The following pages provide suggestions to help you build natural fantasy conflicts

They explore these situations from a rules perspective – which the Core Rulebook also discusses at length from page 58 – but, more importantly, they focus on the narrative tensions at play during clashes between individuals or factions.

Ignorance and Fear

Natural fantasy conflicts are extremely varied, but all share one common element: the will of one or more contenders to act before fully understanding the nature of the problem and the possible consequences. They often do so out of fear of what they don’t know how to control or understand.

The simple answers are seldom the correct ones. Prejudice and fear might cause irreparable damage but, at the same time, one can’t wait forever. This contradiction is at the heart of natural fantasy and something that has no simple solution – on the contrary, this particular style of game hinges upon doing your best, acting out of generosity and taking responsibility for your mistakes.

When creating situations based on these dynamics, you should pay attention to:

• Fear and shame. Someone feels in danger: it might just be due to survival instinct, but it can also arise out of fear of losing credibility, power, or control, or the growing realization that one’s worldview is naive or incomplete.
• Neglected teachings. Traditions, legends, stories, and relics remind us of similar situations from the past, but the factions or contenders involved are unaware of them, willfully ignore them or (even worse!) misinterpret them to fan the flames of conflict instead of solving it.
• Pride and prejudice. The contenders often have a shallow opinion of their adversaries, and stubbornly refuse any chance of compromise, convinced that their actions are an unfortunate necessity or inherently “righteous”.
• Long-term consequences. Every conflict is going to have an aftermath that the contenders do not understand or choose to ignore, usually because they believe it won’t really come to pass, won’t involve them directly or is preferable to any other alternative regardless.
• A glimmer of hope. In all these situations, there is always a chance for negotiation and dialogue that people are ignoring, and that is exactly where Player Characters come into play and show their support.