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The First Person To Ever Play A Wizard: A Short Clip
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7704404" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>I show him/her/them at 6, so all is well. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>Which is cool, but there's another way of approaching it: take what little you know of the historical culture, whether accurate or not, and fill in the rest with whatever you can dream up that's at least vaguely consistent. That's kind of how I've been doing it for nigh-on 35 years now.</p><p></p><p>For example: I'm well aware that the Norse and Greek gods were probably quite a bit different in the actual cultures than how I depict them in my game. But so what? I'm out to generate a playable fun game, not give a history lesson.</p><p></p><p>When the DM says "no" that's fair game; not everything is going to fit into every campaign no matter how hard you push. And your example points to a player who seems on the surface to be trying to make it fit by specifically reading up on mechanical and flavourful ideas as to how; the argument here I think is more against the player who doesn't even try to make it fit but just says "it's published, therefore I can use it", leaving it in the DM's lap to somehow make it fit in.</p><p></p><p>It's a matter of trusting the source. Doubtless [MENTION=45197]pming[/MENTION] trusts his friend Chris because they know each other etc., and thus exchanging ideas makes loads of sense (I'm in a similar situation myself). And while I trust TSR/WotC to develop the core of the game I long ago learned not to trust their later add-ons and splats (the 1e Unearthed Arcana taught me that lesson!) and this has been re-proven with each passing edition up to 5e...which somewhat amazingly they haven't managed to butcher yet.</p><p></p><p>To speak bluntly: that's their problem, not mine. No, but it's a sign of some other things; none of them good.</p><p></p><p>Has a player ever - EVER - complained on getting an unexpected benefit to their character: a level out of nowhere, a permanent stat gain, a random magic item that just shows up for no reason? If yes, I'd be surprised.</p><p></p><p>Older D&D liked having those benefits be out there...but also wanted to temper them with the existence of the opposite: penalties, losses, degradation. No reward without risk. Players, of course, complained about the bad side while gleefully accepting the good, so in the long run the good gets baked into the system (see: automatic stat bumps by level in 3e and onward) while the penalties slowly disappear. Ridiculous.</p><p></p><p>What about a DM who *can* tell the difference between LotR and Dragonlance, but just doesn't care? Is that a "real DM, by your - I really have to say rather pretentious - definition?</p><p></p><p>If so, I guess I've been a fake all these years.</p><p></p><p>Lan-"the difference between Game of Thrones and Xena: Warrior Princess - much like LotR and DL - is that X:WP has a sense of humour, making me far more likely to use it for my game"-efan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7704404, member: 29398"] I show him/her/them at 6, so all is well. :) Which is cool, but there's another way of approaching it: take what little you know of the historical culture, whether accurate or not, and fill in the rest with whatever you can dream up that's at least vaguely consistent. That's kind of how I've been doing it for nigh-on 35 years now. For example: I'm well aware that the Norse and Greek gods were probably quite a bit different in the actual cultures than how I depict them in my game. But so what? I'm out to generate a playable fun game, not give a history lesson. When the DM says "no" that's fair game; not everything is going to fit into every campaign no matter how hard you push. And your example points to a player who seems on the surface to be trying to make it fit by specifically reading up on mechanical and flavourful ideas as to how; the argument here I think is more against the player who doesn't even try to make it fit but just says "it's published, therefore I can use it", leaving it in the DM's lap to somehow make it fit in. It's a matter of trusting the source. Doubtless [MENTION=45197]pming[/MENTION] trusts his friend Chris because they know each other etc., and thus exchanging ideas makes loads of sense (I'm in a similar situation myself). And while I trust TSR/WotC to develop the core of the game I long ago learned not to trust their later add-ons and splats (the 1e Unearthed Arcana taught me that lesson!) and this has been re-proven with each passing edition up to 5e...which somewhat amazingly they haven't managed to butcher yet. To speak bluntly: that's their problem, not mine. No, but it's a sign of some other things; none of them good. Has a player ever - EVER - complained on getting an unexpected benefit to their character: a level out of nowhere, a permanent stat gain, a random magic item that just shows up for no reason? If yes, I'd be surprised. Older D&D liked having those benefits be out there...but also wanted to temper them with the existence of the opposite: penalties, losses, degradation. No reward without risk. Players, of course, complained about the bad side while gleefully accepting the good, so in the long run the good gets baked into the system (see: automatic stat bumps by level in 3e and onward) while the penalties slowly disappear. Ridiculous. What about a DM who *can* tell the difference between LotR and Dragonlance, but just doesn't care? Is that a "real DM, by your - I really have to say rather pretentious - definition? If so, I guess I've been a fake all these years. Lan-"the difference between Game of Thrones and Xena: Warrior Princess - much like LotR and DL - is that X:WP has a sense of humour, making me far more likely to use it for my game"-efan [/QUOTE]
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