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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 9501575" data-attributes="member: 58172">In the 2024, the choice of setting is where to find (official) flavor or to build (homebrew) flavor.At least for my worldbuilding purposes, 2024 has so much flavor that is inspiring, even compelling. At the same time the setting gets out of my, and lets me be easily do things I want to do for the setting.For example, I am interested in building an Arneson-esque Blackmoor regional setting in the 2024 Greyhawk, in "Arn". No problem! And I also want to create from scratch a 2024 version of a mythologically Norse setting. No problem. Because both settings are northerly, the respective regional settings can be each others neighbors. It works well.I am excited about working with 2024 backgrounds for worldbuilding purposes. I feel the shift from "biological" species to "cultural" backgrounds is the correct one. Indeed, the old school mechanics that confused culture and species now looks idiotic in my eyes. For example, one version of Blackmoor counted  Humans − common Thonians versus aristocratic Thonians − as two separate species, "races". Then the indigenous Peshwah were yet an other separate species. Idiotic. It is so much more helpful to understand these diversities as cultural backgrounds. Meanwhile, the 2024 background is such a substantial amount of design space, I am looking forward to working with it.Especially for the Norse region, the concept of a person descending from more than one species is important. Even changing from one species to a different species can happen. Because of the narrative space and the free feat mechanics of the background, I am confident that everything I need to do, I can do via backgrounds. I dont need to wait for mixed-species mechanics. Creating feats that grant species traits is more than sufficient. In a Norse context, all of this makes.I like the 2024 Elf species, and will continue use its three lineages. But there are certain Norse elven concepts that I want in play. At the same time, it is much more helpful to think elven diversity as cultural differences between magical cultures, rather than add yet another hundred and odd elven "races". Meanwhile, any species can become part of an elven community, participate in the collective magic, and take on elven traits. Oppositely, an elf can become part of a human culture and take on human traits. Like a mermaid living on land among humans and gaining humanity, this is an important possibility for the mechanics of a fantasy game to represent.</blockquote>

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