Is "A Wizard Did It" Acceptable Worldbuiling?

[S'mon]

The original quote: "Dungeons - the Underworld - are the Realm of Chaos. Chaos doesn't make sense"

If it doesn't make sense, it can't be extrapolated from. Any learning from this location is inapplicable to any other except perhaps through random chance which means players cannot build expertise. Can the chaos riddle a theme and affect a locale but leave enough sense for the players to make meaningful choices? Sure. If the sense if left enough across locales then it is no longer the Realm of Chaos, is it?

Well, I meant "doesn't make sense from the perspective of Law" - it can have its own internal logic, of course.

 

[Tallifer]

I live in the constraints of the real world every day of my life. I prefer complete fantasy when I roleplay. Or maybe it is that I like weirdness and surprise.

 

[Bohandas]

It depends on if it's something a wizard can do

 

[prabe]

Depending on setting details, it's not radically different from saying, "A god (or gods) did it." Heck, "mad gods" are almost as much of a cliche as "mad wizards," aren't they?

 

[Bohandas]

Depending on setting details, it's not radically different from saying, "A god (or gods) did it." Heck, "mad gods" are almost as much of a cliche as "mad wizards," aren't they?

and Greyhawk has Zagyg Yragerne, who's both

 

[LordEntrails]

"A wizard did it" is fine. But why did the wizard do it?

 

[prabe]

and Greyhawk has Zagyg Yragerne, who's both

Were they having a BOGO on cliches or something?

 

[MGibster]

A wizard did it is never acceptable. A wizard did it because.... Yeah, that's fine.

I was beaten to the punch by LordEntrails. I'll get you, LordEntrails!!! <shakes fist>

 

[Maxperson]

I appreciate a well-thought-out explanation as much as the next gamer. The dungeon was built by such-and-such a person for concrete reasons, and its inhabitants have a reason to live there. That's satisfying worldbuilding. However, I think that phrases like "chaos magic" and "a wizard did it" were invented by GMs tired of sane and orderly dungeons. There's a certain appeal to a funhouse environment with nonsensical inhabitants. A dragon lurks in a tiny broom closet. Doors open for monsters but not PCs. The random marble trap in Dragon's Lair.

My question is this: Do you need backstories and explanations, or are you OK with “a wizard did it?” Do you like dungeons that “make sense,” or are you alright with the occasional bout of silliness? Can both styles exist comfortably within the same campaign, or does an element of nonsense devalue the internal consistency of the setting?

This OP isn't really answerable as you write it. You call out " a wizard did it" and then say that it's done for "nonsensical inhabitants" and "silliness." Yet you don't describe or give examples of these "nonsensical inhabitants" or "silliness." You need to set a much more concrete mark before we can agree or disagree with you.

I think that there are many valid, non-silly ways things can appear in a dungeon with "a wizard did it" as an explanation. Others not so much.

 

[Maxperson]

Yes, but The Forgotten Realms has always been a kind of joke setting. Seriously, they have a city ruled by a council of archmages! That's not really something that would ever show up in a serious game/world.

Why not?