Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

I haven't given it much thought, because I expect to run a campaign with a narrower geographic scope. But it makes sense that there would be at least different cultures, and perhaps different elven "races." Just as the men of the tropical savannah and the men of the steppes would be different.

Bill Stoddard

Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

Barring the existence of some Swedish folk tales of which I'm unaware, trolls and giants are two quite distinct types of creatures. I admit that some trolls are quite large, but most of them are not.

And turser (or rimturser as they are also called (rim means hoarfrost)) dwell in Utgard, north of Jotunheim, in Nifflheim. They are frost giants.


Hans

Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

I thought about it some more, and you are probably right. For the application whswhs is thinking of - large, scary things living in the far north - I think thurs would be the best word.

Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

How big are these guys? I'm looking at the males being maybe 7-8 feet, and the females less than half again that big. I wasn't thinking of their being big enough so a party could camp in one's glove. Does "thurs" suggest that size range?

Bill Stoddard

Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

Jötunn* which is basically the same creature, ranged in size from about the size of the Aesir (i.e. man-size) to as large as Ymir, from whose body the world was created. So, large to gigantinormous.

At least one Scandinavian dwarf (Allvis - "All-wise") turned to stone when the sun went up, btw. If you want to incorporate more Norse mythology.

*"ö" is pronounced like the "u" in "purr".

Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

So like the ö/oe in "Goethe"? Or a bit different?

I wrote up Ymir for GURPS Underground Adventures. I made him a bit smaller than the actual Earth; I think I made him long enough to stretch from the northern tip of Norway about to Morocco.

Bill Stoddard

Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

Heh. Largest thing I ever used in a game was earthquake dragons, which I reasoned were the length of whatever faultline they were associated with (so the San Andreas was some 800 miles long, and strong enough to move the relevant crust. They only talked to an avatar, though).

Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

Goethe is a good example, yes.

What Size Modifier would that be? :)

The Ymir legend is ancient. There's a similar theme in the Indian legend of Purushamedha, where a giant is killed and his body is used to make the world (and the castes). I get a a feeling of awe when I think that the myths I know go back thousands and thousands of years...

Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

I checked, and +40.

Another legend along those lines is Adam Kadmon, who appears in Kabbalah.

Bill Stoddard

Re: theme for a fantasy campaign
 

Have you considered the possibility that the dwarves could cultivate some form of subterranean livestock as a food source? It is probably a bit cliche to bring in the Dragonlance series, but I think the dwarven folk used some form of stone-dissolving(consuming?) worms as a means of efficient tunneling. Mollusks and other marine creatures, including some marine worms, can secrete acids to dissolve rock for burrowing purposes. It would be a slight stretch, but that ability could be translated to a terranean creature.

Or perhaps they cultivate a new form of lichen to feed a subterranean herd animal. Lichen is a symbiotic relationship of algae and fungi. If a new algae type utilizing thermal energy instead of solar to grow were to mix with the right fungus, a viable feed crop might be possible. I'm not suggesting that they actually developed the lichen, but perhaps stumbled upon it in underground delvings around geothermal vents or similar.