It is well documented in the blogosphere that D&D fantasy produces a shift from fantastic as unique to fantastic as science. For example, in the myths, there is a single minotaur (literally, Minos's bull). The monstrous son of Minos, the King of Crete, is trapped in a labyrinth so that it could not escape and is fed captive prisoners. In D&D, a minotaur is a species of bull-person who, bizarrely, is good at navigating mazes.
Here is a way to frame your next campaign: There is only one of any fantastic thing.
Create a map by filling it with unique things
Take your RPG book of choice. Take your copy of 5E Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual. Next, take a hex map. Then, fill each hex with one thing. (You can start with just three hexes, if you want.)
The old man in the forest can scry far off places. When you wish to gain the benefits of this awesome magic, you must first fulfill his bizarre wishes.
The passage through the mountain is blocked by the sphinx. She asks riddles of those who pass by, and slays those who cannot answer. Only the very wise may leave the valley.
The mountain itself is the haunt of the dragon. Its treasure is legendary.
In its treasure horde, there is the flaming sword. It's said to be the sword placed by an angel to guard the Garden of Eden (but was later stolen by the devil). If you fight the dragon, you can gain the flaming sword.
Do the same with your character options
If there is a fighter, they are the Fighter. The prince that was promised. The eternal champion.
If there is an elf, they are the elf. They are the King of Elfland's Daughter, brought into the world of men by the Prince of Erl.
If there is a druid, they are the druid. The last in an ancient line of magical guardians, born of devilish parentage like Merlin.
As adventures happen, place more unique things in far flung places
The fighter dies. Alas! However, the Holy Grail can give resurrection to one holy person per generation. Quest for it. If you find it, the fighter may be restored to life. The grail is taken by angels to heaven, to be filled with the dew of life for the next generation.
Because no ship made can get past the kraken, you must sail to the Isle of Winds where you must enter a joke contest with the god of winds in exchange for his flying carpet. Then, you can fly past the kraken to get to your destination.
Even with unique fantastic elements in each hex, the world will feel magical.
And that great, flawed endeavor, Birthright!
ReplyDeleteMy players overcome with wonderment as they stab The Goblin in The Gutter to gain The Copper Piece
ReplyDeleteI tried making sui generia hexmap at some point.
ReplyDeleteWith monsters it creates interesting backgrounds/history/mythology but the world feels bare; depending on the bestiary / system used, even any forest wolf could be just one wolf;
Spells do work better; the world such approach creates is mystical enough where magic is rare and untradable. But again, the world it creates is very low-magic, so if people want alchemical potions in shops some of this approach should be relaxes.
I think the place where there is just one fighter would be boring. I treated classes as signature NPCs with their own arcs through the land instead.
I'd also abstain from using "1 thing per hex" approach for the final campaign. While building the land I do use "1 thing per hex" approach, in the final version I will eliminate the hexes entirely and group the results by terrain / social / historical features into areas of irregular shapes and variable amount of features.
1 thing per hex creates a monotony, I believe – and people figure out such patterns quite soon.
Great idea for the Princesses and Perils game i'm thinking of. The Mythic/iconic world building you described also fits well with Fairytale/folktale vibes i think. The Dragon. The Wizard. The Troll. The Wolf.
ReplyDeleteThough some stuff like the community of talking animals who wear waist coats and bonnets and are just about to have tea straddles the line
Having only one monster in a given location can also be a great help when running a horror/dark adventure. It's like in a typical Call of Cthulhu session - it's all tension and when the monster finally appears, it is a big deal.
ReplyDeleteMight steal this for a campaign.
ReplyDeleteI kind of do this already with magic items, but hadn't considered expanding it to monsters or classes/races. Excellent food for thought.
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This post is amazing, but I detected one serious flaw:
ReplyDelete"The grail is taken by angels to heaven, to be filled with the dew of life for the next generation."
You must mean *the* Angel. The herald of the heavens, forever watching over mankind from above.