Fantasy Genres

[Klaus]

That's a damn fine list John.

Using that as a basis, what would you consider something like the carton Dark Waters or the carton, Thundar the Barbarian?

I'd say that, according to that list, Pirates of Dark Water is Epic Fantasy and Thundarr is good ol' Sword & Sorcery.

 

[mythusmage]

There is high fantasy, and there is low fantasy. High fantasy is about matters of import. Low fantasy is about getting the kids off to school. All else follows from that.

 

[Tonguez]

Good old-fashioned 'Sword & Sworcery'. Rollicking tales of high adventure in almost medieval settings.

Medieval settings? Wtf

come on Dark Ages at best, Late Iron Age more likely.

Oh and if we exclude Science Fantasy for the sake of this exercise where would you put Star Wars?

- Epic Fantasy or something else

 

[Thanee]

Well, I'd put Star Wars into Space Opera for the science fiction genre.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Ace]

There is also Romantic fantasy which is well focuses on Romantic and modern social issues in a Modern setting -- Blue Rose is the RPG for that -- as far as the usual suspects fpr Authors

Mercedes Lackey, Diane Duane, Kristian Brittian that lot or heck just go to

http://bluerose.greenronin.com/blue_rose_devlog_entry.php?id=54_0_15_0 and get the whole shimmy

you can mix generes and get things like the Laurel Hamilton's Anita "template abuse" Blake and get Dark Romantic Modern Fantasy too -- or go with Emma Bull's The War for the Oaks or the Borderlands Series for Modern Faerie Tale sometimes mixed with punk elements or more Technological elements ala The Serrated Edge series for "Elfpunk"

Most of these things have an RPG element to them -- Lackey and Hamilton refer to RPG's accuratley in the books and are familiar with them AFACT. Games like Witchcraft or the GOO Dreaming City (IIRC and not yet out) cover these sub generes

 

[Dogface]

[*]Low Fantasy - The converse. Setting features little magic or pricey magic. Deryni, Three Musketeers

On my own home planet, "earth", in what is generally considered to be "reality", Dumas' epic is NOT considered to be within the "fantasy" genre. If anything, it is "historical fiction". If The Romance of D'Artagnan (of which the Three Musketeers is merely the first volume) is in the "fantasy" genre, then so is "Dangerous Liaisons" (the REAL version, not that crappy ripoff that starred Buffy the Vampire Slayer), then so is "Killer Angels".

 

[Dogface]

Well, I'd put Star Wars into Space Opera for the science fiction genre.

It's a genre straddler, as is the Dune setting. In general, science fiction avoids any mysticism at all, exept for a few genre straddlers. The recent Battlestar Galactica revision is very unusual for science fiction in that it manages to remain non-mystical in its cosmology (I've not seen the new series, yet) but still has quite a bit of religion (good, bad, and ugly) in it.

 

[Psion]

On my own home planet, "earth", in what is generally considered to be "reality", Dumas' epic is NOT considered to be within the "fantasy" genre. If anything, it is "historical fiction".

We are not talking about literary shelving categories. We are talking about basis for an RPG. And you'd have to be blind not to see the influence of Dumas on fantasy RPGs.

 

[Dogface]

We are not talking about literary shelving categories. We are talking about basis for an RPG.

In that case "fantasy" is the most wrong-headed term to use. You'd have to be blind to not see that. It should be called "Campbellianism".

 

[Quickleaf]

Greek Fantasy

*Literature: The Odyssey
*Movies: Clash of the Titans, Jason & the Argonauts, the Golden Fleece
*RPGs: The New Argonauts (Sean K. Reynolds)

Biblical/Roman Fantasy

*Literature: the Bible (it certainly inspired Hollywood, which in turn inspired the RPG genre)
*Movies: Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments (with Charlton Heston), Cleopatra (with Elizabeth Taylor), Spartacus (with Kirk Douglas & Laurence Olivier), 300 Spartans, Helen of Troy, Gladiator, Alexander, Troy.
*RPGs: Testament, Troy (Green Ronin)

Arabian/Ancient Fantasy

*Literature: 1001 Arabian Nights
*Movies: The Thief of Baghdad (with Conrad Veidt and Sabu)
*RPGs: Al-Qadim (TSR), Endless Sands (Avalanche Press),

I'm not sure where these two RPG fit in, but they should be in this list:
Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia (Necromancer Games)
Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra (Green Ronin)