10 Absolute Truths about the World of D&D

[VirgilCaine]

To the commoner, they are practically the same, so it reasons out that you can gain power from ANYTHING. From gods. From unborn souls. From your own mind. All one needs in training and proper intellect and you can learn to do anything.

Unknown Armies allows anyone who is sufficiently obsessed with something to get power from it. You can use your obsession as a crowbar to force open the cracks of reality and bend it to your will. Obviously, most of the people who do this aren't too sane.

 

[Imp]

Whilst I don't disagree with you with regards to the game being played on any set of assumptions. I think some of your depictions of average vs non-average can be deconstructed.

Lets look at Earth in June 2006 and Me an average person.

Now I know that in some parts of my world there are maneating tigers, 40 ft crocodiles, gigantic snakes, voracious sharks and rampaging hippopotami. I know that there are violent hordes armed with terrible weapons, trained assasins lurking in the shadows, a few individuals with the power to wipe out whole cities at the push of a button

All this is real of my world

None of it affects me on a daily basis -

That's true, and supposing this setup were true of a D&D world, and that world had less-than-pervasive media and typically medieval transportation (which is usually assumed), it's entirely possible you wouldn't have heard of rampaging hippopotami, people who could nuke cities, and giant snakes, and the maneating tigers might be something entirely different in the stories you know!

 

[The Shaman]

All this is real of my world

None of it affects me on a daily basis -

...as far as you know...that is, until...one summer's day...



Then again, there are people out there for who at least some of this is a daily presence in their lives. In India there is a preserve for the last population of the Asiatic lion - a survey of local villagers some years ago found that there wasn't much local support for the preserve, due in large part to the fact that the lions tended to attack and kill villagers from time to time.

 

[Vorput]

I don't want to enter into an argument on any of this.

I do want to offer my thanks to Remathilis for writing this up, and presenting it so concisely. It will be a list saved, and oft looked over when I create worlds, cities, characters, and settings in the future for my campaigns.

Thanks.

Vorp

 

[JohnnFour]

Great read. Thanks Remathilis.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

1.) Concrete Alignment

Alignment exists in the game for META-game reasons. That is, it is present in the game for the use and misunderstanding of PLAYERS, not the perceptions of CHARACTERS in-game. Thus it is difficult to assign any concrete tangibility in-game since it's purpose and effects are so oriented to meta-game issues.

2.) Magic is just a carrier

I assume this is a misspelling of career. Just because it exists in the PH, because it has clearly defined rules and is so frequently encountered, used and abused by Player Characters is insufficient reason to assume ANYTHING about the demographics of magic. Note well that the demographic information that is provided and inferred from the tables for generating communities in the DMG has clear, but virtually never understood or accepted caveats that the tables are for RANDOM generation of information about a town for which the DM does NOT have more data on and needs to generate facts quickly. It should NOT then be inferred that it is a wholesale replacement for or dictation of a useful world-spanning demographic system across multiple campaigns.

4.) Adventuring is the quickest route to self improvement: A farmer could spend years trying to earn the exact same amount of experience that a fighter does in one outing of slaying orcs.

Similar to #1, the experience point system in the game is a META-game tool. It is intended for PLAYERS to use to monitor and execute the improvement of their characters inherent abilities. It is intended for DM's to use to pace the improvement of player characters and by ASSIGNING experience points and levels, to DICTATE levels of skill of NPC's as well as their mere survivability in comparison to PC's. It is NOT intended as a logical system of IN-GAME self-improvement and comparison for the characters that inhabit the game world. The fact that the DM assigns an NPC sufficient experience points to be a 6th level commoner implies ONLY that doing so imparts a set amount of skill points and gives the NPC a given level of survivability - it is not a sign that the NPC has in the past, or will in the future, much less that he would/could/should EARN xp in EXACTLY the same fashion as PLAYER characters. The oft misread notation in the DMG indicates only that IF a 6th level commoner were to fight orcs that he WOULD earn xp as a PC does, not that this is how he must have gotten the XP he has or that it is the only method by which the DM can ASSIGN him xp in the future.

6.) Faith, Religion, and God is Real. Faith is not believing in some cannon of law or some abstract deity. The miracle of the gods is REAL.

