Over at the rather cool "The Free RPG Blog", Rob Lang posted a new article called "How to turn your stock fantasy RPG into a unique delight".

The Lost Heroes setting is basically a fantasy setting and it does include elves, dwarfs, magic and has the potential for adventuring. So as a mental exercise I went through each of Rob’s points and see how it compares to the setting that I’m working on.

Write a Setting

This one is the easiest to answer. Seeing I’m concentrating on writing only the setting first, I can check the box straight away.

Avoid standard fantasy elements

Oh dear. I’m not sure I’m checking this one. Lost Heroes has dwarfs and elves. But hopefully I offset this by the fact that I also have giants, valkeries, amazons, satyrs, meanads, demons, angels and many more.

Also elves and dwarfs fell out of the rest of the setting, they are not a fundamental part of it. In fact I’ve twisted the concepts around a lot, as in you can have Sidhe (the celtic fae versions) and Light/Dark Elves (the elves of the Norse Freyr) and as for dwarves, they are based of the Norse mythic version, dark greedy master craftsman who live deep underground. This might annoy folks, but dwarves and elves are actually the same type of being: Dreamlings.

Go back to the folklore source

Big tick for this one, though I’m less interested in “folklore” but in “mythology”. Angels and Demons, Greek and Norse Gods, Celtic heroes and others form the basis of Lost Heroes’ setting.

Read other games

Fail for me. I’ve read many, but I’m pretty certain, I haven’t read enough. We’ll see if this brings down Lost Heroes RPG.

Invert a popular theme

What makes Lost Heroes different from other mythic-like settings? It’s set in the modern day, not an ancient or “golden age” like the few settings I have managed to read. I’ve done my best to try and keep the modern day as much as possible like the real world yet allowing a place for gods, heroes and magic to exist without breaking suspension of disbelief yet also maintaining internal consistency.

It also brings together four distinct mythologies too, not just focusing on one mythos. I think it works and hopefully others will think so too.

Optional Mechanic Crunch

This one isn’t applicable to Lost Heroes right now, seeing I’m only writing the setting. But I guess it will feature in the next part of Lost Heroes when I start putting together a system.

Borrow from outside the genre

Do I do this? I’m not sure. I think I have done so, but not overtly. The point of taking old gods and putting them in a modern context is a similar process to taking them “outside of the genre”, I think. For example Hephaestus and his love of technology or Hermes and his duty to a truly open market.

I’ve also always considered Lost Heroes setting to be a mashup of “mythic” and “modern day” too.

Take from the natural world

This one sounds more like advice than a general guideline to me. I haven’t really delved into nature as a source of inspiration. Legends and myths provide more than enough weirdness and freakiness for me.

Get feedback

I’m working on it!

Once I get the “book of gods” done, I’ll be able to get some real feedback.

Conclusion

I’d recon that is 5 out of 8. Pretty good right?