Image credits:
https://artofthegenre.com/blogs/news/16324328-classic-d-d-module-back-cover-art-trivia-part-one
https://www.enworld.org/threads/art-that-exemplifies-d-d-to-you.671360/page-7
https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/what-is-happening-in-this-classic-d-d-art-piece.822810/
Welcome to the April 2026 OSR Blog Carnival
For those of you unfamiliar, the RPG Blog Carnival is hosted by different blogs every month covering all sorts of topics. It’s put together by the wonderful Scot Newbury at Of Dice and Dragons who brings it all together. It’s great, and I recommend you go back in the annals of the carnival’s history looking for interesting topics and read some of the stellar articles written over them! Some date all the way back to the pre-historic days of 2008!!
This month’s topic is OSR Fantasy/Elf-Games
What are Elf-Games?
As far as I am able to tell, “elf-games” started out as an insult “story gamers” would use on people who just wanted to kick down doors, fight monsters, and get treasures. Elf-games were generic, blunt, boring, not mature, gritty, or enlightened like story games.
Of course, if you’re people like me, you like kicking down doors, fighting monsters, and getting treasure. So, for many, it became a self-deprecating statement to refer to oneself as someone who likes “RPG elf-games” and it quickly summarized what you mean when you talk about playing RPGs.
All this to say, “elf-games” describe both a style of play and an idea of the setting. It is fantasy all its own, often synonymous with OSR fantasy.
What is OSR Fantasy?
This is where the discussion will lie! What is classic OSR fantasy?
It’s complicated!
What are the sources of inspiration? The Appendix N? Sure, but so many of those sources cannot exist in each other’s universes. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is where we get thieves’ guilds and so many other concepts, but it’s totally alien to the fantasies of Jack Vance. If you ask one table they may tell you that you can’t have classic OSR fantasy without magic being explained as super-science while another table insists that laser pistols have no place at the D&D table.
There are even some that argue that D&D is not actually OSR, and that the term/movement has entirely left the Trad/Classic models of play behind! I’d love to see an article over that one!
That all said, there is some agreement over what OSR Fantasy/Elf-Games ARE (see TV Tropes’ opinion on the matter of generic fantasy), how else could whole communities be based around them? So, what makes something a classic OSR fantasy? I’m still not entirely sure. Here’s some topic ideas:
- What is a setting you consider to be classic OSR fantasy? Talk about it, pitch it to us, tell us why it’s a classic!
- What about a specific ruleset do you feel lends itself to run elf-games and OSR fantasy settings better than others? Tell us why you love it or why you prefer something else even if this tool fits the job better than others.
- What is a checklist that you consider necessary for OSR Fantasy/Elf-Games? Do elves even on the list???
- Does OSR Fantasy or the idea of Elf-Games even need to take place in a fantasy setting? If not, what are some other examples or settings you can think for it take place in?
- What are elements of game design that make or break something being considered OSR Fantasy/an Elf-Game? Really draw some lines in the sand, I want to hear some real “No True Scotsman” arguments
- What are things that should be ADDED to the classic understanding of OSR Fantasy/Elf-Games? What is SO IMPORTANT it should be seen as a staple, or a newer invention that you’d like to see become more common in settings/rulesets?
- What are some things that should NO LONGER be considered in the classic understanding of OSR Fantasy/Elf-Games? What has overstayed it’s welcome or is no longer relevant in the modern understanding. HAVE ELVES OVERSTAYED THEIR WELCOME???
- What makes your OSR Fantasy/Elf-Game unique while keeping it a classic OSR Fantasy/Elf-Game? What makes it special?
How to participate?
If you write something, make something, describe something, riddle me something, recommend something, design something, or do anything in-between related to the meta-discussion of OSR Fantasy/Elf-Games link this article to it and send it to me. I’ll include it in the round-up at the end of the month.
Some ways to reach me:
- reese.surles@wardagainstevil.com
- @ReeseSurles on Twitter/X
- Join my Discord and post it on there
Thank you for reading!
Until we meet again,
GOOD LUCK ON YOUR ADVENTURES
Ward Against Evil 
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