D&D 5E What’s So Great About Medieval Europe?

doctorbadwolf said:

Without understanding it, you’re much more likely to butcher it.

It’s it’s part of mainstream culture, like Greek or Norse Mythology is for most of the West, then it’s much easier to subvert, recontextualise, and deconstruct, from a position of decent understanding. If it’s an element of the culture of one of Peru’s lesser known ancient civilizations, it’s much harder to not come across as a tailgater in a plastic caricature of a war bonnet.

No one said it did. I said that there is no flipside, which is an entirely different claim. Power dynamics define the ethical nature of an action. That doesn’t even imply, much less claim, that one side of a power dynamic can literally do anything they want. It just means that the same action does not mean the same thing on one side of that dynamic as it does on the other.

It’s a bit like your friend asking you on a date vs your boss asking you on a date. Same “literal action”, distinct “ethical actions”, for want of better fairly succinct terms.

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Yeah...i think im gonna keep parodying anyone and everyone anytime i feel like it. I am not buying this puritan argument. From anyone.

Elfcrusher said:

You (almost) touch on an interesting point: often it is outsiders who are able to see the most clearly, and have the most astute observations.

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doctorbadwolf said:

No, it’s pretty rare that outsiders have a solid grasp on a culture without becoming part of it. They often think they understand it, though, and are laughably off-base.

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It's worth pointing that this has been the object of discussion for academics in the field of Epistemology, and I don't think they arrived at a definitive stance on that matter to this date. Maybe you should agree to disagree...

FlyingChihuahua said:

This excludes you, of course

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why would it? Of course it does not.

This is a very strange assumption. Of course im consistant.

I mean, no. Of course you cannot parody me. I am a perfect but joyless god who will rain hellfire down upon you for making a joke about me. Your descendants will have legends they tell for eternity of the Flying Chihuahua who foolishly brought my wrath down upon their peolple.

See? I have a sense of humor

One thing I never understood with the anthropomorphism of games like Pugmire is why some of the beasts sport human affectations for clothing (the dogs) but the others less so (the ants) in the cover art.

imagineGod said:

Yes, the lightsaber fighting techniques area very Japanese

I do not understand how to empathize with the alien Tyranids in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Does it require locust thinking? Probably, this sort of trying to get into a different brain is what makes anthropomorphism a genre in its own right. RPGs like Pugmire have dedicated fans, though not me. And yes, Pugmire seems to flaunt some faux-Medieval fashions too.

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heh. this was a neat post.

In a literal sense though, i suppose if they are that different from you it actually increases how much less you wouod benefit from having one of them explain their thinking as opposed to some sort of human scientist. Because its very unlikely they will notbhave the very same problems telling you. So yeah. Probably still a psychologist or some similar thing.

Jaeger said:

This is ENworld, not Room 101.

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Mod Note:

Yes. This is EN World - where you are expected to treat others with a certain amount of respect. Calling folks Orwellian for having a different opinion of what's appropriate in game design is hyperbolic, and not really acceptable.

So, please tone down the rhetoric. Thank you.

Oofta said:

So if you had to choose another culture to mine for a book similar to Oriental Adventures or the new Greek-themed book, what would it be and why?

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I mean, part of me would just want a “Middle Ages” setting that actually does its homework and then starts subverting, recontextualising, and deconstructing, things. So, most people don’t equate “knowing how to heal a sick cow” with “witchcraft”, most people and their clothes are clean, the church is the primary sponsor of scientific and artistic advancement (and the biggest critic of the idea of witchcraft as a real thing), most port/trade cities absolutely have people from other parts of the world, art and science are being actively pursued and progressed, etc.

Basicaly, the common conception of the Middle Ages is so completely nonsensically incorrect, just basing a world on actual Medieval History would make it feel like a fresh and new fantasy world.

A setting based on an accurate understanding of Al Andulus would be amazing, but so would London, or Paris, and their surroundings.

But, before that, I’d want

A world of islands that explores themes of Oceanic and South Asian cultures.

Peruvian ancient civilizations. Not just the Inca, but obviously they’d feature heavily.

Ancient Persia, especially the First Persian Empire.

The Eastern African coast trade cities, and the people of the Indian Ocean coastline regions. That trade ecosystem.

The Islamic Golden Age. Complete with Baghdad during the period where Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and “doubter” scholars collaborated and peer reviewed eachother in one of the greatest centers of learning in world history.

Ancient Mesopotamia.

Oofta said:

So if you had to choose another culture to mine for a book similar to Oriental Adventures or the new Greek-themed book, what would it be and why?

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Ancient India seems like it would have some fantastic mythology to base a new setting on. I say this entirely because of my love of the video game Asura's Wrath.

I have even less knowledge of South African mythology, so seeing a setting based on that would be interesting as well.

Pre-colonial North America would be really neat. There were a bunch of different tribes with different beliefs, dress, and customs, so there would be a lot of variety to pull from.

@doctorbadwolf - you want Harn.

As for the others, that would be cool. I'd love to see an Islamic Golden Age game.

FlyingChihuahua said:

This excludes you, of course

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Id like you to find a single example of me taking the stance that i shouldnt be parodied. Good luck.

Son of the Serpent said:

why would it? Of course it does not.

This is a very strange assumption. Of course im consistant.

I mean, no. Of course you cannot parody me. I am a perfect but joyless god who will rain hellfire down upon you for making a joke about me. Your descendants will have legends they tell for eternity of the Flying Chihuahua who foolishly brought my wrath down upon their peolple.

See? I have a sense of humor

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@FlyingChihuahua just making sure you see that im consistant. This is in response to your weird question about my consistancy.