D&D 5E What is the appeal of the weird fantasy races?

[EzekielRaiden]

Sure, but the setting provides it. There is no such hand-wavy explanation for centaurs. Period. One is explained and the other is not. That means that one passed the fantasy realism test and the other does not, at least when it comes to climbing walls.

Why can't the setting provide both, exactly? I'm really not clear on that. Because from what I'm seeing, it looks like you're saying one kind of pure handwaving is completely fine, and another kind of pure handwaving is completely not fine, without any meaningful distinction.

 

[billd91]

The irony here is incredibly thick. You do realize that no explanation short of hand-wavy "magic!" can explain dragons?

Their size, diet, population, locomotion, social structure, metabolism, and elemental breath are all radically unrealistic. Much more unrealistic than a centaur that can climb mountains.

We accept certain exceptions for the genre, just like we accept the ridiculousness of superheroes for superhero games and various forms of FTL travel for space games. Those are exceptions we accept for the genre and don't define how everything else works. We still expect certain things to remain consistent. Cars need gas, people fall (at least when in a gravity well) when not supported, and horse physiology is, well, horse physiology.

 

[Maxperson]

Why can't the setting provide both, exactly?

It can. If you the DM want to give the centaur race spider climb feet or the ability to reduce their weight by 95% so that they can climb better, go for it.

 

[Gammadoodler]

True.

False. People play with varying levels of realism. If someone wants to play with higher levels of realism, they are going to score more reality points. You won't ever get near the point where you are mirroring reality, but realism absolute exists on a spectrum in D&D.

Not that the statement is 100% correct, but really, so what. If you enjoy a higher level of realism in your games, "self-inflicted" is a piss poor way to describe people having a greater level of enjoyment.

Please tell me where I can find the scientific study of the climbing capabilities of mythological creatures. I'd really like to earn some reality points.

Literally there is no 'realistic' ruling here. It'd be like adjudicating what fantasy metals a dragon can melt with their breath. Any answer is the right answer because it's all bs to begin with.

Self-inflicted, you have the responsibility, you get the credit, you get the blame. Call it what you want. You decide how your world functions, you're responsible for the results.

 

[Maxperson]

Please tell me where I can find the scientific study of the climbing capabilities of mythological creatures. I'd really like to earn some reality points.

It's at Common Sense U. Common Sense 101.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Fantasy realism is a thing. It's the fantasy world itself that explains dragons, 600 year old humanoids and creatures descended from planar creatures. A centaur, though, doesn't have an in game explanation for being able to climb a wall or cliff as a horse with some hands. Trying to equate centaurs climbing(unrealistic as the fantasy setting has laid out centaurs) with the others(realist with how the fantasy setting lays them out) is a False Equivalence.

A couple questions..

1. Where do I need to go to read all these 'explanations' for the different D&D bs-ery. It sounds fascinating

2. Is this the same fantasy world the DM designs and governs and has near complete control over?

Because, it's almost sounds like, at a whim, there could be an in-game explanation for centaur cliff hopping with no loss of 'realism'

 

[Gammadoodler]

Or the players needs to get over it and take their lumps. Picking a race that it very blatantly obviously going to have more difficulties than standard shaped PCs and then expecting the DM to alter the world for you is a pretty silly idea to have.

It's pretty amazing how thoroughly this misreads my post. Or perhaps how cynical this position is. The underlying assumption here is that the DM made this a playable race for a reason beyond the opportunity to assail the player with arbitrarily unscalable obstacles, right?

 

[Gammadoodler]

It's at Common Sense U. Common Sense 101.

Ah, I see, we're at the point in the discussion, where there isn't actual support for what you're saying, so we go with pithy one-liners instead.

 

[Maxperson]

1. Where do I need to go to read all these 'explanations' for the different D&D bs-ery. It sounds fascinating

I already told you. Common Sense U.

2. Is this the same fantasy world the DM designs and governs and has near complete control over?

Sure is.

Because, it's almost sounds like, at a whim, there could be an in-game explanation for centaur cliff hopping with no loss of 'realism'

Untrue. Whims have nothing to do with it. The DM keeps them the same for reasons, or changes them for reasons, but I've yet to see a DM make such a change on a whim.

 

[Maxperson]

Ah, I see, we're at the point in the discussion, where there isn't actual support for what you're saying, so we go with pithy one-liners instead.

I give what I get.