D&D General How To Reconcile the Settings

[Son of the Serpent]

I really wonder why this would be worth the extra effort, for you or a game company...

It only takes effort the first time. Curves can be standardized and generalized. If you use computer resources to fast track things it can be really simple and not time consumptive at all to apply it generally too.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

It only takes effort the first time. Curves can be standardized and generalized. If you use computer resources to fast track things it can be really simple and not time consumptive at all to apply it generally too.

Even if it's only once, seems like a good amount of effort to put into just making different genders mechanically different.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

Even if it's only once, seems like a good amount of effort to put into just making different genders mechanically different.

I barely had to lift a finger. It definitely did not take much effort.

It is something that can effortlessly be extrapolated out to most npcs of an unlimited number and variety of races for the rest of all time (lol) which took far less time than it would to come up with and fully stat oh...say...a pretty decent original undead template that is well balanced well fluffed makes in universe sense and is creatively original.

That is a massive pay off for barely any work when you think of it that way and give it its proper and due consideration. The template example makes my point pretty well.

Compare the two.
Each only take effort once.
Each only takes a minor amount of effort (IMO) and very little time.
Only one of them will improve the game nearly continuously at nearly all times in nearly all cases in perpetuity.
Only one is only applicable when applied to a very specific scenario.

 

[Mecheon]

oh ow oh Mr. Kotter Mr. Kotter Um Mecheon What about us gamers who never played WOW and only know about from the cool commercials.

Warcraft 3 was the jam. There's a reason an entire genre of video-games (AoS/Mobas) now exists due to that. Plus you could totally make a WC3 map that was a D&D dungeon crawl.

So? I'm not playing WOW. If orcs are just misunderstood savages in your campaign, go for it. In my world they aren't human. If I want moral dilemmas or options for an enemy that you may be able to negotiate with there are still plenty of options.

Warcraft is still one of the bigger fantasy franchises these days, so sure you've got people who played in 1E, but for the generation coming forward? Their iconic Death Knight is going to be Arthas, not Soth

 

[Remathilis]

You can still have fun but it's not really classic Greyhawk.

You're basically playing FR with a Greyhawk skin at that point. What makes GH different than FR if it's anything goes?

Artificer could fit FR maybe, Dragonlance maybe, Midgard yes, Spelljammer yes,

Incorrect. You are playing Dungeons & Dragons with the Greyhawk skin. It's perfectly acceptable and valid, and to say otherwise whiffs of badwrongfun. Settings are not defined by the options that existed at their creation, they grow and adapt as the game does.

 

[Hussar]

If I’m in 8th England I’m killing a Viking on sight or running for my life. That is a specific setting. Fast forward several centuries and I would do neither.

Considering the large numbers of vikings that settled in England and married into English families, I'm going to guess that you would be the outlier here. The clashes between Vikings and the English of the time were nowhere near that xenophobic.

 

[Oofta]

Warcraft 3 was the jam. There's a reason an entire genre of video-games (AoS/Mobas) now exists due to that. Plus you could totally make a WC3 map that was a D&D dungeon crawl.


Warcraft is still one of the bigger fantasy franchises these days, so sure you've got people who played in 1E, but for the generation coming forward? Their iconic Death Knight is going to be Arthas, not Soth

Then I'll explain these are LOTR orcs and not World of Warcrack orcs. If I have to explain anything. I mean, after all the many of the trolls on Netflix's Troll Hunter SPOILER ALERT are pretty nice fellows. That doesn't mean there's going to be a Blinky the troll in my world. I don't have to cater to every variation of every creature ever created in fiction.

 

[Arnwolf666]

Considering the large numbers of vikings that settled in England and married into English families, I'm going to guess that you would be the outlier here. The clashes between Vikings and the English of the time were nowhere near that xenophobic.

i meant 8th century England. A very dangerous time and place to see a Viking.

 

[Helldritch]

As for the races:
The amount of races in a setting is solely on the DM's shoulders. Of course, in a Darwinian world like ours it would be highly probable to see that many races survive and thrive. But we play in worlds where magic exists and gods are real. A god is angry with a nation? Well, he opens a portal to a world where orcs are abundant! Or maybe he opens a portal to a worlds filled with dragons and pick one (or a few) to throw at the nation just to show them to show proper respect. A few members of the invading horde survive and voilà! A new specie is walking the face of your fantasy setting (and maybe a few more dragons...).

As for the gender related stats.
I began to play in the early 80s with AD&D and these were the norm back then. This is a fantasy setting/game. I have women as players and I don't want them to be pushed into the same classes over and over again. I currently have a female dwarven barbarian and female human monk in my group. I don't want to gimp one or the other for the sake of realism. This is fantasy. And if it happens that a women can be stronger than a grizzly bear so be it! More over, I prefer to see high stats being the way you use your strength/dexterity (or whatever stat it maybe) than a real potential. I would not return to that way of creating/playing characters.

As for the Tiefling and other non standard races...
I always had a bad feeling about them in any of my campaigns. Although I don't restrict their appearance, they do come from either demonic or infernal stock. They face a lot of racism from the townsfolk (even more than half-orcs do) and are often attacked on sight unless they are accompanied by some holy men from a ''good" religion/cause. And even then, everything must go smoothly in town or the tiefling will be accused of wrong doing. I do play in Greyhawk and many races suffers from racism in human towns. Half-orcs, Tieflings, Drows (which will be killed on sight). Even looking a bit to much like a pure Suel will get you strange, unthrusting, suspicious looks (for their role in the Greyhawk wars). Gnomes will raise eyebrows as will dwarves, elves and half-elves. People will not be afraid of them, but very curious (and sometime they will flirt with elves and half elves). My campaigns are humano centric but I do allow a lot of thing. The player must be ready to live with his/her choice.

 

[Zardnaar]

How do people feel about suggested races and classes on some settings.
Eg if you want to play a Dwarf wizard on Greyhawk you'll be the only one failing that very very rare.

GH is an option for my next game if the players choose it I plan on being somewhat hard assed. But it's opt in (Greyhawk, Midgard, Pirates, Vikings pick one).