LeCraft: Species - Elf

INTRODUCTION

The Elf is the species that has come to depict what fantasy (certainly post-Tolkien 20th century fantasy) represents in the popular imagination. You might consider more monstrous but intelligent species as more representative of fantasy, but I would argue that this is an older fairy-tale depiction of the genre (dragons and goblins). That, instead, the angelic meta-human elf has come to represent all the various dreams and hopes of various fantasy writers and creators from Tolkien onwards. Indeed, that in contemporary fiction the elf is likely to be removed (such as in GOT) in an attempt at 'realism' or 'grittiness' shows the impact these creatures have had in the genre. Throughout the development of 20th century fantasy the figure of the elf has constantly been developed, subverted or ignored, but has always represented what is perfect or admirable by us. Something that in itself is often shown as impossible or actually undesirable (f.e. the Vulcan's lack of emotions depicted as a flaw and yes, Vulcan's are elves).

The Elves then are depicted as tall slim good-looking white people with pointy ears. Occasionally, they are white people with purple or jet black skin and white hair. They are feminine and perfect, beloved by many and detested by others. Frankly, I'm sick of the super-model saviours of the fantasy world. Time for something more otherworldly. If elves are an ancient long-lived race, why are they so often the willing stooges of imperial humans in fantasy? That's not too smart.
My dislike of European cultural stereotypes in fantasy fiction hopefully does not lead to my introducing equally woeful Native American stereotypes or something similar, something that I've observed in a great deal of 90s RPG settings. I'd like a species that was sufficiently 'other' and not merely a pastiche of a historical culture (from a romanticised viewpoint, i.e. simplified).

The elf in my world is an attempt to get past this Tolkien created narrative and bring back the elf as a more sinister fairy-like being, which is in itself not original. However, I do not wish to simply introduce a species of Western folk tale fairies (Sidhe) into a supposedly non-specific and alien setting. Thus, this is merely a starting point for their description, that point being 'other-worldly oddness' and inherent danger.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, in order of newest to oldest;
Exoskeleton with a 'human' shape
They are considered attractive and they have pointed 'ears'
Part evil fae, 'the gentleman with thistledown hair'
Part praying mantis
Part cat (chesire)
Part china doll
Part Manga 'big eyes' (cephalopod 'universe eyes')
Hard 'porcelain' or 'ceramic' skin/exoskeleton
Their 'carapace' (exoskeleton) is intially translucent, allowing them to 'glow', but thickens and colours as they age.
They have an insectoid evolution.
Height ranges between five and seven foot tall (1.5 to 2.1 metres) with the average on the slower scale, typically under 5' 6" (1.67m).
Their 'skin' colouration is typically a pale yellowish like ancient porcelain, complete with irregular mottled multi-coloured blotches, most of which are too small to be seen, i.e. minute freckles of odd colours.
The huge mop of fluffy 'hair' of the elf is in various bright colours such as; candy floss pink, electric blue, neon green etc.
Their eyes are large and black without visible iris or pupil. Two sets of eyelids to protect them.
Large wide mouths with small sharp needle-like teeth and long pointed tongues.
The elvish physique, slender and curving, whether male or female leads to humans uncousciously refereing to elves as 'her'. Likewise dwarves are 'him' and orcs and goblins 'it'.
They are incredibly strong considering their small frames.

Although there are two sexes there is less male/female difference than humans, leading to a certain adrogyny but there are some size and weight differences unlike, for example, the dwarves.

Elven blood is blue and this has been theorised as being due to their closeness to magickal forces. The reason is, in truth, much more straight-forward, but highlights the view that most humans have of elves as being akin to magickal beings and almost semi-divine in nature.

