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We don't create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay.
--Lynda Barry
Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it.
--Lloyd Alexander
The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.
--Albert Einstein
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There exist multiple fantasy games: tabletop, card, video, whatever. The most famous of these, Dungeons and Dragons, has been around for over 45 years and is still played, in one form or another, by millions of people (including this editor). The link between fantasy and role-playing games is probably obvious in retrospect: the ability to be transported to a place of imagination, taking a break from sometimes-harsh reality. While some dismiss this as escapism, readers and players get a chance to look at things from a different perspective.
The above notwithstanding, this newsletter isn't really about D&D or other fantasy role-playing games. No, I'm going to go all meta here and talk about games within the realm of fantasy, specifically fantasy writing.
Games, in general, are so old that they might predate civilization itself; they seem to be a universal human activity, much like language or grumping about the weather. So for your imagined fantasy realm to have a degree of verisimilitude, there should be games involved.
Now, this isn't meant to be a thorough overview of gaming, because, over the centuries, many different games have been invented, developed, abandoned, and modified. There are games with winners and losers, cooperative games, games with or without structured goals. Here are a few broad types:
Physical: tests of strength, speed, dexterity, or other physical attributes, such as races, archery, or team sports.
Strategy: With a focus on mental abilities, these games test our ability to reason and solve problems. Chess is probably the most pure example of this type of game.
Chance: Often including elements of strategy, these games lend themselves well to gambling; some of the oldest known game pieces were dice carved from bone. Card games fall into this category as well.
Memory/knowledge: This is distinct from strategy games, because knowledge isn't the same thing as intelligence or problem-solving ability. Trivia games are an example of this type of game.
Role playing: D&D may have been the breakthrough fantasy RPG, but the idea of role-playing is much older. But what would characters in a fantasy setting role-play as? Office workers and waiters?
It is possible, even common, to combine two or more of these features in a single game.
But why include games in your fantasy? Well, there could be any number of reasons.
You want to demonstrate a character's skill at arms, so you have them participate in a martial arts challenge. The old story of Robin Hood with the whole splitting-the-arrow thing at a tournament comes to mind.
Want to give background information about your world and its history without engaging in the dreaded Info Dump? Have the characters participate in a trivia challenge.
A character might have a gambling addiction, as a flaw or as a trait to overcome for character growth in the story.
You can use games to demonstrate a character's moral choices. Do they cheat, or do they always play with honor and respect for the rules and opponent(s)? How do they react to someone else cheating?
And what sort of role would your character choose to play in an RPG? Perhaps a prince takes on the role of a pauper, or a city guard pretends, for the sake of the game, to be a wizard.
On the other side of things, can we imagine, and write about, a culture that doesn't use games at all?
The difficulty, for me at least, lies in coming up with a suitable game for the characters; this depends on all sorts of technological and social factors. The common medieval setting for fantasy stories, for example, wouldn't have computer games -- but might there be a magical equivalent involving illusions or some such? Game design is hard, and designing a good game with replay potential is even harder. Some authors come up with no more than a name for the game and its basic tools (cards, dice, whatever); others design entire game systems.
Either way, though, games add depth to a character or milieu; they're a potential source of conflict or resolution; and they can make a story more interesting. |
Games or not, here's some fantasy for your reading pleasure:
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Last time, in "Bread" , I talked about... well... bread.
I guess everyone had enough bread already, because no one commented.
So that's it for me for March -- see you next month! Until then,
DREAM ON!!!
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Fantasy: March 10, 2021 Issue [#10657]
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