I really want to run a game like this but I keep having a hard time finding a group thats id into it, also I feel generally people aren't taking games seriously these days.
I loved this video. I'm working on a campaign setting with a certain aesthetic and I was having a hard time making what i envisioned fit in the framework of a typical cookie cutter DND setting. This video helped clarify what a sword and sorcery style setting is and gave me a framework to work within! Thanks a ton.
I've found one of the easiest way to make a DnD game more Sword and Sorcery - Allow only the Warlock class for spellcasting, but remove all Evocation spells and similar abilities (no eldritch blasts). (They can call themselves whatever they want: Sorcerer, Priest, whatever, but rulewise, its a Warlock.) I noticed that this reduces the damage dealing capacity of low level mages, except for the conjure poison cantrip.... which I was extremely satisfied with since I remember reading a Conan book where the evil spellcaster primarily summoned clouds of poison to kill his opponents.
@@ZipperonDisney The other thing I've done is replace hitpoints with a Fatigue and Wound system. That way you can remove magical healing and still feel like the PC's can survive. Class hitpoints (i.e. hitdice) are considered Fatigue. They're not actually wounds just the body tiring out from defensive measures. Any Constitution modifier (minimum 1) are wounds. So for example a Fighter has 3d10+3 hitpoints (+1 per level from Con bonus). This would be 3d10 fatigue and 3 wounds. Once a PC is completely worn out, she will start being injured instead. Fatigue heals overnight (and during rests if the rules allow), but Wounds can be more serious (and may result in critical effects throughout the Campaign.) It should be noted that Wounds in this system are not a direct damage=hitpoints, but rather a single instance or attack that inflicts damage. If a PC only has Wounds remaining, and takes 1d6 damage from a sword, that still only counts as 1 Wound. (This is a great chance to use those Critical Injury tables you've always kept around but never had a chance to use in the new systems.)
I'm not too sure Warlock fits as the lone casting class of S&S.... None of the spellcasters I've seen in S&S tales strike me as the type to use charisma for their spellcasting ability... They are also more varied than you might expect. Consider the white sage Epemitreus, Bran Mak Morn's druid Gonar, Clark Ashton-Smith's Eibon, Evagh, Gaspard Du Nord and others... The only Conan villain I remember explicitly using poison was Nabonidus in Rogues In The House, and his use was more technological than magical.... Nabonidus was a corrupt priest but not a sorcerer.
If you use the Long Rest = a Week ruleset you'll pretty much soft-lock it so Warlock is the only viable magic user. But it also gives players the option to atleast try the other classes and see how far it gets them. Unlike old editions though, cantrips still give them something to do so idk, maybe still use the no-evoke rule
@@ViktorTheMusician Some other options for Sword & Sorcery style games: Allow evocations, but only up to 3rd level. Restrict magical healing: no resurrections, for example. If there is powerful healing magic, it should be potentially dangerous to cast and/or use. One of the things I am implementing in my Dark World rpg is the ability to make blood sacrifice during casting rituals to empower spells in some way.
You make S&S sound very appealing - combine your take with a recent rewatch of the original Conan the Barbarian, and I might just have to pitch this to my table. Nehwon here we come!
The problem, in my opinion, is 5e was created to be EXTREMELY balanced. Every character of the same level is supposed to bee equivalent in power, but in a Sword & Sorcery setting, wizards become way more powerful than fighters. If you take in to account that fighters will have no access to a full plate or the heavier armors, and will be less likely to have magic weapons, they'll have a low AC and won't do much damage against mid to high level monsters, which mostly have damage resistance against non-magic weapons. That's why I prefer GURPS when playing Sword & Sorcery
I've always preferred this genre/flavour of D&D, but I couldn't figure why or what it was until this video. I can finally put a name to it so Thank you!
the other D&D settings feel a lot more like sword and sorcery than the modern popular Forgotten Realms. The dragonlance, dark sun and Greyhawk settings specifically
I've actually been working on a sword & sorcery/medieval fantasy world for a few years now, is certainly seems like something you'd like since it has "realism" to magic in a sense, especially since it also has some science fiction and metaphysical influences as well.
Some sources I pull from to get ideas for my S&S game: Warhammer FRP ( search scenarios ), Middle Earth Roll Play ( MERP low level mods ), Conan 2d20 and AD&D low level mods. Consider scrapping long connected campaigns in favor of episodes like the TV shows of the 80's and 90's; The characters escape the pictish hoards at the end of one adventure and start the next in the Kingdom of Shem. Also consider using Hyboria, that setting has way more diversity and flavor than most people think without being so overdeveloped as to restrict the GM and seems tailor made for S&S ( for some reason ).
About your last few points: I’m building what is essentially a multi-hack more or less Sword & Sorcery world for future campaigns. Sorcery can be utilized, but it always comes from something existing and it is always dangerous. Rituals are the dominant form of sorcery, regardless of source. Even the great Magi must adhere to their theories, as anything they do outside the bounds can go haywire. And as for the planes, I actually have 2: the Living World and the mysterious, treacherous Underworld. Raids can invade the Underworld, but they are HIGHLY ritualistic and visit scenes of the past to retrieve Lost Artifacts. The Party may stumble unknowingly into the Underworld, or may be trapped there by Fey (more demonic and incredibly inhuman entities). It is always dangerous, always unpredictable, always an Event. Just what I’m doing!
That sounds really, really cool!! The new sage advice podcast on magic components has a few neat ideas that you might appreciate in how to re-skin 5e magic as ritual looking. I keep a few planes in my homegame, but they are rarely traveled to. In fact, I think they have only ever seen, different planes (never crossed into) in the years I've been DMing 5e
Sword and Sorcery deals with Iron Age, from my personal experience at least. You see late Rome to early medieval. Knights look like crusaders, and what is old is starting to show weakness-crime is up in the cities, and the barbarians are gaining strength. To me, that feels very Sword and Sorcery.
Hello @Zipperon Disney! Recently I have looked more into how to make a more grimdark style of story for my campaign setting. Implementing the two optional rules from the DMG, slow natural healing, and Healer's Kit dependency seem to be good optional rules to implement. -- Requiring the PCs to manage the resources they have, rather than altering the fundamentals of the short and long rest lengths to make recovery of abilities slower. I have also seen some people implement a required D20 roll for all arcane spells, and a result of "1" will require a roll on a critical spell failure table. I have also seen people suggest limiting character level and capping the total number of hit points per character. The other thing I've seen mentioned a lot is implementing Insanity tables and exhaustion levels/tables, especially when a character fails a death saving throw.
I think S&S also lends itself well to a lower level cap. Beyond 10th level characters tend to get very fantastic features, and 6th level spells and higher let you start to truly change reality. So you might want to keep those levels for the antagonists, and people who go on an epic adventure like seeking the fountain of youth.
Thanks for advices! Want to DM sword and sorcery campaign as an excuse to play stoner rock / metal as a game sountrack and also try some "gritty realism mechanics".
Astonishing Sword & Sorcery of Hyperborea 3rd Edition kickstarts 7/1/2021 at 8PM EDT. Sword and Sorcery style game themed around Conan the Barbarian/AD&D/Lovecraft/Pulp Fantasy stuff. LINK: www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeffreytalanian/hyperborea-3e
I am a big fan of Howard's Conan, Lieber's Fafhrd & Grey Mouser. and Moorcock's Elric Saga -- and most of the stuff in Gygax's Appendix N in the 1979 AD&D DM Guide. All is great stuff. I think that one of the best tricks to use is to not use the magic system in the Player's Handbook (so players are not just looking to level up and gain powers that they know exist), but instead just give them the spells one at a time with their own method of casting (for role playing it) and the mechanic for learning it, casting it and its effects. It takes more DM prep, but I think it adds a lot of mystery to the game.
@@ZipperonDisney Yes...Lovecraft made my taste for it, then I had to develop a mechanic. How about just do what Gygax said in the first DM Guide on p. 8: "As this book is exclusively the precinct of the DM, you must view any non-DM player possessing it as something less than worthy of honorable death. Peeping players there will undoubtedly be, but they are simply lessening their own enjoyment of the game by taking away some of the sense of wonder that otherwise arises from a game which has rules hidden from participants." I think Gygax made a mistake by including the spells in the Player's Handbook, thereby demystifying the magic -- which creates the sense of wonder, awe and fear that I want my players to feel when they play my game.
Average DND 5e party = One half fish half minotaur ninja, one half robot half parrot steampunk bard, one half gnome half dragon artificer etc etc. Average rpg party played by grown-ups = 5 humans.
My number one tip for running Sword and Sorcery game would be to not use D&D. Especially not 4E or 5E given the power creep of the editions. They have characters start as a fantastic hero right from level 1 and the systems are far too coddling to capture the gritty nature of Sword and Sorcery. You'd have to completely rewrite everything. From class mechanics, the magic system, magic items, monsters types, getting rid of short rests, etc. Given the amount of work that would have to go into basically creating a new game system you might as well just start with a system that is already more suited to it.
Yes! I definitely love this style for a milieu. The Conan stories are a wonderful source of inspiration for this style. IMO, it feels more like what i think a TTRPG was meant to be and less like a computer RPG adapted for the table. When D&D was young, it inspired video games and computer rpgs, now it seems that this has flipped and D&D has changed to conform to computer rpgs.
You're so right. D&D is trying hard to emulate computer RPG's as it probably makes sense to aim for that demographic. But it's leading 5E down the path where levelling/powering up is the primary focus.
While it isn't D&D, I feel like you might get a kick out of Shadow of the Demon Lord. The standard setting has a really heavy Sword & Sorcery vibe, and the fact that the game isn't so reliant upon magic items for balance means that the items that are there(and the game encourages you to use tables to make custom ones), they always have a cost and are rarely permanent.
Thanks for the tip - I'm gonna add that to my to read list. I'm of two minds when it comes to magic items. On one hand I know that players *love* them, and D&D should be fun. ON the other hand, I hate it when the players could just stay back in town and let their gear go adventure for them!
"Dark" and "low" are completely unrelated, fantasy can be either, both, or neither. Lovecrafting creatures fit perfectly in swords-and-sorcery, just ask Robert E. Howard. Old-school play was a mash-up of Tolkienesque setting elements with pulp-fantasy S&S flavor -- Gary Gygax was a fan of Conan and similar fiction, but most of his players were Tolkien fans, so the two got mixed into a kind of fusion.