Elves are physically seemingly quite fragile, they have scrawny spindly limbs that are made to look even smaller by their large heads, long fingered hands, and (commonly) a large unruly mop of wild hair.
All elves have exceptionally large almond-shaped golden eyes similar to a feline (complete with a third eyelid) that shimmer slightly and glow gently in low-light or fiercely when using magick. They have very small fine noses, with long thin nasal bridges and small slightly upturned stubby nose 'tips'. Elves have quite wide mouths for their size, but very thin lips and small teeth (similar to human children), their tongues are, however, especially long and pointed. Their most famous feature however is certainly their pointed ears, which are both very long and large, their ears typically point upwardsjust passing above the top of the head, they are also partially movable and able to point towards a sound source.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION, as before newest to oldest;
They have long-life, actually connected unconcious, but are not immortal and certainly not angelic.
They are, or can be; Cruel, Death-obsessed, Suicidal, Hollow, Petulant, and Morose...
The elf's metaphorical origins story: In the post-apocalypse (how they think of this world) there are those that remember the before, and those born after who simply accept the world as it is and don't feel any loss for what they have... lost. The elf then thinks of themsleves as those that know the before and this causes them stress.
Elves have a connection between each other, not as direct or definite as a Borg hive mind, but something more than a mere abstracted collective unconscious or a world-soul.
Heightened sensitivity to the vibrations of magick, to the connections between sapient lives.
The soulfulness of the elf as a damaging connection that needs to be managed by solitude and natural balance, or else, the elf falls into a resentful negativity with violent outbursts of self-destructive anger.
Power is a weakness, the harder they push back the worse they are broken. Only calm reflective acceptance and balance is the answer to the constant feedback they feel.
Elves and Orcs, perhaps because of their 'histories of violence' have the possibility to become steadfast friends (as individuals/characters, as pecies everyone remains reasonably neutral, although their is some distrust everywhere) but they also have the possiblity of forming dreadfully hate fueled vendettas.
Their anger (extreme aggression and depression) is a genetic disease also called the 'weight of ages' and it is a primitive instictual self desctruction in the face of ultimate horror. This contrasts with the righteous orcish arrogance of their prideful rages.
Elves value aesthetic perfection above all else. This and other factors makes the elves rather detached from 'normal' society and interactions. An elf might react with great joy to some ancient carving or obscure object, but yet seem utterly unmoved by something otherwise hideous or tragic. Elves do not value friendship in the same way that other species do, although they are very loyal to their own people and those they have come to trust, they seem somewhat cold and aloof in their dealings with others, but this is just another manner in which the elf attempts both to attain aesthetic purity (a key concept for elves) and to atone for the past sins of the elven people.

As such a long-lived species (most elves live at least 1000 years) an elf is never in a hurry to act or make a judgement, they prefer to consider things at length. However, this does not stop elves from violent or rash actions, indeed, they are an aggressive people prone to seemingly meaningless cruelty.

Part of their origin myth is that the elves were once servants of the “Vile Mysteries”, the chosen ones whom these dark powers formed in their image to please and serve them. Some elves came to see the actions of their masters and creators as wrong and in a great war, broke the power of the Vile Mysteries, overthrew them and freed the other species from their control. Such rebellion came at a price however and the once great elven people were now cursed and thrown out of their former paradise. Abandoned into a cold and empty world, the once mighty people are now struggling with the guilt of their past and their apathy towards the future. There are still rumours that their more powerful uncursed brethren (the “High Elves”) are elsewhere hidden in mighty fortresses and biding their time for the return of the Vile Mysteries. (Note: Whatever truth lies in the myth has been obscured by elven ego and their desire for martyrdom).

PSYCHOLOGICAL KEY
Highest: Calm
Component: Nature (connected)
Lowest: Overwhelming sadness
Elements: Solitary, reflective, sharp

ADDITIONAL

Reproduction: asexual, external pod laying and fertilising

Slang name: Dolls

"Stares into space like a dead china doll." Elliot Smith, Waltz #2

LeCraft: Species - Goblin

(As with all of the forthcoming Species posts, these are mostly compilations of notes made over the last few years and are therefore mostly a gathering exercise, rather than anything final or definite)

INTRODUCTION

Goblins here are the 'little' species that has been variously portrayed as; hobbits, gnomes, halflings, goblins themselves, but also, gremlins, gretchin, snotlings, tengu, bogies, and etc. However, in the 'literature' goblins have always been portrayed as a low-level enemy, typically the first encounter with a player group is against goblins, who are not much of a threat unless in larger groups. They are typically malevolent, chaotic and mischievous. The altering of many of these classic tropes in the 90s saw Goblins become somewhat like the Ferengi from Star Trek: The Next Generation, comically greedy and more than a little annoying. Similarly in World of Warcraft, the Goblin's key attribute was their obsession with 'tinkering' and (as in Warhammer) for making things that go BOOM!
Rather then than unnecessarily splitting the 'good' little people from the 'bad' instead I want to depict a species that is not merely a cipher for our own guilt at the portrayal of actual little people (people of restricted height) in our media.
Goblins, like Orcs, are not 'monsters' meant only to be a (minor) challenge to the players, but are a species of the same depth and complexity as every other.
That said, I'm therefore combining a lot of the very human species signifiers that all the listed 'creatures' have been described by. So, my Goblins are; as homely as hobbits, as inquisitive as gnomes, as mischievous as the classic goblin, with a love of nature and technology (often at odds), and as capable as being a solitary intellectual recluse as they are a social reckless troublemaker.

