More cliffs,

More the wizard being the BBEG

A general distrust for magic in the populace

No united rule over more then one town that did not come from a warlord who went from place to place conquering it.

Generally every town has it's own religion.

Bigger and wilder beasts that some how stay true to more typical and real animals. (Less Dragons, More Giant Salamanders) Undead are a special case but shouldn't be used at every turn.

Cults, Cults everywhere.

Less flashy. Or rather not as clichéd because clichés weren't all that cliché yet.
No overly abstract garbage like hide-in-plain-sight.
Orcs, wolves and bandits were viable opponents.
More complex rules but still unbalanced as hell.
Players were less focused on stats and rules.

More exploration and traveling.

Less monster races as player characters.
80% humans, 19% dwarfs, elves, halflings, 1% other.

>>18026531

Where is this from OP?
Im looking into more fantasy than SG.

>>18026563
>Cults, cults everywhere

You rang?

>>18026626
No idea. I can't read japonaise.
My guess would be a japanese fantasy novel, anime or game.

What's SG?

>>18026662

studio ghibli

>>18026566
>more complex rules that were unbalanced as hell

I wouldn't say the rules were more complex, and "party balance" wasn't a thing, since the game didn't revolve around combat.

One dude might have been better at slaying shit, but not many people cared.

Having a "balanced party" is a rather modern conceit, all in all.

>>18026680
What's SF then?

>>18026531
by still playing WHFRP, and Trudvang.

>>18026692
Rolemaster is much better at fantasy tropes than those two.

I'm actually looking for some of this as well. Something with more of an oldschool feel to it. Would any of the older D&D versions do?

It was a fascinating world full of adventure and mystery.
Magic was more magical, adventure more adventurous and death more deadly.

People were more creative too since everything was new and fresh.
And it was much less dark&edgy and there were fewer special snowflakes or last-of-it's-kind characters.

I always liked going for a sort of Conan the Barbarian kind of thing. Monsters are to be used here and there, not at every turn, magic is ALWAYS an important plot point when it gets used.

And the BBEG isn't always a sorcerer, but when he is, he'll fuck your shit up

Runequest is pretty good.

Glorantha is the best and still actually going strong, I think. Heroic Fantasy done right, in a world built on myth, where weapons are made out of the bronze bones of long-dead gods and a mountain range might be a sleeping dragon.

>>18026788

And also there are ducks.

People weren't scared of using things that were just cool instead of effective.

Warriors in studded leather armor or even just simple clothing.
Magicians with spears or crossbows.
Those were the times of high adventure.

When was the last time you spent a feat only for flavour /tg/?

>>18026775

Ah, RuneQuest. The home of sensibly-dressed female warriors.

Crunch used to be secondary.
We didn't even really talk about rules.

>>18026760
I honestly do it more with vikings than barbarians though.

Favorite tactic is writing up a bigass list of superstitions for the world and then letting the players pick a few that their character believes in.

They are, of course, reminded that in this world there are good reasons to be cautious of stuff...

My favorite part is that I keep forgetting what's actually on the list and didn't bother thinking up what any of it actually was ahead of time. Now and then I'll even change it if they guess right.

>>18026698
>Rolemaster is much better at fantasy tropes than those two.
Rolemaster is just bad and boring and not good at anything really.

>>18026775
>Runequest is pretty good.
Drakar och Demoner did it a bit beter and Trudvang (rule mechanics aside) even more so.

>>18026817
Sounds like you never played it.

>>18026797
4th E dnd actually. Picked up the linguistic one for a sort of "Indiana Jones in a robe" type sorc. Dude was an archeological boss.

Also, pretty sure that is the first time any DnD character ever picked up a magical tome and went "It belongs in a library!"

>>18026823
Played, own, horrible crap it is and I don't get why I suffred it in my early youth. Move past your silly notion of nostalgia, it's just bland and bad.

here is one thing i find making old style gaming fun. make magic a powerful, mysterious and RARE. granted a wizard should have things to help him be a wizard, but a magic weapon should be an adventure. and the way second edition AD&D was set up the DM could make up how to make a magic item, it wasn't quantifyable and there was no price set like in later editions.

example to make a cloak of shadows i needed,
Juice from a blind mans eye
Enough silk to make a cloak from one spider
Black holy water, not holy water dyed black
and A shadow's blood
after created it had to be placed into a cave with no light for 3 months

that was 4 adventures, including finding the wizard to cast the spells. that was a great old style adventure

>>18026797
>People weren't scared of using things that were just cool instead of effective.
dat feel

A lot of exploration,great fear for the villains,enthousiasm.
These are what I recall.Everything was destroyed with the vidya.People started thinking in a vidya-way:
>save/load
>it's just a game,I cannot be really hurt
>DAMAGE DAMAGE DAMAGE

Has anyone looked into Legend from the same guy that did RuneQuest?

