I've run into a problem with my newest campaign. The players have started to think of the game world in terms of real-world countries and history. The island nation on which they started is "England," its nearest neighbor is "France," etc. This was totally unintentional on my part. I've been trying to introduce more elements that conflict with these associations, but the idea seems to have stuck fast. At this point, I can't redraw the world map. Any advice?
Is your problem primarily with the culture of the places or the geography? I think that if the people in "Britain" acted Japanese, your players wouldn't call the place Europe.
Names (for places and people) can make a big cultural impression.
Also, try cuisine, accents, religions, holidays, and equipment (if plausible) which contradicts their assumption.
You might also straight up say this place is inspired by "X" not by France.
1) make them do more conversations 'in-character'. Whenever a player used England instead of the real name, ask them was that meant to be said 'in-character'. And reward those that do with more comprehansion from NPC's. I had a similar problem with the name of a deity...
(By the way, what are the names of these places?)
2) Us the Adjective form, Demonymic form, and colloquiallisms for them often. Trabler, Trablerian, Trablerians, 'Mid-folk', 'Mid-traders' are ways I speak about the country of Trabler in my game, and the PC's start to follow in kind.
And as Raelifin said, use cultural methods to make them as dissimilar as possible. Have them speak the same language, neither makes wine, etc...
Yes. Clothing, language, and religion are three of the biggest ones, I'd say - if they have a polytheistic pantheon, speak with japanese accents in an asian-style language and wear toga-robes, I doubt many will think of them as english/french anymore.
I'll play devil's advocate; making assumptions like that is a good way for players to get their minds around things. I recently resumed running games in my setting, and after explaining the region to the players one of them asked me "So, it's like the fall of Rome, except a Republic is replacing the Empire". I thought, and despite the differences between the region/country in question, I had to admit that he was right.
What part of the game do you want your players to focus on the most? What is your strength as a DM. If you want them to become involved neck deep in the world, to think of it as a place, then yes, you want to disassociate your countries with real world countries. If you want a place with verisimilitude for them to adventure in, then I don't think you need to worry about it.
I suggest emphasizing the actual names of your countries. Reward players that take the hint with bonus XP (or something else that's cool).
Another option, would be to ask your players to stop associating IRL places with in-game places. if your group is anything like mine, they'll go along with it (especially if you provide rewards for remembering the place names).
Quote from: Kap'n XeviatI'll play devil's advocate; making assumptions like that is a good way for players to get their minds around things. I recently resumed running games in my setting, and after explaining the region to the players one of them asked me "So, it's like the fall of Rome, except a Republic is replacing the Empire". I thought, and despite the differences between the region/country in question, I had to admit that he was right.
I second that. Strong parallels to real world history and geography did wonders for Warhammer Fantasy, and I hope it does the same for Urbis.
Players often need some sort of starting point to visualize a fictional region, and the real world isn't bad for that, since it suggests a multitude of adventure seeds all by itself...
As a designer, I find I model most nations, at least culturally, after real ones, especially for Kishar. It allows me to develop more depth than I might if I tried to make up every detail about every culture in the world. Moreover, it allows for archetype characters; if you have a player that really wants to play a samurai, then you probably need a country at least remotely similar to feudal Japan.
Quote from: Kap'n XeviatI'll play devil's advocate; making assumptions like that is a good way for players to get their minds around things. I recently resumed running games in my setting, and after explaining the region to the players one of them asked me "So, it's like the fall of Rome, except a Republic is replacing the Empire". I thought, and despite the differences between the region/country in question, I had to admit that he was right.
What part of the game do you want your players to focus on the most? What is your strength as a DM. If you want them to become involved neck deep in the world, to think of it as a place, then yes, you want to disassociate your countries with real world countries. If you want a place with verisimilitude for them to adventure in, then I don't think you need to worry about it.
I also back this up. The best DM I play with has a saying she loves: "Good DMs borrow, Great DMs steal" to which I add "and the best DMs blend." There's nothing wrong with taking elements from the real world and mixing it in to give your players a way to relate to the setting. It increases their overall involvement and makes them just flat out enjoy gaming more.
Quote from: RaelifinIs your problem primarily with the culture of the places or the geography? I think that if the people in "Britain" acted Japanese, your players wouldn't call the place Europe.
True, they'd probably call it Japan. :D
:poke:
Maybe you guys are right and this isn't as much of a problem as I thought it was. I should probably just focus on making each culture flavorful and detailed rather than worrying about what it resembles in the real world. I guess I'm just recovering from a bias against fantasy worlds whose inspirations are too homogeneous and transparent.
Thanks!
George R. R. Martin's series of books is pretty much set in the UK at a glance--however the actual stories only bear a rough similarity to English history. I find that straightforward names will take on life when the pcs get used to the area and the idea that it really is different.