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D&D is a Horror Game
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<blockquote data-quote="Elphilm" data-source="post: 4767322" data-attributes="member: 55130"><p>James is talking about the literature D&D was originally based on. Is anyone going to suggest that, for example, Clark Ashton Smith's stories are not equal parts fantasy and horror? What is "genre purity" even supposed to mean in the context of fiction written before the genres of fantasy, horror, and science fiction were ever formalized into the neat categories of today? I sincerely doubt James' statement was meant to be taken as a piece of, say, structuralist genre theory. His point, I think, is rather that (O)D&D subverts expectations about what fantasy roleplaying is supposed to entail, and that actual play may very well turn out to have more in common with fantastic horror than heroic fantasy. Even if the characters should survive through enough levels to rival pulp fantasy superheroes such as Conan, the former never have the plot immunity of the latter. In other words, the element of uncertainty that roleplaying games by design entail makes it likely that a given gaming session will turn out horrific instead of fantastic for the player characters. Provided that the referee remains impartial during play, the D&D universe is far more uncaring and inhuman than is commonly expected of fantasy fiction.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Elphilm, post: 4767322, member: 55130"] James is talking about the literature D&D was originally based on. Is anyone going to suggest that, for example, Clark Ashton Smith's stories are not equal parts fantasy and horror? What is "genre purity" even supposed to mean in the context of fiction written before the genres of fantasy, horror, and science fiction were ever formalized into the neat categories of today? I sincerely doubt James' statement was meant to be taken as a piece of, say, structuralist genre theory. His point, I think, is rather that (O)D&D subverts expectations about what fantasy roleplaying is supposed to entail, and that actual play may very well turn out to have more in common with fantastic horror than heroic fantasy. Even if the characters should survive through enough levels to rival pulp fantasy superheroes such as Conan, the former never have the plot immunity of the latter. In other words, the element of uncertainty that roleplaying games by design entail makes it likely that a given gaming session will turn out horrific instead of fantastic for the player characters. Provided that the referee remains impartial during play, the D&D universe is far more uncaring and inhuman than is commonly expected of fantasy fiction. [/QUOTE]
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