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Worlds of Design: How Original Is Your Homebrew?
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<blockquote data-quote="RareBreed" data-source="post: 9310270" data-attributes="member: 6945590"><p>First off, I will make a distinction in my post, since the question is about adventures. Since adventures take place in a game setting, the two are inextricably bound together and I would argue, the setting being the major factor. Even if we're talking 5e D&D, which world are you talking about that you want to have an adventure in? So the discussion below is primarily about the game world and how it influences tropes, player perceptions, and what kinds of adventures are doable in that game world.</p><p></p><p>For me, world immersion is more important than originality for originality's sake. The world provides a canvas on which to paint interpersonal relations between the players, and the external dynamics between the players and recurring NPCs.</p><p></p><p>Warhammer Fantasy has a totally different feel from D&D for example, which in turn is wildly different from Harn. This isn't just mechanical rules differences, but the atmosphere, tone, and culture. Even if the scenario was the same "save the princess", there would be a totally different flavor to it between Harn and D&D for example. It might even be worse for science fiction games. Hard SciFi like the 2300AD flavor of Traveller is going to be wildly different than Warhammer 40k, or even Star Trek (no matter the time period).</p><p></p><p>Tropes become a kind of shared language and shortcut into thinking about things. It is in essence, a heuristic players use to think about the world, and what their characters can (or should) do within that world. To some degree, tropes are culturally bound. I remember someone asking me why so many Asian movies have sad endings. I explained that in many Asian cultures, face or honor, are extremely important, as is duty and obligation to your family or "superiors". Many times, the hero is put into a no-win scenario, where in order to satisfy face, honor, <strong>and</strong> duty, the only solution is in death. This is not necessarily regarded as a sad ending, but rather a virtuous one. </p><p></p><p>If you are from a Western Country, you were (most likely) embedded into both a Judeo-Christian, and Greco-Roman way of thinking. The sense of morality and other (what I consider) tropes like the conflict between law vs. order are culturally based and can be differently perceived from someone from another culture. So this I think, is where the ideas behind <em>originality</em> often miss the point. Without questioning those implicit and built-in assumptions, it is inevitable that you will create the same game world and scenarios over and over.</p><p></p><p>Take for example a world where there are no Divinities or even the concept of an everlasting soul. Since there is no everlasting soul, there is no reincarnation, nor is there a permanent Heaven(s) or Hell(s). The highest attainment of spirituality, is to learn how to die a final death despite there being no reincarnation. Since there are no divine entities, there is no one to mete out judgment, and therefore there is no concept of sin, only behavior that causes suffering in others or yourself. And because there are no deities or saviours, there is no one to pray to for salvation. Despite all this, there is still a clergy.</p><p></p><p>Sounds pretty bizarre doesn't it? It almost seems impossible for a pre-scientific world (or post for that matter). Those from Western Countries are bombarded with the idea of some kind of divinity or divinities (for example the ancient Greeks and Norse). The framework of morality comes from divine commandments. Hope for a better world is maintained through the concept of an afterlife or reincarnation (even Westerners are familiar with this even though it comes mainly from Hinduism). But given the above religion, none of that is true. How could one even imagine holy magic in such a world? How could there possibly be clerics with magical powers?</p><p></p><p>What an alien fantasy world! And yet, it exists here on Earth and is one of the largest religions on the planet. What I described is the original Theraveda Buddhism. While Chan (aka Zen) Buddhism derives from the Mahayana line, and Mahayana added some of the Hindu canon of Gods and Goddesses as well as some "miracles" that the Buddha or other Boddhisatvas performed, Chan is still very much rooted in what I described above. Imagine a game world with a fantasy Buddhist-like religion. What would it mean to be a cleric? It would kind of be like a Dragonlance world, in that clerics lost their divine magic. And yet in our real world, Buddhist monks became the most formidable warriors of their time and era (Shaolin in China, the Sohei and Yamabushi of Japan, and I would even say that the Shinobi were monks of their own esoteric religion).</p><p></p><p>In terms of an original campaign (or game world), For a long time, I have had in the back of my mind, a low-fantasy game set in an analog of 1300-1500s Nusantara (what today would be parts of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, and the southern tips of Vietnam and Thailand). This was an interesting period where Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity were all coming into contact with one another (which is really a euphemism for saying going to war with each other). It was also when the Europeans were invading, with the Dutch, Portuguese, French, English and Spanish fighting each other and the natives. It would have early firearms, but predominately be melee fighting. It would also have pirates galore (including corsairs with Letters of Marque). How would you design an adventure where canons and early muskets are available that renders armor obsolete? Or for that matter, where the natives never wore armor in the first place, because it was too freaking hot.</p><p></p><p>Another example of "originality", is that the Islamic royalty of South East Asia, did not follow conventional European hierarchies. Sultans, Rajahs, Bandajaras, Syechs, and Datus amongst many others, were not exactly the same as their European counterparts. Not all titles were hereditary (as is the case with some Knights in Europe). There really wasn't the concept of fiefdoms or vassalages (well, kind of at a very high level).</p><p></p><p>My point, is that "originality" doesn't have to be that important, but I do think it enables more interesting storytelling and ideas for scenarios. The game setting also constrains adventure possibilities. A game world with limited magic or fantastical monsters will require a different design principle than "typical" D&D like high-fantasy. However, the more original a game world and its adventures become, the players can't rely on the same tropes as a shortcut to understand the possibilities of what can happen or what to do.