I hear the jokes are all true.

Regardless, welcome to the theRPGsite!

Thanks!

Speaking strictly for myself, my general image of the Forgotten Realms is a sparsely populated expanse with enclaves of good, hard-working people intermittently threatened by moustache-twirling villains, a la Snidely Whiplash vs. Dudley Do-Right; a stark contrast to typical S&S fare, featuring relatively selfish protagonists, decadent civilizations, etc.

But mainly, the assumption that civilized places tend to be safe (outside of the odd, typically undercover and low-profile agent of evil, acting on orders of distant masterminds with grandious plans) even though the wilderness is very, very dangerous -- that's what makes it look and feel like Fantasy Canada to me.

Of course, if Ed Greenwood wasn't Canadian, most likely no one would make the connection. But I first read it on Grognardia and I suppose the boot fits.

Quote from: The Butcher;593237Speaking strictly for myself, my general image of the Forgotten Realms is a sparsely populated expanse with enclaves of good, hard-working people intermittently threatened by moustache-twirling villains, a la Snidely Whiplash vs. Dudley Do-Right; a stark contrast to typical S&S fare, featuring relatively selfish protagonists, decadent civilizations, etc.

But mainly, the assumption that civilized places tend to be safe (outside of the odd, typically undercover and low-profile agent of evil, acting on orders of distant masterminds with grandious plans) even though the wilderness is very, very dangerous -- that's what makes it look and feel like Fantasy Canada to me.

As opposed to Fantasy Australia, which WOULD be Swords & Sorcery.

JG

Quote from: James Gillen;593256As opposed to Fantasy Australia, which WOULD be Swords & Sorcery.

JG

More like Swords & Holyshiteverythingisfuckingpoisonous-ry.  

And yet just below the surface the FR contains a lot of S&S elements, too.

RPGPundit

Hmm, a lot of this interpretation must come from lengthy FR supplement and novel experience. I'm just going through FR grey box and, outside of the rather banal dales and pseudo-Hanseatic Leagues, most of the other kingdoms look rather dense with their prevalence of cities and tight city footprints. And then there's the lands beyond Faerûn, like Zakhara, Kara Tur, and Maztica which seem mostly urban (and assumed homesteads surrounding to supply food) with large stretches of wastes between.

I kinda don't want to read the novels now, just like the Dragonlance novels.

Quote from: RPGPundit;593698And yet just below the surface the FR contains a lot of S&S elements, too.

Yeah, now I know that (having read the 1e gray box and the Jaquays gazetteers), but in my mind FR never really recovered from the ill-advised AD&D 2e "let's make D&D a romantic high fantasy RPG!" editorial line. Dragonlance was crap since always and Greyhawk was mostly ignored, so FR bore the brunt of the 2e-era bowdlerizing madness.

Quote from: The Butcher;593749Yeah, now I know that (having read the 1e gray box and the Jaquays gazetteers), but in my mind FR never really recovered from the ill-advised AD&D 2e "let's make D&D a romantic high fantasy RPG!" editorial line. Dragonlance was crap since always and Greyhawk was mostly ignored, so FR bore the brunt of the 2e-era bowdlerizing madness.

Yeah, that was really the problem; the novels never matched what the setting really offered in terms of S&S, and gradually the "vision" of the novels totally eclipsed the vision of the original boxed set, to the point that most gamers today would never associate FR with S&S.

RPGPundit

I currently live in Norway, so just take any vikings supplement and you'll find its fantastic version.

No idea what we could do with the oil, though.

Fantasy Uruguay would certainly be a weird place to adventure in.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;594404Fantasy Uruguay would certainly be a weird place to adventure in.

RPGPundit

On the other hand it's pretty close to Fantasy Rio.  

JG

Quote from: James Gillen;594497On the other hand it's pretty close to Fantasy Rio.  

JG

3 hour flight, actually.

Fantasy Rio would be weird. Maybe I'll give it a try.

I've had a setting now for a while based on late 1800's Oklahoma (Indian Territory), but in the World of Darkness.

I call the place Smokefall, and it's filled with Native shamans, war parties, crazy German inventors, Boomers trying to settle the place and other strange critters such as a nasty version of the Tailypo.  

I used the Book of Spirits, based on the main rulebook rather than Vampire, Mage or Werewolf.  This opened the way for interactions with the spirits of the land, such as Coyote, Bear, Rattlesnake and Buzzard.  Good times!