D&D 5E Is Neil Gaiman Wrong?

Northern Phoenix · May 29, 2020

I think you get it by now, but Gaiman was speaking in metaphor, "Dragon" being a seemingly invincible force that at a first glance seems impossible to overcome, which could be anything from an abusive parent to cancer. More literally, a Dragon is a fictional creature that can be as invincible or vulnerable as the individual setting and/or work of fiction needs it to be.

Voadam · May 29, 2020

Lackofname said:
What level magical item is a mecha?

Depends on the Mechs as there are a number of Mech options.

IMO if you are going to use them give one to each member of the party, it is not a great experience to be the leg lion of your five person Voltron or to be a passenger as the one pilot does their thing. I'm looking at you one scene from Banewarrens.

Bohandas · May 30, 2020

If it bleeds we can kill it

HomegrownHydra · May 30, 2020

Bohandas said:
If it bleeds we can kill it

Bohandas · May 30, 2020

Lackofname said:
What level magical item is a mecha?

Apparatus of Kwalish (aka Apparatus of the Crab) CL 19 (yet item level 20 according to Magic Item Compendium)

Sunsword · May 30, 2020

MytosBR said:
I have a player that totally despise the idea of beings from the size of a dragon's toe facing a Gargantuan Magical Intelligent beast. He can't concede on that. There is no argument, no magic weapon, no number of warriors, nothing. In his words "We would need an army, all fully equipped with very powerful weapons, and a lot of luck to get a small chance to survive. There is no such thing as a dragon hunt."

To me, this is the case of one player not buying into the story they are supposed to be sharing with others.

Its totally unreal that someone can heal to full health in 8 hours, but we accept to play the game.

This player needs to realize it's not just about them and if they can't do that the group needs to decide if it's better off moving on.

Doug McCrae · May 30, 2020

TheCosmicKid said:
D&D is designed first and foremost to be a fairy tale simulator.

Is it tho? It started off as a medieval wargame, Chainmail. Dragons and other fantasy elements were added in the fantasy supplement. That wargame was the main source for D&D.

The fairy tale elements, such as they are*, were made to conform to the wargame rules.

*Most of the fiction from which D&D derives, including The Lord of the Rings, is too concerned with making sense, with internal logic, with "great clomping nerdism", to count as fairy tale.

the Jester · May 30, 2020

Reynard said:
I just had a 15th level TPK. That wouldn't happen to the Avengers or JLA.

That's not actually a safe assumption. The Avengers (and the whole Marvel Universe, minus a vanishingly few escapees) got TPKed before the newer iteration of Secret Wars, later return aside. In fact, so did the heroes assembled to fight the original Secret War, although Doom later brought them back with the power of the Beyonder. And the original X-Men basically TPKed when they initially stormed Krakoa. There are other instances, too- it's not common, but top tier superhero groups do get wiped out.

TheCosmicKid · May 30, 2020

Doug McCrae said:
Is it tho? It started off as a medieval wargame, Chainmail. Dragons and other fantasy elements were added in the fantasy supplement. That wargame was the main source for D&D.

And yet I don't think you could say that "being a medieval wargame" is currently a primary design goal for the game's writers, nor has it been for the past forty-odd years. Evolution is weird like that sometimes.

Doug McCrae said:
*Most of the fiction from which D&D derives, including The Lord of the Rings, is too concerned with making sense, with internal logic, with "great clomping nerdism", to count as fairy tale.

Tolkien would disagree.

Doug McCrae · May 30, 2020

TheCosmicKid said:
And yet I don't think you could say that "being a medieval wargame" is currently a primary design goal for the game's writers, nor has it been for the past forty-odd years. Evolution is weird like that sometimes.

If you think that OD&D is not a fairy tale simulator but 5e D&D is, then which changes to the rules have made it so?

D&D 5E Is Neil Gaiman Wrong?

Northern Phoenix

Adventurer

Voadam

Legend

Bohandas

Hero

HomegrownHydra

Adventurer

Bohandas

Hero

Sunsword

Adventurer

Doug McCrae

Legend

the Jester

Legend

TheCosmicKid

Hero

Doug McCrae

Legend

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