Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
An In-Depth Review of Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="JThursby" data-source="post: 8708046" data-attributes="member: 7025596"><p>Blow for blow, I prefer Grimdark more in settings that try to pull inspiration for historical Earth. The best "hopepunk" setting I can think of is Star Trek of the TNG and DS9 era, which works very hard to distinguish the humans of the future as a product of their exceptional enviroment and upbringing. The Federation of Planets and Starfleet do not behave like institutions from, or have the culture of, modern or ancient Earth. They are not a superior society because they have embraced a particular political doctrine or outlook on life from our present or past, they've invented a new one out of necessity. When you have a portrayal of ancient societies as having better answers to the human condition it comes across as naive at best; it's the one thing I really do not like about Tolkien's writing, despite his skill at storytelling.</p><p></p><p>To pull an example from the book in question, the "Life in the Citadel" section has an array of implausible solutions and outcomes. A citizens political affiliation and specific rights are compulsory based on their lineage, yet this is described as paradoxically resulting in a transparent and free political system. The idea that a citizen would not want to be subordinate to their cultural traditions as codified by their cultures law and representatives, or have political desires that align with anything other than their heritage, is not addressed. The central government controls all housing, land and food distribution like in most ancient societies, but this is portrayed as egalitarian and efficient rather than totalitarian and tyrannical. Peoples wants and desires are portrayed as being predictable based on their lineage and station within that lineage. This is the central contradiction within the citadel that makes it implausible for me; a citizen within the citadel is by design entirely subordinate to their heritage and their elders within it, a political structure of the ancient world that is considered oppressive and wrong, yet this is supposedly a superior form of society because the people of the Citadel are assumed to have no identity or wants outside of their assigned heritage. If this contradiction was more adequately addressed within the book it would be much easier to excuse, but as it stands any conflict within the citadel is hand-waved away as being the result of the odd miscreant or malicious foreigner.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JThursby, post: 8708046, member: 7025596"] Blow for blow, I prefer Grimdark more in settings that try to pull inspiration for historical Earth. The best "hopepunk" setting I can think of is Star Trek of the TNG and DS9 era, which works very hard to distinguish the humans of the future as a product of their exceptional enviroment and upbringing. The Federation of Planets and Starfleet do not behave like institutions from, or have the culture of, modern or ancient Earth. They are not a superior society because they have embraced a particular political doctrine or outlook on life from our present or past, they've invented a new one out of necessity. When you have a portrayal of ancient societies as having better answers to the human condition it comes across as naive at best; it's the one thing I really do not like about Tolkien's writing, despite his skill at storytelling. To pull an example from the book in question, the "Life in the Citadel" section has an array of implausible solutions and outcomes. A citizens political affiliation and specific rights are compulsory based on their lineage, yet this is described as paradoxically resulting in a transparent and free political system. The idea that a citizen would not want to be subordinate to their cultural traditions as codified by their cultures law and representatives, or have political desires that align with anything other than their heritage, is not addressed. The central government controls all housing, land and food distribution like in most ancient societies, but this is portrayed as egalitarian and efficient rather than totalitarian and tyrannical. Peoples wants and desires are portrayed as being predictable based on their lineage and station within that lineage. This is the central contradiction within the citadel that makes it implausible for me; a citizen within the citadel is by design entirely subordinate to their heritage and their elders within it, a political structure of the ancient world that is considered oppressive and wrong, yet this is supposedly a superior form of society because the people of the Citadel are assumed to have no identity or wants outside of their assigned heritage. If this contradiction was more adequately addressed within the book it would be much easier to excuse, but as it stands any conflict within the citadel is hand-waved away as being the result of the odd miscreant or malicious foreigner. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
An In-Depth Review of Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
Top