Why Fantasy?

[Umbran]

This is obviously non-scientific but it is interesting: Filtering for all-in-one core rulebooks

Sorry if I missed where you said this, but... filtering what? Where's your list from?

 

[Reynard]

Sorry if I missed where you said this, but... filtering what? Where's your list from?

Oops!

Drive Thru RPG.

 

[LordEntrails]

In a vain attempt to drag this thread back on its actual topic(s):

Who prefers a genre other than fantasy for TTRPGs? What games do you prefer? What would it take for that preferred genre, do you think, to better compete with fantasy in the TTRPG mindspace?

Sci-Fi. Specifically opera (FrontierSpace) and dystopian (Cyberpunk Red).

At least right now I prefer sci-fi. I ran/played fantasy/D&D for about 10 years exclusively and it was my preferred. But, yea, got tired of that and wanted to move onto other genres. Really enjoying both of these systems.

In another 5 or 10 years? Who knows

 

[aramis erak]

Sci-Fi. Specifically opera (FrontierSpace) and dystopian (Cyberpunk Red).

At least right now I prefer sci-fi. I ran/played fantasy/D&D for about 10 years and it was my preferred. But, yea, got tired of that and wanted to move onto other genres. Really enjoying both of these systems.

In another 5 or 10 years? Who knows

ideally, I'd alternate a non-D&Dish Fantasy and a Sci-Fi game; horror only via SciFi.

Then again, my favorite dystopian setting is getting a Savage Worlds treatment... SLA Industries. Not a 4th party effort, either - Nightfall is doing it themselves (so it's technically a 3pp for SavW)... It's less OTT than 40K, life is just as cheap as in Cyberpunk, the setting is as grim as CP but with less cyber... and in 1e there's a mission system in the setting (diegetic) so the GM can hand out the absurd jobs and occasional vid coverage...

 

[Umbran]

The biggest reason is that- in all probability- most of the people in the hobby are part of a culture that has descended from or has otherwise been heavily shaped by European cultures. It’s familiar, even if poorly understood.

We can add that, traditionally, attempts at non-European-centric material was generally done by, well, white guys who didn't actually know other cultures very well. So, they did it badly.

We are looking, nay glaring, at you, Clanbook Ravnos.

 

[Byrd]

"Why fantasy?"

"If you can't afford a trip to Jamaica, then a trip to the "Snow Castle of Telecrest" will have to do." (Gamemaster Law, 1997)

 

[Fenris-77]

"Why fantasy?"

"If you can't afford a trip to Jamaica, then a trip to the "Snow Castle of Telecrest" will have to do." (Gamemaster Law, 1997)

Or Cool Runnings. That works too.

 

[Edgar Ironpelt]

My two cents:
In fantasy, each setting, each game, can easily have its own world. And the worlds can be different. With other genres, there's a strong push to set the game on Earth - or at least in a galaxy where Earth exists. It's possible to avoid this in non-fantasy genres, but not easy.

So even if you use a published setting, fantasy gives you a choice of worlds to pick from. And it's easy and encouraged to create your own world, if you want to do that.

In addition, fantasy as a genre generally offers a combination of two attractive things: One is "arcadia" or "pastoral fantasy" appealing to a desire for a simpler life in simpler times (with the grottiness of the actual past toned down as little or as much as one might desire). The second is magic, appealing to wish-fulfillment and power fantasies. Other genres can offer one or the other, but aren't so good at offering both at once.