This solution also contributes to another aspect of the Maskwitches and their masks that I quite like. That being the open question of their "reality." Do they even exist in the same "reality" as we do? What is the nature of their "realness"? Obviously the ordinary people of Doggerland are as real as we are and inhabit a real world bound by the same natural laws and phenomena. Their world also has a reality of Spirits and Maskwitches that ours does not. I like that the exact nature of this second "reality" is left an open question. It could be symbolic and metaphorical. It could be a mass hallucination. It could be a reality as real as the physical reality. It could be something else entirely that I have not thought of.
In that context of not solidly defined "reality" it seems appropriate that the masks should be constructed in part by photoshop collage of real elements. It gives us masks that have the textures and forms of physical objects, but combined in ways that may or may not be possible for a physical object to take form in our world. Somehow this feels "righter" to me than actually crafting prop masks on the workbench.
As you know, I’m cautious about taking snippets of real world cultures, finding them somehow entertaining, and then including them in a game. Buuuuuut I do have in the back of my mind various snippets of information from hunter gather societies that at least inform Maskwitches, while trying not to take anything from them. Ideas of scale, time and distance - which cast this kind of doubt on our 21st century notions of reality - are always present.
I’m really pleased that some of this stuff is communicating.
This solution also contributes to another aspect of the Maskwitches and their masks that I quite like. That being the open question of their "reality." Do they even exist in the same "reality" as we do? What is the nature of their "realness"? Obviously the ordinary people of Doggerland are as real as we are and inhabit a real world bound by the same natural laws and phenomena. Their world also has a reality of Spirits and Maskwitches that ours does not. I like that the exact nature of this second "reality" is left an open question. It could be symbolic and metaphorical. It could be a mass hallucination. It could be a reality as real as the physical reality. It could be something else entirely that I have not thought of.
In that context of not solidly defined "reality" it seems appropriate that the masks should be constructed in part by photoshop collage of real elements. It gives us masks that have the textures and forms of physical objects, but combined in ways that may or may not be possible for a physical object to take form in our world. Somehow this feels "righter" to me than actually crafting prop masks on the workbench.
I agree wholeheartedly with this thesis!
As you know, I’m cautious about taking snippets of real world cultures, finding them somehow entertaining, and then including them in a game. Buuuuuut I do have in the back of my mind various snippets of information from hunter gather societies that at least inform Maskwitches, while trying not to take anything from them. Ideas of scale, time and distance - which cast this kind of doubt on our 21st century notions of reality - are always present.
I’m really pleased that some of this stuff is communicating.