01-06-2015, 10:46 PM
I think I asked this once of Havard before and I'd be eager to read what he and others have in mind. But in this thread I'd like to get an idea of what people think Blackmoor should "feel" like. What are some of its themes, what kind of mood do you think the setting is trying to evoke?
To give an example let's look at something like Dragonlance. Now according to 2nd edition Arcane Spell Compendium, Dragonlance is billed as a "Fantasy Romance". To an extent I agree, it is a world of sweeping epics and at least one (I would say no great, not terrible, but not great) love story between Tanis Half-Elven and the cat fight between an elf princess and a dragon warlord to be with him. Okay, joking aside I do get the feel that Dragonlance is, for good or ill trying to be a sweeping epic.
Greyhawk, to me, is trying to be something of a pulp fiction story. A land of ner'do'wells adventuring and occasionally going to war against each other. This might be old hat, or I might be wrong, but Greyhawk does have the feeling and themes of pulp fantasy.
Mystara has that too, but it's a got a lighter tone, a little more swashbuckling and derring-do over the sandal shod conquerers of Oerth. While Oerth is a little more consistent of being grasslands with only the occasionally desert- Mystara embraces the idea that you can cross a mountain from knightly Karameikos and end up in the Persian-esque Emirates of Ylaruam.
So what is the feel of Blackmoor to you? And a follow-up question, what kind of feel do you like to bring when being GM of a Blackmoor game?
For me, and me as a neophyte into Blackmoor (the d20 book is on order and I've only read FFC): Blackmoor to me comes off as a good middle between the serious Greyhawk and the swashbuckling Mystara. It has a pretty consistent land of swamps, grasslands, and mountains and doesn't try to establish too many distinct cultures right across the border from each other. There is a little bit of that, but it's not like Viking-land and Mongol-nation are a hop, skip, and jump in hexes.
Yet there is also a steamtank, a crashed space ship, and a bunch of space origin coots cooking up frogs to eat people.
And I love it, I'm firmly in embracing what some might consider the "sillier" stuff and don't mind playing it straight or playing it with subversive winks and nods that this is silly stuff. I embrace it maybe because I like to feel a little kiddish and don't mind the wacky.
So, forum reader who has been patient in reading this long missive, what do you feel is Blackmoor's feeling and theme? And what do you like to emphasize when you are GMing Blackmoor?
To give an example let's look at something like Dragonlance. Now according to 2nd edition Arcane Spell Compendium, Dragonlance is billed as a "Fantasy Romance". To an extent I agree, it is a world of sweeping epics and at least one (I would say no great, not terrible, but not great) love story between Tanis Half-Elven and the cat fight between an elf princess and a dragon warlord to be with him. Okay, joking aside I do get the feel that Dragonlance is, for good or ill trying to be a sweeping epic.
Greyhawk, to me, is trying to be something of a pulp fiction story. A land of ner'do'wells adventuring and occasionally going to war against each other. This might be old hat, or I might be wrong, but Greyhawk does have the feeling and themes of pulp fantasy.
Mystara has that too, but it's a got a lighter tone, a little more swashbuckling and derring-do over the sandal shod conquerers of Oerth. While Oerth is a little more consistent of being grasslands with only the occasionally desert- Mystara embraces the idea that you can cross a mountain from knightly Karameikos and end up in the Persian-esque Emirates of Ylaruam.
So what is the feel of Blackmoor to you? And a follow-up question, what kind of feel do you like to bring when being GM of a Blackmoor game?
For me, and me as a neophyte into Blackmoor (the d20 book is on order and I've only read FFC): Blackmoor to me comes off as a good middle between the serious Greyhawk and the swashbuckling Mystara. It has a pretty consistent land of swamps, grasslands, and mountains and doesn't try to establish too many distinct cultures right across the border from each other. There is a little bit of that, but it's not like Viking-land and Mongol-nation are a hop, skip, and jump in hexes.
Yet there is also a steamtank, a crashed space ship, and a bunch of space origin coots cooking up frogs to eat people.
And I love it, I'm firmly in embracing what some might consider the "sillier" stuff and don't mind playing it straight or playing it with subversive winks and nods that this is silly stuff. I embrace it maybe because I like to feel a little kiddish and don't mind the wacky.
So, forum reader who has been patient in reading this long missive, what do you feel is Blackmoor's feeling and theme? And what do you like to emphasize when you are GMing Blackmoor?