A way with worlds: 34 - The Odds

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And now, on with our regular column:

Three figures lurked in a dark alcove in Castle Cragmore.

They fit together like an strange puzzle: one was burly human with shoulders like rocks. Another was a slender elf, his face and body ethereal and thin. The third was a black-bearded dwarf with a body that reminded one of a clenched fist.

"I find this quite disturbing," the human said elegantly. His accent was clipped and very prpper, with diction so sharp you could cut wood with it.

The dwarf rolled his eyes. "I swear, could you try to act like a barbarian, Guthar?"

"Hush," The elf spat, waving his long-fingered hand at his short companion, "You met his mother. I can't believe my sister is marrying you, Coalsbeard. Now, how do we get into this place?"

"I suggest," whispered Guthar, "We apprehend those three fellows and take their uniforms."

Elf, dwarf, and human focused on three guards. One was large, one thin, one quite short - perhaps even half-dwarven.

"Ah," Coalsbeard rubbed his thick hands together, "Everyone expects people to knock out the guards and dress like them from legends, but no one actually checks, do they . . ."

OK, what seems odd about the above story?

• We have an oddly matched couple of classic fantasy races - but we can accept that. There's even an odd chemistry.
• We have a cultured barbarian, but a hint as to why he's cultured.
• We have an elf marrying a dwarf - but the characters can accept it, so it must be OK.
• We even acknowledge that the classic "take-the-guards' uniforms" routine is old and tired.

But . . . what are the odds of finding three people with the same sizes of clothes as our heroes?

In this case, the writer had people against the odds - but then went and stomped all over believable probability. Odds are important in your world and thus in your stories - and easy to forget. Forgetting what is likely in your world is a quick way to make your writing unbelievable and your world irrelevant.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
You may even have the numbers in your worlds - population of a country, cost in gold coins to buy a horse, etc. But numbers reveal more than costs or fill a census.

Do you know the odds for events in your world? Even common ones?

Take a look at your setting and ask:

• What is the chance a person will be of a particular race?
• What percentage of people in your setting can read?
• How many people in your setting are unemployed?
• What is the distribution of genders in your setting?

Now you may not know the answers. You may not need to know. But if your stories touched on these issues they could be vital:

• In a world of multiple races, the odds someone will be a race would affect how they may be viewed, their chance of being alone in a crowd, etc.
• In a world with low literacy a literate person is valuable.
• In a world with high unemployment there may be increased crime - and who says all your main characters have jobs?
• In a radical distribution of genders, a culture's attitude toward reproduction could be different than what we're used to.