Fairy tale/ Folk Tale world

[Sequinox]

Hi. I'm working on a world (see title) and I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction as to monsters and how to describe buildings. (This was influenced by Fable 2. To see what exactly I mean, click the link.)

[kwanzaabot]

Easy. Lots of Fey and Giants. Hags living in gingerbread cottages, talking animals replacing regular animals. Goblins and Kobolds would be a little more humanoid, yet mischievous (but rarely outright evil).

Also, most Dragons would be evil or at least misunderstood, and Elves, Gnomes and Dwarves would either live out in the wilderness, or be assimilated into human society.

The Narnia books/movies would be a good place to start for inspiration, and if you're not completely sick of the franchise like I am, try the Shrek movies. ;)

EDIT: Elves and Dwarves pretty much ARE Gnomes.

[Icewalker]

If you don't mind taking from other things, I suggest elements of Folklore. Good fairy-esque fantasy creatures of all sorts.

Here are some pictures.

[newbDM]

What edition are you running? I might be able to suggest some great 3rd party books for what you are after.


Either way, I love your idea. I would personally love to play such a game!

[MythMage]

Kwanzaabot is right: fey and giants and hags are the bread and butter of fairy tale settings. Evil dragons and saintly unicorns too, even if they don't really show up in legends/folktales as often as people think. I've been doing a lot of development work on fey which you might find useful. Some basic concept work is here: http://dicefreaks.forumz.cc/viewforum.php?f=13 and I'd be happy to give you more specific advice if you want to ask for any.

[kwanzaabot]

Kwanzaabot is right.

My favourite words. :D

Also, I highly recommend reading your own fairy tale books if you still have them (c'mon, everyone reads fairy tales as a kid!) and/or rent some out from your local library.

[Meek]

My favourite words. :D

Also, I highly recommend reading your own fairy tale books if you still have them (c'mon, everyone reads fairy tales as a kid!) and/or rent some out from your local library.

My mother sold my fairy tale books sometime around when I was 12.

I believe that was the first time I had violent and murderous thoughts regarding my mother. Perhaps also the first time I researched knives.

[Sequinox]

Okay, thanks for the feedback. I was thinking more along the lines of happy simple nothing can go wrong type stuff in towns and happy areas, but creepy stuff (banshees, ghosts, skeletons etc) in the dark, scary forests and underground... I guess this all came from me reading about the inspiration for Fable 2: Sleepy Hollow. Dark yet bright.

[Meek]

Well, you don't really need to make a special world to do that...you could say D&D is already like that in certain ways. You only need to change the attitudes of people towards things. It reminds me of the whole D&D 4e points of light stuff...towns are safe havens for people, but outside it's all fog of war and "here be dragons".

[newbDM]

Well, you don't really need to make a special world to do that...you could say D&D is already like that in certain ways. You only need to change the attitudes of people towards things. It reminds me of the whole D&D 4e points of light stuff...towns are safe havens for people, but outside it's all fog of war and "here be dragons".

Hence why I prefer my 3.5.

[Vadin]

Hence why I prefer my 3.5.

???

That was quite the logical leap. "I don't like something about this highly mutable flavor that's completely up to me, so I prefer these mechanics."

As for relevance to the topic, try reading through Ovid's Metamorphoses (you can read the English, though the original Latin is far more vivid). The way he describes monsters...well, it gets pretty crazy. Other places to look for monster and building descriptions: Alice In Wonderland, Beowulf, the Vedas. Yes, the Vedas. Every other hero is fighting some crazy monster man with a million or so magic weapons. It gets pretty crazy.

[Meek]

Hence why I prefer my 3.5.

More power to you! You should make t-shirts, and lobby your nation's legislature...then you'll feel REALLY empowered about your choices and opinion!

But that's beside the point.