Classic Fantasy Ideas

[Maester Luwin]

Hey everyone! Magic or legendary weapons. For S&S magic has price for the user of it. The major heroes have side kicks of some sort. Maester Luwin

 

[The_Gneech]

Monsters
Warriors, usually good
Sorcerers, usually evil
Wise old mentor (who may or may not be a wizard)
Magic, which can go either way depending on the setting, the author, and the context
"The previous age was SO much better."
Pre-Industrial era
Castles
Ruins/lost cities of elder days
Prophecy
Gods/mysticism are real, palpable things with explicit physical form or effects
Elves, dwarves, giants, fey (high fantasy)
Survivors or enclaves of variant proto-human races such as neanderthals or all-but-wiped-out pre-human species such as dinosaur-men living in remote areas or secretly among civilization (sword and sorcery)

From here, the distinction between "high fantasy" vs. "sword and sorcery" are largely ones of degree. "High fantasy" tends to be a bit more clear cut about the roles of good vs. evil, a bit more fantastical in the magic elements (e.g., "dragons" and "chimerae" vs. "humongous snakes" and "killer apes"), and a bit more optimistic in tone ("the Dark Lord is slain and they all live happily ever after" vs. "the army was wiped out, but Conan survived and fled to Hyrkania").

I'm sure there's more, but that's what comes to mind quickly.

-The Gneech

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I personally don't see how you can try to mash high fantasy and sword and sorcery tropes together and hope to come up with a meaningful result. The two sub-genres are about as far apart as you can get while remaining under the umbrella of fantasy.

 

[Nellisir]

I personally don't see how you can try to mash high fantasy and sword and sorcery tropes together and hope to come up with a meaningful result. The two sub-genres are about as far apart as you can get while remaining under the umbrella of fantasy.

Good thing you're not trying it, then.

S&S and high fantasy (and fairy tales) are what "traditional" fantasy is built on; the difference is less in the elements than in how they are utilized. People mingle them all the time. I daresay most D&D settings mingle them.

I'm toying with a setting, not a campaign arc. I thought it'd be fun to include alot of "familiar" or "traditional" elements; ones that would be recognizable to players and give me flexibility in designing campaign arcs, should I chose to do so. I hoped this thread would give me a few extra things to throw into the pot (which it has), but no one is holding a gun to my head saying I have to take everything.

And off the top of my head, I'd put Cthulu fantasy & romantic fantasy further apart.