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Reinventing fantasy cliches
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<blockquote data-quote="DrunkonDuty" data-source="post: 4154390" data-attributes="member: 54364"><p>Racial Determinism bugs me. As I implied above, having all members of a fantasy race being simple extensions of some Platonic Ideal is just not my idea of realistic. (I like the word verisimilitude too.) It's also dull.</p><p></p><p>I frequently harp on about giving the NPCs believeable motivations and then roleplaying them appropriately. It's a good way to freshen up the old cliches. Why are the Orcs on the warpath? Because they are EVIL(bwah-hah-hah-hah) or because some humans have invaded their hunting grounds and killed off all the game and they're now starving? Both are cliches. </p><p></p><p>Tangent: The second one is of course taken (roughly) from history and thus (roughly) factual, but when used in literature it becomes a cliche. End Tangent.</p><p></p><p>But one gives you real role play possibility. One gives you bad melodrama. Don't get me wrong: I like a bit of bad melodrama, it's fun. Just not all the time. </p><p></p><p>Drow and Racial Determinism.</p><p>Above some one decried how Drow are always protrayed as bondage fiends with a spider fetish. (A beautiful summation may I say.) Others have mentioned Drizzt as the cliched anti-cliche. Oh so true. </p><p></p><p>What to do about them? </p><p></p><p>I've read arguments on this board that Drow are kept in line by a possessive and interfering demon-goddess and that explains why they are what they are. And it's a perfectly valid in-game reason for why the Drow are what they are. But its just a variation on "because they're Drow" and it lacks something for me. Yes, there should be reasons why a Drow is an evil bugger. And some of these reasons are presumably bigger than that individual Drow. You can dream up personal, cultural, historical and "the biased point of view of others" type explanations. Or you can simplify it with "Lolth keeps 'em in line." Which one has better story telling potential? (Well either really, depends on your preferred story. But in keeping with the thread's theme and my own personal preferences I'm going with the first.)</p><p></p><p>Set, I think you have hit the nail on the head. All these sub-sets of races (and I think I speak truth when I say the Elf is the biggest victim of this) encourage players and designers to think in terms of racial determinism. Making Drow just mean Elves is fine for me. It of course provokes the question "what made them mean?" but that's fine, I can then come up with any number of reasons thereby giving a bit of depth to any Drow NPCs I may have. </p><p></p><p>And if you can break away from the stereo type evil Drow I reckon you would be most of the way to breaking away from angsty, outcast, must redeem my people from the thrall of the evil demon-goddess anti-cliche.</p><p></p><p>Mmm, Eurocentric next I think.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DrunkonDuty, post: 4154390, member: 54364"] Racial Determinism bugs me. As I implied above, having all members of a fantasy race being simple extensions of some Platonic Ideal is just not my idea of realistic. (I like the word verisimilitude too.) It's also dull. I frequently harp on about giving the NPCs believeable motivations and then roleplaying them appropriately. It's a good way to freshen up the old cliches. Why are the Orcs on the warpath? Because they are EVIL(bwah-hah-hah-hah) or because some humans have invaded their hunting grounds and killed off all the game and they're now starving? Both are cliches. Tangent: The second one is of course taken (roughly) from history and thus (roughly) factual, but when used in literature it becomes a cliche. End Tangent. But one gives you real role play possibility. One gives you bad melodrama. Don't get me wrong: I like a bit of bad melodrama, it's fun. Just not all the time. Drow and Racial Determinism. Above some one decried how Drow are always protrayed as bondage fiends with a spider fetish. (A beautiful summation may I say.) Others have mentioned Drizzt as the cliched anti-cliche. Oh so true. What to do about them? I've read arguments on this board that Drow are kept in line by a possessive and interfering demon-goddess and that explains why they are what they are. And it's a perfectly valid in-game reason for why the Drow are what they are. But its just a variation on "because they're Drow" and it lacks something for me. Yes, there should be reasons why a Drow is an evil bugger. And some of these reasons are presumably bigger than that individual Drow. You can dream up personal, cultural, historical and "the biased point of view of others" type explanations. Or you can simplify it with "Lolth keeps 'em in line." Which one has better story telling potential? (Well either really, depends on your preferred story. But in keeping with the thread's theme and my own personal preferences I'm going with the first.) Set, I think you have hit the nail on the head. All these sub-sets of races (and I think I speak truth when I say the Elf is the biggest victim of this) encourage players and designers to think in terms of racial determinism. Making Drow just mean Elves is fine for me. It of course provokes the question "what made them mean?" but that's fine, I can then come up with any number of reasons thereby giving a bit of depth to any Drow NPCs I may have. And if you can break away from the stereo type evil Drow I reckon you would be most of the way to breaking away from angsty, outcast, must redeem my people from the thrall of the evil demon-goddess anti-cliche. Mmm, Eurocentric next I think. [/QUOTE]
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