D&D (2024) What older setting do you want to see next?

[Remathilis]

Agreed. Yeah, I think you could turn them into demon worshippers or something.

I think the bigger problem is that it's not distinct enough from standard fantasy and it has a relatively small, older fanbase--but one that might pony up for an expensive 'special edition' with full color, etc. You could probably even find some of the original artists--Erol Otus is working again.

I think the idea is fine enough that you could leave them as a splinter group of extremists who believe Suel supremacy without a deep dive into their ethnic origin. You don't need to change their whole origin to update them as a terrorist organization. And Iuz has the whole demon worshipping angle already.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Agreed. Yeah, I think you could turn them into demon worshippers or something.

I think the bigger problem is that it's not distinct enough from standard fantasy and it has a relatively small, older fanbase--but one that might pony up for an expensive 'special edition' with full color, etc. You could probably even find some of the original artists--Erol Otus is working again.

Yeah, we definitely need another group of cultists.

 

[Alzrius]

I think we're at the point where people are saying this is the case, without actual incidents of it occurring.

I disagree; actual incidents aren't hard to find if you read gaming-related media, both in terms of game-focused websites and developer blogs.

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Dark Sun spiritual successor Red Dawn presents a new wasteland setting for D&D 5E with old problems

Upcoming D&D 5E supplement fails to address bioessentialist and racist implications of popular '90s release.

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[Digdude]

I'm really glad to see from the poll results that 11 other people besides me, thought Birthright was a doable setting.

 

[Remathilis]

Yeah, we definitely need another group of cultists.

At the risk of conjuring a scarecrow, I truly wonder how long cultists will be an acceptable villain origin, considering that most groups labeled cults aren't chock full of zealots but of normal people deluded by charismatic con men with delusions of grandeur. Moreover, most of D&D's cultists are based on stereotypes and propaganda against pagan and "Satanic" groups mixed with good old fashioned witch hunts. Of brainwashed minions deluded by Satan into acts of debauchery and violence. Ya know, the same things mainstream media labeled US as for the first part of the game's lifetime!

Again, there is a world of difference between followers of Orcus and any real world religious group, but the idea of a group of righteous heroes going into a cult's hideout and slaying followers of a demon lord hell bent on spreading evil ain't that far removed from some people's reactions to Internet conspiracy theories or what Jack Chick thought about us.

 

[Micah Sweet]

At the risk of conjuring a scarecrow, I truly wonder how long cultists will be an acceptable villain origin, considering that most groups labeled cults aren't chock full of zealots but of normal people deluded by charismatic con men with delusions of grandeur. Moreover, most of D&D's cultists are based on stereotypes and propaganda against pagan and "Satanic" groups mixed with good old fashioned witch hunts. Of brainwashed minions deluded by Satan into acts of debauchery and violence. Ya know, the same things mainstream media labeled US as for the first part of the game's lifetime!

Again, there is a world of difference between followers of Orcus and any real world religious group, but the idea of a group of righteous heroes going into a cult's hideout and slaying followers of a demon lord hell bent on spreading evil ain't that far removed from some people's reactions to Internet conspiracy theories or what Jack Chick thought about us.

And what we're allowed to use as antagonists gets whittled down a little more...

I don't want every enemy to be demons, undead, and mindless automatons. And using anything else requires such increasingly high levels of nuance that it becomes a severe, possibly too severe, burden on official and homebrew adventure creators.

 

[Bagpuss]

Ideally I'd love to see Dark Sun (along with a psion class). However I'm not sure that 5e could handle the topics involved in the setting so maybe it's best to avoid it.

Amazing the number of people on this poll that want a setting known for slavery and racism, its as if people want some societal ills to fight against in a fantasy setting.

 

[Bagpuss]

And what we're allowed to use as antagonists gets whittled down a little more...

That's why I wouldn't mind seeing Birthright as a setting.

The human kingdoms in that would trade with the goblin kingdoms, the elves would go on wild hunts massacring humans encroaching on their forests. The various human races (of which there were five) would not only war with each other but among themselves. No side was completely good, and few were completely evil.

The fact that any side was redeemable, or sentient, didn't really matter when they were an enemy to be overcome, through steel, magic or politics.

 

[Digdude]

There is the problem of the Vos who are written as a evil Rus type of people dedicated to murder and conquest. They might need to be adjusted.

 

[Bagpuss]

There is the problem of the Vos who are written as a evil Rus type of people dedicated to murder and conquest. They might need to be adjusted.

With what's going on in Ukraine a bit of nostalgia for evil Russians might be in order.

But yes the human races had real world parallels, and they weren't all viewed in a great light. Also the racial attribute bonuses we can't be having any of that any more...