Worlds of Design: Escaping Tolkien

In my previous article we discussed technological differences; this article focuses on cultural differences. Perhaps the cultural differences aren’t as clear in one’s awareness, but can be very important and just as far-reaching. Don’t underestimate culture!

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

Part of world building is figuring out the consequences of changes you make from the technological and cultural background that you start with. You always start with something. For example, there’s often an assumption that there are horses large enough to be ridden in the world, even though for thousands of years of real-world history, they weren’t large enough to ride.

Trapped by Tolkien​

Some world builders get “trapped by Tolkien” as I like to put it. They think elves must be like Tolkien’s (even though those aren’t traditional), dwarves must be like Tolkien’s, etc. Imagine elves with the capabilities of Tolkien’s, but inclined to be Imperials! It’s a change of culture only, but a mighty one. Imagine if dwarves and orcs tended to work together! Similarly, monstrous humanoids aren’t necessarily antagonistic towards humans and vice versa. These are cultural changes that can differentiate your fantasy world from so many others and while subtle, but they can make a big difference. Turn your imagination loose, don’t let it be constrained by a single author or book.

Magical Attitudes​

Attitudes toward magic make a big difference on how a setting works. In one setting the magic users may be the rock stars, while in another they may be dreaded and avoided shadowy figures; they can be as rare as professional athletes or an everyday occurrence.

Modern Attitudes​

It’s probably inevitable that modern attitudes will shape how game masters create their fantasy worlds. Using slavery as one example, whether or not it “makes sense” in a world must also be balanced by how it will be represented in the game. If you are going to take on mature topics for a fantasy world that has a long history similar to our world (including the unpleasant parts), you should consider how your players will deal with the topic.

Intentions​

I haven’t said much about intentional versus unintentional change to a fantasy world, because in the end it’s the change that matters, not the intention. I suppose you’re more likely to figure out what changes will occur, when you’re intending to introduce changes. But a world is a huge collection of interactions, and any change is likely to affect more than you intended.

Your Turn: In your experience, what was the change (from the “default”) in world-setting that made the biggest difference?

 

[bloodtide]

I think it is safe to say D&D and a lot of other games were "trapped in Tolkien", at least until the mid 1980's or so. Tolkien was (and is) popular, so naturally many games were made in that image.

Though most of all, I think it was just simple access. So, setting the Wayback Machine for late 70's/early 80's. Sci-Fi and Fantasy were simply not all that popular in the mainstream. If you were a fan, your local bookstore MIGHT have a single shelf of fantasy/sci fi/horror WAY in the back of the store. Even if your store did though, you were unlikely to find much of a selection or variety. They might have a couple Persis Anthony or Steven King books, but not much else. If the book store even bought, say Ursula K. Le Guin books....they would likely only buy a single "box" of five books. And the big box bookstores were not quite yet around yet....

TV and movies were even worse with fantasy being rare. And this was a lifetime before you could own or stream a movie or TV show. The VHS tape of Star Wars even did not come out until 1984 (though you could rent it starting in '82) and it took forever for the first three movie box set (1990!). But if you were lucky your local UHF station played Star Wars occasionally so you could at least see it sometimes.

In short "Tolkinen" was the only fantasy most people knew for years and years.

 

[Aelryinth]

I think it is safe to say D&D and a lot of other games were "trapped in Tolkien", at least until the mid 1980's or so. Tolkien was (and is) popular, so naturally many games were made in that image.

Though most of all, I think it was just simple access. So, setting the Wayback Machine for late 70's/early 80's. Sci-Fi and Fantasy were simply not all that popular in the mainstream. If you were a fan, your local bookstore MIGHT have a single shelf of fantasy/sci fi/horror WAY in the back of the store. Even if your store did though, you were unlikely to find much of a selection or variety. They might have a couple Persis Anthony or Steven King books, but not much else. If the book store even bought, say Ursula K. Le Guin books....they would likely only buy a single "box" of five books. And the big box bookstores were not quite yet around yet....

TV and movies were even worse with fantasy being rare. And this was a lifetime before you could own or stream a movie or TV show. The VHS tape of Star Wars even did not come out until 1984 (though you could rent it starting in '82) and it took forever for the first three movie box set (1990!). But if you were lucky your local UHF station played Star Wars occasionally so you could at least see it sometimes.

In short "Tolkinen" was the only fantasy most people knew for years and years.

