Why do you like Fantasy RPGs?

[The Shaman]

What makes you like a Fantasy setting for roleplaying games?

Fantasy is my second-least-favorite genre of roleplaying games, just barely ahead of supers.

That said, there are a couple of fantasy roleplaying game settings I like, the Wilderlands of High Fantasy and Manifest (from Ghostwalk). I like the wide-open, red-in-tooth-and-claw nature of the Wilderlands; Minaria, from the Divine Right board game, has the same feel, and my homebrew world back in high school borrowed the feel of both.

Manifest is an interesting premise, the earthly portal to the realm of the dead. I didn't care for how the dead were handled by the rules in Ghostwalk, but the setting itself was pretty cool.

 

[Mallus]

I... I... really don't know. It might have something to do with being introduced to RPGs through AD&D, but that doesn't adequately explain why I stuck with fantasy gaming, despite being more of a SF fan.

If pressed to give a more thorough answer, I'd say fantasy gaming allows me to more creative, or perhaps incoherent, or both, than other genres. There's a sense of anything goes, and that's liberating as both a player and a game master, though part of why I feel that about fantasy is inexorably linked to starting with D&D and it's famed kitchen-sink approach to the genre.

I find that sense of wide-openness to be conducive to good gaming. While I'm probably more familiar with various types of science fiction, I'm not drawn to SF gaming milieus (unless it's something suitable nonsensical, like pulp/planetary romance). With them I feel a sort of pressure to get things right --things like a bit of the science-- or at least to make a serious attempt at addressing the major themes. For me, other genres come with baggage that looks like it will get in the way of fun times at the table.

 

[Agamon]

I'm not sure I do. Most of my gaming has been in a fantasy setting, but then, most of my games have been D&D. But two of the most enjoyable games I've been a part of have been conventional (M&M) and I'm really looking forward to running a SF Mass Effect game with Savage Worlds.

So, basically, I don't find that D&D lends itself past the fantasy adventure trope very well. RPGs started out in fantasy worlds and those are what have dominated the industry.

 

[Chalice]

Because I love fantasy in general, and have since I was a kid. Fantasy novels, movies, computer games, RPGs; I love them all.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Even if I end up running another genre, it is going to end up fantastical anyway. So might as well cut to the chase. I don't even like Star Wars that much in particular, but if I'm running something with a sci/fi patina, it is going to be a lot more like Star Wars than anything even moderately real sci/fi.

Mainly, I like the fantastical because it ends up, more often than not, making the story more about the characters than "forces" or "movements" or "politics" or whatever else you want to talk about. I think this is because the fantastical is so "other worldly" that the distinction becomes sharper. You can get that with any genre, but it sometimes takes more work. I don't much care for certain slices of more modern "fantasy" for the same reason. This same preference is also reflected in the sci/fi and fantasy that I enjoy or tolerate or loath.

It also happens to be that fantasy is the only genre that our entire group really enjoys. Everyone in the group enjoys some other genres, but there is no intersection. I could like alternate historical fiction with the right situation, for example, but few of the rest of the group would care for it.

 

[Ariosto]

All things are possible! A historical or science-fictional scenario easily fits in as a subset of the fantastic multiverse.

 

[Wiseblood]

For me it's simple.

It reminds me of reality but...with cheat codes right from my imagination. Run faster, jump higher, live forever.