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10 Absolute Truths about the World of D&D
- Thread starter Remathilis
- Start date
Man in the Funny Hat
Hero
Nightfall goes to 11!Nightfall said:Say it loud, say it proud, Nightfall is #11!
I have a different approach to this question. Rather than positing what large groups of people would do, look at the actions of individuals, and then extrapolate. So, without further ado, if I was living in D&D world as a commoner, here are my reactions.
I'm immediately more likely to trust people who share my alignment. I have a bond with them. I have an idea how they think. Who knows what that crazy CG guy is planning, or what that LN mayor will take as a slight. Like bands together with like.
Magic is also powerful, and can do things beyond the keen of normal men. Plus the gnomes one farm over can speak with animals and get those pesky groundhogs to stop digging up their crops in exchange for some food now and then, I want that power! What about the wizard who can read minds? I wish I could have done that last year when those travelers came into town with counterfeit coinage. And the ability to heal like the druids, clerics, or bards? That's useful. Even cure minor wounds would have saved my brother years ago when he was fighting off some wolves on his property. So, how much do I have to pay someone who knows this stuff to teach some to me? Even if I can't manage it, you can bet I'll be trying to apprentice my children to these people. If magic's a career, then I want some.
Yeah, but why would anyone want to go off risking life and limb for something they could learn (albeit slower) right here in the village?
Hrm... you make a compelling point... But still, that better be amazing advancement, with serious survival rates to overcome the advantages of just learning from the village caster. (OOC: Take fighting in the real world. Sure you'll learn faster by going off and fighting underground kickboxing matches in Vietnam, but how many people take that route compared to those who just sign up for martial arts classes in their local dojo? Sure, it takes longer, but you don't have to abandon your life and risk your head while you're at it.)
And some of them are friendly. Heck, last feast day, the gnomes next door found some delicious berries in the local forest by asking their furry friends. And I've got a dwarven friend a town over who's a blacksmith and can make plows that I've never seen break! But you've really got to watch out for those orcs. Last summer they killed three of the village guard and burned my field before they were driven off. The only good orc is a dead orc.
And I go to service every week. And I bring some of my crops to the cleric as an offering. And I drop by the shrines to the others every month. In return, the cleric makes sure to come by my field and bless it when he makes the rounds. And two years back, when my youngest fell ill with the devil's cough, the cleric made him right well again.
All the more reason to learn something of that magic that the wizard does, and some of that healing power that the cleric or bard has. While I'm at it, I sure am glad that I spent that year in the town guard so I can swing a sword.
I want my share too!
Sure it isn't, but that's only for those kings and lords up in the big cities. For me and mine, if you don't treat that arrow wound from the last orc raid, you're as dead as dead gets. That's why my youngest spends every Sunday with the cleric, learning the ways of Yondalla, and why he has lessons with all the other village kids with the wizard for an hour each day. When he's of age, he'll spend a year with the town guard. That way he'll grow up knowing how to handle himself right and proper, and make sure he doesn't fall down dead when the orcs come back again.
Right on there. That's why you've got to be prepared.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
What do you end up with? A world where the average, middle-aged farmer, has a level of warrior and another of adept along with those commoner levels. Magic is real, and everyone wants some. Cooperation in good-aligned towns leads to a prevelance of magic among the people that even the DMG doesn't suggest. In neutral-aligned towns, if you can pay the price, you can learn what you seek. And where there are evil rulers, magic would be outlawed, and used as a means to control the populance. In the end, those villagers really aren't the push-overs you imagined them to be, and maybe the reason they make so little a day is because barter rules most of their transactions. I mean, if your city made sure you had food every day, wouldn't you be willing to teach some children for an hour a day? Heck, I would (but unfortunately, physicists aren't quite so highly valued these days).
Remathilis said:
I'm immediately more likely to trust people who share my alignment. I have a bond with them. I have an idea how they think. Who knows what that crazy CG guy is planning, or what that LN mayor will take as a slight. Like bands together with like.
Remathilis said:
Magic is also powerful, and can do things beyond the keen of normal men. Plus the gnomes one farm over can speak with animals and get those pesky groundhogs to stop digging up their crops in exchange for some food now and then, I want that power! What about the wizard who can read minds? I wish I could have done that last year when those travelers came into town with counterfeit coinage. And the ability to heal like the druids, clerics, or bards? That's useful. Even cure minor wounds would have saved my brother years ago when he was fighting off some wolves on his property. So, how much do I have to pay someone who knows this stuff to teach some to me? Even if I can't manage it, you can bet I'll be trying to apprentice my children to these people. If magic's a career, then I want some.
Remathilis said:
Yeah, but why would anyone want to go off risking life and limb for something they could learn (albeit slower) right here in the village?
Remathilis said:
Hrm... you make a compelling point... But still, that better be amazing advancement, with serious survival rates to overcome the advantages of just learning from the village caster. (OOC: Take fighting in the real world. Sure you'll learn faster by going off and fighting underground kickboxing matches in Vietnam, but how many people take that route compared to those who just sign up for martial arts classes in their local dojo? Sure, it takes longer, but you don't have to abandon your life and risk your head while you're at it.)
