lukelightning
First Post
Most fantasy settings hold similar conventions/themes regarding the nature of creation, history, etc. with a descending power factor. Creation was "top down" (everything created by the gods/one god/some primordial superbeing) and as history progressed things became more and more mundane.
Most settings start with a primordial past where great magic abounds. Gods and demon lords walk the earth and all sorts of craziness happens. Often a god/angel rebels and becomes the original BBEG, tearing the cosmos apart and basically creating all sorts of monsters, evil planes, etc.
Then this is followed by a long murky history of mighty mages and legendary heroes, doing mythological things and all that fun stuff.
Then fast forward to the "present day." Gods are remote, fiends are "locked away" but some sneak out. You have mighty mortals, but their power is dwarfed by those of the past. Evil wizards research the past, looking for secrets of the previous age. Mighty ancient artifacts, more powerful than anything created in contemporary times, are hidden away waiting to be discovered. So, too, are powerful evils biding their time.
What would a setting be like if these things were reversed? In the real world it is modern discoveries that dwarf those of the ancients. Discovery is about finding something new, not something old. In such a world, an ancient lich lord, asleep for a thousand years, would be a thousand years out of date, hardly a match for a modern mage. Ancient magic swords? A quaint discovery. Demons of the past? They are an endangered species, eclipsed by newer evils. Wizards no longer research magic by looking for ancient spellbooks, they work in laboratories, trying new combinations of magic (possibly with disastrous results).
Most settings start with a primordial past where great magic abounds. Gods and demon lords walk the earth and all sorts of craziness happens. Often a god/angel rebels and becomes the original BBEG, tearing the cosmos apart and basically creating all sorts of monsters, evil planes, etc.
Then this is followed by a long murky history of mighty mages and legendary heroes, doing mythological things and all that fun stuff.
Then fast forward to the "present day." Gods are remote, fiends are "locked away" but some sneak out. You have mighty mortals, but their power is dwarfed by those of the past. Evil wizards research the past, looking for secrets of the previous age. Mighty ancient artifacts, more powerful than anything created in contemporary times, are hidden away waiting to be discovered. So, too, are powerful evils biding their time.
What would a setting be like if these things were reversed? In the real world it is modern discoveries that dwarf those of the ancients. Discovery is about finding something new, not something old. In such a world, an ancient lich lord, asleep for a thousand years, would be a thousand years out of date, hardly a match for a modern mage. Ancient magic swords? A quaint discovery. Demons of the past? They are an endangered species, eclipsed by newer evils. Wizards no longer research magic by looking for ancient spellbooks, they work in laboratories, trying new combinations of magic (possibly with disastrous results).
