Re: Emaciated Settings and Missing Details [RPG Pet Peeve]
Max_Killjoy, what about mysteries that are mysteries even in-universe? Things that no one knows (or those who might know won't talk about), but about which there are many theories?
In my setting, the final destination of the soul after death is, for the most part, a mystery. Lots of theories, but whenever you ask the gods, they contradict themselves or give nonsense answers. It's not even known that there is a unique answer--all the theories and none of them might be true simultaneously. I don't even know what the real answer is, but that's not important. What's important is what people believe about it, and how that compels them (or encourages them) to act.
Re: Emaciated Settings and Missing Details [RPG Pet Peeve]
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Originally Posted by
PhoenixPhyre
Max_Killjoy, what about mysteries that are mysteries even in-universe? Things that no one knows (or those who might know won't talk about), but about which there are many theories?
A setting book is written for the GM. In the context of an RPG Setting the GM is an all-powerful deity. There is nothing the GM does not know. The GM can, and should, have an answer available for even the big mysteries since it is going to have an impact on the game.
That means, if a mystery is of critical importance to the setting, the setting book needs to offer options to the GM. They can say 'here are some theories about what this might be and their implications.' There's a very good example in the Eclipse Phase corebook wherein options are presented as to the nature of the ETI and what it wants and the consequences this might have. Similar sidebars exist for several other of Eclipse Phase's most mysterious elements like the Gates.
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In my setting, the final destination of the soul after death is, for the most part, a mystery. Lots of theories, but whenever you ask the gods, they contradict themselves or give nonsense answers. It's not even known that there is a unique answer--all the theories and none of them might be true simultaneously. I don't even know what the real answer is, but that's not important. What's important is what people believe about it, and how that compels them (or encourages them) to act.
There's a different between mysterious things that can potentially matter in play, and things that won't. The final destination of the soul after death only matters if people can somehow interact with souls post-death. If they can't, then it's all religious theorizing. If they can - by casting speak with dead or bringing people back from death or outright visiting the underworld - then it absolutely matters.
In RPGs there's a very substantial difference between elements that players can meaningfully interact with and those they cannot. For example, in most traditional fantasy campaigns it really doesn't matter if the Solar System functions according to Ptolemaic or Copernican principles. Both systems can predict how planets move across the night sky, and since you can't actually visit anything beyond the atmosphere the rest is completely a matter of academic debate. On the other hand it absolutely does matter if there are holes at the poles that lead to the Hollow Earth or if that's just a rumor in a steampunk, because a party could absolutely fly an airship there to find out.