Also in the back of my mind are stories of; little green men, wildmen of the woods, Homo habilis, and generally folk tales of fairy people from all over the world.

Why Goblins and not Halflings? (the D&D non-copyright infringing hobbit)? Well, I am not overly fond of Tolkien's description of his hobbits. Although, I suppose that goblins fulfill much the same function for myself as they do for him. For Tolkien, the hobbit represents something 'we' as modern people have lost in our world, that is, a practical connection with the earth, a decent truthful friendliness and playfulness. This manifests itself, for Tolkien, as West Country farming folk with the occasional academic hero (Bagginses). The olde England we've lost with progress (i.e. the evil of Saruman) and so the hobbits are peculiarly English (something even Peter Jackson can't lose) and Victorian. I have in mind a similar sort of metaphor for everything modern humanity tends to destroy without thinking; from the Amazon to Australian Aborigines, the Sami, the Picts, the Ainu, all the lost peoples of Earth. Their connection to the land is not magick but comes from a practical intuition, a natural people but not perfect either.

Disclaimer: (I will write in greater detail about this, possibly after I've also posted the species of 'Dwarves') The goblin is meant as a culturally complete (non-Eurocentric) alien race, something non-human and not an analogue for any actual or existing people or culture.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, in order of newest to oldest;
Shaggy green fur
Long lithe limbs, multi-jointed, with 4 articulated hands and one prehensile tail/tentacle with three 'nubs'
Barrel or sack like body/torso/central section
Large head, swivel neck that is long and retracting
Beaked muzzle
Three central eyes, with the third eye being a literal magickal eye (hidden?)
Part Sloth
Part Monkey
Part Parrot
Part ugly cute
Part Hobbit
Part Jerrawerra, the hairy man of the woods
Dense oily sweet-smelling fur
Stooped, bow-legged stance but fast and agile
Never wears clothing but wears accessories
Green fur, tail, 3 eyes, narrow mouth
Goblins are small hairy green people.
Rather, mostly green, a dark forest green compared to the lighter Orcish green, but some are instead red, some mottled.
They have a smell that while not distracting is distinctive, although it is true that Dwarves find the smell "annoying." A patchouli-like smell, or something floral, vegetable or herbal without being easy to place. To some, i.e. the Dwarf, they smell more like rotten vegetation.
Oily slick short fur that covers almost the entire body except for; face, hands/feet and midriff.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION, as before newest to oldest;
Magickal symbiotic creatures live inside them, moths in the fur like a sloth.
Society is built around trust of communication. Typically in the fantasy genre, talking (an excess of), as well as singing and laughing are all seen as child-like in relation to the dark and brooding silent masculine hero of the gritty new fantasy. Therefore this small 'weak' creature whose strength is in words, in articulating, in listening (sometimes), in dreaming, could be seen as a female-other.
Lies are not taboo or unknown, just pointless. "You can't lie to a Goblin, they just know."
Goblins as the arboreal freedom loving rhetoricians that define traditional 'cute' or 'small' species of fantasy literature; hobbits, wow goblins, dragonlance kender, various monkey-folk and so forth. Even the chaotic spirit of the gnome from d&d and wow.
They love technology, family, and mischief.
Goblins don't wear clothes.
Goblins avoid armour.
Goblins avoid physical contact.
As a species that base 'victory' on verbal dexterity rather than physical prowess, they are entirely sexually equal society.
Although they see sex as an enjoyable recreation, more so than most other species, they have no hang-ups about gender or orientation.
Goblins are agile; mentally, verbally and physically, even to the point that they tie themselves in knots, but they also love peace, quiet and a good feast.
Related to dwarves? No. All species should be unique.
Also, less like the Star Trek Ferengi; species specific character; greedy, selfish, short-sighted.
Arboreal ancestors, something mischievous and monkey-like.
A focus and love of rhetoric, persuasion, rule-making, but also freedom, with a love of heights and climbing, but a lack of concern about private property, they are group orientated.


