It could be reasonably argued that, to a degree, it's impossible to build a fantasy world without drawing from history. Even those lauded for their originality, such as Tékumel and Glorantha, have fairly obvious inspirations (which is why the whole "too weird to live" line of argumentation feel so foreign -- pun unintended -- to me).
Still, there are degrees of calque at work here. WFRP's Old World is a pretty transparent calque of several historical cultures, usually from an exaggerated, literary viewpoint that very often plays on stereotypes for humor (Bretonnia, looking at you), while BECMI/RC's Known World a.k.a. Mystara is a more sedate, but also very obvious mélange of historical inspirations including Roman, Native American, Norse, Mongol and Arabic stand-ins, to name a few.
Usually, when I build a fantasy world, I default to this sort of obvious substitution. You can expect most of my fantasy (esp. D&D) worlds to feature the kingdom of knights in full plate and fancy postcard-worthy castles; the icy realm of hardy, seafaring, giant-slaying barbarians to the north; the confederacy of mercantile city-state republics to the sun-kissed south; and so on, and so forth.
This method's got its advantages; mainly, that players usually have an easier time grasping and relating to the world, as they have an easier time figuring out what the architecture, dress codes, society, etc. on each of these places might look like.
What I'm looking for is a new equilibrium. I'd like my next designs to not hinge on such obvious calques, and yet to avoid being seen as too exotic or out-there.
I find Glorantha a great example because, decades of canon notwithstanding, the Dragon Pass situation is easy to grasp. There's the storm-worshipping, freedom-loving barbarians (that look and read a lot like Ancient Celts and/or Norsemen), and there's the highly-regimented empire (that feels like Imperial Rome and Gupta India had a theocratic, Kali-worshipping baby) and they're at war. I think what usually confuses people about Glorantha is the metaphysics and mythology and that's a whole other can of worms; the world itself is easy to get into.
This is the sort of feel I'm going after. When I do mash-ups I often feel they come across as too obvious (Arthurian Britain and Late Medieval Southern France! Medieval Italy and the Hanseatic League!), and I have difficulty visualizing what a civilization that combines wildly divergent cultures (Abbasid Caliphate and Song China! Aztecs and Imperial Rome!) might look like.
How does one go about breathing life into a fantasy world without making it a patchwork of explicit imitations of Earth history with fantasy stuff thrown in for good measure?
Still, there are degrees of calque at work here. WFRP's Old World is a pretty transparent calque of several historical cultures, usually from an exaggerated, literary viewpoint that very often plays on stereotypes for humor (Bretonnia, looking at you), while BECMI/RC's Known World a.k.a. Mystara is a more sedate, but also very obvious mélange of historical inspirations including Roman, Native American, Norse, Mongol and Arabic stand-ins, to name a few.
Usually, when I build a fantasy world, I default to this sort of obvious substitution. You can expect most of my fantasy (esp. D&D) worlds to feature the kingdom of knights in full plate and fancy postcard-worthy castles; the icy realm of hardy, seafaring, giant-slaying barbarians to the north; the confederacy of mercantile city-state republics to the sun-kissed south; and so on, and so forth.
This method's got its advantages; mainly, that players usually have an easier time grasping and relating to the world, as they have an easier time figuring out what the architecture, dress codes, society, etc. on each of these places might look like.
What I'm looking for is a new equilibrium. I'd like my next designs to not hinge on such obvious calques, and yet to avoid being seen as too exotic or out-there.
I find Glorantha a great example because, decades of canon notwithstanding, the Dragon Pass situation is easy to grasp. There's the storm-worshipping, freedom-loving barbarians (that look and read a lot like Ancient Celts and/or Norsemen), and there's the highly-regimented empire (that feels like Imperial Rome and Gupta India had a theocratic, Kali-worshipping baby) and they're at war. I think what usually confuses people about Glorantha is the metaphysics and mythology and that's a whole other can of worms; the world itself is easy to get into.
This is the sort of feel I'm going after. When I do mash-ups I often feel they come across as too obvious (Arthurian Britain and Late Medieval Southern France! Medieval Italy and the Hanseatic League!), and I have difficulty visualizing what a civilization that combines wildly divergent cultures (Abbasid Caliphate and Song China! Aztecs and Imperial Rome!) might look like.
How does one go about breathing life into a fantasy world without making it a patchwork of explicit imitations of Earth history with fantasy stuff thrown in for good measure?
[worldbuilding] Help me be a bit more original
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