Friday, May 4, 2018

Discussion: Fantasy or Sci Fi?

I'm not asking which you like. But I want to know which you prefer? Both Fantasy and Sci Fi can do a lot of wonderful things  as a genre to reflect on real world. They also have a lot of tropes that can overlap - Space Opera and Epic Fantasy are very similar even if how the battles play out is different.

So which do you prefer? Fantasy or Science Fiction?

I flip-flop between the two I think. Right now I find myself very fond of Science Fiction. This is possibly because I am currently heavily indulging my fantasy needs with L5R and D&D 5e. However, there is more to it than that.

Science Fiction has a lot of overlap with fantasy, sure, but it also has some other things going for it. It tends to have more optimism in the world - with rare exception - without sacrificing maturity of content. There is still a sense of wonder and the unknown, as well as exploration.

And then, there is also just space.

Space in and of itself is a draw to me. It's not the emptiness, the unknown, or the vastness. It's something else. The twinkle of stars. The danger. But also the peace and quiet. It seems inviting. Like floating in a pool and just letting the time go by.

I dunno. How about you?


  1. Strangely enough, although I make my living as an engineer, I prefer Fantasy. I seem to suffer from the problem with Sci-Fi I'll try to figure out how that could work in the real world, and that tends to ruin my suspension of belief. I also know enough about the diversity of this world to be dissatisfied with the one-culture per world favored by many Sci-Fi games. I've had some luck with Spelljammer, since like Fantasy I can make stuff up and claim it's magic.

  2. Science fiction tends to depress me, for a number of reasons, so it's usually not my go to for upbeat adventure stories, unless it is mostly fantastic anyway. Even Star Trek is really less about science and more about human stories.

    For gaming I really tend to prefer fantasy, but even then my preferences are pretty narrow. I dig Eberron, because I can treat it as fairly modern, without ever having to consider what "real" medieval life was like, and I can freely include whatever tropes and concepts I want, even getting science-fictiony if I want, or making it about Pirates, gangsters, megacorporations or whatever.