Best of Both Worlds: Genre Mash-Up (episode 61)

On the Shoulders of Dwarves

**What is a genre?** A category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content. **What is a mash-up?** Something created by combining elements from two or more sources. ### Combine a new genre into your existing game (6:05) ### How to understand the components and characteristics of a genre (9:00) The improv game “Genres”. Immersing yourself in the genre. Understanding the trope, archetypes and set expectations of the genre. ### How to do it right (15:35) Why only two? Because beyond that the experience is muddled. Taking the main tropes, mixing some, creating things, then going back to justify them. Go into [TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/) and study this. Be focused on the specific sub-genre, and what makes it spark. Use the aesthetics of both. What are the default plots and subject matter? Default types of antagonists? Take one of the genres as the basic one, and then put the other one on top of it. For example, the setting is one genre, the characters and their story is another. Use the right mechanics. ### Mash-up example (24:10) Superhero and post-apocalypse. [Aberrant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberrant) ### Summary (29:30) ### Taking the Load Off (30:30) Eran - UKGE, Games on Demand Uri - Finished reading [Super Powereds](http://www.drewhayesnovels.com/superpowereds) Aviad Tal, [Behind the Screen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8hJoRqHKhk&list=PLcJl8aQLpi__gffOGoLDp1U9DqF6H3rwc&fbclid=IwAR3KeOKb4IBEB6qNn34iqJ9uH7illglkkphUbx8GrZc-bu0RcA73hF4-ozU) ----- Email us at [e-mail] with questions, topic suggestions, and comments on this episode. [Our Facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/dwarfpodcast) [We have a Patreon page](https://www.patreon.com/dwarfcast), in case you'd like to support us in a monetary fashion. Most links to [DriveThruRPG are affiliate](http://drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=29668), which means we get a bit of money if you buy through them, with no added cost to you. Intro and outro based on On the Shoulders of Dwarves by the Cliches Duo. On the Shoulders of Dwarves is shared under [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)