Dungeon Fantasy Writeup

Dungeon Fantasy
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Chances are, if you're reading this, you're at least passingly familiar with the concept of Dungeon Fantasy. Popularized by Gary Gygax and his Dungeons and Dragons, this sub-genre descended from war-gaming and lead to the formation of modern tabletop roleplaying. Usually centered around swords and sorcery in pseudo-European fantasy settings (more often than not with a little borrowed 'inspiration' from a certain J.R.R. Tolkien), Dungeon Fantasy focuses on adventurers scouring the realm to right wrongs and make coin. Slay the dragon, defeat the lich, and spend all your earnings from the dangerous Tomb of Horrible Spiky Things on a dozen flagons of the innkeeper's best mead.

It goes without saying that this sub-genre is heavily, heavily High Fantasy in most depictions, though its incarnations are as myriad as the imaginations of roleplayers the world over. Technology level can vary heavily, from Middle Age kingdoms full of dirt-encrusted, malnourished peasants, to more fantastical applications of industrial age technology in the form of formidable airships powered by steam engines, or even more futuristic technology heavily laced with the setting's magic. Similarly, the amount of supernatural influence can vary heavily, from more gritty 'no-magic' campaigns to the most fantastical settings imaginable.

All in all, it's very hard to do dungeon fantasy 'wrong'. Adventure, delving, loot, and a good time had by all are all you need. Look to the past for inspiration, but it's YOU, the players and the GMs out there, who make this sub-genre what it is.

Key Technologies and Supernatural Themes: Various, often low tech with powerful practitioners of magic and fantastical beasts breaking up the more mundane.
Main Themes: Adventure, Swords and Sorcery, Epic Battles between Good and Evil or anything in-between, and almost anything else you could think of.
Examples: Dungeons and Dragons, Final Fantasy, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and while it isn't dungeon fantasy itself, it would be remiss not to include Lord of the Rings as an enormous source of inspiration.

How do Pokemon fit in?
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Pokemon fit extremely naturally into this type of setting, as fantastical monsters lurk in almost every gloomy wood, dark cave or abandoned castle. Even in traditional tabletop games, the most martial-oriented fighters will favor utilizing magic equipment against their foes to compete with their increasingly outlandish supernatural powers. It might also be said, then, that in a world of Pokemon, adventurers are wont to train some of the realm's beasties to gain a similar edge. It may be difficult for the average Joe to get much beyond a Miltank or a Mareep, but the players, who are almost certainly playing as larger than life heroes, would certainly be able to form their own menageries.

How to Handle...

Pokeballs: The surprisingly brilliant invention of a mad wizard who wanted to find a way to keep his dangerous Ursahoots encapsuled, only for these strange spheres to be liberated by the first set of adventurers to shut him down. The blessed spheres of a church's faith, distributed by the religious to the faithful in order to contain the savage creatures of the realm. Curious bits of technology invented by a clever gnome who was actually trying to make a portable house for himself. The ways Pokeballs could have come about as just as varied as anything in this subgenre!

Pokemon Centers: Churches of major religions, inns, and hospices are all standard methods of handling healing in fantasy settings.

TMs and HMs: Spell scrolls that when read aloud, imbue the knowledge of a technique into a pokemon's mind, or perhaps an elixir of knowledge.

As a GM, how should I prepare?

Dungeon Fantasy tends to focus more heavily on dungeon crawling, which can include anything from heavy amounts of encounters, to intricately detailed areas to explore, dangerous traps to overcome, and conundrums to solve. Give yourself plenty of time each week to prepare for crunch-and-detail heavy sessions when necessary. Make encounters interesting and engaging, and don't be afraid to litter the area with possible environmental factors that the players or their foes can use. Give things a feel of high adventure. And more than anything, have fun.