Everyone associates Sword & Sorcery with earlier ages yet Conan wore Plate armor while King of Aquilonia, Elric wore plate armor, Kane wore plate armor. I think this myth comes more from the Marvel version of Conan than the source literature that grabbed bits and pieces from whatever was needed for the story at hand.
Is the Greyhawk setting considered Sword and Sorcery? According to the Known Worlds of the Material Plane, Oerth is considered a Sword and Sorcery World.
GREAT question! :) In my imagination, I think of Greyhawk as S&S. But that may only be because of how old the setting is and the style of play associated with it? There are a lot of high fantasy and medieval elements, but the overall feeling I think is there!
Great tips! The only real issue I have is that 5e classes have an inherent "high fantasy" feel baked into them. If you don't restrict certain classes and abilities (and maybe even levels), it's going to be much tougher to get that sword and sorcery feel.
You can try adding story bonus (akin to background features) to character choices that conform to the setting. Or just really stress to the Arcane Trickster how exceptional he is
I see Sword and Sorcery as having a shallow learning curve. High Fantasy has a high learning curve. All this stuff to learn. Where as S&S plunges you right into the adventure, without all the Fanciful weirdness...
High magic settings definitely have a high learning curve like which spells interact and how, what sort of magic to expect etc. But I reckon that low magic games have a different sort of learning curve: how to navigate and survive solely based on your wits!
I've been brainstorming a simple D&D/OSR-style homebrew system which is simple and mainly uses basic classes (fighter, mage, thief), but I feel I must exclude the cleric since it seems like a very D&D-specific, non-sword-and-sorcery class to me (the idea of having holy champions and a large amount of magic use dedicated to healing, not the idea of calling upon gods for magic). Not sure how to do it in a way that makes sense - I don't want to throw a hundred healing potions at the players, and I also don't want to make the game overly unforgiving (or overly forgiving, if I just let them heal fully with every brief rest, or make taking damage a less likely occurrence).
You could have natural ways of restoring your HP analogue, like fresh meat, tobacco, water from pure springs etc? Or maybe combat downiest drain your health, but your vigor or vitality or something else
It's a hard sell these days. Dark Sun, is more Sword and Planet and therefore allows a lot more gonzo fantastic elements that Sword and Sorcery. Modern gamers are gravitating toward the power fantasy of high-octane fantasy heroes with all manner of fantastic abilities and seem incredibly hesitant to take on the role of the underdog adventurer with their wits, brawn, and blade to carry them through the day. Subtle monsters and grounded fantasy elements are less flashy and do not seem to jive with modern audiences used to SFX filled romps through fantasy realms.
Sword and Sorcery is also dark and doomed fantasy with weird and Lovecraftian horror mood, the weirder the better. Or at least this is how I am trying to convert d&d high fantasy into S&S fantasy.
I've been slowly falling in love with this particular genre of D&D even since I encountered the Scarred Lands which is an amazing and magical campaign setting that's almost as old as Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition. If not this setting, I hope to DM a campaign centered in a world of Sword & Sorcerery one day.
You could also base an adventure in one of the Conan novels. Set the adventure between the time when the waters drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons or Arias.
There is an Spanish last name Arias. I believe Robert E. Howard hinted the sons of Arias were the Arian nations that came from the east to settle Europe.
You just described my campaign to a T. In fact, it's also based on XCOM, so each player has multiple characters and... well, let's just say they don't all survive every mission.
"All fantasy is divided into two genres; High Fantasy, also called Heroic Fantasy, and Low Fantasy, also called Dark Fantasy." No. Right off the bat, you're misrepresenting these genres. These are literally four different genres. Sword & Sorcery occupies its own niche between Heroic and Low Fantasy, and even the Low Fantasy portion isn't as set in stone as people think, considering that Elric of Melnibone and the works of Clark Ashton Smith were both part of the original Sword & Sorcery genre. Everybody just thinks of S&S as pseudo-historical fiction Low Fantasy because that's how Robert Howard wrote his Conan stories, which were the most well-established in pop culture.
I have a bunch of the CONAN d20 books. I experimented with taking out the bonuses for skills and attacks, keeping the actual skill list, while also adding in the Proficiency Bonus of D&D 5E. It seemed to word well. I have the Primeval Thule Campaign Setting (designed to have a S&S feel). Really, using spell points and Warlocks as antagonists, you can use a lot or D&D 5 E, as it is.
Magic casting is rare and most not treat spell casters unfriendly at least Require all magic to use spell components Casting level x spell level x 10g Magical beast parts as being part of the treasure per encounter But let wizards multi class
What about a campaign on the opposite? I'm sure it'd be an "evil campaign" but what if YOUR PARTY are the team of sorcerers threatening a town? Getting artifacts and fighting noble heroes? Just an idea. I do like this genre and I wonder about flipping it over :D
Great video, but I would give warning that 5e is really not meant too much for Sword and Sorcery. Most of the "mundane" classes all have magical abilities with a few exceptions. What systems would you recommend besides 5e? (So many people just go to 5e then try to bend the system so much its terrible). I would recommend Conan 2d20, Genesys, Warhammer RPG, Low Fantasy Gaming, etc.
I think there is a stone age campaign setting that is about to release? This might be kinda' what you want www.atlas-games.com/news/post?s=2021-06-16-announcing-planegea-prehistoric-fantasy
I recently started a sword and sorcery campaign set in a Norse mythology world. It's going really well! We are using the Knave rules. For those not familiar with Knave, it is a light weight osr ruleset. The focus on inventory and equipment really highlights and complements the sword & sorcery and low magic feel of the world. Would recommend trying out Knave, for those not familiar with it
Some good tips for running/playing a more gritty version of D&D. Unfortunately, the terminology in the beginning of the video may be incorrect. This is how I understand the definitions of various fantasy genres: 1. High fantasy is set in an imaginary world (like the Forgotten Realms) and low fantasy is set in our world or a version of our world (i.e. the world of Conan or the setting of Earthdawn). Sometimes "high fantasy" is used to describe works, that focus on the fight of Good vs. Evil and saving the world. 2. In dark fantasy no clear division between good and evil exists. Usually it is very gritty in tone. 3. Heroic fantasy stories have a good main character, usually of some humble origin, who rises to fight some villain. Most heroic fantasy stories are set in world, where most people are good and beautiful, except for the villain, who threatens to disturb this perfect world. 4. Sword and sorcery is all about the personal conflicts of the main character and usually is set in a dark fantasy setting. Saving the world doesn't matter the the main character.
@@ZipperonDisney True, one can imagine a lot of ways to classify fantasy works. As with any artificial divisions and classifications. 😉 Anyway, I have no problem with simplifying things, as long as one clearly states, that is a simplification. Otherwise someone new to a topic might be confused or (worst!) misinformed.
Well, I am very thankful, there are still people longing for that style of game. Remember Mystara for D&D (BECMI), the starting points of Aventuria (TDE/DSA) or the still gong strong Runquest. The worlds of Elric, F&tgM, Alan Burt Akers' Kregen and many more. A closely related and very interesting genre is Planet&Sword, with stuff like the John Carter saga and quite a few other series. Alternate worlds/dimensions also make for a great classic setting. Stuff in the likeness of A. D. Foster's Spellsinger or Piers Anthony's novels. The latter two can make for light-hearted adventures as a change.
So, a few things: Firstly, mechanics are not required for a setting, but they do inform the feel of a game. It's hard to make things feel gritty and dangerous when players can sleep off mortal wounds in a single night. So, first suggestion: Alter rests. I personally recommend grim reality rules. Basically you have to spend a week of downtime for a full, long rest. Just sleeping at a camp for 8 hours is a short rest. This is going to alter things so more common, but smaller encounters are the things that will generally be what you go with. So a small group of 3-6 bandits encountered several times over a few days is generally what you're going to want to go with rather than the usual 24 bandit encounter you kind of have to do with 5e. Though, two alterations I reccomend: Allow non-violent downtime activities to be performed during a long rest. Also, let barbarians recover rages on a short rest. Second suggestion: Give martials a hand. The big reason most players want to play casters is because at around level 5, they are just strictly better than martials, and they will continue to be even better than martials with every level. So, two things to help buff martials: Give them profficiency bonus+intelligence mod Manuevers from battlemaster. Also, give them profficiency bonus in d6 superiority dice, recovered on a short rest. Also, give them cleave once they hit level 5. The 3.5e version. Where, when you kill something in melee, you can make another attack action against a target within range. This continues until you run out of targets. Third suggestion: Sorry casters, you're going to need a nerf. Firstly, lore wise, regular people respond to magic with a mix of fear and awe. Even divine magic is not appreciated around people that are not of your faith. You're going to want to hide that, and as a reminder, unless you're using subtle spell, all magic is obvious. Secondly, some spells are just too high-fantasy for these settings. The reccomended cut-off point is level 3 or 4 spells. Everything else has to be found and learned as a treasure in ancient ruins. Fourth suggestion: Change how leveling works. I usually reccomend playing with XP, albeit an altered variant from what 5e's default it. 0-100. Once you reach 100, you're ready for your next level. At which point your XP resets to 0. However, for these kinds of games, I usually reccomend adding in a couple steps: For martials, you're going to need a space to train a great hunt to prove your prowess as being worthy of the next level. Secondly, casters, your powers are derived from sinister sources and less than moral means. You are going to have to entreaty with those forces to get more. Paying whatever cost you might need to in the process. Regardless of what class you're playing. These even includes sorcerers. Whatever bloodline you hale from is going to have certain instincts that need tending to in order to increase your power. Very few of which are likely to even be close to humane. Even divine soul sorcerers may have to sacrifice the souls of heathens in the name of their faith, which means a lot of dead innocents. Fifth suggestion: Get familiar with dismemberment and disease. Generally, I recommend that you roll a player's death saves for them in private anyway, but I reccomend that failed death saves should linger until restoration or regenerate are cast, or a long rest is taken.