One thing that wasn't quite mentioned yet: myths. All powerful creatures, ancient heroes, legendary weapons and significant locations should have some attached to them.

Magic should also be... less of a known quality and more diverse and unusual, and a good idea may be to give various heroes - including the PCs, potentially! - access to unusual magical or semi-magical powers that would set them apart from everyone else.

As opposed to pretty much everyone casting the same old spells by rote.

That feel when you let your fighter start as a delusional dirtfarmer with an old sword who dreams of becoming a knight and your group calls you hipster.

>>18026806
Yeah... About that...

>>18026907

Channel it into roleplaying.

Since to be fair, that's exactly how people would've treated a true hero at the start of his journey.

>>18026910

S-shut up. She was just... out swimming when the monster caught her by surprise.

>>18026915

Too cool for farm.

>>18026910
Yeah it's not like there are any historical models, right?

I don't know how it was for others, but I miss the exploration parts in old adventures and going to far and misterious places. From new continents fulls of ruins ands weird beast to new kingdoms.

In muy group fantasy is now politics/intrigue/everyone is dark/the world is brown, moreso after half the group picked up Song of Ice and Fire. Oh well.

>>18026943
Oh god what.

>>18026915
No, the players called me hipster for choosing such a concept.
It's just sad, man. It's like for them fantasy is all about beeing powerful badasses at all times.

Back then, you didn't need to hang around.

Because you had D&D.

>>18026946
It is a Runequest campaign/quest in finnish. Ducks are humanoids and a playable race in RQ. Cursed by some god or something for not fighting chaos.

Everyone in this thread: We should for a decide on a system and form a group so that we might partake of this oldschool roleplay together.

>>18026946

Quack quack quack quack, motherquacker.

>>18026957
I've seen also published in spanish. The title was "Applelane" I think, so it may exist in english too.

>>18026961

...Kinda figures I'd forget the picture.

>>18026947
Your character is just stupid and makes life hard for the rest of the group.

It's about as tropey as getting your village killed by Orcs when you're a child, and less believable.

Lone Wolf FUCK YEAH!

>>18026964

Yep!

Don't you just hate scurrilous scoundrels? I think they are the worst kind.

I remember when long, long ago, when I was a kid, a band of orcs might rape a fair maiden - most likely for dramatic effect, in addition to that being what orcs do - without someone crying That Guy, and bringing down upon us a grand torrent of accusations for disgusting DM fetishes, misogyny and racism. Ah, well. Today I enjoy my RPG's wholesome, healthy-minded and family friendly, just to keep from dwelling on the fact that players these days inevitably turn IC drama into OOC drama.

Old school fantasy is all in the feel.

To recreate that feel, one would need original material. (Books, sheets, etc.)
My group once decided to run an old school game with newer material, it just didn't feel right.

>>18026974
>implying he can't fight because he doesn't wear plate armor or swings a magic flamesword +4
>implying lame one-trick-min/max-ponies are useful
>implying roleplay is about beeing effective and not playing a role

There is also the fact that everyone wants to run a special snowflake character, super edgy and original*.

>>18026980
>>18026943
He'd fit right in.

>>18026992

ROLEPLAY IS ABOUT PLAYING A ROLE AS PART OF A GROUP.

IF YOUR CHARACTER HAS FLAWS THAT ARE SOLELY GOING TO DRAG DOWN THEIR PERFORMANCE, AND PROVIDE CHALLENGES FOR THEM? SURE, GO FOR IT. BE ILLITERATE OR HAVE A PERSONAL ISSUE WITH SPIDERS.

IF YOUR CHARACTER HAS FLAWS THAT WILL AFFECT THE ENTIRE GROUP, THEN YOU NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT AND GET PERMISSION FROM THE GROUP AT-LARGE BEFORE YOU SAY "BY THE WAY, IN MY BACKSTORY, I FUCKED THE PRINCESS AND HER DAD IS SOOOO PISSED" OR "BY THE WAY, BLIND AS A BAT."

