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Trencher

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Posts posted by Trencher

  2. Lone Wolf of Magnamund (what kind of fantasy?)

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: kind of fantasy

     

    . . . Is there such a thing as a non-fantastic wuxia movie?

    No but some are more down to earth.

    Not at all; some source material is very clearly EPIC; the focus of the story is split between the protagonists and some bigger picture, whether that be an overarching quest, or something more abstract like changing sociopolitical dynamics which the protagonists actions are affecting either directly or indirectly. S&S source material is much more immediate and the focus is very strongly attached to the protagonists; the focus is much more dialed in.

     

    A good indication is that in EPIC fantasy the world exists as a fully developed, richly detailed setting and the events in play are portrayed within the context of that setting. The characters have to interact within the confines of what is and is not possible in the setting and are usually not overly notable or "uber" in context, and there is a consistent level of ability that they can perform at.

     

    In Sword and Sorcery the world exists to provide a backdrop, but the events revolve around the protagonists. There is much more of a vagueness as to what exists beyond the needs of the immediate story, and at times it can feel like the world is being made up as the story moves along and things are detailed no more than they have to be relative to the interests and actions of the protagonists. Further the protagonists often have abilities beyond the norm and regularly accomplish things that are over the top, and are usually unique or unusual in some fashion.

     

    Its been a couple of decades since I read/played Lonewolf and Greystar books (but I still have most of them, all these years later), but as I recall in those books you learned about the world as you moved forward thru the story, and references to things beyond the character were made in the context of what is relevant to the main character, the main characters had abilities beyond the norm, and were unusual relative to the rest of residents of their world.

     

    The two sub-genres are fraternal twins anyway, so it makes little difference and I can see where a GM could run a RPG in the world of Magnamund as an EPIC, but I personally think S&S is a better fit and more closely models the feel of the source material.

     

    That is a very good explanation of the two genres Killershrike! You make a particularly good point about the difference between the main characters in epic and in sword and sorcery.

    What I meant was that it is that the player’s actions define the genre of the game as much as the main characters actions define the genre of fiction.

    But the way the game world is presented is a very good indicator of what type of genre the world is molded in.

    However the books I read about Magmamund was presented as Black vs white epic with a big world and well defined maps and bad guys.

    Good vs evil is an very important aspect of epic fantasy and the different factions in Magmamund are not just towns and kingdoms one like the next but parts in an grand saga of the battle of good vs evil.

  5. Lone Wolf of Magnamund (what kind of fantasy?)

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: kind of fantasy

     

    In that case' date=' I'd agrue that all there is, is fantasy. There is no objective reality; at least not one that a human mind can experience first-hand.[/quote']

     

    Well it is not an all-or-nothing undertaking. :yes:

     

    In any case as sci-fi uses the society of tomorrow to say something about the society today so does fantasy use magical fantastical events and the human relations and choices they take to say something about humans and the choices that we take in our un-magical and boring but real life.

     

    Lone wolf and cub would be magical if the main character used some kind of "mystical force" to achieve his amazing results. If the author overdoes it when he describe otherwise possible feats it does not mean that it is fantasy as a genre but fantastic feats of fiction.

     

    Any of you read the episode with the gun master and the three apprentices?

    That is about as anti-fantasy as you can get. :yes:

  6. Lone Wolf of Magnamund (what kind of fantasy?)

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: kind of fantasy

     

    Well' date=' but there you go -- Trying to model the same feel in a RPG format would work better as S&S, IMO.[/quote']

     

    Would not all rpg settings end up as this then, the world of middle earth that tolkien have town guards that could put a crossbowbolt in the back of Frodo if he started to fight them.

    In an rpg the players set 60% of the genre.

  15. Lone Wolf of Magnamund (what kind of fantasy?)

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: kind of fantasy

     

    Its a tough call between Sword & Sorcery or Epic, but Epic fantasy is typically about some over arching world changing bigger picture, and S&S usually has more of a focus on individual actions and larger than life principal characters so I would err more towards S&S.

     

    I thought that was just a sideeffect of it being a chose a path book.

     

    Serously if Lone wolf and cub is fantasy then 90 percent of all martial arts and action movies is fantasy.

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