BiFrost: Purpose, Style, and Theme

According to Rich's amazing world building articles, it's good to start off a new fantasy world thinking about purpose, themes, and tone. And style apparently. This is a bit different then how he started because I already have my idea in place. But the more thinking and planning the better.

The main purpose of BiFrost as a setting is to A) Use in campaigns and publish to the world and B) to set up a good fantasy world for some stories I need to tell. Because this is going to be published for others to use it needs to have several adventure hooks and be somewhat interesting to people. This world won't be driven by an Overarching Story, because I kind of hate that. I think it'll be more like Eberron, several power groups, several possible villains.

Since there is no overarching story, the style needs to differentiate it. Luckily this is pretty easy. It's set today, right now, whatever technology you got, whatever is going on is also going on in this world. But with differences. There are the portals to dungeons and adventures called bifrosts because of their rainbow look. The stories you're gonna tell here are human stories, stories like those found in Dresden Files, or Tithe. Yeah, there will be some people with magic, the powers you get from going through a bifrost come back with you.

I'm getting way ahead of myself, but basically that's it. It's a d20 Modern Urban Arcana setting.

Rich posted a nice list of general things taken for granted in a fantasy setting.

1. Humans dominate the world.
2. Gods are real and active.
3. Magic is real and can be used by anyone who learns it.
4. Opposite alignments fight each other.
5. Arcane and divine magic are inherently separate.
6. The wilderness is separate enough from the cities to justify 3 wilderness-oriented classes.
7. There are hundreds of intelligent species of creatures, but 99% of them are considered "monsters".
8. Arcane magic is impersonal and requires no "deal" with a supernatural being.
9. Beings from other planes of existence try to influence the mortal world, usually on behalf of gods/alignments.
10. Magic items are assumed to be available, and game balance proceeds from that assumption.
11. Magic is consequence-free.

Most of this would stay the same for BiFrost. Human's dominate; god's don't walk the earth and realness is up to the individual, but at least no direct intervention; magic is real and you can get ti by going through a bifrost, wilderness may not be that separate in real life, but in the dungeons it is, all intelligent monsters live through the bifrost; magic is just magic and there is no deal or fealty; magic items are available...kind of; magic is consequence-free...as in, no sacrifice or anything.

So now comes the fun part:

THEME

I want BiFrost to focus on power, what it does to people and how it can be used. The way I've got it working in my head right now, when you enter a bifrost you gain a "class" likely just powers to most people. When you leave the bifrost and come back to the real world, you keep it, along with any non-living thing you bring with you (excluding animal companions and familiars).

So what happens when you get the chance to go on adventure?
What is it like when you return with treasure and powers?
How will people react to holding basically minor superpowers in their hands?
How will other people react to people with basically minor superpowers?
How will it affect relationships?
How will it affect the economy?
How will large power players?
How will religion react?
How will it affect crime?
How will it affect politics?

These are some big questions I'll need to answer as I start investigating and worldbuilding, some have already been stewing, but honestly never written down. That's what this blog is for, to start writing stuff down. To really consider how an influx of power, or really just the opportunity for it, (I mean, you have to make it out of the dungeon alive) affects people. Sometimes I like to think of things as metaphors, into the woods is about AIDS, first couple of x-men movies are about being gay, blah blah blah. I'm not sure if this will be metaphorical, though it has the potential to be. The bifrosts are opportunity, dangerous, but obvious. What are you going to do about it?

Eventually I'll have to come up with something to say. A bit of a thesis, an answer to my question, what can people do with power? But for now, it's fun to ask.

Next time I'll get into the more nitty gritty of the bifrosts and how the world reacts.