Yakoob on 20/2/2011 at 05:13

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So having recently finished The Witcher, currently playing Morrowind, having beaten a whole bunch of various RPGs and looking at the new up and coming ones, I realize - fuck, there is so little creativity in the fantasy genre. From the setting, to the "races" and finally the actual story, everything is almost exactly the same with tiny variations in which stat affects which skill and by how much. And what the different swords are called. And that's about it.

Since it's 4:33am, I am not yet tired and been having shitty past few weeks, what better way to spend my Sunday morning than ranting out a complete guideline for a Complete Fantasy RPG? Let's begin!

World - The world must have:
- One REALLY big city with a palace. That is usually where the main King / Council / Governing Power resides. You will have to go there at some point and it will be one of the game's biggest selling points
- There will be a mountain region, usually with lava.
- Said mountains will have caves where Dwarves have lived / currently live (see Races)
- Obligatory big forest where peaceful Druids / Elves live.
- A desert with ruins of an "ancient civilization." Said ruins will contain phat loot. Also, if technology is present, such ruins will be a mecca of it.
- At least one tomb with typical undead foes
- At least one boat you will have to use to get to some far-off island
- Caves with very powerful creatures inside. When was the last time you went inside a cave and saw a very powerful creature in it in real life?
- Water Temple

Races - The game must include the following races with following characteristics.
- Elves
--- Love magic, bows and arrows. Hate Technology and Heavy weaponry
--- Live in a goddamn forest.
--- In line with "mother nature," usually can speak with animals
--- In conflict with humans and dwarves. May be dying off
--- Always "good" and "evil" elves. The evil elves are called "dark elves," or the equivalent in the elfen language.
--- Elves must have their own ancient elven language. Humans may study this language.
--- At least one of the elves is an oracle

- Dwarves
--- Love Technology, axes and their beards. Hate magic.
--- Live in caves in mountainous region. At least one of the caves has to have lava in it.
--- Lava rock is a precious building material
--- Always divided into clans, which may or may not be at war with each other
--- At least one of the clans has to be "disappeared" and you have to find it. Most likely they were cast away by elves or other sorcerers
--- You don't talk about the Dwarven women

- Humans
--- The "middle ground" between dwarves an elves, jacks of all trades but masters of none.
--- Usually the biggest power in the world, most likely pushing elves to extinction
--- Racist
--- Never respect nature and always abuse technology. Greedy.
--- The only race in existence to understand the concept of a "town" (as opposed to a mud hut village or a cave)

- The following races will also make an appearance
--- Ogres - Stupid but strong
--- Goblins or Goblin look-alikes (Kobolds etc) - Green with long noses. Live in small villages or in abandoned mines. Typical dispensable "smart folk." Always have a shaman.
--- Dragons - super powerful and super wise. Lived for generations in caves.
--- Undead foes - skeletons, ghouls, zombies. Obligatory "Lich" or lich-like creature. There is always a spell that turns the undead.
--- Giant rat. Always. Maybe a giant ant too if we are feeling frisky.


Lore
- There must be Gods. Each god will have at least one shrine somewhere. If you leave the "correct" offering, one of your stats will be permanently boosted.
- The world has gone through a great war. Or a few of them.
- At least one of the factions of the war has survived as an underground cult that wants to destroy the world / resurrect a powerful leader or a god who will then destroy the world
- You are that resurrected leader / god. Or at least people think you are.
- The secret underground cult is manipulating at least one of the biggest factions in the world
- Different races have each aligned with a faction at some point (or were the factions themselves), but now live in a quasi-peaceful, but unstable and often racist state.
- One of the greatest war generals / fighters has a tomb somewhere.
- One of the greatest war generals / fighters has his full equipment scattered around the world you can collect or recreate from some materials. The stat bonuses are insane. Sucks if you're a mage.
- There always is some sort of void / oblivion / underworld you can cast / summon creatures to/from
- Obligatory "super powerful mage" that has cast someone to said void/oblivion. 50% chance it was his son or the powerful leader / god.
- Everyone thinks said powerful mage is dead but he is actually alive, hiding somewhere. If you find him he tells you he regret's his decision and is now on a self-inflicted banishment.
- At least one Dwarf somewhere who wanted to use magic and was thus cast out
- At least one Elf somewhere who wanted to use technology and was thus cast out
- If technology is present, it is always at odds with Magic, usually weakening its effect. Incompatible. Represented by Dwarves and Elves respectively
- Glass is an insanely powerful and sturdy weapon / armor material. God know's why.

