12-26-2016, 06:01 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2008
|
Fantasy = Cinematic ?
A stupid question, perhaps... Are standard fantasy settings cinematic by default? I've been working on a 'realistic' character for a fantasy game, the best he can be without cinematic advantages, only to realize that in any setting where magic and mages exist, pretty much anything goes, so why not cinematic advantages too. Your thoughts?
|
12-26-2016, 06:12 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
|
Re: Fantasy = Cinematic ?
Quote:
However, if you use some flavor of ritual magic, where effects take a long time to create (no ritual adepts) and can be stored in only limited quantities, then things get dampened down, in a hurry. If a mage can have only about a half-dozen spells prepped, and perhaps a few items charged and couple of potion brewed, the tone of the campaign changes significantly. Yeah, he or she is going to be hell on wheels once or twice, but must carefully husband magical resources until use of them is really necessary. In those campaigns, magic is still an incredibly powerful and useful asset, but it gets used only rarely, in times of dire need or to accomplish something specific after careful planning. That's not terribly cinematic -- but can be quite dramatic.
__________________
-- MXLP:9 [JD=1, DK=1, DM-M=1, M(FAW)=1, SS=2, Nym=1 (nose coffee), sj=1 (nose cocoa), Maz=1] "Some days, I just don't know what to think." -Daryl Dixon. |
|
12-26-2016, 06:17 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Göttingen, Germany
|
Re: Fantasy = Cinematic ?
I'd say the first step is to ask yourself what should be "normal"... With magic of course (more or less) anything goes, but the deciding difference is if that anything happens in 1 of 10 or 1 of 100.000 cases - the latter being more realistic/lower fantasy.
Also it's primarily a question of "feeling", whether you want it hard/gritty/deadly or more heroic/over-the-top etc. There are many fantasy settings where magic is quite rare and most people (NPCs) are living ordinary lives, lacking combat training, that is why cinematic moves typically are not the default. Last edited by OldSam; 12-26-2016 at 06:25 PM. |
12-26-2016, 06:20 PM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
|
Re: Fantasy = Cinematic ?
Quote:
There's nothing wrong with cinematic fantasy of course, and a lot of source material is very much in line with that. But it's absolutely not the case that the presence of magic precludes a realistic approach elsewhere (and even incorporated into the magic, around the necessary breaks from reality).
__________________
I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
|
12-26-2016, 06:48 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
|
Re: Fantasy = Cinematic ?
It depends on what you mean by 'cinematic' and what you mean by 'fantasy'. For many fantasy settings, you will be able to buy certain advantages that GURPS labels as 'cinematic' or 'fantasy', but exactly which you can buy, and under what circumstances, is a setting design issue. As for being cinematic, that's an issue of game style, not really what you can buy.
|
12-26-2016, 06:54 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
|
Re: Fantasy = Cinematic ?
When you ask "Are standard fantasy settings cinematic by default?" what are you thinking of as a standard fantasy campaign?
In my fantasy campaigns, I've used Griffin Mountain from Chaosium: A primitive wilderness area filled with nonhuman races, spirits, monsters, and cults A later Roman Empire where the gods have withdrawn their favor A faerie realm adjacent to the present-day British Isles Present-day Hong Kong with World of Darkness mages E. R. Eddison's fantasy world of Zimiamvia, where the heroes and heroines are avatars of the gods An alternate Middle-Earth where Sauron won and the heroes are the resistance fighters An isolated castle occupied by five magically gifted clans set in a patch of order surrounded by wild magic A midwestern university invaded by demon participants in a reality TV show about tempting mortals into sin The Pearl Bright Ocean from GURPS Cabal A medieval English university with a large Faculty of Magic An invented fantasy world with seven intelligent humanoid races, multiple cultures for each race, and a system of magic based on rapport with the local spirits That's nearly a dozen campaign with very different settings. Do any of them seem like "standard fantasy worlds" to you? It seems to me that numbers 4, 5, 6, and 9 were strongly cinematic, and in some cases, that was the point (I mean, one of the Pearl Bright Ocean PCs was the deified Errol Flynn!). Numbers 1, 7, 10, and 11 were fairly far from cinematic—even though cinematic skills were definitely available in number 11!
__________________
Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
12-26-2016, 06:57 PM | #7 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Re: Fantasy = Cinematic ?
Elves with acne and dysentery. I would call that fantasy but almost certainly not cinematic.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
12-26-2016, 07:03 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New Zealand.
|
Re: Fantasy = Cinematic ?
I think it is quite easy to put some cinematic switches into fantasy. Do elves walk on top of deep snow for example? This may be a fantasy staple in your opinion, mechanically it is no different from a monk walking on rice paper and leaving no mark which is a standard cinematic martial arts ability.
Heroic fantasy is closer to cinematic.
__________________
Waiting for inspiration to strike...... And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn |
12-26-2016, 07:50 PM | #9 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
|
Re: Fantasy = Cinematic ?
Quote:
__________________
"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
|
12-26-2016, 08:03 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
|
Re: Fantasy = Cinematic ?
I think it would be more accurate historically (though not in GURPS terms) to say that both are variants on epic—a style of storytelling that favors a broad sweep of action, with larger than life heroes and not too many inconvenient practical details getting in the way of the story. Homer and Vyasa were telling stories in that style long before photography was thought of.
__________________
Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
|
|