Worlds of Design: Escaping Tolkien

In my previous article we discussed technological differences; this article focuses on cultural differences. Perhaps the cultural differences aren’t as clear in one’s awareness, but can be very important and just as far-reaching. Don’t underestimate culture!

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

Part of world building is figuring out the consequences of changes you make from the technological and cultural background that you start with. You always start with something. For example, there’s often an assumption that there are horses large enough to be ridden in the world, even though for thousands of years of real-world history, they weren’t large enough to ride.

Trapped by Tolkien​

Some world builders get “trapped by Tolkien” as I like to put it. They think elves must be like Tolkien’s (even though those aren’t traditional), dwarves must be like Tolkien’s, etc. Imagine elves with the capabilities of Tolkien’s, but inclined to be Imperials! It’s a change of culture only, but a mighty one. Imagine if dwarves and orcs tended to work together! Similarly, monstrous humanoids aren’t necessarily antagonistic towards humans and vice versa. These are cultural changes that can differentiate your fantasy world from so many others and while subtle, but they can make a big difference. Turn your imagination loose, don’t let it be constrained by a single author or book.

Magical Attitudes​

Attitudes toward magic make a big difference on how a setting works. In one setting the magic users may be the rock stars, while in another they may be dreaded and avoided shadowy figures; they can be as rare as professional athletes or an everyday occurrence.

Modern Attitudes​

It’s probably inevitable that modern attitudes will shape how game masters create their fantasy worlds. Using slavery as one example, whether or not it “makes sense” in a world must also be balanced by how it will be represented in the game. If you are going to take on mature topics for a fantasy world that has a long history similar to our world (including the unpleasant parts), you should consider how your players will deal with the topic.

Intentions​

I haven’t said much about intentional versus unintentional change to a fantasy world, because in the end it’s the change that matters, not the intention. I suppose you’re more likely to figure out what changes will occur, when you’re intending to introduce changes. But a world is a huge collection of interactions, and any change is likely to affect more than you intended.

Your Turn: In your experience, what was the change (from the “default”) in world-setting that made the biggest difference?

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I seem to recall that the ads for the game Talislanta had as their slogan: "No elves!"
Haven't played the game, so don't know how accurate it was in-game though.

But but, without elves, how can we call our games elf-games?

 

[Dausuul]

Same. I think I read the first 30-40 pages of Book I of Fionavar, and promptly set it down, never to look at it again.

Strangely, as much as I love Tigana (it's utterly brilliant), it's probably the book of his I'd least likely want to emulate as an RPG experience. I think the Sarantium books and Lions of Al-Rassan, on the other hand, would be positively brilliant settings for RPG play.

Yes, those settings are some of his best-realized ones, especially Al-Rassan (modeled IIRC on Moorish Spain). "Tigana" has wonderful characters, but the world is not as fleshed-out, and it's the world you need for an RPG.

 

[innerdude]

One last follow-up on the Guy Gavriel Kay thread --- one of the reasons I became interested in the Spellbound Kingdoms RPG system is that it seemed like it was actually trying to emulate the general feel of Kay's works. That, and the combat system was so unique that I had to check it out.

Still haven't managed to play it though.

And to its credit, while Spellbound Kingdoms does offer non-human races as playable characters, it definitely goes out of its way to get outside the "House of Tolkien" with its approach.

 

[univoxs]

Nothing is all that fantastic in D&D settings and that is the difference between LotR and most RPG fantasy settings. The Elves were strange and wonderful to the Hobbits when they first met them. LotR is "low fantasy" in a lot of ways and I feel such a settings is less commonly played.

A celestial fire breathing half-orc barbarian titan mauler is not all that interesting to play, or special, because everyone is just as wacky as you are. The Default has become "high fantasy" where every character stands out so much that no one stands out so much at all, and no one is all that surprised when a fiendish beholder ghast teleports into the middle of the tavern, buys everyone a drink, and splits an english muffin with the city watch.

There is a definition to the word fantastic that is "so extreme as to challenge belief". Nothing in D&D challenges the characters beliefs, or players expectations when the settings are so permissive to allow just about anything. Don't get me wrong, I have made many wacky characters. But I want to return a sense of wonder to my games, a sense of wonder that LotR produced. Not the ho-hum that Forgotten Realms does for me.

