what type of "fantasy" campaign do you play?

[dreaded_beast]

assume that the standard "fantasy" type campaign would be along the lines of greyhawk, fr, dragonlance, etc. birthright would be included also since it has the "european" fantasy feel to it as well.

based on the above, oriental campaigns (such as types covered in Oriental Adventures) would not be considered non-standard. in my opinion, Oriental Adventures is somewhat the "eastern" equivalent of a "western" campaign. something akin to just crossing a geographical border.

my opinion of non-standard fantasy would be something that does not conform to the "european" feel of fantasy (the "european" or "western" feel of fantasy such as the "arthurian" or "lord of the rings" images of knights and kings) or the stereotypical "oriental" campaign.

from the top of my head, examples would be something along the lines of dark sun, or a campaign based on the world of the old cartoons "pirates of dark water" (although in my opinion, it has a strong oriental feel to it) or "thundercats" (minus the technological science or with a bare minimum of it).

so based on the above what type of fantasy campaign do you play?

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I think I play a fairly non-standard campaign, though even by your criteria I would qaulify anything that could be described as Wuxia as non-standard.

Currently I play in an Oathbound Forgotten Realms transfer. In the Realms we represent very alien and unusual creatures. Even those of our characters who hail from the realms have a plethora of mutations and think and behave in a very non-standard manner.

All my homebrews do contain some fairly standard elements but even those tend towards the twisted and perverse versions of the same, and I use those terms in the classical sense not the descriptive of sexual deviancy sense.

I like to cultivate a very Persian feel. Lots of cultures operating as relatively independent entities within a vast and impossibly complex network of political and economic relationships terminating in a capstone culture that is at once alien and familiar.

 

[caudor]

Our group plays standard fantasy (according to your definition). Right now, my Forgotten Realms campaign is in high gear.

 

[bwgwl]

when i DM, i tend to go for Arabian-style fantasy, perhaps mixed with some India, ancient Egypt, and Classical Greece.

i think it's been at least six or seven years since i last ran a "feudal Western Europe" style fantasy game. i just don't have much interest in that nowadays.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Arabian style is fantastic.

I miss Al-Quadim a great deal.

 

[Carnifex]

Well, my Acrozatarim campaign is definitely not standard. It has normal fantasy elements (but even these have some serious twists to them - eg the rather Cthuluesque mad Elder gods, with a rather unique reason as to why they are as they are) mized with steampunk and science-magic ala Perdido Street Station (it has bio-thaumaturges called Manipulators as well as arcanomechanics who practice the art of thaumineering). There's firearms, steam engines, and some really really wierd stuff going on. And that's not forgeting the Shadowlord and the Men of Shadow...

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I posted something similar in another thread, but it deserves to be said here.

One of the coolest non-standard games I have ever had the pleassure of participating in was a homebrew of friend that was basically a sort of hyper-occult/hyper DnD version of Europe and the world fighting the Napoleanic war.

Wizards, Sorcerors, Clerics, Paladins, Soldiers, Hussars, Cannons, and the sort of cavalry that could only come from a civilization that had lived through the hyper-rationality of the 18th century with the resources of a beast filled magic world to draw on.

There's nothing quite like role-playing through a campaign as adventurer members of Napoleans Guard.
The roar of cannon fire, the sting of missiles, the stirring sight of the mage officers levitating above the field and fighting their own terrible duels against the enemy.

 

[kengar]

Usually standard fantasy, but currently working on a new campaign (not d20) that's anime-steampunk. Sort of a "Vampire Hunter D meets LXG"

 

[Hand of Evil]

Standard fantasy - really not too out of the normal stuff, armor and weapons from different periods and places, the elder dragon race, the less than elder races, the new comer man, and monsters running rampant.

I have been thinking about running a non-standard game placing the campign between the plane of air, earth, fire, and water. Sort of an astroid belt.

 

[s/LaSH]

Pretty standard... with a twist I won't reveal. One simple element can make even Medieval Europe (the actual setting) strange and non-Medieval European to the players. Ever see a half-orc with a flamer? That's not the weird part.