Swords and Sorcery: Defining the genre
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:46 pm
So I'm going through my old posts on RPG.net, and it's interesting to see what I wrote a year or more ago and if it still holds true today. One thing I came across was basically an admittedly long-winded ramble on what I think separates typical Swords and Sorcery settings from traditional Fantasy settings, and I thought I'd share it with those of you masochistic enough to go through it all.
For me, when I think of Swords and Sorcery, I think the following:
• An Air of Mystery : I think that, to me, this is the key difference between "Fantasy" and "Swords and Sorcery". Generally in a Fantasy setting, the world is mapped out, we've got the various kingdoms who generally control their territory fairly well, there are often wars between nations but there's a sense of stability. Folks know where Kingdom A is, what areas to avoid, and generally what to expect if they head to Mt. Doom. Even in a Fantasy setting exploring unknown territories, there's a sense that the larger world obeys a structure and you're just heading out into one of the smaller unknown pockets.
In Swords and Sorcery, it's the civilized areas that are the small pockets. It's the kingdoms of stability that are in the minority. The world is open and vast, full of mystery strangeness, and even traveling from two known points is fraught with danger. Make a trip you've done a dozen times, and you could be attacked by bandits or blown off course by a storm and wind up in some forgotten ruins that lead to something mysterious/terrible. And there are a ton of lost ruins, hidden places, dark temples and other things strange and wonderful. Empires rise and empires fall, and borders constantly shift. Gods die and are swept away by time, while lone wanders can become king of the mightiest nation in the world. The only thing certain in Swords and Sorcery is the uncertainty.
• Black and White with Shades of Grey : People have said that there are no "black and white" characters in Sword and Sorcery. I disagree. There are definitely "black" characters, pure evil beings who want to rule the world, grow powerful off of the suffering of innocents. And there are genuinely good people out there who want to help others, orders dedicated to the containment or banishment of evil. Meanwhile ordinary people are just that: normal folks who want to make a living as best they can and try to survive as best they can. Some of them will help out those in need. Some of them will take advantage of them if they feel they can get away with it. And often enough, really rotten people will find a way to exploit people beneath them for their own gain.
Most Swords and Sorcery heroes are morally grey types who are motivated out of self-interest, but often have a bit of a noble streak in them. And it isn't impossible to have someone who is a genuinely good and noble individual in such stories. The one thing there isn't any of in Swords and Sorcery is naivety. Even the most virtuous individual is not going to be blind to the evils of the world, the deceitfulness of people, and live by a model of "trust but verify".
There is room for people to be good, evil and every shade of grey, but not naive. Naive people do not survive these settings.
•Everyone is Clever, and Everyone is Defined by their Abilities : Most Sword and Sorcery characters are clever. With all of the backstabbers and mysterious unknown places out there, the characters have to be clever to survive. But after said cleverness, most characters tend to be defined by one or two key attributes. While I know this isn't about Conan, he's a good example of this in that Conan is, well, a barbarian. He's savage, and it's his uncivilized power, speed and cunning that often lets him win the day. Now, he has his own code of ethics and such, but he is defined largely by his barbarian nature. Most other characters should fit that way. If a character is defined by their skill, their courage, their swordsmanship, their wisdom, their speed, their way with words, then that is a defining trait for how they will solve 90% of their problems, and inform a lot about them.
This above all should be a setting where people are "Darion the Wise", "Brianna the Strong", "Erkal the Swift" and so forth.
• A bit of Swashbuckling : In a Sword and Sorcery game, you need to be clever, you can't be naive, but you also need to be DARING. As scary, mysterious and cruel the place can be, with all of its monsters, backstabbers and general lack of healing magic, and as invaluable as a good plan will be to your ultimate success . . . sometimes you just need to go for it. Sometimes you just need to swing over onto that oncoming pirate ship and start kicking ass until the pirates start begging for mercy. Sometimes you just need to ride a giant bat down onto the parapet of your foe's castle, challenge him to a swordfight and then throw his dismembered corpse into the city below to remind everyone that you are the God Damned Hero. Success will often come from a clever scheme, but it will just as often come from bold action.
•Less Readily Available Magic: It'd be hard to call a Sword and Sorcery place a "low magic" setting, since magic is often all over the place. Wizards wield it. Dark monsters are often made of the stuff. But there's usually a kind of Lovecraftian nature to magic. The magic available to heroes is likely to be more of the type to involve rituals, circles, and take time. Or if done quickly, be very taxing for the user. The more powerful someone becomes as a wizard, the less human their outlook becomes. Not necessarily evil, but they tended to be less human in outlook. One of only "good" wizards Conan encountered was Pelias, who had managed to gain both sorcerous power while remaining fairly human in outlook, partially due to his love of simple vices like drink, comfort and women. Most wizards tended to become obsessed with power, schemes of revenge, and larger, cosmic pictures that let them view normal people as insects.
