D&D 5E MTOF: Elves are gender-swapping reincarnates and I am on board with it

[TheCosmicKid]

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The technology of changing the shape of the human body is getting more and more advanced; consider the difference between what's possible today, and what was possible when Gygax wrote 1E. The role of the Divine in that process is arguable, as with most matters involving the role of the Divine in the real world.

Fiction sometimes follows reality, sometimes surges ahead. Consider the difference in gender roles in the real world, between the 1960s and the 1980s; then consider the differences in gender roles in Starfleet, between the era of Captain Kirk and the era of Captain Picard. What if Kirk had been the first Earth human to learn about the Trill symbiotes, and their relationship with their hosts's sex and gender?

To quote, well, you, from three posts ago: "this is a thread about elves".

 

[Riley37]

OK, you asked why D&D doesn't follow the path of setting-beutral systems: the answer is "People (who pay money for D&D) don't want that, so they don't make it."

When and where did I ask that?

Why are you providing answers, to questions I never asked?

Are you doing something other than trolling me? If so, what exactly are you doing?

 

[Sunseeker]

Besides, if you don't like that a special ability specifically references "Corellion" a "god" then do what the Persians did: demote gods to legendary figures.

 

[Hussar]

That legal for home play, but its against the AL rules so its against the rules of organized play. Clerics and those who take the Acolyte Feat has to choose a deity from either the PHB FR and Monster Deity lists, SCAG, MTOFs. Its right in the Adventurer's League Players Guide v7 except for the mention of MTOFs which has its own rules document at least umtil they update the ALPG to v8.

However, again, this is not any different than it was back in the day either. If you played Living Greyhawk, Living FR or Living Eberron, then you had to choose clerics from those pantheons. The argument on the table is that 5e has somehow changed things. It hasn't. It's identical to what came before.

 

[Parmandur]

GURPs, the Hero System, and Chaosium pioneered the separation of "here are the mechanics" and "here is the setting" back in the 1980s. D&D *still* hasn't joined that revolution...

The relevant portion, wherein the question of "why not?" can be inferred: D&D has not joined this "revolution" for the simple reason that the D&D customer base does not want this separation, radically so. Doesn't mean that wanting it is wrong, but it hasn't and won't happen for that basic reason.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The relevant portion, wherein the question of "why not?" can be inferred: D&D has not joined this "revolution" for the simple reason that the D&D customer base does not want this separation, radically so. Doesn't mean that wanting it is wrong, but it hasn't and won't happen for that basic reason.

Agreed.

HERO is my favorite rpg system, bar none. But I don’t want D&D to be HERO, I want it to be D&D.

It’s mean...I love ribeye steaks and I love lox. But I don’t want my ribeye to be more like lox, nor my lox more like ribeyes.

 

[Parmandur]

Agreed.

HERO is my favorite rpg system, bar none. But I don’t want D&D to be HERO, I want it to be D&D.

It’s mean...I love ribeye steaks and I love lox. But I don’t want my ribeye to be more like lox, nor my lox more like ribeyes.

Setting and RPG is a funny thing: most of the really long lasting systems seem to have a strong setting to refer back to, even Hero has the Champions universe. Some, like Glorantha, become bigger than the system.

 

[Riley37]

The relevant portion, wherein the question of "why not?" can be inferred: D&D has not joined this "revolution" for the simple reason that the D&D customer base does not want this separation, radically so. Doesn't mean that wanting it is wrong, but it hasn't and won't happen for that basic reason.

I pointed out that others have created games with rules-setting separation. I didn't ask any questions about TSR or WotC, nor about Shadowrun, nor about FATAL. When I mention that Toyota makes hybrid-engine cars, that is NOT a question asking why General Motors does not make such cars.

Your declaration that you are intentionally trolling me can be inferred. Stop.

 

[Parmandur]

I pointed out that others have created games with rules-setting separation. I didn't ask any questions about TSR or WotC, nor about Shadowrun, nor about FATAL. When I mention that Toyota makes hybrid-engine cars, that is NOT a question asking why General Motors does not make such cars.

Your declaration that you are intentionally trolling me can be inferred. Stop.

Physician, heal thyself. Forgive me for discussing in the discussion forum.

 

[gyor]

*sigh*

Just for the sake of total clarity on the actual & official 5e rules of the game... I am going to quote page #56 of the 5e PHB, under the entry entitled "Creating a Cleric", the last sentence of the very first paragraph states unequivocally: "Check with your DM to learn which deities are in your campaign."

So, upon checking with the DM, hopefully they will have read the actual rules, and can helpfully quote page #10 of the 5e DMG, under the entry entitled "Gods of your World", the very first paragraph states unequivocally: "As far as the games rules are concerned, it doesn't matter if your world has hundreds of deities or a church devoted to a single god. In rules terms, clerics choose domains, not deities..."

Regarding the AL, the so-called deities of the Forgotten Realms are simply intermediaries for imbuing clerics with spells. The cleric is required to choose a "deity", it does not articulate any requirements regarding the character's relationship to that entity, nor does it even require the cleric to actually worship the "deity"... The cleric could be a devout Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist, etc... that flat-out rejects the Forgotten Realms "deities"... How? It's easy! Just keep reading page #56 of the 5e PHB, since it goes on to state: "Once you've chosen a deity, consider your cleric's relationship to that god. Did you enter this service willingly? Or did the god choose you, impelling you into service with no regard for your wishes?"

There you go... the Forgotten Realms "deities" can grant you spells, thereby enabling you to be a Cleric, but they can't require you to worship them!
Sounds like a great character idea to me!

...I'll circle back to the MTOF Elves in a subsequent post. (Spoiler Alert: It's all good.)

The Forgotten Realms doesn't have Christianity, Islam, ect...

And yes your relationship with your God is up to the player, but if they are a cleric they DO have a functing relationship with their God, after all they still have spells.