Collaboration
The fantasy [goals for genre and writing]
What is “The Fantasy”?
The Fantasy, as opposed to Fantasy as a Genre, is the specific experience, identity, or feeling that someone wants to inhabit through a work of art, story, game, character, or world.
Where fantasy is a genre of fiction, The fantasy is simply a promise of an experience.
When creating something the question becomes, “What fantasy am I offering? Or What does the audience get to feel?” Which is different than: What happens in the plot? Or how do these things work?
The fantasy is more than descriptions. The Keywords in the next section offer a surface level description, but the fantasy behind each is different.
For example:
The description of A Knight comes with the fantasy of being a noble protector against dangerous odds.
The description of a wizard tower comes with the fantasy of possessing hidden knowledge of the unseen world.
So while keywords are important, it is more important from a creative perspective to think beyond the description and into “The Fantasy” that we are striving for in this project.
Keywords: (With definitions, in no particular order yet) What is this world ABOUT? What is “THE FANTASY?” What kind of things happen “on screen”
Below are some of the main keywords that define the SpireHelm Project, and with them some of the fantasies that each keyword represents. Use these keywords as a compass for the vibe of the world and your creations for this project.
Heroic
- Good VS Evil
- Order VS Chaos
- Valiance will save the realm
- Knights and Chivalry
Retro
- Old School
- Soft magic
- Not a lot of exposition
- Game inspired
Dark
- Hope is a glimmer
- Danger is prevalent
- Survival is not a promise
Mysterious
- Travel is treacherous
- Monsters and Beasts rule the Wuldlunds
- Magic is mythic and unpredictable
- The realm is changing under magic forces
Fantasy (The Genre)
- Sword and Sorcery
- Magic is rare but powerful
- Distant gods
Some other Prominent Fantasies that one would hope to find in SpireHelm:
- Exploring ruins
- Fighting monsters of horror
- Encountering mystical beings
- Being knighted as a protector of the realm
- Making offerings for the favor of gods
The quest [Objectives]
Inspire Creativity
- Unique enough for distinction
- Open ended enough for Creativity
Carve out a Distinct Aesthetic
- Unique world
- Unique visuals
Provide New Content
- Be part of a Living IP
Collaborate as a Community
- Guides / how to
Touchstones:
Mythic bastionlands
Draw Steel / MCDM
Dungeons and Dragons
Frank Frazetta