Points-of-light is not just for post-apocalyptic fantasy

[Scholar & Brutalman]

I wouldn't really say that 'points of light' conveys 'post-apocalyptic' to me; more like Dark Ages Europe, where law and civilization only reach as far as the local lords swordarm. No organized government, just a collection of city-states or colonies hacked from the monster-haunted wilderness.

I would call Dark Ages Western Europe post-apocalypse. A long, slow apocalypse, but still pretty apocalyptic.

 

[hong]

I'm now thinking that "A Long, Slow Apocalypse" would make a pretty good Wachowski brothers movie title.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Stop that! You make us sound like desperate geeks who needed to get out more!

What if it was true?

 

[ForceUser]

I'm honestly surprised that apparently lots of folks have been running campaigns that aren't based on the points-of-light model. Even in campaign-settings where there are large settled regions of benign civilization, I've always assumed that actual game-activity would be occuring almost entirely outside (or at least at the border/hinterlands of) those regions.

Yeah. The adventures in my campaign world almost always take place on the fringes of civilization, or deep in the earth, or both. Furthermore, I just can't wrap my noggin around the ecology of certain creatures--say, aberrations--so more often than not, they end up being otherworldly intruders (in my game, for example, beholders have the extraplanar subtype.)

 

[PeterWeller]

It's definitely an element of the game, and it's a bad run if you get caught (even on video). What I had trouble with is -- one bad run, and then the characters have to live in hiding for the rest of their lives, even if they got away? Lone Star knows their faces, voiceprints, etc., and if Lone Star has a presence everywhere, that's a huge problem. But if Lone Star only has a strong presence in a core "green zone", then characters could live their lives fairly normally, even after they've become wanted criminals.

I always thought Lonestar didn't have a huge presence everywhere. The whole point of corporate police forces is that they only protect and serve the neighborhoods that pay. Most poor neighborhoods don't, and thus Lonestar only shows up when something goes boom.

E: Also, I'm in the camp that has always seen Faerun, especially the North and Moonsea areas as "points of light."

 

[ruleslawyer]

The younger me though the same way too. Of course, even then I was always obsessed with food, so I could have glossed over all the peril and just went to looking for the inns that had food-porn and described hot female innkeepers.

If you knew me personally, you'd understand my affinity for food porn...

This does bring up another point related to the PoL issue, especially in the context of "non-post-apocalyptic" settings. I think there's a real confusion between the concept of a complex, vibrant set of societies and civilizations in the campaign world and the idea that the game world can get too "safe" for fun adventuring. Greyhawk, Hyboria, etc. are all dangerous worlds, but they have a lot of local color as well and plenty of things to see and do that don't involve running, fighting, or foraging for one's life. On some level, an emphasis on "PoL" does carry the danger of steering designers and DMs away from complex, vibrant setting elements into a more simplistic "everything is a fight" mode.

 

[Alratan]

I would call Dark Ages Western Europe post-apocalypse. A long, slow apocalypse, but still pretty apocalyptic.

It's also worth remembering that the Wild West is also post-apocalyptic. The apocalypse in this case being disease killing 90% of the population followed by an invasion by a superior foe.

Actually, this sounds a lot like the Points-of-Light concept:

"D&D - like playing the Indians in a classic western!"

Doesn't make the best tag line, does it, but that's what it is.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

It's also worth remembering that the Wild West is also post-apocalyptic. The apocalypse in this case being disease killing 90% of the population followed by an invasion by a superior foe.

But where'd they put their Realm Defense Grid?

Brad

 

[The Little Raven]

But where'd they put their Realm Defense Grid?

I swear they reworked those manses into casinos.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

I swear they reworked those manses into casinos.

And smoke shops. Lung cancer for the invaders FTW!