I don't think new players would feel this way. This is about perspective. Someone who has never played D&D or watched/read LotR might feel like Game of Thrones is the default and find Elves and Dwarves quite novel.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Nothing is all that fantastic in D&D settings and that is the difference between LotR and most RPG fantasy settings. The Elves were strange and wonderful to the Hobbits when they first met them. LotR is "low fantasy" in a lot of ways and I feel such a settings is less commonly played.

A celestial fire breathing half-orc barbarian titan mauler is not all that interesting to play, or special, because everyone is just as wacky as you are. The Default has become "high fantasy" where every character stands out so much that no one stands out so much at all, and no one is all that surprised when a fiendish beholder ghast teleports into the middle of the tavern, buys everyone a drink, and splits an english muffin with the city watch.

There is a definition to the word fantastic that is "so extreme as to challenge belief". Nothing in D&D challenges the characters beliefs, or players expectations when the settings are so permissive to allow just about anything. Don't get me wrong, I have made many wacky characters. But I want to return a sense of wonder to my games, a sense of wonder that LotR produced. Not the ho-hum that Forgotten Realms does for me.

I don't think new players would feel this way. This is about perspective. Someone who has never played D&D or watched/read LotR might feel like Game of Thrones is the default and find Elves and Dwarves quite novel.

Bloody excellent point. It is exactly that sense of wonder I miss, magic and fantastic creatures that seem mysterious and strange rather than like flashy effects from a computer game. But creating or recapturing that feeling is pretty damn hard.

 

[Puddles]

I would be hesitant to state that deviating from Tolkien is always a good thing. There are both pros and cons when distancing your D&D world from Tolkienesque fantasy.

The more changes you make, the harder you make your game world to recognise for your players. In addition, a big part of the creation of the game is in the hands of the players as well as the DM. For example, if a player looks through the PHB and builds a character from it, their decisions will impact your game. Say they make a Wood Elf Ranger and create their associated backstory, that will imply there is a Mirkwood equivalent in your fantasy world.

So with my most recent campaign, that was for new players, my first step in world building was establishing where there are Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Tieflings, Dragonborn etc etc so no matter which the players chose, there would be a place for them in world.

Sure, if the group as a whole is tired of Tolkien tropes, creating something new and unique can be exciting for both the DM and the players. But unless this is the case, I wouldn’t advise a DM to radically alter the way the different ancestries are presented in the PHB.

 

[lewpuls]

This is a fascinating case where the title - the editor's title, not mine, mine was something like "World-building: effects of cultural change" - has gotten more attention than my intention, which was to write about how cultural change must modify a world from whatever people think is the norm or expectation or the real world.

 

[Dausuul]

I would be hesitant to state that deviating from Tolkien is always a good thing. There are both pros and cons when distancing your D&D world from Tolkienesque fantasy. The more changes you make, the harder you make your game world to recognise for your players.

One corollary to this: It is often easier to excise a thing entirely than to retool it. If you change how elves work, you have to keep reminding the players what you changed and what's the same. But if you say "There are no elves in this world," no reminders are required (at least after chargen is done). None of the PCs are elves. They never meet any elves. There just... aren't elves.

 

[Tonguez]

the thing is DnD elves arent that much like Tolkien Elves, they do share similar background mythology but they have diverged a lot. The factors that are most Tolkien like are Orcs and their general antagonistic approach to the 'good race' set of Humans, Elves, Dwarfs and Pecks. Plus the lame Dwarfs and Elves just dont like each other trope.

I think people are a bit hard on Elfs too and as much as I wont play one, it does seem that the Elf as a concept has become the global go-to for 'Other' Fey Race. Arguably Vulcans are Elfs (and Klingons Orcs) and as much as Talislanta boasted "No Elves" it has races like the Dhuna a reclusive people who live in the forest, in sacred groves, and practice magic (but Not an Elf according to Talislanta).

which does beg the question: is the prominence of the Elf attributable to Tolkien or is it a pre-Tolkien thing. Different societies across the globe have folklore about reclusive, magical 'people' who live in the forest, and sometimes enchant humans. Tolkien and DnD have certainly helped codify the ideal of Elf, but perhaps the ubiquity is ingrained as a genetic memory of a time when Others shared the planet.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

This is a fascinating case where the title - the editor's title, not mine, mine was something like "World-building: effects of cultural change" - has gotten more attention than my intention, which was to write about how cultural change must modify a world from whatever people think is the norm or expectation or the real world.

Yes, it is sad that even here has started using clickbait titles for articles.