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Where Has All the Magic Gone?
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<blockquote data-quote="Andor" data-source="post: 4588017" data-attributes="member: 1879"><p>Sure it could, from our perspective, because their science is not our science and so seems fantastical. We have sense of wonder as we explore the unfamiliar. However a (magician, technician, scientist?) scientologist from that world would not consider an RPG set in his own world a <em>fantasy</em> game anymore than we would consider an RPG set up around the adventures of 19th centry botanists exploring Africa to be a fantasy game. Conversely they might consider d20 Modern a fantasy game and have long boring arguements on the ethernet about what an engineer could really do. </p><p></p><p>BTW since we seem to have entered the semantics phase here let's have a peek at the word fantasy.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>By the majority of those definitions <em>any</em> RPG is a fantasy. So obviously 'a flight of fancy' is too imprecise since we wish to differentiate between 3e and d20 modern as belonging to different genres. </p><p></p><p>So to pick a few more precise definitions:</p><p></p><p><em>Literature. an imaginative or fanciful work, esp. one dealing with supernatural or unnatural events or characters.</em></p><p></p><p><em>Fiction characterized by highly fanciful or supernatural elements.</em></p><p></p><p>So I'm going to pick out two words as being key to the definition of a fantasy RPG. Supernatural and Unnatural. If the nature of the game world includes elements nature does not allow in ours then I call those fantastic elements. If some of them comprise the focus of the game then that is a fantasy RPG. Note that this extremely broad definition includes both Call of Cuthulu and Superhero RPGs along with the more popcorn SF games. </p><p></p><p>Now the name of the game we are disussing is Dungeons and Dragons. Dragons are a fantastical element. They are right there in the bloody name of the game. D&D is a fantasy game. If you don't want fantastical elements in your game then <em>for the love of god don't play a fantasy game!</em> There are dozens of non-fantasy games out there and there are plenty of people here and elsewhere that can help you find the one that suits you. </p><p></p><p>Does anyone have a serious counter-argument beyond some kneejerk "Don't tell me how to play man!" blather?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Andor, post: 4588017, member: 1879"] Sure it could, from our perspective, because their science is not our science and so seems fantastical. We have sense of wonder as we explore the unfamiliar. However a (magician, technician, scientist?) scientologist from that world would not consider an RPG set in his own world a [i]fantasy[/i] game anymore than we would consider an RPG set up around the adventures of 19th centry botanists exploring Africa to be a fantasy game. Conversely they might consider d20 Modern a fantasy game and have long boring arguements on the ethernet about what an engineer could really do. BTW since we seem to have entered the semantics phase here let's have a peek at the word fantasy. By the majority of those definitions [i]any[/i] RPG is a fantasy. So obviously 'a flight of fancy' is too imprecise since we wish to differentiate between 3e and d20 modern as belonging to different genres. So to pick a few more precise definitions: [i]Literature. an imaginative or fanciful work, esp. one dealing with supernatural or unnatural events or characters.[/i] [i]Fiction characterized by highly fanciful or supernatural elements.[/i] So I'm going to pick out two words as being key to the definition of a fantasy RPG. Supernatural and Unnatural. If the nature of the game world includes elements nature does not allow in ours then I call those fantastic elements. If some of them comprise the focus of the game then that is a fantasy RPG. Note that this extremely broad definition includes both Call of Cuthulu and Superhero RPGs along with the more popcorn SF games. Now the name of the game we are disussing is Dungeons and Dragons. Dragons are a fantastical element. They are right there in the bloody name of the game. D&D is a fantasy game. If you don't want fantastical elements in your game then [i]for the love of god don't play a fantasy game![/i] There are dozens of non-fantasy games out there and there are plenty of people here and elsewhere that can help you find the one that suits you. Does anyone have a serious counter-argument beyond some kneejerk "Don't tell me how to play man!" blather? [/QUOTE]
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