Most Unconventional Fantasy Setting?

Dominus Nox · August 29, 2006, 02:47:12 AM

Quote from: JongWKI think you broke his brain. :heh:

Meh, I really couldn't care less. I'm no fan of the pundy's. At first I liked him for ripping rpg.net :fu2: but then I noticed that his outrage only seemed to be hurled at forums where he, personally, was banned.

There are other forums as bad as rpg.net or even worse, but pundy wasn't banned from them so he doesn't want to criticise them, even when people show him examples of bad, hypocritical modding on them.

So he only gets outraged when he's the one getting pissed on, when others try to criticize other forums as bad as rpg.net :fu2: he tells them to drop it, which is what people tell him to do about rpg.net :fu2: and he comdemns them for.

Dominus Nox · August 29, 2006, 02:48:07 AM

Quote from: SettembriniWhat's Rifts for you?

Magic=fantasy, just that simple.

Settembrini · August 29, 2006, 03:23:32 AM

QuoteMagic=fantasy, just that simple.

This is a neat distinction, BUT:

In Rifts, you have all kinds of PA topoi and adventure situations flying around. Thus, preparing a rifts session, is more akin to preparing a fallout rpg session. So your neat classification doesn`t help there.

Lawbag · August 29, 2006, 05:58:19 AM

Quote from: Dominus NoxWraethu?

I dont think that is unconventional, just plain perverse

Dominus Nox · August 29, 2006, 06:42:48 AM

Quote from: LawbagI dont think that is unconventional, just plain perverse

Isn't 'perverse' just a form or subset of "unconventional"?

Dominus Nox · August 29, 2006, 06:43:42 AM

Quote from: SettembriniThis is a neat distinction, BUT:

In Rifts, you have all kinds of PA topoi and adventure situations flying around. Thus, preparing a rifts session, is more akin to preparing a fallout rpg session. So your neat classification doesn`t help there.

I call Rifts fantasy, you call it what you will.

Settembrini · August 29, 2006, 07:25:37 AM

QuoteI call Rifts fantasy, you call it what you will.

That is assured, but does your distinction really catch the underlying common-ness of what you subsumize under "Fantasy"? I say:
The pragmatics of adventure preparation points in another direction.

Lawbag · August 29, 2006, 07:47:03 AM

Quote from: Dominus NoxIsn't 'perverse' just a form or subset of "unconventional"?

I would imagine the most perverse part of the game is actually finding people who actually want to run it! I mean, what kind of "shops or venues" you have to go to just to stand a chance of finding players...

Settembrini · August 29, 2006, 07:50:46 AM

Quotewhat kind of "shops or venues" you have to go to just to stand a chance of finding players...

Lord of the Rings Elven player cast members. I did not make this up, there is one in the photo book.

jrients · August 29, 2006, 08:43:09 AM

Although I can see Magic = Fantasy as a useful personal criterion, I'll have to stick with those who consider Rifts and Wraeththu to be in some other category. For me Fully Automatic Slugthrowers =/= Fantasy. IMHO if my magical hermaphrodite can pack an AK, we're veered off the road to Fantasyland.

arminius · August 29, 2006, 11:11:55 AM

The Wizards RPG (based on the Ralph Bakshi movie) probably deserves a mention, even though I've never seen/played the game itself.

jrients · August 29, 2006, 11:27:35 AM

Great point, Elliot. I've never seen the game or the flick but I understand it has all the trappings of fantasy but modern firearms as well. I think labels like fantasy and sci-fi are useful even when you can find overlap. Hell, the grey areas and boundaries are often the most interesting parts to discuss.

JamesV · August 29, 2006, 01:13:34 PM

Quote from: Elliot WilenThe Wizards RPG (based on the Ralph Bakshi movie) probably deserves a mention, even though I've never seen/played the game itself.

The movie Wizards was a stylish post-apocalyptic fantasy with fantasy beings in the post-apoc setting, but it is a grey-area as to which is dominant, as far as this discussion is concerned. There are artifacts from the past that are used, mostly guns, and are largely connected with the bad guys of the story. The good guys are more fantasy and magic oriented. It's one of those technology vs. nature splits that has been around in plenty of stories. Since the tale itself emphasizes the purity/goodness of nature over technology, I'd say it's more fantasy.

arminius · August 29, 2006, 07:03:24 PM

Quote from: jrientsGreat point, Elliot. I've never seen the game or the flick but I understand it has all the trappings of fantasy but modern firearms as well. I think labels like fantasy and sci-fi are useful even when you can find overlap. Hell, the grey areas and boundaries are often the most interesting parts to discuss.

What James said...also, I have seen the movie a couple times, so I'll put in a good word for it. It's a classic piece in the vein of underground comix.

To contribute to the digression, I think that Thundarr the Barbarian was also fantasy (maybe more accurately S&S) even though it was a post-apocalyptic show. (And there's a free set of RPG rules out on the net for it.) Similarly Cidri, the default world for the old The Fantasy Trip, had a sort of sci-fi dimension-shifting race as part of its backstory, which led to at least one adventure that takes place in a radiation fallout shelter that was imported to the fantasy world by the ancients.

Vellorian · August 29, 2006, 09:32:22 PM

Quote from: Dominus NoxMagic=fantasy, just that simple.

By this definition Star Wars is "fantasy."