Though Dungeons and Dragons may be the most well-known and ubiquitous tabletop role playing game out there, there are many others that create mythical worlds and stories within any number of genres. From starships voyaging across distant galaxies, to vampires lurking in the streets of the modern day, there are all sorts of adventures to experience. However, even outside the Dungeons and Dragons system there is no category of game more popular than the 'High Fantasy' setting.
By using the term High Fantasy I am referring to the classical Tolkien-esque genre of medieval era adventure filled with magic and strange creatures. In the world of RPGs there is no realm of imagination that is mined for material more frequently than this. So what is it about this particular type of setting that gives it such allure, such staying power in the gaming community? Why do so many players keep getting drawn back to this kind of game rather than, say, a tense spy thriller?
There are a lot of answers and theories that could be presented to explain it, but my own opinion is this... the realms of High Fantasy are the most flexible and easy to customize than any other genre. They don't have to have any connection to events or facts of the real world, and yet they have common themes and elements that are deeply ingrained in our minds from books, movies, and fairy tales. When you enter a science fiction or modern setting your players might feel pressured to have certain knowledge or awareness of the world around them. If your adventure is set in our own world, they might need to know something of our actual history. If it is set in space, they might feel intimidated by their lack of knowledge about space travel.
The fantasy kingdom cuts out all those aspects, and sets them in a world of your own creation, where there are still threads of mythology that will be easy for most players to relate to. Elves, orcs, and gnomes will all be fairly easy for players to relate to based on their appearance in media dating back for years and years. And the fact that the fantastical realm is usually created from the DM's own imagination means that no player will have any more or less knowledge of the setting when the game begins.
It's malleable, there are very few clear-cut rules for world-building, and every world built in this genre can be unique while still fitting with the basic common elements of its ilk. It is very straight-forward and easy to grasp in its appeal. The brutal combat and delving for treasure is old-fashioned and rewarding. Most audiences will easily grasp the wonderment of magic, and the politics of its 'old world' environment. No other genre has managed such a universal appeal, and thus it remains the undisputed king of all RPG settings.
Finally, there is the fact that the middle age era has been heavily romanticized for years throughout media and pop culture. It's known to many through stories of good versus evil, with simpler conflicts and values that transcend the complicated problems of our own times.
There are plenty of worlds to explore in your own adventures, but it's important to recognize why these kinds of fantasy adventures remain the most popular. Now that we recognize the appeal, we can make an effort to apply and transfer some of these elements into our games in other settings and systems. Nothing will ever replace these magical realms of the tabletop, but there is certainly a lot that we can learn from them.
Happy ventures!
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