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RareBreed, post: 9310270, member: 6945590"] First off, I will make a distinction in my post, since the question is about adventures. Since adventures take place in a game setting, the two are inextricably bound together and I would argue, the setting being the major factor. Even if we're talking 5e D&D, which world are you talking about that you want to have an adventure in? So the discussion below is primarily about the game world and how it influences tropes, player perceptions, and what kinds of adventures are doable in that game world. For me, world immersion is more important than originality for originality's sake. The world provides a canvas on which to paint interpersonal relations between the players, and the external dynamics between the players and recurring NPCs. Warhammer Fantasy has a totally different feel from D&D for example, which in turn is wildly different from Harn. This isn't just mechanical rules differences, but the atmosphere, tone, and culture. Even if the scenario was the same "save the princess", there would be a totally different flavor to it between Harn and D&D for example. It might even be worse for science fiction games. Hard SciFi like the 2300AD flavor of Traveller is going to be wildly different than Warhammer 40k, or even Star Trek (no matter the time period). Tropes become a kind of shared language and shortcut into thinking about things. It is in essence, a heuristic players use to think about the world, and what their characters can (or should) do within that world. To some degree, tropes are culturally bound. I remember someone asking me why so many Asian movies have sad endings. I explained that in many Asian cultures, face or honor, are extremely important, as is duty and obligation to your family or "superiors". Many times, the hero is put into a no-win scenario, where in order to satisfy face, honor, [B]and[/B] duty, the only solution is in death. This is not necessarily regarded as a sad ending, but rather a virtuous one. If you are from a Western Country, you were (most likely) embedded into both a Judeo-Christian, and Greco-Roman way of thinking. The sense of morality and other (what I consider) tropes like the conflict between law vs. order are culturally based and can be differently perceived from someone from another culture. So this I think, is where the ideas behind [I]originality[/I] often miss the point. Without questioning those implicit and built-in assumptions, it is inevitable that you will create the same game world and scenarios over and over. Take for example a world where there are no Divinities or even the concept of an everlasting soul. Since there is no everlasting soul, there is no reincarnation, nor is there a permanent Heaven(s) or Hell(s). The highest attainment of spirituality, is to learn how to die a final death despite there being no reincarnation. Since there are no divine entities, there is no one to mete out judgment, and therefore there is no concept of sin, only behavior that causes suffering in others or yourself. And because there are no deities or saviours, there is no one to pray to for salvation. Despite all this, there is still a clergy. Sounds pretty bizarre doesn't it? It almost seems impossible for a pre-scientific world (or post for that matter). Those from Western Countries are bombarded with the idea of some kind of divinity or divinities (for example the ancient Greeks and Norse). The framework of morality comes from divine commandments. Hope for a better world is maintained through the concept of an afterlife or reincarnation (even Westerners are familiar with this even though it comes mainly from Hinduism). But given the above religion, none of that is true. How could one even imagine holy magic in such a world? How could there possibly be clerics with magical powers? What an alien fantasy world! And yet, it exists here on Earth and is one of the largest religions on the planet. What I described is the original Theraveda Buddhism. While Chan (aka Zen) Buddhism derives from the Mahayana line, and Mahayana added some of the Hindu canon of Gods and Goddesses as well as some "miracles" that the Buddha or other Boddhisatvas performed, Chan is still very much rooted in what I described above. Imagine a game world with a fantasy Buddhist-like religion. What would it mean to be a cleric? It would kind of be like a Dragonlance world, in that clerics lost their divine magic. And yet in our real world, Buddhist monks became the most formidable warriors of their time and era (Shaolin in China, the Sohei and Yamabushi of Japan, and I would even say that the Shinobi were monks of their own esoteric religion). In terms of an original campaign (or game world), For a long time, I have had in the back of my mind, a low-fantasy game set in an analog of 1300-1500s Nusantara (what today would be parts of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, and the southern tips of Vietnam and Thailand). This was an interesting period where Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity were all coming into contact with one another (which is really a euphemism for saying going to war with each other). It was also when the Europeans were invading, with the Dutch, Portuguese, French, English and Spanish fighting each other and the natives. It would have early firearms, but predominately be melee fighting. It would also have pirates galore (including corsairs with Letters of Marque). How would you design an adventure where canons and early muskets are available that renders armor obsolete? Or for that matter, where the natives never wore armor in the first place, because it was too freaking hot. Another example of "originality", is that the Islamic royalty of South East Asia, did not follow conventional European hierarchies. Sultans, Rajahs, Bandajaras, Syechs, and Datus amongst many others, were not exactly the same as their European counterparts. Not all titles were hereditary (as is the case with some Knights in Europe). There really wasn't the concept of fiefdoms or vassalages (well, kind of at a very high level). My point, is that "originality" doesn't have to be that important, but I do think it enables more interesting storytelling and ideas for scenarios. The game setting also constrains adventure possibilities. A game world with limited magic or fantastical monsters will require a different design principle than "typical" D&D like high-fantasy. However, the more original a game world and its adventures become, the players can't rely on the same tropes as a shortcut to understand the possibilities of what can happen or what to do. [/QUOTE]
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