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LOL patches. Indicates that the writer never met a mixed race individual as would be expected. There was a medieval travalogue, I forget its name, that describes men of the east as having mouths in their stomachs for Christ's sake and apparently such a bizarre detail was believable to the...

That might work. There is no reason delvers going into cooler climes couldn't wear heavier armors for protection. I am just arguing against a setting wide cultural/ethnic homogeny that exists outside the exceptions like you point out. And about the Persians, I am not against "plate mail" for...

Again, are we really claiming the exception...the very rare exception, is used as default assumption regarding the realities of the medieval period in regards to race/ethnicity. The fact is that most of the folks in europe during the dark ages and medieval period were ignorant and illiterate...

But so much of the art of D&D and western fantasy is certainly of a european type that I don't know how one can claim that there isn't a link between D&D and the tropes of western ie. european fantasy. The fantasy that D&D is based on is of a european bent such as that of Tolkien, Arthur...

Of course there isn't a genetic reality to plate mail armor but their is a climatalogical and geographic reality to clothing, armor, customs, values, etc. These climatic and geographic realities create the various differences in human types as well as strongly influences the cultures which they...

Religion is not a genetic reality the way racial variance is. Racial/ethnic variance is dependant on climate and geography while religion, Christianity is a case in point, can transcend its origins and through cultural pressures become a more universal spiritual expression. Any religion can...

No, no, no. Don't even begin to claim that those who, like myself, desire a little versimilitude want to exclude or minimize anyone or anything. That, if I may say so, is crap. If someone were to look at the history of Athas, I would assume that different human groups became blended together...

Analogues can be both a good and a bad thing Regarding the use of analogues. Historical and cultural analogues are useful and even somewhat necessary because most fantasy settings are earth-like and we as earthlings relate easily to those things with historical precedent. These things are...

There were less pale folks living in Europe in the Dark/Middle Ages but if they were natives of Europe they varied in skin tone between fair skinned nordics and darker mediterranians. These types were native to Europe because of the climate of Europe. Others dwelling in Europe at the time were a...

I have to disagree, not with Morgan being the best part of that movies, which he was, but with your opinion that a token moor is as silly as pretending that folks with African skin colors are native to regions north of the equator. Morgan Freeman as a Moor was infinately more plausable than...

Midnight absolutely. IMO the best realized setting for 3e. Dawnforge. Great setting, didn't get the attention it deserved. Cannot believe Eberron beat this in WoTC's design contest. Arcanis by Paradigm Concepts Mythic Vistas settings by Green Ronin Ptolus...not really my cup o' tea, but...

Along with Gary Gygax without whom D&D (and its OGL offspring) would not exist, Ryan Dancy and Peter Adkison IMO represent revolutionary forces in gaming history. They represent the beginning of the RP gaming hobby as well as the guarantee of its perpetuity outside the grasping hands of...

Snoweel, I'm not even going to quote the last response you gave me. It was filled with low level hostility. You are quite the charmer...from indignation at my explanation of a term I thought I could have clarified more, to projecting that chip you have on your shoulder onto my responses, to...

Every setting has it options and limitations. Thats just the way things are. FR, Krynn, Athas, Greyhawk, etc. all of them have a set of assumptions and it is these assumptions that define a setting. A setting is defined as much by what you subtract as by what you add. On Krynn there are no orcs...

I tend to agree that worldbuilding needs to be balanced with the needs of the game and the PCs. IME, I have noticed that an immersive setting is conducive to immersive RPing that that my players have always appreciated attention the attention to detail that can, at times, obsess me. I find that...

I am an unashamed worldbuilder. I take pride in creating a setting with depth and versimilitude as well as from the immersion factor that such a setting gives my players who always enjoy interacting with a setting that seems real. Plus, there is a creative aspect of the process that is similar...

You're right that D&D needs to appeal broadly and there is nothing actually european about D&D fantasy settings because most don't have a depth of culture to speak of, just enough to make the setting believable. However, when even the thin veneer of culture provided by traditional D&D fantasy...

Lets not handwave everything. Where there is magic therefore anything goes. Sure, you can do this but why would you want to? As someone said in a recent post, ethnic diversity is born of geographic diversity. The darker an individual's skin tone the more tropical the ancestry of the individual...

Why is it that Asian, African, Middle Eastern, etc. types should be shoehorned into pseudo-european settings as if the complex and interesting cultures aren't as compelling as generic pseudo-european fantasy tropes? I think that the idea that all these different types of folks made magically...

This is excellent news. I am thrilled that Paizo is staffed with some excellent game designers and will have the muscle, money and positioning to create a powerful alternative to 4e. Perhaps Pathfinder will be the best thing since sliced bread and I will certainly be checking it out. However...