Well, while I understand and appreciate that, I didn't get the impression that commoners didn't grow crops....more that they now assume that the 1st level cleric in town actually decides that using his create water and mending cantrips is more useful to the town than adventuring.
Not really what I meant...more that, the spell system is designed wholly and solely for adventuring purposes (those interesting FR spells that weren't, in fact, intended for adventurers, occasionally popping up in the sourcebooks, didn't make it into the new edition). What I meant was, trying to logically apply the effect of this specifically aimed hero magic on general society is almost guaranteed to be a recipe for trouble, and best ignored unless you want to see the entire tapestry unravel before your eyes.
It seems that struggling with the implications of
Create Water and
Earthquake and giants and flying monsters on castles and sieges,
Cure Disease and lay on hands on plagues,
Plant Growth,
Decanters of Endless Water, that magic item that makes gruel and
Control Weather on droughts and famines etc. has been a thorn in the side of the game's verisimilitude since early days. There are no reasons why wizards, clerics and druids wouldn't turn society upside down with change if the the implications of their capabilities were explored fully. You could forget about even a semblance of medieval atmosphere, because it would be bulldozed instantly by every house having permanent magical lighting...and that's just one spell.
To go some of the way down this path and ignore the rest is a Faustian bargain; if X is there, compromising a swords & sorcery fantasy idiom because it's a "realistic" result of magic in society, then why aren't implications Y and Z also true? It's a one way street which looks on the surface like we're getting somewhere, but actually leads nowhere good, IMO...
Apparently we have different definition of 'pulp'. Conan, IMHO, is pulp.
Agreed, although I distinguish "pulp fantasy" (e.g. Conan) from "pulpy pulp", i.e. pulp in a contemporary setting. Eberron has been purported to be the latter (see reply to next paragraph).
When were detectives and dames actually in the setting?
I think it's from one of Keith Baker's posts on this board from the early days, where he was describing a dwarven detective with a battleaxe who was talking to a "dame". I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it. Someone said this material was from the original setting submission, and had since been rescinded - that may be the rumour I'm helping spread.
I'm getting an impression that WotC's poor information release has created a lot of myths about the setting which are morphing into "they removed it from the setting", when it actually was never in it to begin with.
As I said, I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it, although I've probably got at least one detail wrong.
Wasn't the final boss in Ultima IV a super-computer?
I never completed Quest of the Avatar, but I did read a walkthrough about a year ago, and no, I don't think so. You had to state the One True Axiom and some other stuff, but if there had been a supercomputer mentioned in the walkthrough, I doubt I would have forgotten because it would have stuck out like a sore thumb.
There were other anachronisms, too, like the modern-style lighthouse and the clock things and so forth. And I thought I recalled the use of lasers in the game, but they can easily become 'magical energy' and there's not much difference.
I think we're definitely thinking of different Ultimas, as I don't recall any of that stuff...
Luckily, there's an expert on such matters about. Argh, where's my material components? Need to cast
Summon Hong...now, was that 2 parts mandrake, four parts spider silk...