D&D 5E [+] Ways to fix the caster / non-caster gap

[mamba]

I mean they don’t define humans as different in Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon either, yet we can accept that in that story people can just learn wire fu.

no, I cannot accept that, in fact I hate the movie for that

 

[Tony Vargas]

Since it isn't like real life at all, what happens to an apple dropped off a castle walls and why? Does it levitate in place? Rise? Drop at a constant velocity? Accelerate to a certain speed? What informs the decision for your game world?

In my 1e AD&D game world, the answer was that the apple, being composed primarily of elemental earth (and obviously, some water), naturally seeks it's metaphysical proper place in a geocentric universe, thus instantly begins falling at a constant speed, with the time/distance it falls 'accustoming' it to that speed, so that the further it falls, the more damage it takes.

Because I was a total nerd, into the history of science, and that was as well as I could understand Aristotle's explanation.

 

[mamba]

So, taking one well known RPG that has had time to explain things...

... insert previous questions on lava
... insert previous questions on a hit in combat
... insert previous questions on encumbrance rules
... insert previous questions on how learning new skills related to killing things

the rules are abstractions in the service of the intended heroic gameplay. Humans are still humans however, just more the mythical hero type from old stories than your average neighbor

 

[Neonchameleon]

I agree - D&D's world building is incredibly incoherent.

And if D&D were about world building or even tied to a specific setting this would be a problem. Instead it's a gamist game that is about an activity (adventuring) in a larger than life mythological world.

 

[mamba]

Or we can go..
"Well..it was a long time ago..and it was a galaxy far far away..what the hell do I know about what humans might be capable of there and then"

this one, humans can lift a lot more and jump farther on the moon too, that is not a change in the human…

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

« Because dragons » is an argument neither in favour nor against human characters being relatable to humans as we know them.

I'm not saying "because (only)dragons". I'm saying because:

• A character can reliably survive extreme falls repeatedly, no chance of death whatsoever. No broken bones. Nothing.
• A walk in lava causes no permanent damage.
• Giants, oozes, all the weird and impossible monsters.
• Some creatures are inherently and non-magically immune to some spells by means of legendary resistance.
• All the magic.
• All the weird playable races with barely no regard for movement speed vs size.

The person I was replying to was asserting that the setting attempts to be realistic. It isn't.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

the rules are abstractions in the service of the intended heroic gameplay. Humans are still humans however, just more the mythical hero type from old stories than your average neighbor

Right. But often mythical heroes can do things RL humans cannot.

 

[mamba]

A setting that is “Like Earth, but magic” is still a fictional simulation, and any residents of that simulation only have the limitations that are explicitly stated by the rules of the simulation.

agreed

If “I can read minds” or “I can walk on tree branches” is on the table, then nothing is off the table until explicitly stated to be so. At best, you can use genre assumptions to make guesses.

show me the rules for either

 

[Micah Sweet]

And if D&D were about world building or even tied to a specific setting this would be a problem. Instead it's a gamist game that is about an activity (adventuring) in a larger than life mythological world.

D&D can be and has been much more about worldbuilding than WotC's "official" version currently is. Heck, 5e in other forms, like Level Up, is better about worldbuildinh. This is WotC's problem, not mine or those who favor worldbuilding.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm not saying "because (only)dragons". I'm saying because:

• A character can reliably survive extreme falls repeatedly, no chance of death whatsoever. No broken bones. Nothing.
• A walk in lava causes no permanent damage.
• Giants, oozes, all the weird and impossible monsters.
• Some creatures are inherently and non-magically immune to some spells by means of legendary resistance.
• All the magic.
• All the weird playable races with barely no regard for movement speed vs size.

The person I was replying to was asserting that the setting attempts to be realistic. It isn't.

The hit point stuff is bad mechanics, and the other stuff is irrelevant to the point.