Yes, I have always been anti-Forgotten Realms. I just hate settings like that. To me, the best fantasy is low and at least somewhat realistic. Oh, well, I've already had my diatribe about that.
I'll have to check out this Sarlya setting. Where can I find it?
Your point about race is an interesting one, Theo. But I'd have to disagree. See, cultures are so complex that to express them in a half-page blurb hardly suffices. So what do we really know? We are left with fantasy cliches - all dwarves are gruff and love stone. But really, all of that is just an extension of our own opinions on this. To go back to alignment, one could argue very persuasively that the anti-social character of dwarves lends itself better to a chaotic viewpoint than a lawful one. And one could argue just as well, if not better, that the stratified social strictures of elven society are extremely lawful. We have attempted to create new cultures and separate from what Tolkein had originally, which is impossible. If you're going to divorce from Tolkein, then do so. Don't make a half-*ssed attempt.
Maybe one could say some magic is regulated by the gods. But even that has problems. When it comes to divine magic, then, yeah, that works. But arcane magic is seen as some wack force that isn't really under the perview of the gods (as none of them are omnipotent or omni-anything). So the regulation must go down to man regulating himself. Which logically leads to the complete outlawing of arcane magic and, almost certianly, "evil" divine magic.
You have an interesting point concerning the monstrous races, but I have a counter to it. First, a cold war doesn't work because then the races have to be super powers and have common contact. A hobgoblin-mind flayer syndicate would be very interesting though... but as for balancing each other out, you would have to have a balance for every one of the "evil" races threatening all the forces of "good", which is coming to the point of ridiculousness. Even original Earth mythology didn't have these huge, evil races to be dealt with, at least not close to home. The Cyclops were in islands to the south. All the evil monsters were loners, and very, very rare. In Norse mythology, the giants were a race of gods - really not a concern of everyday man. There is never a horde like is so common in fantasy right now. So mythology doesn't offer any evidence for your argument here. The monstrous races are almost universally better as far as game stats, so why haven't they taken over yet? By the laws of evolution, they should be at the top.
The idea of magic as nuclear weapons is a very interesting one, and illustrates some interesting new viewpoints. However, that just illustrates one of my main points earlier - this is why no government would tolerate magic! It's just too dangerous.
Almost skipped your stuff about alignments. Well, alignment will always be a problem, but it really has little basis on governing. This is why I said hobgoblins would be the new world order, because they're smart and organized. The most stable societies are actually insanely lawful. America, a neutral, chaotic-leaning country, is very unstable as far as ruling (I think that's a good thing, but whatever...). They're all still around for a reason.
Okay, now to the gods. Hmmm...not sure I've got a reply to that one, other than Cocytus' article about fantasy cosmogony (http://www.gamegrene.com/node/465). I'm just gonna have to go with saying that the conception of the gods for humans being better and more numerous than the gods of the savage races is incredibly unrealistic. It's like Greeks saying our gods are real and powerful, but you Egyptians, tch, there's nobody there. Every race should have it's own pantheon, not just one "orc god" or one "goblin god" like the savage races got the scraps from the god table.
Yeah, I agree original campaign settings are much cooler. But I am also lazy. However, there is no setting cooler than our stone age one. That's gonna be so cool!
Dude, you live in Reno, Nevada? If so, we're like, only a state away. We should definitely hang out some time.
Yes, I have always been anti-Forgotten Realms. I just hate settings like that. To me, the best fantasy is low and at least somewhat realistic. Oh, well, I've already had my diatribe about that.
I'll have to check out this Sarlya setting. Where can I find it?
Your point about race is an interesting one, Theo. But I'd have to disagree. See, cultures are so complex that to express them in a half-page blurb hardly suffices. So what do we really know? We are left with fantasy cliches - all dwarves are gruff and love stone. But really, all of that is just an extension of our own opinions on this. To go back to alignment, one could argue very persuasively that the anti-social character of dwarves lends itself better to a chaotic viewpoint than a lawful one. And one could argue just as well, if not better, that the stratified social strictures of elven society are extremely lawful. We have attempted to create new cultures and separate from what Tolkein had originally, which is impossible. If you're going to divorce from Tolkein, then do so. Don't make a half-*ssed attempt.
Maybe one could say some magic is regulated by the gods. But even that has problems. When it comes to divine magic, then, yeah, that works. But arcane magic is seen as some wack force that isn't really under the perview of the gods (as none of them are omnipotent or omni-anything). So the regulation must go down to man regulating himself. Which logically leads to the complete outlawing of arcane magic and, almost certianly, "evil" divine magic.
You have an interesting point concerning the monstrous races, but I have a counter to it. First, a cold war doesn't work because then the races have to be super powers and have common contact. A hobgoblin-mind flayer syndicate would be very interesting though... but as for balancing each other out, you would have to have a balance for every one of the "evil" races threatening all the forces of "good", which is coming to the point of ridiculousness. Even original Earth mythology didn't have these huge, evil races to be dealt with, at least not close to home. The Cyclops were in islands to the south. All the evil monsters were loners, and very, very rare. In Norse mythology, the giants were a race of gods - really not a concern of everyday man. There is never a horde like is so common in fantasy right now. So mythology doesn't offer any evidence for your argument here. The monstrous races are almost universally better as far as game stats, so why haven't they taken over yet? By the laws of evolution, they should be at the top.
The idea of magic as nuclear weapons is a very interesting one, and illustrates some interesting new viewpoints. However, that just illustrates one of my main points earlier - this is why no government would tolerate magic! It's just too dangerous.
Almost skipped your stuff about alignments. Well, alignment will always be a problem, but it really has little basis on governing. This is why I said hobgoblins would be the new world order, because they're smart and organized. The most stable societies are actually insanely lawful. America, a neutral, chaotic-leaning country, is very unstable as far as ruling (I think that's a good thing, but whatever...). They're all still around for a reason.
Okay, now to the gods. Hmmm...not sure I've got a reply to that one, other than Cocytus' article about fantasy cosmogony (http://www.gamegrene.com/node/465). I'm just gonna have to go with saying that the conception of the gods for humans being better and more numerous than the gods of the savage races is incredibly unrealistic. It's like Greeks saying our gods are real and powerful, but you Egyptians, tch, there's nobody there. Every race should have it's own pantheon, not just one "orc god" or one "goblin god" like the savage races got the scraps from the god table.
Yeah, I agree original campaign settings are much cooler. But I am also lazy. However, there is no setting cooler than our stone age one. That's gonna be so cool!
Dude, you live in Reno, Nevada? If so, we're like, only a state away. We should definitely hang out some time.