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View Full Version : Creation story roadblock.



sammyp03
2016-07-12, 04:57 PM
In my creating story I'm hitting writers block. My idea is that the creator (who's a she) formed from a conflicting nexus of powers who sought over the essence of creation. She then goes on to create her firstborn but is distraught at the fact that they themselves can't create but only copy she turns her back on them and thus creates a new realm. The mortal realm.

Here's what I have so far. Any input and ideas would be awesome.

In the Beginning, the Maelstrom of Darkness covered all it touched.
The various energies and Primordial entities interested in shaping it battled for their own interpretation of reality. Then she sprung forth from the nexus of these conflicting powers like a Diamond formed from coal. In her infinite wisdom, she could see every new thing that was good and proper. Coveting them, she reached out to snatch the greatest of creation to forge her own personal realm, a perfect pearl containing everything pure and proper.

Xuc Xac
2016-07-12, 06:28 PM
Is there any reason you need a creation story? I mean, it can't be very important to your world if you don't even know what it should be. It's obviously not central to the conflicts in the setting. If your world is something like Germany in the Middle Ages, then it doesn't really matter where the world came from. The people believe in the story of Genesis, but it doesn't come up in their daily lives except as decorations on the wall in church. More important is that the Roman Empire used to be really big but then collapsed, which is why educated people speak Latin and all the important books are written in it. Even more important is that Charlemagne reunited a lot of territory including where they live, but it fell apart again. The most important thing is what their local prince is doing and what his relationship is with the neighboring princes. The last couple decades of history matter more than the thousands that came before that.

The Greeks had a creation story, but it didn't really matter because the deities involved were overthrown. You could run an entire campaign in an Ancient Greek setting and never need to know anything about the titans that made the world. You only need to know who the current gods are.

You could run thousands of campaigns in a world with a Buddhist cosmology. Do you know what the Buddhist creation story is? "*shrug* The world is here now. You're here now. Deal with it here and now."

If you don't have any ideas for what to do for a creation story, then don't make one just to have one.

LudicSavant
2016-07-12, 09:27 PM
In the Beginning, the Maelstrom of Darkness covered all it touched.
The various energies and Primordial entities interested in shaping it battled for their own interpretation of reality. Then she sprung forth from the nexus of these conflicting powers like a Diamond formed from coal. In her infinite wisdom, she could see every new thing that was good and proper. Coveting them, she reached out to snatch the greatest of creation to forge her own personal realm, a perfect pearl containing everything pure and proper.

Okay. As Xuc Xac said, don't make a creation story out of a sense of obligation, the idea that you're just "supposed" to have one. No creation story is better than a bland or irrelevant one.

If you are going to write a creation story, you should determine its narrative and cultural purpose. Why is it relevant to the players' understanding of your world and the conflicts that drive the story? What kind of culture produced this mythology, and what effect does it have on their culture?