what tone are you going for ?(elric and hawkmoon)

toothill man

Mongoose
have finished my prep reading(plus core books and the awesome granbretan sourcebook) and have alot of ideas in my head it seems to me that tone is vital for both these settings and this is how i see it but please tell how you would do it :D

elric seems to me that the key word is doom were you work for years for balance or light but in the end darkness will get you so back to the wall time with grim humour and dark subjects saving what can be saved pre doom.

hawkmoon is heros of any sex or race the only ones who can take on granbretan and make a differance and show the way.As nations have failed its up to the group and the single hero to grind the bad empire down

at least thats my take how do you see it :?:
 
I share your views on the Elric RpG: fate, doom and "being a god's pawn" are, in my opinion, part of the mood here. After all, the world will soon be terminated by this thin albino-with-a-big-thing... er... sword...

Hawkmoon is perhaps more "heroic" but I also see this world as a tough, dark and ugly (per)version of our own Medieval period. For me the evil is not only incarnated by the Dark Empire but also by many corrupted nobles, pervert burghers and mad sorcerers (mis)understanding scientific experimentations...
And I'm not talking about warmongering religions, effects of injustice and extreme poverty!

I also like to play in the Hawkmoon universe "following the timeline". What I mean is beginning in the very start of the rise of the Granbretannian empire, less and less slowly conquering huge portions of the continent. In parallel, I like to present the GB first as "very-if-not-over-civilised" people and slowly showing how mad they are. Finally I dislike the ridiculous end that see Flana becoming a nice, clever and honorable queen and all the beastmen becoming peacefull farmers. In my games, such a cancer as the Dark Empire can not be erased so easily!

Just my two copper pieces...
 
I always compare Elric to a Greek tragedy.

Hawkmoon, however is something like Dante's divine comedy
 
thanks king had alot of real life to get rid of also had been the DM of challenge of the gulls for such a long time.I needed a break and am toying with asking matt if I can run a hawkmoon or elric forum game as have completed challenge now. but am in the tone stage and the third choice would be a slaine RQ game so alot of planning to do 8) .
 
Elric is pure, Jacobean Tragedy with existentialism thrown into the mix.

Hawkmoon is three-colour heroics with a healthy dose of dark comedy and pathos.

Think of the differences in the main characters:

  • Elric slays EVERYONE he cares for. Hawkmoon accumulates more and more friends.

    Elric is all-too aware of the existence and powers of the Lords of Law and Chaos. Hawkmoon rejects any notions that he is the Eternal Champion and dismisses his experiences as coincidence.

    Theleb K'aarna, Jagreen Lern and Gaynor the Damned are all psycopaths but reasonably competent at what they do. Baron Meliadus is a psycopath who makes blunder after blunder after blunder.

    Elric's world is hurtling towards destruction; Hawkmoon's is struggling towards redemption.

    Elric is controlled by the Black Sword; Hawkmoon manages to exert control over the Black Jewel.

Hawkmoon is the antithesis of Elric in many respects, and the settngs play as Shakespearean plays: Elric is Macbeth whilst Hawkmoon is Twelfth Night.

Hope this helps...
 
toothill man said:
thanks king had alot of real life to get rid of also had been the DM of challenge of the gulls for such a long time.I needed a break and am toying with asking matt if I can run a hawkmoon or elric forum game as have completed challenge now. but am in the tone stage and the third choice would be a slaine RQ game so alot of planning to do 8) .
too bad I don't have RQ Slaine (yet), but I am ready for another Slaine campaign.
 
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