A world defined by rules...

[Obergnom]

Hello everybody...

This is my very first post on this boards (I'm so exited )

Have you every thought about how a fantasy world using the DnD mechanics instead of the laws of nature would look like? And how that would influence several parts of the game system?

I have given that idea quite some thought lately...

Magic item pricing, for example... when playing RttToeE my Party found a +1 ghost touch long sword... a +2 weapon worth ca. 8000 GM. the only use they had for this weapon was selling it. With 4000 GM they could by much more efficient things than this weapon. (2 +1 Weapons, for example, or a whole bunch of Potions of Haste)
Now, I am asking myself, why should any merchant be willing to give the heroes 4000 GM for a weapon he could self for maybe 3500 but no more?

Or consider Min/Max Characters... people should have learned what is efficient to do and what not. Which weapons are a good choice which are not. It is only logical that warriors receive a certain training that proved to be the most successful over the years.

And combinations that simply proved to be inefficient should be very rare indeed (Rangers, anyone?)

The same goes for certain professions… there is no reason why wizards and clerics should be rare… it is not that hard to be quite easy to become one (following the rules) and a whole bunch of these could make life quite comfortable… but at the same time magic resistant illnesses might show up… (As with antibiotics immune in our real world) or there would be non at all…

Well… just liked that idea and thought I will share it…

 

[Rune]

Hello everybody...

This is my very first post on this boards (I'm so exited

Welcome to the boards, Obergnom!

Have you every thought about how a fantasy world using the DnD mechanics instead of the laws of nature would look like? And how that would influence several parts of the game system?

I keep both in mind when I create a new campaign. I don't particularly see why the D&D rules should trump the laws of nature, which, let's face it, are laws for a reason (they are the same everywhere in the universe-- unless I'm running a Cthulhu game ).

Anyway, my point is, the trick is to remain consistant within the confines of your game. You can create any natural laws you want, but the players have to be able to suspend their disbelief.

I highly recommend that you check out the Dungeoncraft articles (by Ray Winninger) that used to appear in Dragon for more on this subject.

 

[Obergnom]

Well,

I have read the Dungeoncraft articles and like them. This whole post was just thought as a Gedankenexperiment... (A friend of mine studying Physics a little bit longer than me, told me this word was not translated into English but rather integrated... if he was wrong, it means thought experiment.)

It’s just a… what would a world where climbing is that easy, where you can run that fast, where you might be able to take so much damage etc. look like? And of course where Fighter Barbarians are among the most powerful melee combatants… etc.

 

[Rune]

Well,

I have read the Dungeoncraft articles and like them. This whole post was just thought as a Gedankenexperiment... (A friend of mine studying Physics a little bit longer than me, told me this word was not translated into English but rather integrated... if he was wrong, it means thought experiment.)

Ich spreche Deutsch nicht so gut.

It’s just a… what would a world where climbing is that easy, where you can run that fast, where you might be able to take so much damage etc. look like? And of course where Fighter Barbarians are among the most powerful melee combatants… etc.

It is an interesting thought to ponder. I suspect that it would do little more than intensify the survival of the fittest aspect of evolution. Of course, that means that all of the world's history would have to take that into account, but I doubt that it would be as daunting a task as it sounds.

 

[Bob Aberton]

Heh. No need to worry about dying early anymore...can't you just picture what hospitals would be like?

Car crash? Massive head trauma? Dismemberment? No problem for the local hospital clerics...

Murder mysteries would be as easy as pie to solve, due to "Speak with Dead."

I've heard this one on the boards before, but:

The Classic Scene From a War Movie

Soldier1: Aaagh, I've been hit!

Soldier2: Cleric!

 

[A'koss]

There was recently a lengthy thread on this very topic on RGFD. I just want to throw out a few more things to ponder.

1. Did an array of monstrous races evolve alongside humans during the developing years of world? If so, the likelihood of human/demihuman dominance (existence?) is certainly in question. Perhaps humans are relegated to playing the middle ground between other powerful races that have divided up the world...

2. Leveled & Non-leveled people interacting. Does power corrupt? D&D allows people who start out as no better than you or I to attain near (and sometimes surpassing) godlike power, skills and stats. A single HL fighter could kill an entire city full of commoners with impunity. How would these beings really fit into society? How does a character with a 30+ Wis or Cha (far beyond what is attainable IRL) interact with the common populace?

3. Politics. Who rules? High level diplomats can use diplomacy checks to bend the favor of just about any NPC to their cause. Assassination is easy, D&D heavily favors the attacker. How do societies adapt?

4. How is experience points accumulated in your world. Do you allow non-combat experience or must all involve some sort of risk? How you allow the people to gain XP will directly affect how many HLers there'll be running around.

5. Demographics. Do you follow the DMG/ELH for numbers and strength of classed individuals? How you build your world will directly affect these numbers.


Have fun!


A'koss.

 

[jgbrowning]

cool, where is it

There was recently a lengthy thread on this very topic on RGFD. I just want to throw out a few more things to ponder.

whats RGFD and where can i read this thread, sounds good.


thanks,

joe b.

 

[A'koss]

jgbrowning wrote:
whats RGFD and where can i read this thread, sounds good.

It's short for the newsgroup rec.games.frp.dnd. The threads were called "Worldbuilder exercise: magic prevelance and impact" & "Political Systems in Standard 3e". I'm... somewhat hesitant to direct to these threads (which I can see have already fallen off my newsreader) as the signal to noise ratio was pretty high in them. We all kinda lost our cool at some point along the way and it wasn't pretty after that... You may be able to get at it from Google if you want to wade through it. But YHBW...

I'd suggest you might have some more constructive feedback in a moderated environment such as this...


Cheers,

A'koss.

 

[Obergnom]

I think online games like diablo2 give rather good examples how such things might work out...

(I'm not playing myself, but two of my friends do a lot...)

The pice given by the designers to certain magical items does not reflect the worth of them. And as everybody could have as much money as wanted, an alternative trading system build around Jordains (very rare and powerful rings, I think) was introduced by the players.

And there are subclasses recognized by every veteran players, as if there was no choice how to built such types of characters... (Javazone - an Amazon using a Javelin, Hammerdin - a Paladin using... well i think its about a hammer, but not sure about that )

Thus if every character in a game world was played by a single player and maybe 50% of them try to be succsessful while the other 50% just want to have a good life, what would happen?

I think amoung the motivated ones thertain archtypes would evolve and there would be a lot of mid level characters. It is rather easy to survive some encounters, if you have got a cleric with you.