D&D: High Fantasy vs. Sword & Sorcery

[buzz]

High Fantasy::Larry Elmore
Sword & Sorcery::Frank Frazetta

Keep pushin' me, pal...

 

[Awakened]

I'm confused.
Is High Fantasy the one where you toke up before you game?

 

[sirwmholder]

I would like to to say High Fantasy... though I feel Birthright captures the scope better than standard D&D so I'm going with Sword & Sorcery... the intrigue level depends greatly on the group though.

William Holder

 

[Teflon Billy]

S&S is definitely the style I prefer, but honestly I the Conan RPG (and, very shortly, the second edition) for that and it works magnificently.

but yeah, if Scott rouse came in and said "The Game is going to go in one of these directions, and you get to choose Billy"...I'd probably go with S&S.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Funny thing is, Gygax always said he put the Tolkienisms in D&D under pressure from his players, and personally found LOTR boring. I agree; the LOTR movies are way more fun than the books. There, I said it!

The game Gygax seems to have intended was based on authors like Howard, Leiber, Vance, and Lovecraft (especially works like like "Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath").

Return the game to its Sword & Sorcery roots!

I agree with you and Gary.

 

[AllisterH]

For me, Slayers the anime, best resembles a typical D&D campaign. Lots of small adventures but there's a "save the world" plot in the background and this is what I would like D&D to be.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

For me, Slayers the anime, best resembles a typical D&D campaign. Lots of small adventures but there's a "save the world" plot in the background and this is what I would like D&D to be.

Helll, yeah!

 

[TarionzCousin]

I'm confused.
Is High Fantasy the one where you toke up before you game?

Nah. You're thinking of "High Fan Daisy" by the makers of hol (Human Occupied Landfill).

I voted for S&S. I prefer grim and gritty, although epic, world-affecting plots are good too. I think High Fantasy suffers from its association with the archaic written styles of Tolkien and Dunsany; it is often perceived as "flowery."

 

[Gentlegamer]

I would suggest the terms be "Epic Fantasy" rather than "High Fantasy." It makes the terms fall more in line with plot description instead of setting trappings. i.e. The Lord of the Rings is a low-magic setting, but is clearly not Sword and Sorcery; The "Dying Earth" stories are pretty high-magic, but definitely closer to Sword and Sorcery than Epic Fantasy, plot-wise.

 

[The Human Target]

Sword and Sorcery.

And that doesn't mean hack-n-slash.

At least not to me.