Hate the Player, Not the Genre; Or What the World of Darkness Taught Me About Urban Fantasy

A lot of people are surprised that I actually enjoy the Classic World of Darkness games, because bluntly, the franchise might as well be called Ethnic Stereotypes'R'Us (they periodically forget that Africa exists, except for Egypt-- whether this is a insult or a lucky dodge, I'm not sure). Especially in some of the earlier editions, the level of not doing the research and appropriating mythology willy-nilly is pretty impressive.

Here's the key: the games are what you make of them. You can  merrily throw out all the suggestions about what you're 'supposed' to do with your stories and characters while maintaining the basic setting and mechanics. The facepalm-inducing commentary on the character types is part of the game creators' interpretation of their world, but it isn't in any way integral to the game itself, or even to the setting.

Unfortunately, many writers take the Urban Fantasy Template World very much at face value. I've cited the World of Darkness games because they have had a direct influence on creating that template. There is an expectation that writing urban fantasy means using that set of supernatural creatures, that gothic-punk aesthetic (complete with the Standard Urban Fantasy Dress Code), that same selection of suggested investigation-and-mayhem-for-hire jobs, and that same narrow and heavily stereotyped selection of character backgrounds.

But it's just that-- conventions and cliches. Urban fantasy is whatever you make it. As a speculative fiction author, it's up to you to build your own world, which can be as wildly creative as you wish.