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Author Topic: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles  (Read 17018 times)

Rex Invictus

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #75 on: February 23, 2015, 05:32:56 am »

  • Concept: Ambiguity about the nature of gods.
  • Description: Often, fantasy seems make gods a clear cut matter. They exist, they have set personalities, affinities and only interact in clearly defined manners. What if it didn't? What if the gods are seemingly indistinguishable from lovecrafitan horrors aside from humanity being used to them? What if they never physically manifest or communicate directly, leaving questions as to whether there is a single multi-faceted entity or an entire pantheon of them? What if there is no real reason why they would not manipulate the world in a manner that people cannot recognize, if say, a god of death doesn't actually have an afterlife and instead just carefully maintains an illusion thereof to hide the fact that souls don't exist, or a god of morality is secretly eroding away the very concept of free-will to ensure that it is impossible to perform an immoral act? What if it is impossible to tell whether the gods are sentient, or even real, as opposed to some sort of massive magical fluctuation controlled by the collective unconscious or just people seeing seemingly meaningful patterns in random occurrences?
  • Source: There probably are some settings that do this, but nothing comes to mind. I am currently working on a setting that incorporates elements of this.
    Edit: I've been told Eberron does this.

I've got a setting set up where the gods ARE giant Lovecraftian horrors based off corruptions of the seven virtues, but I don't know how to set anything in the world.
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Criptfeind

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #76 on: February 23, 2015, 08:10:27 am »

The part about gods not being clear cut if they exist is true in Eberron (sorta, there are some beings/powers that definitely exist and are worshiped, although what a god is is sorta poorly defined in Eberron, since clerics can get their powers from faith in anything, those beings are not realllly gods) The whole thing about gods manipulating the world in dickish ways doesn't happen in Eberron, but it doesn't seem to line up with the ambiguity angle. If you define the gods enough to say that they are doing things, it seems like it would be impossible to say that there is any question of them actually existing.

Basically, both ideas are interesting, but I'm not sure how you would reconcile them into the same setting.
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BFEL

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #77 on: February 23, 2015, 09:52:41 am »

Just remembered one of my faves

Concept: Wizard blending in to modern society
Details: With a hockey stick as a staff and a business advertising him as a Wizard, Harry Dresden still manages to maintain cover simply because of modern societies skepticism toward the arcane.
Source: The Dresden Files (the TV show in particular, I'm told he makes more effort to "blend in" then in the books)
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Bohandas

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #78 on: February 23, 2015, 12:25:18 pm »

  • Concept: Ambiguity about the nature of gods.
  • Description: Often, fantasy seems make gods a clear cut matter. They exist, they have set personalities, affinities and only interact in clearly defined manners. What if it didn't? What if the gods are seemingly indistinguishable from lovecrafitan horrors aside from humanity being used to them? What if they never physically manifest or communicate directly, leaving questions as to whether there is a single multi-faceted entity or an entire pantheon of them? What if there is no real reason why they would not manipulate the world in a manner that people cannot recognize, if say, a god of death doesn't actually have an afterlife and instead just carefully maintains an illusion thereof to hide the fact that souls don't exist, or a god of morality is secretly eroding away the very concept of free-will to ensure that it is impossible to perform an immoral act? What if it is impossible to tell whether the gods are sentient, or even real, as opposed to some sort of massive magical fluctuation controlled by the collective unconscious or just people seeing seemingly meaningful patterns in random occurrences?
  • Source: There probably are some settings that do this, but nothing comes to mind. I am currently working on a setting that incorporates elements of this.
    Edit: I've been told Eberron does this.


EBERRON
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Itnetlolor

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #79 on: February 23, 2015, 04:29:48 pm »

Concept:
Virginity = Magical Potency (1st generation ability starts at age 30; future generations are a variable; most often a carbon-copy. Rare instances are preserved even/especially with families started, as an aid for raising said family. Best chances if both parents are wizards.)

Description:
Magic is reborn when a pathetic soul stumbles upon learning magic past their 30th birthday; it also happens to be that this guy is a total Johnny Bravo, and regardless his undying efforts to score with women, he can never succeed with them (gender-opposite is also an option). Of course, there's a catch to this magic that is unlocked; it grants immortality, and powers beyond comprehension. However, these powers may not be used to manipulate the free wills of others (standard rule, really), nor to kill (in other words, you can't use these powers to get laid, or to get revenge, and so on; basically, it retains itself via mostly moral standards; 10 commandments is a good place to start for basic rules in keeping said powers.). Just as well, to keep said powers, you must never sleep with anyone, or else they (the Wizard abilities) will forever be lost, or at least, be transferred to the next generation.

Source:
The concept/joke of being >30 years old without getting laid makes you a wizard.

CAUTION:
I am aware this concept's rules (and the general concept) are incendiary in nature; so please, don't spark any flames with this; for the sake of keeping the thread alive. I don't mean to start anything with it, but it does add additional challenge, and better explains why modern magic is extraordinarily limited/extremely-rare in present-day era (well, most eras, more like; to be fair. More or less, nobody's innocent.).


