What makes setting lore "actually matter" to the players?

[Lanefan]

I remember everyone at one game wanted to kill Drizzt when he showed up one time.

I second the motion.

All in favour?

 

[Neonchameleon]

Babylon 5 tried to touch on to all of this (and I think that may be what I love about Sci-Fi over fantasy = Sci-Fi appears to try and create compelling and functional settings where the purpose of tech or alien is deeply tied to the core function of its setting and their limitations guide principles of purpose and stakes). Not all Sci-Fi does this well, but if I were to put my opinion out there, 0/10 fantasy does that, where as 9/10 sci fi does.

And that is the problem... Fantasy settings are just really really shallow.

Then you're reading the wrong fantasy. The Discworld, Earthsea, and the Curse of Chalion series all say hi.

 

[innerdude]

I remember everyone at one game wanted to kill Drizzt when he showed up one time.

I second the motion.

All in favour?

I laughed the one time I used the EEKeeper mod tool on Baldur's Gate 1 on PC to "superpower" my PCs and then killed Drizzt when he showed up in the one mountain area. Your party reputation instantly drops to the lowest possible value (3 I think?) and my entire good-aligned party instantly left.