Weird? Are we talking about "weird tales" as in pulp, genre-mix weird as in Blackmoor or Talislanta or Empire of Satanis weird?

Quote from: SosthenesWeird? Are we talking about "weird tales" as in pulp, genre-mix weird as in Blackmoor or Talislanta or Empire of Satanis weird?

I was going more for the fantasy stuff, but, sure, all those you mentioned (wierd pulp tales) are pretty far out games I wouldn't mind running. Okay Blackmoor is not really my cup of tea, but there is stuff in there I find pretty interesting.
   

QuoteOriginally posted by Akrasia

The advantage of starting with a more-or-less 'standard' setting is that it will be familiar to everyone. All the players know that wizards are strange, dwarves and elves don't get along, peasants' lives suck, etc. So the GM doesn't have to spend a lot of time explaining how things 'normally work' -- the game can just get going!

I think part of the allure for some gamers myself included are the details(in weird settings) that are at odds with how things "normally work" in traditional fantasy settings.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: jrientsConan encounters a elephant god from another planet in one story.  That's pretty effin' weird, if you ask me.  But here's the trick: the story starts out in a stinking city of wretches and thieves.  One way to cross over into the phantasmagorical is to start firmly grounded and build from there into the uncanny.  Some settings seem to skip that first step.

So, am I wrong then, if I want to start out in a glittering empire where demons are summoned to do mundane tasks... like some other classic fantasy series of note.

i.e., I find Vance and Moorcock just as valid a model as Leiber and Howard.

Quote from: Caesar Slaadi.e., I find Vance and Moorcock just as valid a model as Leiber and Howard.

Well, Leiber and Howard got pretty zany at times. Lots of the default fantasy tropes people complain about come from Tolkien. Interestingly, these elements became more and more central in D&D, wherease the other influences receded into the background. I blame Greyhawk

Moorcock, now here's a guy whose work has influenced some of my more epic campaigns. I remember a pretty interesting Stormbringer adventure  - The Madcap Laughs (I think) published in White Dwarf, back when it was a cool RPG magazine. Fantasy would not be fantasy without Moorcock.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David RSo why is it that folks have such a hard time relating to some weird settings?

It's been awhile since I tried to get into someone else's weird setting (I make mine up, mostly), and I don't know the usual suspects -- but I suspect part of the problem is presentation:

When I make up a setting, I need to give the players enough information to make characters and react to social events as though they had grown up there (unless they're strangers in a strange land.... much easier to do).

Large amounts of unstructured or context-less information (e.g. monster lists, glossaries, etc.) are hard to digest. Almost no one wants to read anthropology essays...

My experience is that holistically communicating key information about an alien setting is *hard* -- and that's one I have fully formed in my mind. Reading someone else's setting and running it?

Daunting, I think.

But the good news is that I suspect that this isn't impossible. I wish I were more familiar with published worlds, but are there any really strange, alien worlds that folks feel *are* accessible?

Did they do something different?

Cheers,
-E.

Quote from: Caesar SlaadSo, am I wrong then, if I want to start out in a glittering empire where demons are summoned to do mundane tasks... like some other classic fantasy series of note.

i.e., I find Vance and Moorcock just as valid a model as Leiber and Howard.

Not dissing your choices at all.  I said "one way" in my post, not "the one true way" for a reason.  I'd rather play a Conan or Sir Lancelot encountering Tekumel or Melnibone or whatever, but that's just my particular groove.

Quote from: -E.But the good news is that I suspect that this isn't impossible. I wish I were more familiar with published worlds, but are there any really strange, alien worlds that folks feel *are* accessible?

Apparently not

Your point about communicating key information is valid one and as some others have pointed out, is the main reason weird settings are not really appreciated.

I've never found this to be a problem though. A lot of it has to do (at least in my group anyway) with the kind of fantasy/sifi books we read. There is a connection between the kind of fantasy we read and the kind we play. Strange, alien etc is accessible merely because we have a lot to draw from. I reckon it's much the same with people who read and play the more traditional stuff.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: jrientsNot dissing your choices at all.  I said "one way" in my post, not "the one true way" for a reason.  I'd rather play a Conan or Sir Lancelot encountering Tekumel or Melnibone or whatever, but that's just my particular groove.

Oooh, Conan vs. Elric. Neat idea, even better than Conan vs. Wolverine...

Quote from: jrientsNot dissing your choices at all.  I said "one way" in my post, not "the one true way" for a reason.  I'd rather play a Conan or Sir Lancelot encountering Tekumel or Melnibone or whatever, but that's just my particular groove.

Fair enough. I just took it that "skip this step" suggested that somehow you'd be missing something if you didn't start your game in some grimy city or outskirts like a Conan tale.

I actually am thinking about starting an upcoming planehopping tale in freeport before I move on to stranger stuff. But if I start a game in such a place, it will be because I have a story to tell there (in this case, that would be the freeport trilogy). If the story would not have me there, then I don't beleive in wasting my time and the players telling a story I'm not 100% invested in. If I'm excited startig a story in Sigil or the City of Glass or what have you, then so be it!

For me for more than just pure fun fantasy needs to be weird. Otherwise I'll go for alt.history or science fiction. Reading Robert E. Howard and then Jack Vance & Clark Ashton Smith were to my sense of fantasy as playing Call of Cthulhu was to how I saw RPGs.

Open that door and you don't know what'll be behind it, step into it and who knows where it might lead? :cool:

(shrugs) At some point we were all new to say Tolkein and D&D. For most, that's enough. And that's cool. OTOH we *did* learn Tolkein and D&D and could more.

Quote from: SosthenesOooh, Conan vs. Elric. Neat idea, even better than Conan vs. Wolverine...

With or without Stormbringer

Quote from: SosthenesOooh, Conan vs. Elric. Neat idea, even better than Conan vs. Wolverine...

Elric actually did appear in an issue of Marvel's Conan comic back in the 70s.

Quote from: -E.but I suspect part of the problem is presentation:

But the good news is that I suspect that this isn't impossible. I wish I were more familiar with published worlds, but are there any really strange, alien worlds that folks feel *are* accessible?

Did they do something different?

Exalted's pretty damn weird in my book (Bronze Age of Heroes + China + Sumeria + Glorantha + anime + Heroin Pissing Dinosaurs + fantasy mecha + Fey +++) but has done quite well. The books look good, tie in with previous lines that had a large pre-existing fanbase, and have great distribution.

And from what I understand* it's reached Forgotten Realms levels of detailing out the setting and something of a metaplot. :eek:

*only have 1st edition core+companion, a splat book, and a couple of the setting books

Quote from: ColonelHardissonElric actually did appear in an issue of Marvel's Conan comic back in the 70s.

He had an awesome hat.