Last time, in our exploration of the fables of yore, we established how classic tales provide a familiar framework that we can tinker with. But how do we move beyond mere recognition of already established ideas to create something that resonates with a contemporary audience? That is where the second part of our approach comes into play: rekindling the magic.

Rekindle the Magic

When creating TTRPGs content, especially for number-crunchy systems like 5e, there is a tendency to explain everything through clear, almost-scientific formulae and chains of cause-and-effect. “The enemy wizard casts time stop, then uses her 3 turns to blast you with a fireball, cast nondetection on herself, and teleport away”.

This kind of logic is sometimes required when dealing with a table of powergaming rascals trying to ruin their GM’s plans at every turn — a situation all-too-familiar to us. It is not, however, how folklore operates. In folk tales, the forces the heroes face are mysterious and inscrutable, which makes them much more terrifying.

Let’s take the above example in that direction: “The wizard scatters a pinch of sand in front of her in an arc. Suddenly, you feel your knees buckle, sweat pour from every pore in your body. When you look up, she is gone, and your detecting compass is spinning wildly”.

What happened? What did the wizard do to us? Are we sick, cursed, or hurt? Is she far away or lurking near? These open questions aim to recreate the sense of wonder evoked when hearing a fairy tale for the first time, the growing fear when realising that “grandma’s ears are too pointed and her teeth are too sharp”.

So, our humble suggestions to anyone worldbuilding with folklore at the base are to remember to keep to the roots, and retain the mystery of fairy tales. But of course, like any good traditional recipe, there is a secret ingredient: comparative analysis.

Comparative Analysis

Surprising, we know. In this theoretical mess of “keeping the magic alive” and “pruning the branches to feed the roots”, what does comparative analysis have to do with anything? Well, folklore is a living thing. The stories that make it up propagate orally, they cross borders and shift form with each new retelling.

For that reason, the same tropes and archetypes are found in different cultures, with different names and shapes. In the example of Slavic and Balkan folklore, while researching for Zamanora we discovered that the “bożątko”, the small house spirit that inspired the Witcher’s “godling”, is actually the Polish iteration of the Russian “domovoy”, despite the two spirits looking and often behaving very differently in their respective tales.

At the same time, the Kievan Rus’ description of the World Tree that supports the realms of Heaven, Earth and the Underworld, bears striking similarity to the Norse Yggdrasil, cradle of the Nine Realms.

It is an important part of writing folkloric fantasy to see these connections, decide which concepts to unite and which to separate, in order to respect the original material while avoiding needless repetition and confusion.

Imagining Larger Realities

If you’ve reached this far, you can probably tell that using folklore as a source of inspiration is far more of an art than a science, and no clear rules can be set in stone. Adhering the words of Ursula Le Guin, “[writers of fantasy fiction]… are the realists of larger realities’.

Through the stories we create and the morals we wish to bring to the forefront through them, we are all essentially penning what may as well be viewed as “folklore” by those that come after us; inspiring them to imagine how the world “could” be, rather than how it simply “is”. Much like art, the results of such an approach can be nothing but subjective, therefore we are free to discover our creative voices unbound by notions such as right or wrong.

Luckily, you can see how we at the Eren Chronicles implemented these ideas in exacting detail, by checking out ZAMANORA: Ballad of the Witch. In the 400+ pages of the two books, you can experience how we translated the tales of the Slavic and Balkan peoples into a realm filled with magical and terrible creatures, people and their communities, mystical relics and places of power. All of this and more, was made into playable content for both D&D 5e and 2024, and the much-anticipated Legend in the Mist RPG.

The result (we believe) is a respectful homage to these beautiful mythologies, and may just be our best book yet. We urge you to check it out and back it, and we fervently hope it will inspire you to create, play and enjoy these tales!

Until we meet again, may you always Imagine Larger Realities!

The Eren Chronicles