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Mike Mearls Discusses the First Round of Public D&D Next Playtests
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<blockquote data-quote="Keldryn" data-source="post: 5929636" data-attributes="member: 11999"><p>From my perspective, it's a strength, not a flaw. </p><p></p><p>I'm strongly in favor of archetypal roles in RPGs, particularly in D&D. My gaming groups tend to have a roughly 50/50 split between dedicated players and casual players (usually spouses). The traditional D&D archetypes tend to match up reasonably well with what a non-gamer would expect, based on their exposure to legends, fantasy movies, and fantasy literature. It's an easy point of reference for getting into the game quickly. There was a purpose in narrowly defining the non-human races in such a way.</p><p></p><p>Diverse elven cultures work well in <em>Elfquest</em>, for example, because the elves are the point of reference in that story. Humans are basically all just primitive savages, at least until <em>Kings of the Broken Wheel.</em></p><p></p><p>There is certainly a place for culture-neutral racial design in D&D, but I don't think that place is in the core rules. The core rules of DDN should embrace the common fantasy archetypes (or stereotypes, if you prefer), so that a new player can figure out the game and be playing in a short period of time. There's plenty of room in the modular expansions to allow for more flexible non-stereotyped races. I would much rather not have the core rules cluttered with statements about how "this race can have features X, Y, or Z, depending on his or her cultural background; assume the default of X if you wish to play an archetypal member of this race." </p><p></p><p>Keep the core rules light, clean, and focused on common fantasy archetypes. Embrace common fantasy stereotypes, as they make it easy to get into the game with a minimal amount of exposition and character creation choices. Have advanced modules ready on Day One so that the players who desire more detail and flexibility can have it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Keldryn, post: 5929636, member: 11999"] From my perspective, it's a strength, not a flaw. I'm strongly in favor of archetypal roles in RPGs, particularly in D&D. My gaming groups tend to have a roughly 50/50 split between dedicated players and casual players (usually spouses). The traditional D&D archetypes tend to match up reasonably well with what a non-gamer would expect, based on their exposure to legends, fantasy movies, and fantasy literature. It's an easy point of reference for getting into the game quickly. There was a purpose in narrowly defining the non-human races in such a way. Diverse elven cultures work well in [I]Elfquest[/I], for example, because the elves are the point of reference in that story. Humans are basically all just primitive savages, at least until [I]Kings of the Broken Wheel.[/I] There is certainly a place for culture-neutral racial design in D&D, but I don't think that place is in the core rules. The core rules of DDN should embrace the common fantasy archetypes (or stereotypes, if you prefer), so that a new player can figure out the game and be playing in a short period of time. There's plenty of room in the modular expansions to allow for more flexible non-stereotyped races. I would much rather not have the core rules cluttered with statements about how "this race can have features X, Y, or Z, depending on his or her cultural background; assume the default of X if you wish to play an archetypal member of this race." Keep the core rules light, clean, and focused on common fantasy archetypes. Embrace common fantasy stereotypes, as they make it easy to get into the game with a minimal amount of exposition and character creation choices. Have advanced modules ready on Day One so that the players who desire more detail and flexibility can have it. [/QUOTE]
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Mike Mearls Discusses the First Round of Public D&D Next Playtests
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