10 Absolute Truths about the World of D&D

[CRGreathouse]

People in the real world offer magical services for sale. Fortune tellings. Blessings. New-age aura cleansing stuff. Faith healing. Communication with the dead. Bogus medicine.

The difference is that in a fantasy world these things work.

If charlatans were common in the real world, why wouldn't they be in D&D?

 

[Hussar]

If charlatans were common in the real world, why wouldn't they be in D&D?

Because the effects of magic are MUCH more difficult to fake. I could easily see various forms of cons being done in a DnD world, but, impersonating a wizard or cleric would be extremely difficult. When magic is known and not all that rare, it's pretty difficult to fake healing magic.

Not that people wouldn't try, it's just that, well, it would be so much harder.

 

[Barak]

Though, one of the funniest gaming situations I've seen came from a guy who played an atheist.
"So... you don't believe in me?"
"Yeah."
"... You don't believe I exist?"
"... Um, right."
"... Ooookay."

Though, I'd assume most D&D "atheists" just don't follow a specific god, or believe in a god but don't like any of them.
And, the places where there isn't magic are really magical.

Atheists in D&D could also believe that "Gods" exist, but aren't really Gods per se, just Really Powerful Beings. In many ways, it's besically semantics. But Demon Princes can grant powers to followers, and yet aren't Gods. But yeah, the difference between believing that and believing in Gods is slim at best. I believe there was a faction in Planescape that actually believed that, though. Perhaps a Planescape expert can expound on this?

So the discussion could have went..

"So you don't believe in Gods, hmmm?"
"That's right, bubba."
"You don't believe I EXIST?"
"Of course you exist, you imbecile. You just ain't a God."
".. But I can kill you with a thought! Or grant you power! Raise you from the dead! Torment you in the hereafter, or reward you!"
"... Yeah well, so can Orcus or Demogorgon, you know?"
".. Hmm. I see your point. Excuse me, I'll go in that corner and cry."

 

[Hussar]

I love the part in Terry Pratchett's Feet of Clay where the golem is blasted by a lightning bolt from the gods as proof of their existence and he shrugs it off saying that it could be coincidence. Helps to be wearing really good rubber boots if you yell "all gods is bastards" from the hilltops during a thunderstorm.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

3.) Adventuring is a legit trade:
4.) Adventuring is the quickest route to self improvement:

As a rule I don't dispute this because it certainly seems a common assumption time and time again... But not in any game I run.

I outright ban characters that are built on the adventurer archetype for 3 reasons.
1) It simply annoys me, various reasons, so the following is just gravy
2) Assume that highly profitable adventures occur as infrequently as they do in real life and
3) Assume that there isn't a dm that carefully ensures you don't wander into something well beyond your ability.
Basically I want the players to have their characters believe that they are experiencing extraordinary times well beyond the norm, even though us players know otherwise.

 

[Yair]

Interesting list. While it is certainly campaign-dependent, I agree with most as describing the typical settings.

The one giving me most problem is "4.) Adventuring is the quickest route to self improvement". I just can't wrap my mind around it.

Though, I'd assume most D&D "atheists" just don't follow a specific god, or believe in a god but don't like any of them.

Atheism is hard to hold in D&D without being crazy. I'd say the only way I can think of running an atheist character is to see the D&D deities as basically powerful aliens - not beings worthy of worship.

 

[Kestrel]

Not to derail, but isn't Eberron built on these truths? I thought that was the point of the setting?

Interesting thread btw.

 

[Umbran]

6.) Faith, Religion, and God is Real: So others say. Clerics wield magic ... so do wizards. Most people never see deities and even messingers from other realms can never be completely believed. Raise a guy from the dead and ask him what heaven was like and (by the RAW) he won't be able to tell you.

This is an excellent point. The core rules don't include stats for gods, so they aren't "creatures" that make appearances in person. There are folks around who worship, and some of them can cast spells. They say the spells and miracles come from gods, but how do you prove that?

In my own campaign world, the gods don't make personal appearances. There is a big question as to what the gods are, or if they even really exist...

 

[VirgilCaine]

And, given the huge benefit of divine magic on farming, particularly druidic magic, I can't believe that our nominal peasant has NEVER seen a miracle performed by a priest or druid. A town that has a good raport with a druid might get a Plant Growth spell. 30% bump on productivity is going to make my town grow a heck of a lot faster than someone else's town that doesn't have this.

Actually, this isn't true. Plant Growth is the only spell that might be useful for farming (Sure, Speak With Animals lets you speak to those rabbits...but will they leave the carrots alone? Not necessarily. Why leave a concentrated, safe source of food?) and it enhances ALL plants productivity in the area, even the weeds--and not all "weeds" can be useful.

 

[lukelightning]

Atheism is hard to hold in D&D without being crazy. I'd say the only way I can think of running an atheist character is to see the D&D deities as basically powerful aliens - not beings worthy of worship.

Yeah, if gods are relatively interactive then a "D&D atheist" can say they are just powerful beings. And if gods are remote you can say that they don't exist and divine magic is just another kind of magic that doesn't prove deities exist any more than a fireball proves they exist.