Beyond High Fantasy

[jdrakeh]

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is fantasy/noire?

Mine is fairly "by the book", but I include some interesting background and some magic-technology from Mechamancy.

Noir (Short for Film Noir): Film noir is a genre of film based in large part on the hard-boiled detective novels that grew out of naturalism, a movement in literature based on realism. Film noir is French for "black film", and is pronounced accordingly ("film nwahr"): the plural is films noirs.

Film noir tends to feature characters trapped in situations (often not of their own making) and making choices out of desperation. Frequent themes are murder/crime, infidelity, jealousy, corruption, betrayal, and hopeless fatalism.

Film noir is at its core pessimistic. The stories it tells are of people trapped in a situation they did not want, often a situation they did not create, striving against random uncaring fate, and usually (but not always) doomed. Almost all film noir plots involve the hard-boiled, disillusioned male (often a private eye) and the dangerous femme fatale.

Fantasy Noir (or, more correctly, High Fantasy Noir) would be a fusion of these tropes with those commonly found in High Fantasy. Despite the mention of Eberron earlier, past a few class/archetype analogues, it really doesn't take much from Noir, IMHO.

 

[Mythmere1]

Noir (Short for Film Noir): Film noir is a genre of film based in large part on the hard-boiled detective novels that grew out of naturalism, a movement in literature based on realism. Film noir is French for "black film", and is pronounced accordingly ("film nwahr"): the plural is films noirs.

Film noir tends to feature characters trapped in situations (often not of their own making) and making choices out of desperation. Frequent themes are murder/crime, infidelity, jealousy, corruption, betrayal, and hopeless fatalism.

Film noir is at its core pessimistic. The stories it tells are of people trapped in a situation they did not want, often a situation they did not create, striving against random uncaring fate, and usually (but not always) doomed. Almost all film noir plots involve the hard-boiled, disillusioned male (often a private eye) and the dangerous femme fatale.

Fantasy Noir (or, more correctly, High Fantasy Noir) would be a fusion of these tropes with those commonly found in High Fantasy. Despite the mention of Eberron earlier, past a few class/archetype analogues, it really doesn't take much from Noir, IMHO.

Wow. Nice summary. It's a pet peeve of mine when people describe literary genres poorly. It's nice to see a summary that's right on the money.

 

[jdrakeh]

Wow. Nice summary.

Thanks, though only part of it is mine (anymore I do a lot of cut and paste, as repeatedly typing the same explanations gets old fast).

It's a pet peeve of mine when people describe literary genres poorly.

It seems that we share a pet peeve

 

[Imperialus]

I once toyed with the idea of a magical post apocolypse world that was set in a world that had advanced to an 1860's type technology in sync with magic before a war broke out approximatly on the scale of WWI. A couple of mages ended up casting a spell that literally ripped the continant in two. It also created a magical backlash corrupting magic and making it inherently dangerous.

 

[Warmaster_Horus]

Hmmm... Dark Sun comes to my mind for a Fantasy/Post-Apocalyptic setting.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

There's also Thundarr the Barbarian as Fantasy / Post Apocalyptic.

Going to other systems, After the Bomb from Palladium fits the PA part with some of the Fantasy (mutant animals) and RIFTS is naturally something of a buffet of genres tho heavily towards dystopian sci fi (the Coalition).

Dragonfist was a Fantasy / Wuxia.

 

[kroh]

Hey all...

Goodman games has a fantasy western style thingie comming out soon (http://frontierwords.blogspot.com).

A great flick that could be easily made into a game that blends multiple genre... Tron ( showing my age )

Lets not forget Fanta - punk... Shadowrun.

Full Steam Fantasy...Iron Kingdoms and Dragonmech.

I think there is even a Fanta-romantic . Blue Rose.

WHite Wolf games blended the horror with their "Dark Ages " line. There is also Ravenloft and Midnight for the same thing.

Fanta-Space--->Dragonstar.

Fanta-space-western... Star Wars RPG

Paranoia RPG and Munchkin RPG...just plain wrong...

Regards,
Walt

 

[Teemu]

Fantasy Noir (or, more correctly, High Fantasy Noir) would be a fusion of these tropes with those commonly found in High Fantasy. Despite the mention of Eberron earlier, past a few class/archetype analogues, it really doesn't take much from Noir, IMHO.

Do you have Sharn: City of Towers?

 

[rbingham2000]

Noir (Short for Film Noir): Film noir is a genre of film based in large part on the hard-boiled detective novels that grew out of naturalism, a movement in literature based on realism. Film noir is French for "black film", and is pronounced accordingly ("film nwahr"): the plural is films noirs.

Film noir tends to feature characters trapped in situations (often not of their own making) and making choices out of desperation. Frequent themes are murder/crime, infidelity, jealousy, corruption, betrayal, and hopeless fatalism.

Film noir is at its core pessimistic. The stories it tells are of people trapped in a situation they did not want, often a situation they did not create, striving against random uncaring fate, and usually (but not always) doomed. Almost all film noir plots involve the hard-boiled, disillusioned male (often a private eye) and the dangerous femme fatale.

Fantasy Noir (or, more correctly, High Fantasy Noir) would be a fusion of these tropes with those commonly found in High Fantasy. Despite the mention of Eberron earlier, past a few class/archetype analogues, it really doesn't take much from Noir, IMHO.

Yep. And corruption is EVERYWHERE in noir. The police. The media. The church. The politicians. The corporations. The labor unions. And definitely the mob.

A smart person would get the hell out of your average noir city before it devours him whole, but there are always ties that bind someone to the city, something that holds the average guy back.

Maybe it's a lack of money that prevents him from establishing himself elsewhere. Maybe it's an inability or unwillingness to see past the lies being cranked out every day. Maybe it's a deluded sense that everything's going to turn out all right. Maybe it's a personal relationship with someone in the city. Maybe it's a job that keeps drawing him back. Maybe it's a sense of justice that won't let him leave. Maybe it's an enemy that he's sworn to take down even if it kills him.

 

[TheGM]

I do straight high-fantasy, but include espionage at higher levels. It can be cool to have characters who grew up slaying evil have to try and work in a society that does not necessarily agree with their beliefs while solving the espionage problem. Or to have them "hunt down" whom is leaking secrets from the Court of their kingdom to the "enemy".