PSYCHOLOGICAL KEY
Highest: Joy
Component: Communication (food)
Lowest: Greed
Elements: Open, Curious, Playful
Goblins admire human endeavour but are jealous of Dwarven skill. They are cowed by the Elves reckless self-destruction, but are amused by the Orc's prideful rage.

ADDITIONAL
Reproduction: Sexual, hermaphrodite species, although with 5 'grades' of gender but without male and female designation. Mostly 'male', mostly 'female', somewhat 'male', somewhat 'female', both. This is also something that can change of the course of the Goblin's life.
Slang name: Grease-monkeys, oil-bears

Some images that most closely resembles the image of the Goblin in my mind. The first are from an artist and puppeteer operating as 'Handsome Devil Puppets' and this was taken from her Instagram account. It is of a puppet of the West Virginian Mothman cryptid that was a work in progress, the final version is trimmed and appropriately mothlike with antennae and wings, but I especially liked the 'sloth-like' fur.

LeCraft: Species - On Variety

I'm going to start publishing my design notes for the different sapient species, but rather than have the appearance of each creature be definite, instead I want to keep a variety of imaginative descriptions that allow each player or games runner to effectively create the species as they see fit.

This is because I don't want to limit other's creative visions and instead tie them to how I think everyone should see each creature. Not least because I also think this helps develop the idea that magick has permeated through all things, such that each evolutionary channel for a species exists simultaneously.

So each species can have as many of the descriptive 'extras' that I will use, but they will always have certain core components that should probably be kept as this explains their species psychology. Note that I'm suggesting that appearance can and should be customised but that I feel the 'role' that each species psychology plays in the elucidation of the world view should be left as I have attempted to describe it. This is because, for me, each species is an aspect of abnormal psychology that greater describes the 'puzzle' of the story world, in that it is a mirror of human creativity, frustration and loss.

Let the player choose their own interpretation, some will want it to be defined for them and others will want to set their description wider. Give all approaches a chance. For the games runner their choices can affect the entire species or merely change individuals, as mentioned, both can be allowed. Ultimately what goes is left in the hands of the story teller and should be used to better develop their story/word.

D&D 'variety'

LeCraft: New page, a LeCraft archive (and a comment on comments)

Added to my list of pages (on the right side if viewing on a desktop/laptop PC, or available from drop-down list if viewing on a mobile device) is 'How did I learn to stop worrying and love LeCraft?'

PAGE LINK

This is mainly a method for myself of keeping track of what I've written up so far and what I have yet to do. It also makes finding specific files somewhat easier than trawling through the 'find by tag' function.

Answer: When I realised that I never had to finish it.

***

Also, you might have noticed that I've removed all comments, which might seem an odd move on my part but it is more motivated by my dislike of comments on social media than anything particular about this blog. Although it has to be said, I spend more time removing spam than I do responding to comments and even tend to miss the real comments that I do get when they are posted in the first place.

So, I was very pleased to discover the web browser extension called 'Shut Up' which hides all comment forms on all web pages, with the absolute best example of this being YouTube a site that was becoming almost unbearable due to the hideous comments that people would leave.

Anyway, as you've probably seen I've added a comment form to the sidebar of the main page and a separate page for comments too. This removes the public show procedure of comment leaving that might dissuade some people from commenting at all. As I say on the page, if you are moved to comment by anything that I've written then please use the form to message me.

PAGE LINK

Games Day: LeCraft - Fantasy Combat

Almost all RPGs are focused entirely upon combat, even the ones were there is an attempt to develop internal politics and other non-violent means of conflict resolution, still the inevitable fighting mechanic forms the central core of the game and must be detailed. As these are games and as players are conditioned to play to win, so the swiftest resolution is always with combat and a few dice rolls, "bang bang, you're dead"... "but I built my character with debating skills"... "my character has an M14 rifle and shoots your character in the brain stem. Game over."

Perhaps it's simply the fact that RPGs have developed from war games, perhaps it's the way we play games, perhaps it's our violent natures.

