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Low Fantasy
- Thread starter Gellion
- Start date
EricNoah
Adventurer
hong said:
Um ... did you just tell me what to do?? Did you?? Answer me, I command you!
(Ok, seriously, let's not hijack the thread. Bad admin. Bad!)
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I agree that it probably would take either really good rules or a really good DM using modified D&D rules to do justice to low fantasy. But it would also take commitment on the part of the players -- they would need to understand and accept that certain kinds of "rewards" would come at a slower pace than in standard D&D.
Also the "shape" of adventuring would need to be different -- there would be fewer fights close together and more spread apart. You'd want to incorporate more mundane hazards such as bad weather, illness, injuries (i.e. a state between dead and 100% able to do whatever you want), stuff like that.
I admit it's probably not for everyone and even those who might like to try it may not want to do it always and forever.
Bloodstone Mage
First Post
Personally, I like it better when it is low fantasy (with low-magic and such) at lower levels, or until about 8th level. I think that fantasy should start taking flight at around 12th or 14th level.
jester47
First Post
This has been discussed in literary circles for a long time. The High and low as antecedents fro the word fantasy have nothing to do with the ammount of magic in the the fantasy story. High Fantasy is also known as Epic or Heroic Fantasy. Low Fantasy is also known as Sword and Sorcery Fantasy. The high and low come from how the stories are told and what they are about.
A high fantasy story ussually has a larger than life hero and a lot at stake. (For aragorn its the future of men, for odyseus its his family and holdings) The divine interfere (gandalf, the gods) and it is epic in scope. Magic is mysterious and ussually hard to access.
Low fantasy is ussually action based. Its Die Hard with wizards and warriors. Little is given to character development and its more about what happens. Oftentimes magic is everywhere. REH's Conan (no one elses) and most dungeon crawl centered D&D games fall into this category.
The ammount of magic in a story or game is largely a result of what is needed to tell the story in the way it needs to be told for its sub-sub-sub genre. So you can have SWord and Sorcery with very little unexplained magic, and you could have Heroic Epics with Magic around every nook and cranny. However, what is emphasised in each one ussually makes it the opposite. Heroic Epic Ussually = Not much magic, but very powerful magic. Sword and sorcery ussually = Lots of magic of lower power.
Of course none of this is written in stone.
Aaron.
A high fantasy story ussually has a larger than life hero and a lot at stake. (For aragorn its the future of men, for odyseus its his family and holdings) The divine interfere (gandalf, the gods) and it is epic in scope. Magic is mysterious and ussually hard to access.
Low fantasy is ussually action based. Its Die Hard with wizards and warriors. Little is given to character development and its more about what happens. Oftentimes magic is everywhere. REH's Conan (no one elses) and most dungeon crawl centered D&D games fall into this category.
The ammount of magic in a story or game is largely a result of what is needed to tell the story in the way it needs to be told for its sub-sub-sub genre. So you can have SWord and Sorcery with very little unexplained magic, and you could have Heroic Epics with Magic around every nook and cranny. However, what is emphasised in each one ussually makes it the opposite. Heroic Epic Ussually = Not much magic, but very powerful magic. Sword and sorcery ussually = Lots of magic of lower power.
Of course none of this is written in stone.
Aaron.
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Heretic Apostate
First Post
I'm trying to piece together a low-fantasy system that suits my tastes. (Not that I'll ever find a group to play it, but...) Basically, bringing together the parts of D&D3E (and WOT and SWRPG), GURPS, and Alternity that I most like, as well as portions of certain d20 publications.
Will I ever get it done? Probably not. But it's fun to imagine piecing it together.
Will I ever get it done? Probably not. But it's fun to imagine piecing it together.
Chris Coulter
First Post
When I think of "low" fantasy, I tend to think of it in terms of being banal vs fantastic.
