you can pull it off, but not necessary. Borrowing from sources more varied than D&D canon from the past 30 years, that's a worthwhile endeavor.Pathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11381628150285913370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-32418318973464011872010-12-28T12:42:03.226-05:002010-12-28T12:42:03.226-05:00D&D is a pastiche - you've got races from ...D&D is a pastiche - you've got races from Tolkien, magic from Vance, a kick-in-the-door-and-loot style from Conan and Lankhmar stories, so yeah, everything starts to look alike when every pastiche element is included in every setting.<br /><br />I'm not quite sure what you're recommending - there's a balance to strike between accessibility (Tolkien clones = commercial success) versus requiring too much immersion (fail). Do players really want to game in a world where people drink out of long straws attached to fanny-pack hip bladders they tote on their belt (because the clever DM wanted to break the mold in his 'innovative' Sword-and-Planet setting) or do they just want to know they can go to the bar, order a beer, and drink out of a mug like the real world?<br /><br />Will be interesting seeing what kind of comments you get. (Me - I recommend stripping things out to make it more S&S - first thing that gets cut are the demihumans).Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.com