Comments on: Theme 1b Mystery- Maintaining the Mystery of the Past http://savageearth.net/wordpress/archives/96 ... and into yours Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:51:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: keithcurtis http://savageearth.net/wordpress/archives/96/comment-page-1#comment-14 keithcurtis Wed, 28 Mar 2007 06:32:15 +0000 http://keithcurtis.wordpress.com/2007/03/16/theme-1b-mystery-maintaining-the-mystery-of-the-past/#comment-14 When you mentioned maps, you've touched on something I find very hard to reconcile in my own worlds. Part of me wants to take just the approach you suggest, and keep the map hidden, or make a very stylized map such as the old medieval ones that put Jerusalem at the center. The other part wants to have everything measured and recorded. I hate inaccuracy in maps, mostly because I enjoy making them. Some of the world needs to be detailed if you want to give your players full range of choice in character creation. If someone wants to play a barbarian, another a city dweller, another a beast from another city, and another still a traveller from far-off, a certain amount of the world needs to be available to the players. I haven't found the balance yet. When you mentioned maps, you’ve touched on something I find very hard to reconcile in my own worlds. Part of me wants to take just the approach you suggest, and keep the map hidden, or make a very stylized map such as the old medieval ones that put Jerusalem at the center.
The other part wants to have everything measured and recorded. I hate inaccuracy in maps, mostly because I enjoy making them.

Some of the world needs to be detailed if you want to give your players full range of choice in character creation. If someone wants to play a barbarian, another a city dweller, another a beast from another city, and another still a traveller from far-off, a certain amount of the world needs to be available to the players. I haven’t found the balance yet.

]]> By: Paul Clarke http://savageearth.net/wordpress/archives/96/comment-page-1#comment-13 Paul Clarke Wed, 28 Mar 2007 03:54:59 +0000 http://keithcurtis.wordpress.com/2007/03/16/theme-1b-mystery-maintaining-the-mystery-of-the-past/#comment-13 Some interesting food for thought as far as world building goes. So much of a sword and sorcery world should be a mystery to the players. In our own not too distant past man believed the Earth was flat and it was the center of the universe. In most cultures there were whole pantheons of gods to help explain that which they could not understand. As a GM it is your job to covey this sense of mystery of the world. Realistically the people, in a world where most people walk to get from place to place, should know little of the world beyond a 10 mile radius of their homes. Most people would accept what their religious leaders told them as truth and look to them for answers as to why a cataclysmic event took place. The vast majority of the people in a sword and sorcery campaign shouldn't know how to read or write. While world maps are useful tools for the GM, players should realistically hardly ever see one. If they do it should be crude at best and even then very local. Spellcasters may be able to divine some knowledge of why things are as they are but they shouldn't be all knowing beings with a direct line to the creator(s). Too many game worlds are too clearly defined. If one knows everything about how the world in which they are adventuring in works, you've taken away half of the fun in the adventure. As a GM you should know how things work but by all means let the players live in mystery. Some interesting food for thought as far as world building goes. So much of a sword and sorcery world should be a mystery to the players. In our own not too distant past man believed the Earth was flat and it was the center of the universe. In most cultures there were whole pantheons of gods to help explain that which they could not understand. As a GM it is your job to covey this sense of mystery of the world. Realistically the people, in a world where most people walk to get from place to place, should know little of the world beyond a 10 mile radius of their homes. Most people would accept what their religious leaders told them as truth and look to them for answers as to why a cataclysmic event took place. The vast majority of the people in a sword and sorcery campaign shouldn’t know how to read or write. While world maps are useful tools for the GM, players should realistically hardly ever see one. If they do it should be crude at best and even then very local. Spellcasters may be able to divine some knowledge of why things are as they are but they shouldn’t be all knowing beings with a direct line to the creator(s). Too many game worlds are too clearly defined. If one knows everything about how the world in which they are adventuring in works, you’ve taken away half of the fun in the adventure. As a GM you should know how things work but by all means let the players live in mystery.

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