In any case I can imagine that a game or story that did not involve either actual violence (action) or the threat of violence (horror) to be dismissed as 'boring' or 'not realistic'. Let's be clear though, my game/story world is not a passifist utopia.

However.

Not to remove the reality of violence, instead as a story mechanic it's use should not be without danger or consequence, the use of violence is rarely a solution, as it merely creates the potential for other worse situations. The cycle of violence, revenge, permanent injury, the loss of one's identity to that of a corrupt 'other place' (cf. Lynch). Much like magick is this world's literal depiction of the corruption of power, of influence, so that violence here should also be extreme with the possibility of perma-death (what other kind should we think of?), of physical damage (although fixable by magick, this too lends itself to risk), or of mental-spiritual damage, leading to becoming feral, a lesser animalistic being. 

That is, if we consider violence as an animal instict and therefore basic or innate, should it be feared or controlled or denied or embraced?

 Perhaps something we should watch for is the trivilising of this attitude, or the domestication or even the gamification of violence. This is because it can help manufacture the idea that this is what we really are. It makes the assumption through it's repeated use in games and stories that violence is basic is innate is true to what we are. The argument of its inescapability meaning that we must embrace this lust for violence, but this sadistic pleasure in causing pain, in 'getting back', in solution (because surely when they are all dead there can be no more problems), is a social construct, it is the argument of authoritarianism, of Fascism, of the sociopath.

The animal does not love violence.

Innate does not mean always, it is appropriate only with the context. The hawk does not kill without 'reason'.

So, this isn't to disparage those that enjoy the combat aspect of their games. Indeed, as I said, it's obviously a key component for most games for a reason. Might I suggest that it is because it is more directly emotive and more easily generalisable for a wider audience. What I wish to develop is that idea of combat in games being more than just a few 'exciting' dice rolls, I want it to be something that players are actually apprehensive of.

In stories this 'realism' of combat can be described to convey the physicality, the danger, and so forth, but it is unlikely the writer will be as literally descriptive as players in a role-playing game. Indeed, the 'shot-for-shot' description of a conflict from a rpg into a story would be incredibly dull. However, something a rpg can convey is complex multitude of instant decisions that one might make during a fight (albeit they think over these choices for far longer and can strategise).

Dice-rolling mediated by additional factors (skill, environment, equipment) does a reasonable job of depicting the potential randomness of violent confrontation, but due to the gamifying of the event this introduces a level of agency and control to the situation that is inauthentic.

Simply put, it is not random or final enough. The only time I can recall something 'real' occuring in a rpg was the old-style D&D that I first played aged twelve. At first level your character had 1D4 of hit points if a thief or a magic-user. Most basic weapons and animals do 1D6 damage (arrows, clubs, spears and short swords) meaning that you have a reasonably high likelihood of dying in one hit. Even fighters, whose whole class focus is fairly obvious, only start with 1D8 of hit points (although this can modified up to +3 with bonuses), which means that several good hits will kill pretty much every first level character. Also, despite resurrection being possible in D&D this comes with a gold value (hurray for fantasy capitalism, there is no escape) meaning that again first level or low level characters can not afford it and must offer their services for repayment (useful as a plot hook, often exploited).

However, unfortunately, if your characters survive long enough they get to the point were this one-hit-kill possiblity is utterly removed, indeed, at high levels a single player character can overpower entire armies. Note: There is the possibility of high-level spells killing, 'disintegrating', characters but by this point characters are normally able to raise the dead themselves. Making death not the end, but instead a minor and temporary inconvenience.

LeCraft - what does a magus *do* with magick?

Advanced Magicks for the unwary

This post was written in response to a question (thread) on the LeCraft Updates Facebook group.

“What do the Magi actually *do* in the game?”

