One of my interests is to try and keep "traditional" fantasy fresh by putting new spins on old ideas. Same thing with trying to incorporate ideas from mythology into D&D fantasy-could a hill giant really wrestle with a shapechanging river for a prize they both covet (as Heracles wrestled with a river to marry Deianira)? Could a warrior with a cursed battleaxe end up severing each of his limbs one after another, needing them eventually replaced by limbs of metal, crafted by gnomes (like the Tin Woodsman needed new tin limbs every time his cursed axe chopped off one of his flesh and blood ones in Baum's original fairy tale)?
This also extends into real life mythology transplanted into D&D, assuming they all existed in the same setting. How might the trolls of Celtic myth interact with Ananzi the spider-trickster of African lore? Would Coyote be able to pull the same kinds of tricks on the wise old dragons of Chinese myth that she did on foolish or overly proud North American Aboriginal figures?
Assuming demihumans and humanoids are spread all around the world (a given for my version of Greyhawk), how might they vary in culture from their Flanaess equivalents? Could dwarf clans be intimately tied to human Oriental ones, considering all other dwarves their enemies unless their human clans are at peace? Could gnomes be engaged in a type of fur trade with North American Aboriginal people, trading metal swords and alcohol in exchange for furs, corn, and other vegetables? How would elves get along with Aztec-style empires? Orcs aren't immediately hated and feared in Zeif-how do Arabic-style cultures view hobgoblins, if they were to live in (relative) peace with the humans, only venting their rage against the human nation's enemies?
All of the above, assumes that the standard D&D stereotypes are still present. Dwarves, elves and dragons all exist, spread throughout the world. Every human culture will have devised some sort of written script, if for no other reason than to have a way for magic-users to retain their spells. Just about every culture will have metal weapons, having been taught smithing by demihuman races, or acquiring the weapons from slain nonhuman enemies.
Thoughts? Comments? Critiques? _________________ <div align="left">Going to war without Keoland is like going to war without a pipe organ. They both make a lot of noise and they're both a lot of dead weight, so what's the point in taking them along? </div>
One of my interests is to try and keep "traditional" fantasy fresh by putting new spins on old ideas. Same thing with trying to incorporate ideas from mythology into D&D fantasy-could a hill giant really wrestle with a shapechanging river for a prize they both covet (as Heracles wrestled with a river to marry Deianira)? Could a warrior with a cursed battleaxe end up severing each of his limbs one after another, needing them eventually replaced by limbs of metal, crafted by gnomes (like the Tin Woodsman needed new tin limbs every time his cursed axe chopped off one of his flesh and blood ones in Baum's original fairy tale)?
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I think the idea of melding traditional mythological ideas with "traditional" fantasy is not only a good idea, it brings fantasy back to its roots. Much of Tolkien's universe has its base in Welsh, Norse, and Finnish mythology. In fact, he practially stole the story of Turin Turumbar's tryst with his sister from the story of Kullervo (as an aside, Jean Sibelius put the story of Kullervo to music in a wonderful symphony--you can feel his rage and despair in the vocals).
Putting the fantastic elements like Hercules wrestling with a river--well. It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it? Suppose your hero has to change a river's course to save a town: he goes up into the hills, builds a damn, and comes back with a story of how he wrestled the river. Or worse yet, a bard invents it for him! Something like this happened to my paladin character: her brother was a bard, and was always twisting her heroic deeds (and some less heroic ones) into comedies.
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