Quote from: Ian AbsentiaThis may set the hounds on my tail for mentioning it, but the sort of animism proposed in Nobilis goes a long way toward achieving that sort of modern fantasy.  The old notion that every little thing either houses or is a sort of spiritual entity or mechanism means that characters possess another option for interacting with the world at large: appeasement and coercion.

The different perspectives on the world also help with some of the problems mentioned earlier in the thread. For instance, you don't have to hesitate to call the cops after seeing a hydra attackíng people in some alleyway, because from their prosaic point of view it will be just a particularly vicious street gang.

If you're not wedded to "fantasy" you can have a world with Psionics instead. They can provide a "magical" element to the game, but without the problem of explaining elves and whatnot. Could also bring ghosts and other spirits into the equation as psionic entities. Easy to finagle a "scientific" explaination for the fantastic elements as well. For added fun, have the psis being hunted by the Guv'mint.

Quote from: GrimGentFor instance, you don't have to hesitate to call the cops after seeing a hydra attackíng people in some alleyway, because from their prosaic point of view it will be just a particularly vicious street gang.

Which causes me to recall another modern fantasy: Brazil.  This sort of thing was going on in Sam's mind all the time, where he'd segue from normal and prosaic events into a fantasy version of them.  And as long as we're discussing Gilliam films, there's also The Fisher King, where the prosaic and the fantastic were paired more closely.

!i!

I think the two elements modern fantasy has are:

1) Magic is right under our noses.
2) Some sense of humor or wit about it.

That's pretty much it.

The Nancy Collins novel Midnight Blue, before she crossed over her characters with Vampire and fucked it all up, were modern fantasy. The main character is a half-vampire, which gives her the ability to see things around her no one else can. So the homeless lady is a seraphim, that bouncer is a troll, there's a dragon living in the park.

Some Clive Barker does as well, although it is mostly horror.

Also, doesn't Buffy/Angel qualify as somewhat modern fantasy? Out of all things, Jake Long whatever Dragon something on the Disney Channel may qualify as well.

Quote from: RPGPunditI always thought Superheros were the modern fantasy.

All that other stuff (gaiman, magic, vampires, etc) is just pretentious quasi-horror quasi-filmnoire elitist crap.

RPGPundit

And real history is 19th century to the present.  Roman history, in the academic sense, is intellectual masturbation.  Justified ad nauseum by the Swine who are trying to justify their paltry existence.

You've got a number of options as far as secrecy/non secrecy goes.

You can always make it something everyone knows about. In this case, you should consider what people know about it. Do they know it exists? Do they know how it works? Also, how common is it? Is it integrated into everyday life or are people afraid of it?

You should decide, regardless, what kind of magic you want and maybe where it comes from. What's the focus? Monsters? Obsessive "hobbyists" looking into scrolls and numerology and all that stuff? Innate and inexplicable talents popping up? A "hidden world"? Are ordinary things attributed sentience? Does stuff only happen if it's expected... "can only be found by someone who knows where to find it"? Etc.

Secrecy can happen if magic is rare, or is only practiced by super-studious humans. One diverts attention, the other means that few would even bother to seek it out. That combined with the prominence of charlatans means that as long as you're not shooting fireballs out of your eyes, people can watch you do it and dismiss it as a cheap trick.

Quote from: WilSome Clive Barker does as well, although it is mostly horror.

Not really: except for The Damnation Game and Cold Heart Canyon, the novels that Barker writes are dark fantasy rather than outright horror. Weaveworld and Imajica are good examples of his fantastique.

Hmm. You can't really talk about modern/urban fantasy without mentioning Charles de Lint, of course.

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaAnd as long as we're discussing Gilliam films, there's also The Fisher King, where the prosaic and the fantastic were paired more closely.

Good call.

This isn't exactly my favorite genre, however I'll throw out another possible source of inspiration: the comic book series Mage, by Matt Wagner.

Quote from: Elliot WilenThis isn't exactly my favorite genre, however I'll throw out another possible source of inspiration: the comic book series Mage, by Matt Wagner.

Oh!  D'uh-d'uh-d'uh!  This is the second time in recent weeks that someone has had to remind me of one of my favorite comic series.  I even pulled out "Mage: The Hero Defined" and re-read it after the last time.

!i!

Quote from: SosthenesI'm not arguing about the reasons. There's plenty of them. But the _means_ of keeping this secret quickly approach MiB-style technology or magic.

I'm not just talking about deliberate means to do so, but "metaphysical law".

In my modern fantasy setting of choice, Second World Sourcebook, the real world fights to reject the fantastic, including purging memory of it. People who learn of magic and the supernatural and accept it soon find themselves being rejected. Second World characters can only remain on First World earth for a week or so at best.

Sounds familiar, Caesar... Didn't Neverwhere employ a similar plot device?

Urban Arcana and Pratchetts Discworld employ similar repression methods, though mostly based on the inability of people to accept such things.

Some common elements include:

Mythology Reinterpreted: The same cycle of stories play themselves out over and over, only the names change. Iconic characters of the past are recast in roles of similar nature and scope, yet projected onto modern sensibilities. Gaiman's work is full if this sort of thing. A good mundane example is O Brother Where Art Thou? and it's reinterpretation of the Odyssey.

Mind & Magic: In a lot of the modern fantasy I've read magic tends to be non-flashy stuff that relies on the state of mind of both practitioner and observer in order to be visible for what it is. Alan Moore referred to it as "Magical Thinking" in the appendices of From Hell, indicating that the conscious mind draws upon subconscious and cultural symbology in order to create a private language that enables one to perform "works."

Modernity Personified: In much the same way as older traditions feature personifications of places, concepts and objects, so does modern fantasy characterise the technology and ideology that surrounds us. Mobile phones can be used to mystically locate missing individuals, advertising is a mantra of subtle (or overt) mental coercion, there is a god of television. Dan Clowes' Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron is an excellent graphic novel that hints at the bewildering, unknowable nature of the entities that could exist behind the scenery of contemporary life.

What about cribbing "Necroscope" by Brian Lumley? That was a pretty good series for the first three books or so. Still have the never- used WEG Boxed game of that, in pristine condition - too bad, 'cause I really wanted to run it.

The Fisher King is a great example of the genre, in fact if you play out the Arthurian legends in a modern milieu you're pretty much golden.

Add Grimm's fairy tales to the mix and you've got a wealth of adventures right there.  Rumplestiltskin as a loanshark, The questing beast at large in NYC.

There was actually an RPG, called Underworld, published by Adamant Entertainment, that does the subterranean secret stuff in the subways. I think it's out of print.

Also, the Beauty and the Beast television series kind of falls in the modern fantasy category.