"Low fantasy", not the same as "Swords & Sorcery".
Thieves World is Low Fantasy Swords & Sorcery.
Elric is High Fantasy Swords & Sorcery.
Stuff like Warhammer Roleplay or (I think) Game of Thrones is more naturalistic or 'earthy' low fantasy.
Sword & Sorcery or High Fantasy?
- Thread starter Reynard
- Start date
"Low fantasy", not the same as "Swords & Sorcery".
Thieves World is Low Fantasy Swords & Sorcery.
Elric is High Fantasy Swords & Sorcery.
Stuff like Warhammer Roleplay or (I think) Game of Thrones is more naturalistic or 'earthy' low fantasy.
pawsplay
Hero
Thieves World and Warhammer are both high fantasy. Both have world-shaking magical power in them. Low fantasy would be like A Princess of Mars, Gor, or that recent King Arthur movie thingie.
ExploderWizard
Hero
I chose somewhere in between. For most games I enjoy the typical older edition D&D level of magic. Epic scale adventures are the exception rather than the rule so that these types of accomplishments actually feel different and special. Too much wahoo right from the beginning of the campaign leaves little room for bumping up the scale and scope of things later in the campaign.
D&D has always been an ungainly mix of S&S and high fantasy, and I prefer it that way.
re: wahoo level. It's all in the presentation. Sometimes low magic, at least at the start, lends the campaign with a sense of discovery and mystery. In a another DM's hands it's dishwater dull. By the end of the 1st session of our new campaign, the PC's came into possession of a small, unbreakable wooden box that contained a small god (the box currently resides in my paladin's codpiece). Despite that, I have no doubt the level of wahoo and wonderment will increase dramatically and satisfactorily during the course of the game.
re: wahoo level. It's all in the presentation. Sometimes low magic, at least at the start, lends the campaign with a sense of discovery and mystery. In a another DM's hands it's dishwater dull. By the end of the 1st session of our new campaign, the PC's came into possession of a small, unbreakable wooden box that contained a small god (the box currently resides in my paladin's codpiece). Despite that, I have no doubt the level of wahoo and wonderment will increase dramatically and satisfactorily during the course of the game.
People are to screw up somehow and if you cant stop this you'll then have to fix it. It does not matter to me if it is more about steel or spell as long as I can understand the mechanics and their impact in the world -which is rather harder with spells so perhaps I should say I prefer steel. So what should I vote? High fantasy or s&s?
Ktulu
First Post
I'm definitely in-between. It depends on what I'm inspired by when putting a campaign together. I've ran in the high of Forgotten Realms, and the lows of a homebrew with only martial classes. I've also ran games where magic items can be bought, but on a black market, or where dragons are purely modes of transportation.
It all depends on what I'm into when I put a game together. Same goes for playing.
It all depends on what I'm into when I put a game together. Same goes for playing.
Lord Mhoram
Hero
Well in literature, I really didn't like Conan, hated Lieber (the Swords books), really didn't care for Elric; but I loved Tolkien, Donaldson, and Eddings, and enjoy Jordan and Goodkind, but don't really like the tone and such of Song of Ice and Fire.....
High Fantasy for me all the way baby.
High Fantasy for me all the way baby.
pawsplay
Hero
Well, the choice is complicated by the fact that S&S usually is high fantasy. Ideally, the poll would be between epic high fantasy and swords-and-sorcery. So to answer this one I think you have to go with your gut. It sounds like you are more oriented toward modern genre fantasy than either S&S or epic fantasy.
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