New settings' fatigue

[TheSecondRanger]

I have medieval fantasy fatigue. The supermajority of crpgs are interchangeable medieval fantasy games.

Which recent games are really medieval fantasy or inspired from european medieval times? I have the opposite fatigue, most games are rather early modern times, especially all modern D&D variants.

 

[Cryomancer]

About more exotic settings, I like the approach "show, don`t tell" approach..

 

[RaggleFraggle]

I have medieval fantasy fatigue. The supermajority of crpgs are interchangeable medieval fantasy games.

Which recent games are really medieval fantasy or inspired from european medieval times? I have the opposite fatigue, most games are rather early modern times, especially all modern D&D variants.

Medieval, early modern, dark ages… I can’t tell the difference. Fantasy is a mix of anachronisms from every year between 500 AD and 1500 AD, with the notable exception of guns.

I wish Tolkien had featured Texan gunslingers as one of his fictional races. Then every odd fantasy novel would have at least one.

 

[JarlFrank]

The problem of generic fantasy is that it has no real sense of place. It's neither medieval nor early modern, neither bronze age nor iron age, neither Europe nor middle east, it's just a collection of tropes and cliches cobbled together from 500 different sources of inspiration, with no regard for giving it a real sense of cultural consistency.

That's why it's all so samey and boring.

 

[Iucounu]

A related problem might be that many on this forum play many more RPGs than usual, while the typical RPG consumer is a young person that experiences say a fantasy game for only the first or second time in his life, and haven't yet becomed jaded by mediocre games. But as the number of experienced and discerning gamers continues to grow, devs will have to make much better games if they want to tap into that market.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

Exactly. I’m jaded and disillusioned due to extensive exposure. I’ve seen the same cliches so many times. Most of the time they’re executed poorly too.

Not only that, but I’ve found no shortage of obscure settings and genres with neat ideas that would make for great crpgs. They’re already out there, they just need to be adapted. Planetary romance, paranormal conspiracy thriller, political space opera…

 

[Vorark]

There's no need to know every little single detail in a setting, read every in-game note or book and so forth. If it's interesting then you delve in, if it's generic garbage you skim or ignore it altogether.

KISS methodology.

 

[0sacred]

The problem of generic fantasy is that it has no real sense of place. It's neither medieval nor early modern, neither bronze age nor iron age, neither Europe nor middle east, it's just a collection of tropes and cliches cobbled together from 500 different sources of inspiration, with no regard for giving it a real sense of cultural consistency.

That's why it's all so samey and boring.

RPG lore doesn't differ fundamentally between technlogical/magic/weirdness levels. There are common tropes that pervade the genre, which is one thing that leads to fatigue. The other being that only 1% of the lore you pick up is actually relevant to your playthrough, so why would you pay attention to load after load of boring trivia dumped on you?

 

[JarlFrank]

There's no need to know every little single detail in a setting, read every in-game note or book and so forth. If it's interesting then you delve in, if it's generic garbage you skim or ignore it altogether.

KISS methodology.

Instead of the player, this approach should be used by the writers.

If it's not interesting, don't write it.

 

[gurugeorge]

I have nigger fatigue.

I have nigger fatigue AND girlboss fatigue.

 

[Kev Inkline]

What we need is a RuneQuest/Glorantha isometric rpg.

That setting has even a patron saint for codexers:

https://glorantha.fandom.com/wiki/Thed

 

[RaggleFraggle]

There’s a ton of forgotten tabletop settings that could be interesting. TSR alone produced a bunch. There’s also GURPS, which had a bunch of setting books. There’s too much to list, really.

One concept I think could be fun would be a paranormal conspiracy technothriller where you drive across the United States investigating various cases. Chupacabras, Rosicrucians, the number 23, whatever. You wouldn’t need to do much worldbuilding because it’s just the USA.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

One concept I think could be fun would be a paranormal conspiracy technothriller where you drive across the United States investigating various cases. Chupacabras, Rosicrucians, the number 23, whatever. You wouldn’t need to do much worldbuilding because it’s just the USA.

