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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 5917233" data-attributes="member: 92511">Ok, so to the question at had, "Does 5e need a Core setting?"The answer is <drum roll, please> No...and Yes.IF, by "Core setting" we are saying some consistent coherent details and fluff that must be adhered to to play the game, then, No.But if by "Core setting" we are saying the "implied setting" by which the rules of the book are explained, called out in examples, certain "baseline" tropes are included, then Yes.Do you need to know the "Order of the Shiny Sword" Paladins are from the Kingdom of Shiny, follow this code and are this alignment with XYZ powers at ABC levels and always ride a celestial flying monkey? No.Does the PHB, in relaying the Paladin class need to touch on code, alignment [as an optional add on], and the default/baseline powers of the class (prefrerably with an explanation of how those powers come about/are fueled) and examples of some character named "Chival Swordshine, Paladin of the Holy Light"? Yes. It should. If for no other reason than to give thsoe "new players" we're all so worried about getting into the game an idea of what/how a Paladin can look/be/act. Those that have their own ideas/have played or years...no, we don't need this. But the books need to be written not just for those of us who "just need the rules" to get started...but someone who's never played.The "Elf" listing needs to make certain assumptions of the elf characters, as a default. Not just "Elf: stat, stat, stat." Are they two foot tall floppy-eared bug-eyed Dobbies? Or a race of Legolases? Or four foot tall, three-fingered tribes of wolf-riders seeking out their ancient ancestral "High Ones"? Or otherworldly "fey"/sidhe kingdoms, like Oberon and Titantia from Shakespeare/used in Gargoyles?Yes, anyone can make elves however they want. But the game,for those with no reference, need certain default/baseline assumptions on which to make the rules....which leads to graspable implications about the race, the culture, the setting in general.Those who want to change them will, of course...as they should...and I expect sidebars/optional modules explaining (prolly in the DMG more than the PHB) how to go about making "sun elves and night elves and chocolate mousse elves"...ad inf.But the rules of the game need a baseline of fluff on which to stipulate the rules...which requires/implies a setting, to a degree.Clerics need gods to pick. Now, I'm not saying the PHB should stipulate a pantheon (though this is easy enough to swap out), but "the god of war, or furniture" as others have stated, need to be there...which implies a polytheistic setting. Examples of clerics in play need them fighting/casting or statements about their 'holy power forcing back the undead creatures of darkness" and all of that.  Implies certain things about the setting.I don't want a "world name", but as examples of play, the names of a town, or culture/kingdom/nation, gods, races, will certainly make for more colorful/imagination invoking fluff than just lines of rules and +'s/-'s attached to everything. I don't want "cosmology" dictated by the rulebooks. Maybe the occasional example or reference or explanation (probably under spell descriptions and/or Monster Manual entries) of an "Astral Plane" or an "Abyss"/"the Nine Hells", etc...to get the juices flowing.And yes, a World Builder's Guide for those who want to make their own homebrewed settings is essential (maybe the "World Brewer's Guide" is a better title? hmmm.). But in the PHB/DMG, certain names or examples of places/people/things isn't going to ruin anyone's anything and give those without their own desires/abilities to build settigns SOMEthing to work with to jump into the game.    So, yes, the "Core" needs an Implied Setting. A default/baseline from which to start the game. No, it does not need a "Core Setting" telling us everything about the game world.All of that...and this entire thread, for that matter, said...they said some time ago, I thought, that FR is going to be the "default setting"...so, as long as they keep the references in an "example/reference/implied" kind of mode in the rulebooks and give us a FR fully fleshed Setting book separately, then that's fine. I won't be playing in the FR...and from the drums of war being sounded at every mention of FR, many others won't either...but they'll have (or have already decided on) their default/baseline on which to frame the rules. --SD</blockquote>

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