IF YOU DISLIKE THE WAY YOUR GROUP PLAYS, FIND A DIFFERENT, MORE COMPATIBLE GROUP.

>>18026986
I miss the days when I could talk about wenches and mead and no one would bat an eye at the concept.

Let's face it. If I had gold, a sword, and magic artifacts galore that's what I'd do. I like booze and I like women. Are they original motives? Not a bit.

But you didn't complain about the wise old wizard trying to keep peace in the realm. There are some cliches that have earned a place in our hearts.

>>18027021
You do realize we'd still be living in caves if everyone thought like you do?

>>18026980

Runequest is one system that really penalizes small, weak characters like duck. A friend of mine ran Duck Tower, and he said the ducks just could not damage the heavily armored characters. A duck rolled a critical hit, and he looked forward to actually doing damage...and the player rolled a critical parry.

My favourite.

Interrupting Lone Wolf dump to post this.
I don't even.

>>18027015
>Durulz (Duck)
>Anatanthropus donaldi

Speaking of which, has anyone here had any experience with Hero Wars or HeroQuest? (Same setting, more recent and very different system, but hopefully the same general feel.)

>>18027038

THAT...RECREATIONAL HOBBIES SHOULD BE FUN FOR ALL INVOLVED?

I SUPPOSE IF YOU CONTORTED AND TORTURED THAT THOUGHT-PROCESS TO SOMEHOW APPLY IT TO THINGS THAT AREN'T RECREATIONAL HOBBIES, SURE.

ALL I KNOW IS, IF I'M GOING TO GO PLAY VOLLEYBALL WITH SOME FRIENDS, *I* DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE INDIGNANT AND PISSED OFF IF MY TEAM CALLS ME A FUCKTARD FOR PLAYING ONE-HANDED AND DOING POORLY. VICE VERSA, IF WE'RE ALL PLAYING ONE-HANDED, WHO GIVES A TOSS?

I remember playing AD&D with just me and one other friend. We had improbable characters (I played a centaur warrior who used a lance and sword) and had fun just interacting with our own environments and trying new ideas. Played Tunnels & Trolls too. The system is wonky, but it can be fun and games can be easily improvised.

OLD SCHOOL!

>>18027062
Suddenly RPG's are volleyball to fit your view of performance > everything? And I'm contorting thought processes?

Oh, wait, I get you. You're just trying to lure me into an internet fight aren't you? Just to make sure no-one thinks ill of your horribly one-eyed, flatbrowed murder simulator concept of gaming?

>>18027100
THIS

From the AD&D 2nd Ed. Players Handbook

Is it me, or is /tg/ a bit slow right now?

>>18027105

WOULD A CIRCLE-STORYTELLING METAPHOR WORK BETTER, THEN?

IF I'M SITTING AT A STORYTELLING CIRCLE, AND HAVE FORBIDDEN MYSELF FROM USING ANY WORD WITH THE LETTER "E" IN IT, THEN ONE OF TWO THINGS WILL HAPPEN:
EITHER I'M CLEVER AND CAPABLE ENOUGH TO KEEP THE STORY GOING DESPITE THE LIMITATION, IN WHICH CASE I'VE CHALLENGED MYSELF AND HAD A NEAT EXPERIENCE, OR
I'M NOT, AND THE STORY STARTS CHUGGING AND DRAGGING WHENEVER MY TURN ROLLS AROUND

IN THIS INSTANCE, I'VE TAKEN ON A RESTRICTION THAT DRAGGED DOWN THE WHOLE GROUP'S FUN, AND I HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE INDIGNANT WHEN THAT'S POINTED OUT TO ME.

BETTER?

>>18027105

It really depends on where your group is on the scale of roleplay vs. gameplay. Roleplaying a mostly useless character in a game oriented towards fighting is fine, but if you're going to do that you should also accept it when the other characters are going to realize your guy is an idiot and then throw yours out.

Wizards should look like this guy. No exceptions.

>>18027100
It's time for everyone's favorite game: Heroes or Just Assholes?

>>18027160

>>18027169
That guy in the red looks like a pretty big asshole to me.

>>18027165
>>18027174
What are these from?

>>18027169
The first arrow finished it, they just desecrated the body for a while afterward.

