“Whoever
fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not
become a monster.”
– Friedrich
Nietzsche
As I
mentioned back at the end of my New Year’s missive (“
Rejuvenating after the Lost Years”) I’m
developing
a medieval fantasy setting (possibly using
B/X
Dungeons & Dragons,
maybe
system-neutral;
that’s a debate for another day). It’s a vast moorland of heath,
mires, and hills created ages ago when kingdoms banded together to
destroy the power of a great mage. Rather than rely on the usual
explore-slay-pillage tropes on which some games and gameplay rely,
I’m trying to focus more on the relationship of the region’s
inhabitants with both the environment and each other. So in designing
this setting I’m looking beyond basic,
superficial stereotypes and
trying to craft for each faction, individual, and even monsters a
relevant motivation when interacting with each other and with player
characters. This
inevitably leads me to examine the role we
give “monsters”
in fantasy roleplaying games. like my favorite
B/X
D&D.
