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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6276465" data-attributes="member: 20323">Taking a step back to the big picture, I wanted to mention my literary influences for the feel and "Dark High Fantasy" setting that Elderblade is designed for.First...<img src="http://jonenge.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/willow.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Willow has a special place in my heart. The 1988 Ron Howard film is actually kind of lighthearted but with some pretty dark magic and setting assumptions. When I think of "dark high fantasy" I don't think unremittingly dark, and Willow reminds me of that. One aspect of Willow that has worked its way into my design is the idea that you can botch a spell, just as Willow tried to turn that sorceress back into human form and ended up turning her into a raven, or trying to kill the troll with magic and turning into into the two-headed hydra-like monster. Complications (fails by 5+) and critical failures on a 1 provide some ways that GM can introduce botched magic. The idea of magic as a totally defined safe scientific energy is not the magic of Elderblade - this magic can be unpredictable and dangerous in more ways than expected.<img src="http://flavorwire.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/thebookofthree.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Chronicles of by Lloyd Alexander is a children's classic. While it might seem odd to include these books in the category of dark high fantasy, when you take a step back and consider that Anwwn and his Cauldronborn are essentially an army of undead and Taran is on his way to becoming a level 1 fighter and Eilonwy a level 1 mage, then it makes sense. The Welsh legends and connection to the Arthurian cycle are also greatly appealing to me, even many years later.<img src="http://people.uncw.edu/smithms/Ace%20singles/s5N-series/90076.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Earthsea Cycle of Ursula K LeGuin is also a young adult book that springs to mind when I think of dark high fantasy, mainly because of its intense psychological insights and detailed cultures with their own understandings of what magic is. <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kHAI3kSeA2g/T37WZgx7lmI/AAAAAAAAFEU/K0EzME1t0qA/s1600/The+Witcher+USA.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski is a fascinating subversion of traditional fantasy, and even as it subverts Tolkien it doesn't quite walk in step with the Lieber / Howard swords & sorcery tradition, making the series a tough nut to crack. That it qualifies as dark fantasy is indisputable, given a world where young children are taken by this mysterious order and subjected to mutagenic rites that have a chance to kill them! There's something about the intensely cynical political world that appeals to me, and is something I try to capture in my own games.</blockquote>

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