I'm thinking about DMing a play by post for a few friends, and I've decided that I love Ice and Fire, and it'd make an interesting and fun setting. What I'm having trouble deciding is this: Do i want to make it take place IN westeros, or do I want to allow for more high-fantasy? I can say that magic is newly coming back with the dragons (mentioned in one of the chapters with Daenerys), and that full blooded races of non-humans are rare but playable. This would make my world diverge slightly from the world of the books (which i do want) but it might break the world a bit. another option is to make it very low fantasy, and allow only humans and no magic whatsoever for PCs. The last option is to make a Westeros-like world in which magic and other high-fantasy elements are perfectly integrated into the world.
I'm a big fan of high fantasy, so the first and third options look like fun. Both could be a lot of work, but the second may be too restrictive, and to be honest, a bit un-inspired.
Thoughts?
Just as an aside: I'm thinking about having the pcs start in the fighting pits in Meereen, have a few gladatorial matches together, and then escape a few days/weeks before Daenerys' attack on the city. They can travel wherever, they please, and from there the storyline of the books will play out in the background (the war of five kings will have started, but word would not yet have reached the PCs.