I've been thinking a lot about this topic, as I am a fan of this genre of fantasy, and I have been considering how best to implement it into 5e as a DM. It feels a little daunting to do it well, given that the mechanics of D&D are so highly geared towards a high magic, heroic fantasy style of play. However, I do think it's possible to use 5E for true S&S gaming, but besides a shift in tone and attitude, I think you do need to make some mechanical changes, particularly to how magic is handled. Personally I would consider restricting access to classes and races. I would probably throw out the traditional fantasy races of elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes etc... If you wanted to be really hardcore you might have a human only setting- perhaps giving different human ethnicities slightly different mechanics. On the other hand, I was considering some more obscure races to replace the standard fantasy races. A lot of sword and sorcery fiction takes place in hot desert and jungle climates, so races like Tabaxi and maybe lizardfolk might be appropriate. I was considering allowing Kenku and Goliaths as well. I think I would restrict classes to barbarian, fighter, rogue, and possibly ranger (I'd like to see a non spellcasting version of the class- like the Borderer from 2e Conan). I might allow access to the cleric or druid class, but only up to maybe 5th level (then multiclassing would be required). Wizards, Sorcerers and Warlocks would exist, but they would be NPC bad guys. If someone really wanted to play an arcane spellcaster, I may allow warlock or wizard, but again I'd probably limit the level. I think I'd also not allow wizards to automatically gain new spells when they level up. To learn spells, they would need to seek them out in the world. Furthermore, I'd likely want to go through the spell lists and toss out a number of spells that don't have the sword and sorcery vibe- a lot of evocation spells would fit this category. Because of the limited class selection, multiclassing would be common. For example, if I were considering stating up a character like Conan, he would likely be a barbarian/rogue/fighter. I'd also probably add a tweak to the fighter class and allow them to have the Unarmored Defense feature that barbarians get (adding Con bonus to AC)- this is because heavy armor is much less common in Sword and Sorcery settings, and this would allow you to build a solid strength based fighter that could have a somewhat decent AC without needing heavy armour. One are where I slightly disagree with in you in your video is monster selection. A lot of Sword and Sorcery writers (e.g., Howard) were contemporaries of Lovecraft, so Lovercraftian horror influenced monsters are fairly appropriate to the sword and sorcery. For example, the mindflayer and intellect devourer both have a Cthulhu vibe that I think works for S&S style. An example, of an interesting S&S setting for 5e is the Primeval Thule setting (3rd party). I quite like this setting, but I wish that they had done more with making mechanical adjustments to how magic works. I'm still considering whether I actually want to use 5e for S&S. I do love 5e, but part of me is tempted to just use a different game system like Savage Worlds or Barbarians of Lemuria. I also have the new Conan game, which I like, though it's a little too crunchy for my taste. Anyhow, it's an interesting topic. I wish WotC would put out a 5e Dark Sun book, as this is their ultimate Sword and Sorcery setting for D&D. I'm also a fan of the Greyhawk setting, and I thought it was interesting that in the DMG, they described it as S&S setting. It would be cool to see a Greyhawk book with some mechanical changes to the system to help really give it that S&S feel and help set apart from the FR.
This is an awesome comment! Thanks so much for sharing - especially the point about Howard and Lovecraft being contemporaries, that is something I had never considered! I like your suggestion of limiting the *level that a character can reach in a full caster class. Something else I've thought about is not allowing access to the spell casting feature until a character reaches 5th level (for example fighter 4/wizard 1 or rogue 3/ranger 2).
Hello! A good long time ago, WOTC did publish alternate rules for spell-less rangers in Unearthed Arcana: Modifying Classes, still up on the WOTC site. It's not perfect (relies heavily on borrowing Combat Maneuvers from the Battle Master) but it's something.
I just found this video and loved every word of it. We are running a sword and sorcery style game which you can check out on our channel if you're interested. Heavily inspired by Conan and the paintings of Frank Frazetta. Contrary to this video's suggestion, I did impose one race restriction, which is that elves don't exist in Archonia. But otherwise we're doing pretty much everything mentioned here. Still early days, so check it out if you want something cool to watch.
So I’m trying to construct a campaign right now, what are some classic swords and sorcery villains to have?? Specifically serpent men. Are snake men a staple in the genre of S&S?
7:20 - that's totally a session 0 conversation... if the team's not into sword and sorcery, they're going to pick off-theme characters... when everyone agrees this is what they want to do together, they will already want to lean into it. Fighting yuan ti is always satisfying!
Yeah - but I think I also have to compromise sometimes too. Like, a player might really want to play a aarokokra hex blade or something, so at least I's like them to be aware how out-of-sorts it'll end up feeling
@@midnightgreen8319 For sure. I'm enjoying looking at OSR systems, for the basic rp goodness they allow, Mork Borg being a great system for any S&S fan.
Ha, it turns out that I also like this kind of play. But I made it a post apocalyptic world and the ruins have powerful items if you can find them. Now I know how to call it
@@ZipperonDisney I'm not femiliar with that. But in a nutshell... The big bad is a cosmic being, a universe spanding consciousness that draws energy from the vacuum of space itself. Due to the limitations of the speed of information, it's not of godlike intelligence and its power is capped by the fact it takes really long to recuperate. The apocalypse was its way to bring life in the dnd world back a few knotches. It could not accept that magic and logic created a "what we would call futuristic world." basically humanoids became more powerful than it through technology. Because they can tap richer energy sources. Long story short, the party is in the world 1000 years after "the purge" and really advanced stuff is scattered around because compared to before about 5% of the world is populated. So lots of travel between towns. No real power structure and lots of freedom for sick minded people who the party can go after and destroy. No guilds, no nothing except a well set up messengers network that's like medieval FedEx. We're having a lot of fun😊 but I'm still learning, I've been a dm for 11 sessions now....
Awesome video man. I'm kinda doing a Rules Cyclopedia/DCC/MCC mashup of a Indian subcontinent/Greek antiquity setting inspired by Isle of Dread with different and often competing traditions of magic (including ones that my players made up) so this video was a great watch.
I ran a one shot with my friends in a world of floating islands, a result of the world torn asunder by magic and gods, humans now dominant. The adventure went really well, and i think sword and sorcery shines in one shots. The villain was a goblin mage possessed by the spirit of an ancient evil elf wizard. The setup was an adventuring party crashing on an island after their airship was attacked by a blue dragon. I love this style and go for it over modern fantasy whenever I can.
Sword and sorcery is my favorite type of fantasy. I really don't understand why it is not very popular nowadays. The only recent S&S games I can think of are Conan Exiles and God of War. And I can't even think of a recent S&S movie which is not low-budget crap.
Can I get a amen up in here? I love going into used bookstores and scoping out heir fantasy section. Some of them are kind of cheesy covers with Conan buff guys and sorcerers and royalty. I know it’s so cliche but they’re actually good reads and I love that shit. Just seeing the artwork in this video gets me so stoked for D&D. Love the vids, and congrats on all the stuff that happened 😁
My DM is actually gonna be running a Sword and Sorcerery inspired campaign soon *(after a small Star Wars campaign lol)* So glad he is, my group and I have been wanting to play a campaign like this for the longest time and are pretty stoked for it 😄
Well...my idea was something that I've picked up through A LOT of reading and research and outside advice: -create level caps. After a certain level you can still get features, abilities and what not but you won't advance your hit die for example, also decreasing hit die type to make it even more deadly and characters can easily die if they run into a mythic badguy who can cast 1(!!!) fireball -limit or/but combine classes and their spellcasting if they are one and spell lists. Nothing says low fantasy more than being a first level caster knowing 2 spells, being able to cast 1 per long rest, their cantrips per short rest are their casting ability mod, they need someone who can teach them their magic at higher levels or when talking about image casters like the sorc to roll which spell they get. I would leave the warlocks mostly unchanged but have them do outlandishly difficult things to keep their patron happy. And/or you can say you want to be a caster? Than pick a half or third caster class with the above restrictions. More high level spells are all rituals but more powerful and you need a ritual book per spell housing the steps, incantations and a channeling focus for the spell to be made. How hard is it to come by these spells? You decide ;) Dark sun is a particularly good read for weapons, armor and modifiers while the books from low fantasy gaming also add a good deal of spice to it. Restricting material components, stripping away casting focuses and component pouches and making pcs keep track of their ingredients is also a good idea. Combine all this and you get a fairly good combo for low fantasy. Here's an idea: paladin normally high fantasy. Their smite works at 1/3rd potency 1×(casting modifier/short rest) in this case having a con mod limit for how meny times this short rest will restore their feature. They gain 1 slot per 1/2 caster level for which they need to prepare spells, these spells take 10min/spell level to prepare and you get your lowest level slot back on a days rest. Oath spells are 1/day cast but only one of the two can be cast per oath spell level. You still have your smites, your auras and some divine boon but otherwise your just a nut in a can. Also this is where races with image magic are REEEEALY good so they should be am oddity and frowned upon if not outright threatened to be lunches if they don't leave the town
You have a lot of great ideas! Something I've toyed with is the idea that you have to be a 5th level character before you can get access to the spell casting feature OR re-introducing the idea the different classes level at different rates.
Limiting spellcasting to higher levels so a wizard in robes with 6hp and a dagger is supposed to fend for his self until lv5? Thats insane. If you do this id recommend making spells do max damage, adding a feat for MR so you dont have disadvantage on all saves vs magic but this halves al beneficial magic as well. Varried xp cap is a nightmare i reeeeeeeeealy dont recommend it. Tieing specific spells to specific items is in my idea way more easy and gives reasons for the party to go adventue and find this artifact thatll help the party caster cast that specific spell. Also you need to dial down the magical enemies cause facing an intellect devourer 2 duargar battleragers and a drow wizard with an ilithid overlord while thematic for regular dnd itll wipe out the party in a lfg setting.
I meant like, you have to take 3 levels of fighter before you can multiclass into paladin so by the time you get spell casting you're level 5. Again, this is just an idea I had, I'm not sure I'd ever actually do it!
@@ZipperonDisney again in this case you need to make magic more powerful as it Is very strictly limited. Maximize damage and make saving throws at disadvantage unless you have spell resistance or the like. Also paladins dealing only a 2d8 extra for smite at lv5 is low as hell considering you'd still roll those 2 dice and what if you get a 2. At LV 5 with such a high commitment you're just wasting potential. Also incorporating lfg dark and dangerous charts can be fun.
