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Why does fantasy dominate RPGs?
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<blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 7096194" data-attributes="member: 3400"><p>And notice that they got there with largely fantasy with an element of horror. </p><p></p><p>There's a little something to be said for the top game always being a D&D variant in part because it was the first. But I also think it's significant that it was a fantasy game that first lent itself to the RPG fad/hobby. I also think it's significant to note that most of the RPGs that have broken the top 5 over the last decade with sci-fi elements also have a substantial amount of fantasy to them - Shadowrun, Mutants and Masterminds, Star Wars. All ameliorate the challenges of running sci-fi (and being up on high-tech science with some verisimilitude) by incorporating a lot more science-fantasy.</p><p></p><p>Ultimately, the more you incorporate fantasy, the less you have to worry about how or why things work. Magic takes over because, quite simply, it's magic. Teleports get you around or characters fly or use their satellite HQ's transporter and it all just works according to an arbitrary rule decision while sci-fi is trying to make the choice of using some kind of faster than light technology (hyper/jump space, warp drive, or star gates?) that will probably have an effect beyond just travel. All that stuff could just move at the speed of plot (like pretty much all J.J. Abrams sci-fi whether Star Trek or Star Wars) and virtually ignore the awesome distances involved but a whole lot of sci-fi fans/propeller heads aren't going to be satisfied with that. They'll <strong>want</strong> some kind of justification for it and will probably accept less handwavium in the answer than the fantasy fan. And that's a lot harder.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="billd91, post: 7096194, member: 3400"] And notice that they got there with largely fantasy with an element of horror. There's a little something to be said for the top game always being a D&D variant in part because it was the first. But I also think it's significant that it was a fantasy game that first lent itself to the RPG fad/hobby. I also think it's significant to note that most of the RPGs that have broken the top 5 over the last decade with sci-fi elements also have a substantial amount of fantasy to them - Shadowrun, Mutants and Masterminds, Star Wars. All ameliorate the challenges of running sci-fi (and being up on high-tech science with some verisimilitude) by incorporating a lot more science-fantasy. Ultimately, the more you incorporate fantasy, the less you have to worry about how or why things work. Magic takes over because, quite simply, it's magic. Teleports get you around or characters fly or use their satellite HQ's transporter and it all just works according to an arbitrary rule decision while sci-fi is trying to make the choice of using some kind of faster than light technology (hyper/jump space, warp drive, or star gates?) that will probably have an effect beyond just travel. All that stuff could just move at the speed of plot (like pretty much all J.J. Abrams sci-fi whether Star Trek or Star Wars) and virtually ignore the awesome distances involved but a whole lot of sci-fi fans/propeller heads aren't going to be satisfied with that. They'll [b]want[/b] some kind of justification for it and will probably accept less handwavium in the answer than the fantasy fan. And that's a lot harder. [/QUOTE]
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