Quote:
Originally Posted by RyanW
Does anyone aside from literary scholars actually use that definition (at least exclusively*)? It's a distinction that's normally so tangential to the story. Any definition that lumps together a story of great struggle of heroes against an evil overlord and another about a merchant trying to corner the market on wheat in the same category, but puts Merlin in a different category because it took place in Britain, is of limited use, IMO.
It seems like grouping squid with humans instead of octopuses, based on the fact that they have two different kinds of limbs.
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I use it.
I don't know any other useful definitions for 'High' and 'Low' fantasy. Maybe you do know some.
But you've hit on part of the reason why I chose not to open with a 'what kind of fantasy' question. Vague or contestable labels would not help much, and might lead to a pointless tangent about literary subgenres. We aren’t marketing or reviewing a fantasy novel—we are designing a shared world
for gaming purposes.
Better, methinks, to just ask a series of questions about setting to be designed. The answers will give us a basic picture of what things are like. If you wish to label the resulting framework 'high', 'low' swords and sorcery', or whatever, it doesn't matter to me. I won't quibble with your personal definition.
Does all that make sense?
YMMV, of course.