ELFQUEST - AN EXAMPLE OF BREAKING THE TRADITIONAL FANTASY TROPES

 

If you have followed comics and fantasy for the last 30+ years, you likely know of "Elfquest". Whether you were a fan of the comic or not and whether or not you played the TTRPG, you are likely at least partly aware of it. If nothing else, you know the look and the stylings of the characters in the comic. This will not be a deep dive into the comic, it's characters, stories or themes, but I will be using Elfquest as and example of a setting that tinkers with, quite successfully, in playing with the common tropes and themes of the fantasy genre.

At it's core, Elfquest is both an example of paleo-fantasy and a fantasy setting that turns the usual mix of fantasy races on it its side (not quite on its head). In The World of Two Moons, there are only humans, and three fantasy races - elves, trolls, and preservers (faeries). Of these three fantasy races, the elves are the only ones that would be considered "core" races for use by players as characters. The official TTRPG for the game did offer rules for playing humans and trolls as well, but the comics very much focus on the perspective of the elves (it is called Elfquest).

In this setting we are presented with elves who are both familiar and new. Wild elves, civilized elves, warlike elves, peaceful elves, even elves of widely varying degrees of magical and natural ability. If we look at the 5E races for D&D, the Elfquest elves might be achieved by using the existing elves but also some of the non-elven races. While the High Ones would easily fit with the high elf sub-race, the Wolfriders might better be portrayed by the the Wood Gnome as they are small in size and have an affinity for their wolf companions. Still other elves of the World of Two Moons elves might be represented by halflings. Certainly, the comfort-seeking, peaceful and warm Sun Folk fit the bill. The trolls of Elfquest are very much more akin to dwarves, being grumpy, industrious, bearded subterranean folk known for their greed and crafting of fine metal goods. Still other elves of the World of Two Moons elves might be represented by halflings. Certainly, the comfort-seeking, peaceful and warm Sun Folk fit the bill. The trolls of Elfquest are very much more akin to dwarves, being grumpy, industrious, bearded subterranean folk known for their greed and crafting of fine metal goods. 

While none of these simple reskins of existing D&D races truly do the Elfquest characters justice, they do serve as an example of how the common tropes of fantasy can be skewed into something new and interesting. In this World of Two Moons, we only have the three fantasy races, but they come in such a wide range of cultures, shapes and character that they really are very different races. As the accompanying image shows, there is a noticeable distinction between the physical statures of High Ones and Sunfolk.

WHY DO WE USE THE SAME OLD FANTASY RACES?

The easiest answer to the question is that it's just easier that way. Whether it is ease of design (the work is already done) or easy recognition and understanding by players and GMs, by using existing, well known fantasy races the designer of a setting cuts down on the amount of work they have to do to get their game to the table and player engaged with it. But does a game setting need the standard races to be enjoyable, accessible, and playable? The answer to this question is a resounding and firm, "maybe".

The major problem with filling a fantasy world with new and exotic life is that it can become murky and mired down in detail that detracts from the game. This is not necessarily the case, but it is always a danger. Having fantasy races in your game that are too weird or too numerous can create a sense of wonder and imagination, but it can also leave players (including the GM) nothing to anchor too. If everything is new and alien then the barrier to understanding and engagement is that much greater. For many players this is enjoyable and desirable as the act of playing the game becomes a true exploration of something wholly new and wonderous. However, for many players this will just end up being a frustrating struggle to figure out who and what they are and where they fit into a world they do not understand.

The TTRPG "Talislanta", first published in 1987 and with several editions following up to the present, is a great example to use when examining the effect of trying to build a world where none of the typical fantasy races exist. Bringing hundreds of unique races and cultures to the players, right up front, Talislanta was championed by its pitch of "No Elves!", a motto that was not entirely true in practice even if it was mostly true in theory. 

I remember pouring over all of the insane, imaginative, fantastic races presented in the the rules and feeling an immense sense of wonder and possibility both as a GM and as a potential player. I read through all the races and the monsters, which are also mostly unique and unusual, and coming away feeling that initial sense of wonder withering under a shadow of something else - confusion. 

The problem with Talislanta is that there is just too much going on to make setting into the game easy. the best I could come up with was to pick a place in the world to start the game and limit options to what was common there. As imaginative and evocative as Talislanta was, it was just too much. The races there were a mix of strange and exotic and subtle variation on tropes and themes used elsewhere. While the "No Elves!" claim was mostly true, there were plenty of races in the game that were elves in everything but name.

If we do want to use new races in our games, we need to do so with a bit of restraint, something Talislanta lost sight of. D&D as a game, has always presented itself with a few core races and then expanded from there. Considering this design choice has been repeated across countless TTRPGs from dozens of genres, there is clearly something to it and it is worth taking note of when designing our own weird worlds of fantasy. 

