The Elevator Pitch
My ideas for this setting are still scattered; the blog is an attempt to get them out there, make some decisions about what does and does not belong, then organize them in a meaningful and fun way. But here's the basic elevator pitch:
A historically derived Mediterranean fantasy setting.
Well, that sounds kinda boring. How about:
Think about all the cool stuff from 2000 years of Mediterranean history -- Barbary Corsairs, Tuareg Caravans, Venetian Politics, clash of cultures, cutthroat merchants, Sinbad, alchemy, Rome, Greece, Byzantium, Gibraltar, Cordoba, Alexandria -- It will be in there and OH MY GOD IT WILL BE AWESOME!
A historically derived Mediterranean fantasy setting.
Well, that sounds kinda boring. How about:
Think about all the cool stuff from 2000 years of Mediterranean history -- Barbary Corsairs, Tuareg Caravans, Venetian Politics, clash of cultures, cutthroat merchants, Sinbad, alchemy, Rome, Greece, Byzantium, Gibraltar, Cordoba, Alexandria -- It will be in there and OH MY GOD IT WILL BE AWESOME!
Don't forget Dalmatia/Croatia. When we were in Split last year we were wandering around in Diocletian's Palace and I was getting tons of ideas for all sorts of things that could be incorporated into a game. I'll have to get my pictures up somewhere so you can look at them. Here's a great painting of the palace before the town built up around it: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/SPLIT-Hebrard_overall_color_restitution.jpg
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! It looks Roman.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't really thought about Croatia that much. See, this is why I post these things on the Interwebs.
One of the most important obstacles that we DMs face is how to get the players to buy into our worlds. I'm guilty of dreaming up a complex home-brew world with lots of intrigue and daring-do, only to fall flat when the players don't grasp the minutia of my multi-level pyramid of plot twists and ever-escalating tier of Bad Guys. Your setting, with its basis in history, should theoretically be much more accessible to the average gamer, particularly with the crowd you seem to surround yourself with, that being the more educated college graduate and/or intellectual roleplayer. But I'm also curious as to how you would approach a player (like me) whose knowledge of European history is scant. In other words, how do you plan on getting your players to buy in on the "OH MY GOD IT WILL BE AWESOME!"
ReplyDelete@Nakia-it looks Roman because it is Roman. :-D
ReplyDeleteDiocletian was Emperor from 284-305, and this was his retirement home. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian%27s_Palace
The interesting thing about Croatia (and Split as a city) is the number of different cultures that controlled it over time-Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Slavic, Avars, Gothic, Venetian, Hungarian, Ottoman, French, Austrian... although I suppose you could say the same or similar about many parts of the Mediterranean. The evolution of the palace from palace to abandoned ruin to walled city is quite fascinating. As with so many things in that of the world, building on top of older structures is the rule, so you get layer upon layer of cultural and architectural artifacts, and it's still being used today. Seeing people living in apartments that are located, literally, in the ancient city walls or a pizza shop in a 2000 year old building was a cultural shock to me. In the US we put up red velvet ropes and hire guards for any place that Thomas Jefferson or George Washington sat for 15 minutes 200 years ago, and here is an archaeological treasure that is being used by the citizens for work, home, and play, and still being build on and changed as needed.
As Rich's comment nicely illustrates, I am a not a historian! Nor do I expect any players I may have at some unspecified future point to be. I want to make the setting fun and playable. That's what takes precedence, not historical accuracy.
ReplyDeleteThis, in fact, deserves it's own post.