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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ptolemy18" data-source="post: 1988713" data-attributes="member: 24970">This is definitely one of the most high-level D&D conversations I've ever read... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />I'm certainly misunderstanding or oversimplifying someone's position, but....  In my opinion, RPGs are an attempt to create a sort of escapist simulation of reality, and I don't think that any particular area should be "off limits"... nor is any particular subject necessarily foolhardy to tackle. (I'd say that intensely personal or graphic material might be a mistake, but then again, RPGs share something in common with psychological "encounter groups", and even the most confrontational subject matter is probably acceptable to *some* groups, so long as it's agreed upon by the DM and the players. On that note, I wonder if anyone really *did* buy the BOOK OF EROTIC FANTASY... :/)There's nothing wrong with someone trying to run a simulation RPG set in the "real world", any more than someone writing a book or filming a movie set in the "real world." The same applies to attempts to capture a particular historical period, time or place... with the caveats, of course, that the farther you step outside your personal experience, the more likely you are to make glaring mistakes. Any depictions of an alien culture, a different time and place, are invariably tainted by one's personal experiences and biases. But again, the only expectations a DM has to meet is the expectations of the players (unless they publish their adventure, in which case other DMs will get to take shots at it). If your gaming group is satisfied, you've "succeeded" in the most fundamental way a RPG can succeed, whether you're trying to describe 10th century Byzantium or the alley on the other side of town. Or an alley in 10th century Byzantium infested with neo-otyughs. :/Of course, in the case of a fantasy game like D&D, the addition of fantastic elements inevitably turns the "real-world simulation" elements into mere set-dressing for the fantasy. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> But all science fiction and fantasy relies on a mixture of recognizable real-world elements and genre stereotypes. Adding a certain amount of real-world elements keeps things from getting boring and generic, keeps every spaceship from looking like every other "Oh, it's just a spaceship" spaceship.Genre fiction keeps itself fresh by cannibalizing from the real world. Some genre fiction is merely more of a real-world simulation and others is more openly fantastic. It's the same way with RPGs. Neither way is perfect, IMHO.Jason</blockquote>

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