I just finished smoothing out the Primeval Thule Setting for 5E... renaming and tweeking the classes and races to fit a more sword & sorcery style. Watching your video I can only agree on all your points. But I would like to stress two or three points I feel should be added to your list. a) MONSTER QUANTITY! Typical D&D adventures are notorious for throwing a lot and vastly different monsters against the hereos. Mostly for the sake of diversity and putting up game mechanical challenges. For sword & sorcery my advice would be: Don't do that! A wraith should not be a random encounter but the major villain of a story. While one could envision a course of events that leads to several snakemen (yuan-ti), a werewolf and a necromancer cabal facing the players.... I think this is not adviseable as it will water down every single foe and its own flavor. Each of these would make great story-arcs individually. Better beefing and spicing up snakemen with reptiles and swamp dangers (poisonous plants and animals), the werewolf with other canine, some curse, and prophecy and the necromancers of course with undead ... (ghouls need not be undead but could well be degenerated humans!). So, better concentrate on ONE extraordinary foe and celebreate its own flavor than to go wild shopping in the monster manual. b) LESS ORGANIZED AND FAIR WORLD! A lot of high-fantasy worlds are not only inspired but just mirror images of the real world... the current real world. There are countries, feudal structure, laws, law enforcement of some sort, a lot of organized bureaucracy (citywatches checking visitors and patrolling the street), borders and border watches, etc. Sword & Sorcery worlds should not be the case. Real cities should be rare and far away from each other. And the land between them should be no man's land. Of course there will be laws but they are more an expression of the will of the person(s) of power with little concistency and trustworthiness of fairness or a trial. On the other hand, if to avoid consequences one could "just leave" the city... the range of the power is limited to the power to sent forces to chase after you. There will be no bounty system, almost no "guild"-system and one could easily stumple unto some new power claiming rights on a region purely by right of arms. It should be chaotic world following the reasoning, "Either you are strong enough to ensure your will and safety or you submit to a power that is able to or you flee or you die." The reason why it is called LOW fantasy should be emphasized on every occasion. c) ARCHAIC (and today overcome) SOCIAL CONCEPTS! Also, in my mind a lot of the sword & sorcery vibe stems from an ancient hierarchy missing a lot of concepts and principles that we take for granted. To be precise, equality of rights banned racism etc. This might be the most complicated thing to implement, depending on your players. But Conan's world is full of black & white racism and blunt sexsim. There are the "higher evolved humans" and the "lesser degenerated humans"... most societies are patriachies and of course they are exceptions (queen of the black coasts) but usually these are individuals i.e. protagonists and antagonists. But to stand out they need a dirty, ugly, not-so-nice world. Mind you, I do not say "Adapt those overcome archaic concepts in your own mindset as a player!" but "Look for what did make the world a darker place in ancient times from our point of view and let this inspire your setting!".
A good system I've seen that really encapsulates sword and sorcery is the Witcher ttrpg. While the magic system is based on a recharging pool, not only that, but magic also requires rolls to cast. Every failure means a roll on the fumble table. So even if you have a good combat formation, you still run the risk of killing yourself regardless. The magic is also organized into elements, not schools, which means you can really only understand the basic flow of primal energies. Anything that would be different from evocation or transmutation falls under mixed element.
Gearing up for a science-fantasy game (Heavy Metal, He-Man, John Carter of Mars type stuff). It's strange because of the differences in technology levels and in what makes a monster, but I've always felt a connection between this and sword-and-sorcery. This was helping in remembering all that - thank you!
Love the Sword and Sorcery genre for running fantasy games. I'm using a commercial world, Primeval Thule, which is based around the Bronze Age. Two movies stand out for what I think of to demonstrate the genre - Conan the Barbarian, and The 13th Warrior. Both are a bit beyond bronze age, but have the gritty feel I want to bring to the table.
I appreciate that this is an older video now. I like the Low Fantasy, Low Magic, Grim Dark and Sword and Sorcery settings for D&D. I wish there was more source materials to help DM';s flesh out their settings/worlds and provide quick reference inspiration (rather than reading a novel). I am a big fan of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser & Conan series so this is right up my alley. The increasing popularity of various OSR titles now days indicates that there is a big trend towards this type of game world setting.
Great video. Incidentally, I made a character for a sword-and-sorcery game, and experimented with a hypothesis. After due experimentation, a great 5th-level D&D representation of Howard's Conan is Rogue (Thief) 3/ Barbarian 2, human Outlander. Pick up a shortsword, use Reckless Attack for Advantage so that shortsword does 3d6 + x (more than the average greatsword,) make Rogue your first level so you have all the skills an adventurer may need, and if Crom does not listen, then to Hell with him!
You can also pick monsters your players have never heard of. Your characters should have no idea what they are going up against and constantly worried that they'll be in way over their heads.
I'd like to see what you have to say about high level sword and sorcery. I have a hard time seeing S&S being compatible with anything beyond 8th level tops.
I think scale is big part of it. You're fighting armies of skeletons in the endless pits, you're leading the raid into the corrupt kings palace, you're treating with a demigod on how to recover an artifact. I might do a whole video on high level play
have you ever played dungeon crawl classics? if not its a ttrpg that is reminiscent of first edition d&d and has some cool conan inspired stuff where the world is dangerous and party wipes are not looked as douche moves but instead as a scary realization so um yeah DCC is cool and you can find it some game stores goodman-games.com/dungeon-crawl-classics-rpg/
Y'know for a while now I've been thinking about the whole concept of "high" and "low" magic. And how such concepts that are SO recent in history so specific to much of western fantasy and literature, yet it's just assumed to be the norm when there's so many other possibilities to explore with magic, the worlds which we create or reshape. For me a setting can have tons of magic everywhere and still be considered (in my opinion) as 'low fantasy'. How you (probably didn't) ask? Simply put in a low fantasy world magic is in service of explaining and maintaining the 'mundane', but natural phenomenon all around a character or group of actors. Not to disimilar to your video on how people back then historically viewed magic, what IT was to them, and whether or not if we can apply your characters own ideas on what is or isn't mystical, the catch is that these magical beings or natural forces incarnated are often cast as fundamental part of existence.
Def OD&D, and I would say some of the AD&D models were more S&S than high fantasy. But AD&D was a very varied game. They were just throwing things in and seeing what worked!
In my settings, social skills are perfectly useful in combat. Culture, lore or intimidation can be used to parlay or shout commands over combat. A success relevant to the scene will force a morale or a Reroll on a reaction check. What could a drow priestess and her four servants shout at a handful of goblins to make them rethink starting a fight? The guy who knows about goblins and elves does.
Check out the MYTHRAS spinoff known as Classic Fantasy. It is D&D converted to the most modern version of the BRP (Chaosium). RQG is also S&S but it is more retro being a modernized Runequest 2.
@@ZipperonDisney Just be warned, D&D 5e combat is "stale" compared to MYTHRAS with its Special Effects system in combat (maneuvers you earn by rolling a high success). You will be tripping, disarming, impaling, slashing, and crushing opponents left and right (with good rolls).
![ลองสั่งของจากแอพ temu ถูกจริงหรอ?? [โกงไหมครับ ep.88 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RTcZSQTiDZw/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm pleased that I'm not the only one who loves this style! I feel like I'm part of a dying breed.
There are dozens of us! But for real, check out r/osr for more of the genre
@@ZipperonDisney I will!
I really want to run a game like this but I keep having a hard time finding a group thats id into it, also I feel generally people aren't taking games seriously these days.
I’m writing a sword and sorcery campaign. Also just finished all Conan novels again.
Far from it--in fact I was just listening to Fafhrd and the Mouser tonight.
THIS is exactly what i miss in todays Fantasy, especially games.
Love this video!!!
I'm glad you liked it! I'd recommend reading some old 2e adventures for more gritty, pulpy inspiration
Neal Sterling exactly
@@ZipperonDisney Any modules specifically? When people talk about iconic adventures, 2nd edition adventures rarely ever come up.
Lion Knight saga, left me wanting more and more
I loved this video. I'm working on a campaign setting with a certain aesthetic and I was having a hard time making what i envisioned fit in the framework of a typical cookie cutter DND setting. This video helped clarify what a sword and sorcery style setting is and gave me a framework to work within! Thanks a ton.
I'm super glad you found this helpful! I couldn't really find a lot of good content this style of D&D, so I had to make my own :P
"Seek."-Thulsa Doom. Best magic user moment in any movie ever.
Strong contender indeed!
I've found one of the easiest way to make a DnD game more Sword and Sorcery - Allow only the Warlock class for spellcasting, but remove all Evocation spells and similar abilities (no eldritch blasts). (They can call themselves whatever they want: Sorcerer, Priest, whatever, but rulewise, its a Warlock.) I noticed that this reduces the damage dealing capacity of low level mages, except for the conjure poison cantrip.... which I was extremely satisfied with since I remember reading a Conan book where the evil spellcaster primarily summoned clouds of poison to kill his opponents.
Great idea!
@@ZipperonDisney The other thing I've done is replace hitpoints with a Fatigue and Wound system. That way you can remove magical healing and still feel like the PC's can survive. Class hitpoints (i.e. hitdice) are considered Fatigue. They're not actually wounds just the body tiring out from defensive measures. Any Constitution modifier (minimum 1) are wounds. So for example a Fighter has 3d10+3 hitpoints (+1 per level from Con bonus). This would be 3d10 fatigue and 3 wounds. Once a PC is completely worn out, she will start being injured instead. Fatigue heals overnight (and during rests if the rules allow), but Wounds can be more serious (and may result in critical effects throughout the Campaign.) It should be noted that Wounds in this system are not a direct damage=hitpoints, but rather a single instance or attack that inflicts damage. If a PC only has Wounds remaining, and takes 1d6 damage from a sword, that still only counts as 1 Wound. (This is a great chance to use those Critical Injury tables you've always kept around but never had a chance to use in the new systems.)
I'm not too sure Warlock fits as the lone casting class of S&S....
None of the spellcasters I've seen in S&S tales strike me as the type to use charisma for their spellcasting ability...
They are also more varied than you might expect. Consider the white sage Epemitreus, Bran Mak Morn's druid Gonar, Clark Ashton-Smith's Eibon, Evagh, Gaspard Du Nord and others...
The only Conan villain I remember explicitly using poison was Nabonidus in Rogues In The House, and his use was more technological than magical.... Nabonidus was a corrupt priest but not a sorcerer.