There also seemed to be a couple of flavors of wizard as well. There were those whose powers were largely internal, and those who invested their power in objects, like rings or crystal spheres. Investing your power in an object seemed like a shortcut to great power, with the risk being that if the item is taken from you or destroyed, your power is lost forever. While internalizing your power took longer, but made you mightier in the long run. Not surpring, most of the evil types tended to invest their power in objects. All the better for the heroes to destroy and get a win.
As such, most heroic wizards will tend to be less powerful, but also more secure in their humanity. They will generally lack the immediate power of the more advanced wizards, but they will likely be able to fend off such magical forces effectively, which would make them invaluable for that alone. So it might take a little longer to work magic, or cost a bit more to make it happen more quickly, but you'll be damned happy to have them.
There's also a general lack of healing magic, though it isn't impossible to find such things. But generally, you can't rely on a Cleric to easily patch you up after a battle. Wounds are going to have an impact.
By a similar token, most magic items are rare, potent things. You'll rarely find two people fighting who each have a magic sword. Most magic items will be a bit stranger an nature, artifacts and such, though the occasional magical weapon or belt or amulet will exist. It's just that it'll be less like finding "Random Magical Sword +2" and more like "You found Excalibur".
•A Sense of Horror, but with Heroism: Swords and Sorcery, to me, tends to be a bit 'scarier'. This is generally a combination of the more mysterious nature of the lands and territories of the world and the lack of available magic for the heroes while a seemingly overabundance of magic to the various monsters, demons, creatures and evil wizards. Things that would be almost mundane threats in a D&D game become horrifying when you don't have that Vorpal Sword, reliable access to Chain Lightning or to Mass Cure Light Wounds. A spider the size of a dog or snake the size of a horse becomes a legit threat. And then there's the dark gods that you can wake up if you aren't careful.
Basically, Sword and Sorcery needs to be a little bit scarier than your typical D&D game. But it needs to be horror with a sense of heroism. A giant snake rising from the swamp might scare the piss out of everyone and be a legit danger to the entire party, but even application of grit, guile and glimmering steel will put it down. That sorcerer king might have power beyond your ken, but if you can just manage to get that crown off of him that helps him control his power, you might have a chance. And that dark god might be awake now, but there's some bit of cosmic checks and balances that can either put it back to sleep or kill it.
You're just a mortal being in a terrifying world, but you can win if you play your cards right.
•A Less Organized Pantheon: The gods in these settings tend to follow less of a standard Pantheon and be more like individual patron gods of certain cities, kingdoms, cults, etc. There are dead gods. There are dark gods straight out of Lovecraft. And despite what some have said, there are genuinely good gods. Even Conan had Mitra, a benevolent deity. But you can generally tell a god's "goodness" by their level of involvement. The better ones will, on occasion, give out advice to worshipers, along with the odd bit of luck/fortune when a champion needs it, or send a priest to advise or help a hero. Gods who are more active than that, bestowing power on their followers or manifesting physically, tend to be the very petty, evil gods looking to corrupt, control and torment humans, all for their own empowerment and amusement. But fortunately, when they manifest to do that kind of thing, they usually make themselves vulnerable to a good battle axe between the eyes.
•Post Apocalyptic Fantasy: Swords and Sorcery has more in common with a lot of Post Apocalyptic settings and tropes, and one could easily serve as good idea mines for the other. In some cases, a Swords and Sorcery world is the direct result of contemporary-style setting going through an apocalypse and resulting in a weird world with remote settings, hidden mysteries and the like.
Even without making a S&S setting a literal post-apocalyptic world, the two genres share a lot in common. Roving bands of marauders, villages, cities and kingdoms separated by vast, treacherous expanses, long lost civilizations with strange horrors, people driven to madness and degeneration, lonely beings with access to great power, warlords seeking to spread their control, etc.
Thundarr the Barbarian is one of the straightest examples of a Sword and Sorcery world set in the future of our own world after a cataclysm reduces it to ash. If you want some true kitchen sink Sword and Sorcery/Post Apocalyptic fun, check it out.
