Basic flavor elements:
- magic is wild; somewhat unpredictable, from the heart as well as the head
- The High Elves were Not Nice. I’m thinking more like Pratchett’s depiction than e.g. Michael Moorcock’s. Also, they’re all dead.
- from Earthdawn: putting back together a very broken world
- keep the horror subtle, though (rugose, squamous ascii art! ha.)
- references to high fantasy kept small - mob monsters ok, plot monsters not
- take plot monsters from where? perhaps mythology?
- references to real world should not be exclusively European
- e.g. Chinese dragons, not European (also, dragons are much too badass to fight)
- steampunk technology is fun and could add interest
- high technology doesn’t fit, though
Fun stuff:
- Ursula Vernon wombats and weird fruit
- Secrets of the Gnomes gnomes
- Nomadic carpet makers? Flying!
- Non-Euclidean overworld map
- …gets more Euclidean as the plot advances?
- Jelaza Kazone-type sapient trees
- At least one type of magic done with bells.