Subgenre Hybrids

[Nomadic]

Yep, its the only reason I still visit the wotc boards.

[Jharviss]

Favorite subgenre hybrids?  Interesting term!

I love an Arabic or Gypsy feel, I love mystical fantasy (a very few amount of powerful magi), and a decent amount of technology (right before firearms but not before geartech).  So, Low-Magic, High-Myth, Fantastical Arabian Rennaissance with some Geartech?

The campaign world I'm designing right now is a Magnetech-based game, something that, as far as I know, I created.  Hopefully one day that'll be a genre as well.

EDIT:  I also have to note that I absolutely adore the Girl Genius setting. That entire setting is beautiful, creative, and exciting. It inspires me often.

[Nomadic]

EDIT: I also have to note that I absolutely adore the Girl Genius setting. That entire setting is beautiful, creative, and exciting. It inspires me often.

Yes! I found that comic the other day and just finished reading it. While there are a few things I don't like about it, overall it is a wonderful work of art.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Is Less-Serious a sub-genre?  Because I could use more campaign settings that weren't so serious.  :axe:

[Ghostman]

A post-apocalyptic world where the apocalypse was caused by cosmic horror elements - which are still present.

Zombie survival horror should easily blend with just about anything else.

Or how about this: a mix of steampunk, space opera and age of sail pirates! You got these steam-powered spaceships that can travel in interstellar space, which is not a vacuum but has a constant air pressure. There are no planets but everyone lives on asteroid colonies floating in a massive nebula. The colonies support themselves by mining minerals from the asteroids and raising food in massive greenhouses. They also act as spaceports for the ships that haul cargo between the colonies.  Many of them harbour pirates, knowingly or not. War fleets of powerful trade cartels vie for control of space lanes, pirates and privateers prey on merchant vessels, and fearless explorers brave the uncharted space to locate new estates for colonization. Smuggling, gang-wars and all forms of shady business plague the maze-like warrens and docksides of the lawless spaceports, while the mafia-like patrons of the trade cartels ponder their next moves in an endless game of intrigues. Danger and adventure will surely find any spacedog foolhardy enough to sign up for service onboard a cruiser of a cartel fleet, untold riches await those willing to risk the perils of smuggling or piracy, while the great unknown of the unexplored frontier offers an opportune escape for outlaws and a lucrative gamble for entrepreneurs.

[Loch Belthadd]

I kind of like airship-type things. My absolute favorite was the Edge Chronicles. It was actually realistic. The whole idea is that there are rocks that float, and people build ships around them, with sails and an array of weights to help you control it.

[Llum]

The Edge Chronicles is fantastic. Steerpikes space western meets cthulhu thing is pretty cool as well.

[sparkletwist]

I like and have experimented with various "clash of civilizations" (or perhaps I should say clash of genres) themes: High fantasy vs Steampunk, Space Opera vs Horror, Hard Sci Fi vs Soft Sci Fi, etc.

For Crystalstar, I've adopted a sort of Sword & Planet feel to it, but with a lot of influence from traditional fantasy as well as not-so-traditional fantasy (as in, Mesoamerican/Middle Eastern/Asian/etc. instead of European)

[Steerpike]

[blockquote=Ghostman]A post-apocalyptic world where the apocalypse was caused by cosmic horror elements - which are still present.[/blockquote]If done properly this could be very cool.  Have you read Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald" in Fragile Things?  It's not exactly post-apocalyptic but its kind of like what you're describing.

[blockquote=Ghostman]Or how about this: a mix of steampunk, space opera and age of sail pirates! You got these steam-powered spaceships that can travel in interstellar space, which is not a vacuum but has a constant air pressure. There are no planets but everyone lives on asteroid colonies floating in a massive nebula. The colonies support themselves by mining minerals from the asteroids and raising food in massive greenhouses. They also act as spaceports for the ships that haul cargo between the colonies. Many of them harbour pirates, knowingly or not. War fleets of powerful trade cartels vie for control of space lanes, pirates and privateers prey on merchant vessels, and fearless explorers brave the uncharted space to locate new estates for colonization. Smuggling, gang-wars and all forms of shady business plague the maze-like warrens and docksides of the lawless spaceports, while the mafia-like patrons of the trade cartels ponder their next moves in an endless game of intrigues. Danger and adventure will surely find any spacedog foolhardy enough to sign up for service onboard a cruiser of a cartel fleet, untold riches await those willing to risk the perils of smuggling or piracy, while the great unknown of the unexplored frontier offers an opportune escape for outlaws and a lucrative gamble for entrepreneurs.[/blockquote]This is really cool, I kind of like the complete abandonment of real-world physics.  Sort of like how people imagined space in the late Renaissance or something.

Makes me think of this.

[SA]

I once ran a short campaign set in a Qin dynasty interpretation of Warhammer 40K.  That was fun.

[Steerpike]

[blockquote=Octopus Wrestler]I once ran a short campaign set in a Qin dynasty interpretation of Warhammer 40K. That was fun. [/blockquote] Wow that sounds cool.  Can you tell us more?  How you modified stuff etc?

[Ghostman]

Makes me think of this.

:whoa: That picture is pure awesome! Remove the chopper-engines and wings and it'll be close to what I imagined when I wrote my summary.

[sparkletwist]

I like that picture, too. :D

It (as well as the idea we were talking about) somewhat reminds me of Spelljammer, too.

I personally prefer a more "realistic" space environment, though I'm not opposed to planets being a lot more hospitable than they might otherwise be (or quite inhospitable but only within human tolerances, like Dune).