CWBP 2 : Determining the genre and era

[Azélor]

And I think we have a winner !

Genre: Mid fantasy
Magic: Mid magic

ok now seriously, we need to narrow things down a bit. It's still vague isn't it ?

I still consider the Forgotten realms a good example for this.

[Jalyha]

Mid-magic, mid fantasy... great!

But what KIND... It could still be science-y or steampunk-y, serious or silly, etc or etc...

(okay probably not either etc.. but....)

[Falconius]

Really? I've always considered Forgotten Realms high-magic. Of course the only module I had for it was high level and set in some deadly forest in a ruined magical city. I think it was The Ruins of Myth Drannor.

Anyways, where do we go from here? Good question, but I think at least we now have an idea of what to expect and where we ought to be aiming. I think the Genre will be getting more detail in the Tech thread, I'll open up a thread to deal more with the magic elements.

[Azélor]

I always thought that political intrigues where important in the Realms and that people do not always resolve their problems with magic. Well for me high magic is more like Asgard where everyone have exceptional powers.

But you are right, it's just a general guideline. A too specific ''theme'' might limit creativity.

[Falconius]

I disagree, my favorite settings always had a very strong central theme. MY favorite DnD setting for instance was Dark Sun. But all of their most popular had clear central themes: Ravenloft, Dragonlance, Forgotton Realms, etc.

I think that without a good strong theme our creativity will be lost and directionless. We need a medium in order for our creativity to clarify and age into something wonderful and that medium is going to be the theme.

[Azélor]

By setting I meant that the mid fantasy and mid magic are better if they only have a relatively vague description.

By theme did you understood something like the mood? I do not doubt Ravenloft and Dark Sun have a unique mood in them.

[Falconius]

Theme certainly includes mood, but generally has some structural artifice that propels that mood and atmosphere. So it's more than just the mood. It could of course be confusingly be interchangeable with the word "setting" too. Setting can of course mean entirely different things though and is a very general use sort of word.

Anyways, having progressed so far we might want to start looking towards getting our Theme more defined.