Fantasy D&D vs Realistic

[rejenorst]

Ive been interested in subject of Fantasy vs Realism or Realistic setting in M&B.

Currently we have the realistic trend in M&B which is working well I think.

How would you react to seeing the occassional roaming monster(s) on the map such as a Dragon. Perhaps tied in with rewards and renown for defeating said monster.

And what about magic, etc?

This is just for fun discussion and in not currently a concept under discussion in development.

This subject has been brought up before but I wanted to see what people nowa days think.

 

[Lu Bu]

I dont know if it would be good to add it to native. But more possibilities (magic and stuff) for mods would be indeed nice.
People can then decide what they want. 

 

[Ingolifs]

I would quite like the ability for trolls and goblins to be modded in, but I say it's an absolute no when it comes to vanilla. Mediaeval games without fantasy are rare enough as it is.

 

[rejenorst]

Very true. Yeah i'd like to see a fantasy style mod sometime just to see what its like.
It is an extreme bonus for the game to be moddable from start to finish.

 

[thesneakster]

I would quite like the ability for trolls and goblins to be modded in, but I say it's an absolute no when it comes to vanilla. Mediaeval games without fantasy are rare enough as it is.

You know how Vannila is kinda a mod on it's own. Well, mabye there could be two official 'vannila's'. Eg, you go for realistic, or for fantasy, or you select mods.

 

[Reinhart]

For vanilla, absolutely not. The thing I love about this game is it is a medieval combat simulator, not a fantasy medieval combat simulator; to many of those already exist and most of them blow dead bears.

If a skilled modder took up the challenge of writing code and making graphics for magic, sure, I'd give it a whirl. Also, maybe the idea of fighting some fantastical creatures (Dragons, cyclops, goblins, orcs; skeletons, etc.) would be interesting but never, EVER in vanilla. Armagan is making outstanding progress on a realistic front and balancing that realism with fun, no need to throw in fantasy elements and foul it all up.

 

[rejenorst]

lol He's not going to. Id still like to see a fantasy mod someday when the realistic game is done, i may even support it depending on my situation.

As for my opinion i have to agree with Reinhardt.

 

[Silverfox]

I play my own homebuilt version of low-magic fantasy roleplaying - although I lost some stuff when my computer died. ...still the rebuilt (well, getting there) versiob is far better than the first; being my own work rather than D&D modified.

Doesn't stop me from stealing from D&D netbook reasources though! The sheer amount of items and feats avaliable is amazing.
With my newer version i'm morphing my literary fantasy projects and my scratch-built game system into something new. Currently it's being called the "campaigner" system (though thats probably already taken).

Much fun.

I used to play D20 Modern - Afghanistan/Somalia/Columbia, D6 Legend - Matrix (I got lots of influences from this lovely system) and a little 3rd edition, though I found it hard to beleive and therefore hard to immerse myself in. I hope to get the Game of Thrones soon, it looks wonderful and is rated accordingly. 

*Checks first post*

Hmm, I seem to be way off topic... Ah well 

Umm... M&B should keep almost entirely to realisim, in fact i'd prefer it if it was an interactive representation of medieval europe/near east. The lack of fantasy is something that makes it unique in a market where this is so rare.

*wipes brow* Feww, that was close.

 

[Aqtai]

I like either as long as they are done well and internally consistant. Saying that though, there are so many fantasy games out out there that M&B's realistic approach is refreshingly different.

 

[Feanaro]

I enjoy the lack of fantasy in regular M&B. I would prefer that it stay that how. I certainly welcome fantasy mods though. A low fantasy mod would be awesome... and by "low fantasy", I mean "a Song of Ice and Fire."

 

[Silverfox]

I enjoy the lack of fantasy in regular M&B. I would prefer that it stay that how. I certainly welcome fantasy mods though. A low fantasy mod would be awesome... and by "low fantasy", I mean "a Song of Ice and Fire."

Song of Ice and Fire is great in all regards... except for a few characters I couldn't care less about (ironmen anyone?) and the sex.
I may not be a horny bastard but even so, in an adult book, sex shouldn't leave one feeling utterly unstirred, detached and even mildy repulsed.

I agree with you most definately. The magic wasn't neccesarily subtle, but when it was used, it conveyed its strength and pretty-much allowed one to understand why it is so feared and awed in Westros.

