Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6670536" data-attributes="member: 4937">Well, I have two responses for that.The first is, &quot;It's too late for that.&quot;&nbsp; You see, in the mean time while D&amp;D was waiting around for its designers to start adopting a more scientific mindset, those of us with more scientific mindsets went ahead and made up our own definitions that depended on the particular backstories we imagined for or fiction.&nbsp; Of course, all of those different separate fictional world building events were as personal and diverse as could be imagined, so many of us have our own incompatible definitions that we don't desire to give up.And the proof that it is too late for that was 4e.&nbsp; Fourth edition tried to do exactly as you suggest, and create a single coherent world myth that would be the default in play.&nbsp; The trouble is, it was just one guys take on that, and the rest of us that cared - being the arrogant nerdy DMs that we are - said, &quot;You don't get to go redefining what 'fairy' means in my campaign world.&nbsp;&nbsp; Even Gygax didn't have that authority, and you sir are not Gygax.&quot;And the second thing is, &quot;This is a good thing.&quot; You see, the goal of an RPG is not to have us all playing D&amp;D in the same fictional universe.&nbsp; The goal of an RPG is to empower creative collaborative story telling.&nbsp;&nbsp; If D&amp;D had only one fiction, then it would be ill suited to creating fiction in any universe but its own.&nbsp; Because D&amp;D is largely setting agnostic, you can create all sorts of fictions with it that the designers never intended and couldn't imagine.&nbsp;&nbsp; All this chaos is in fact good.&nbsp; It is only through the blending of the order of rules and the chaos of imagination that we create great role playing games.Can you tell that if I thought alignments were real, I'd consider myself a follower of, &quot;Neutral Good&quot;?Dude. Orcs are born with innate magical powers.You see, Orcs are simply one of Tolkien's words for 'goblin' (proof is in 'The Hobbit'), and goblins as we know are actually a sort of fairy.&nbsp; Indeed, Goblins in Tolkien's works do have innate magical powers, but before you can understand that you first have to understand 'magic'.Do you know what 'magic' is?&nbsp; Tolkien did.&nbsp; Or at least, Tolkien knew what it wasn't and therefore what it had to be.&nbsp; And once you understand what Tolkien knew about magic you'll understand that the following statements are both true: &quot;There is no magic in Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'&quot; and &quot;Everything in Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' is magic.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; But I'll give you a few clues.&nbsp; In the beginning of 'The Hobbit', Tolkien says of the Hobbits: &quot;There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off.&quot;&nbsp; Or in other words, the Hobbits ability to be stealthy is 'magical', but of an 'ordinary everyday sort'.&nbsp; What does he mean by that?I put it to you that he Goblins of The Hobbit and the Orcs of The Lord of the Rings have just as much magic and of a less ordinary and everyday sort.&nbsp; And for that matter, they are just as magical as Galadriel.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6670536, member: 4937"] Well, I have two responses for that. The first is, "It's too late for that." You see, in the mean time while D&D was waiting around for its designers to start adopting a more scientific mindset, those of us with more scientific mindsets went ahead and made up our own definitions that depended on the particular backstories we imagined for or fiction. Of course, all of those different separate fictional world building events were as personal and diverse as could be imagined, so many of us have our own incompatible definitions that we don't desire to give up. And the proof that it is too late for that was 4e. Fourth edition tried to do exactly as you suggest, and create a single coherent world myth that would be the default in play. The trouble is, it was just one guys take on that, and the rest of us that cared - being the arrogant nerdy DMs that we are - said, "You don't get to go redefining what 'fairy' means in my campaign world. Even Gygax didn't have that authority, and you sir are not Gygax." And the second thing is, "This is a good thing." You see, the goal of an RPG is not to have us all playing D&D in the same fictional universe. The goal of an RPG is to empower creative collaborative story telling. If D&D had only one fiction, then it would be ill suited to creating fiction in any universe but its own. Because D&D is largely setting agnostic, you can create all sorts of fictions with it that the designers never intended and couldn't imagine. All this chaos is in fact good. It is only through the blending of the order of rules and the chaos of imagination that we create great role playing games. Can you tell that if I thought alignments were real, I'd consider myself a follower of, "Neutral Good"? Dude. Orcs are born with innate magical powers. You see, Orcs are simply one of Tolkien's words for 'goblin' (proof is in 'The Hobbit'), and goblins as we know are actually a sort of fairy. Indeed, Goblins in Tolkien's works do have innate magical powers, but before you can understand that you first have to understand 'magic'. Do you know what 'magic' is? Tolkien did. Or at least, Tolkien knew what it wasn't and therefore what it had to be. And once you understand what Tolkien knew about magic you'll understand that the following statements are both true: "There is no magic in Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'" and "Everything in Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' is magic." But I'll give you a few clues. In the beginning of 'The Hobbit', Tolkien says of the Hobbits: "There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off." Or in other words, the Hobbits ability to be stealthy is 'magical', but of an 'ordinary everyday sort'. What does he mean by that? I put it to you that he Goblins of The Hobbit and the Orcs of The Lord of the Rings have just as much magic and of a less ordinary and everyday sort. And for that matter, they are just as magical as Galadriel. [/QUOTE]

Verification