Real World references in fantasy settings

[Anime Kidd]

I've been wondering about something for a good while now but never got around to post it. But what do you think about when a fantasy setting, published or not, actively states that one of the elements of the setting is like something found on Earth? For example, what if a setting said, "the elves of this setting have an Ancient Egytpian culture"? Or that one of it's landmasses has the climate, terrain, and animals similar to Africa? Would that spoil the fantasy image or would it make it easier for you to understand? I ask because I'm having a hard time trying to not write like that for my homebrew setting. Now I don't think that writing like that is bad or anything, it's just that for me it kinda takes away the fantasy image I am trying to create. Do you do this sort of thing? Or do you try not to make such references?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I try not to, but it's not at all uncommon for designers to do this. Heck, one setting/half-setting from TSR, Hollow World, did this almost exclusively.

 

[Aeric]

There are plenty of published settings that have cultures inspired by the real world, but most of them don't come out and say it no matter how obvious it might be. Personally, I see no problem with this other than the possibility that some of your players/readers might not be all that familiar with the culture in question. To that end, I would take some time and boil down the culture in your own words and translate that into your game description. You might come across some things you'd like the tweak/change along the way, thereby making it that much more different from the source material.

 

[trancejeremy]

It always bugs me when they come out and say it. Even when it obviously is, it still does. OTOH, I'm actually a big fan of the Hollow World setting. But

 

[Ed_Laprade]

I generally prefer it, unless I don't know much about the culture or whatever. After all, it's a whole lot easier to just say that it's like X rather than spending pages of verbiage then have your players say: "Why didn't you just say it's like X in the first place?"

 

[Dykstrav]

I generally don't like it. You should be direct, concise, and clear when describing things during play. But in the deisng of your setting, I'd rather hear a few colorful adjectives and descriptions rather than a flat statement of intent.

Compare the following:

"You're entering the elven city in the desert. Unlike Tolkienesque settings, these elves are Egyptian in general flavor, culture, and dress."

"The guards are dressed in ceremonial white kilts and headdresses, weilding bronze-tipped spears and khopeshes at their belts. Once you clear the gates, you see commoners dressed in homespun rags kneeling before obelisks and reciting their prayers. The white obelisks are carved with images of an eternal line of elven kings claiming descent from the sun-god, blessing the earth with fertile crops from the river. In the market, you see scores of commoners going about their business: purchasing dates and measures of grain for their meals, small animal-headed idols, and avoiding the slave pens. An overseer seems to be purchasing a large order of slaves for the construction of monuments to the south."

It's not just a matter of being evocative (although it certainly helps), it's a matter of deciding what images and symbols you want to use to communicate your Egyptian motif. If you describe these elves hiring Hyskos-style mercenaries, building elaborate civil monuments, worshipping animal-headed idols, your players will pick up on these things.

 

[Maggan]

If you describe these elves hiring Hyskos-style mercenaries, building elaborate civil monuments, worshipping animal-headed idols, your players will pick up on these things.

Hyskos? Had to Google it. Sometimes it's easier and more effective to just come out and say it, instead of using definitions that needs to be looked up to grasp the connotations. But I also agree that it is important to describe what the PCs are seeing, since a DM shouldn't assume that everyone has the same knowledge about stuff that he has.

So a combination of the two works best for me.

/M

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

For Urbis, I only made the references explicit in the introduction, in which I explain just why I made so many parts of the setting similar to real world cultures and history.

In the text, I leave such explicit comments out - though there are numerous references, none state the original inspiration right out. Though they should be easy to spot for anyone knowledgeable with the era...

 

[Tonguez]

Hyskos? Had to Google it. Sometimes it's easier and more effective to just come out and say it, instead of using definitions that needs to be looked up to grasp the connotations.

But then if I said my Elfs have a culture similar to the Hyskos and the humans resemble the Zhou - most people would be none the wiser and would still need to go and look them up

 

[Maggan]

But then if I said my Elfs have a culture similar to the Hyskos and the humans resemble the Zhou - most people would be none the wiser and would still need to go and look them up

Yep. So it's a lot easier sometimes to just say "Think Egypt" or "Think Sparta" or something like that.



/M