What Setting Elements Do You Enjoy In A "Fanstasy" World?

[White Blade]

I would like to take a moment to speak up in favor of monotheism, which I feel is highly underplayed. Although, thanks to the forum rules, I can't really get into the historical precedents, I do think it's pretty obvious that monotheistic religions have a lot of chance for drama and epic events unfolding around them and that they're often neglected as sources of tension. There are plenty of periods wherein monotheistic dominance wouldn't preclude a variety of other religious practices, existing in the shadow of powerful religious organizations or alongside more popular faiths. It's also easier to insert a monotheistic religion into modern conceptions of religion, so there's more room to play with other aspects of religious culture without draining the players (or readers) cognitive energy unduly.

I would also like to say that I hate settings where equipment is the primary part of most character's power.

[Thinker]

I would like to take a moment to speak up in favor of monotheism, which I feel is highly underplayed. Although, thanks to the forum rules, I can't really get into the historical precedents, I do think it's pretty obvious that monotheistic religions have a lot of chance for drama and epic events unfolding around them and that they're often neglected as sources of tension. There are plenty of periods wherein monotheistic dominance wouldn't preclude a variety of other religious practices, existing in the shadow of powerful religious organizations or alongside more popular faiths. It's also easier to insert a monotheistic religion into modern conceptions of religion, so there's more room to play with other aspects of religious culture without draining the players (or readers) cognitive energy unduly.

Monotheism in RPG's can be fun. It needs to have some of the same things decided about it that polytheistic religions involve. First, is there a centralized religious authority? If so, is there more than one? Are they rivals? Are there decentralized sects of that religion? Relationships need to be decided between those sects - allied, neutral, hostile, etc.

What does the religion say about heresy? What does it say about heretics? Being neutral about either or both is a fine answer, but if it says anything about those, it needs to decide if holy wars are a thing and if so, how prominent they are.

If there is a centralized authority, what is the hierarchy like? Without a centralized authority, is there still a more local hierarchy? How do people join the priesthood? How do they advance?

What festivals, holy days, and rituals are associated with the religion? What symbols are important to the religion? What symbols are considered good, which ones are considered bad?

What does the religion seek to explain about the world? How do people join the religion?

What are some important stories to the religion's dogma?

How does society influence the religion? How does the religion influence the society?

That can be hard to do and hard to keep people engaged with at a game table. Even still, I appreciate some of that.

I would also like to say that I hate settings where equipment is the primary part of most character's power.

I waver back and forth on that. King Arthur was described as a fine warrior, but on more than one occasion, he would have lost if not for Excalibur. I think it depends on the setting - if people are more-or-less peak-human levels, I expect that artifacts become a major avenue for growth for the characters. Either finding more powerful artifacts or becoming more adept at using the ones they already have.

[Max_Killjoy]

I would like to take a moment to speak up in favor of monotheism, which I feel is highly underplayed. Although, thanks to the forum rules, I can't really get into the historical precedents, I do think it's pretty obvious that monotheistic religions have a lot of chance for drama and epic events unfolding around them and that they're often neglected as sources of tension. There are plenty of periods wherein monotheistic dominance wouldn't preclude a variety of other religious practices, existing in the shadow of powerful religious organizations or alongside more popular faiths. It's also easier to insert a monotheistic religion into modern conceptions of religion, so there's more room to play with other aspects of religious culture without draining the players (or readers) cognitive energy unduly.

To consider:

Are there other deities and it's simply the religion itself that asserts a single deity exists, or is it objectively true that there's one deity?

If the latter, has this always been true or did divine war or changes in mortal belief change it at some point? Are there other ways for characters to gain access to "divine" magic other than this one deity?

Or is this a setting where the answer is unknown because there's less direct proof of the existence/involvement of deity / deities?

I would also like to say that I hate settings where equipment is the primary part of most character's power.

One of my major complaints about a lot of MMOs... the dang gear grind. Is the character actually special in any way, or are they just a way for This Set Of Magic Items to get itself carted around?

[Thinker]

One of my major complaints about a lot of MMOs... the dang gear grind. Is the character actually special in any way, or are they just a way for This Set Of Magic Items to get itself carted around?

In MMO's, clearly no character is special or unique. The whole point of the game is that several thousand other players along with you can acquire the same goods by doing the same quests for empowerment as everyone else. In an RPG, you can have gear be disproportionately powerful as compared to the character in a few ways:

• Artifacts are gated by specific attributes, skills, or abilities
• Artifacts grow proportionally more powerful based on the power of the wielder (a magic sword in the hand of a rookie is far less deadly than in the hands of a master swordsman)
• Artifacts might be limited in scope - combat, social, stealth, trade, etc., while the character is good at many things
• There might be some sort of limit on the number/combination of artifacts a character wields (a character who is level 5 might only be able to wield up to 5 levels of artifacts)

[Grim Portent]

A much smaller overall progression system also helps with making artefacts significant without them being swapped out all the time.

In a system where the difference between a new character and an experienced one doesn't involve much number bloat all the magical items can fit around the same sort of power scale and never need to change and can be differentiated by what they do more than how well they do it.

[Max_Killjoy]

A much smaller overall progression system also helps with making artefacts significant without them being swapped out all the time.

In a system where the difference between a new character and an experienced one doesn't involve much number bloat all the magical items can fit around the same sort of power scale and never need to change and can be differentiated by what they do more than how well they do it.

Shallower progression also allows for a broader range of "arcs" that aren't all constantly shoved towards Campbellian concepts, helps keep the existing content relevant, and doesn't require the setting to be built around a massive range of "challenge levels".

[Mechalich]

In MMO's, clearly no character is special or unique. The whole point of the game is that several thousand other players along with you can acquire the same goods by doing the same quests for empowerment as everyone else.

Mechanically this may be true, but in terms of story, in almost all cases with MMOs your character is presumed to be the chosen one or at least one of the chosen ones endowed with some kind of special destiny, and all of the other players are simply alternative versions of the same person or small group of people. MMOs have a lot of game conceits separating gameplay from storyline that challenge suspension of disbelief, especially regard to the shift from single-player story elements to group content, which is why they tend to have severe compromises with regards to world-building compared to single-player entries in the same franchises.

[Yora]

Your Demon Lord does not need that many Hit Dice might be of interest to some. It's a bit like a Part 2 to "Calibrating your Expectations" (linking to that doesn't work right now).

[Grim Portent]

Your Demon Lord does not need that many Hit Dice might be of interest to some. It's a bit like a Part 2 to "Calibrating your Expectations" (linking to that doesn't work right now).

Yeah that's the same sort of conclusion I came to myself, something like a dragon should be able to be killed by pretty much anyone with luck and the right equipment. A goblin hiding in a hole with a spear could stab the thing in it's belly and watch it bleed out.

It's likely to result in the goblin being killed without harming the dragon, and few have the courage to try it, but a spear to the gut is a spear to the gut.