Gaming Outpost Discussions » Tag: fantasy

Gaming Outpost Discussions » Tag: fantasy - Recent Topics http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/tags/fantasy Gaming Outpost Discussions » Tag: fantasy - Recent Topics en-US Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:13:04 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/search.php Tadeusz on "Types of Fantasies" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/types-of-fantasies#post-207 Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:29:50 +0000 Tadeusz 207@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ If you ask me for fantasy, you'll probably wind up with Dancing Princess, NagaWorld, Bah Ke'gehn, or Dungeons & Dragons, and if you're thinking of Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal or Narnia--MJ This quote by MJ got me to thinking systematically about design as I occasionally do. This only applies to Fantasy, not urban fantasy either. We'll try to keep this limited. Let's create three categories: Examples in fiction, the sub-genre, the world setting. Example: D20 games and RA Salvatore/ D&D subgenre / I've written Greenwood Forest setting. Cinderella/ Fairy Tales/ MJ's done The Dancing Princesses and I've done Grim Forest, at least partially. LOTR, Belgariad, and lots of others/ Epic Fantasy/ I think we need a world for this slot. Nine Princes in Amber/ Wit and Wine Fantasy/ Isle of Lakraine by moi. HMMMM/ Socially Aware Fantasy--4th Age Fantasy in Tolkien's scheme/ Orc Rising Okay, lets hit the pause...I want more brainstorming than an official list....What are the types of fantasy? What are some of my favorite fantasy novels? Deeds of Paksennarrion is excellent. 4th Age of Man stuff. Belgariad is fun. Its Heroic Party of Questers stuff. Narnia. Just read Sanctuary which is a Thieve's World novel. Its a world of racial prejudgice, big city life, sudden and crazy death via magic, monstrous deities, and weak and paling demigods of good...its heroic fantasy.--Closest thing I have to it is Tower of Rhodes, but not really. You need a nasty, gritty city filled with ancient surprise for this. Rhodes might have th elatter, but Rhodes is suffused with romantic optimism. Eternal Champion by Moorcock--You're cursed to be an immortal warrior with a bad attitude, a permanent hangover, and a soul-sucking vampire blade, and see lots of your friends die as you wander the Multiverse fighting in senseless wars first on one side and then the other. In ways, Multiverser itself is the superior replacement for this Myth. King Arthur's tales. Also Roland's tales. Christopher Stasheff wrote the inspiration for City-state of Haston. Conan. Sword and Sorcery. Deryni. Is it magic or is it psi? Very medieval. And medieval is different than D&D. I'm sure there are lots more. Now to grab one that interests me--King Arthur's tales. If you were to make this a Multiverser world...you could simply change a few things,a nd run with it. You could make a more realistic setting and suppose that Arthur was a Saxon war-chief with a nice steel blade. Or you could have Arthur as a Roman general....the last Roman in Britain...there is a movie out now dealing with something like that...the Last Legion. I hear its terrible. But, I'd really rather file down more than the serial numbers. What is Arthur's tale essentially about? Might in the service of right, and your personal evil will destroy your land, and the efforts of a small group to impose order and justice on chaos and evil with interpersonal conflicts and a bit of magic and fighting on the way. The good guys are....Magi on the Hero's Path. Stealing a bit from another idea of mine...Magi must choose one of three courses...1)Renounce their powers. 2)The Hero's Path which is difficult, unsteady, tricky, and perilous. 3)Become a monster quite literally....many magi who chose this route think they did not, they thought they had fooled fate, but in the end, They Chose Poorly. And this is where the dragons, giants, and other hideous beasts come from. If you survive the Hero's Path, you will be great in Heaven and Earth. Others may enter Heaven by the skin of their teeth, but when you enter in, songs will be sung. Still, a Hero is wary of Pride. He still will throw himself down before the Maker in awe. But then he will be raised up to a place higher than the deva, and given charge of stars. But the very power and majesty that a Hero Magi gathers makes him vulnerable to tripping and falling, and once he has fallen, he can be extremely dangerous. Some heroes pause on the path...they take a vacation of a decade or a century. These play the role of the Lady of the Lake, and offer advice to younger still striving Heroes. In the Isle of the Tribes, there are many different magi of no great power. Each one is infested with Pride. None will bow to another, not even to save their own people's lives. There is no cooperation between villages because each Magi is more concerned with getting to his benefit today, they are Selfish and Short-sighted. Some of the more talented Magi make war on others to increase their territory, but in the end, they only destroy. Food is burnt by war, and eaten up by warriors. And more taxes are raised for more war. Ambition rides the shoulders of talented magi like a cruel-eyed Hawk with no pity for the common farmer. In this land, there is an Armsmaster. He has no magic, or so he claims. And yet, he's bested many great Magi with his sword. And then he comes upon a dying king-magi who has fled from a battle. This King is great in power, but not great enough. He carries with him his infant for his enemy has sunk to the point where they would seek out his child to slay him. But he dies now. But upon seeing the Armsmaster, he makes a deal. "Take my son. Raise him as your own. Teach him your wisdom. Teach him mine. Make him the greatest magi who ever lived, a war wizard non pareil so that he may create a world where children are not hunted by armed men." The Armsmaster is moved by this vision and complies. Twenty years later...the war wizard shows up,a nd starts to kick in heads. Things have gotten truly terrible in the land. Poverty is everywhere. Many magi have truly become the monsters they werein spirit, they have become that in flesh, and have left for the Wilds. But day by day, teh Wilds spread. I'm not sure where to stick the verser...possibly