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What should the default setting be for 4th edition?
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<blockquote data-quote="jdrakeh" data-source="post: 3045014" data-attributes="member: 13892"><p>Well, the fact is, those races aren't a staple in a very <em>large</em> part of fantasy as a genre, just in the most <em>accessible</em> fiction of that genre (most notably Professor Tolkien's work). Even amongst D&D's listed sources of inspiration (per the AD&D 1e DMG), these demi-human racea are only present in roughly half of them. </p><p></p><p>Assuming the presence of demi-humans by default sets the stage for a very specific kind of fantasy, while ignoring others. Now, it's true that players can ignore the default assumption concerning demi-humans, but in doing so, you're houseruling the game to do something other than what it is designed to do <em>by default</em>. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm not saying that you don't need rules for magic but that, as they appear in the PHB, the D&D spell casting rules aren't very flexible and cleave very closely to specific assumptions about magic (even the core class variations introduce very little deviation from these default assumptions). Again, yes, you can change it up -- but that's not how magic is implemented <em>by default</em>. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Oh, I agree wholehearetdly, but the fact that you can ignore it doesn't change the fact that the game <em>defaults</em> to worlds of black and white morality. Indeed, the very fact you <em>must/i] ignore alignment to get away from that black and white morality highlights my point about default assumptions very well <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Again, while it's true that you can introduce non-spell casting priests, they're not what the game defaults to. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>And that's the point -- the game <em>defaults</em> to a certain number of setting assumptions (i.e., automatically assumes certain things to be true of all settings designed for use with it). Defaults can certainly be changed, added to, or ignored -- but that doesn't alter the reality that, by design, these are the assumptions that the game is built around.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>I guess the point is that, even without a list of setting-specific deities, D&D already has a great many built-in setting assumptions that don't apply to the whole of fanatsy as a genre. Indeed, contrary to popular belief, the only place that <em>all</em> of these default assumptions appear together is in D&D or fiction based on it. D&D really is its own genre mode.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jdrakeh, post: 3045014, member: 13892"] Well, the fact is, those races aren't a staple in a very [i]large[/i] part of fantasy as a genre, just in the most [i]accessible[/i] fiction of that genre (most notably Professor Tolkien's work). Even amongst D&D's listed sources of inspiration (per the AD&D 1e DMG), these demi-human racea are only present in roughly half of them. Assuming the presence of demi-humans by default sets the stage for a very specific kind of fantasy, while ignoring others. Now, it's true that players can ignore the default assumption concerning demi-humans, but in doing so, you're houseruling the game to do something other than what it is designed to do [i]by default[/i]. I'm not saying that you don't need rules for magic but that, as they appear in the PHB, the D&D spell casting rules aren't very flexible and cleave very closely to specific assumptions about magic (even the core class variations introduce very little deviation from these default assumptions). Again, yes, you can change it up -- but that's not how magic is implemented [i]by default[/i]. Oh, I agree wholehearetdly, but the fact that you can ignore it doesn't change the fact that the game [i]defaults[/i] to worlds of black and white morality. Indeed, the very fact you [i]must/i] ignore alignment to get away from that black and white morality highlights my point about default assumptions very well ;) Again, while it's true that you can introduce non-spell casting priests, they're not what the game defaults to. And that's the point -- the game [i]defaults[/i] to a certain number of setting assumptions (i.e., automatically assumes certain things to be true of all settings designed for use with it). Defaults can certainly be changed, added to, or ignored -- but that doesn't alter the reality that, by design, these are the assumptions that the game is built around. I guess the point is that, even without a list of setting-specific deities, D&D already has a great many built-in setting assumptions that don't apply to the whole of fanatsy as a genre. Indeed, contrary to popular belief, the only place that [i]all[/i] of these default assumptions appear together is in D&D or fiction based on it. D&D really is its own genre mode.[/i] [/QUOTE]
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What should the default setting be for 4th edition?
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