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Re: (TFT) Daily Life...



Tolkein was writing mythical history, to replace the "lost / suppressed" Anglo-Saxon tales the Normans squashed as part of their takeover. He didn't regard it as the equal of "history" as Barbara Tuchman writes, or a (respectable) university might present as a major. However, your statement that you consider Tolkein = history makes it easier for me to comprehend some of your posts.

While I'm uncertain how different the authors considered their work from Tolkein, there is certainly a lot less "reality" felt when reading Vance / Leiber. It is a bit difficult to characterize. My take on the arc of Fantasy RPG design / development is that the early years were characterized by a lot more liberties (and an emphasis on "fantasy") while now there's a lot more effort expended to rationalize a world. The difference might be seen in GURPS v. TFT. Steve Jackson seems to have wanted to ground his system more in "reality as we know it", but that may only be b/c he intended GURPS from the beginning to be universal, and therefore you can role-play an historical supplement, a fantasy supplement, or one like "GURPS Greece" where you choose btw mythic Greece and historical Greece. Having been away from TFT for a good solid 25+ years the style difference is much more noticeable to me, and that's part of what makes it so retro-fun. =====
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