How Fantastical Do You Like Your Fantasy World?

[Umbran]

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?

To be honest, "How fantastical is it?" isn't a question I ever worry about, in my gaming or in my reading.

In the game, I care more about the quality of the players and GM than the world. In my game books, I care less about how fantastical the choices are and far more about the rest of the execution, given those choices.

Whatever you're making, execute it well, and I'll probably like it.

 

[MGibster]

To be honest, "How fantastical is it?" isn't a question I ever worry about, in my gaming or in my reading.

Honestly, it's not something I really worry about either. I've never really looked at a game and said, "That's way too fantastical, I don't want to play." I prefer campaign settings that are a little on the grounded side, for a certain value of grounded, but I can appreciate something like Eberron and Spelljammer and have fun playing them.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I like it to be very fantastical but believably so, like Roshar from the Stormlight Archive. It's thoroughly fantastical with magic affecting almost all aspects of the setting, but it's believable in its approach to magic. Creatures adapt to the unique environment, people use magic in realistic ways, and there isn't a solid line between the fantastical and the mundane in the setting.

 

[Micah Sweet]

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.

Completely agree. I want fantasy elements to be both explicitly so and for them to largely not be intrusive on the day to day lives of most folks (although there's a lot of wiggle room on that second one depending on region and culture). Where explicit fantasy elements are not present, the world behaves as close to real life as is practical in play, abstracted as needed for that practicality.

 

[Reynard]

I like it to be very fantastical but believably so, like Roshar from the Stormlight Archive. It's thoroughly fantastical with magic affecting almost all aspects of the setting, but it's believable in its approach to magic. Creatures adapt to the unique environment, people use magic in realistic ways, and there isn't a solid line between the fantastical and the mundane in the setting.

Huh. Interesting. Roshar is one of the least believable fantasy worlds I can recall. It is part of the reason I dropped the series.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Huh. Interesting. Roshar is one of the least believable fantasy worlds I can recall. It is part of the reason I dropped the series.

Care to elaborate?

 

[Reynard]

Care to elaborate?

The storm thing lands flat from a reasonable ecology standpoint, as the main point.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

The storm thing lands flat from a reasonable ecology standpoint, as the main point.

The ecology of the setting is built around how extreme the storm is. It's a fundamentally and explicitly magical element of the worldbuilding that affects the mundane and magical aspects of the setting. It effectively turns the setting into a giant tide pool.

 

[overgeeked]

The weirder the better. Realistic or mundane settings are boring. This reminds me of the gonzo thread awhile back and it’s basically the same answer here.

Eberron, Mystara, Hollow World, Dark Sun, Spelljammer, Planescape, Sword World, Mushoku Tensei, DCC RPG, MCC RPG, XCC RPG, Gamma World, Into the Odd, Electric Bastionland, Stygian Library, Shadowdark, Over the Edge, Numenera, Acid Death Fantasy, Completely Unfathomable, Troika, Ultraviolet Grasslands, etc.

The wilder, weirder, and more packed with gonzo the better.

 

[James Gasik]

Generally, my game worlds don't seem particularly fantastical at first glance. Most settlements are primarily Humans/Halflings, with the occasional Dwarf, Elf, or other species (becoming more prevalent in major settlements- the largest city in my current campaign that the players have traveled to has a Centaur gunsmith).

However, there's quite a bit of evidence that the world was much more fantastical in the past, and once you start wandering away from civilized areas, encountering monsters, ancient ruins, and mysterious phenomenon become more likely. The wild lands have a strong fey influence, there are ancient portals to other worlds left by a planeswalking civilization here and there, and deep beneath the surface, in the Underdark, magical and psionic creatures and locales are prevalent.

You might occasionally see a mysterious flying ship in the sky, the largest city-state is ruled by noble families of Sorcerers, and the military tames griffons. To the west, a cult is attempting to punch a hole in reality to access the Void Beyond and the entities that lurk there, a kingdom to the east was destroyed by a magical plague, and tales persist of a Godswar that happened before the current era, that caused great destruction.

So basically, a fairly normal D&D setting- just about anything and everything could be out there, but the common people have more realistic lives and problems...most of the time, at least.