>>18027191

Das Schwarze Auge (Dark Eye), 1st Edition, around 1984

Notice the distinct nordic influences.

>>18027198
>2012
>Vouching for filthy monsters
>ISHIGGY DIGGY

>>18027156
>>18027062
>>18027021

Illustrations are by Bryan Talbot.

>>18027202
Awesome, I like it a lot.

I wonder...

For a Heroic Fantasy setting, what sort of music would you play?

>>18027202
>zwerg
Oh boy. German dwarves are... like... double dorfy.

Uz are the best oldtimey fantasy race.

Started as monstrous encounter fodder, got fleshed out into a fully-fledged, unique and sympathetic culture without becoming any less awesome and brutal.

>>18027223
I personally like this guy's stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/user/musicinmind3
I also like to use OSTs from games.
(HoMM3, Baldur's Gate, Diablo, etc.)

>>18027239
We once played a game of trollkin ball with the Uz, against a professional team. It was quite hilarious, even if the trickster's spine broke in two places.

First edition included a solo adventure that had an illustration of girl tied to a pole by an evil magician plus an ork that was reaching out for her, implying impending rape. Later print runs had to feature a modified illustration.

>>18027253
Worst. Babysitter. Ever.

>>18026531
>How do you create ye olde flaire?
pastels and watercolours

windswept cliffs, windswept cliffs errywhere

dangerous monsters (that don't usually talk) guarding mounds of treasure.

bandits and caravan raiders would be commonplace

Epic one on one fights with the BBEG.

>>18027253

Oh Boy, she's so royally fucked!

Last one for now, I should have left a couple of hours ago to renew my passport.

That feel when back then roleplay wasn't about beeing powerful but having fun playing your roles.

That feel when an adventure gone wrong wasn't considered a loss because it was still fun.

>>18027156
Did you win D&D today, son?

>>18027229

Closer look. Bit of "Breaking the Fourth Wall" trope too.

>>18027299

I'll renew mine the day after tomorrow. Last pic.

>>18027252

New rule: it's not fun unless the trickster gets hurt.

So, by "traditional", are we talking 70s and 80s?

Is lore drawn from medieval manuscripts and archaeological finds too traditional? Because that is my favourite kind of traditional.

>>18027359
>So, by "traditional", are we talking 70s and 80s?
Pretty much. Though beeing younger doesn't mean it can't be old school.

>Is lore drawn from medieval manuscripts and archaeological finds too traditional? Because that is my favourite kind of traditional.
Isn't that a rather new thing?

Interest in the medieval periods sparked in the 19th century, and fairytales have been passed down from the medieval period itself. Manuscripts and other finds have been part of our understanding of medishit for longer than the popularised fantasy genre, but I think it's worth questioning whether it counts as "traditional".

>>18027422
What I meant was fantasy and rpg in general beeing influenced by actual history.
Like the realistic combat in Riddle of Steel for example.

I always thought back then they didn't care enough to do research.
Not that the majority does nowadays.

To be honest the only games to do this that come to mind are Ars Magica, Harnmaster and Riddle of Steel.

For me it was the grimdark I suppose. Trite like A Song of Ice and Fire with "hurr she got raped by the whole town of more than 100 peasants how gritty is that guise?". The first book was alright, but it was an immediate downhill after that. I don't want to read or play some dudes rape fantasy, I just want to explore ancient ruins created by mysterious dead civilizations in the middle of a awesome jungle with badass tigers and shit. It's like no one knows how to have fun or be fantastical anymore. Everything has to be so goddamn bleak and crappy all the time.

>>18027488

Warhammer Fantasy's been around for quite a while, and it's actually pretty historically accurate when it chooses to be.

>>18026797
>>high adventure

>>not HIIGH ADDDVENNTTURREE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeXh-acvBrw

>>18027488

Sengoku.

>>18026840

>>The appearance of those armors

>>Man hugging computer.jpg

I suppose there is to much political correctness, everything must be balanced like it was run by a socialist /tg/ nitpicking group, /tg/ hates it when you don't play an archetype and other reasons like this is why the old school fantasy died out.

>>18027651

/tg/ also hates it if you do play an archetype.

Actually, the best advice you can take from /tg/ is to not listen to any of it.

>>18027594

>>18027781
>captcha: ticelore condemna

What evil spell is this?