Like I said, this concept is a tinderbox, since it's based mostly on the joke, with severe moral limitations preserving it. If it's too volatile, I'll remove it, or cut more of it down to just the utter basics. Actually, it's as simple as ignoring, or deleting the spoiler. But yeah, personally, let's not get this thread locked by setting fire from this source. I thought the idea was funny, but if were real, how to limit it so it's fair enough (religion and gender-independent, at least).

Summary: As long as you're not a dick, you keep your powers; of course, at the expense of not being allowed to sleep with anyone. However, a provided loophole is that as long as you're in love with your partner and have love towards your family (with said intent to have one with said partner in the first place), you keep your powers (if both parents are wizards, it's more potent), and your next generation starts off with the ability activated upon moral awareness. Kindness and love keeps the magic alive.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2015, 06:36:29 pm by Itnetlolor »
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Empiricist

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #80 on: February 23, 2015, 08:02:10 pm »

The whole thing about gods manipulating the world in dickish ways doesn't happen in Eberron, but it doesn't seem to line up with the ambiguity angle. If you define the gods enough to say that they are doing things, it seems like it would be impossible to say that there is any question of them actually existing.

Basically, both ideas are interesting, but I'm not sure how you would reconcile them into the same setting.
The idea is that ambiguity allows that possibility to be considered, not that it is necessarily happening. In the example given, a god of death might be creating an illusion of an afterlife, it also may not. If it remains ambiguous because the god in question never really communicates or does anything that rules out that possibility, people would eventually have to consider it as a possibility and/or have an existential crisis.
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Criptfeind

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #81 on: February 24, 2015, 12:04:12 am »

I don't get it. If whether gods are real or not is ambiguous, then anything and everything is possible. What's the point in pointing out one possibility out of a infinite amount. Heck, how would you point to a specific possibility without reducing or taking away the ambiguity?
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Bohandas

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #82 on: February 24, 2015, 01:19:25 am »

Concept: Turned into fungus
Description: Instead of a frog or something the villain turns the king into an enormous Malheur National Forest-esque mass of fungus.
Source: The Super Mario Brothers movie
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Bohandas

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #83 on: February 27, 2015, 08:47:05 pm »

Concept: The Gods are banished from heaven
Description: The king of the gods once got pissed off at the lesser members of the pantheon and forced them to slum it among mortals for a year in weakened forms
Source: D&D Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
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MDFification

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #84 on: February 27, 2015, 10:31:26 pm »

Concept: The reason you never see dwarves above ground is because their senses are so fine that they actually get seizures from sensory overload when venturing outside in the daytime. However, this is why they're so good with machines; their can intuitively do math, and see at a level of detail much finer than ours.

Concept: Kobolds have a everpresent magical effect that causes people to forget they saw them, and are paranoid beyond all other races (they are institutionally driven to sabotage, steal and hide).

Concept: Elves are actually predators, specialized in consuming sentient beings. It makes sense; they're portrayed as just a bit superior to other species in every way, yet have much lower population numbers. This makes the most sense if they're predators.

Origin: Worldbuilding threads on /tg/
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Putnam

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #85 on: February 27, 2015, 10:34:38 pm »

The third one is what Dwarf Fortress and Elder Scrolls both go for, so clearly there's some root to that.

The first one is also in Dwarf Fortress in the form of cave adaptation.

Bohandas

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #86 on: March 10, 2015, 01:44:13 am »

Concept: Working around the drawbacks of cursed artifacts
Description: Technology can be used to circumvent the drawbacks of cursed magic items. For example, a magic text that blinds the reader could be read by a machine that then outputs the relevent information, or a magic cologne that makes the user irresistable but also ironocally makes them impotent cpuld be counteracted sith ED drugs
Source: Skyrim and Rick & Morty, respectively.
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Empiricist

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #87 on: March 10, 2015, 05:40:06 am »

Concept: Philosophical Zombie Apocalypse
Description: A contagious disease/curse destroys the consciousness of its victims, leaving them as thoughtless husks that act exactly like they already did. The invisible pandemic sweeps through civilization, thousands "dying" without anyone even knowing. Left unhindered, sentience itself would be erased, leaving everything as fleshy automatons that act in perfect mimicry of sentience.
Source: An original idea as far as I know.
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Putnam

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #88 on: March 10, 2015, 05:41:57 am »

There was a story on reddit about that, except it was edgy as hell and had the plague be "people wanting to tell you about God and not accepting that they're part of a cult".

Itnetlolor

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Re: Unique Fantasy Ideas Thread - The Not-Tolkien Chronicles
« Reply #89 on: March 10, 2015, 12:27:07 pm »

Concept: Philosophical Zombie Apocalypse
Description: A contagious disease/curse destroys the consciousness of its victims, leaving them as thoughtless husks that act exactly like they already did. The invisible pandemic sweeps through civilization, thousands "dying" without anyone even knowing. Left unhindered, sentience itself would be erased, leaving everything as fleshy automatons that act in perfect mimicry of sentience.
Source: An original idea as far as I know.
I think we're living that today. Ever see people focused on their phones running into all kinds of crap due to a lack of awareness?
« Last Edit: March 10, 2015, 12:28:55 pm by Itnetlolor »
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