*TAD*

*TAD*

*TAD*

*TAD*

I like to view dragons as extremely intelligent that can be good or evil depending on their choices.

Danke sehr!

*TAD*

However, I can't really place that much emphasis on the RACES per se... I mean, I actually hate using races because it's mostly taking a leaf out of thousands of other people... and it doesn't make a fantasy story unique.

You should really try to... amaze people with an amazing story in an exotic and incredible place... Here, see, I'm gonna make something up here:

I think I'm gonna call it... "The Philanthropist", and it's about a boy who reads a weird old book about a land that is home to a cursed breed of sinful people, who, sadly, have mutated into monstrous beings, who have no sign of humanity left... except for a few dozen, who he found, dead, atop a strange temple...

Now then, I'm NOT, and I repeat, NOT going to add ANY strange races into the story excluding the sinning beings... it's just going to be Michael and the weird stuff he comes across in the weird place he is.

I just think that a good fantasy should not be based off of all of the races one might find in all already written fantasies... because, I mean, I'm just tired of seeing the word "elf" in any fantasy story.

Dios los bendiga, fantasy folk

Gabriel El Jibaro

P.S: I'm not dissing any fantasy writers, I'm just asking for a little bit of variation in the fantasy genre. I've already read and seen the Lord of the Rings and Narnia, and I don't need to do it again.

Hey, if you don't really like the use of races, then that's okay; some people find other alternatives for a unique fantasy story (and I doubt you'll like my story "Angel of Chaos", because it uses different races {most of which I made up}). An example would be giving people strange powers (I'm actually working on a fic like that). Other exotic things (excluding races) lie out there in the fantasy world, but it is up to the author to find them.

*TAD*

I'm using webcomics as examples, since they are where I usually find the most intense, interesting things. Like the webcomic known as Drow Tales: Moonless Age (http://www.drowtales.com) has the typical dark elves of Duengeons and Dragons, except shows a more human side to them, and gives them a city with several relations and what not. And the web comic Inverloch (http://www.seraph-inn.com) has typical elves, though the delema is quite intriguing (I refuse to give away much more, or else I'll spoil the whole series.) And Darken (www.darkencomic.com) is the typical search for artifacts to save the wrold, told from the villian's side. Quite, quite good.

So, as much as I hate typical races, I love typical races in diffrent situations that are rarely written about. Anyone up for a half-elf super star with adoring fans?

*TAD*

I don't usually create my own creatures, although for one story coming up, I'm thinking of doing it. Maybe. But really, there's nothing wrong with using the good old creatures. Who says that Elves have to live in forests, have pointed ears and be good at archery? Who says that Vampires have to be evil, blood-sucking creatures of the night? (Alright, so I sorta did that one... a little.) Who says that Demons are evil beings that want destruction? And who says that Orcs are all ugly, foul-smelling monsters that have no brains and follow around only the antagonist because he's the brains? I mean, this stuff isn't really written in stone--with Fantasy, there are no real limits are there?

But yeah, for me, races are one of the most important parts of Fantasy. I like to try and think that maybe, I'm a little bit original, even though I use some of the biggest cliches out there. It really can't be called a cliche if you add your own ideas to it, though. So I guess that I am a little bit original... sort of. In my own special way ^^ Even if I do use the old plot of Orphan-Out-To-Save-The-World-With=Friends-While-Discovering-New-Found-Powers. (At least I don't have her randomly wake up one morning with them, or have someone decide to 'unlock her powers'... right...?) And even if I'm planning on using Boy-Transported-To-A-New-World-To-Fulfill-His-Destiny-Written-In-The-Form-Of-An-Ancient-Prophecy.

Well now... there's my essay on My Ramble About Nothing. Hope ya'll enjoyed reading it XD

*TAD*

I like different races too but to tell the truth I'm starting to hate stories about "hybrids". What every happened to the old pure breed human who was not special in anyway? That's why I decided to make a main character that was pure human, plain looking, and had normal parents. Besides you can use chance and the characters own personality to have them save the world it just take more thought then saying they were destined to.

I usually don't mind if someone decides to make up some new type of animal as long as it seems real, I hate it when someone just throws in something odd that they don't take the time to explain like blue lemons ...

The same goes with races. I can go to ridiculous lengths describing a race, but few would remember that appearance when I introduce a new character of that race. On one hand, it's easy to use humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, fauns, centaurs, minotaurs, and your everyday dragonmen, because it's also easy to read as people are familiar with these - but on the other hand, it gets very monotonous to see yet another Tolkien wannabe.

What I did in Ath was to use humans, but from humans extend my own mythology towards any direction that seemed appropriate, while avoiding to have anything to do with elves, orcs, giants, halflings, and other stereotypes. At some point, you have to use those words to describe some race, but be it their description then, not the name.

I actually don't care if the vampire is really funny and dresses colofully, if the elf is depressed, lacks ears completely, and does his people more harm than good with a bow; if the faun really has the hooves of a horse rather than that of goats... I don't care much for mammoth-headed replacements for minotaurs.