Likewise, manga fans could easily use Fist of the North Star as a source material for lots of Swords and Sorcery shenanigans. Kenshiro is a very Conan-esque wandering hero, albeit much more altruistic than the Cimmerian. While it replaces standard sword-fighting with over-the-top martial arts, there's no reason a S&S setting couldn't include such elements, or have them replaces with cinematic weapons combat.
For me, when I think of Swords and Sorcery, I think the following:
• An Air of Mystery : I think that, to me, this is the key difference between "Fantasy" and "Swords and Sorcery". Generally in a Fantasy setting, the world is mapped out, we've got the various kingdoms who generally control their territory fairly well, there are often wars between nations but there's a sense of stability. Folks know where Kingdom A is, what areas to avoid, and generally what to expect if they head to Mt. Doom. Even in a Fantasy setting exploring unknown territories, there's a sense that the larger world obeys a structure and you're just heading out into one of the smaller unknown pockets.
In Swords and Sorcery, it's the civilized areas that are the small pockets. It's the kingdoms of stability that are in the minority. The world is open and vast, full of mystery strangeness, and even traveling from two known points is fraught with danger. Make a trip you've done a dozen times, and you could be attacked by bandits or blown off course by a storm and wind up in some forgotten ruins that lead to something mysterious/terrible. And there are a ton of lost ruins, hidden places, dark temples and other things strange and wonderful. Empires rise and empires fall, and borders constantly shift. Gods die and are swept away by time, while lone wanders can become king of the mightiest nation in the world. The only thing certain in Swords and Sorcery is the uncertainty.
• Black and White with Shades of Grey : People have said that there are no "black and white" characters in Sword and Sorcery. I disagree. There are definitely "black" characters, pure evil beings who want to rule the world, grow powerful off of the suffering of innocents. And there are genuinely good people out there who want to help others, orders dedicated to the containment or banishment of evil. Meanwhile ordinary people are just that: normal folks who want to make a living as best they can and try to survive as best they can. Some of them will help out those in need. Some of them will take advantage of them if they feel they can get away with it. And often enough, really rotten people will find a way to exploit people beneath them for their own gain.
Most Swords and Sorcery heroes are morally grey types who are motivated out of self-interest, but often have a bit of a noble streak in them. And it isn't impossible to have someone who is a genuinely good and noble individual in such stories. The one thing there isn't any of in Swords and Sorcery is naivety. Even the most virtuous individual is not going to be blind to the evils of the world, the deceitfulness of people, and live by a model of "trust but verify".
There is room for people to be good, evil and every shade of grey, but not naive. Naive people do not survive these settings.
•Everyone is Clever, and Everyone is Defined by their Abilities : Most Sword and Sorcery characters are clever. With all of the backstabbers and mysterious unknown places out there, the characters have to be clever to survive. But after said cleverness, most characters tend to be defined by one or two key attributes. While I know this isn't about Conan, he's a good example of this in that Conan is, well, a barbarian. He's savage, and it's his uncivilized power, speed and cunning that often lets him win the day. Now, he has his own code of ethics and such, but he is defined largely by his barbarian nature. Most other characters should fit that way. If a character is defined by their skill, their courage, their swordsmanship, their wisdom, their speed, their way with words, then that is a defining trait for how they will solve 90% of their problems, and inform a lot about them.
This above all should be a setting where people are "Darion the Wise", "Brianna the Strong", "Erkal the Swift" and so forth.
• A bit of Swashbuckling : In a Sword and Sorcery game, you need to be clever, you can't be naive, but you also need to be DARING. As scary, mysterious and cruel the place can be, with all of its monsters, backstabbers and general lack of healing magic, and as invaluable as a good plan will be to your ultimate success . . . sometimes you just need to go for it. Sometimes you just need to swing over onto that oncoming pirate ship and start kicking ass until the pirates start begging for mercy. Sometimes you just need to ride a giant bat down onto the parapet of your foe's castle, challenge him to a swordfight and then throw his dismembered corpse into the city below to remind everyone that you are the God Damned Hero. Success will often come from a clever scheme, but it will just as often come from bold action.
•Less Readily Available Magic: It'd be hard to call a Sword and Sorcery place a "low magic" setting, since magic is often all over the place. Wizards wield it. Dark monsters are often made of the stuff. But there's usually a kind of Lovecraftian nature to magic. The magic available to heroes is likely to be more of the type to involve rituals, circles, and take time. Or if done quickly, be very taxing for the user. The more powerful someone becomes as a wizard, the less human their outlook becomes. Not necessarily evil, but they tended to be less human in outlook. One of only "good" wizards Conan encountered was Pelias, who had managed to gain both sorcerous power while remaining fairly human in outlook, partially due to his love of simple vices like drink, comfort and women. Most wizards tended to become obsessed with power, schemes of revenge, and larger, cosmic pictures that let them view normal people as insects.
