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Why Fantasy? Goin' Medieval in D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="payn" data-source="post: 8587438" data-attributes="member: 90374"><p>I think fantasy was all the rage at the time RPGs came into being and just left a major cultural impact. I mean, wargaming was all over the place. It was medieval, Civil war era, WWI, WWII, future sci-fi, etc... D&D came in and really pulled in folks that were jamming to Lord of the Rings, Conan, Elric, and other fantasy media. Later, you had all kinds of movies like Conan, Red Sonja, Beastmaster, etc... Renaissance festivals started popping up all around America. Once video games started to get going, you had all kinds of D&D sims. A decade or two later you have MMOs. It was like every 5-10 years a new doubling down occurred that just further stapled the fantasy genre into place. </p><p></p><p>There were other RPGs, I mean Traveller came out at nearly the same time as D&D. I think Snarf nailed it though that SW was more space fantasy than science fiction. It just didnt have the same impact on RPG as it did the wider culture. It was like D&D brand fantasy was Coke Cola and everything else is Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew. Many choices, but really just one king of the hill. </p><p></p><p>I think the modeling real medieval society might be a hold over from wargaming. Those folks were pretty hard core about emulating the time period that the setting takes place. D&D busts all the rules on that by adding Dragons and magic. There is no way to realistically model that in any type of world because it has never existed in our history. So, you are boulting on fantastical imaginary elements to realistic historical ones, and since the inception of RPGs there has been a pull in both directions. I like this dynamic because there is at least an attempt to link this fantasy element to a historic grounding piece that gives us a great place to imagine that is both fantasy and historical. YMMV.</p><p></p><p>I think the monarchies leans into the historical piece from wargaming. It's not a system that's in use now culturally, so its fun to reenact and imagine what that type of setting would be like. Its one step removed from reality and one step into past history. It's both easy to imagine in practice, and as a fantasy "what if?" Also, DD brand fantasy is the coke of RPGs. It's where people start and move on from there (if ever). </p><p></p><p>Nice posting Snarf.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="payn, post: 8587438, member: 90374"] I think fantasy was all the rage at the time RPGs came into being and just left a major cultural impact. I mean, wargaming was all over the place. It was medieval, Civil war era, WWI, WWII, future sci-fi, etc... D&D came in and really pulled in folks that were jamming to Lord of the Rings, Conan, Elric, and other fantasy media. Later, you had all kinds of movies like Conan, Red Sonja, Beastmaster, etc... Renaissance festivals started popping up all around America. Once video games started to get going, you had all kinds of D&D sims. A decade or two later you have MMOs. It was like every 5-10 years a new doubling down occurred that just further stapled the fantasy genre into place. There were other RPGs, I mean Traveller came out at nearly the same time as D&D. I think Snarf nailed it though that SW was more space fantasy than science fiction. It just didnt have the same impact on RPG as it did the wider culture. It was like D&D brand fantasy was Coke Cola and everything else is Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew. Many choices, but really just one king of the hill. I think the modeling real medieval society might be a hold over from wargaming. Those folks were pretty hard core about emulating the time period that the setting takes place. D&D busts all the rules on that by adding Dragons and magic. There is no way to realistically model that in any type of world because it has never existed in our history. So, you are boulting on fantastical imaginary elements to realistic historical ones, and since the inception of RPGs there has been a pull in both directions. I like this dynamic because there is at least an attempt to link this fantasy element to a historic grounding piece that gives us a great place to imagine that is both fantasy and historical. YMMV. I think the monarchies leans into the historical piece from wargaming. It's not a system that's in use now culturally, so its fun to reenact and imagine what that type of setting would be like. Its one step removed from reality and one step into past history. It's both easy to imagine in practice, and as a fantasy "what if?" Also, DD brand fantasy is the coke of RPGs. It's where people start and move on from there (if ever). Nice posting Snarf. [/QUOTE]
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