What the fuck is GOTHIC FANTASY and how do I do it!?

what the fuck is GOTHIC FANTASY and how do I do it!?

Other urls found in this thread:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction#Elements_of_Gothic_fiction
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IndexOfGothicHorrorTropes
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

Take a look at the present, and How it's fucked. Your gut reaction is to look for some meaning and structure in the past and in tradition.
But there is a problem the past you thought you knew was only a shell of what It really is. The world is not fucked up because of the times, people are fucked up.
That which os Holy is acttualy or Will become profane.
But there is still Hope, not that the world van be saved, not even the people, but there is still meaning to be found. Maybelline the meaning is to find a balance between the cole rationality of the present and the reckless emotion of the past. Or Maybe you could burn It down and start anew.

If you don't know what it is then why do you want to do it?

You take the themes, conventions and aesthetics of Gothic literature and apply them to a fantasy story/setting.

cus my players want me to do it.

there is some base punning in there

depends on what you and your players mean by Gothic, left or right?

why not both?

I did a google image search but just got a middle school girl's bedroom so idk

I hope im not expected to gm that....

>what the fuck is GOTHIC FANTASY and how do I do it!?
Legacy of Kain
Do that

The player that wants a gothic game should be the one to dm the game. This is even more importent sins you do not even know the theme.

I think they mean dark fantasy, but emphasizing gothic horror themes in the story

Go fuck yourself

Ravenloft, that's how.

Dark and brooding aesthetics
Dark and brooding atmosphere
Dark and brooding plot
Dark and brooding monsters
Dark and brooding characters
Dark and brooding villain
Dark and brooding DM
Dark and brooding players
And Daniel Sexbang the Halfling Bard out to woo vampiric vixens and seduce werewolf wenches.

Not sure if it'll make a lot of sense, but...

At first glance, it's basic dark fantasy. Nobles are corrupt, nature is unfriendly, people live in poverty, gods are mad, evil or absent. The difference is that while a world like this would usually be grimdark, Gothic is nobledark. The world is fucked up, but not in a "madness and despair" way. In a "depression" way.

Gothic fantasy is dark but human. While a grimdark or lovecraftian world is full of horrors the human mind can't even comprehend and hope is just something we came up with to stave off madness, gothic is about things that make you, average human, sad or scared. And instead of brushing these feelings off as "hairless monkey brain chemicals" or some other edgy bullshit, it embraces and celebrates your empathy. You can see the sad truth of the world without going mad from it. It will be very hard to improve the situation, you will make sacrifices and lose dreams, loved ones, maybe even your life, but once you make it your work won't be destroyed by the laughing gods of the warp.

Gothic Horror makes you go "what a terrible fate!" instead of "HOLY SHIT RUN"

Dark, but human. Based on empathy.

Good gothic: Castlevania, Legacy of Kain, WoD with a good GM, Edgar Allan Poe, Guillermo Del Toro.
Bad gothic: Emo, WoD with a bad GM.

Ravenloft.

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Gothic fantasy:
Vathek
Gormenghast
Suspiria
Frankenstein

Not gothic fantasy:
Dark Souls

Architecture is certainly improtant to gothic fiction, but it's not just KILLING MONSTERS IN GOTHIC STRUCTURES. At its core is INTENSE EMOTION and EXCESS, and for that reason I would even include Elric of Melniboné

your a good person

Look at some paintings by Cásper Friederich, the Moodle and feelings they convey

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You just want to have an autistic semantics argument about what "gothic" is and what isnt

>Daniel Sexbang
My melanin enhanced companion.

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have you played bloodborne op? do that without the lovecraft. Alternatively just steal castlevania's asthetics

Y'ever play Darkest Dungeon?

There ya go.

>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction#Elements_of_Gothic_fiction

"Gothic" is a "mode" of literature that itself is most explored in the Horror genre.

Gothic Fantasy uses the techniques of gothic horror/fiction to set a tone and theme.

Things not mentioned in the link:
-Insanity: Minds are fragile, people are pushed to the brink of their abilities, not everyone can handle it. (Heroes are supposed to struggle but succeed by the skin of their teeth.)

-Ghosts: An aspect of gothic stories is how the past reflects into the future, usually in the form of a ghost. This is where the "Ghost of a murdered person haunting the site of their death" trope was exemplified.

-Secrets: There are perversions and transgression behind hidden doors, the idea that horrible things happen where people do not see. The unsolved murder, the clamdestine affair, the dark family secret.

The trick isn't to remake the wheel, but set down a tone and hold your players to it.
Does magic have a price on their souls?
Which characters have WHAT skeletons in their closets?
Does success mean that evil is vanquished, or just stalled?

