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Reassesing Robert E Howards influence on D&D +
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<blockquote data-quote="Willie the Duck" data-source="post: 9245230" data-attributes="member: 6799660"><p>Yeah, tone is definitely a huge factor in all this. I briefly touched on that with the Dryad -- they can effectively 'kill off' your character, but it is barely treated as a real threat. Also something that medieval people (who believed in this) would be terrified of charmed and taken away forever, but in the game it is treated as a neutral creature's boycrush action. </p><p></p><p>That's kind of what I was alluding to with mind-effecting abilities (and others associated with fey) somewhat poorly handled. I was recently re-listening to Overly Sarcastic Production's review of the god Pan, and was reminded that Mycenaean Greek Pan was terrifying -- he drove people mad (so much that his faithful might tear others to bits in their madness), or away in terror. That was scary to people. In D&D, not so much. At least not from things that look like cuddly woodland friends and are (as you point out) treated in-genre as vaguely-dangerous tricksters at worst. Also at least not when the same class of powers are held by things like madness-inducing gorilla-beetle hybrids listed as Chaotic Evil and noted for eating humans. </p><p></p><p>I had forgotten about Anglesey. Yes, that's pretty straightforward. Overall prevalence and what part of the tale was Roman propaganda vs. what we know was what I was thinking of, and this is a definitive instance. </p><p></p><p>As to the Roman attitudes, absolutely. <em>They </em>clearly had a strong negative reaction to the Druids and related culture (perhaps because of the bloody resistance to empyreal conquest), and (some amongst them) appeared to really believe both the exoticization and barbarization interpretations. </p><p></p><p>I would love more tales where it is unclear if the special event was real, or just believed by the characters in-narrative.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Willie the Duck, post: 9245230, member: 6799660"] Yeah, tone is definitely a huge factor in all this. I briefly touched on that with the Dryad -- they can effectively 'kill off' your character, but it is barely treated as a real threat. Also something that medieval people (who believed in this) would be terrified of charmed and taken away forever, but in the game it is treated as a neutral creature's boycrush action. That's kind of what I was alluding to with mind-effecting abilities (and others associated with fey) somewhat poorly handled. I was recently re-listening to Overly Sarcastic Production's review of the god Pan, and was reminded that Mycenaean Greek Pan was terrifying -- he drove people mad (so much that his faithful might tear others to bits in their madness), or away in terror. That was scary to people. In D&D, not so much. At least not from things that look like cuddly woodland friends and are (as you point out) treated in-genre as vaguely-dangerous tricksters at worst. Also at least not when the same class of powers are held by things like madness-inducing gorilla-beetle hybrids listed as Chaotic Evil and noted for eating humans. I had forgotten about Anglesey. Yes, that's pretty straightforward. Overall prevalence and what part of the tale was Roman propaganda vs. what we know was what I was thinking of, and this is a definitive instance. As to the Roman attitudes, absolutely. [I]They [/I]clearly had a strong negative reaction to the Druids and related culture (perhaps because of the bloody resistance to empyreal conquest), and (some amongst them) appeared to really believe both the exoticization and barbarization interpretations. I would love more tales where it is unclear if the special event was real, or just believed by the characters in-narrative. [/QUOTE]
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