As long as it's understandable, it should be new. That's what I think.

To Rozivian G, (you know how much i love that penname?) whoa... you made some very good points. Okay and about "it's a majestic green ordath with blue thlads hanhging from it's gleaming golden sphriggs"... I'm glad it didn't mean much to anyone because i'd be sitting here gapping if it did, lol. Tokein wannabs, I haven't read to many of these, but it does get old and that's what almost all fantasy stories are compared to sadly. It gets old. I like your opinion at the bottom, but if i would use a sterotypical race their physical features are usually similar, while clothing and attire would vary. Other than that i agree.

*TAD*

Elves are the perfect combination of normal humans, and fantastical creatures. This also gives them a lot of diversity in the parts they play in the novel. They are capable of doing so many things, but they can only actually play one part. So the fun thing about this is that you get to choose what they're gonig to play for you. Will they be the wise, magical elf? Or the sturdy, strong and impulsive human?

You pick:)

*TAD*

TAD

Yeah.

And we are just following someone else's steps. We just don't know who's. It, with your decisions (for you story or life), is what takes you as they led themselves, or to stray away. WOW that was some.... weird words of.... whatever.

So unlike me.

TAD

Derived from, or paralell to this is the magic we see in some computer, console, card, and board games, pokémon being a suitable example, where a certain type of attack is especially effective against a certain type of creature. We've seen wind and fire and water and earth elementals in final fantasy (plus ice and darkness and whatever else there has been), we've seen it all. All derived from some idea of magic that you could control the elements somehow. And even I who haven't even played WoW knows you can cast fireballs there. It's all classic, but do we have to do what everyone else has done already? Can't we be innovative and invent a new type of fantasy magic, one that follows another set of rules.

Come to think of it, Tolkien didn't play the "water vs fire, ice vs water, and fire vs ice"-card that games tend to use. Are we writing games? Even if we were, can't we be a little more original?

For example, connect creatures or plants to powers rather than powers to elements, reminiscent of the american native spirit-beliefs, or the more savage cannibalistic belief that your traits grow depending on what parts you eat. There's a lot of sources that have hardly been used, when it comes to both creatures and magic. Pick a random nation, look at its ancient history and its mythology. You'll find a lot of good stuff there. Wikipedia, anyone?

But how so if we were to make a "new magic". Everything we say and do is supposedly thought of before. Nothing is truly original for it is based off of something else in the end. Where would this magic come from? Would it be from which that which created a world (just an example) or one that just is harnessed by certain indivduals or things (ex. all the comp. games and mages and w/e else)?

TAD

Is it a force, like magnetism and gravity; a force that can be controlled by our minds, if those are trained well enough? Is it an entity whom we manipulate or invoke or to whom we plea or pray? Is it a number of entities (which may or may not be related to any particular element or elements) whom we control or attempt to guide towards doing our bidding? Is it something beyond the abstract entity and creatures that can be summoned, energy creatures that we can communicate with? Is it ghosts of the past, our ancestors, who in turn drew their power from their ancestors, or is it spirits of the natural world, of stone, of trees, of animals? Is this the power of the God/gods, of the devil, or anything in between (assuming the question applies to the world we've created)? Is magic scientific despite its apparent inexistant in our universe, or is it unbound by the laws that govern the world we have and understand; in other words, can the magician create something like fire or summon creatures ex nihilo (out of nothing) or does he/she take stuff from elsewhere, energy from somewhere et cetera)? Is it mental, is it physical, what does it take to control/use magic, how does this happen, and how did the rpactice originate; can one be born a great magician or does it require training; can anyone be a magician?

Those are questions and suggestions I've come up with, some/partly during the writing of this post. Feel free to use them, anyone. Magic is closely tied to the nature of the world we create, and so should be bound by the lawws of the world we create.

The thing is, if we take a minute to think through how we can change the world we've made by changing how magic works in it, I think we'll get to know our worlds far better than just by mechanically writing and imagining (if there is such a thing as mechanical imagining). Also, it can guide the story. But even so, magic should still serve the story, hopefully so naturally that it doesn't show.

Magic is among the mysteries of the any fantasy world, and fantasy readers read to discover these mysteries. The writer better make use of this curiousity in developing magic, and not play the basic "4 or 5 elements"-card we've seen so often. Light vs dark is also something of a cliché. So what is magic in your worlds, and how does it make your world different than any generic fantasy world?

It's hard to explain really.

What about you Rho?

-TAD

In Ath, I use runes and mention of other spells, plus a number of magically animated creatures of different sorts. Plus there's the magic aspect of the northern Lands and the northern Death, plus the things magic can do to people.

Maybe I view it, in that story at least, as if the many possibilities of magic are like animals. Some are dangerous in the wild, and some can't even be tamed. And yet, some can.

Dragons are another thing too. I love dragons as much as the next person but you have to portray them just right. Not all dragons are evil. My character's dragon form is like a Gold dragon from D&D but totally original because I changed it.

Drakara

nothing has to be if you don't want it to be. you're the author; you make the decisions.

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