Jackson Graham

@warrioroftherealm No, I don’t think that’s too cliche, although its definitely been used before.

It’s a great way to quickly and accurately send a message (from a relatively short distance). A funny way to subvert that would be to have the person shooting the bow be a horrible shot, and miss, and then either have to walk over to the arrow and…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm Nope, I wouldn’t say that’s cliché. Actually, I think it’s cool.

*disappears in a poof of smoke*

@warrioroftherealm Some could be named after the people who discovered them (Harry’s grass, Darcy’s Tears, Will petals), where they are found (mountain mossroot, cliff sunrise), intresting features (twenty leafed poppy), or its use (itch vine, waking breath, trance[its flower can knock you out in high quantities])
Random
Kraken’s eye
Glory…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm Well, it seems to me that in medieval Norse/viking culture they used a lot of v’s, o’s, and k’s.  In England (their main adversary) at the same time, there was a lot of use of the letters “ae” and “th” together, as well as a great many d’s and l’s.

Sorry if this is way to technical.  I am very detailed when it comes to h…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm I love making up words! (For instance, the character name topic I started.) How about smogis, longofay, caheloma, or jonjuke?  What type of culture is it?  That might have bearing on what kind of sounds they use in their language.

@warrioroftherealm

Caspin root.

Glaggun…

Hossrot root…

Letlest…

?? Any of those work?

@WarrioroftheRealm They’ve gottcha covered already. 😉

@supermonkey42 Light, electricity, and magnetism is a cool idea. 😀

@warrioroftherealm There’s also things like basing your elements on the real periodic table, which would make things a lot more limited. ( Power over, say, gold alone would create some really interesting circumstances for someone to use that power, versus power over all earth…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm

Warning: this is my personal preference, not facts.

<span style=”line-height: 1.5;”>Well, I personally think they’re over used and almost always the same, but it could be done well I suppose. If I see someone who suddenly discovers they can create fire in a book or movie, my instant thought is “here we go again.”</span>

Or…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm I feel like they are, because they pop up over and over again. They’re a trope, but they aren’t an obnoxious one. You can do so many things to change them up and make them unique, that it becomes interesting again.

But yeah, just straight-up ‘this hero controls fire, this one ice’ is somewhat boring. There’s a seed of epicness…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm Haven’t been on here for a while (thanks college), but I decided to give my two cents.

Yeah, elemental powers may seem pretty cliche at first glance. But there are many amazing stories that use potentially “cliched” premises as starting points. Cliche is usually a relative term. For example, revenge plots and the lovable…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm As the others said, I think this is a trope, not necessarily a cliche. My advice would be to find very creative ways for the characters to use their powers, besides the standard combat. Perhaps the fire elemental-ist can also sense heat, and tell when an enemy is hiding around a corner through their body heat. Borrowing from the…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm I’m using elementals. I think they are only cliche if you have the protagonist and antogonist (or the two main protagonists) have opposing powers, such as fire and ice. If they have powers that don’t really clash, such as fire+earth and wind+water like my MCs do, it isn’t as overused. My villain doesn’t even have powers, which…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm ehehe… well they better not be, because I’m using them. 😛

No, honestly, I think they are. But then, so is a lot of other stuff. I’m confident using ‘elementals’ in my work because the system, while it does incorporate elements, isn’t just about elements. In fact the element part is probably one of the least important bits.…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm The way I see it, it’s more of a trope than a cliche. What makes it cliche is how you use it I think.
As for cliche’s I have noticed I can only think of the fact that the villain always has fire power.

@warrioroftherealm Maybe there’s a curse if you cross the border which drives people away. That may be a little too in-depth for a barrier, though.

@warrioroftherealm

How about if one kingdom is higher than the other?

@warrioroftherealm A thick line of pine trees that seems almost impossible to cross.

@warrioroftherealm A canyon? Although, you’d have to be really absent-minded to wander across a canyon. @that_writer_girl_99 *steals maze idea for own story*

@warrioroftherealm Simple boundary markers could work.