If you use the Long Rest = a Week ruleset you'll pretty much soft-lock it so Warlock is the only viable magic user. But it also gives players the option to atleast try the other classes and see how far it gets them. Unlike old editions though, cantrips still give them something to do so idk, maybe still use the no-evoke rule
@@ViktorTheMusician Some other options for Sword & Sorcery style games: Allow evocations, but only up to 3rd level. Restrict magical healing: no resurrections, for example. If there is powerful healing magic, it should be potentially dangerous to cast and/or use. One of the things I am implementing in my Dark World rpg is the ability to make blood sacrifice during casting rituals to empower spells in some way.
You make S&S sound very appealing - combine your take with a recent rewatch of the original Conan the Barbarian, and I might just have to pitch this to my table. Nehwon here we come!
Awesome!!
Read some of the old Robert e Howard conan short stories. Nothing beats them for this flavor.
I hope they didnt tie you to the tree of woe
Jackals RPG is a good middle ground. It's a solid game with a more classic feel.
Play Carmina Buranna loud....gets me every time
The problem, in my opinion, is 5e was created to be EXTREMELY balanced. Every character of the same level is supposed to bee equivalent in power, but in a Sword & Sorcery setting, wizards become way more powerful than fighters. If you take in to account that fighters will have no access to a full plate or the heavier armors, and will be less likely to have magic weapons, they'll have a low AC and won't do much damage against mid to high level monsters, which mostly have damage resistance against non-magic weapons.
That's why I prefer GURPS when playing Sword & Sorcery
I make high level fighters into mythic heroes: Beowulf and Hercules. I find that alleviates some of the problem
I've always preferred this genre/flavour of D&D, but I couldn't figure why or what it was until this video. I can finally put a name to it so Thank you!
Glad I could help! You might like to see what's cooking over on reddit.com/r/osr
the other D&D settings feel a lot more like sword and sorcery than the modern popular Forgotten Realms. The dragonlance, dark sun and Greyhawk settings specifically
I've actually been working on a sword & sorcery/medieval fantasy world for a few years now, is certainly seems like something you'd like since it has "realism" to magic in a sense, especially since it also has some science fiction and metaphysical influences as well.
I love old-school sword and sorcery themed RPGs from the 80s.
Some sources I pull from to get ideas for my S&S game: Warhammer FRP ( search scenarios ), Middle Earth Roll Play ( MERP low level mods ), Conan 2d20 and AD&D low level mods. Consider scrapping long connected campaigns in favor of episodes like the TV shows of the 80's and 90's; The characters escape the pictish hoards at the end of one adventure and start the next in the Kingdom of Shem. Also consider using Hyboria, that setting has way more diversity and flavor than most people think without being so overdeveloped as to restrict the GM and seems tailor made for S&S ( for some reason ).
Awesome suggestions! I've always wanted run an eposidic style campaign, and you're right that it would deff fit the theme
I love Hyborian setting. Also look into Jackals RPG. Looks good.
About your last few points:
I’m building what is essentially a multi-hack more or less Sword & Sorcery world for future campaigns.
Sorcery can be utilized, but it always comes from something existing and it is always dangerous. Rituals are the dominant form of sorcery, regardless of source. Even the great Magi must adhere to their theories, as anything they do outside the bounds can go haywire.
And as for the planes, I actually have 2: the Living World and the mysterious, treacherous Underworld. Raids can invade the Underworld, but they are HIGHLY ritualistic and visit scenes of the past to retrieve Lost Artifacts. The Party may stumble unknowingly into the Underworld, or may be trapped there by Fey (more demonic and incredibly inhuman entities). It is always dangerous, always unpredictable, always an Event.
Just what I’m doing!
That sounds really, really cool!! The new sage advice podcast on magic components has a few neat ideas that you might appreciate in how to re-skin 5e magic as ritual looking. I keep a few planes in my homegame, but they are rarely traveled to. In fact, I think they have only ever seen, different planes (never crossed into) in the years I've been DMing 5e
Zipperon Disney I will look them up, would appreciate all the help in this I can get!
Sword and Sorcery deals with Iron Age, from my personal experience at least. You see late Rome to early medieval. Knights look like crusaders, and what is old is starting to show weakness-crime is up in the cities, and the barbarians are gaining strength. To me, that feels very Sword and Sorcery.
Good point!
Hello @Zipperon Disney!
Recently I have looked more into how to make a more grimdark style of story for my campaign setting. Implementing the two optional rules from the DMG, slow natural healing, and Healer's Kit dependency seem to be good optional rules to implement. -- Requiring the PCs to manage the resources they have, rather than altering the fundamentals of the short and long rest lengths to make recovery of abilities slower. I have also seen some people implement a required D20 roll for all arcane spells, and a result of "1" will require a roll on a critical spell failure table.
I have also seen people suggest limiting character level and capping the total number of hit points per character. The other thing I've seen mentioned a lot is implementing Insanity tables and exhaustion levels/tables, especially when a character fails a death saving throw.
I think S&S also lends itself well to a lower level cap. Beyond 10th level characters tend to get very fantastic features, and 6th level spells and higher let you start to truly change reality. So you might want to keep those levels for the antagonists, and people who go on an epic adventure like seeking the fountain of youth.
Dungeon Crawl Classics does Sword and Sorcery very well. Only goes to 10th as well!
Criminally undersubscribed.
Thanks!! Please share!
Dungeon Crawl Classics is Sword and Sorcery gaming.
This is a great summary of it. Really clarifies what makes it different and unique
Excellent! Glad you liked it!
Thanks for advices! Want to DM sword and sorcery campaign as an excuse to play stoner rock / metal as a game sountrack and also try some "gritty realism mechanics".
Astonishing Sword & Sorcery of Hyperborea 3rd Edition kickstarts 7/1/2021 at 8PM EDT.
Sword and Sorcery style game themed around Conan the Barbarian/AD&D/Lovecraft/Pulp Fantasy stuff.
LINK: www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeffreytalanian/hyperborea-3e
Go ahead and drop the link! I'll pin it while the KS in running :)
@@ZipperonDisney Edited my comment with the link. I'm glad you're as excited as I am!
I am a big fan of Howard's Conan, Lieber's Fafhrd & Grey Mouser. and Moorcock's Elric Saga -- and most of the stuff in Gygax's Appendix N in the 1979 AD&D DM Guide. All is great stuff. I think that one of the best tricks to use is to not use the magic system in the Player's Handbook (so players are not just looking to level up and gain powers that they know exist), but instead just give them the spells one at a time with their own method of casting (for role playing it) and the mechanic for learning it, casting it and its effects. It takes more DM prep, but I think it adds a lot of mystery to the game.
That sounds very cool! I LOVE having magic feels mysterious and arcane
@@ZipperonDisney Yes...Lovecraft made my taste for it, then I had to develop a mechanic. How about just do what Gygax said in the first DM Guide on p. 8: "As this book is exclusively the precinct of the DM, you must view any non-DM player possessing it as something less than worthy of honorable death. Peeping players there will undoubtedly be, but they are simply lessening their own enjoyment of the game by taking away some of the sense of wonder that otherwise arises from a game which has rules hidden from participants." I think Gygax made a mistake by including the spells in the Player's Handbook, thereby demystifying the magic -- which creates the sense of wonder, awe and fear that I want my players to feel when they play my game.
Sword and Sorcery is and always will be the best fantasy. This is the way.
Average DND 5e party = One half fish half minotaur ninja, one half robot half parrot steampunk bard, one half gnome half dragon artificer etc etc.
Average rpg party played by grown-ups = 5 humans.
I feel this, I don't even mind the "half-races" in the is mileu , or different "races of men" but that gets the kids all political these days
My number one tip for running Sword and Sorcery game would be to not use D&D. Especially not 4E or 5E given the power creep of the editions. They have characters start as a fantastic hero right from level 1 and the systems are far too coddling to capture the gritty nature of Sword and Sorcery.
You'd have to completely rewrite everything. From class mechanics, the magic system, magic items, monsters types, getting rid of short rests, etc. Given the amount of work that would have to go into basically creating a new game system you might as well just start with a system that is already more suited to it.
Yes! I definitely love this style for a milieu. The Conan stories are a wonderful source of inspiration for this style. IMO, it feels more like what i think a TTRPG was meant to be and less like a computer RPG adapted for the table. When D&D was young, it inspired video games and computer rpgs, now it seems that this has flipped and D&D has changed to conform to computer rpgs.
There is probably a whole big argument about which influenced which up until when...gotta look into it!
You're so right. D&D is trying hard to emulate computer RPG's as it probably makes sense to aim for that demographic. But it's leading 5E down the path where levelling/powering up is the primary focus.
You need to be playing Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
While it isn't D&D, I feel like you might get a kick out of Shadow of the Demon Lord. The standard setting has a really heavy Sword & Sorcery vibe, and the fact that the game isn't so reliant upon magic items for balance means that the items that are there(and the game encourages you to use tables to make custom ones), they always have a cost and are rarely permanent.
Thanks for the tip - I'm gonna add that to my to read list. I'm of two minds when it comes to magic items. On one hand I know that players *love* them, and D&D should be fun. ON the other hand, I hate it when the players could just stay back in town and let their gear go adventure for them!
"Dark" and "low" are completely unrelated, fantasy can be either, both, or neither. Lovecrafting creatures fit perfectly in swords-and-sorcery, just ask Robert E. Howard. Old-school play was a mash-up of Tolkienesque setting elements with pulp-fantasy S&S flavor -- Gary Gygax was a fan of Conan and similar fiction, but most of his players were Tolkien fans, so the two got mixed into a kind of fusion.
Good point! Grim-dark and low magic aren't the necessarily same thing, but they often go together
Everyone associates Sword & Sorcery with earlier ages yet Conan wore Plate armor while King of Aquilonia, Elric wore plate armor, Kane wore plate armor. I think this myth comes more from the Marvel version of Conan than the source literature that grabbed bits and pieces from whatever was needed for the story at hand.
Or our idea of what barbarians (Gauls, Celtics, etc) have in terms of armor
Is the Greyhawk setting considered Sword and Sorcery? According to the Known Worlds of the Material Plane, Oerth is considered a Sword and Sorcery World.
I found this in the DMG
GREAT question! :) In my imagination, I think of Greyhawk as S&S. But that may only be because of how old the setting is and the style of play associated with it? There are a lot of high fantasy and medieval elements, but the overall feeling I think is there!
Great tips! The only real issue I have is that 5e classes have an inherent "high fantasy" feel baked into them. If you don't restrict certain classes and abilities (and maybe even levels), it's going to be much tougher to get that sword and sorcery feel.