make him the Armsmaster or the guy the king sees... Eric Tadeusz on "1d10 List of Swords" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/1d10-list-of-swords#post-1330 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:56:02 +0000 Tadeusz 1330@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ It occurs to me that a list of ten swords would be of use. And then I could later come back and borrow from it for other worlds. It would also be of use because thats a little detail that can by handy for spicing worlds with small details. These are, as pretty much everything in a role-playing game is, optional. You could make good arguements for things being different, and I may not even be wholly consistent with my own guidelines. You may wish to require a separate skill of horse-born sword combat to utilize the extra power inherent in a curved sword in that situation. Or you may simply want to have this be a strictly skill situation. However, it seems to me that some element of this inherent to the sword. I believe that making it fully inherent to the sword as this list does, or requiring an extra skill to represent the familarity with this potential are both reasonable solutions. An increase in a Situation Modifier is favorable in nearly all cases. It allows for more damage, and a greater chance to hit. One reason to give such modifiers is because of the reputation of the sword's excellence. The gladius and the katana both enjoy a favored reputation among some for this quality. Also, a two-edged sword is more apt to be usable in more situations in combat than a single-edged sword. An increase in Die Roll generally makes the weapon do more damage, but hit less often. This is particularly suited to a heavy, hard to maneuver, but deadly weapon. 1. Highland Claymore--Typically used by Scottish clansmen. The hilt is about a foot. The blade is between 40 and 45 inches in length. The guards are lengthy and set forward at a thirty degree angle roughly. This is a two-handed weapon. Also basket-hilted claymores are possible. Dangerous: NOT Ranged: +15 Die Roll: RF 1 (A two-handed, and somewhat awkward weapon that does large amounts of damage.) 2. Gladius--The Roman legionaires used this leaf-bladed, double-edged thrusting weapon. It is frequently found as a masterwork weapon. Dangerous: NOT Ranged: +5 for Excellence Sit-mod: RF 2 (RF 3 if used in a shieldwall with only thrusting attacks). (One may wish to add a +3 for it being a two-edged weapon.) 3. Zweihander--This sword was used by the German Landsknechts supposedly to chop pikes of the opposing forces. It is up to six feet long in its entirety. The knight in the movie Ladyhawke uses a Zwiehander. It is, of course, a two-handed weapon. Lethal: NOT Ranged: +20 Die Roll: Simple Check by defender who is using wooden weapon if attack vs. weapon succeeds. Failure means the weapon is broken. RF 1. (This is an enormous weapon that requires two hands or superhuman strength. If it hits, which is somewhat unlikely, its going to hurt...a lot. Thus the +20 Die Roll.) 4. Rapier--A slender, and lengthy (usually more than one yard) sword used primarily to thrust. They often feature complex hilts. Fighting is very fast, and since thrust damage is inherently worse for humans than slicing damage (as internal organs are often damaged) they can be quite lethal. However, they are of little use against zombies. Dangerous: NOT Ranged: -10 Die Roll: RF 3. (As described in the Big Black Book of Multiverser aka The Rules, it is suggested that this weapon is faster, quicker, less likely to botch, and does less damage. All this is well represented by a -10 DR). 5. Sabre--This is a curved single-edged sword usually with a large hand guard. It is sometimes carried from a baldric (at the shoulder) or at the waist, but there are lengthier versions meant to be hung from a cavalrymanâ€™s saddle. Dangerous: NOT Ranged: +5 Die Roll: Cavalry version has an upgrade damage category if on horseback. RF 2. (This is a single-edged, somewhat awkward weapon with a limited number of attack angles. However, it is a moderately heavy weapon.) 6. Falchion--This single-edged sword type covers a variety of shapes, but one shape may be fairly called â€˜a machete with a cross-guardâ€™. It is a simple, brutal weapon largely suited for chopping. Dangerous: NOT Ranged: + 10 Die Roll: RF 1. (This is a crude and brutal weapon. One may be tempted to change the +10 DR to -5 SM, +5 DR to more accurately reflect the weapon's nature.) 7. Katana--This curved, single-edged Nipponese sword is over two Shaku in length and under three. A Shaku is about thirty centimeters. A curved sword is useful for a horseman as it adds power to the downward strike. This weapon is designed for attacking light armor. Dangerous: NOT Ranged: + 10 Sit-mod for excellence: + 5 if attacker on horseback with Damage Category Shift Up: + 5 Sit-mod if light or no armor and -5 for heavier. RF 2. (This weapon was designed to deal with the light armor favored by the samurai. Accordingly, against the full plate of a medieval knight, it should do less well. This is a reflection of war--no weapon is perfect for all situations.) 8. Arming Sword--The knightly cruciform, single-handed sword is typically one yard in length. It is sometimes inaccurately called a â€˜longswordâ€™ or â€˜broadsword.â€™ Dangerous: NOT Ranged: Damage Category Shift Up if on Horseback. RF 2. (Fairly straightforward.) 9. Scimitar--This is a misnomer. The Arabic weapon, the Saif is one example of this â€™typeâ€™. It is a single-handed, single-edged, variably curved with a slender hand-guard protruding from the sides or quillons, and a small bit protruding from the pommel to make a â€˜pistol gripâ€˜. It has a false edge at the tip. Dangerous: NOT Ranged: -5 Die Roll: RF 2. (The light nature of this weapon makes the user less likely to fumble, and less likely to do really severe damage which are reflected in teh -5 DR.) 10. Spatha--The later Romans and the Vikings used this double-edged, single handed sword. Its length falls between 3/4ths of and 1 yard. It was carried on the left due to its length. Dangerous: NOT Ranged: +10 Die Roll: +3 Sit-mod: RF 2. (Being double-edged is a general advantage represented by the small sit-mod advantage. The length and heaviness of the sword make for a less subtle, and more destructive weapon which is seen in the +10 DR.)