Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
Sure, and I want those fantasy to be consistent, and specifically that any action not possible by our understanding of Earth physics be called as supernatural or magical, unless the fact of it is blatantly obvious (like dragon flight). Called out in the game material, mind you, not in the setting where what's normal and what isn't will likely vary widely from the real world. Because no matter what your opinion is on what counts as fantasy, all of us players live in the same real world, subject to the same rules. That's what I'm advocating for.But... we do agree that it does, unless the game mechanics specifically break that. Even if you play in a pre-written sandbox arbitrated by a computer, the moment you start describing something, you are engaging with story elements.
And, even before that, when someone says "I want to play a gnome" you are already engaging with the fantastical. Even if they mean a garden gnome statue, because those don't move and have agency, and a PC does. The moment you start playing, you have agreed you are entering into a fantasy world, with fantasy rules.
The fact that I also don't want the game to run on narrative physics is a separate issue.