You can try adding story bonus (akin to background features) to character choices that conform to the setting. Or just really stress to the Arcane Trickster how exceptional he is
@@ZipperonDisney Also, have NPCs react with terror to any use of magic. Any magic should be laced with superstition and fear.
I see Sword and Sorcery as having a shallow learning curve. High Fantasy has a high learning curve. All this stuff to learn. Where as S&S plunges you right into the adventure, without all the Fanciful weirdness...
High magic settings definitely have a high learning curve like which spells interact and how, what sort of magic to expect etc. But I reckon that low magic games have a different sort of learning curve: how to navigate and survive solely based on your wits!
Little to learn, lethal to master
5e really needs Dark Sun
Right?! I like how 4e brought it out right away.
They tried to bring Dark Sun to 5e but at-will spellcasting basically killed what little life the world had left.
I've been brainstorming a simple D&D/OSR-style homebrew system which is simple and mainly uses basic classes (fighter, mage, thief), but I feel I must exclude the cleric since it seems like a very D&D-specific, non-sword-and-sorcery class to me (the idea of having holy champions and a large amount of magic use dedicated to healing, not the idea of calling upon gods for magic). Not sure how to do it in a way that makes sense - I don't want to throw a hundred healing potions at the players, and I also don't want to make the game overly unforgiving (or overly forgiving, if I just let them heal fully with every brief rest, or make taking damage a less likely occurrence).
You could have natural ways of restoring your HP analogue, like fresh meat, tobacco, water from pure springs etc? Or maybe combat downiest drain your health, but your vigor or vitality or something else
It's a hard sell these days. Dark Sun, is more Sword and Planet and therefore allows a lot more gonzo fantastic elements that Sword and Sorcery. Modern gamers are gravitating toward the power fantasy of high-octane fantasy heroes with all manner of fantastic abilities and seem incredibly hesitant to take on the role of the underdog adventurer with their wits, brawn, and blade to carry them through the day. Subtle monsters and grounded fantasy elements are less flashy and do not seem to jive with modern audiences used to SFX filled romps through fantasy realms.
This is the best thing I ever saw.
Sword and Sorcery is also dark and doomed fantasy with weird and Lovecraftian horror mood, the weirder the better. Or at least this is how I am trying to convert d&d high fantasy into S&S fantasy.
Late to the game, but really great walk through of the fantasy genre/ flavor. Also never knew that was in the DMG! lol
I've been slowly falling in love with this particular genre of D&D even since I encountered the Scarred Lands which is an amazing and magical campaign setting that's almost as old as Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition. If not this setting, I hope to DM a campaign centered in a world of Sword & Sorcerery one day.
I just got Shadowdark and it's *perfect* for this style
Darksun
I really enjoyed this. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I enjoy your video content and topics. It adds a new element to a generally standard diet that channels pump out.
Thanks so much! I really try to put out unique content, stuff that will push creative boundaries in peoples games
From one S&S GM to another, thank you , I might link my players to this as a pre-session zero for my next campaign with some newcomers.
That sounds like a great idea! Give them some expectations
I use these movies to introduce the genre. Red Sonja, Conan the Barbarian, Willow...
Never seen Red Sonja, gonna have to watch it 😁
@@ZipperonDisney Like today watch it! It is a fantastic one.
You could also base an adventure in one of the Conan novels. Set the adventure between the time when the waters drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons or Arias.
I love the name Arias so much :)
There is an Spanish last name Arias. I believe Robert E. Howard hinted the sons of Arias were the Arian nations that came from the east to settle Europe.
So sword and sorcery makes magic, magical
You just described my campaign to a T. In fact, it's also based on XCOM, so each player has multiple characters and... well, let's just say they don't all survive every mission.
That's really cool. I'm thinking of doing something similar when I run Tomb of Horrors this Halloween
"All fantasy is divided into two genres; High Fantasy, also called Heroic Fantasy, and Low Fantasy, also called Dark Fantasy."
No. Right off the bat, you're misrepresenting these genres. These are literally four different genres. Sword & Sorcery occupies its own niche between Heroic and Low Fantasy, and even the Low Fantasy portion isn't as set in stone as people think, considering that Elric of Melnibone and the works of Clark Ashton Smith were both part of the original Sword & Sorcery genre. Everybody just thinks of S&S as pseudo-historical fiction Low Fantasy because that's how Robert Howard wrote his Conan stories, which were the most well-established in pop culture.
Exactly.
This is the style that I would love to play. My players like playing weird things like Tortles and stuff like that though. Sigh
I'm a huge fan of S&S low dark fantasy. Lots of great suggestions here.
Thank you! Glad you found something helpful
I have a bunch of the CONAN d20 books. I experimented with taking out the bonuses for skills and attacks, keeping the actual skill list, while also adding in the Proficiency Bonus of D&D 5E. It seemed to word well. I have the Primeval Thule Campaign Setting (designed to have a S&S feel). Really, using spell points and Warlocks as antagonists, you can use a lot or D&D 5 E, as it is.
Magic casting is rare and most not treat spell casters unfriendly at least
Require all magic to use spell components
Casting level x spell level x 10g
Magical beast parts as being part of the treasure per encounter
But let wizards multi class
Magical beasts as treasure seems like a rad idea! Stolen!
I agree with your ideas for low magic Dungeons and Dragons.....I just wish you lived near me, I could use a good Dungeon Master!
Aww shucks! I made a video about how to find new groups that might help. Have you ever tried DMing?
What about a campaign on the opposite? I'm sure it'd be an "evil campaign" but what if YOUR PARTY are the team of sorcerers threatening a town? Getting artifacts and fighting noble heroes?
Just an idea. I do like this genre and I wonder about flipping it over :D
That sounds like a great idea for a 4-session adventure!
Great video, but I would give warning that 5e is really not meant too much for Sword and Sorcery. Most of the "mundane" classes all have magical abilities with a few exceptions. What systems would you recommend besides 5e? (So many people just go to 5e then try to bend the system so much its terrible). I would recommend Conan 2d20, Genesys, Warhammer RPG, Low Fantasy Gaming, etc.
I only really play 5e, but others really like Conan. Yeah, players like magic, and they get to be special, but my world is mostly dark and mundane
i wanna run a sword a sorcery dnd , i was trying to find a campaign book that would work. but i think ill have to make my own
I think there is a stone age campaign setting that is about to release? This might be kinda' what you want www.atlas-games.com/news/post?s=2021-06-16-announcing-planegea-prehistoric-fantasy
I recently started a sword and sorcery campaign set in a Norse mythology world. It's going really well! We are using the Knave rules. For those not familiar with Knave, it is a light weight osr ruleset. The focus on inventory and equipment really highlights and complements the sword & sorcery and low magic feel of the world.
Would recommend trying out Knave, for those not familiar with it
I'll be sure to check it out - thanks!
Some good tips for running/playing a more gritty version of D&D.
Unfortunately, the terminology in the beginning of the video may be incorrect. This is how I understand the definitions of various fantasy genres:
1. High fantasy is set in an imaginary world (like the Forgotten Realms) and low fantasy is set in our world or a version of our world (i.e. the world of Conan or the setting of Earthdawn). Sometimes "high fantasy" is used to describe works, that focus on the fight of Good vs. Evil and saving the world.
2. In dark fantasy no clear division between good and evil exists. Usually it is very gritty in tone.
3. Heroic fantasy stories have a good main character, usually of some humble origin, who rises to fight some villain. Most heroic fantasy stories are set in world, where most people are good and beautiful, except for the villain, who threatens to disturb this perfect world.
4. Sword and sorcery is all about the personal conflicts of the main character and usually is set in a dark fantasy setting.
Saving the world doesn't matter the the main character.
You got some pretty good ideas for definitions! I chose to lump things into two big groups, but there are lots of ways we could classify fantasy
@@ZipperonDisney True, one can imagine a lot of ways to classify fantasy works. As with any artificial divisions and classifications. 😉
Anyway, I have no problem with simplifying things, as long as one clearly states, that is a simplification.
Otherwise someone new to a topic might be confused or (worst!) misinformed.
Well, I am very thankful, there are still people longing for that style of game.
Remember Mystara for D&D (BECMI), the starting points of Aventuria (TDE/DSA) or the still gong strong Runquest. The worlds of Elric, F&tgM, Alan Burt Akers' Kregen and many more.
A closely related and very interesting genre is Planet&Sword, with stuff like the John Carter saga and quite a few other series.
Alternate worlds/dimensions also make for a great classic setting. Stuff in the likeness of A. D. Foster's Spellsinger or Piers Anthony's novels. The latter two can make for light-hearted adventures as a change.
I always liked sword & sorcery settings more than high fantasy
So, a few things: Firstly, mechanics are not required for a setting, but they do inform the feel of a game. It's hard to make things feel gritty and dangerous when players can sleep off mortal wounds in a single night.
So, first suggestion: Alter rests. I personally recommend grim reality rules. Basically you have to spend a week of downtime for a full, long rest. Just sleeping at a camp for 8 hours is a short rest. This is going to alter things so more common, but smaller encounters are the things that will generally be what you go with. So a small group of 3-6 bandits encountered several times over a few days is generally what you're going to want to go with rather than the usual 24 bandit encounter you kind of have to do with 5e. Though, two alterations I reccomend: Allow non-violent downtime activities to be performed during a long rest. Also, let barbarians recover rages on a short rest.
Second suggestion: Give martials a hand. The big reason most players want to play casters is because at around level 5, they are just strictly better than martials, and they will continue to be even better than martials with every level. So, two things to help buff martials: Give them profficiency bonus+intelligence mod Manuevers from battlemaster. Also, give them profficiency bonus in d6 superiority dice, recovered on a short rest. Also, give them cleave once they hit level 5. The 3.5e version. Where, when you kill something in melee, you can make another attack action against a target within range. This continues until you run out of targets.
Third suggestion: Sorry casters, you're going to need a nerf. Firstly, lore wise, regular people respond to magic with a mix of fear and awe. Even divine magic is not appreciated around people that are not of your faith. You're going to want to hide that, and as a reminder, unless you're using subtle spell, all magic is obvious. Secondly, some spells are just too high-fantasy for these settings. The reccomended cut-off point is level 3 or 4 spells. Everything else has to be found and learned as a treasure in ancient ruins.
