Dungeon Fantasy and Sword&Sorcery

[Kromm]

Classic S&S has two things that define it as a distinctive subset of fantasy:

1. Swords. This doesn't mean the weapons called "swords," but rather swords as a symbol of personal combat, which in turn represents personal action in general. Tales may well have the window dressing of empires and kings and politics, but the focus of the events – what the protagonists actually go out and do – is burglary, carousing, fighting, stalking, surviving, etc. in person. In many of the classics, the heroes will achieve something impressive in the name of some cause, only to see that forgotten in the very next story, because they apparently spent/lost all the money and burned all their bridges. So it's back to climbing up more towers, slaying more foes, stealing more jewels, drinking more ale . . . Epic events function as scenery, in the spirit of, say, Odysseus (sure, there were great wars going on and he was a man of social import, but the stories are about him fighting and tricking individual foes, and personally surviving scary situations).

2. Sorcery. This doesn't mean Fireball spells and magic swords in the hands of the heroes. Rather, it means evil human sorcerers, sinister and supernatural nonhumans, and horrific monsters with magical powers. It nearly always symbolizes the opposition, not resources wielded by the protagonists. If the heroes even have magic, it's minor, unreliable, and/or a source of more trouble than good. Consider the Gray Mouser, who was formerly the apprentice of a wizard, but whose magical powers are rarely helpful, and who currently has Sheelba of the Eyeless Face as a patron, which mostly means weirdness and annoying errands.

As far as DF goes, it's ideal for the Swords part. It already casts out politics and kings and empires to focus on heroic individual actions, and is already essentially episodic, with the heroes constantly questing after new treasures because apparently, the last bunch wasn't enough. It's a little forced for the Sorcery part, as it tends to make magic-working worthwhile as a primary profession and put magic items, nonhumans, and so on into the realm of the heroes rather than unpleasant NPCs.

To use DF for S&S, narrow the starting professions down to assassin, barbarian, innkeeper, knight, martial artist, scout, swashbuckler, thief, and maybe holy warrior and ninja. If someone wants to be a "wizard," point the player at the scholar or ask them to sacrifice 50 points from their primary template to buy the <whatever>-wizard lens. All PCs have to be human. Nonhumans and dedicated spellcasters are NPCs, usually unfriendly, and often evil . . . but you can still get your money's worth from the supplements for them, because you'll need enemies. All of the monsters and most of the rules for game play (hiking, sneaking, traps, etc.) work "as is." Finally, nobody can start with magic items, and there will be little to no magical treasure.