D&D General D&D is now Steampunk (poll)

[Paul Farquhar]

medieval in trappings

That term again.

WTF is a medieval trapping?????????

And Dragonlance couldn’t be more American if it dressed in Stars and Stripes and sang the star spangled banner.

 

[Reynard]

That term again.

WTF is a medieval trapping?????????

And Dragonlance couldn’t be more American if it dressed in Stars and Stripes and sang the star spangled banner.

Maybe you aren't familiar with the term trappings? It means veneer or costume. That is, surface appearance of.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If you don’t know what a medieval trapping is, how do you know if a game has them or not?

Why wouldn't I know? Have you seriously never looked at D&D and seen something medieval in its aesthetic?

 

[Micah Sweet]

So, not D&D then.

Lets look at a few things:

Medieval Europe: monotheistic religion dominates politics.

D&D: multiple polytheistic religions scrap with each other but rarely have significant political power.

Medieval Europe: climate mostly cold and wet, largely forested.

D&D: climate usually depicted as hot and dry (coincidentally, very like America).

You can go on and on and on with stuff from early D&D that is nothing like medieval Europe.

In what way is the climate in "D&D" usually depicted as hot and dry? Seriously, where is that coming from?

 

[Scribe]

WTF is a medieval trapping?????????

Trappings - Etymology, Origin & Meaning

Originating from Anglo-French and Old French drap meaning "cloth," ornament originally meant horse-cloth and evolved by the 1590s to mean decorations or dress emb...

www.etymonline.com

For ones given view and definition of 'medieval' and go from there.

 

[Burnside]

In what way is the climate in "D&D" usually depicted as hot and dry? Seriously, where is that coming from?

Yeah, this is a weird one. For that matter, maybe like 30% of America is hot and dry. Certainly not Lake Geneva, WI.

 

[Autumnal]

So which part of medieval history does the beholder come from?

Likewise with the plate armor and the polearms. I’m hip-deep in Peter H. Wilson’s mega-history of the Thirty Years War, and its fascinating how a lot of elements I think of as medieval come from the 15th and 16th centuries.

And the absence of allods! Where are the allods? How can-- [Burly men enter to stuff Bruce into a large sack and drag him off, stage right. A few minutes later, a splash is heard from the nearby stream.]

 

[Reynard]

Likewise with the plate armor and the polearms. I’m hip-deep in Peter H. Wilson’s mega-history of the Thirty Years War, and its fascinating how a lot of elements I think of as medieval come from the 15th and 16th centuries.

And the absence of allods! Where are the allods? How can-- [Burly men enter to stuff Bruce into a large sack and drag him off, stage right. A few minutes later, a splash is heard from the nearby stream.]

That's allod of land!

/i'll see myself out

 

[Autumnal]

I’d see you out, but I’m already underwater and in a sack, so I can’t see you.

By the way, for those not knowing: allodial land is land you own outright, not held as a fief or grant from anyone else. Your ancestors have always been there, as far as memory and the tax rolls know, or someone in your family bought it from someone in the situation. So it’s not subject to feudal giving or taking. How big a deal allods were, sing it along with me, varied a lot in different times and places.

 

[Charlaquin]

No one cares about 3.0 either books start at $5 retail now.

It was interesting to hear Brendan Lee Mulligan say in the CR4 fireside chat that, if it weren’t for streaming, he’d still be running 3.5e. I think the fans are out there, they just aren’t as vocal.