Justify Breaking Genre Conventions, CBG version.

SilvercatMoonpaw · January 31, 2008, 08:01:39 AM

I found a good thread of ideas on RPG.net and I thought I'd post a link in case there was anyone around here who hasn't seen it:

Justify Breaking Genre Conventions

Also I thought it might be a good idea to continue the thread here.

SilvercatMoonpaw · January 31, 2008, 07:54:14 PM

Convention: Demons are evil.

Breaking It: Demons just work for the Celestial Bureaucracy punishing the wicked and are really no threat to good people.

Justification: I think that's sort of how Chinese mythology handles it.

Matt Larkin (author) · January 31, 2008, 08:19:38 PM

It seems to be the common convention in many Asian mythologies. The Dharmic hell, Naraka, is really more like purgatory. Except the part about demons never hurting good people, which could still happen.

On a side note, in older Judaism it's kind of similar, too. The satans were not apostate; they worked for God to test the faith of humans.

Stargate525 · January 31, 2008, 08:26:28 PM

Where is that in Judaism? The Devils were from the fall of Angels, not working with God.

Convention: The Elven language is beautiful and fluid, and Dwarven is gutteral and short.

Breaking it: Dwarven is renowned for its beauty, and Elven sounds like someone clearing their throat.

Justification: To Dwarves, deep underground, water is the most valuable resource. Their language would emulate the smooth sounds of flowing water, as a reminder of what to look for. Elves, in the middle of nature, would emulate the sounds of the forest animals, which are often harsh and abrupt.

SilvercatMoonpaw · January 31, 2008, 08:58:48 PM

Quote from: Phoenix KiteExcept the part about demons never hurting good people, which could still happen.

I wasn't sure. I think I actually did read this. Possibly they're still not very nice, it's just that they also have a job doing it.

Matt Larkin (author) · January 31, 2008, 09:11:29 PM

Quote from: Stargate525Where is that in Judaism? The Devils were from the fall of Angels, not working with God.

That's Christianity (and possibly more modern Judaism, I cannot comment on that). In traditional Judaism, there were no fallen angels, per se. There were, however, the nephilim.

Quote from: Dictionary of AngelsSatan--the Hebrew meaning of the word is "adversary." In Numbers 22:22 the angel of the Lord stands against Balaam "for an adversary" (satan). In other Old Testament books (Job, I Chronicles, Pslams, Zechariah) the term likewise designates an office; the angel investing that office is not apostate or fallen.

In Christian theology (especially developed by Milton more than the Bible), 1/3 of all angels rebelled against God and were cast into Hell for it.

LordVreeg · February 03, 2008, 01:08:38 PM

Convention: Orcs, Bugbears and humanoids are intrinsically evil and stupid. They band together in race-sensitive groups.

Breaking it: Some of them actually wnat to be in a cultured, civilized world, and some are very valuable memebers. Bugbears are actually the smartest humanoid race on the average.

Justification: civilizations evolve, and after years of conflict, trading develops between the civilized worls and the humanoid tribes. The grudging admiration the civilized, aculturated world for the cleverness of the Bugbears and the hardworking orcash eventually have enough cross-pollinization that some orcs and other humanoids start prefering to live in the integrated world.

Haphazzard · February 03, 2008, 03:52:45 PM

Quote from: Stargate525Convention: The Elven language is beautiful and fluid, and Dwarven is gutteral and short.

Breaking it: Dwarven is renowned for its beauty, and Elven sounds like someone clearing their throat.

Justification: To Dwarves, deep underground, water is the most valuable resource. Their language would emulate the smooth sounds of flowing water, as a reminder of what to look for. Elves, in the middle of nature, would emulate the sounds of the forest animals, which are often harsh and abrupt.

Actually, if you think about it. It would make sense for the dwarves to have short, gutteral language. They live in mostly-stone environments, thus if they had a smooth language it would be impossible to hear anybody because of the reverberations.

Stargate525 · February 03, 2008, 04:21:25 PM

not really. Guttural sounds and clipped languages will, if anything, be harder to understand, as you'll be getting hard cutoffs at different times from the echoes.

And that's also assuming that all stone has incredible amounts of echo. only hard stone will do that, and only in large areas or long distances.

SilvercatMoonpaw · February 03, 2008, 07:54:28 PM

Quote from: LordVreegConvention: Orcs, Bugbears and humanoids are intrinsically evil and stupid. They band together in race-sensitive groups.

Breaking it: Some of them actually wnat to be in a cultured, civilized world, and some are very valuable memebers. Bugbears are actually the smartest humanoid race on the average.

Justification: civilizations evolve, and after years of conflict, trading develops between the civilized worls and the humanoid tribes. The grudging admiration the civilized, aculturated world for the cleverness of the Bugbears and the hardworking orcash eventually have enough cross-pollinization that some orcs and other humanoids start prefering to live in the integrated world.

The whole "race = culture" is, In My Maybe-Not-Too-Humble-Sounding-But-Certainly-Nothing-To-Get-Worked-Up-Over Opinion, used in completely the wrong way. It's okay if one needs a regional shorthand in a place where populations spend little time mixing, but too often (as I see it) it's applied universally. A single race should not always act the same way in every environment.

Jharviss · February 04, 2008, 12:17:08 AM

Convention: Elves are both the frailest and the longest lived race.

Breaking It: Elves are frail but also relatively short lived. Gnomes have the longest life.

Justification: This one's fairly obvious. Based on their physiques, elves should be among the shortest lived races. They eat the least and, typically, with little meat, and they sleep very little (rather, they meditate). Gnomes, on the other hand, are small, have an enhanced constitution, and seem to live rich lives.

Kindling · February 04, 2008, 11:50:32 AM

As a vegetarian, I have this to say about your meat = lifespan thing... wtf?

Stargate525 · February 04, 2008, 11:58:02 AM

Proteins are arequired by the human phisique, and unless you know about nutrients and diet, it's hard to get protein from plant matter.

SDragon · February 04, 2008, 11:58:25 AM

Quote from: KindlingAs a vegetarian, I have this to say about your meat = lifespan thing... wtf?

Isn't there a vitamin that vegetarians can only get through supplements? Besides, somehow, I don't think elves grow very many dairy cows or soy plants, so I think they're probably a little low on protein, too.

That said, I can see how physiological differences could make up for that. We don't know much about the elven digestive system, so for all we know, they might be designed to be herbivores.

LordVreeg · February 04, 2008, 12:17:36 PM

with 4 stomachs. Bovine fey...

The Campaign Builder's Guild

News:

Justify Breaking Genre Conventions, CBG version.

SilvercatMoonpaw

SilvercatMoonpaw

Matt Larkin (author)

Stargate525

SilvercatMoonpaw

Matt Larkin (author)

LordVreeg

Haphazzard

Stargate525

SilvercatMoonpaw

Jharviss

Kindling

Stargate525

SDragon

LordVreeg