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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Gamemastering advice on preparing adventures for Sword & Sorcery campaigns
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<blockquote data-quote="TimWest" data-source="post: 8341078" data-attributes="member: 7031591"><p>Something that might be useful for a GM is to allow for and leverage the weirdness that comes from content that is randomly generated with tables and other tools. You save yourself a lot of time and at the same time you create the sense that this world is slightly strange, unknowable or alien without having to go full gonzo (laser-guns and giant robot unicorns).</p><p></p><p>It seems to me that in many fantasy settings a great deal of effort is put into internal consistency and coherency. Think of all those guides on creating your own campaign setting. The result is not leaving any empty spots on a map, knowing the names and characteristic of all 361 deities and being able to explain, at least on a high level, the economy of every capital city on the continent.</p><p></p><p>But in a S&S setting you can get away with, and benefit from describing a city as situated in the middle of a desert, without it being quite clear how it's sustaining itself. It's been there for "untold centuries" and they worship "a multitude of strange gods whose original names have all been forgotten". Sure if a characters goes around asking for more details they might get some more information. But thinking up every single detail is a waste of time and will directly undermine the feeling you are trying to create.</p><p></p><p>As I said earlier you can lean into this by creating content with tools like random tables. You'll sometimes get results that don't quite seem to mesh together, but that's ok. That's what creates the slightly weird vibe. Resist the temptation to have an in depth rationale for everything.</p><p></p><p>This is especially the case for magic IMO, the more you describe and define magic the less magical it becomes and more like a technology.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TimWest, post: 8341078, member: 7031591"] Something that might be useful for a GM is to allow for and leverage the weirdness that comes from content that is randomly generated with tables and other tools. You save yourself a lot of time and at the same time you create the sense that this world is slightly strange, unknowable or alien without having to go full gonzo (laser-guns and giant robot unicorns). It seems to me that in many fantasy settings a great deal of effort is put into internal consistency and coherency. Think of all those guides on creating your own campaign setting. The result is not leaving any empty spots on a map, knowing the names and characteristic of all 361 deities and being able to explain, at least on a high level, the economy of every capital city on the continent. But in a S&S setting you can get away with, and benefit from describing a city as situated in the middle of a desert, without it being quite clear how it's sustaining itself. It's been there for "untold centuries" and they worship "a multitude of strange gods whose original names have all been forgotten". Sure if a characters goes around asking for more details they might get some more information. But thinking up every single detail is a waste of time and will directly undermine the feeling you are trying to create. As I said earlier you can lean into this by creating content with tools like random tables. You'll sometimes get results that don't quite seem to mesh together, but that's ok. That's what creates the slightly weird vibe. Resist the temptation to have an in depth rationale for everything. This is especially the case for magic IMO, the more you describe and define magic the less magical it becomes and more like a technology. [/QUOTE]
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