Converting Urban Fantasy to Fantasy

The big question is: where is it SET? Is it modern in the here-and-now or in a distant time/place? Fantasy is reliant on worldbuilding. Urban fantasy can cross the boundary between contemporary "things we already know" with tweaks to real world. It still requires worldbuilding, but not as much. True fantasy has to develop all separately from current world. Which do you have?

As someone who likewise sucks at worldbuilding, I recommend urban fantasy to start. It can later develop into its own world. But worlds need all the things THIS world does: religion, monetary system, history, culture, and language. J.K. Rowling managed a fantasy within an urban fantasy wrap. Hogwarts was, in fact, a fantasy as well-developed as Narnia--with all the trappings. And, like Narnia, she pulled someone from this world inside to explore. If you like LoTR, then you'll have to build a true fantasy reality. I think you CAN do it, but development isn't Butt-in-chair writing so to start, I'd go with UF to get words on page. You'll find the ability to create the background and history will develop. It's like a muscle that needs to be trained.

Worldbuilding is, IMO, vastly overrated. Only build what you need as the story develops. A tiny fraction of the readership, at best, will notice the shallowness. Over time, you'll acquire the skills you need.

Worldbuilding is, IMO, vastly overrated. Only build what you need as the story develops. A tiny fraction of the readership, at best, will notice the shallowness. Over time, you'll acquire the skills you need.

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But you only get a readership if you get published first and agents/editors notice things like world-building. Not saying every story needs to have a fully developed world, but the necessary degree of world-building depends on the kind of story you want to tell.

Back to the original question... what is the main conflict of your story? How will that be affected by putting your characters in a modern/urban situation as opposed to a secondary world (rural or urban)? Which version excites you more?

explain why they won't use guns and where the creatures had been hiding for all those years

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And...there's your worldbuilding!

For UF, it really depends on the size of the battle that you're talking about, and the willingness of the participants to keep it a secret - like, no matter how much they want to fight each other, they know making it overly public won't do anyone any favours.

Like, in my 'verse, you've got the...basically the equivalent of the MiB that does a lot of ass-covering for stuff like this. Fine, they may be involved in a lot of it, but they always have a cover story involved, and several decent PR departments working on a variety of explanation scenarios at all times, so that it doesn't always come down to "gas leak" or "military training accident".

They even basically have an OSHI- backup plan when they know a few press releases/talking to the right reporters won't work, and that's a TV show called "Surprise Fiction" which is basically a reality show/candid-camera hybrid, portraying really weird/random things (which people may perceive to be fantastical events), then explaining the mechanics behind them (sort-of Mythbusters style). They do a big, like 2-hour special when something goes really, really wrong, but do enough regular episodes (generally stuff they've just made up themselves) so that it doesn't feel like a cover-up mechanic.

This all works because all parties involved - the Agency themselves, the Faerie courts and assorted smaller factions, despite their allegiances or general opinion about each other, know that getting this stuff out there, and into the public eye would do no good for anyone, and only make all of their lives harder.

So, basically, if you can get the people involved in your battle to acknowledge this - and have it so no-one is stupid enough to live-stream the carnage to the internet, call the press, or throw a goblin (or whatever you're dealing with) corpses into the town square, there would be ways that you could get around needing to make it full fantasy.

I assume that you want the best story possible.

In the best stories, a character is inseparable from its setting. Hobbits work because they live in Middle Earth. Conan works because he lives in Hyperboria. Dracula works because he stalks around Victorian Europe. Marlowe works because he lives in 1930s L.A. Freddy Krueger works because he torments late 20th century teens.

You can transplant any of these characters into 21st century urban life, but it changes their impacts, requires new conflicts and new lines of dialogue which in turn require new values and attitudes. This often dilutes them and can even make them cheesy.

So, my suggestion: the setting and the characters must fit like a jigsaw. Only write urban fantasy if your main characters are naturally urban in their concerns.

If you're horribly worried about whether or not something will 'make sense', then I'd like to refer you to http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/08/21/worldbuilding-briefly/

Simply, you won't be able to please everyone. 90%, however, is quite attainable.