Sword & Sorcery or High Fantasy?

[Reynard]

Just out of curiosity, what do ENWorlders tend to prefer, sub-genre wise, for their D&D games. I am not talking about setting so much -- most settings I've seen, even if they lean one way or the other, have room for both types -- but tone and feel in play. Of course, it's a continuum, but which way do your games lean, more often than not?

Sword & Sorcery: inspired by the likes of Conan and Kull, Lahnkmar, the Black Company and the like. Steel usually trumps magic, when it all comes down to it, but magic is scary and uncommon and generally the province of evil, or at least corrupting. Stories are usually just "tales" as opposed to huge epic sagas (though there are exceptions), and the heroes tend toward the mercenary and/or self interested.

High Fantasy: inspired by {some of Moorcock's work} -- scratch that, most paperback fantasy and most fantasy CRPGs. Magic is more ubiquitous and less malevolent. Stories tend toward the epic, though not always, and heroes tend to be more "heroic".

 

[Woas]

I voted somewhere in between/a little of both. They both have there times and places and sometimes I like to mix the two a bit so.. no real preference.

 

[M.L. Martin]

High Fantasy: inspired by some of Moorcock's work, most paperback fantasy and most fantasy CRPGs. Magic is more ubiquitous and less malevolent. Stories tend toward the epic, though not always, and heroes tend to be more "heroic".

Umm.....are you quite sure you meant "Moorcock" there? I admit, I've only read the Elric novels (and that was some time ago), but I've always gotten the impression that he landed firmly on the S&S side of the divide, at least in the undertones of 'nasty, brutish and selfish' that seem part of that genre.

 

[Korgoth]

Lords of Light!

 

[JeffB]

Somewhere inbetween-leaning towards "pure" S&S.

 

[Imaro]

Umm.....are you quite sure you meant "Moorcock" there? I admit, I've only read the Elric novels (and that was some time ago), but I've always gotten the impression that he landed firmly on the S&S side of the divide, at least in the undertones of 'nasty, brutish and selfish' that seem part of that genre.

Yeah I was looking at this kind of funny too. I've read the Elric stories, Corum, Hawkmoon, etc. and I was always under the impression that Moorcock was S&S (albeit a later time period than Lieber and Howard).

 

[Reynard]

Yeah I was looking at this kind of funny too. I've read the Elric stories, Corum, Hawkmoon, etc. and I was always under the impression that Moorcock was S&S (albeit a later time period than Lieber and Howard).

I don't know. The Hawkmoon stuff always struck me as closer to the High Fantasy side, from a setting trope kind of way. But you're probably right -- Moorcock is S&S in tone, even if there's more abundant magic in his stories.

 

[Wik]

I prefer a Sword and Sorcery Feel (I personally see DARK SUN as S&S, as opposed to High Magic), though my current game leans more towards High Magic. I have injected a bit of S&S into it. I voted for "a little of both".

 

[Imaro]

I voted S&S... but in actuality when I want to run an S&S game there are other games I think facilitate it in a much better way than D&D... Right now I lean towards MRQ system (with the Elric and Hawkmoon books and the free S&P articles on their website) or Greg Stolze's Reign for games with a S&S feel. Honestly I think even Exalted with it's super high powers and "scorched earth" type magic still manages to generate a more S&S feel than D&D... I think one of the things that definitely skews D&D away from the S&S feel is it's multitude of various races all living in relative peace and harmony. In most S&S non-humans (if they aren't just straight up antagonists) are usually either alien, corrupted, feared or all of these.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

I don't play D&D anymore, so I'm not sure how useful I am to this thread.

But my personal is a combination of "Somewhere in between" and "Other" (I voted Other). Basically I go for the Slayers anime approach, which mixes S&S's tale-based stories and self-interested heroes with High Fantasy's ubiquitous and less malevolent magic.

I.e. I like stereotypical D&D.