>>18027753
Yeah, /tg/ is kinda like a Russian roulette hydra and only now and then you will face one of the benign heads.

>>18027524
>Warhammer Fantasy
>actually pretty historically accurate when it chooses to be
I think your historical accuracy is vastly different from mine

>>18028048

"when it chooses to be" is the qualifier here. A lot of Empire stuff lines up heavily with the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in actual Renaissance history, and Bretonnia is a reasonably unawkward combination of late medieval France and England.

People today are to much about the gear and not enough about running around half-naked like a boss.

>>18027651

Agreed. Monstrous races is a huge part of this as well. Where every bloodsucking freak has to have it's own well fleshed out culture that you must respect you bigot.

The trollpak guy above talking about Uz is talking about the decline. The Uz didn't lose any of their awesomeness, but the entire game and setting did.

>>18027156
I fail to see how a guy working a farm is less capable of wielding a sword than any other average guy.

>>18027926
>dat pic
>background
>Roman Dragon Riders

welp, off to my next character.

>>18029051
He isn't. Well backgroundwise it would make sense if trained fighters were the norm, but statwise there isn't a difference.

It's just that people think "hurr, if you're not going for max possible stats you're a liability".

But what they don't see is that there is not the slightest problem if the whole group doesn't min/max.

If the fighter characters don't always go platemail and dual-wielding bastardswords, classes that are weaker in combat like rogues or bards can actually be useful too while fighters still shine.

And if spell users chose some flavour or utility spells for a change instead of just the most powerful ones they wouldn't steal the spotlight of everyone else.

>>18027213
>u mad
>not knowing who MR.RAGE is

Gee, you're pretty new here aren't you?

>>18029424
A namefag no one except you cares about?

>>18029439
>namefag

>>18029487
Does shitposter suit you better?

>>18029439

>>18029551
>shitposter

2/10

You had me going there for a moment.

>>18028382

I wouldn't say so.

For one thing, there are still plenty of legitimately monstrous races around. Broos are always, always evil in the nastiest ways possible, even if it's not their fault (the only exception is too much of a special case to really talk about).

Uz, however, are part of the Compromise. They're pretty monstrous, but they're on our side.

You know.

If you look at the really, really big picture here.

Also, what's this Lunar talk about respecting other people's cultures and not being bigots?

>>18027217

Germans refer to dragons as pretzel worms?

>>18029739
"Tatzelwurm" is a seldomely used variant.

Our Dragons can also be called "Drache".or "Lindwurm".

>>18029771
Lindwurm is the term I'm most familiar with. Well... aside from Drache/DRagon of course.

In some contexts, mostly of biblical nature, they're also called serpents (Schlangen) I believe.

if you want to get an old school feel with a D20 system Iron Heroes is the way to go

>>18029834
There are several different regional names for creatures.
Some refer to the same creature some to a similar one.
In Bavaria they have several chimera that are called Wolpertinger.
Examples are Deublstenz, Dergl, Dreialmerziach, Stessprotzerl, Wasserratznkrick and Rasselbock.

Pic is a Deublstenz.

>>18029650
I was speaking in the broader sense rather than specifics to that setting. Players as monsters degrades the 'traditional feel' the OP is talking about, and generally has turned most fantasy RPGs into the Star Wars Cantina.

That orcs, giants, lizards, and devils are basically core in 4e D&D basically says it all. For a tradtional game there is no reason I'm not immediately taking a whack at anything coming at me with red eyes, horns and a sulfurous belch. Likewise anything with scales.

>>18026885
Don't buy Legend. Wait for RuneQuest 6 to come out,it's gonna be the shit!
http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/

Sorry for the late response.

So oldschool fantasy gaming=
-80% Humans
-Humanoids are weird
-Monsters are evil
-A ruler only controls areas where his soldiers march/patrol
-Magic is rare/dangerous
-Ancient ruins, ancient ruins everywhere
-Flavor>Crunch

That right?

More or less. Some items might be debeatable.

>>18031268
sounds about right
but there's so much more to it

Old sword and sorcery rpgs where pretty much a conglomerate of tropes from works by Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Clark Ashton Smith and other Pulp era magazines.

>>18031268

Pretty much!

>>18031738

Taking inspiration from real mythology and ancient history is cool too, though, as long as it is suitably pulpified.

