Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Multiverse is back....
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6396981" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>With allowance for the fact that the distinction can be a matter of degree (eg as per your drow example), I think it's a fair distinction.</p><p></p><p></p><p>My approach is closer to SkidAce's, although in my current (4e) campaign I'm mixing and matching a bit less than SkidAce is.</p><p></p><p>I don't agree with this, though. A setting can be defined by canon, but needn't be. A setting can be defined by trope and theme. I think this is what 4e's PoL was based on. (Again, the detailed reasoning is set out in Worlds & Monsters.)</p><p></p><p>To turn from RPGs to literature, REH's Hyborian Age is defined much more by trope and theme rather than canon.</p><p></p><p>Many Arthurian-themed stories also focus on trope and theme, rather than canon, as their essence.</p><p></p><p>I think settings characterisd by trope and theme are particularly well-suited for RPGing, because (i) they provide strong, shared hooks for players and GMs, and (ii) they allow scope for creativity by all participants without needing to worry about bumping into the constraints of canon.</p><p></p><p>I don't think I've read the entry on Fallcrest and the Nentir Vale in the 4e DMG. (My memory is hazy - I may have skimmed over it once to see if there was anything interesting in it. I don't remember anything, so presumably there wasn't.)</p><p></p><p>I enjoy the 4e cosmology. In Hussar's terms, it is a resource, not a setting - it is a collection of elements exhibiting fairly clear mythical/fantasy tropes and their associated themes.</p><p></p><p>For my map of the Prime Material Plane I am using the B/X Module Night's Dark Terror, which presents a fragment of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. (As well as the places on the module map the game has included the occasional reference to The Black Eagle Barony and to Specularum.)</p><p></p><p>For my history of the Prime Material Plane I combine my own stuff with some ideas from the 4e books (eg the NW of my module map, at least, was once part of Arkhosia butthe location of Bael Turath has never been considered) as well as Night's Dark Terror and other modules I have used.</p><p></p><p>For my mythical history I combine my own stuff with various episodes described in MotP, The Planes Above and Below, Underdark, Open Grave and the Demonomicon. Quite a bit of it is made up as we go along.</p><p></p><p>I've attached my backstory document to this post. Some of it is established (because it has come out in play). Some of it is conjecture, and some of it I think is likely to be departed from in actual play.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]64349[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6396981, member: 42582"] With allowance for the fact that the distinction can be a matter of degree (eg as per your drow example), I think it's a fair distinction. My approach is closer to SkidAce's, although in my current (4e) campaign I'm mixing and matching a bit less than SkidAce is. I don't agree with this, though. A setting can be defined by canon, but needn't be. A setting can be defined by trope and theme. I think this is what 4e's PoL was based on. (Again, the detailed reasoning is set out in Worlds & Monsters.) To turn from RPGs to literature, REH's Hyborian Age is defined much more by trope and theme rather than canon. Many Arthurian-themed stories also focus on trope and theme, rather than canon, as their essence. I think settings characterisd by trope and theme are particularly well-suited for RPGing, because (i) they provide strong, shared hooks for players and GMs, and (ii) they allow scope for creativity by all participants without needing to worry about bumping into the constraints of canon. I don't think I've read the entry on Fallcrest and the Nentir Vale in the 4e DMG. (My memory is hazy - I may have skimmed over it once to see if there was anything interesting in it. I don't remember anything, so presumably there wasn't.) I enjoy the 4e cosmology. In Hussar's terms, it is a resource, not a setting - it is a collection of elements exhibiting fairly clear mythical/fantasy tropes and their associated themes. For my map of the Prime Material Plane I am using the B/X Module Night's Dark Terror, which presents a fragment of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. (As well as the places on the module map the game has included the occasional reference to The Black Eagle Barony and to Specularum.) For my history of the Prime Material Plane I combine my own stuff with some ideas from the 4e books (eg the NW of my module map, at least, was once part of Arkhosia butthe location of Bael Turath has never been considered) as well as Night's Dark Terror and other modules I have used. For my mythical history I combine my own stuff with various episodes described in MotP, The Planes Above and Below, Underdark, Open Grave and the Demonomicon. Quite a bit of it is made up as we go along. I've attached my backstory document to this post. Some of it is established (because it has come out in play). Some of it is conjecture, and some of it I think is likely to be departed from in actual play. [ATTACH]64349._xfImport[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Multiverse is back....
Top