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But, Space Opera isn't just knights and wizards in space. Allastair Reynolds is a master of Space Opera, but his stories are very strongly grounded in plausible science. Space Opera is characterized by the operatic (sorry) tone. Massive casts, galaxy spanning plots, huge scenes of grandeur...

Well, number one, I was talking to someone specifically about Dune, and not about SF in general. If you wanted to know my definitions, instead of presuming, why not just ask? /edit to add a bit later Thinking about it, I really rather doubt there is any single theme that encompasses all SF...

That's... a really good way to phrase that. Maybe "mythologize" is a better descriptor than romanticize. Not that SF is always about the future, but, again, we're painting with a fairly broad brush. I like that definition.

Sorry, I think you misunderstood. I said that the primary theme of Dune was an exploration of free will in the face of prescience. Not that SF's only theme is free will. I'm not quite sure how you made that jump.

How so? In what way is that wrong? Fantasy as a genre is an outgrowth of folktales, among other things. Folktales are morality stories dealing with questions of good and evil, but, also primarily, as a means of reinforcing social behaviour. Things in the past are good and traditions need to...

Actually, that's the basic definition of the genre. Fantasy is a romantization (I'd argue fetishization) of the past. That's the point of Fantasy stories. Makes sense given the origins of Fantasy as a genre.

Ahhh. I think I see where the problem lies. To me, SF is not defined by trope. Like, at all. You can have SF set in the stone ages (Quest for Fire) and SF set in post-human Doctor Who level magic. That's not what defines SF. SF is defined by theme. Dune is an exploration of what free will...

It's funny. I had a twilight cleric in my campaign. Now, the campaign only went to 8th level, so, maybe the problems occur later, but, I never saw the issue. Sure, tons of healing. Who cares? It's not like that was a big deal anyway. I had zero problems with the Twilight cleric. Now, the...

Crit kills. DOUBLE Max HP.

Good grief. Just once I'd like to say something that is totally uncontroversial and pretty much generally accepted without having to spend pages explaining the point. Is that really too much to ask. I mean, seriously. You are going to challenge THAT statement?

Dune is very much not fantasy. LIke, at all. If you are reading something and thinking it is not political, I'd say right back atcha. Or, maybe you could, instead of being very condescending and presumptuous, actually engage in conversation? Just a thought.

That's pretty true. About the only way you make non-focused fire (unfocused fire?) work is if you add in some sort of death spiral where targets are disadvantaged for not being at full HP. Since D&D doesn't do that, there's no point in damaging two targets to half rather than straight up...

Love Pratchett, but Pratchett, while written in fantasy, is far, far more satire than actual fantasy. You are, of course, right that exceptions exist. But, that's the problem. They're the exceptions. Fantasy is inherently nostalgic. It has to be. It's a romanticization of the past, which...

And, there is another point. When the game isn't designed for people who optimize, it means that the rest of us can pick it up and play without having to constantly deal with it. Optimization results in narrower and narrower choices to make. That was the problem with 3e. Yup, you had a...

Reading this, and I can't really disagree with the interpretation, does rather clearly define why I don't like fantasy as a genre. The navel-gazing of nostalgia - things were better in the past but the present is a pale shadow and the future is nothing but dissolution - of fantasy as a genre is...

Why are you insisting on "realistic" naval combat? You appear to be the only one who needs this in order to differentiate from pirate genre movies. I do seem to recall a rather large number of pirate movies where you have crews fighting other crews on ships. Doesn't need to be realistic...

Sorry, but Treasure Island is hardly the be all and end all of the pirate genre. After all, Pirates of the Carribean is obviously Piratey. As is Sinbad. Conan does piracy quite well in a number of stories. I would argue that the Pirate genre is slightly broader than a single novel.

I elevator pitched a campaign a while ago based on The Wandering Village, if you’ve played that game. The village of the PCs is on the back of a massive creature created by the dying planet to destroy the cancerous dungeon growths that are killing the planet. The players asked how they could...

@Remathilis - I feel much the same as you do. So, when I'm running my game, I want it to be a lot more hopeful to be honest. I'm rather tired of all the negativity I see and unabashedly want my pretend elf game to be a source of happy thoughts. I mean, good grief, I'm running Out of the Abyss...

For me, this is rather the point. If all you're doing is boarding actions and no actual ship combat, why bother with ships at all? If you're just going to skip over all the elements of actually BEING on a ship - skipping over the upkeep of the ship, living on the ship, carrying freight, all...