You want old school flaire? Change the rules, but don't tell your players. Keep it fair, (Monsters & NPCs have to follow the rules too) but keep it mysterious.

Players who know the rules expect things from the game. They expect monsters to be defeatable,(it's a game, right?) which ruins the majesty of the powerful, rare, or exotic. These players know routine solutions to problems in a formulaic sense.

Players who don't know the rules are busy spinning their imaginations, Trying desperate maneuvers, using group plans, etc.

Make all challenges dangerous. Not just dangerous in the Lost HP sense. Let the players know that there is always something to lose. Infiltrating that tomb? Put a timer on the table. After 15 minutes, The full moon rises, and the skeletal guards awaken again. Bluffing that merchant? Succeed, and he will buy that dagger at inflated prices, but fail, and he'll tell others in town of your dishonesty. Watch as the inn overcharges you, the livery 'loses' your horse.

Old school flavor lent the idea that your tools were useful, because they made the adventurer useful. Nowadays, an obstacle appears, an adventurer is assumed to have a solution for it (yeah, I totally have rope. . . ) and the obstacle is gone. If so, why have it in the first place. Old school way, they need that rope.

Have realistic, but horrible consequences. Fallen in a pit, without a good way out? They are pulled out in three days by a traveling wood-cutter, none the worse for wear besides thirsty and humbled.

Adventure was about being dauntless in the face of difficulty, where difficulty was a varied and nuanced thing. Not just a monster of the week.

>>18032758
Second

Old school fantasy was pretty much like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_t605Th-QI

>>18031766
>>18032758
I see. Does using the 3.0 UA "Generic Classes" also help to create such an atmosphere?

>>18032758

You know why this is? It's because afterwork rpg mentality. Back in the days videogames were difficult. Remember trying to dock in Elite? Same with RPGs and adventures. These days frustration is to be avoided by all means and that is an error.

Occasional frustration should be a part of games. Puzzles in RPGs that seem to be designed for 10-year olds are meant to avoid frustration for gamers that have a job. Their job is frustrating enough, so they have a low frustration tolerance both in video games as well as RPGs.

But games without some actual challenges are meaningless. There's nothing more boring that vidya RPGs with a seemingly endless string of take item A and bring it to B quests.

Why does the old artwork stir me in the a way modern stuff just cant?

>>18033209
>Because it's good

Also, Reward systems.

Nowadays, the case is that, if you win, you receive money and exp. Also loot.

Back in the day, you could get all that, sometimes, but you also got, TITLES, LAND, The honor of dancing with the maiden after the joust, a statue built in your honor, access to the wizard's personal library for a few days (Big stuff, considering you didn't know All Magic available).

These rewards make your character part of the world. They get a title, well, sweet. Now they are minor nobility! Their children have a chance at a great life! They can maybe meet the Duke, or The Baron. Oh wow! What if they get to meet the King? That's amazing! Even if they go ten towns over, when they sign into an inn as Sir Dudeguy, Earl of Landplace, they'll have instant respect and fame from the locals. It doesn't sound like much, from the outside, but your character had a sense of pride for it, and a sense of nobilisse oblige.

>>18033622

My favorite part about 2e was that was a part of the class system. I can see why they got rid of it, but it was really conducive to world-building.

>>18033622
Got land? Now they are somewhat in charge of some people, and are responsible for their well being. They can design a building to build their own small keep, or wizard tower, or monastery or whatever. Maybe, if they are smart or hardworking, it will make money for them, or that hospital will heal the sick, or that this new temple will bring honor to their god? When was the last time your characters Built a temple, just for the why not of it? Instead of just raiding them or burning them down, eh?

Bard wrote a song about your deeds? Sweet! In a bar fight? Well, before you break that jerk's nose, start a quick chorus of that drinking song that the bards wrote for you, to honor the day you outdrank Old Dwarf Red-River. . . Once the tavern is merrily hooting your cheers, then turn to the punk, tell them you're important here, and they'd best move along before your break their nose. Then break their nose.

Here's another elemental.

Casual mysticism. Not everything has to be explained.
Old school unicorns. Mythical. Only met certain people under rare circumstances. Nowadays, you can buy them, you can train them, you can have a paladin mount, or animal companion, or as a summon, etc.

Why was the Force in Star Wars so cool as a kid? It was a mystical unknown force, that's why. It EXISTED, and it DID things, and that's all that mattered. Now, after it was all explained away, the magic was lost. Magic in RPGs is the same way.

