Inspired by this week’s podcast I put together some blog posts I wrote over the years about Tolkien and gaming.
I am fascinated by settings, so any thoughts on gaming in established settings are welcomed.
https://githyankidiaspora.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/gauntlet-inspired-gaming-and-tolkien/
The problem I have with established settings (in the context of fantasy novels, or films) is that they are intrinsically linked to a story and to a specific character or group of people, and usually epic in scale (I’m thinking mostly of Tolkien and Star Wars, Wheel of Time, though ASoIaF may qualify, and other works, such as Elric of Melinboné).
For me the problem is: How do I divorce the setting from this epic story without making it feel anti-climactic or worse, fated and doomed to a known conclusion. Also: how do I divorce it from the iconic main characters (which sometimes are powerful, messianic and/or uniquely gifted characters)?
There’s 3 main ways I do this:
A) go the parallell world/elseworlds/alternate universe route, where I usually substitute the PCs for the main characters, and change the bad guys or setting details if needed, but the situation is similar or the same. E.G. I’ve GM’d a Star Wars campaign which was basically my reimagining of the Star Wars Prequels, but with my own Jedi council, and my own Sith lords, and following the basic timeline to the time of the prequels. I changed the setup (no Palpatine, but there is a droid army on the rise, fomenting civil war in the old republic). The PCs were the heroes and the fate of the galaxy rested on their actions. It worked out great.
I’m also playing in an ASoIaF RPG game where King Robert doesn’t get murdered…
B) Change to a different point in the timeline (i.e. play in the Old Republic era of Star Wars), but this is often just a variation of A above.
C) Set the game during the epic events of the actual story, but limit the scope of the game to a low-fantasy, non-epic game. This usually includes having the main characters and situation of the actual story in the background, but not directly interacting with the PCs or their game. I think this is my preferred method.
For example, quite successful games can be run by other bands of rebels during the time of Star Wars (much like the first season of the SW Rebels TV show). The characters are not going to destroy the Death Star or kill Darth Vader or the Emperor, but there’s much adventure to be had, if only with limited success (I think this is the space inhabited by the upcoming Rogue One film). Similarly, the RPG The One Ring does the same. Play is centered pretty much around the Mirkwood area at the time between the Hobbit and LOTR. So the PCs are not going to interact with the Ring or Gollum or Sauron or the Fellowship, but they can still have lots of adventures in the setting and time period.
I think that if the established setting is ‘low-fantasy’ or non-epic, world-changing fantasy, such as Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, or Thieves’ World, or Lies of Locke Lamora, or Joe Abercrombie, then play is easy. The main characters of the fiction do not engage in world-shattering events, so there’s no expectation that your PCs should either.
The problem I have with established settings (in the context of fantasy novels, or films) is that they are intrinsically linked to a story and to a specific character or group of people, and usually epic in scale (I’m thinking mostly of Tolkien and Star Wars, Wheel of Time, though ASoIaF may qualify, and other works, such as Elric of Melinboné).
For me the problem is: How do I divorce the setting from this epic story without making it feel anti-climactic or worse, fated and doomed to a known conclusion. Also: how do I divorce it from the iconic main characters (which sometimes are powerful, messianic and/or uniquely gifted characters)?
There’s 3 main ways I do this:
A) go the parallell world/elseworlds/alternate universe route, where I usually substitute the PCs for the main characters, and change the bad guys or setting details if needed, but the situation is similar or the same. E.G. I’ve GM’d a Star Wars campaign which was basically my reimagining of the Star Wars Prequels, but with my own Jedi council, and my own Sith lords, and following the basic timeline to the time of the prequels. I changed the setup (no Palpatine, but there is a droid army on the rise, fomenting civil war in the old republic). The PCs were the heroes and the fate of the galaxy rested on their actions. It worked out great.
I’m also playing in an ASoIaF RPG game where King Robert doesn’t get murdered…
B) Change to a different point in the timeline (i.e. play in the Old Republic era of Star Wars), but this is often just a variation of A above.
C) Set the game during the epic events of the actual story, but limit the scope of the game to a low-fantasy, non-epic game. This usually includes having the main characters and situation of the actual story in the background, but not directly interacting with the PCs or their game. I think this is my preferred method.
For example, quite successful games can be run by other bands of rebels during the time of Star Wars (much like the first season of the SW Rebels TV show). The characters are not going to destroy the Death Star or kill Darth Vader or the Emperor, but there’s much adventure to be had, if only with limited success (I think this is the space inhabited by the upcoming Rogue One film). Similarly, the RPG The One Ring does the same. Play is centered pretty much around the Mirkwood area at the time between the Hobbit and LOTR. So the PCs are not going to interact with the Ring or Gollum or Sauron or the Fellowship, but they can still have lots of adventures in the setting and time period.
I think that if the established setting is ‘low-fantasy’ or non-epic, world-changing fantasy, such as Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, or Thieves’ World, or Lies of Locke Lamora, or Joe Abercrombie, then play is easy. The main characters of the fiction do not engage in world-shattering events, so there’s no expectation that your PCs should either.