This question is much like the real-life everyday example of the uninitiated asking what does a scientist or an academic actually do? For the outsider (in both cases) it seems as if very little is being done, for they only see the results or the outgoing costs of the processes but not what the activity itself consists in. It may not even be the case that these processes are obscure or occult, but that the effort to learn about them is beyond the interest of the uninitiated questioner. To be sure (in both cases) to actually learn about the real depth of the work done requires a personal experience with the process itself, something that is not a possibility for the majority. Indeed, this is something that ‘pop science’ does not help either, because although the number of popular scientific commentators might help improve the general scientific knowledge of the otherwise uninitiated (specifically knowledge of the outcome, i.e. what science has accomplished) it doesn’t detail the arduousness of the endeavour, understandably perhaps, as long stories about why something did not work probably aren’t all that interesting for the common non-expert listener. In my own setting the ‘common’ knowledge of magick is not helped by the increasing pressure on the regulation of magick. What we might refer to as ‘specialisation’ in academia would be an equivalent to the focus upon magickal studies in LeCraft. Some of this is driven by the decrease in magickal power in the world, that is, its influence and/or the strength to control magick is lessening. However, this is not treated as a loss or catastrophe or in any way seen as a devolution to something more primitive. Instead it is seen as the world becoming less dependent on a dangerous source of power. So, the institutes accept less magus adepts each year and the rules governing intuitives are becoming harsher, while magick use in general is more restricted in everyday life, reserved, as it is, for the trained specialist only. There are still those born as sensitive to magickal energy, but without training they merely experience weird phenomena; having prophetic dreams, objects move or disappear, and so forth, they are also generally attractive to the denizens of the Down Below as hosts or food. Indeed, as magick fades, so do the protective barriers between the everyday realm of LeCraft and its dark ‘mirror’ dimension.

What then is the practice of magick like for the magus themselves? They are involved with the investigation on the control and understanding of magick much like science attempts to further understand processes. Thus, only those doing research magick, we might say, are experimenting with magick. There are recorded successful practices much like any sort of research is basis on prior investigations. We have and use certain formula in our scientific experiments, which may later be corrected. This is how magick can be thought of working. So, there exist basic 'tricks' that every student of magick learns, which are signposts for how learned they are as a practitioner, but the aim of most of the magi is to understand one thread of the complex magickal tapestry they all study with the hope that this fragmentary knowledge can be combined into some sort of holistic understanding.

Perhaps you are still seeing this magick as research to help create better fireballs, or typical fantasy D&D fodder. If so, the best manner to describe it would be to say that sometimes the outcome of a magickal procedure (spell being outdated, not all magick is linguistic) might manifest as the creation of new matter or the transformation of existing matter and many other more outrageous effects, but the focus of the magick itself was to detail the complex interaction of forces in an effort to understand how this power source might be reapplied.

My motive for the game and the difference from traditional D&D fantasy, is to compare preternatural and supernatural, it is a world bent against mythical heroic figures and towards the everyday horrors of existence, albeit in a fantastical world that nevertheless still operates under similar laws of reality despite its alien nature.

Supernatural: Beyond or above the laws of nature. Something outwith ordinary existence. A transcendent being that defies normal laws, i.e. a divine capacity à la God.

Preternatural: Something that is apparently inexplicable by natural means. Unexplained and uncanny, but of this world. Exceeding the natural but not exceeding the laws of nature itself.

So, the laws of physics are not being broken or ignored, such as paradoxical magic might. Instead, the influence of those laws are being manipulated into extension. For many fantasy settings physical problems such as “how could a dragon fly?” are explained by “because magic.” This is not enough for the preternatural world of LeCraft.

A second question, initiated by the first, goes something like, “how does the practice of magick affect everyday life for the non-magi majority?”

The experiments of the magi are not without application. Indeed, some believe that the magi have not gone far enough with this activity and they have developed various systems for incorporating magicks into everyday LeCraft life. Albeit with mixed (normally dangerous/fatal) results. The Battle-Mage and the Techno-Mage (better names pending) are two such examples of ‘reality engineers’. They are considered dangerous amateurs by the magi and are discredited by the institutes at every opportunity. However, they have managed to replicate the process to create automatons, design moving platforms (“you might call them transport, but we think ‘moving platform’ just sounds better!” – a reality engineer), and manufacture weaponry to defend people from alien creatures. It’s just that sometimes these inventions also open gates to the ‘Down Below’ or explode, killing dozens, or just flat-out break…

Finally, the full question was specifically about what the magi do when they are not “doing magick.” The answer is pretty straightforward. What do scientists do when not researching? Well, that depends on the scientist. Remember, however, that as exceptional as each player character will be, they are not mythic heroes. They are ‘normal’ people who are being drawn into (willingly or not) a dangerous adventure/mystery. Typically, our player characters will have some obsession with a particular secret or so forth that dominates their lives anyway, but some of them will have all the usual sorts of distractions.

