D&D 5E (+)What Ubiquitous DnD Tropes Get It Totally Wrong?

Charlaquin said:

There’s mythological precedent for lots of problematic things.

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billd91 said:

Maybe. But a lot of things have become problematic as contexts have changed. It isn't particularly weird for darkness to take on connotations of fear, danger, and even evil and for light to represent the opposite. But in contexts involving rampant racism/classism/even caste-ism directed at people with darker skin colors, it takes on problems.
So I don't necessarily have a problem with some of those mythological precedents as much as I have a problem with poor use of them in later contexts when these problematic issues are better described and understood.

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Son of the Serpent said:

Feudal tyrants usually being lawful evil (psychologically. As in self aware.)

That being typical is all wrong.

Most tyrants dont think of themselves as evil.

As a matter of fact most tyrants think of themselves as "good" and arent actually trying to be the awful POS's they frequently are. So their alignment being listed as LE the majority of the time is very misleading.

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R_J_K75 said:

I don't understand what you are trying to say. I'm pretty sure the parameters of the spell were clear as far as casting time, range and area of effect. Now if the spell was interrupted before its intended target then it detonated regardless of who gets caught in the blast radius.

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FrozenNorth said:

The issue is not the parameters of the spell: it is that wizards are assumed to be able to cast the spell with pinpoint accuracy in such a way that enemies get hit but friendlies in melee with them don’t.

Let me put it slightly differently. Go out to your backyard or other open space. Imagine that somewhere ahead of you your friend is swordfighting an orc. A little way to the left of the orc and your friend, but some ways further back, a second orc is fighting your second friend.

How confident are you that without moving or the benefit of reference points, you can identify a spot that the two orcs are exactly within 20’ of, but your friends in melee with them are not? Bear in mind that you have to do this within 6 seconds, and your friends lives are at stake.

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FrozenNorth said:

The issue is not the parameters of the spell: it is that wizards are assumed to be able to cast the spell with pinpoint accuracy in such a way that enemies get hit but friendlies in melee with them don’t.

Let me put it slightly differently. Go out to your backyard or other open space. Imagine that somewhere ahead of you your friend is swordfighting an orc. A little way to the left of the orc and your friend, but some ways further back, a second orc is fighting your second friend.

How confident are you that without moving or the benefit of reference points, you can identify a spot that the two orcs are exactly within 20’ of, but your friends in melee with them are not? Bear in mind that you have to do this within 6 seconds, and your friends lives are at stake.

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tomBitonti said:

Couldn't the persistent of ebony skinned drow be simply due to drow preferences?

That is, assuming that the inheritability of characteristics works the same in a fantasy world as it does in reality.

That beauty can overcome a fitness advantage is a talked about possibility.

Thx!
TomB

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billd91 said:

Unless you can find a reference, I kind of doubt it.

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