Previously in our discussion on fractal storyworlds, we defined a world’s premise and nodes, and talked about how you can “zoom in” on a world’s nodes to find exciting new stories to tell. Today, I’d like to take this theory out for a spin. In the passenger seat of my awkwardly-automotive metaphor is Accursed, the new fantasy-horror setting from Melior Via.
First, a quick recap. Here is the premise of Accursed:
Characters: Monstrous Heroes
Conflict: Fight for redemption
Setting: In a dark fantasy land overrun by the forces of evil.
There are all kinds of nodes to work with here. We can zoom in on various regions around the realm, the different types of accursed heroes, the organizations working to oppose the witches’ evil… the list goes on (and the authors do a great job of showing some of these nodes on the Accursed blog).
Let’s zoom in on… oh, let’s say the “cauldron-born,” the undead servants of the witch known as the Morrigan.
Zoom x2
Remember: every node must have a premise. While we could make the cauldron-born the “characters” of the premise, their role as mindless witch-slaves suggests we’d get a lot more mileage out of making them the conflict instead. So we end up with this:
Characters: Monstrous Heroes
Conflict: Fight an army of cauldron-born
Setting: In a dark fantasy land overrun by the forces of evil.
That sounds pretty cool. I can see reading a story or playing an adventure like this… sort of Army of Darkness meets Braveheart.
Zoom x3
Now let’s zoom in closer. Let’s keep the cauldron-born aspect, but focus on the characters. Rather than “monstrous heroes” let’s try a narrower group, such as a guerrilla band of undead-hunters. Yes, this group could certainly include “monstrous heroes” but could also be regular heroes who’d rather risk their lives fighting than be cowed by the Morrigan’s minions.
Characters: Zombie-hunting resistance fighters
Conflict: Fight an army of cauldron-born
Setting: In a dark fantasy land overrun by the forces of evil.
Again, I can totally see this premise working. Without the guarantee of “monstrous” heroes, this starts to feel a bit more desperate and gritty. I’m sensing a loose network of these rangers, organized into secret cells with passwords and codenames — less Braveheart and more WW2 French underground.
Zoom x4
Okay, one more node. Let’s zoom in this time on the setting. Within our dark fantasy land, let’s say there’s a lakeland region dotted with islands and crumbling castles. According to legend, some of these castles hold the secrets of ancient, powerful magic — a prize the Morrigan will do anything to acquire, and the rangers will do anything to defend.
Characters: Zombie-hunting resistance fighters
Conflict: Fight an army of cauldron-born
Setting: In the mysterious lakelands said to house ancient powers.
…And now we’re into Robin Hood territory, with a band of merry undead-killers defending a more localized territory.
At this level of magnification, we’ve changed all three aspects of the premise. Nevertheless, the node definitely reflects the core premise of the Accursed setting. This is the essence of creating a fractal storyworld. No matter what sort of storyworld you’re working on, you should be able to zoom in nearly forever without losing sight of your world’s core premise.
But what’s the point of all this? I’d tell you now, but that would be spoiling Thursday’s post.
