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Do you plan to adopt D&D5.5One2024Redux?
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<blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 9332576" data-attributes="member: 6915329"><p>It's not like Basic or AD&D did it any better.</p><p></p><p>Let's face it: much like almost every other fantasy or science fiction franchise out there, D&D has to rely on a "Planet of Hats" for the races because otherwise, it would be complicated and take up too much room. </p><p></p><p></p><p>But then we are left to wonder why high elves and wood elves, or mountain dwarfs and hill dwarfs, are so biologically different as to give different bonuses, yet humans from the woodlands, the desert, and the tundra are all the same.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Those are your house rules though--the AD&D books are pretty silent on the subject, unless you use the (optional!) nonweapon proficiencies in 2e. In 3e, everyone was literate save the barbarians (unless they multiclassed, at which point they magically became literate), and in 5e, literacy is assumed for everyone, including barbarians. I don't know 4e's opinion, but I'm guessing it's closer to 3e and 5e than AD&D. Unrealistic? Well... there is <a href="https://www.medievalists.net/2023/11/mythbusting-illiteracy-in-the-middle-ages/" target="_blank">some evidence</a> that medieval people were quite a bit more literate than we had previously thought--I found <a href="https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3096" target="_blank">another site </a>which suggested that by 1500, half the population could read, although not necessarily write. </p><p></p><p>(Plus, that's a rather humanocentric view of a setting. Why would elves, dwarfs, and halflings be as illiterate as humans?)</p><p></p><p>And, of course, this assumes a standard medieval time period. Eberron is higher-tech and has schools--my upcoming Victorian-ish game is like that as well. In a setting where there's gods of writing or knowledge (such as Deneir in the Realms), it's logical to assume that a duty of the clergy might be to go around and teach as many people to read as possible. </p><p></p><p></p><p>OK? I don't think that having proficiency in leatherworking is a feature in any 5e background--a proficiency, yes, but not a feature.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Faolyn, post: 9332576, member: 6915329"] It's not like Basic or AD&D did it any better. Let's face it: much like almost every other fantasy or science fiction franchise out there, D&D has to rely on a "Planet of Hats" for the races because otherwise, it would be complicated and take up too much room. But then we are left to wonder why high elves and wood elves, or mountain dwarfs and hill dwarfs, are so biologically different as to give different bonuses, yet humans from the woodlands, the desert, and the tundra are all the same. Those are your house rules though--the AD&D books are pretty silent on the subject, unless you use the (optional!) nonweapon proficiencies in 2e. In 3e, everyone was literate save the barbarians (unless they multiclassed, at which point they magically became literate), and in 5e, literacy is assumed for everyone, including barbarians. I don't know 4e's opinion, but I'm guessing it's closer to 3e and 5e than AD&D. Unrealistic? Well... there is [URL='https://www.medievalists.net/2023/11/mythbusting-illiteracy-in-the-middle-ages/']some evidence[/URL] that medieval people were quite a bit more literate than we had previously thought--I found [URL='https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3096']another site [/URL]which suggested that by 1500, half the population could read, although not necessarily write. (Plus, that's a rather humanocentric view of a setting. Why would elves, dwarfs, and halflings be as illiterate as humans?) And, of course, this assumes a standard medieval time period. Eberron is higher-tech and has schools--my upcoming Victorian-ish game is like that as well. In a setting where there's gods of writing or knowledge (such as Deneir in the Realms), it's logical to assume that a duty of the clergy might be to go around and teach as many people to read as possible. OK? I don't think that having proficiency in leatherworking is a feature in any 5e background--a proficiency, yes, but not a feature. [/QUOTE]
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