As with assumptions about demographics itself this is predicated on assumptions that can't be dictated for all game worlds, whether the rules for this sort of thing are presented in the Core books or not. The fact that spells and magic items CAN allow travel to the plane of your future afterlife and direct interaction with deities simply cannot be taken as inference that such MUST have happened before, nor that it has happened to any degree that imparts a widespread understanding and undertaking of such activity, nor that it ever will.

Yes, it generally DOES mean exactly that but it doesn't HAVE to simply because it's possible.

8.) Magic is Everywhere.
...
All of these are paths of magic. To the commoner, they are practically the same, so it reasons out that you can gain power from ANYTHING.

Again requires assumptions that all of those types of magic MUST exist and that the theories and forces that govern them WILL be the same from one game to the next (even if the game rules don't change) such that inferences can be made about how knowledgeable a wide cross-section of a populace can be in a given campaign.

9.) Death is not the end.

This one too. Resurrection magic (Raise Dead, Resurrect, Reincarnate) exists in the game for PURELY meta-game reasons - for the continued play of PLAYER characters. I've never seen anyone even attempt to demonstrate otherwise, yet it is ALWAYS assumed otherwise in any discussion regarding the disruptive effect it has when applied wholesale across a game world. It has simply never been included to imply anything about its use by NPC's on ANY scale and it is thus a mistake to make inferences about what a D&D society would/could/should believe about the finality of death even though these spells exist in RAW.

For example, my own insistence is that upon their deaths, most NPC's find themselves in the afterlife that they desire and expect and thus it is EXCEPTIONALLY rare for an NPC to elect to return to mortality - even when they INTEND to before dying. PC's are exceptions, NOT the norm. This is a perfectly reasonable and even DESIREABLE assumption for NPC's given the RAW. Assuming that the mere possibilities suggested by the existence of resurrection magic MUST be carried to their utmost and makes death a highly impermanent state is HORRIBLY UNdesireable and a vastly disruptive approach.

Now before you rant on about how impossible something is in D&D, think on these ten "truths" as the people living in this world would see them. Its a very different world than the one you or I live in...

Well I hope I'm not ranting - and I'm certainly not trying to label any of the OP as actually IMPOSSIBLE. I just find them to be frequently undesireable conclusions based on false, or unnecessary assumptions. It is as a RESULT of thinking on these things as a person living in a D&D world sees them that I have reached many of the opposite conclusions that the OP presents. YMMV, but I prefer a game world that perhaps actually considers much of the PH, DMG, and even MM to be little better than speculation about its realities much less that it dictates to me basic elements of how my NPC inhabitants should view their reality.

 

[Jdvn1]

6.) Faith, Religion, and God is Real.

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.

8.) Magic is Everywhere.

And, the places where there isn't magic are really magical.

 

[bowbe]

It has simply never been included to imply anything about its use by NPC's on ANY scale and it is thus a mistake to make inferences about what a D&D society would/could/should believe about the finality of death even though these spells exist in RAW.

For example, my own insistence is that upon their deaths, most NPC's find themselves in the afterlife that they desire and expect and thus it is EXCEPTIONALLY rare for an NPC to elect to return to mortality - even when they INTEND to before dying.

Before I begin let me say I am in no way picking on the Man in the Funny hat. The quoted part of his reply just reminded me of a couple things.

*Chuckle*

Glad I didn't co-author and co-develop Raise the Dead. Wait, I did. Long story short... there was a description in one of the adventures of a NPC cleric who would use his limited abilities to raise dead in order to occassionally raise farmers who died in accidents or young children who had a tree fall on them or whatever. In a different adventure a ghost haunts a party asking them to retrieve a stone and his body parts to raise him from the dead. I'm sure that doesn't qualify as an instance of it being used on behalf or for an NPC because it isn't "official" by the book stuff and doesn't qualify as a "meta reason" for the spell to exist; rather it will be exclaimed shortly after this post that those "meta reasons" were for motivation of plot. True. And?

Part of the reason I got into developing that book was exactly because we had a GM who had his own insistence that if your character died it's soul was filled with joy and would never want to return. Then consistantly allowed other gm's under him to raise their NPC minions if the PCs killed them off too quickly. Evidently their insistence was that their pet NPCs get second chances but characters do not. Depending on the groups you play with and your years at the gaming tables you could see all sorta wild stuff go on and probably have.

