Given that both tend to be Associated with extremes I say neater and instead lean toward Heroic fantasy.
Maybe you will become something great maybe you won't. Good chance dead is dead and that meany staples of dnd magic are A no go.

*in case anyone needs A definition
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeroicFantasy

Grimy. I love me some Middle-earth and Narnia, but Hyboria and the Old World of WFRP 1e make for great games.

I prefer low magic, not necessarily grimy

I don't mind high fantasy (D&D and the like), since that's what I grew up on, but as I've gotten older, I've drifted toward preferring a grittier, low magic style of game.

I highly dislike most games that people call grim or gritty. In nearly every case what they mean is, "It's still fantasy but with haphazardly inserted Adult Content(R)."

I like amazing architecture and tales of ancient curses. I like legends of dragons and pitched screaming battles against orcs that are frothing at the mouth. These things still need contrast, though. Normal folk need to be fairly normal and not every event can be epic. Otherwise you will just kill the tone by setting a new standard that becomes expected.

It is very much why I dislike "gritty" fantasy with Game of Thrones as popular example. I'm not easily offended or squeamish at all. But the grime and grit has to be im contrast to something or it is valueless. If you took the dark and grit out of it, what are you left with?

I unapologetically love grimdark. GW and 40k is my jam.

That said, my OD&D game - even though sword & sorcery - is all about majestic sights, wonders and vistas.

Quote from: Chris24601;1029115Frankly, the gleaming towers just make the squalor of the masses more profound.

Exactly!!

Quote from: Chris24601;1029115Why must it be either-or?

Why not filthy slums in the shadows of majestic castles and sky pirate dens on the lip of an active volcano?

Frankly, the gleaming towers just make the squalor of the masses more profound.

Pretty much this.  This isn't an Either/Or situation for me.

I'm not a huge fan of Grimy. The problem with Epic can be when it strays into "Fantasy Super Heroes" territory, but if it doesn't then I'm OK with it. My preferred style on the grimy side is that Conan vibe. Not anything that is about grinding misery, or grimdarkness, etc. On the epic side it is something that has a sense of wonder, a whiff of fairy tale, and feels a bit more humble than the kinds of characters later D&Ds tend to produce.

I prefer low magic epic fantasy.

I like the romantic fantasy stuff.  Doesn't have to be epic.

Dark Souls flavored.

A high powered world where everything is fallen into ruin.  Nasty enemies that are powerful but not necessarilly evil ( you are the intruder in their realm ).

So, epic, I guess

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1029132The Hyborian Age had plenty of both.  I like that.

Adventurewise, I hate "save the world" type games.

You could argue that in Hour of the Dragon, when Conan killed Xaltotun, he stopped him from completing his endgame goal of bringing back the city of Python and resurrecting Acheron from the depths of time, and thus did save the world.

It's all in the presentation.  Racing to stop cultists from completing the ritual that will raise Cthulhu or fighting the "Dark Lord" isn't the only way to do it.

I'm not sure that "High vs. Low" or "Epic vs. Grimy" explains my preferences.

"Overt vs. Covert" or "Present vs. In Your Face" or "Magic vs. Technology" might be a better way to phrase it.

Look at the Hyborian Age as Gronan pointed out.  There's lots of magic present.  Conan runs into Sorcerers, monsters or Demons in nearly every story.  in Tower of the Elephant there's a city controlled by an immortal sorcerer and in the Scarlet Citadel, another immortal sorcerer essentially runs a kingdom.  Then there's Stygia, Khitai, the Seers of Yimsha.  In Aquilonia, the Priests of Asura (even though you don't see the direct action) have capabilities of magical communication and travel that wouldn't seem out of line in a D&D world, and even though they are hated, no one impedes or attacks their funeral barges because of their magical defenses.

Magic is frickin' everywhere.  But, it's not In Your Face.  People don't light lamps with magical lighters.  Stygia is rumored to go to battle with Priests of Set who conjure plagues, but there is no Nemedian College of War Magic with squads of Pyromancers.

Magic is still dangerous and very powerful sorcerers are as rare or rarer than high-end academics.

I'd say generally I like magic, even if powerful, to not have gotten to the part where it starts replacing technology.
As far as types of campaigns go, I like worlds that are more human/realistic/verisimilar.  But just because a Sword & Sorcery PC might be broke and on the run from his last titanic debauch, doesn't mean he can't hire on as a caravan guard and end up saving the world.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1029058do you prefer fantasy settings that are epic and full of majestic sights, castles and giant statues and magical wonders and stunning vistas? Or are you more at home with a setting full of filthy cities and pirate dens and half-starved peasants living in mud-huts?

Is there a setting in particular you are thinking of that does not contain both?

Perhaps "AD&D 1st Edition vs. AD&D 2nd Edition" would be closer to what the Pundit really meant?