Epic Fantasy

Epic Fantasy

         

   So it appears I need to be reading Pathfinder Tales. Why? Because Paizo is a promoter of diversity in gaming and that’s the kind of thing I love to support. So Publishers Weekly did a web cast with James L. Stutter from Paizo and Marco Palmeri who works at Tor Books that talked about epic fantasy. Part of the discussion moved onto the increasing use of diversity in fantasy settings. And I just want to say it’s refreshing to hear people who write fantasy novels and who make table top role playing games be so open about including more people of color and even different sexual orientations in their products.

            As the hobby grows it’s important that the people at the top realize that the image of a pasty, socially awkward guy in his basement is no longer the audience that is being marketed to. Instead it’s good to see that the marketing and the stories are going to be done in a way that is meant to include more people. There is still plenty of room for growth (I have a future article on minorities and races to come later), but we are at a point where we can start building a more diverse hobby.

            The most interesting part of the webcast for me was when James mentions that in the Pathfinder world they have some African themed nations. I didn’t even know that!! Now I need to figure which stories and which supplements might show me this African inspired part of Pathfinder (game I finding myself loving more and more, I am late to the game after all).

            These are all aspects of our hobby that need to be encouraged. At the end of the day if we don’t let people like James and Marco know that we appreciate their work then we make diversity that much harder. So make sure you let them know that their work is well received.

            If you want to listen to the podcast ( which list some authors who work in non-western themed fantasy) then take a gander. Now .... to brush up on my writing skills. Maybe one day .......

            The Future of Epic Fantasy