Remathilis said:
And some of them are friendly. Heck, last feast day, the gnomes next door found some delicious berries in the local forest by asking their furry friends. And I've got a dwarven friend a town over who's a blacksmith and can make plows that I've never seen break! But you've really got to watch out for those orcs. Last summer they killed three of the village guard and burned my field before they were driven off. The only good orc is a dead orc.
Remathilis said:
And I go to service every week. And I bring some of my crops to the cleric as an offering. And I drop by the shrines to the others every month. In return, the cleric makes sure to come by my field and bless it when he makes the rounds. And two years back, when my youngest fell ill with the devil's cough, the cleric made him right well again.
Remathilis said:
All the more reason to learn something of that magic that the wizard does, and some of that healing power that the cleric or bard has. While I'm at it, I sure am glad that I spent that year in the town guard so I can swing a sword.
Remathilis said:
I want my share too!
Remathilis said:
Sure it isn't, but that's only for those kings and lords up in the big cities. For me and mine, if you don't treat that arrow wound from the last orc raid, you're as dead as dead gets. That's why my youngest spends every Sunday with the cleric, learning the ways of Yondalla, and why he has lessons with all the other village kids with the wizard for an hour each day. When he's of age, he'll spend a year with the town guard. That way he'll grow up knowing how to handle himself right and proper, and make sure he doesn't fall down dead when the orcs come back again.
Remathilis said:
Right on there. That's why you've got to be prepared.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
What do you end up with? A world where the average, middle-aged farmer, has a level of warrior and another of adept along with those commoner levels. Magic is real, and everyone wants some. Cooperation in good-aligned towns leads to a prevelance of magic among the people that even the DMG doesn't suggest. In neutral-aligned towns, if you can pay the price, you can learn what you seek. And where there are evil rulers, magic would be outlawed, and used as a means to control the populance. In the end, those villagers really aren't the push-overs you imagined them to be, and maybe the reason they make so little a day is because barter rules most of their transactions. I mean, if your city made sure you had food every day, wouldn't you be willing to teach some children for an hour a day? Heck, I would (but unfortunately, physicists aren't quite so highly valued these days).
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Someone
Adventurer
I´d like to drop a word about how practical is adventuring as a career. Sure it can get you quickly from broken apprentice to millionaire archmage, if (and this is the big if) you´re lucky enough to get your challenges in the right order.
Taking the first adventure path as an example, what would have happened if the group heard about the Heart of Nightfand spire when they were level 1? They wouldn´t last a round, the first encounter would have killed them. Same if the cathezar (sp?) that appears in Bastion of broken souls happens to attack before they are level 18th. Or if they pit themselves against the speaker in dreams at the start of their careers. Or generally, if they don´t start with the sunless citadel. That´s a 1 in 8 chance of dieing right from the start, and this is supposing they all survive the adventures without dieing (somebody should ask Wulf)
The calculations show that the chances of picking the right adventures by pure luck are 1 against 40320, supposing 8 long adventures. That´s right, only one adventurer in tens of thousands live to see the epic levels. That assumes you´ll die if you attempt an adventure suitable for parties 3 levels above of what you are, but ignores th possibility of said adventurer dieing while in an adventure of his level, so we can call it even.
That means that unless you want an almost sure early grave you´d better limit yourself to kobolds and goblins, just to be sure you don´t mess with a crazed druid and his advanced dire bear, or the demon invasion. But who can tell what level are those goblins? Sooner or later you´ll find the 8th level sorcerer that will blast your arse, and while you´ll be doing fine money it´s not the same as looting an adult dragon hoard. By the rules, professional adventurers will be the ones thinking "We´re going to die soon or sooner, but in the meantime we´ll have a good time"
Taking the first adventure path as an example, what would have happened if the group heard about the Heart of Nightfand spire when they were level 1? They wouldn´t last a round, the first encounter would have killed them. Same if the cathezar (sp?) that appears in Bastion of broken souls happens to attack before they are level 18th. Or if they pit themselves against the speaker in dreams at the start of their careers. Or generally, if they don´t start with the sunless citadel. That´s a 1 in 8 chance of dieing right from the start, and this is supposing they all survive the adventures without dieing (somebody should ask Wulf)
The calculations show that the chances of picking the right adventures by pure luck are 1 against 40320, supposing 8 long adventures. That´s right, only one adventurer in tens of thousands live to see the epic levels. That assumes you´ll die if you attempt an adventure suitable for parties 3 levels above of what you are, but ignores th possibility of said adventurer dieing while in an adventure of his level, so we can call it even.
That means that unless you want an almost sure early grave you´d better limit yourself to kobolds and goblins, just to be sure you don´t mess with a crazed druid and his advanced dire bear, or the demon invasion. But who can tell what level are those goblins? Sooner or later you´ll find the 8th level sorcerer that will blast your arse, and while you´ll be doing fine money it´s not the same as looting an adult dragon hoard. By the rules, professional adventurers will be the ones thinking "We´re going to die soon or sooner, but in the meantime we´ll have a good time"
Particle_Man
Explorer
Mr. Draco said:
Not if you were NE or CE. You would *know* that those bastards were out for themselves and waiting to stab you in the back (just like you are waiting to betray them, if the price is right). It would be way better to hide your true intent and hang around the Good folk (otherwise known as "suckers") but for that you need to get some non-detection magic. Somehow.
