That split party anti-lore piece is really hammering into my head man. It’s really good. But at the same time, I’m reminded of the “game-able” lore project. They have different theoretical underpinnings but I still have to articulate the difference that I see.
- He/Him + They/Them
One Canuck built the #ttrpg tag and the #mecha tag. And that was me.
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in reply to @Scampir's post:
Sometimes two people leave from different origins and arrive at a very similar destination.
I've read the anti-lore post twice now but I still have trouble figuring out what the practical takeaway is.
Lore as it is presented now, such as in dark souls, is a catalogue of information that is consumed as an informative text that is used to contextualize the play experience. As a ttrpg example you could learn all the lancer lore about the history of the setting and could use that to play a character who takes actions and makes choices informed by that; all that stands in your way is consuming the product of the lore catalogue. There is another aspect to this that outside of play, learning all of the lore is recognized as a tall task and people can be gate keepy about it or write it off. The critique of lore in this form is that it is unwieldy, optional, and actually the result of uncritically streamlining information into a commercial product.
Anti-Lore is a worldbuilding approach where the world is presented in terms of how it is accessible to the players. For example, in ICON there are Chronicler Monasteries that centralize information. If the players ever need ancient knowledge, they can take action to amend this by seeking out a chronicler monastery.
Anti-lore is desirable to me, Scampir, because it makes the setting more easily navigable. To extend the Icon example, it breaks down the world into a series of elements of satisfying player needs that are there for them to solve problems. If they wanted a machine they could go to a Guild city-state. Compare this with like, the Spell-Plague in Forgotten Realms. It might be the backdrop to an adventure but for a historical event it’s relatively self-contained. Just lore to be learned in that first catalogue style.