>Glorantha has a wonderful mix of three elements: an all-pervasive mythic
>structure, an elaborate and lovingly (co-) created history and culture, and
>a wacky sense of fun. Try to keep all three. Though vary the mix.
The myth part is essential. There is still plenty of ground not covered by Glorantha, Tekumel, and other created worlds. In fact, there's a lot still left to use (with appropriate humility and sensitivity) in the Indo-European tradition, even in the Celto-Germanic tradition. This field is not yet worn out.
The co-creation is hard. Even dedicated contributors can lose interest, so it helps to have a largish community to keep things going.
Wacky sense of fun: in moderation, as an antidote to stuffiness and pretension.
>1. Mythologic is Everything.
Or everyWhere, at least.
>a) Relativism is an Absolute:
I wonder if we will arrive back at the rustic simple truth of "What my father taught me" and really see it for the first time.
>b) Cultivate Wonder: Mystery is a value in itself. Not knowing is a path to
>liberation. Enjoy the magical, the mythical, the mystical. Surprise
>yourself at least once per session.
In the proper doses, this is the fiber of all narrative. A situation exists, it involves something intriguing, its exploration leads to another intriguing thing, and so on. The book "Making Shapely Fiction" calls these elements "intrigants." There should also be some mysteries which loom like Kero Fin on the horizon, impossible to fully explore and difficult to scale. OTOH, I've played in campaigns which made no sense and the mystery was why I didn't walk out sooner.
>c) Your created world is itself a myth; fluid, open to many
>interpretations, semiotically charged and awash with possibility. Get in
>there and start hacking your own memes. Never be afraid to kiss the
trickster.
The problem is how to get INTO such an egg without breaking it. Analogues are one way. Stories where the characters are outsiders are another. There must be others.
>2. Reality *Is*.
>
>There *are* general principles. Map them broadly, map them early.
The problem is that really good world creation takes decades. When you start, your understanding of your own world is much more limited than it is when you're older (if you grow, that is). As a consequence, your ability to build believable otherworlds is limited. Worlds you started back in college don't seem worth salvaging when you're in your 30's. The most that you can hope for is that there will be a consistent theme.
>If youre going to fiddle with the seasons and with time, state clearly its
>effects on aging, gestation, pregnancy. Different seasons mean different
>plant and animal processes, effects on migration, growth, breeding. (One
>personal pet Gloranthan hate: squeeze and stretch seasonal conversions
>from earthly calendars.) Define your basic ecologies, not just the weird
>hit-point monsters. Think seriously about plants that bloom in Dark Season,
>about the armoured blooms that arise in Storm. Etc. Etc. Etc.
This is what I call the upstream-downstream problem. You can't, for example, give the Trowjangi amazons crossbows without wondering how they got them. The rest of their material culture is inconsistent with crossbows, so you have to look beyond the amazonic artisans for an answer. Are crossbows sacred to Tolat and he taught the amazons their secrets? Eh, doubt it. Do the amazons steal crossbows from the Kralori? If so, what else do they steal? Crossbows don't last forever, so how often do they have to mount crossbow-stealing expeditions? Are there renegade traders or pirates who sell crossbows to the amazons? If so, what do the amazons have to trade? Are crossbows a recent addition to amazon culture,then, and if so what effect have they had on amazon politics, culture, etc.?
The questions of how the amazons have crossbows are upstream questions: how did we get here? The questions of what effects the crossbows and the methods of crossbow acquisition have are downstream questions: what effects does having crossbows cause?
More later. This message is long enough.
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