Never played it, but Delta Green is essentially this:

 

[RaggleFraggle]

One concept I think could be fun would be a paranormal conspiracy technothriller where you drive across the United States investigating various cases. Chupacabras, Rosicrucians, the number 23, whatever. You wouldn’t need to do much worldbuilding because it’s just the USA.

Never played it, but Delta Green is essentially this:

I meant without Cthulhu. The Cthulhu mythos is overused, oversaturated, and mostly done badly, to the point that I'm sick of it now and have been for years. Bring back non-cthulhu stuff like The X-Files and Poltergeist: The Legacy.

 

[Ol' Willy]

One concept I think could be fun would be a paranormal conspiracy technothriller where you drive across the United States investigating various cases. Chupacabras, Rosicrucians, the number 23, whatever. You wouldn’t need to do much worldbuilding because it’s just the USA.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

One concept I think could be fun would be a paranormal conspiracy technothriller where you drive across the United States investigating various cases. Chupacabras, Rosicrucians, the number 23, whatever. You wouldn’t need to do much worldbuilding because it’s just the USA.

I was thinking like X-Files. Does nobody else understand my references? 20th century occultism and conspiracy theories? Freemasons, cryptids, Mayan calendars… do you guys seriously not remember any of that stuff?

 

[gurugeorge]

One concept I think could be fun would be a paranormal conspiracy technothriller where you drive across the United States investigating various cases. Chupacabras, Rosicrucians, the number 23, whatever. You wouldn’t need to do much worldbuilding because it’s just the USA.

I was thinking like X-Files. Does nobody else understand my references? 20th century occultism and conspiracy theories? Freemasons, cryptids, Mayan calendars… do you guys seriously not remember any of that stuff?

Yeah, belongs in a different time though, when people were taking E and raving and wondering about flying saucers and conspiracy theories, etc.

The world's too horrible for that kind of light-hearted fun now

(Having said that, The Secret World MMO from Funcom was exactly that on release and for a few years, marvelous stuff at the time.)

 

[GaelicVigil]

I have nigger fatigue.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

Yeah, belongs in a different time though, when people were taking E and raving and wondering about flying saucers and conspiracy theories, etc.

The world's too horrible for that kind of light-hearted fun now

(Having said that, The Secret World MMO from Funcom was exactly that on release and for a few years, marvelous stuff at the time.)

The world can fuck off. I'm gonna have fun. I encourage everyone else to do the same.

 

[Habichtswalder]

When it comes to new settings, it's important to ensure that, despite creativity and novelty, the clarity of the setting is maintained. Many writers struggle to find this sweet spot. They either try too hard to do something different, resulting in something that is simply not accessible or feels too artsy or absurd.

Alternatively, they lack creativity, leading to generic settings that are just accepted without leaving a lasting impression on the player/reader.

Another issue is that many writers lack a sense of subtlety. They want to incorporate everything they find cool into their setting. As a result, you end up with a collection of elements that don't work as well in reality as they do in the writer's mind. When everything is supposed to be special, nothing ultimately stands out.

In my experience, the most interesting new settings are those, that are based on existing tropes but add a limited number of unique ideas to the world building.

 

[Harthwain]

I was thinking like X-Files. Does nobody else understand my references? 20th century occultism and conspiracy theories? Freemasons, cryptids, Mayan calendars… do you guys seriously not remember any of that stuff?

I remember, but I think X-Files fits roughly the same umbrella of "occultism and conspiracy theories" as Cthulhu mythos (well, maybe with a bit less focus on occultism and more on urban legends). Neither are novel ideas by now, it is just that Cthulhu mythos took better root in the videogaming industry over the years. This is why I don't really think there is much point in differentiating the two in terms of setting (unless you REALLY want to avoid Cthulhu).