There also seemed to be a couple of flavors of wizard as well. There were those whose powers were largely internal, and those who invested their power in objects, like rings or crystal spheres. Investing your power in an object seemed like a shortcut to great power, with the risk being that if the item is taken from you or destroyed, your power is lost forever. While internalizing your power took longer, but made you mightier in the long run. Not surpring, most of the evil types tended to invest their power in objects. All the better for the heroes to destroy and get a win.
As such, most heroic wizards will tend to be less powerful, but also more secure in their humanity. They will generally lack the immediate power of the more advanced wizards, but they will likely be able to fend off such magical forces effectively, which would make them invaluable for that alone. So it might take a little longer to work magic, or cost a bit more to make it happen more quickly, but you'll be damned happy to have them.
There's also a general lack of healing magic, though it isn't impossible to find such things. But generally, you can't rely on a Cleric to easily patch you up after a battle. Wounds are going to have an impact.
By a similar token, most magic items are rare, potent things. You'll rarely find two people fighting who each have a magic sword. Most magic items will be a bit stranger an nature, artifacts and such, though the occasional magical weapon or belt or amulet will exist. It's just that it'll be less like finding "Random Magical Sword +2" and more like "You found Excalibur".
•A Sense of Horror, but with Heroism: Swords and Sorcery, to me, tends to be a bit 'scarier'. This is generally a combination of the more mysterious nature of the lands and territories of the world and the lack of available magic for the heroes while a seemingly overabundance of magic to the various monsters, demons, creatures and evil wizards. Things that would be almost mundane threats in a D&D game become horrifying when you don't have that Vorpal Sword, reliable access to Chain Lightning or to Mass Cure Light Wounds. A spider the size of a dog or snake the size of a horse becomes a legit threat. And then there's the dark gods that you can wake up if you aren't careful.
Basically, Sword and Sorcery needs to be a little bit scarier than your typical D&D game. But it needs to be horror with a sense of heroism. A giant snake rising from the swamp might scare the piss out of everyone and be a legit danger to the entire party, but even application of grit, guile and glimmering steel will put it down. That sorcerer king might have power beyond your ken, but if you can just manage to get that crown off of him that helps him control his power, you might have a chance. And that dark god might be awake now, but there's some bit of cosmic checks and balances that can either put it back to sleep or kill it.
You're just a mortal being in a terrifying world, but you can win if you play your cards right.
•A Less Organized Pantheon: The gods in these settings tend to follow less of a standard Pantheon and be more like individual patron gods of certain cities, kingdoms, cults, etc. There are dead gods. There are dark gods straight out of Lovecraft. And despite what some have said, there are genuinely good gods. Even Conan had Mitra, a benevolent deity. But you can generally tell a god's "goodness" by their level of involvement. The better ones will, on occasion, give out advice to worshipers, along with the odd bit of luck/fortune when a champion needs it, or send a priest to advise or help a hero. Gods who are more active than that, bestowing power on their followers or manifesting physically, tend to be the very petty, evil gods looking to corrupt, control and torment humans, all for their own empowerment and amusement. But fortunately, when they manifest to do that kind of thing, they usually make themselves vulnerable to a good battle axe between the eyes.
•Post Apocalyptic Fantasy: Swords and Sorcery has more in common with a lot of Post Apocalyptic settings and tropes, and one could easily serve as good idea mines for the other. In some cases, a Swords and Sorcery world is the direct result of contemporary-style setting going through an apocalypse and resulting in a weird world with remote settings, hidden mysteries and the like.
Even without making a S&S setting a literal post-apocalyptic world, the two genres share a lot in common. Roving bands of marauders, villages, cities and kingdoms separated by vast, treacherous expanses, long lost civilizations with strange horrors, people driven to madness and degeneration, lonely beings with access to great power, warlords seeking to spread their control, etc.
Thundarr the Barbarian is one of the straightest examples of a Sword and Sorcery world set in the future of our own world after a cataclysm reduces it to ash. If you want some true kitchen sink Sword and Sorcery/Post Apocalyptic fun, check it out.
Likewise, manga fans could easily use Fist of the North Star as a source material for lots of Swords and Sorcery shenanigans. Kenshiro is a very Conan-esque wandering hero, albeit much more altruistic than the Cimmerian. While it replaces standard sword-fighting with over-the-top martial arts, there's no reason a S&S setting couldn't include such elements, or have them replaces with cinematic weapons combat.