types of fantasy?

[JoeGKushner]

In the old days of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, there was a great article that went on to describe different types of fantasy settings in terms of general feel. It provided advice for giving things an epic feel or from turning things from standard grim and gritty to high powered fantasy.

Fantasy has many flavors and sometimes they mix well without someone being aware of it.

I tend to run a high fantasy cmapaign where magic is fairly uncommon in terms of items, common in terms of spells, and rare magic items that are one of a type. For thise, I find the Artfiacts of our Ancestors a keen useful book as all the items in it are unique, as well as Spells and Spellcraft with it's rules for making items that have unique features about them that require steps to be taken, experience and gold sacrifices, etc...

By default though, since I'm now running a Forgotten Realms campaign, it should be more high fantasy.

 

[redwing00]

can somebody possibly search for the poll i'm speaking of? I'm interested in the results....

Thanks for all the replies.

I have become further interested in the division of S&S and High Fantasy. Would I be correct in my assumption that Final Fantasy and Forgotten Realms could be considered High Fantasy while Lord of the Rings would be more S&S?

 

[Desdichado]

I have become further interested in the division of S&S and High Fantasy. Would I be correct in my assumption that Final Fantasy and Forgotten Realms could be considered High Fantasy while Lord of the Rings would be more S&S?

Absolutely not! Lord of the Rings defined High Fantasy, Forgotten Realms, really, at its heart is little more than a badly done rip-off of Lord of the Rings. S&S isn't really all that common; I'd say stuff like Conan the xxx and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are probably the iconic S&S.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Crossworlds fantasy: stories where the PCs are real-world people who get transported into a fantasy world. Think CS Lewis' Narnia.

I love this type of fantasy. I did not even know it had a name until just now. I love the idea of someone from our world getting transported to a fantasy one, and going on an adventure.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Absolutely not! Lord of the Rings defined High Fantasy, Forgotten Realms, really, at its heart is little more than a badly done rip-off of Lord of the Rings.

Apart from the elves departing across the sea and dwarves declining in numbers (neither of which are occuring anymore since the 3e FRCS was published, due to the end of the Elven Retreat and the Tunder Blessing of the Dwarves), Forgotten Realms isn't really any more of a LotR rip-off than Greyhawk or most other D&D settings.

 

[redwing00]

Well.....I was just thinking that since there was little to no magic in Middle Earth...and most heroes were warriors with flaws...it could be considered S&S. Yes there were wizards (who barely used magic), amazing creatures (elves, dwarves, etc.)....but it seems to me....high fantasy would be HIGH magic. With the descriptions I have read from the posts I jsut see wizards throwing fireballs around like it was nothing.......

 

[johnsemlak]

Well.....I was just thinking that since there was little to no magic in Middle Earth...and most heroes were warriors with flaws...it could be considered S&S. Yes there were wizards (who barely used magic), amazing creatures (elves, dwarves, etc.)....but it seems to me....high fantasy would be HIGH magic. With the descriptions I have read from the posts I jsut see wizards throwing fireballs around like it was nothing.......

Heroes with flaws? Well, in LotR, except for Boromir, I can't really think of one. Most of them are pretty much as Dark Jester described.

Certainly middle earth is a relatively low magic setting, but magic in middle earth doesn't have the same connotation it does in S&S. In the sword and sorcery genre, magic (or sorcery, as it would be more likely called) usually has an evil, dark, 'arcane' connotation. Wizards are generally evil, mysterious, and isolated. Not so in LotR. Gandalf was a paragon of everything good. The elves also had magic powers, and they don't have a bad reputation for it.

Whatever you choose to call the genre that LotR represents, it's not the same genre as those normally considered definitive of Sword and Sorcery--Robert Howard and Fritz Lieber.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Here are a couple of quotes from David H. Thornley, who commented on the proliferation of magic and wizards in fantasy literature and how they've changed over the years.

"In virtually all pre-D&D fantasy fiction, magicians are rarely all that powerful, and the powerful ones are almost always evil. The heroes are men like Odysseus and Conan, who use no magic but are preyed on by people who do, or men like Lord Juss and Gandalf, who know magic but rarely use it for effect. One of the most powerful magicians in this literature is Xaltotun, from Robert Howard's Conan the Conquerer, who intended to transform an entire continent. He was thoroughly evil, and could do very little without considerable advance preparation. Magicians are also rare, and typically live independently. You do not casually hire one, but rather seek him or her out with much trepidation."

"The post-D&D wizard is fairly common, and frequently does work for hire. He or she is fairly knowledgeable, but not necessarily wise. The wizard has limited ability to make magical items, but can cast powerful spells at a moment's notice."​

Pretty interesting stuff.

 

[johnsemlak]

Here are a couple of quotes from David H. Thornley, who commented on the proliferation of magic and wizards in fantasy literature and how they've changed over the years.

"In virtually all pre-D&D fantasy fiction, magicians are rarely all that powerful, and the powerful ones are almost always evil. The heroes are men like Odysseus and Conan, who use no magic but are preyed on by people who do, or men like Lord Juss and Gandalf, who know magic but rarely use it for effect. One of the most powerful magicians in this literature is Xaltotun, from Robert Howard's Conan the Conquerer, who intended to transform an entire continent. He was thoroughly evil, and could do very little without considerable advance preparation. Magicians are also rare, and typically live independently. You do not casually hire one, but rather seek him or her out with much trepidation."

"The post-D&D wizard is fairly common, and frequently does work for hire. He or she is fairly knowledgeable, but not necessarily wise. The wizard has limited ability to make magical items, but can cast powerful spells at a moment's notice."​

Pretty interesting stuff.

What about Merlin, one of the other primary insperations for wizards? I don't think he quite fits the pre-D&D paradigm described above.

 

[Dark Jezter]

What about Merlin, one of the other primary insperations for wizards? I don't think he quite fits the pre-D&D paradigm described above.

Did Merlin actually use his magic much in the Arthurian tales? I'm no expert on the subject, but weren't most of the heroics in the Arthurian tales were performed by King Arthur and his knights? IIRC, Merlin served mostly as an advisor to King Arthur, and only used magic every once in a while.

Of course, I could be wrong. It's been a long time since I've read the King Arthur legends.