Came across these on G+ this morning. Wonderful simple infographics on the Norse mythology of Yggdrasil and Ragnarok. Both created by Tiffany Thoreson. (I wish I could make my Aesir Family Tree graphics as pretty as these).

From Tiffany vs. Art – Yggdrasil, the Norwegian Tree of the Universe:

From Tiffany vs. Art – Ragnarok Redesign, Infographic of the Norse:

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There is an excellent post over at the Strange Magic blog that makes a point that elves in recent fantasy RPG games have lost a lot of their exotic alien-ness.

In Tolkien the Elves were not human, and you see this reflected more in the early years of RPGs with Tolkien inspired elves in them. But in the 30+ years since they’ve been increasingly humanized (much like Vampires). Now they are just people with pointy ears (and Vampires are people who sparkle) and they’re written and played more or less like any other human character.

Which strikes to core one of the major themes of Lost Heroes setting, or at least something that has been brewing in the back of my mind as I’ve been designing. The weirdness, that inhuman nature is part and parcel of mythology. The Gods may appear human but they also appear alien.

The otherworldly inhuman nature of Elves and other magical creatures is something you see throughout folklore.

I’ve tried to replicate that in the rules by saying that players can only play human and nearly-human characters. You can play a human that can turn into a dragon, but not a dragon that can turn into a human. You can play a half-Dreamling (but not a real Dreamling) or a human who has been changed to join the Elves of Asgard (but you can’t play a pure/original Elf). I create a sub system for Magic Users that is intended to make magic strange and exotic. I also wrote a long chapter called “the world of horrors and wonders”; how our human and mundane world appears to creatures and beings not from here (I hope to revise and extend this chapter in the future). Indeed the world of lost heroes is about entering the supernatural world, with it’s spontaneous festivals and fairy realms, of the supernatural community and the demands of the gods that dwell only in the land of dreams.

This hasn’t been an explicit condition of my design though. It still possible to use the character creation process to create really weird characters that do not fit any ideal of human so really it’s something that the GM will have to watch for.

Thinking on this theme for the last few days has made me evaluate how I envision the final product per say. It doesn’t change my course of action for now, but I keep thinking that the core book should be filled with the strange and weird flotsam of mythology and alien-ness, perhaps containing a cross-section of a god from each of the established pantheons and then a number of examples from the two generic ones and a number of strange realms with alien rules (mostly to highlight the strange hyper-reality of the land of the dreams).

My food for thought for the next little while.

Related Posts:

• Yggdrasil and Ragnarok Infographics

Ooo! This looks fun. More for the visuals than the dialogue.

via Tor.com.

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I never know if I should post about RPGs that seem to cover or overlap the concepts in Lost Heroes RPG or simply ignore them. But this looks quite interesting.

And so thusly I have come across this kickstarter RPG project: Part Time Gods:

We here at Third Eye Games are preparing for the release of our third game line, Part-Time Gods. Players will take on the role of normal, everyday people suddenly imbued with the divine Spark of a god. They must balance their mortal lives (friend, family, loved ones) with the pursuit of their godly existence (adventure, power, legend), constantly riding the line of losing what makes them human. While this may seem serious, no game of Third Eye Games’ is devoid of that touch of humor.

Part-Time Gods is written by Eloy Lasanta, who has already had great success with his other two games, Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. and Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade. The game will have a great mix of ideas that will be familiar to fans of White Wolf’s “Scion” or Eos Press’s “Nobilis”, mixed with themes and moods of other works, such as “Dead Like Me” or the works of Neil Gaiman (not just “American Gods”). We hope that it will be a completely new approach to the genre. We also have the rising star, Melissa Gay, as our lead artist for the game and her style is perfect for giving Part-Time Gods just the right feel.

(Found via Stargazers World Blog)

While I’m not familiar with Third Eye Games or Eloy Lasanta, this PDF summary of the project does sound quite intriguing.

Part-Time Gods is a game of balancing one’s life and duty. It is full of mysticism as the characters go off to find magical Relics and discover strange creatures. It is full of Action, as they battle terrifying monsters and even other gods. The gods are almost forced to work together, no matter how different their viewpoints on their gifts are, for the sheer survival of humanity. A group of gods that rule over a domain together is called a pantheon. Like the Olympian pantheon of legend, there is no need for the characters to get along, as long as they ensure their mutual defense.

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You should really check those terms and conditions on websites:

A computer game retailer revealed that it legally owns the souls of thousands of online shoppers, thanks to a clause in the terms and conditions agreed to by online shoppers.

The retailer, British firm GameStation, added the “immortal soul clause” to the contract signed before making any online purchases earlier this month. It states that customers grant the company the right to claim their soul.

I have to admit, this is one of the best April Fools gags I’ve seen. But thankfully:

The company noted that it would not be enforcing the ownership rights, and planned to e-mail customers nullifying any claim on their soul.

Source: FOXNews.com – 7,500 Online Shoppers Unknowingly Sold Their Souls

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Saw this via boingboing.net, a comic book treatment of Greek Olympian Gods myths, called “Zeus: King of the Gods“. Looks brilliant. (Check the original links for some more images of inside the comic).

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• Treasures of the internet

The internet does throw up some wonderful things:

• Are anagrams the key to the Voynich Manuscript? The Voynich Manuscript Decoded?
• A lost culture? Culture of Old Europe Is Uncloaked in an Exhibit at N.Y.U. – NYTimes.com
• Christmas wasn’t really a pagan feast originally you know: How December 25 Became Christmas
• The Ancient Greeks had incredible devices! Advanced Imaging Reveals a Computer 1,500 Years Ahead of Its Time
• Was there really a race more intelligent than us? What Happened to the Hominids Who May Have Been Smarter Than Us? (Note: a good friend pointed out to me that the evidence for this “smarter” race is pretty dodge and has long been discredited. Still the idea is quite cool)

Related Posts:

• Yggdrasil and Ragnarok Infographics
• Immortals movie teaser trailer
• Imagining Clash of the Titans movie if it happened in the world of Lost Heroes
• Clash of the Titans, a missed opportunity? (a short movie review)
• 7,500 Online Shoppers Unknowingly Sold Their Souls!