Eloy Cintron I have similar feelings about settings and epic stories — the original epic story creates such a huge shadow that there’s usually not enough space to be wholly unique and if you’re not in a different enough space then it’s really easy to end up in a place where you’re overshadowed by the original, where you’re either recapitulating it or reacting against it rather than doing your own thing. (That’s the reason why my attempt to design an Epic Fantasy game, Final Hour of a Storied Age, starts from story structure and has the players construct the setting as part of play, my thinking is that each setting generally only has room for one epic story).
Eloy Cintron I have similar feelings about settings and epic stories — the original epic story creates such a huge shadow that there’s usually not enough space to be wholly unique and if you’re not in a different enough space then it’s really easy to end up in a place where you’re overshadowed by the original, where you’re either recapitulating it or reacting against it rather than doing your own thing. (That’s the reason why my attempt to design an Epic Fantasy game, Final Hour of a Storied Age, starts from story structure and has the players construct the setting as part of play, my thinking is that each setting generally only has room for one epic story).
Good stuff, Eloy. I added some links about playing in Westeros with my dad during the Targaryen Civil War. There were so many call-backs to the show – a wedding to a Frey girl, a bastard brother, and so on. Having fantasy media go so mainstream is an amazing boon.
More on this later…
Good stuff, Eloy. I added some links about playing in Westeros with my dad during the Targaryen Civil War. There were so many call-backs to the show – a wedding to a Frey girl, a bastard brother, and so on. Having fantasy media go so mainstream is an amazing boon.
More on this later…
I haven’t had a chance to read Judd’s articles yet, but my concern (which I was kind of hinting at on our show) is I think there is a tremendous amount of expectation that comes from running something like LotR or ASoIaF. My tendency would be to avoid the big storylines altogether and instead, say, do a smaller-scale story about some minor house in Westeros, or explore an area of the world that is only touched on in the books (like Angmar or Asshai). But then I wonder: these players signed up for a game inspired by this big, established setting; are they going to be disappointed by this side story? Are they going to be let down if they don’t get to see Winterfell?
I recently got a chance to do a playtest of Battlestar World by Andrew Medeiros, and we chose to tell an alternate history story (similar to what Eloy Cintron mentioned) and it worked quite well.
I haven’t had a chance to read Judd’s articles yet, but my concern (which I was kind of hinting at on our show) is I think there is a tremendous amount of expectation that comes from running something like LotR or ASoIaF. My tendency would be to avoid the big storylines altogether and instead, say, do a smaller-scale story about some minor house in Westeros, or explore an area of the world that is only touched on in the books (like Angmar or Asshai). But then I wonder: these players signed up for a game inspired by this big, established setting; are they going to be disappointed by this side story? Are they going to be let down if they don’t get to see Winterfell?
I recently got a chance to do a playtest of Battlestar World by Andrew Medeiros, and we chose to tell an alternate history story (similar to what Eloy Cintron mentioned) and it worked quite well.
Different ways to handle our favorite settings:
Serial #’s Filed Off
Taking what you like from the setting and changing the names to make it your own…
Return of the Space Monk Samurai!
Blood, Sex and Swords!
etc.
Find Your Corner
Staying in the setting but finding your own corner that you can mess with, without worry about continuity.
Going off the Middle-Earth Map.
A game set beyond the Dothraki Sea…
Prequel or Sequel
Kissing cousins with Find Your Corner but with time instead of geography.
Playing out the Dance of Dragons…
Playing in the golden age of the Jedi or the founding or the original Sith/Jedi wars or moving ahead to Episode LV.
Playing the Age of Shadows in Middle Earth…
Different Genre
Same setting, very different stories…
A group of speeder-bike-riding criminals on Coruscant start taking down Imperial banks.
Forbidden love among crows on the wall…
Do It Right/Alternate Timeline
You take the same starting point and play it your way.
I’ve always wanted to do this with the Star Wars prequels but it might be fun to play Ned if he hadn’t been beheaded and was sent to the Wall.
Different ways to handle our favorite settings:
Serial #’s Filed Off
Taking what you like from the setting and changing the names to make it your own…
Return of the Space Monk Samurai!
Blood, Sex and Swords!
etc.
Find Your Corner
Staying in the setting but finding your own corner that you can mess with, without worry about continuity.
Going off the Middle-Earth Map.
A game set beyond the Dothraki Sea…
Prequel or Sequel
Kissing cousins with Find Your Corner but with time instead of geography.
Playing out the Dance of Dragons…
Playing in the golden age of the Jedi or the founding or the original Sith/Jedi wars or moving ahead to Episode LV.
Playing the Age of Shadows in Middle Earth…
Different Genre
Same setting, very different stories…
A group of speeder-bike-riding criminals on Coruscant start taking down Imperial banks.
Forbidden love among crows on the wall…
Do It Right/Alternate Timeline
You take the same starting point and play it your way.
I’ve always wanted to do this with the Star Wars prequels but it might be fun to play Ned if he hadn’t been beheaded and was sent to the Wall.
.
.
Judd KarlmanJust read the one about gaming with your dad; great story. Were you running that in BW?
Judd KarlmanJust read the one about gaming with your dad; great story. Were you running that in BW?
Yup. A very stripped down BW.
Yup. A very stripped down BW.