For both writing novels and making your roleplaying world come alive, you want to make it feel as real as possible. The cold chill on a winter's morning, the sounds of a market place, the clashing of battle, you want all these things to feel as if they are really happening to your characters or player characters. For me I like to watch movies, read other books or experience such things myself.
A good hands on research place for you medieval junkies are Renaissance Faires. Most faires have people decked out period (and not so period) costumes. You see how they should look (not those mocked up outfits you see in film, but how they should fit on real people) and how they actually move in a real life situation. You can see how people interact, how they barter and how a market place might appear. And honestly, I think the costumes go to peoples' heads at these things, because the word "huzzah" pops up quite a bit, even from those not in costumes.
These are also a great place to see costumes to populate your world, as well as music and wares. At the Shrewsbury festival we like to attend, they have music and performers (all period) at multiple stages all through the day. The kids, as well as myself, love to sit and watch, even if it's just for a few moments, any we pass by as we wonder this different world for a few hours.
And we must not forget the jousting. Shrewsbury usually has a group of performers who joust on horseback, sword fight and do tricks on horseback. All of this in armor and garb and on horses most of them rescue and train to do these tricks. So a big "Huzzah" for them as well. But you can get a feel of how the swords swing, how lances actually work and look in combat, and how people fall from horses and from blows of the sword. Not to mention it's just plain fun to watch!
So if you get a chance to visit such events, do so. They are fun, informative and a great excuse to spend some money making cool costumes.
Happy Gaming!
No comments:
Post a Comment