For Modernisms in Fantasy

 A submission for this month's big blog hootenanny. I don't normally write for these things but I guess I came to a turning point and found my inspiration.

Art by Jon Dunham

If you spend a lot of time thinking about RPGs, you have to be wary not to get super-rarefied tastes. It's nice to cultivate a broad joy, to know what brings you happiness but not get so defeated by every little variation. A common vector of pickiness is whatever people mean by "gonzo", or aversion to some modern trope, or the apprehension of some mutable spectre of "politics."

One of the biggest sore spots is the introduction of elements deemed modern into fantasy settings. I get how the intrusion of some modern concept can overthrow the premise of your game, where mythical elements like an actually-quite-good king named Arthur probably shouldn't be vociferously taken down as though he was a fallible real-life king. But most other modernisms are fair game and I encourage you to step beyond the medieval world for inspiration.

Guns belong in fantasy settings, perhaps your fantasy setting, and you don't need to invent a special magical justification for them. The vagaries of economy and ecology in your fantasy world well might have led to formations of ideologies which we consider modern rather than medieval. Sometimes allowing yourself modernisms will lead to reinventing actual historical occurances. What if there were Roman sport hooligans? What if gladiatorial combat had ad breaks? What if Rome had kitschy gift shops for the tourists? You'd know them s little better.

In modern life, we meet many "kinds of guy" which have the immediacy of our acquaintance, but these personalities go back a long way. The conceited grindsetter, the harsh authority who considers themselves a moral shepherd, anyone you can find a "starter pack" meme for, all of these are people at home in the past and our past-inspired fantasies as today.

I suppose my thesis is that modernisms, well-deployed, can add veracity to a game.

As a point of comparison, here is a write-up for a chaotic antagonist in Locheil's useful monster format, inspired by Arnold's call for army statblocks.

Excoriator

In mobs well-ordered they march, a testudo of crystal shields when a fight is expected, a loose cloud of clubs and boots when unopposed. They wear smooth masks or face cloths with skulls painted on, black armor, and a badge with the motto "Malum Custodit Me", which means "I ward against evil."

When found individually, stats as a bandit with 4 Morale and 14 AC.

Testudo: HD 8. AC 16 (at edges) or 12 (in midst). Morale 6.

Movement: slow jackbooted lockstep

Senses: narrow. Receives telepathic instructions, interpreted with disdain for full context.

Morality: canine. Utterly loyal, eschewing honor and mercy but claiming righteousness.

Intelligence: angry mob with a playbook

Alignment: chiaroscuro-- punitive and self-aggrandizing. Follows the commands of anyone who holds the Lex Notgnihsaw, a tablet enchanted to give off an aura of Good and Law, but which cannot be effectively wielded by good creatures.

Attacks:  Kennel OR Run Down or Fire Spray

Kennel - 1d6 bludgeoning and save or be driven back. If the testudo chose their vector of attack, this will lead to a dead-end, an allied testudo, or another dungeon denizen.

Run Down - save or take 1d6 bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. Can afflict anyone within marching range but involves breaking ranks-- treat AC as 12 for at least one turn.

Fire Spray - obscures an area with the pepper-pink Fires of Saint Jeromatch. All who start their turn in the flames are blind and all who emd their turn in the flames save or take 1d4 damage.

d6 Excoriator Activities

1. Stalking for prey
2. Intimidating a caravan into sharing food and drink, then attacking them anyway.
3. Seeking to arrest a naive but puissant paladin who attempted to use a Lex Notgnihsaw for good.
4. Receiving commendation from their master in an officious ceremony.
5. Waiting for the return of two of their number on a disguised mission to infiltrate a nearby town.
6. Hunting an adventurer who graffitied "Querulum nazia, perite!" in their wing of the dungeon.