How Fantastic?

[Fallen Seraph]

I usually have some level of fantastical nature but usually under a level of grim and grit. Think sorta like how say... Changeling: The Lost is quite fantastical but it doesn't feel shiny fantasy because of the content, or Sigil. Sorta like that.

Some common elements I have is advanced-technology; I have had mecha, firearms, computers, etc. Using such fantasy elements like Spirits possesses mechanical bodies for the mecha, ley lines being how information is sent for the internet. So somewhat like Eberron but not necessarily powered by magic just uses it sometimes.

Other ones include supernatural elements as part of daily occurrences; such as using Spirits as couriers, going to a restaurant and a Shaman's spirit companion slithering about the table weaving between and through the legs of others.

Then I usually have set pieces of fantastical things. The kind of things people have talked about below, like the crystal forest.

One thing I try to avoid though is it simply existing, they have some manner of impact on each other. So stuff like how in Planescape you got the zombie with the sign pointing directions in Sigil, I love that kind of stuff where it takes fantasy elements and makes it actually used in the world. Maybe not to the rampant degree of Eberron but fairly common, or at least makes a impact.

 

[The Green Adam]

Fantastic is relative.

In a campaign where peasants are dirt poor and men ride horses to war with bow and blade, a talking cat is fantastic.

In a campaign with flying castles, dozens of goblin races and flaming swords being given out like candy, a talking cat is not fantastic. Actually its probably common or even boring.

The problem is that in many campaign worlds that try so hard to be weird, different and 'magical', the results usually backfire.

Player: (Yawn) "Oh man, not another 100ft Rainbow Color Star Dragon."

GM: "No, no! This one is 200ft long and has eight wings. Its special!"



I've been known to go for the high fantasy campaign from time to time, though I usually run them more like Superhero games. I prefer my medieval fantasy to be truly medieval, set in a low fantasy, alternate real world history setting.

AD

 

[Aus_Snow]

I like the spectrum. Sometimes I want just a hint of the supernatural, sometimes I want Thor to be my paperboy and C'thulhu in my aquarium.

Exactly! I also like either or. Or both. Both is good too.

 

[Inyssius]

It's a two-axis thing.

Waterfalls of acid, slowly flowing ever west as they etch the copper sky. The moon is the gleaming eye of a night-black cyclopean turtle, closing in on the world to take vengeance on God for destroying the Pheonix King's world tree. Everyone can plane shift at will, but this ability is sorely truncated in this era; most people are slaved to the merciless yet loving Eternal Daughter to keep anyone from forming Dreamtime bubbles whenever they grow bored.

That's both fantastical and high magic.

On the other end, you've got no fantasy, and no magic. Here, we see the Dark Ages with the serial numbers filed off. The last Crusade has slowed to a halt with the onset of tuberculosis, and the legions are taking out their frustration on the local serfs. You're not a good enough fighter to take them all on; the only viable plan is banditry. You'll need an army of your own to get anything done, assuming you're not a wealthy diplomat or the Pope. Bleah.

But the two axes don't have to go together. You can have high magic, but low fantasy. You've got great mages, yes, but the world really isn't that much different from the last one. It's the Dark Ages again, except everyone has flaming swords this time. There might be orcish hordes. Give me a break.

Or whatever. Higher fantasy, lower magic: the goblin king has no mages, but his priesthood assures him that he must eat ten humans each day to keep the sun rising. Instead of farms, some people raise ferocious Black Pudding colonies for food (turns out the stuff can be both tasty and nonlethal if you dunk it in ammonium nitrate before cooking); this has allowed population densities to increase tenfold in those nations, though terrible accidents are more common as the breeding pens rot through. The leader of the Assassin's Guild is a black dragon; though dragons can't fly (with a size and shape like that? They'd tear themselves apart!), the black ones are stealthy as night.

Obviously, I prefer the first and last. I think most people do.

 

[ppaladin123]

??? restaurants in the Abyss ??? Ick indeed. Please tell me that that is meant to evoke a general feeling and not a specific example from a published module and/or setting.

I suppose their cook book could be 'How to Serve Humanity.'

4e Manual of the Planes describes a city in the abyss full of merchants, restaurants, back alleys, etc. It is in Graz'zt's domain....he was always the most pragmatic of demons.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I like to use fantastic elements. But I also like plausible behavior in the people populating the setting.

If there is something fantastic in the world, sooner or later people will figure out how to make use of it.

 

[Henrix]

I generally shy away from the truly high fantasy and prefer low fantasy.

I really like 4e as a game, but my preference would be a lower level of fantasy setting. I can really dig Hârn, for instance, but not the rules.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

I'm the opposite of almost everyone that's posted: I want more fantastic than not. If I want non-fantastic I have real life. I don't care if the fantastic elements get boring, I'd rather they did than have to suffer through yet another "It's like real life only we've added…um…magic!". Also it's fun to explore a completely different world and how it works even if it's boring.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

Depends on the campaign myself. I like a mix...for example...

My main 4e campaign has sprawling, ancient cities, devils waiting at the crossroads at midnight, airships, an entire kingdom of warforged and another of dragons, but is relatively "normal" (as far as fantasy games go).

One of my short-lived 4e campaigns was literally "the world got destroyed, and now pieces of it are floating about in the astral plane" with astral pirates and tons of wierdness.

And my Anima: Beyond Fantasy game is essentially Renaissance Italy with magic and strong Final Fantasy elements (oh..and kung-fu).

 

[Mallus]

In a campaign where peasants are dirt poor and men ride horses to war with bow and blade, a talking cat is fantastic.

In a campaign with flying castles, dozens of goblin races and flaming swords being given out like candy, a talking cat is not fantastic. Actually its probably common or even boring.

Allow me to disagree w/that. Scarcity alone can't make something fantastic, exciting or interesting. While the character may never have encountered such a thing before, the player probably has in some form or other (this is why a typical D&D +1 sword can never really be mysterious or impressive to experienced players).

As much as we might try to respond as our characters, in the end we respond as ourselves first and foremost. So a fantastic thing in-game needs to be fantastic both in the eyes of both the player and their character.

A talking cat can be fantastic --which to say it's interesting-- if it has something interesting to say or does an interesting thing. It can also be dull as dishwater, if it's played that way, regardless of the in-game context. Boring is boring.