Editing Sword & Sorcery

'''Sword & Sorcery''' is one of the oldest [[Setting Aesthetics]] to exist in all of fantasy. Emerging from the era of pulp fiction novels in the 1920s or so, Sword & Sorcery evolved from the "Weird Fiction" genre - a mishmash of fantasy, horror and science fiction popularized in pulp fiction by magazines like "Weird Tales" and championed by authors such as [[H.P. Lovecraft]] - as a result of the efforts of [[Robert E. Howard]], who created the first recognizable S&S stories when he wrote about [[Solomon Kane]] and [[Kull]] of [[Atlantis]]; his subsequent development of [[Hyperborea]] became the groundwork for Sword & Sorcery as a whole, although it wouldn't be named as such until the 1960s.

As one of the oldest fantasy genres, Sword & Sorcery has a far-reaching impact on fantasy gaming. Many of the authors [[Gygax]] denotes as inspiring the creation of [[Dungeons & Dragons]] were writers of Sword & Sorcery, whilst [[Greyhawk]] itself has a strong Sword & Sorcery motif to it.

==What is it?==
Sword & Sorcery is a hard genre to define for many; it overlaps heavily with, if is not the same as, [[Heroic Fantasy]] - focusing intimately on a singular protagonist or a small group of protagonists, and concerning itself with personal issues, rather than the grand, sweeping, world-shaking threats of [[High Fantasy]]. Sword & Sorcery is larger-than life and action-focused, and usually characterized by the antiheroic nature of its protagonists - they are almost always motivated by matters of self-interest. Many S&S protagonists are [[murderhobo|aimless wanderers of life, drifting from battle to battle driven by little more than whim and chance]].

Some have defined Sword & Sorcery as a mixture of fantasy, horror and mythology with historical romance, action and swordplay; the most famous of the S&S worlds ever published, [[Hyperborea]] and [[Zothique]], are a lost primeval Earth and a far-flung future Earth respectively. 

Likewise, argue that a "true" S&S setting is distinctly low magic; the iconic vision of a Sword & Sorcery protagonist is a driven, grim, hard-bitten warrior who stands against [[fiend]]s, [[aberration]]s, [[dinosaur]]s and evil [[mage]]s armed with nothing more than grit and a trusty sword. Others argue that this isn't so; [[Zothique]] featured magic or even spell-wielding protagonists fairly extensively. Fritz Leiber's protagonist "The Gray Mouser" had originally trained as a wizard before becoming a sell-sword. And [[Elric]] was a demonblade-wielding [[warlock]] from a highly magical world.

Sword & Sorcery tends to shamelessly incorporate pulp-era science fiction into its ostensibly fantastical world; [[Frazetta Man]] was born in this kind of setting, tentacled monsters out of the Cthulhu Mythos make frequent appearances (although rarely to the bleak outcomes Lovecraft envisioned), and [[dinosaur]]s often stand in for [[dragon]]s.

==Backlash==
Sadly, Sword & Sorcery has long fallen out of fashion. Partly it's to do with [[/pol/|changing cultural mores]]; the mystical orientals and savage black-skinned cannibals that so frequently appeared in Sword & Sorcery tales of old are now a huge no-no. More importantly, Sword & Sorcery became synonymous in the 70s and 80s with cheap, cheesily written, low-grade, derivative fantasy; if it was advertised as "Sword & Sorcery", usually it'd be a schlockfest. Although fans strive to revive it, Sword & Sorcery has become heavily stigmatized, especially amongst the arrogant and pretentious lot that are fantasy literature critics.

==Sword & Planet==
A sub-genre of Sword & Sorcery, '''Sword & Planet''' is essentially what happens if you blend [[Science Fantasy]] and [[Sword & Sorcery]] together. The basic principles of S&S or [[Heroic Fantasy]] remain intact, but the setting is on an alien world, usually revolving around a human protagonist mysteriously transported to this strange place. The emphasis is on the fantastical; the alien races may not resemble the standard [[demihuman]]s, but fantasy trappings such as the use of swords to fight or [[Fantasy Armor]] for decoration remain prominent. Any alien technology is strictly to make the world feel more otherworldly or serve the needs of the plot.

[[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] kicked off this genre with his "[[John Carter of Mars]]" stories, but perhaps the most recognizable example today is the many stories of [[Flash Gordon]].

==/tg/ Examples==
* [[Dungeons & Dragons]] was originally built around this aesthetic, and it's strongest in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] and retro-clones based on it.
* Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea is an AD&D Retroclone that aims at replicating this aesthetic.
* [[Conan the Barbarian]] has had multiple tabletop games based on his world of [[Hyperborea]], including one using AD&D rules and one using D&D 3e rules.
* [[Greyhawk]] is effectively a Sword & Sorcery setting with a Medieval Europe backdrop, instead of the more Iron Age backdrop.
* [[Dark Sun]] is a Sword & Sorcery setting with traces of Sword & Planet, drawing equal parts inspiration from Conan and from John Carter.
* [[Primeval Thule]] is a 3rd party campaign setting for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] which takes place on Hyperborea between the ages of [[Kull]] and Conan.

[[Category: Setting Aesthetics]]