That's not quite true. You just had to go back further. Conan and the pulp fantasy crew were around a long, long time before Tolkien.
Tolkien, however, was the first work of really, really serious fantasy fiction that made it into the mainstream. It oozes intellectualism, and was told like it was a true, educated, alternate history, not an adventure story.
In short, Tolkien built a really believable world.
Appendix M in the DMG is not short, after all, and the monsters of D&D drew from ALL OVER the place, not just Tolkien. Indeed, the Tolkien monsters are only the most basic creatures of myth. The devils are arguably drawn from Catholic history, daemons from evil spirits of many religions, and even most demons are non-Tolkien, barring the balrog, which is basically just a reimagined flaming devil.

So, there's core elements from Tolkien in elves and dwarves and halflings and men, and maybe orcs and goblins. But so, so much else in the game went far beyond that, that's its strange that people only focus on that small part of it.

 

[Aldarc]

So, there's core elements from Tolkien in elves and dwarves and halflings and men, and maybe orcs and goblins. But so, so much else in the game went far beyond that, that's its strange that people only focus on that small part of it.

Again, simple semiotic images that are often replicated, duplicated, and re-imagined in different ways. Some call it "lazy writing"; I call it conceptual history.

 

[Aelryinth]

Again, simple semiotic images that are often replicated, duplicated, and re-imagined in different ways. Some call it "lazy writing"; I call it conceptual history.

Yeah, myths and legends do tend to hold to common elements. They noted on the Baba Yaga thread that although she morphs between different cultures, there's still over a thousand different stories about her, but nobody complains of Baba Yaga saturation.

 

[Aldarc]

Yeah, myths and legends do tend to hold to common elements. They noted on the Baba Yaga thread that although she morphs between different cultures, there's still over a thousand different stories about her, but nobody complains of Baba Yaga saturation.

Why might you think why people complain about the Tolkienesque dwarves and elves in TTRPG fantasy then?

 

[MGibster]

Why might you think why people complain about the Tolkienesque dwarves and elves in TTRPG fantasy then?

Because dwarves and elves are in almost every fantasy game whereas Baba Yaga is not. Or, if she is, doesn't play a particularly prominent role.

 

[Aelryinth]

Why might you think why people complain about the Tolkienesque dwarves and elves in TTRPG fantasy then?

Because its his version of dwarves, and his version of elves, that populate the standard fantasy world.
If you deviate from them, you're a Tolkien wanna-be 'my elves are different'. Elves and dwarves used to mean other things, but now, the instant you say the word, the elf and dwarf you think of are defined by Tolkien.
Then you put in humans, with all our many, many different cultures, and yet elves and dwarves remain so stable. It's a big contrast.
The fact it's that way for consistency of vision and stability doesn't occur to them. I mean, if you want weird elves, just in D&D, Eberron and Athas had VERY different takes on them.
But the main campaign is faithful to the Tolkien standard by design. It's a trope, it tells people what to expect.

 

[bloodtide]

Because its his version of dwarves, and his version of elves, that populate the standard fantasy world.

No all that much though. Tolkien elves are thin, short and boring. A Tolkien dwarf is a dumb short joke, and they are weak. Legolas and Gimil are not the versions of elf and dwarf nearly everyone thinks of: THAT would be the races of Dragonlance.

 

[Aelryinth]

No all that much though. Tolkien elves are thin, short and boring. A Tolkien dwarf is a dumb short joke, and they are weak. Legolas and Gimil are not the versions of elf and dwarf nearly everyone thinks of: THAT would be the races of Dragonlance.

Meh. Normal elves, who live in civilized forests and mingle with men. The high elves, who live in mountain cities and remain aloof from the world. Wood elves, who hide in the deep forest and generally disdain men.
Oops, no, not Tolkien elves. Sorry, those are the elves of Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms. The standard campaign elves... who are indeed shorter than human. It wasn't until the movies that we got elves taller then people, so I'm talking Tolkien elves, not Peter Jackson movie elves.

So, yes, very true to Tolkien elves. The movies skewed things, but not among the long-time gamers.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

I remember being annoyed in 1981 when I discovered that D&D elves were only 5ft tall and lived for less than a thousand years. First thing I did when I ran a campaign was make them taller than humans and immortal.

Dwarves were a bit short for Tolkien dwarves, so I gave them another 6 inches. Made them proper dwarves.

Hobbits were fine and didn't need any tweaking.