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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wombat" data-source="post: 1910463" data-attributes="member: 8447">For me, a good basis in reality (or versimilitude, if you prefer) makes for a good fantasy.For my current campaign, by way of an example, I did research on Spanish colonies in the New World, including governance, organization of plantations, troop types, laws, relative cost of goods, etc.  No, I did not take this information over 100% accurately, as that would be both silly and boring, but it informed the basis for the campaign.  Of course both history and the game "gave" a bit -- there are no "intelligent monsters" in the game other than certain undead, for example (well, let's not talk about that dragon yet) and coinage is much more common than in "reality".  I also picked up a great little weather generating program (WeatherMaster) that helps me give a real "feel" to the place.  And on top of that, one of my gamers is a darn good artist; he and I have worked together to create a series of street scenes based partially on mid-16th century costuming, architecture, and suchlike, and partially on our own ideas.  Gives a great sense of reality to the game.Starting a campaign in a believable place and situation helps the players suspend the disbelief for the later stages.  I always think of The Lord of the Rings in this kind of situation.  The story begins in The Shire.  Although hobbits don't exist in our reality, nor do smials, The Shire itself is utterly believable.  It feels like rural England, with a vaguely 18th century flavour to it.  It is because The Shire is so cozy and believable that the rest of the book works so well -- you start out with something pretty familiar-feeling and then realize you are part of a larger, more dangerous world, yet even in other places, there are familiar touches.Short answer:  Yes, reality helps games.</blockquote>

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