Setting Sketch: Tír na nÓg
This is another one of those things I need to get out of my head so I can concentrate on my real work: a superhero setting of epic adventure inspired by the soundtrack to the anime Fairy Tail.
The manga/anime franchise Fairy Tail has a great setting -- an anachronistic magical/modern/medieval mashup where magic is as common as iPhones and wizards gather into guilds to take on epic quests for fun and profit (and where being a wizard means "being able to shoot fire from your hands and punch demons in the head") -- but the background music to the anime is this crazy mix of rock and Celtic music that always makes me yearn for my misspent youth as a would-be druid. It is awesome!
(I could and should write an entire post about how anime music is the perfect supplement for gaming ambiance, but that will have to wait.)
It makes me imagine a Tír na nÓg with the techno-magic of Jack Kirby's Asgard and the weird pastel vistas of a Filmation cartoon; it would be an anime by Jim FitzPatrick. It would be a superheroic setting where the characters didn't have to worry about the great responsibility that comes with great power -- because they're too busy punching giants in the face and stealing their stuff. Shirtless heroes and castles of bone and explosions and skyships and...
Aw, crap! I'm describing Exalted, aren't I?
The manga/anime franchise Fairy Tail has a great setting -- an anachronistic magical/modern/medieval mashup where magic is as common as iPhones and wizards gather into guilds to take on epic quests for fun and profit (and where being a wizard means "being able to shoot fire from your hands and punch demons in the head") -- but the background music to the anime is this crazy mix of rock and Celtic music that always makes me yearn for my misspent youth as a would-be druid. It is awesome!
(I could and should write an entire post about how anime music is the perfect supplement for gaming ambiance, but that will have to wait.)
It makes me imagine a Tír na nÓg with the techno-magic of Jack Kirby's Asgard and the weird pastel vistas of a Filmation cartoon; it would be an anime by Jim FitzPatrick. It would be a superheroic setting where the characters didn't have to worry about the great responsibility that comes with great power -- because they're too busy punching giants in the face and stealing their stuff. Shirtless heroes and castles of bone and explosions and skyships and...
Aw, crap! I'm describing Exalted, aren't I?
But in exalted you must add "..meanwhile the players are minimaxing the combos to be a decent fighter". I love de setting, the second edition was beautiful but its almost unplayable. And yes, I'm a masochist and I backed up the kickstarter for the 3rd edition
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteI owned 1st Edition Exalted for a short time and found myself intrigued by but baffled by the setting; it was just too weird for me to wrap my brain around it. I think I get it now (having picked up quite a bit by osmosis over the years) and look forward to seeing what 3rd edition is like.