How Fantastical Do You Like Your Fantasy World?

[Reynard]

This question is not about how fantastical you like your PCs, or your villains, or your dungeons. Rather, it is about how fantastical you like your broader world -- the big backdrop of your fantastical adventures.

Do you want the world to feel very real and grounded and possibly even historical? Or do you like the world at large to be weird and wild and unusual? Do you prefer an anchor of believability in order to accentuate the fantasy elements, or o you prefer a world steeped in magic and mysticism and weirdness?

What fantasy world sort of exemplify the degree of fantasticalness you prefer? Which ones are too much? Which ones are too little?

And as an aside, how do you prefer the PCs to discover the fantasy of the setting? is it what they grew up with, or is it something new and formidable in their adventures?

Note also that this is not about D&D, though I expect D&Disms will be discussed.

 

[payn]

I'm gonna say my default mode is like Game of Thrones and/or The Expanse. A mostly down to Earth setting with mundane folks and a pinch of the fantastical. Leaning more on political intrigue than McGuffins and fantasy elements.

 

[MGibster]

I prefer a mostly down to Earth setting with the more fantastical elements not playing a major role in the day-to-day lives of regular people. i.e. Farmer Bob might see a roc in the sky one day and worry about one of his cows being picked off, but he doesn't have a druid on standby to enhance his crops.

 

[Scribe]

Do you prefer an anchor of believability in order to accentuate the fantasy elements

Pretty much this one.

 

[The Firebird]

I really like believability. Honestly I don't enjoy going much beyond 5th level in 5e, just to keep it grounded.

It also gives the players an easy frame of reference. The more fantastical elements you add, the more the players need to learn in order to get the world.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

I like it as fantastical as possible.....except for how people act. I can have a hard time comprehending real human behavior, so I need my fantasy people to act in accordance or defiance of tropes rather than psychology.

But I also find grounded/realistic stuff boring: I'm a person who can't accept "make the fantastical rare so it will be appreciated more" because I already experience that "rareness" every second of life. I want to skip right to the weird, wild, and unusual.

I'm not sure I could give an example of the kind of setting I want: I homebrew because nothing fits my unique vision in just the right way.

 

[sevenbastard]

Game of Thrones with maybe 5% more magic.

 

[Greg K]

I'd say Beastmaster (movie), Conan, Dragonlance, and Ladyhawke all fall within the range that I, generally, like.

 

[aco175]

I do not like spaceships in my fantasy/D&D world. I'm not sure I would like Eberron with the elemental trains and 'magic' tech.

 

[bloodtide]

I like it very fantastical. Weird, strange, uncanny to the extreme.

I keep the players and characters as Clueless.