My point is you say "my own insistence". Isn't that what is great about D&D? Everyone has their own insistence on various points about the quality and flavor of their game or what they wish their game was or want their game to be or think the game is from their own narrow perspective? I'm the first to admit I'm guilty of that sort of thing myself from time to time.

Cutting out all the meta this and lingo that ultimately thats what it's all about isn't it? Our own insistence on what the game has meant to any one of us who have played, argued and played some more over the last how many years?

Bottom line... I felt that Remathilis post was awesome! He was savvy enough to know people would go through and argue every single point he was attempting to make. I knew when I read it before scrolling down to any of the replies that there would be at least a half dozen people jump off and tell him he was flat wrong too! It's brave to put yourself out like that, knowing that you are going to create controversy. Luckily controversy typically leads to fresh dialogue which is what I like.

I think if we look at Remathalis's post "by the book" and no I don't mean "by the core rules" I mean by the generally encountered experiences with D&D you would find most of his list to be pretty accurate. Tons of people cut their teeth on a game quite similar to that, or played some video game inspired by D&D that reflected his ten truths. Of course they aren't the same for every "campaign" but they are I think at very least familiar to the psyche of the greater majority of people who have played in a D&D type setting or adventure. Maybe it isn't the game they prefer to play or run now, but it's a game that they have played or run at some point in time.

Case

 

[Hussar]

6.) Faith, Religion, and God is Real
7.) There are beasts too terrible to mention

Surely in the Middle Ages #6 and #7 would have been believed.

This has been touched on, but, I think needs repeating. The primary difference is that there is no need for belief in a DnD world. The peasant KNOWS beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are dragons, wyverns, ankheg, giants, etc. He's probably seen at least one of them.

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.

And the fact that wizzies can't heal pretty much shows a solid distinction between arcane and divine. That wizzie can burn down the crops, but only the local padre can heal your broken leg.

 

[Particle_Man]

I thought it would be interesting to re-imagine a world I am thinking of for C&C in light of some of these assumptions:

2.) Magic is just a career:

The PCs are about the only characters around that can cast magic that are not monstrous or long dead (or undead). (This PCs are special arg. also covers the "adventuring is quickest road to self-improvement". It is...for the PCs).

5.) There are 1,000s of Sentient Races

I propose a RIFTS-like solution. Various races from various worlds have effectively gotten dumped on this world, a varying number of centuries ago. This would explain a few things. The Dwarves distrust elves because their first elvish contact was with the Drow. Humans have a sorta-medieval lifestyle that looks like it is from various eras because it WAS, and has been "evolving" a bit over time (but gunpowder still doesn't work. N'yah).

6.) Faith, Religion, and God is Real.

I might make my gods more "hands off". But the granting magic to a chosen few would still be there. Perhaps demonic entities could grant spells to the evil humanoid shaman types, while distant good entities could also sometimes take an interest by granting spells/paladin abilities to a chosen few. But I would back off on the planar travel bit. And with magic being rare (until the PCs get here), a spellcasting Cleric or Druid might be looked at with suspicion or outright horror...at least at first.

7.) There are beasts too terrible to mention. And they live near you.

Yep. Part of the Rifts-ish mentality. But some villages would not have encountered them directly (since some beasts are so terrible that a village that was encountered by one would not be a village for much longer). And Bards and other travellers might make stuff up too. Rumours could abound. My favorite would be to change a few things around. So-called "half-orcs" would be thought to be products of rape by orcs, but would actually be a race in their own right that cannot interbreed with other races, and happens to come from the same "homeworld" as orcs (perhaps as further evolved versions, and more recent arrivals?).

8.) Magic is Everywhere. The cleric's miracles of faith. The wizard's spellbook. The blood of dragons. Nature itself. Potions, rings, magic swords.

Magic has been gone from the land for centuries (except for a few monsters' racial abilities?), but is returning, perhaps because the dragons are starting to wake up...

9.) Death is not the end.

Again, it is for most. Maybe not for the NEW PCs heroes, and those they like a lot. Well, the undead would start "arising" too.

10.) The only constant is change. Things can change all around you. Men become wolves. Druids take the form of bears. Wizards polymorph into trolls.

Again, I would make this more rare, and for PCs and the newly arising monsters (at least some of them).

It is fun to play around with these assumptions!