Sidequests - the following side quests MUST be present:
- Necromancy Gone Wrong. Usually means a house full of summoned undead with the mage either dead or hiding somewhere.
- Kill / help some ghost who cannot go to the "afterworld" due to earthly matters
- "Find the spy"
- Someone at some point will try to kill you. Usually a trained assassin belonging to a secret underground assassin organization.
- At least one Dwarf whom you need to help find his "old clan"

Gameplay
- Mages always use words to cast spells, so you always have a "silence" spells that stops mages from ever using magic.
- Alchemy, crafting or enchanting. Either way, some form of "collect shit to make things" mechanic must be present.
- The main plot line will require you to use that mechanic to craft some special item to advance the story at some point
- You can, at some point, decide if you really are a reincarnation of the great powerful leader/ god or not. This decision has no impact on the game whatsoever.



Well I can keep going for ages (so maybe we can turn this thread to make a list of "our favorite RPG cliches!") Before you all shit at me, I know fantasy genre implies most of the stuff I am bitching about - but why must game always follow it exactly? It's almost as if, when game designers decide to go fantasy, they instantly pull up the same giant list of cliches which they MUST fulfill, or will get fired on the spot. Even Arcanum, one of the most inventive semi-fantasy rpgs still falls prey to pretty much every single of the above cliches.



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TL;DR:


My point is - sure have your elves and dwarves and dragons and dungeons. But can you at least not have the elves who always live in a forest, use bows + magic and quarrel with dwarves, who in turn live in caves and use technology and axes. Can they not be inevitably marginalized by the growing greedy human expansion, which builds towns all across the world and tries to exploit the two other races at their expense? Can we not have them all come together and work as a team to combat the great ancient underground cult which is set out to resurrect some great and evil being which everyone mistakes you for being a reincarnation of, while simultaneously trying to kill you? Can we not have the main story line require you to visit the "great and majesitc" city, speak to the king of the world™, and collect ingredients to build a super magical weapon / potion / key to fight the main villain? Can we skip on the hundred years of inter-race wars that shaped today's world, some ruins in the desert, the great lava mountains, the "lost dwarven clan," the "ancient elfen prophecies" and some far off island you have to inevitably travel to?

EDIT: I guess my gripes wouldn't be as bad if it wasn't for the fact that, even though all this things are pretty much fantasy standards, the game designers STILL spend half the goddamn game drilling them into your head as if they had invented the greatest concept ever. Doesn't matter if it is through random conversations, game events, books, or the main story line inevitably sending you to the elfen forest to speak to the oracle who will inevitably tell you how much the elves love nature and how greedy humans destroy it. You will hear it over and over. For the 50th fucking time.

Also, fuck water temples.

Koki on 20/2/2011 at 09:10

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If so why the fuck call them Dwarves and Elves in the first place?

The very point of tolkienesque fantasy is that it's well known so the authors don't need to spend half the game explaining which races do what and why. Besides, the tolkienesque model works. It covers most of the bases(archetypes) pretty nicely.

Eldron on 20/2/2011 at 11:21

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Wait, how did morrowind fit into that rant of yours?

edit: I just think people want something they can relate to, and everyone knows the fantasy stereotypes.

Koki on 20/2/2011 at 14:48

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So the games with furries go faster?

Briareos H on 20/2/2011 at 17:29

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a flemish painting is a flemish painting is a flemish painting. Or black metal.
The fantasy genre has rooted its own characteristics so firmly that if someone were to make elves unbonded to nature and forests like you say, everyone would go O I SEE WHAT U DID THERE

_However_, I do get the general sentiment and some fresh air in our fantasy RPGs would be really welcome. Steampunkish universes à la Thief for example aren't much explored (except Arcanum but then it was really standard fantasy fare when it came to races and clichés). Speaking of steampunk, I wonder what Edge of Twilight became.