You want emotions to run high and you want to have the melodrama make sense.

>You just want to have an autistic semantics argument
So he wants an average Veeky Forums thread?

Capped and sharing for posterity and future use. You are one beautiful bastard.

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Take bloodborne and remove the cosmic horror

Think Ravenloft. Grim, at times horrifying, bleak, and somber. Vampires are not necessary but pretty much convey a lot of the themes associated with Gothic Fantasy.

Also, if you like anime, I'd say Berserk is pretty close to Gothic.

The word you are looking for is romanticism, what separates gothic tragedy from grimdark tragedy is that its contrasted with the good aspects of the world rather than being like pissing in a sea of piss

Also, at what point did people decide that "Emo" is and umbrella for edgy nihilistic movements/aesthetics?, its literally a shorthand for "emotional"

Emo subculture was all about the romantic aspect of grim stuff and far removed from modern trends like sadboys who champion their perceived inherent absurdity of existence, it was just more campy than older goth stuff

Welp, looks like the Veeky Forums folks have arrived.
The above posts are the academic and writing side of "gothic". Not useless, but if you're willing to do the reading or research you usually aren't showing up to Veeky Forums

To run a good game that's Gothic Fantasy depends on what you like to run.
There are tons of game systems that either have rules sets or supplements for running "dark-fantasy" or whatever they are calling it this season.

This user has got it at it's simplest.
>Nobles are corrupt, nature is unfriendly, people live in poverty, gods are mad, evil or absent. The difference is that while a world like this would usually be grimdark, Gothic is nobledark. The world is fucked up, but not in a "madness and despair" way. In a "depression" way.

>Gothic Horror makes you go "what a terrible fate!" instead of "HOLY SHIT RUN"

>Dark, but human. Based on empathy.

So yeah, Gothic Fantasy has to be melodramatic, heroes are BIG DAMN HEROES not just because they have done impressive stuff but because they've been tempted to do worse shit, or if they give in to temptation, their story becomes about redemption and the potential of backsliding. Villans aren't mustache twirling, they are sympathetic, they are empathetic, they have their own rationale and might even know that they're being awful people, but they feel they HAVE to be.

>WHEN YOU PICK A FIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, YOU BETTER BE STRONGER THAN HELL

bump

Op here, just woke up.
Good thread, you guys. I think i can do this game now.

But by all means, keep talking!

Either something involving the Hunnic invasions, or superstitious stuff from dark age folklore.

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>what the fuck is GOTHIC FANTASY

>what it is
Catholic twink knights questing for the holy grail and for the hand of women or going to the moon looking for somebody's mind among all the socks and small change.

>what the English understood
Continentals want to drink our blood.

They do though.

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First rule: Keep Your Villains Human

which isn't to say they have to be a Human but that they need some bit of Humanity in them even when it's mostly gone

Baron Von Evil who does Evil to be Evil is a horrible villain in a Gothic Horror story

A good villian is some one who has understandable flaws who then experiences a tragedy or an intense jealousy or envy and that drives them to do what they do

you understand why they do what they do even if you can't condone it

Second rule: The Monster is Deadly, Time to Plan

Vampires and Werewolves are dangerous and if you fight them you will Die

to win you need research and a plan

a short rule ut something to keep in mind

Third rule: SCIENCE! AND MAGIC!

Alchemy and the Occult are huge in Gothic Horror and there is way to much to go into with my limited knowledge of them

think Dr. Hellsing if you've read the Book

if you haven't, think Egon Spengler

fuck it

there is way to much to go into on my own

tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IndexOfGothicHorrorTropes

and a list of works which is the only thing it's good for

and this user has wikipeida

Google "Fallen London".

just make it set in late rome and have it be about sacking galore

>Bad gothic: Emo
My dude, emo is literally just a genre of post-hardcore that attracted a certain fashion aesthetic.

With a bit of this, I suppose.

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underrated

Post more gothic imagery,

The inquisition demands it.

Yep I'd agree with that Ravenloft done right is Gothic Fantasy.

>Gormenghast
Nope, that's a fantasy of manners. A genre incredibly difficult to replicate in TTRPG

I'd look at 80's post punk/gothic rock bands' stylistics. Listen to their music, pick up some themes from the lyrics maybe.>

Lesser known films for inspiration: The blood on Satan's claw and Witchfinder General.

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it's fantasy in a gothic setting. It's not dark enough to be dark fantasy but not light enough to be regualr fantasy. Also it likes old castles, gothic architecture, vampires and ladies in very unpractical dresses standing on very windy balconies in very big wigs

this or Vampire Hunter D stripped of tech. Or Witcher.

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