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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="bganon" data-source="post: 6459415" data-attributes="member: 60886">I don't think these categories are really mutually exclusive. I don't have the DMG in front of me, but here are my thoughts:"Sword & sorcery" and "heroic fantasy" are usually synonyms, but if I had to make a distinction I'd say "sword & sorcery" is the swashbuckling Conan-style stuff, but doesn't necessarily have characters who are "heroes".  "Heroic fantasy" would then be more explicitly awesome people doing awesome things."Epic fantasy" taken literally is a story that spans lengthy amounts of time and usually involves a huge world - LOTR is a great example.  "Mythic fantasy" overlaps a lot, but is really just a fantasy story that makes use of familiar myths and tropes.  A game set in Ravenloft might be "mythic" (making use of vampire legends) without necessarily being "epic" (spanning nations and generations)."Intrigue" often means political-style intrigue - scheming within the Queen's court and all that.  There doesn't necessarily have to be much mystery to it.  "Mystery" is usually criminal investigation of some sort, and often there's a lot of intrigue going along with that, but it could also be pulp-action "find out who stole the foozle, track them down, and beat them up".Like I said, LOTR is pretty epic fantasy, often with some mythic elements but often trying to create its own mythology.  The Hobbit is less epic, and might edge more toward heroic fantasy.Dark Sun I'd put somewhere in the sword & sorcery and dark fantasy bins.  Probably more the former than the latter; Athas is a terrible place but the setting as I've seen it doesn't usually have strong horror elements.  Most settings support a number of playstyles, though.</blockquote>

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