Lost Worlds

[dwayanu]

I am (perhaps obviously) an Abe Merritt fan, as I gather Gary was as well. His Drow modules remain a landmark in my mind, perhaps foremost because they so ably captured the spirit of the sub-genre epitomized in The Face in the Abyss. H. Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and countless others have reaped bumper crops of wonder from that field.

In D&D, there's a difficulty in that the assumed "outer" world is so fantastic. There's an object lesson in what's become of the Drow themselves, thanks to Marketing Departments that saw $$ in ridding D&D of the encumbrance of a "mere legend" veil over the Black Elves.

In that particular context, there is interesting "spin" in the D&D Gazetteer devoted to the Shadow Elves of Mystara.

Subverting expectations is a fit enterprise for a DM, I think. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks and Gary's two-module Dungeonland also stand among my favorites.

There's a chance to shake things up for players too familiar with the standard ingredients of the game. "What the heck is that?!"

The "Lost World" scenario tends to involve physical difficulties in getting out and back to the normal world. The adventurers, though, are often enough inclined to stay just to explore the place (if not to pursue romantic objects).

That one cannot turn back easily is probably essential. Having gotten over the hurdles to gain admission, there's an incentive to press on.

Given that, the referee can further develop the milieu with some confidence that players won't bug out so quickly as to make many labors lost.

[dwayanu]

If adventurers leave and return better equipped to exploit what they have discovered, things can take another turn -- as seen, for instance, in The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

(I understand that I am mixing in references to affairs that might usefully be distinguished from the Lost World.)

Module B4 (The Lost City) is perhaps the most widely appreciated D&D-specific example of what I'm talking about.

[geoffrey]

Great idea for a thread, dwayanu! ;D

I love the "lost world" sub-genre. I think Merritt and Haggard did it best.

Let me "ditto" your posts:

An important consideration for a lost world in a D&D campaign is to ensure that the main monsters therein are unique to that lost world. The drow, for example, should have never been published outside of the D series of modules. (Of course, I wish there had been about 20 modules in that series!) As soon as the drow started popping-up elsewhere, the mystique was lost. They were just another **** monster, like orcs.

B4 also found a good way to do it in that the inhabitants of the lost world are humans with a bizarre culture.

Thus a lost world in D&D needs unique monsters, humans (if present) with an almost incomprehensible culture, and all tucked away in a hard-to-get-to and hard-to-leave location. Other things can be considered as well. Perhaps the campaign world's gods are powerless within the lost world. Perhaps an entirely different set of primordial gods holds sway there. PC clerics are out of luck: perhaps no regaining of spells, or perhaps even loss of all spells, and maybe even no turning undead!

[dwayanu]

Some common themes:

Prophecy "It was foretold that such strangers should appear." This is reminiscent of some responses to the Conquistadores.

Civil War is another situation familiar from European discovery of, e.g., the Incas.

Traitor! "We can't count on anything here but each other ..." except for the party member who sees an opportunity to get ahead at the others' expense, perhaps contributing to ...

Disaster! When only the Lost World is at stake, an "end of the world" scenario can have a worst-case ending without bringing the whole larger campaign to a close.

Time Abyss She Who Must Be Obeyed, the Snake Mother, and so on hark back to a truly lost prehistoric (from men's perspective) world. Incredible longevity may be normal for Lost World natives.

Cities of Gold ... or diamonds, or what have you: something a treasure in the outer world is commonplace.

Can't Take it With You Some wondrous magic/high technology is usable only in the Lost World.

[Ghul]

Lost worlds is indeed an excellent topic. And what you present is a common dilemma: You have an external world of the fantastic, so the draw of the world below becomes less enchanting. What Geoffrey suggests is good advice in my opinion -- be certain to build your lost world as unique unto itself.

If you have a humanoid rich surface world, along with dragons, owlbears and that sort of thing, the lost world might begin with giant slugs and all the familiar sorts of slimes and oozes, but once the ancient underground kingdom is found, it will be host to a great many unknown creatures. It also keeps those veteran players on their toes, as they become quite wise to all the typical D&D/AD&D monsters and their capabilities. If the reward is commensurate to the risk, the lost world is always an intriguing prospect to seekers of adventure.

[apeloverage]

Nov 27, 2008 21:30:11 GMT -6 dwayanu said:

Some common themes:

There's a pdf here of an article about lost civilisations, for the game Source of the Nile, which has many of these themes.

[dwayanu]

I have just started simultaneously to re-read the Pellucidar series and to dig into some "alternative archaeology" concerning Old World influences in North America.

The long North American "stone age" certainly produced as matters of fact some pretty interesting societies. Being a North American myself, I take a provincial fancy to a fantasy based on my region's history as much as others have been on Europe, Asia -- or even Central America.

[blackmoor]

Lost Worlds, parralle worlds, future worlds, mythical worlds, etc. All are a lot of fun. A good point made here ios that the 'new' world must have many critters unisue just to it.
We had Ross Maker's and Dave Wesel'y 'Aource Of The Nile World' and MAR Barkers TEKUMEL world when we wanted to go there. It was a good change of pace and let me have someone else referee for a bit.

Davw Arneson
"Dark Lord of Game Design"