When laying out your assortment of new fantasy species, it helps to have at least one that is potentially more accessible and less alien than the others. This will give your players a reference point by which they can gauge the weirdness and newness of the other species. Even Talislanta had familiar tropes even if it called them something else and there were "humans". Assigning familiar tropes, even just as GM notes, to your new races can go a long way in making them more playable and understandable to your players. A simple "like wood elves" or "like dwarves" or even "Klingon/Vulcan mashup" can go a long way in providing a useful shorthand for your new fantasy (or scifi) races. The main lesson here, is to keep the pallet simple and limited to a handful of starter races. 

All TTRPGS ultimately introduce more and more unique races over time, providing new options for players and GMs alike. Often these are added as the game world expands and new territories are explored. This keeps the game interesting and provides new ways to play but can lead to a loss of theme and overall feel if you are not careful but it does avoid the mire of options that I believe hampered Talislanta.

On a final note, it is important to consider that you do not need to completely reinvent the wheel when it comes to your fantasy races. A simple reskinning of existing races is often all that is needed to make a fantasy world that seems different even if it present the same options. An example of this, in my mind, is the classic TSR TTRPG "Star Frontiers" where we have four core races that have always seemed like analogs for common fantasy races, just given a nice scifi overhaul. While they didn't demonstrate the same appearances or abilities as D&D races, the Vrusk, Dralasite, and Yazirian of Star Frontiers did present family racial profiles and overviews. 

It is an easy exercise to create a world where the common D&D races have new identities. You could make them all into anthropomorphic animal races if that was the campaign you wanted or perhaps you want a world where there are no gnomes but you still want their abilities in the game and so they become some new fantasy race. It would be entirely possible to create a world of elves where every classic D&D race was now some form of elf, living in new and interesting ways. Races handled in this manner are less work for the DM, in terms of game design, and really need as little or as much background work as you want.

BUILD YOUR WORLD THROUGH YOUR MONSTERS

 

Over the decades, D&D and other fantasy games have seen the creation of countless monsters for use in games. While there are many monster that are made with specific worlds or settings in mind, most of these are designed with very broad strokes and generally fill the need for an everflowing wellspring of opponents for DMs to throw at their players. Such a generalized approach to monster design certainly succeeds in keeping players on their toes and indulging GMs in their desire to constantly surprise and vex their players, however, this also leads to many game worlds lacking definition and identity. 

I have often heard that players grow tired of fighting the same monsters over and over again but I often wonder if this is a projection of GMs put upon their players based on perceived or even wholly imagined concerns. Many classic fantasy worlds are carefully curated with monsters and other foes becoming integral parts of those settings and providing a ready shorthand for the themes and character of those worlds. Tolkien's world is distinct from C.S. Lewis' and much of this has to do with the monsters that populate them. While Tolkien's world has some familiar denizens such as dragons and giants, many of them are very much unique or at least different rom others. Lewis, instead, chooses to populate his world almost exclusively and quite purposefully with classic creatures of myth and legend (including Santa Claus) and this makes both these classic fantasy realms feel distinct from one another even though they are both recognizeable as defined fantasy worlds. 

It would be easy to argue that these worlds are the products of authors crafting stories and that they are thus very different from gaming worlds. Game worlds are, afterall, made for gaming in and it makes sense that there be a desire, perhaps even a need for a steady supply of new monsters to populate adventures. True as this may be, it is also possible to regulate the flow of new monsters while maintaining a consistent caste of creature that sets the tone and feel of your world. Maintaining a steady but restrained pace when introducing new monsters will go far in establishing the character of your game world and will aid in your storytelling. 

Once you have established the "normal" monsters for your world, you can focus your GMing work on how to use them and build stories including and focused around them. What's more, your players will be able to use this consistency to help engage with the world. When you send your players to a swampy region and it is established, through lore and previous encounters, that swamps are places where lizardmen can be found, the wheels will begin to turn when your players are required to go there. This doesn't mean that you should add in other swamp dwellers or that every visit to the swamps means lizardmen, but it does mean there should be an expectation that such an encounter is very likely.

Setting expectations and maintaining them as a matter of course does not mean creating a boring fantasy world. It means creating a world that lives and breathes and plays by rules and a degree of verisimilitude which you can then use to truly hightlight those things that stand out. If swamps are places where lizardment are found (to use the previous example) and the players start to find swamps devoid of lizardmen, having established the lizardmen's ubiquity should make their absence obvious to your players without you having to specifically highlight that absence. Furthermore, the lizardmen allow you a foundation to build on to the lore of your swamps and they become a vehicle for you to introduce new, but thematic enemies. When the lizardmen go to war with their neighbors, what monsters do they bring with them? Do they ride giant lizards and besiege settlements atop massive war turtles? Are they led to this conflict by a swamp hag who has it in for a local baron who has vexed her? 

The use and resuse of monsters is important to creating a world and while the constant flow of new monsters may be tempting, their inclusions should be done purposefully and with restraint so as not to erode the work you have done in crafting a world that players feel their characters truly live in.