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The current set of classes works fine for D&D, but it is very kludgey. I think D&D should be a bit more discriminating about the theming of its classes. Fighters and Wizards are general enough to express tons of archetypes--to the point that other whole classes could be folded into them. Other...

Man, you're really nursing a grudge there :p. I, at least, conceded the point back on page 2... not realizing the legs this argument has :erm:.

I am too lazy to go back through my photos and find the names of relevant surrealist artists. But, in lieu of that, this YouTube channel has got you covered.

Glad it helps. I always find those kinds of constraints and exercises to be a great tool for world-building. The restrictions lead to more creative ideas. Derp. I completely forgot Journey to the Center of the Earth was Verne. You might also poach from Pellucidar or The Coming Race for more...

You already listed a set of reference works but, considering the premise of your setting, you might consider borrowing from the hollow earth genre or leaning on its tropes a bit. Even if you're doing something far from vanilla flavor, it can help to leverage archetypes your audience will...

Well they're a limited choice, in part, because WotC assumed they're good guys for us and neglected to print any statblocks for elves that are not drow, or basically any gnomes. There are some low CR fey, like ahem darklings, but pixies and sprites have ~2 HP. Not that it's a crippling...

Hey, not that you're being unclear or that you bear the burden of proof in making this tropes and archetypes argument, but, if you're so inclined, could you go through some humanoids in the MM or other 5e publications which don't run afoul of the primitiveness trope. Mind flayers are a good...

That's a really interesting answer. So, could the stock humanoid enemies of the MM be signaled as evil using tropes that don't have these kinds of racial overtones? Are there some humanoid enemies that sidestep these issues? Or is that signalling only applicable to dragons and giants and...

I think an adaptation of John Carter of Mars that treated him like Mad Max in Fury Road, where the story is about Furiosa and the women she frees but Max has clear motivations and an agenda of his own, could work in a cool way. I'm not sure what you're asking for exactly, but the Barsoom...

There is a lot of gold to be mined by doing this with fiction. And I suspect I would enjoy reading a subversion of the Barsoom series. But modern interaction with past storytelling styles should be a "yes, and" not a "no". Not everything needs to be deconstructed or subverted. A Barsoom that...

Curious. I got a very strong vibe that the red men of Mars are supposed to be an idealized honorable aristocratic culture, very much like the lost cause narrative the American south tells about itself--it's why John Carter fits in with them; they have basically have the same values that he has...

Hey, just read the first 5 books in the John Carter of Mars series, and couldn't restrain myself from doing a 'no actually' here. JCoM doesn't put up a veil to disguise racism. The first book opens with mighty whitey and proud ex-confederate John killing a ton of native Americans, and proceeds...

way to see the silver lining 😄

It never ceases to amaze how quickly an innocent discussion about nerd ephemera can go off the rails on the internet o_O

oh hey! didn't see you there. completely agreed.

In gaming, the sky is the baseline. That's a pretty straightforward point, which is reasonable on its face, and I'm completely on board with burning false idols. But don't be down on verisimilitude. If you want there to be emotional investment in a fantastical secondary world, suspension of...

That imagery is priceless. It should be a standard magic item. Agreed, I feel like the arguments in this thread are about people's head cannon of halflings and not the contents of the published products. I just skimmed their sections in Mordy's and the PHB and, dang, there's not much. They...

Huh. I think of D&D as having its own genre (developed by accretion and historical accident) that is very much built from its rules artifacts and D&Disms. The "implied setting" isn't an outgrowth or deliberate simulation of any particular fantastical setting, it's a weird gestalt that makes...

Right, that seems like the casters as doctor/engineer/programmer/navy seal paradigm then, no? I'm not familiar with the setting beyond its broad strokes, does it treat all the artificers who run that system as rockstars or workaday schlubs?

If commoners with 4 HP are the most common type of people in the setting (otherwise why are they called that?), basically any magic user is deadly. As a commoner, meeting a 3rd level wizard on the street would be like meeting someone open carrying a revolver (6 spell slots); you know that that...