Games Day: LeCraft - Humans in Fantasy (Additional)

It occurred to me that in my previous post I could have said something more descriptive about the humans in my setting; what they look like, what they believe, how they vary, what makes them distinctive as  a species, where (or when) they have come from, and many other specifying things. Without giving you, the reader, this information I feel it becomes too easy for us to fall back on the idea that we are dealing with something like a direct transposition of Earth to ‘Fantasy Setting X’ (I’ll keep this as a backup name for my world). 

This is something that I’m keen to avoid, but realise that I’ll have to provide something like a map or guide book for my setting in order to get the ‘feeling’ of the place over. I’ll add a link to a pinterest board of landscapes that evoke my image of the world’s look, and I’ll also add a link to a youtube playlist with some appropriate ‘mood’ music. These will be added to as often as I can manage, so keep checking back.

Link1 (YouTube)

Link2 (Pinterest)

Before I go into more about humanity in the LeCraft setting, I’d like to list a selection of descriptive paragraphs about humans from several other fantasy RPGs, with a view to showing how we (that is, how humans) are most often portrayed in fantasy settings:

13^th Age

As in most recent fantasy games, we like using humans of various ethnicities and styles. Some map to cultures in the game world, while others are part of the magical mixing pot.

Anima - Beyond Fantasy

Race here does not refer to ethnicity, but rather to a true supernatural species with attributes distinct from ours. The world of Anima is predominantly human …

Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition

There is no typical human. An individual can stand from 5 feet to a little over 6 feet tall and weigh from 125 to 250 pounds. Human skin shades range from nearly black to very pale, and hair colors from black to blond (curly, kinky, or straight); males might sport facial hair that is sparse or thick.

Humans are the most adaptable and ambitious people among the common races. They have widely varying tastes, morals, and customs in the many different lands where they have settled.

The material culture and physical characteristics of humans can change wildly from region to region. In the Forgotten Realms, for example, the cl0thing, architecture, cuisine, music, and literature are different…

In the Forgotten Realms, nine human ethnic groups are widely recognized…

Fantasy Craft

You’re a human, standing 5 ft. to 6 ft. tall and weighing between 100 to 250 lbs. Your hair, eyes, skin tone, and other physical features vary as much as your culture, which spreads quickly and borrows heavily from all others. You’re extremely inquisitive, trading ideas like most trade supplies, and adopting customs and terms from friends and foes alike. You’re also wildly ambitious, your culture making in-roads everywhere, sometimes through diplomacy, often through conquest. For all these reasons your appearance, demeanor, society, laws, religion, accumulated knowledge, and even language may be completely different from those of other humans, even your neighbors. Unlike other races, it is this very difference that defines you as a species. As a relatively short-lived breed, you view life as an adventure, an undiscovered country to explore and command. You blaze new trails every day, sampling and savoring every experience as a great treasure, and with every step you shape your own unique destiny. You haven’t the time or the patience for your brother’s means and aims, though sometimes you accept those of your father; you’re his legacy, after all, and how else will he be remembered? You make your own friends and enemies and cherish both as part of what makes you special.

Pathfinder

Humans possess exceptional drive and a great capacity to endure and expand, and as such are currently the dominant race in the world. Their empires and nations are vast, sprawling things, and the citizens of these societies carve names for themselves with the strength of their sword arms and the power of their spells. Humanity is best characterized by its tumultuousness and diversity, and human cultures run the gamut from savage but honorable tribes to decadent, devil-worshiping noble families in the most cosmopolitan cities. Human curiosity and ambition often triumph over their predilection for a sedentary lifestyle, and many leave their homes to explore the innumerable forgotten corners of the world or lead mighty armies to conquer their neighbors, simply because they can. Physical Description: The physical characteristics of humans are as varied as the world’s climes. From the dark-skinned tribesmen of the southern continents to the pale and barbaric raiders of the northern lands, humans possess a wide variety of skin colors, body types, and facial features. Generally speaking, humans’ skin color assumes a darker hue the closer to the equator they live.

Savage Worlds

Humans in most settings should get the usual benefit — one free Edge of their choice. This option reflects their versatility and adaptability compared to other races. If you like more variety, you might also give humans abilities based on culture rather than race.