Fourth suggestion: Change how leveling works. I usually reccomend playing with XP, albeit an altered variant from what 5e's default it. 0-100. Once you reach 100, you're ready for your next level. At which point your XP resets to 0. However, for these kinds of games, I usually reccomend adding in a couple steps: For martials, you're going to need a space to train a great hunt to prove your prowess as being worthy of the next level. Secondly, casters, your powers are derived from sinister sources and less than moral means. You are going to have to entreaty with those forces to get more. Paying whatever cost you might need to in the process. Regardless of what class you're playing. These even includes sorcerers. Whatever bloodline you hale from is going to have certain instincts that need tending to in order to increase your power. Very few of which are likely to even be close to humane. Even divine soul sorcerers may have to sacrifice the souls of heathens in the name of their faith, which means a lot of dead innocents.
Fifth suggestion: Get familiar with dismemberment and disease. Generally, I recommend that you roll a player's death saves for them in private anyway, but I reccomend that failed death saves should linger until restoration or regenerate are cast, or a long rest is taken.
I've been thinking a lot about this topic, as I am a fan of this genre of fantasy, and I have been considering how best to implement it into 5e as a DM. It feels a little daunting to do it well, given that the mechanics of D&D are so highly geared towards a high magic, heroic fantasy style of play.
However, I do think it's possible to use 5E for true S&S gaming, but besides a shift in tone and attitude, I think you do need to make some mechanical changes, particularly to how magic is handled. Personally I would consider restricting access to classes and races. I would probably throw out the traditional fantasy races of elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes etc... If you wanted to be really hardcore you might have a human only setting- perhaps giving different human ethnicities slightly different mechanics. On the other hand, I was considering some more obscure races to replace the standard fantasy races. A lot of sword and sorcery fiction takes place in hot desert and jungle climates, so races like Tabaxi and maybe lizardfolk might be appropriate. I was considering allowing Kenku and Goliaths as well.
I think I would restrict classes to barbarian, fighter, rogue, and possibly ranger (I'd like to see a non spellcasting version of the class- like the Borderer from 2e Conan). I might allow access to the cleric or druid class, but only up to maybe 5th level (then multiclassing would be required). Wizards, Sorcerers and Warlocks would exist, but they would be NPC bad guys. If someone really wanted to play an arcane spellcaster, I may allow warlock or wizard, but again I'd probably limit the level. I think I'd also not allow wizards to automatically gain new spells when they level up. To learn spells, they would need to seek them out in the world. Furthermore, I'd likely want to go through the spell lists and toss out a number of spells that don't have the sword and sorcery vibe- a lot of evocation spells would fit this category.
Because of the limited class selection, multiclassing would be common. For example, if I were considering stating up a character like Conan, he would likely be a barbarian/rogue/fighter. I'd also probably add a tweak to the fighter class and allow them to have the Unarmored Defense feature that barbarians get (adding Con bonus to AC)- this is because heavy armor is much less common in Sword and Sorcery settings, and this would allow you to build a solid strength based fighter that could have a somewhat decent AC without needing heavy armour.
One are where I slightly disagree with in you in your video is monster selection. A lot of Sword and Sorcery writers (e.g., Howard) were contemporaries of Lovecraft, so Lovercraftian horror influenced monsters are fairly appropriate to the sword and sorcery. For example, the mindflayer and intellect devourer both have a Cthulhu vibe that I think works for S&S style.
An example, of an interesting S&S setting for 5e is the Primeval Thule setting (3rd party). I quite like this setting, but I wish that they had done more with making mechanical adjustments to how magic works.
I'm still considering whether I actually want to use 5e for S&S. I do love 5e, but part of me is tempted to just use a different game system like Savage Worlds or Barbarians of Lemuria. I also have the new Conan game, which I like, though it's a little too crunchy for my taste. Anyhow, it's an interesting topic. I wish WotC would put out a 5e Dark Sun book, as this is their ultimate Sword and Sorcery setting for D&D. I'm also a fan of the Greyhawk setting, and I thought it was interesting that in the DMG, they described it as S&S setting. It would be cool to see a Greyhawk book with some mechanical changes to the system to help really give it that S&S feel and help set apart from the FR.
This is an awesome comment! Thanks so much for sharing - especially the point about Howard and Lovecraft being contemporaries, that is something I had never considered! I like your suggestion of limiting the *level that a character can reach in a full caster class. Something else I've thought about is not allowing access to the spell casting feature until a character reaches 5th level (for example fighter 4/wizard 1 or rogue 3/ranger 2).
Hello!
A good long time ago, WOTC did publish alternate rules for spell-less rangers in Unearthed Arcana: Modifying Classes, still up on the WOTC site.
It's not perfect (relies heavily on borrowing Combat Maneuvers from the Battle Master) but it's something.
I just found this video and loved every word of it. We are running a sword and sorcery style game which you can check out on our channel if you're interested. Heavily inspired by Conan and the paintings of Frank Frazetta. Contrary to this video's suggestion, I did impose one race restriction, which is that elves don't exist in Archonia. But otherwise we're doing pretty much everything mentioned here. Still early days, so check it out if you want something cool to watch.
So I’m trying to construct a campaign right now, what are some classic swords and sorcery villains to have?? Specifically serpent men. Are snake men a staple in the genre of S&S?
Most of my players prefer S&S-style these days. When we were kids it was just free-for-all fireballs all over the place, though.
7:20 - that's totally a session 0 conversation... if the team's not into sword and sorcery, they're going to pick off-theme characters... when everyone agrees this is what they want to do together, they will already want to lean into it.
Fighting yuan ti is always satisfying!
Yeah - but I think I also have to compromise sometimes too. Like, a player might really want to play a aarokokra hex blade or something, so at least I's like them to be aware how out-of-sorts it'll end up feeling
Surely anyone wanting this setting style, would benefit from the Conan rules, or something like DCC?
DCC absolutely nails the themes of S&S!
@@midnightgreen8319 For sure. I'm enjoying looking at OSR systems, for the basic rp goodness they allow, Mork Borg being a great system for any S&S fan.
Ha, it turns out that I also like this kind of play. But I made it a post apocalyptic world and the ruins have powerful items if you can find them. Now I know how to call it
Dark Sun style?
@@ZipperonDisney I'm not femiliar with that. But in a nutshell...
The big bad is a cosmic being, a universe spanding consciousness that draws energy from the vacuum of space itself. Due to the limitations of the speed of information, it's not of godlike intelligence and its power is capped by the fact it takes really long to recuperate.
The apocalypse was its way to bring life in the dnd world back a few knotches. It could not accept that magic and logic created a "what we would call futuristic world." basically humanoids became more powerful than it through technology. Because they can tap richer energy sources.
Long story short, the party is in the world 1000 years after "the purge" and really advanced stuff is scattered around because compared to before about 5% of the world is populated.
So lots of travel between towns. No real power structure and lots of freedom for sick minded people who the party can go after and destroy.
No guilds, no nothing except a well set up messengers network that's like medieval FedEx.
We're having a lot of fun😊 but I'm still learning, I've been a dm for 11 sessions now....
Awesome video man. I'm kinda doing a Rules Cyclopedia/DCC/MCC mashup of a Indian subcontinent/Greek antiquity setting inspired by Isle of Dread with different and often competing traditions of magic (including ones that my players made up) so this video was a great watch.
I've always wanted to do an Indian myth style game! Morrowind is one of my biggest influences, and and LOVE its Eastern feel
I personally love a noir vibe to my games
I ran a one shot with my friends in a world of floating islands, a result of the world torn asunder by magic and gods, humans now dominant. The adventure went really well, and i think sword and sorcery shines in one shots. The villain was a goblin mage possessed by the spirit of an ancient evil elf wizard. The setup was an adventuring party crashing on an island after their airship was attacked by a blue dragon. I love this style and go for it over modern fantasy whenever I can.
Excellent summary of the subgenre. I've been itching to run something "sword & sorcery" and you've provided me a good base to work with.
Glad I could help!
I prefer Sword and Sorcery to High Fantasy.
Sword and sorcery is my favorite type of fantasy. I really don't understand why it is not very popular nowadays. The only recent S&S games I can think of are Conan Exiles and God of War. And I can't even think of a recent S&S movie which is not low-budget crap.
I think folks like Harry Potter
This is my favorite style of game play.
I keep watching and re-watching this video... Research
I wouldn't call the Gith modern, they have a Barsoomian vibe, they were on Dark Sun after all, and Barsoom does predate S&S as a genre
I didn't know that! In my head I lump the Gith with Illithid and Planescape and all sorts of sci-fi inspired fantasy. Thanks for sharing!!
Are you referring to the _Giff_ (0:33)?
It has to be setted in the bronze age but with steel or even an antediluvian setting.
Can I get a amen up in here? I love going into used bookstores and scoping out heir fantasy section. Some of them are kind of cheesy covers with Conan buff guys and sorcerers and royalty. I know it’s so cliche but they’re actually good reads and I love that shit. Just seeing the artwork in this video gets me so stoked for D&D.
Love the vids, and congrats on all the stuff that happened 😁
Fantastic!
My DM is actually gonna be running a Sword and Sorcerery inspired campaign soon *(after a small Star Wars campaign lol)*
So glad he is, my group and I have been wanting to play a campaign like this for the longest time and are pretty stoked for it 😄
Right on! Any idea how he is going to give the setting the S&S feel?
Well...my idea was something that I've picked up through A LOT of reading and research and outside advice:
-create level caps. After a certain level you can still get features, abilities and what not but you won't advance your hit die for example, also decreasing hit die type to make it even more deadly and characters can easily die if they run into a mythic badguy who can cast 1(!!!) fireball
-limit or/but combine classes and their spellcasting if they are one and spell lists. Nothing says low fantasy more than being a first level caster knowing 2 spells, being able to cast 1 per long rest, their cantrips per short rest are their casting ability mod, they need someone who can teach them their magic at higher levels or when talking about image casters like the sorc to roll which spell they get. I would leave the warlocks mostly unchanged but have them do outlandishly difficult things to keep their patron happy. And/or you can say you want to be a caster? Than pick a half or third caster class with the above restrictions. More high level spells are all rituals but more powerful and you need a ritual book per spell housing the steps, incantations and a channeling focus for the spell to be made. How hard is it to come by these spells? You decide ;)
Dark sun is a particularly good read for weapons, armor and modifiers while the books from low fantasy gaming also add a good deal of spice to it.
