Create accountLogin

Recent searches

No recent searches

Search options

Only available when logged in.
shakedown.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
A community for live music fans with roots in the jam scene. Shakedown Social is run by a team of volunteers (led by @clifff and @sethadam1) and funded by donations.

Administered by:

Server stats:

279
active users

shakedown.social: AboutStatusProfiles directoryPrivacy policy

Mastodon: AboutGet the appKeyboard shortcutsView source codev4.3.7

#cthulhumythos

0 posts0 participants0 posts today
Public
Jürgen Hubert

When it comes to #ttrpg #worldbuilding , it is almost always easier to start with a bunch of well-established tropes than it is to start from scratch. Less work for the designer, to be sure - but it's also a lot easier to explain the basics of the setting to the players.

This is probably one of the reasons why #fantasy RPG settings are much more popular than their #ScienceFiction counterparts. There are some big, foundational works which most other fantasy settings draw upon - Tolkien, Moorcock, not to mention the early versions of #DnD itself. Science fiction, on the other hand, has few "foundational works" like this. The closest is probably H.P. Lovecraft's #CthulhuMythos , though it is more commonly thought of as #horror instead. So where does a science fiction worldbuilder start? It's probably easiest to place the setting on Earth, in the near future - or after some apocalypse, which allows the designer to use many familiar elements.

And frankly, I see nothing wrong at all with starting with familiar elements from fantasy, real world history, folklore - and yes, even Dungeons & Dragons. Thousands of people have put a lot of work into establishing these tropes and genre conventions, and this represents a rich body of lore that a designer can make use of - and then focus on the elements that make _their_ world unique and distinct from all the others.

But starting over from scratch requires a truly massive effort. If your heart is set on it, I will not dissuade you - you might come up with something truly special. But you should be aware of the difficulties you will face on this journey.

ExploreLive feeds
About