Use spell components. I mean the esoteric oddball ones, not just the GP costs. Hey, you know that when a wizard reaches for bat guano, you know things are going to get dangerous.

Science works better the more you know about it.
Magic works worse the more you know about it.

>>18033985
When the party does something good, instead of gifting them loot, give them FAVORS. Loot is just one thing. But Favors are actually many things. They are the perfect reward for the time, as needed by the DM or by wanted by the player.

King owes you a favor? He can pardon your rogue the next time he's in the gallows. He can give a gift from the armoury, He can have his elite bodyguard escort you through the lands of the howling dark for one week, he can offer an introduction to the court of the Emperor of the neighboring lands, he can have his clerics host a ritual to scry and ressurect you if you fall in your path, in one month's time.

Save the town? Well, the town doesn't have much, but whenever they call, they shall do what they can to aid the party. They can reshoe your horses, and fix your wagon. They can shelter your family after BBEG burns down your farm, they will inform you of where that strange falling star landed that spooked the cattle. Several levels later, rally them to join your cause as you march to defeat the growing darkness in the east.

>>18034715
dat ass.

>>18027104
Damn, I wish there was a bigger size of that. Perfect wallpaper material then.

>>18034715
Where are you finding these awesome pictures.

>>TITLES, LAND
i read Titties and Laid

frank frazetta
julie bell
boris vallejo
donatto ginocola
edward dillon

I'd love to run an oldschool fantasy game. I have never GMd a game before in my life, but I feel I would be best for storytelling. Not too good with rules though.

>>18035516
>>donatto ginocola
donato giancola

>>18034894
see
>>18035516

I do love the old school fantasy art.

>>18035726

Frank F. is my homeboy.

This is how I run games, and I've finally found a group that appreciates it. I'm so happy, /tg/! Do you have any idea how liberating it is for your players to be working towards exploring that ruin on the horizon because it's *there*? For them to return to the city to check on their friends and contacts out of genuine want to know what's happening in the world, rather than just stopping to buy 11 more health potions and get another +1 to their +2 Keen flaming burst rapier? For them to actually fear death regularly against regular mooks? To be wearing the same armor and using their same mundane starting weapons, even in the midgame, with only one in a breastplate? For the wizard to be using a pistol? For the party to see magic as, well, holy balls MAGIC?

This is how games were meant to be played. Fuck builds, fuck magic being the mundane. Fuck player entitlement to be WINNING rather than playing, and exploring the world around them. I understand the desire to be useful, potent and strong. But that shouldn't be the whole game.

>>18035862
More Boris Vallejo guy myself but these guys srt is truly inspering and puts me in the mood to start painting again. We should have these threads more often.

DSA Schwertmeister.

Hey, is MR. RAGE still around in this thread? Stopped by and was browsing and saw some youngling/low-level troll trying to start a shit fight with him.

Rage man, nice to see you still posting. Been a while. Hope things are good with you.

>>18033985
>Use spell components. I mean the esoteric oddball ones, not just the GP costs. Hey, you know that when a wizard reaches for bat guano, you know things are going to get dangerous.

The benefit of this is that you also get to go on quests for lore and ingredients. And that kind of detail can really make the world breathe, as you develop ties with merchants, libraries, other adventurers and so on.

I'd say it's not always bad to know stuff about magic, though. But I think a better approach would be to develop/reveal the magic system during play - or better yet, encourage people to come up with their own theories to explain how it works.

And then, when they finally know how it works (assuming that they're wizards or otherwise have a reason to want to know it) and are confident enough to experiment with it, start to throw them curveballs. Magic rules tend to have magic exceptions.

>>18038501

BTW, I think 40K Roleplay's psy powers mechanics are basically pretty good. The counter-balance to the immense power of psy is the Psychic Phenomena and especially the Perils of the Warp table, which introduce a huge unpredictable element to the use of psy.

>>18038419
No, he left because he realized that he was posting garbage.

Frank sure did like drawing pictures of burly dudes fighting.

>>18038680
Nice to see that you're still mad enough to continue posting about MR. RAGE AND that you're new enough to not know who MR. RAGE is despite him posting here since 2008 or whereabouts.
Protip, bud: this isn't /b/ or /v/.

