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Ner0
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C C (Complex Conflicts) Is a World building advice Series I am going to be starting for two (Two? Ya, mainly two.) reasons.
1: The lack of World building Guides with the title 'conflict'.
2: Lack of World building content titled 'conflict' (Seriously this stuff is like WAAY important)
Let's get into it shall we?
Cultural, physical, or opinionative (my word, you no take) differences are the basis for any natural conflict. Without the existence of these things friction would never exist between two parties. For this reason it is imperative that you set up these things between any two parties you are wanting to have conflict with each other, whether it be as drastic as war, or as minor as stepping on each others toes from time to time.
Creating natural differences between nations, races, or individuals is paramount when setting up for situations that will eventually involve conflict. When deciding the natural differences between two parties you must first decide who these parties are.
For this example I will be doing a conflict between individuals;
First party: Eddie Swooty
Second party: Sally Hildebrush
Natural Physical Conflicts: Eddie is an African American male with not so pleasing features. Sally is a Caucasian Female with pleasing features.
Natural Mental Conflicts: Eddie was a sheltered child, and for this reason has no idea what personal space is. He is also highly indifferent to social interaction and prefers being alone than being with others. Sally is outgoing, and well traveled. Despite this however, she is quite squeamish when it comes to physical touch and interaction. For this reason she is VERY aware of those around her and how close they are.
Natural Opinionative Conflicts: Eddie is part of a strongly Catholic Family, and even though he was adopted into the family, he is very much affected by his religious beliefs. Eddie also believes that being outspoken about ones opinions is rude. He believes in just going with the flow of conversation, whether it is offensive or derogatory to one's beliefs. Sally however, is an Athiest, and an outspoken one at that. She believes that government is corrupt and that everyone should know about it. She finds people who don't voice their opinions to be foolish and meek. Eddie believes Governments exist for a reason, and that even if they do make mistakes from time to time, they do more good than not in most cases. He finds outspoken people to be rude.
You might have noticed the difference in size between Opinionative Conflict and the other two. In natural conflicts, opinions are at the fore front, and are usually the spark of an argument or fight. The deeper you go however, the simpler the conflicts become. Mental conflicts are in between, they won't necessarily start the conflict, but they will make conflict more likely. this is not to say however that mental differences won't ever be the focus of a conflict, just that they will be the focus less often than opinionative ones. This goes the same for physical conflicts, it is very rare that a conflict will focus on just physical differences, but their are times that it will. While this is the most tangible of the three differences, using it as a source for conflict usually makes the conflict to simple to be interesting. Try and add in some cultural or religious differences to spice up any conflict you have in your role play.
Remember to add in similarities as well, the best kind of conflict is one that has contradiction in it. It adds a special pizzazz when someone is fighting against something that they themselves portray as a feature. Black and white conflicts are to dull. Throw some corruption into your "good guys". Add some logical reasoning to the evil plan your 'bad guys' present. Create your natural similarities in the same way you do your natural conflicts. This will help keep a feel of consistency in your development
Join us next time for C C Part two: Reason for Conflict.
Oh and, have a good play :P
Sincerely,
~A.
1: The lack of World building Guides with the title 'conflict'.
2: Lack of World building content titled 'conflict' (Seriously this stuff is like WAAY important)
Let's get into it shall we?
Cultural, physical, or opinionative (my word, you no take) differences are the basis for any natural conflict. Without the existence of these things friction would never exist between two parties. For this reason it is imperative that you set up these things between any two parties you are wanting to have conflict with each other, whether it be as drastic as war, or as minor as stepping on each others toes from time to time.
Creating natural differences between nations, races, or individuals is paramount when setting up for situations that will eventually involve conflict. When deciding the natural differences between two parties you must first decide who these parties are.
For this example I will be doing a conflict between individuals;
First party: Eddie Swooty
Second party: Sally Hildebrush
Natural Physical Conflicts: Eddie is an African American male with not so pleasing features. Sally is a Caucasian Female with pleasing features.
Natural Mental Conflicts: Eddie was a sheltered child, and for this reason has no idea what personal space is. He is also highly indifferent to social interaction and prefers being alone than being with others. Sally is outgoing, and well traveled. Despite this however, she is quite squeamish when it comes to physical touch and interaction. For this reason she is VERY aware of those around her and how close they are.
Natural Opinionative Conflicts: Eddie is part of a strongly Catholic Family, and even though he was adopted into the family, he is very much affected by his religious beliefs. Eddie also believes that being outspoken about ones opinions is rude. He believes in just going with the flow of conversation, whether it is offensive or derogatory to one's beliefs. Sally however, is an Athiest, and an outspoken one at that. She believes that government is corrupt and that everyone should know about it. She finds people who don't voice their opinions to be foolish and meek. Eddie believes Governments exist for a reason, and that even if they do make mistakes from time to time, they do more good than not in most cases. He finds outspoken people to be rude.
You might have noticed the difference in size between Opinionative Conflict and the other two. In natural conflicts, opinions are at the fore front, and are usually the spark of an argument or fight. The deeper you go however, the simpler the conflicts become. Mental conflicts are in between, they won't necessarily start the conflict, but they will make conflict more likely. this is not to say however that mental differences won't ever be the focus of a conflict, just that they will be the focus less often than opinionative ones. This goes the same for physical conflicts, it is very rare that a conflict will focus on just physical differences, but their are times that it will. While this is the most tangible of the three differences, using it as a source for conflict usually makes the conflict to simple to be interesting. Try and add in some cultural or religious differences to spice up any conflict you have in your role play.
Remember to add in similarities as well, the best kind of conflict is one that has contradiction in it. It adds a special pizzazz when someone is fighting against something that they themselves portray as a feature. Black and white conflicts are to dull. Throw some corruption into your "good guys". Add some logical reasoning to the evil plan your 'bad guys' present. Create your natural similarities in the same way you do your natural conflicts. This will help keep a feel of consistency in your development
Join us next time for C C Part two: Reason for Conflict.
Oh and, have a good play :P
Sincerely,
~A.
