mamba
Legend
do you consider flight in birds to be a superpower?Birds fly all the time. Would we say that birds are "not mundane" because they have the gift of flight?
do you consider flight in birds to be a superpower?Birds fly all the time. Would we say that birds are "not mundane" because they have the gift of flight?
It's interesting that you say this because the entire point was exactly that mundane vs. supernatural is relational/contextual.This misses the point that mundane/supernatural is entirely relational/contextual.
By your argument, a human going into stasis in a hard vacuum like a water bear would not be supernatural.
I disagree, for one if the D&D human were not pretty much identical to an Earth human, they should not be called humans. For another all other species have the same stat range, so are comparable to the D&D human in their abilities.It's interesting that you say this because the entire point was exactly that mundane vs. supernatural is relational/contextual.
In D&D the context is not Earth. Most PC races are not human, and the D&D human is still not an Earth human by virtue of, you know, not being on Earth.
Exactly. The one reason I favor class-based systems over pure point-buy is because they give players guidance, and present a strong baseline of what the "default" fiction looks like.They're just convenient game constructs to contain the abilities of an archetype (and also the Fighter) that people want to play out. It's not like Rogue is a job you go to university and fill out a job application for.
I was thinking of special snowflakes as how important they are to the setting rather than how customized they are. Even with the creation tools you're talking about, every PC is built using the same available options, there are simply more of them. I'm all for more character options, I just think NPCs representing similar characters should be equivalent as far as what they can choose.Well, that's probably the distinction then. Everyone in my setting, PC and NPC alike, is a special unique snowflake.
The idea that every adventuring humanoid has to use some minor variation of exactly 12(13) power sets is something I've found horrendously off-putting even going back to when I started playing back in the 2e days.
Even as a teenager, I gravitated towards systems like the "custom class builder" in the 2e DMG, and I loved the flexibility in Skills and Powers.
We disagree on a fundamental level. I very much believe that the intent of D&D lore, for virtually every published setting I can think of, is that humans, and basically all the humanoid races, are more-or-less analagous to what we'll call RLH (real life humans), with some minor exceptions with certain races like dwarf and elf being extremely long lived.It's interesting that you say this because the entire point was exactly that mundane vs. supernatural is relational/contextual.
In D&D the context is not Earth. Most PC races are not human, and the D&D human is still not an Earth human by virtue of, you know, not being on Earth.
You are making that the discussion now.We are talking about D&D here. So the baseline for all Players Character Races is the commoner, with 10s in everything +-2 with a maximum of 20, which is the highest ability score that can be achieved without magic.
That is the context of our discussion.
Of course you can create a Drax race, with a 50 in strength as their baseline, but that would disintegrate the game and doesn't need any discussion.
I think that they define what "humanity" is within the context of their fictional universe.I disagree, for one if the D&D human were not pretty much identical to an Earth human, they should not be called humans. For another all other species have the same stat range, so are comparable to the D&D human in their abilities.
Which ultimately means they are all comparable to Earth humans in abilities…
Do you think Luke Skywalker etc. are not humans because they can use the Force in that galaxy far, far away?
So, to be clear, you would consider my NPC design in violation of your play principles?I was thinking of special snowflakes as how important they are to the setting rather than how customized they are. Even with the creation tools you're talking about, every PC is built using the same available options, there are simply more of them. I'm all for more character options, I just think NPCs representing similar characters should be equivalent as far as what they can choose.
This is a great example...I disagree, for one if the D&D human were not pretty much identical to an Earth human, they should not be called humans. For another all other species have the same stat range, so are comparable to the D&D human in their abilities.
Which ultimately means they are all comparable to Earth humans in abilities…
Do you think Luke Skywalker etc. are not humans because they can use the Force in that galaxy far, far away?