>>18038731
Nice to see that you're still here to lick his butt.
No, I don't know who Mr Rage is and I don't care since everything he wrote so far is counterproductive don't-like-what-I-don't-like bullshit.
He's been around for a long time, so what?
Doesn't make him any better than others.
And I'm not even the dude from before btw.
I just came here.

>>18038801

Next he'll call John Galt a cancerous tripfag and demand he be kicked from the board.

>>18038731
>>18038817
>caring about tripfags
No, anon. You are the newfags.
And then anon was a faggot.

>>18038893

>>Carrying about the dude who basically single-handedly saved TRoS, or at the very least was hugely influential in it's resurgence
>>Saving indie games from death
>>Lolgofuckyourself.

>>18038817
>>18038999

John Galt is cool, does a lot of neat stuff for /tg/ and is generally a helpful dude.

Mr Rage is an unproductive idiot and attention whore. The board would not feel his loss. If he dropped the trip and the obnoxious all caps he would be the same as every other asshole.

I miss when we talked about old school fantasy.

>>18039015
>Mr Rage is an unproductive idiot and attention whore. The board would not feel his loss. If he dropped the trip and the obnoxious all caps he would be the same as every other asshole.

You only think that because he proved you wrong at some point.

Ian McCaig. Fabulous illustrator.

>>18039188
Nope. Just observation.

Getting tired of dumping half the art in this thread.

Whoops, posted in the wrong thread, so here I go again

I FUCKING LOVE CONAN

He got me into low-fantasy
He is the reason I enjoy rolling barbarians

I love the settings
I love how Howard manages to give sorcerers and their magic this creepy supernatural tone
I love how Conan manages to kill Eldritch-Abominations

Mind if I post some Frank Frazetta stuff?

>>18039533
Go ahead. I'm done for now.

>>18039575
Take a rest

Just out of curiosity:

Am I alone here?

Personally, I love Glorantha.

As in, the default Runequest setting.

I have entirely unreasonable amounts of love for it, to the extent of saying that it's my favourite fantasy setting ever, mostly because it gets mythology, magic and religion RIGHT.

There's also the whole concept of heroquesting, where you cross over into the God Plane in a potent magical ritual to reenact the myths of your gods and ancestors, and thus empower them to keep the world from falling apart at the seams for a little longer - while also getting benefits for yourself or, more likely, your community in the process.

And the idea of the Hero Wars in the default setting is awesome too - conflicts flaring up everywhere as the Third Age heads towards its conclusion, conflicts that are bound to change the very way the world works - assuming there will still be a world left when it's done...

Basically, it means that in Glorantha, protagonists start as members of their community (perhaps outstanding ones, perhaps not at all), well within a specific social and magical context, and then, over the course of their adventures, become mighty heroes and change the world, probably stepping way outside of their original comfort zone in the process. It may not sound special, but with Glorantha's focus on communities and myth, it's something that could be done in a very captivating way indeed there.

Well folks, thread is full.

Maybe I will post more another time.

>>18039751
Thanks for the dumps guys. Much appreciated.

to the anons who dumped Boris and Frank,

Thank you.

As for low fantasy: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085542/

This is basically a low fantasy Frank Frazetta campaign brought to life. It's everything that is and ever should be good about low fantasy. Watch this if you haven't, it's so fucking classic.

>>18039751
Good show man. Was getting tired of doing most of it myself.
>>18040005
Hey, my pleasure. I love me some old school art.
>>18040018
Yeah, Frank and Boris makes the stuff of dreams.

Also already quite familiar with Fire and Ice. A bit on the campy side but very much enjoyable.

I wish I could work with some of you folks to come up with some community project on a low-fantasy world.

Shit would be great, I know what you're capable of /tg/

>>18040207
Sounds like fun. I love musing on fantasy setting idea all the time but never end up writing them down. We should do one of these threads again some day.

>>18027781

Back super late, but I like these developers. They actually are willing to look to history for ideas and not just continue the zombified momentum of the typical fantasy armor you see in most settings now.

>>18027523
>I just want to explore ancient ruins created by mysterious dead civilizations in the middle of a awesome jungle with badass tigers and shit.

I'm late but

you just described everything I ever wanted from my adventures.

>>18040513
Yeah, same here.

Thanks to this thread I learned of Korgoth of Barbaria.

I didn't even know this show existed. It's hilarious. Thank you guys again

awesome thread!

Continuing here:
>>18041645