 

[Feanaro]

Song of Ice and Fire is great in all regards... except for a few characters I couldn't care less about (ironmen anyone?) and the sex.
I may not be a horny bastard but even so, in an adult book, sex shouldn't leave one feeling utterly unstirred, detached and even mildy repulsed.

Somehow, despite the fact that it isn't explicit, I always found the nudity in the Wheel of Time series to be more objectionable. It always made me think ol' Rob J. was just a dirty old man, besides needing an editor badly.

I agree with you most definately. The magic wasn't neccesarily subtle, but when it was used, it conveyed its strength and pretty-much allowed one to understand why it is so feared and awed in Westros.

I like Martin's use of magic. It is a rarity but it is very powerful. Over the years, I've come to dislike magic being common in stories. It robs it of the mystique.

 

[Feanaro]

The only really obvious magic I respect and love, is the one from Tolkien's works.

Tolkien, even in the Hobbit, tried very hard to restrain his use of magic. Something I wish more authors would emulate.

I take it, Fëanáro, you like Tolkien's works too?

Not enough to use the accented letters but I am a fan. My father was reading to Lord of the Rings to me before I was twelve. My view on Tolkien's work has changed as my literary knowledge expanded and my tastes matured. I no longer think of him as a great writer but he crafted an unmatchable mythos.

 

[Manitas]

Im all for games trying to be as real as it gets.

But, however it might sound strange, i've nothing against magic.
Unfortunately I ain't seen any in games so far. Magic should be mysterious, rare, exceptional, and preferably an observer should not be able to tell if there was magic involved in an event or not.
The stuff referred to as 'magic' in games so far is ****. What's magic about like 'ring of fire farting +3 fire dmg, radius 2.5m'?
When I think about magic, I think of something like the Robin of Sherwood series from 1984 (with Clannad music) - magic was present, but subtle and almost nonexistent (or I just remember it as such, that was some time ago).

Also, I got nothing against fantasy, but i've got a lot against cliche fantasy. How many times one can utilize all the same god forsaken dwarves, elves, werewolves, shelves etc...

Anyway, it's beter not to do any magic and fantasy stuff at all, than to do once again the same usual crap.

 

[InferiorBeing]

I agree. The magic we see so often in those RPGs and fantasy RTS's, is so crappy. Magic is should be a mysterious, fantastic, exeptional, subtle and spectacular force of nature in it's own right. In all those generic, uncreative MMORPGs and RTS's, it's an old fart, too much of a little girlie-girl to fight up close with a sword, who's instead shooting a fireball from his hands, blasting a some kind of a lightning bolt from his staff or whatever. Basically, they have been reduced to the medieval answer to modern-day firearms, almost (If not completely!), identical in function and look. Shooting a fireball from his hands, anyone? A re-skinned grenade launcher.

And so on.

 

[HardCode]

It would never hurt for Armagan to program modding capabilities to mods things like magic fluidly. It just opens up more possibilities for M&B players. However, there are the balance considerations to think of. If someone mods magic, for example, will they be able to keep it balanced against melee combat? That is a complexity in that the game engine needs to allow modders to tweak everything.

Personally, I'd like to see this kind of things much later in the M&B development cycle. First, I'd rather have capabilities to sack and/or convert towns, more complex quest capabilites (I'm no modder, so just throwing this out there), AI improvements during combat, and additional character-to-faction involvement. Basically, refining what already exists while slowly adding in new things that coincide with what we already have.

As far as random encounters that can offer reward, that could possibly be implemented now in the form of random bandit/whatever groups on the map. Kind of like the "Troublesome Bandits" quest, but random. Whatever town they spawn near would offer a reward from the Count at the castle.

 

[Ares]

I'd say we could do without fireball style magic, but stat increase stuff as in TLD would be ok. And I'd really like to see griffins etc.

 

[Archonsod]

Why not realistic fantasy?

You know, mix in medieval superstition rather than any tolkien hacks. Things like troop morale plummeting because you've been cursed (perhaps getting them blessed by a priest could raise morale) and similar

 

[Manitas]

Yeah, and of course the bloody catholic church, greedy popes, burning witches, treacherous monks etc...

...Yeah, I know, too touchy. But there could be at least a framework to mod in the religion stuff later.

 

[Lord moose]

personally i would love to see my horsemen rush into battle with orcs riding wargs

or giant stone monsters!!!!

and elven treetop towns
DANGER:falling elves