John Kim‘s post about thinking about licensed settings as real places is sharp, simple and full of broader implications for worldbuilding and campaign creation.
In riffing off a quote from Gregory Maguire, the author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, John points out the benefits of prying up the corners of familiar settings and see where that prying leads.
For Maguire, the hook was the fact that, unlike many of the good characters in The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch never lied. That led him to imagine her as a person, not just a personification, and the same technique can lead you in some interesting directions when you apply it to game worlds.
Alysia and I are in Florida until the 23rd. There’ll be a new post here every day, as always, but I won’t be able to respond to comments or email. See you soon!
Good link. John Kim is one of the smartest guys out there blogging about games.
It’s an interesting way to do it, though it certainly seems to work better for longer and more complex things. I wouldn’t try to apply it to most published settings (like say, the Forgotten Realms), since what’s published doesn’t seem to have the depth, usually, to reward delving deeper.
I see what you’re getting at about FR, Scott — it’s a pretty unfocused setting, at least when compared to something like Dragonlance. Perhaps this is generally more applicable to settings with more depth than breadth, or stronger themes.
Crucifying Elminster… Beautiful.
Own the setting. Make it yours, and don’t apologize or excuse yourself.
On another gaming board, someone asked for advice on an FR campaign where the players knew more background than the DM. The best advice given was to memorize the line, “Those rumors you keep referring to? They don’t seem to be terribly accurate.”