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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 8084602" data-attributes="member: 58197">Well, hold on now. Are we emulating &quot;Song of Ice and Fire,&quot; or &quot;Lord of the Rings,&quot; or &quot;Wheel of Time?&quot; Those are three very different styles of fantasy and they will require different elements.The primary focus of &quot;Song of Ice and Fire&quot; is politics and intrigue, with a side order of realistic medieval warfare. Magic does exist, but it is extremely rare, and it is dangerous and unpredictable. Even professional spellcasters, like the warlocks of Qarth or the red priests, have little understanding of the powers they wield. An RPG along these lines would have well-developed social mechanics, gritty combat rules that emphasize martial skill over magic, and probably a mass combat system of some kind.The primary focus of &quot;Lord of the Rings&quot; is a mythic clash of good and evil. Intrigue and war, while present, are mostly just a backdrop for spiritual conflicts--we are told repeatedly that Sauron cannot be overcome by force of arms. Instead, it is by the faith and virtue of the protagonists that he is defeated. I'm not sure how you would emulate that in an RPG; I think you'd need to junk the entire D&amp;D model and look to story-driven systems to really recreate the feel of Tolkien's saga.The primary focus of &quot;Wheel of Time&quot; is the breasts of the female characters... okay, okay, I'll quit snarking. The primary focus of &quot;Wheel of Time&quot; is conflicts among magic-wielders. Magic is very powerful, fairly controllable, and a lot of people can use it. Even the non-channeling protagonists get magic powers: Perrin's wolf-magic, Mat's luck and amulet, the supernatural gifts of the Warders. Anybody without magic is apt to end up in a supporting role. An RPG emulating WoT would have a very well-developed magic system and would give at least some magic to pretty much every PC.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 8084602, member: 58197"] Well, hold on now. Are we emulating "Song of Ice and Fire," or "Lord of the Rings," or "Wheel of Time?" Those are three very different styles of fantasy and they will require different elements. The primary focus of "Song of Ice and Fire" is politics and intrigue, with a side order of realistic medieval warfare. Magic does exist, but it is extremely rare, and it is dangerous and unpredictable. Even professional spellcasters, like the warlocks of Qarth or the red priests, have little understanding of the powers they wield. An RPG along these lines would have well-developed social mechanics, gritty combat rules that emphasize martial skill over magic, and probably a mass combat system of some kind. The primary focus of "Lord of the Rings" is a mythic clash of good and evil. Intrigue and war, while present, are mostly just a backdrop for spiritual conflicts--we are told repeatedly that Sauron cannot be overcome by force of arms. Instead, it is by the faith and virtue of the protagonists that he is defeated. I'm not sure how you would emulate that in an RPG; I think you'd need to junk the entire D&D model and look to story-driven systems to really recreate the feel of Tolkien's saga. The primary focus of "Wheel of Time" is the breasts of the female characters... okay, okay, I'll quit snarking. The primary focus of "Wheel of Time" is conflicts among magic-wielders. Magic is very powerful, fairly controllable, and a lot of people can use it. Even the non-channeling protagonists get magic powers: Perrin's wolf-magic, Mat's luck and amulet, the supernatural gifts of the Warders. Anybody without magic is apt to end up in a supporting role. An RPG emulating WoT would have a very well-developed magic system and would give at least some magic to pretty much every PC. [/QUOTE]

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