Grounded or Gonzo?

[zarionofarabel]

Maybe it's the oldness, or maybe just a lack of imagination, but I no longer find the fantastical all that fantastic.

I tire of the endless additions of strange PCs and worlds where magic is commonplace.

Give me humans struggling with the problems mere mortals face.

Give me PCs that are differentiated by their actions, not by appearance or mechanical bonuses.

I want characters and worlds grounded in reality. Maybe a little of the fantastic, though the more subtle the presentation the better.

A great example of the kind of setting I really dig is Mythic Britain for Mythras. A good example of the kind of setting that I have no interest in is Ebberon for the DnD.

What do you like?

Settings grounded in reality with only a hint of the fantastical? Or settings as far from reality as possible?

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Sorry but my answer would be in between? Some reasonable feudal and other societal structures but with a hag in the swamp and a dwarf in the party...

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

While Eberron certainly isn't low fantasy, it's far from what I'd consider gonzo. I reserve that descriptor for games like Rifts or SenZar.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Varies. I don't equate gonzo with just fantasy but with a kind of fantasy that embraces all kinds of crazy concepts and isn't overly precious about it. I do like having some gonzo. I do like grounded stuff, but at the same time, I want stark and interesting characters, not characters who necessarily behave like regular everyday people. Even when I have something more grounded in reality, I want it to be heightened reality.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

It depends on the campaign, players, and a multitude of factors. I like a mix, most often.

 

[BookTenTiger]

No matter how tempting I find it to go grounded and gritty, I always seem to have more fun when I allow my campaigns to go gonzo with magic and fantasy. I guess I feel like I already have the rules of a grounded, gritty rules down, and for me it's more fun to figure out the rules of a crazy magical world.

 

[Zardnaar]

Generally grounded but gonzo is fine assuming it's built from the ground up to be gonzo.

 

[MGibster]

Maybe it's the oldness, or maybe just a lack of imagination, but I no longer find the fantastical all that fantastic.

I'm getting to be like that as well. And before I go on, my preferences are just my preferences. For those of you who prefer gonzo, however we're defining it here, that's totally cool. My take on this is that whatever you're doing that results in everyone at the table having a good time you're doing it right.

I'm more than happy to play in a game with more fantastical elements, but I'd rather run games in settings that are more grounded. For a certain value of grounded. I've grown weary of running D&D games with it's myriad of races and classes available to the PCs. (Though part of that problem stems from me not laying down parameters for what is and isn't acceptable in the campaign before sitting down to play.) Oddly enough I still enjoy D&D, I'm just getting a little tired of it. I'd like to branch out and play some other games, and I've got a group of people receptive to other games, but face-to-face gaming is out for now and I'd rather not try new games via Discord.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Grounded. Over the decades I've grown weary of the endless fantasy tropes which were utterly enchanting in 1979, but which have worn threadbare by 2020.

 

[Umbran]

Either. Both. I'm not picky. I can find fun for me in almost anything.