Restricting material components, stripping away casting focuses and component pouches and making pcs keep track of their ingredients is also a good idea.
Combine all this and you get a fairly good combo for low fantasy.
Here's an idea: paladin normally high fantasy.
Their smite works at 1/3rd potency 1×(casting modifier/short rest) in this case having a con mod limit for how meny times this short rest will restore their feature. They gain 1 slot per 1/2 caster level for which they need to prepare spells, these spells take 10min/spell level to prepare and you get your lowest level slot back on a days rest. Oath spells are 1/day cast but only one of the two can be cast per oath spell level.
You still have your smites, your auras and some divine boon but otherwise your just a nut in a can.
Also this is where races with image magic are REEEEALY good so they should be am oddity and frowned upon if not outright threatened to be lunches if they don't leave the town
You have a lot of great ideas! Something I've toyed with is the idea that you have to be a 5th level character before you can get access to the spell casting feature OR re-introducing the idea the different classes level at different rates.
Limiting spellcasting to higher levels so a wizard in robes with 6hp and a dagger is supposed to fend for his self until lv5? Thats insane.
If you do this id recommend making spells do max damage, adding a feat for MR so you dont have disadvantage on all saves vs magic but this halves al beneficial magic as well.
Varried xp cap is a nightmare i reeeeeeeeealy dont recommend it.
Tieing specific spells to specific items is in my idea way more easy and gives reasons for the party to go adventue and find this artifact thatll help the party caster cast that specific spell.
Also you need to dial down the magical enemies cause facing an intellect devourer 2 duargar battleragers and a drow wizard with an ilithid overlord while thematic for regular dnd itll wipe out the party in a lfg setting.
I meant like, you have to take 3 levels of fighter before you can multiclass into paladin so by the time you get spell casting you're level 5. Again, this is just an idea I had, I'm not sure I'd ever actually do it!
@@ZipperonDisney again in this case you need to make magic more powerful as it Is very strictly limited.
Maximize damage and make saving throws at disadvantage unless you have spell resistance or the like.
Also paladins dealing only a 2d8 extra for smite at lv5 is low as hell considering you'd still roll those 2 dice and what if you get a 2. At LV 5 with such a high commitment you're just wasting potential.
Also incorporating lfg dark and dangerous charts can be fun.
I just received the book Black Sword Hack and this video helped me a lot to create the world and adventures. Thank you!
Happy to help!
... "Ravinica"?
I just finished smoothing out the Primeval Thule Setting for 5E... renaming and tweeking the classes and races to fit a more sword & sorcery style. Watching your video I can only agree on all your points. But I would like to stress two or three points I feel should be added to your list.
a) MONSTER QUANTITY! Typical D&D adventures are notorious for throwing a lot and vastly different monsters against the hereos. Mostly for the sake of diversity and putting up game mechanical challenges. For sword & sorcery my advice would be: Don't do that! A wraith should not be a random encounter but the major villain of a story. While one could envision a course of events that leads to several snakemen (yuan-ti), a werewolf and a necromancer cabal facing the players.... I think this is not adviseable as it will water down every single foe and its own flavor. Each of these would make great story-arcs individually. Better beefing and spicing up snakemen with reptiles and swamp dangers (poisonous plants and animals), the werewolf with other canine, some curse, and prophecy and the necromancers of course with undead ... (ghouls need not be undead but could well be degenerated humans!). So, better concentrate on ONE extraordinary foe and celebreate its own flavor than to go wild shopping in the monster manual.
b) LESS ORGANIZED AND FAIR WORLD! A lot of high-fantasy worlds are not only inspired but just mirror images of the real world... the current real world. There are countries, feudal structure, laws, law enforcement of some sort, a lot of organized bureaucracy (citywatches checking visitors and patrolling the street), borders and border watches, etc. Sword & Sorcery worlds should not be the case. Real cities should be rare and far away from each other. And the land between them should be no man's land. Of course there will be laws but they are more an expression of the will of the person(s) of power with little concistency and trustworthiness of fairness or a trial. On the other hand, if to avoid consequences one could "just leave" the city... the range of the power is limited to the power to sent forces to chase after you. There will be no bounty system, almost no "guild"-system and one could easily stumple unto some new power claiming rights on a region purely by right of arms. It should be chaotic world following the reasoning, "Either you are strong enough to ensure your will and safety or you submit to a power that is able to or you flee or you die." The reason why it is called LOW fantasy should be emphasized on every occasion.
c) ARCHAIC (and today overcome) SOCIAL CONCEPTS! Also, in my mind a lot of the sword & sorcery vibe stems from an ancient hierarchy missing a lot of concepts and principles that we take for granted. To be precise, equality of rights banned racism etc. This might be the most complicated thing to implement, depending on your players. But Conan's world is full of black & white racism and blunt sexsim. There are the "higher evolved humans" and the "lesser degenerated humans"... most societies are patriachies and of course they are exceptions (queen of the black coasts) but usually these are individuals i.e. protagonists and antagonists. But to stand out they need a dirty, ugly, not-so-nice world. Mind you, I do not say "Adapt those overcome archaic concepts in your own mindset as a player!" but "Look for what did make the world a darker place in ancient times from our point of view and let this inspire your setting!".
A good system I've seen that really encapsulates sword and sorcery is the Witcher ttrpg. While the magic system is based on a recharging pool, not only that, but magic also requires rolls to cast. Every failure means a roll on the fumble table. So even if you have a good combat formation, you still run the risk of killing yourself regardless. The magic is also organized into elements, not schools, which means you can really only understand the basic flow of primal energies. Anything that would be different from evocation or transmutation falls under mixed element.
Gearing up for a science-fantasy game (Heavy Metal, He-Man, John Carter of Mars type stuff). It's strange because of the differences in technology levels and in what makes a monster, but I've always felt a connection between this and sword-and-sorcery. This was helping in remembering all that - thank you!
Dune?
@@ZipperonDisney Yeah, that's another good one. Or like, Thundar the Barbarian. "Conan in space" is my touchstone.
Love the Sword and Sorcery genre for running fantasy games. I'm using a commercial world, Primeval Thule, which is based around the Bronze Age.
Two movies stand out for what I think of to demonstrate the genre - Conan the Barbarian, and The 13th Warrior. Both are a bit beyond bronze age, but have the gritty feel I want to bring to the table.
You know what? I've never watched 13th Warrior! Folks talk about it all the time - gotta see it sometime soon!
I appreciate that this is an older video now. I like the Low Fantasy, Low Magic, Grim Dark and Sword and Sorcery settings for D&D. I wish there was more source materials to help DM';s flesh out their settings/worlds and provide quick reference inspiration (rather than reading a novel).
I am a big fan of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser & Conan series so this is right up my alley.
The increasing popularity of various OSR titles now days indicates that there is a big trend towards this type of game world setting.
I actually like adding planar elements to S&S but by using them as layers or mythical otherworlds, the realms of individual gods and the like.
That's kinda what I do too. It's there, but usually subtle and mysterious
Great video. Incidentally, I made a character for a sword-and-sorcery game, and experimented with a hypothesis. After due experimentation, a great 5th-level D&D representation of Howard's Conan is Rogue (Thief) 3/ Barbarian 2, human Outlander. Pick up a shortsword, use Reckless Attack for Advantage so that shortsword does 3d6 + x (more than the average greatsword,) make Rogue your first level so you have all the skills an adventurer may need, and if Crom does not listen, then to Hell with him!
LOVE it!!
You can also pick monsters your players have never heard of. Your characters should have no idea what they are going up against and constantly worried that they'll be in way over their heads.
I make custom monster minis all the time, love doing this
I'd like to see what you have to say about high level sword and sorcery. I have a hard time seeing S&S being compatible with anything beyond 8th level tops.
I think scale is big part of it. You're fighting armies of skeletons in the endless pits, you're leading the raid into the corrupt kings palace, you're treating with a demigod on how to recover an artifact. I might do a whole video on high level play
@@ZipperonDisney I'd like to see that!
Awesome, I never fully understood Sword & Sorcery until now. Thank you!
have you ever played dungeon crawl classics? if not its a ttrpg that is reminiscent of first edition d&d and has some cool conan inspired stuff where the world is dangerous and party wipes are not looked as douche moves but instead as a scary realization so um yeah DCC is cool and you can find it some game stores goodman-games.com/dungeon-crawl-classics-rpg/
Thanks for the tip! I've heard of it, but never played. I'll be sure to check it out!
Y'know for a while now I've been thinking about the whole concept of "high" and "low" magic. And how such concepts that are SO recent in history so specific to much of western fantasy and literature, yet it's just assumed to be the norm when there's so many other possibilities to explore with magic, the worlds which we create or reshape. For me a setting can have tons of magic everywhere and still be considered (in my opinion) as 'low fantasy'. How you (probably didn't) ask? Simply put in a low fantasy world magic is in service of explaining and maintaining the 'mundane', but natural phenomenon all around a character or group of actors. Not to disimilar to your video on how people back then historically viewed magic, what IT was to them, and whether or not if we can apply your characters own ideas on what is or isn't mystical, the catch is that these magical beings or natural forces incarnated are often cast as fundamental part of existence.
This is a great comment! You might really like my "mythic thinking" video, I go into detail about some of the very things you're brining up!
Thanks for sharing.
Would you say that old school D&D had the s&s style? Also ad&d 1e?
Def OD&D, and I would say some of the AD&D models were more S&S than high fantasy. But AD&D was a very varied game. They were just throwing things in and seeing what worked!
In my settings, social skills are perfectly useful in combat. Culture, lore or intimidation can be used to parlay or shout commands over combat. A success relevant to the scene will force a morale or a Reroll on a reaction check. What could a drow priestess and her four servants shout at a handful of goblins to make them rethink starting a fight?
The guy who knows about goblins and elves does.
That's a neat idea - you must have a prerequisite of knowledge to use social checks to impact combat
Check out the MYTHRAS spinoff known as Classic Fantasy. It is D&D converted to the most modern version of the BRP (Chaosium). RQG is also S&S but it is more retro being a modernized Runequest 2.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll be sure to check it out!
@@ZipperonDisney Just be warned, D&D 5e combat is "stale" compared to MYTHRAS with its Special Effects system in combat (maneuvers you earn by rolling a high success). You will be tripping, disarming, impaling, slashing, and crushing opponents left and right (with good rolls).