Campaign preferences - Realism

[der_kluge]

Last campaign, I gave my players a poll to gauge their leanings towards a number of different campaign "metrics". This included a variety of topics, and most of the questions, I blatently stole from a similar poll that I found. I'd like to credit that original author, but I don't even know where I found it at this point.

That said, I think it might be interesting to start a series of threads based on at least some of the questions in my poll. Generally the poll questions express a range of like or dislike. So, in a question of "which do you prefer, red or blue?" 1 would be red, 10 would be blue, and 5 would be purple.

This question specifically has to do with "realism" in the campaign setting. So, the question is, given your perfect campaign setting to play in, what is your preference?

1 - Half my village is starving; the other died of the plague after they were given bad grain. I'm leaving to seek a better life in the mines. (highly realistic)

2-9 somewhere in between

10 - The Elf Queen visited our floating city yesterday riding on her platinum dragon. The sorcerers of Gkesh have created a horde of elementals that are ravaging their Crystal Forest. I'm off to save the elves. (highly fantastical)

 

[Crothian]

Foir me it isn't that simple. I perfer the side of realisnm, but that doesn't mean I don't like the rare truely fantastic encounter. If all the cities are floating cioties, they are boring and mundane, but if there is only one legendary floating city it is a sight to behold and a challenge to find.

 

[twofalls]

Yeah, I have a hard time with this one as well. The question is so relative, even given your examples that its almost meaningless. I don't think I've ever run a fantasy game where it wasn't possible to eventually cast a fireball spell. There is nothing realistic about this. Forgotten Realms has Wizards of Thay in major metropolises across Faerun selling magical items, whereas in Middle Earth the very idea is absurd. What is "realistic" about either setting however? Both are exercises of the imagination. I believe I generally understand what you are asking, I just wish we could find a more defining vernacular to express these ideas that are bandied about on the boards when talking about RPG's and realism.

 

[der_kluge]

This doesn't have anything to do with magic, or the rules. It has to do with the campaign feel. You can still cast spells within the framework of a medieval European setting, with kings and plague, and filth in the street. Or, one where elven queens ride upon fluffy dragons, and what-have-you.

 

[IronWolf]

I put my preference at a 7. I play/DM in the Forgotten Realms which is of course a high magic setting. Not all the way to a scale of 10 in my opinion (at least not in games I DM or play in) but enough magic and "fantasy" to have a fair amount of fun with.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I can't answer this poll, because it makes one assumption that simply doesn't hold true with me.

It assumes that I always want to play the same sort of campaign.

Some days I want Tolkien. Some days I want Howard. Some days I want Pratchett.

Some days I want Greyhawk. Some days I want the real world with a bit of magic mixed in. Some days I want Eberron.

My perfect setting is whatever I'm in the mood for at the time, and they range all the way from 1 to 10 and back again.

 

[Arrgh! Mark!]

2-5, depending.

Most of my games hit about the 3 mark. Gladiators in a great arena escaping after five years of brutal combat, barbaric wandering princes seeking glory through pillage/whatever and simply happen to pillage temples of ancient gods..

Magic I generally limit, and try to give it a really fey or demonic feel. And when it does do something.. did it do anything at all? Did I cast a charm spell or is this fellow simply a friendly sort?

Some of my players really liked it. Two didn't, liking more of a high (Or extreme) fantasy. Different strokes.

Realism - not so much. I try for a gritty, dark feel. It brings out individual heroism, if for a brief and shining moment before the dark settles once again. High fantasy tends to eclipse players from the start - or at least any time I've played in a high fantasy setting the DM is sure to have us feel that way, meaning to or not. (Raise dead? I go to a medium sized city and find an 8th level cleric. Thats not so hard, is it?)

 

[The Shaman]

I strive for a campaign-world that is internally consistent, ecological relationships influence the distribution of both humanoids and animals/monsters, the laws of physics function in a way that is familiar to the players, and magic is rare and mysterious with a strong whiff of danger hovering about it.

Put whatever number you think fits to that.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I like my games to be gritty and realistic but I also have the occaisonal ridiculous thing like a floating castle led by the a Demon king attacking a draconian airship.
So I'll just guesstimate.

 

[Rystil Arden]

I don't think I can answer this question either. In my most recent homebrew campaign setting, I have had starving, plagues, mines, an elf Queen, a flying city, sorcerers, and hordes of outsiders. I try to stay internally consistent, so there was a reason based on the physics of the setting that the city could fly, just as there was a reason for the plague. So I have lots of things that are on both extremes, all the way extreme, which makes me less likely to select a 5 (I would select a 5 if I thought that both 1 and 10 were too extreme for my setting, for instance) and more likely to simply say that you can have both in the same setting.