05-19-2019, 01:53 PM | #21 | |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
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The German late-medieval and later elves are traditionally diminutive - Gnome sized and smaller; they don't fit with Tolkien's except that he's used the name. The Tolkienian dwarf is mixing sources even more disparate. They're not the Nors Dwergaz - aka Svartalfr - those weren't of need short statured, and may even be animate corpses, depending where one draws the line; they're non-glowing Álfr, sometimes even animate corpses of men. The Tuatha were man-sized to giant, but other Sidhe were in other forms; many malevolent thanks to being displaced by the sons of Mil from the Surface. Many of the Welsh/Cornish legends have corporeals, but they don't fit with Elves... Gnomes are a type of spirit or a type of Elemental, depending upon culture. One that can take corporeal form. Goblin goes back a ways... but not in the sense used in most games, and certainly not as a term for something like an Orc... see https://blog.oup.com/2013/06/goblin-...y-word-origin/ for some musings on that... Kobold is the same critter in a different language. Orc being a type of monster, rather than simply "monster" is pure Tolkien. Well, in Latin, Orcus was a specific demonic being. Our modern meanings for Elf, Faerie, Dwarf, Goblin, and Troll are codified by Tolkien. Orc is his alone. Even most modern alternates are reactions to Tolkien, rather than actually being grounded in older sources. Not saying yours aren't, but it is awful hard to have Elves, Dwarves and Goblins that aren't Tolkien influenced. |
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05-19-2019, 06:27 PM | #22 | |
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Salt Lake City
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
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05-19-2019, 06:48 PM | #23 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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05-19-2019, 07:03 PM | #24 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Denver, CO
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
I try to come up with original concepts in general, but...
If something already has a name or is so close to something with a name as to be virtually indistinguishable, I just use the established name. So, if I find myself using a race of underground folk who are adapted to such environments, they are called dwarves. If there are immortal, ethereal folk, they are called Elves. If there's a tall tree with pointy leaves, it's a pine. Etc. Especially if you want your players to be able to navigate your world with ease, there's a limit to how much novelty you can throw at them at once. In a book, it's easier to have characters simply behave like they know the world (see Asimov's The Gods Themselves or Weiss & Hickman's Death Cycle) than to have players react appropriately in a very alien environment. To that end, It depends also upon the length of the game. If it's a short game, I go for the familiar except in plot-relevant ways. If it's a longer game, sometimes I do some bigger world building. For such a large game, I have a large home-made fantasy world where I have my own take on many things. I stayed pretty close to Tolkien's view on Elves, but struck off on other races pretty dramatically. |
05-19-2019, 07:17 PM | #25 | |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
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"But 25+ races that are, except for the visual, elves." Last edited by ak_aramis; 05-19-2019 at 07:17 PM. Reason: dyslexic, typing while |
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05-20-2019, 01:46 AM | #26 | |
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Ronneby, Sweden
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
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05-20-2019, 03:38 AM | #27 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
Knocking off Tolkien was one of the big negatives of Harnmaster - when you first get into the setting it comes across as a good, immersive low fantasy setting (okay, the religion is done really badly, but not in an atypical way) and then, suddenly … Tolkien fanfic? What? No!
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05-20-2019, 09:35 AM | #28 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
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05-20-2019, 09:59 AM | #29 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
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05-20-2019, 10:22 AM | #30 |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: Tolkienesque Worlds or Non-Tolkienesque Worlds?
That's about 20% of the reason I prefer all-human settings. The rest is mostly that I see most such settings (in RPGs more than literature, anyway) treating non-human species too simplistically. This species is the mining one, that one is the magic one, this other one is an XP piñata. No reason to stop and think about it or talk with them, you can tell by their ears what purpose they serve.
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
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