Some of my favorite fantasy novels are Steven Brust's Taltos books, that feature a continent spanning empire operated in large part by the magic provided by a single hugely powerful artifact controlled by the current emperor that grants magic use to every legal citizen of the empire. It is a setting filled with magic taking place as often as high technology is used today, (but not lower, you still have the cook make the coffee in the morning, and the gardener still has a job, but if you wish to contact your friend, you communicate with him mentally via the Orb, and scorcery is as common in combat as grenades or artillery and being teleported be a professional is as normal and costly as taking a commercial jet) I consider it to be a "low" fantasy setting however. Magic is normal and the focus in the books is on the characters in an almost Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep, Maltase Falcon) like depiction of Vlad trying to make a living, and a killing, amongst very powerful social and political forces.
"High" fantasy, for me at least, is more focused on fantastical happenings and wondrous events. It is fequently set in a low tech, low magic majority, providing the chance for "magical" things to seem more so by contrast. It is the Dream, the Fairy Tale, set just around the corner, just out of sight, but filled with wonder. I think of the King Aurther mythos, St. George and the dragon, the Trickster Monkey King, and a host of other traditional stories that made no effort to explain how "magic" worked because it was "just magic" and that was enough of an explanation.
Harry Potter falls into a strange gulf in this theory, dancing neatly between to two camps..... Hmmmm. *shrug*
Some of my favorite fantasy novels are Steven Brust's Taltos books, that feature a continent spanning empire operated in large part by the magic provided by a single hugely powerful artifact controlled by the current emperor that grants magic use to every legal citizen of the empire. It is a setting filled with magic taking place as often as high technology is used today, (but not lower, you still have the cook make the coffee in the morning, and the gardener still has a job, but if you wish to contact your friend, you communicate with him mentally via the Orb, and scorcery is as common in combat as grenades or artillery and being teleported be a professional is as normal and costly as taking a commercial jet) I consider it to be a "low" fantasy setting however. Magic is normal and the focus in the books is on the characters in an almost Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep, Maltase Falcon) like depiction of Vlad trying to make a living, and a killing, amongst very powerful social and political forces.
"High" fantasy, for me at least, is more focused on fantastical happenings and wondrous events. It is fequently set in a low tech, low magic majority, providing the chance for "magical" things to seem more so by contrast. It is the Dream, the Fairy Tale, set just around the corner, just out of sight, but filled with wonder. I think of the King Aurther mythos, St. George and the dragon, the Trickster Monkey King, and a host of other traditional stories that made no effort to explain how "magic" worked because it was "just magic" and that was enough of an explanation.
Harry Potter falls into a strange gulf in this theory, dancing neatly between to two camps..... Hmmmm. *shrug*
A'koss
Explorer
In the same vein as some of the others here I like to make a distinction between low fantasy (settings close to real life) and low magic. Our campaign would still be considered "high fantasy" (monsters, planar travel, epic themes) but with "low magic" rules (blend of Modern d20 & Wheel of Time's rules).
On that note, Monte Cook was recently running a poll* on his messageboard asking people if they would buy a low-magic set of rules/setting (in a D&D style setting) that redoes the core classes so that they're not balanced on heavy magic item possession, and tones down spellcasters. I think Monte's the man for this kind o'job and hope he decides to go ahead with it.
Cheers,
A'koss.
* The poll can be found here: http://pub58.ezboard.com/fokayyourturnfrm16.showMessage?topicID=680.topic but you have to be registered to vote.
On that note, Monte Cook was recently running a poll* on his messageboard asking people if they would buy a low-magic set of rules/setting (in a D&D style setting) that redoes the core classes so that they're not balanced on heavy magic item possession, and tones down spellcasters. I think Monte's the man for this kind o'job and hope he decides to go ahead with it.
Cheers,
A'koss.
* The poll can be found here: http://pub58.ezboard.com/fokayyourturnfrm16.showMessage?topicID=680.topic but you have to be registered to vote.
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As pointed out, low versus high fantasy has more to do with story than setting (although certain settings might be more geared toward one or the other, frex Kalamar versus Dragonlance). My favorite blend is low fantasy in scope coupled with magic being rare, yet rather powerful when it is encountered.
d20 doesn't yet work very well for differing levels of magic, but has no problem with low/high fantasy.
d20 doesn't yet work very well for differing levels of magic, but has no problem with low/high fantasy.
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