True20

This is the default background for True20 heroes in a game using backgrounds. Human heroes may have cultural backgrounds in addition to their racial background to provide additional depth and options for the players.

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The paragraphs above all the give the typical descriptions of humans in contemporary fantasy games. Firstly, note that most make an effort to capture the ‘diversity’ of humanity. This is, of course, handled in different ways in some games. For example, although D&D goes to great, expansive and unnecessary lengths to describe all the differing ways in which people can physically appear (something we’re hopefully well aware of already, but it also highlights, I suppose, that all these ethnic differences are also carried over to the D&D Forgotten Realms setting. So, no “we’re all white Vikings” settings for you, unless you do that anyway…). However, in the longer print version of the human description in D&D they also describe the numerous different Forgotten Realms ‘ethnicities’ of humans, which can be easily mapped to ethnicities of our own world without much difficulty. Quite what the point of all these descriptions is when it is hand-waved into “just play humans as the ethnicity you’re most comfortable with, i.e. your own” is beyond me. There’s a great deal of descriptive ‘fluff’ (especially from D&D) with it all amounting to pretty much what the 13^th Age description says, “[s]ome map to cultures in the game world, while others are part of the magical mixing pot.” Needless to say then, I have purposely set out with the idea of humanity being of the second category, that is, of an entirely different ‘ethnicity’ than anything we might see on earth and that the whole species thinks of itself as one (albeit residing in different city-states).

Second, I think the descriptions also give a strong indication why it is that other fantasy ‘races’ all end up being rather one-note, because the idea of a diverse, versatile, and adaptive species is pretty given as the human’s shtick. This is due to the fact that it’s actually quite hard to sum up an entire species in terms of these sorts of characteristics. If we were to think about any of the descriptions given about the usual fantasy races, these could also be applied to a general appraisal of humanity. The industry and stubbornness of dwarves, the wisdom and detachment of elves, the connection to nature and warmth of hobbits, the conniving cowardly nature of goblins, the ferocious warlike animalism of orcs, and so forth. All of these can apply to an aspect of humanity, but rather than allow diversity in these other fantasy species we’re left instead with simplistic archetypes, which is understandable in terms of basic gameplay, but at the level of role-playing it seems rather dull. (At the level of story-telling it’s almost monstrous…)

So, rather than limit what a particular species can be, I intend to provide the psychological perspectives and stereotypes of each of the fantasy species on LeCraft, both from the internal angle of the species and as they are seen by others. I also think that rather than the fantasy concept of the different ‘races’ being basically humanoid but with specific racial characters, I will employ what could be thought of as the science-fiction approach, where differences in species are regarded as a result of a specific outcome of an imagined evolutionary process of a physiologically different species from humans. Iain M. Banks’s ‘Culture’ novels are a good example of this.

i.e. Not this

Now, I’m trying to envisage a world wherein humans have lived alongside varied alien species for some time and they have all (as species if not as individuals or groups) made a commitment to work with each other, rather than develop separately, because as this is an alien world for the majority and it is a hostile world at that, the reason need not be much more than basic survival. Further to that, working together to learn what magick is, how they can escape from this place (if, indeed, that is possible), and what purpose they are there for. Remember that, as I’ve previously said, time manipulation magick is somehow blocked and further to this that each species historic records are not fully know to them (the R’thexe seem to have some deep understanding of this but they are too confusingly obtuse to properly explain their knowledge).

What then “are humans like” on LeCraft?

1. Mixed ‘ethnically’ speaking. Some diversity in appearance, but have lost the culture for analysing this minor cosmetic information. To us they would look like a people that have been thoroughly mixed to the point of appearing like being from pretty much everywhere.
2. Physically what divides humanity from other species is the sexual dimorphism that is more pronounced than other species (some of which have more, or less, sexes than humans do).
3. The most pronounced psychological attribute of humanity is seen by other species as being their need for society, for building and maintaining groups. Perhaps ironically, humans are seen as the most diplomatic of the species. Although this is partially for historic reasons.
4. The main flaw of humanity, which can also be a strength, is their tendency towards self-deception, cognitive blindness, or ‘group-think’. The ability to believe something without evidence or even in the face of contradictory facts.