D&D General No More "Humans in Funny Hats": Racial Mechanics Should Determine Racial Cultures

Scribe · Aug 17, 2021

Bolares said:
YOU DON'T TALK LIKE THAT ABOUT MY EBERRON!!!

Wait, that's a thing?

Bolares · Aug 17, 2021

Scribe said:
Wait, that's a thing?

Yep! And it's great!

Snarf Zagyg · Aug 17, 2021

Malmuria said:
You never need to sleep, because of TRANCE

I'm just not sure that EDM should be a racial trait?

Snarf Zagyg · Aug 17, 2021

Bolares said:
Yep! And it's great!

And, by the way, Eberron is real ... and it's spectacular!

Faolyn · Aug 17, 2021

Steampunkette said:
2) I haven't really run into that. I believe you, of course, our experiences differ, there... But doesn't a "DIY Generic" setup -benefit- the Kitchen Sink setting way more than the Walled Garden?

Butting in: no. Because generic means you can then flavor it however you want, whether you are running kitchen sink or walled garden or some blend of the two.

As an example, there is the Samurai archetype for fighters. Samurai isn't a generic term. It conjures up a specific image of, well, a samurai. We all know what samurai are, even if we rely on a purely cinematic image of one. If you go by the name of the archetype, it becomes more difficult to fit into specifically curated worlds. I've been waffling on eventually taking this archetype for my duelist (swashbuckler rogue 6/fighter 1), because mechanically it works, but flavor-wise, it doesn't.

But hey, in a total kitchen sink game, samurai exist as-is, no need for reflavoring.

However, the concept behind the class is fairly generic: The Samurai is a fighter who draws on an implacable fighting spirit to overcome enemies. A Samurai's resolve is nearly unbreakable, and the enemies in a Samurai's path have two choices: yield or die fighting. If they had been named something more generic, say "Resolute Warrior" (terrible name, I know), then it becomes far easier to place them in a curated world. My duelist is definitely resolute. She's nothing like a samurai, but definitely resolute.

Bolares · Aug 17, 2021

Snarf Zagyg said:
And, by the way, Eberron is real ... and it's spectacular!

At least in my heart it is...

Remathilis · Aug 17, 2021

Steampunkette said:
2) I haven't really run into that. I believe you, of course, our experiences differ, there... But doesn't a "DIY Generic" setup -benefit- the Kitchen Sink setting way more than the Walled Garden?

It goes back a bit too the premise of this thread: walled gardens have a hard time including new options because everything already has a place.

For example, the shadar-kai Tome of Foes comes with some very specific lore baked in and some assumptions about the multiverse. Easy to fit in a kitchen sink, but that walled garden has some hard work if the DM wants to make it fit. What is the shadar-kai's connection to other elves? Does the setting have a Shadowfell to come from? What about the connection to the Raven Queen? Any and all of those things need to be considered, modified and or removed. But a generic "shadow elf" that is just an elf who has some shadowy powers and looks like a Hot Topic in the artwork has a lot less baggage to consider and fits in more gardens.

You see this a lot with the notion that classes are too specialized and certain ones (druid, monk, barbarian, etc) should be made generic or rolled into other classes to fit a wider selection of types of gardens. That the Core rules shouldn't assume things like druid armor restrictions or the monks ki. This is strongly evident in the notion that races shouldn't have cultural elements like weapon proficiencies or the like.

All this wraps back up up say that the more bland the base, supposedly is, the more things you can make it go with. I don't share that belief and I fear that people's quest for a core rules that won't interfere with thier garden is going to turn both the garden and the sink into flavorless muck.

Egads that's a bad mixed metaphor!

Bolares · Aug 17, 2021

Remathilis said:
It goes back a bit too the premise of this thread: walled gardens have a hard time including new options because everything already has a place.

For example, the shadar-kai Tome of Foes comes with some very specific lore baked in and some assumptions about the multiverse. Easy to fit in a kitchen sink, but that walled garden has some hard work if the DM wants to make it fit. What is the shadar-kai's connection to other elves? Does the setting have a Shadowfell to come from? What about the connection to the Raven Queen? Any and all of those things need to be considered, modified and or removed. But a generic "shadow elf" that is just an elf who has some shadowy powers and looks like a Hot Topic in the artwork has a lot less baggage to consider and fits in more gardens.

You see this a lot with the notion that classes are too specialized and certain ones (druid, monk, barbarian, etc) should be made generic or rolled into other classes to fit a wider selection of types of gardens. That the Core rules shouldn't assume things like druid armor restrictions or the monks ki. This is strongly evident in the notion that races shouldn't have cultural elements like weapon proficiencies or the like.

All this wraps back up up say that the more bland the base, supposedly is, the more things you can make it go with. I don't share that belief and I fear that people's quest for a core rules that won't interfere with thier garden is going to turn both the garden and the sink into flavorless muck.

Egads that's a bad mixed metaphor!

I like my kitchen sinks to be a place where every option could have a place, but not necessarily does. Not every lineage has a defined and world impacting culture, but you could find a place for it....