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<blockquote data-quote="hong" data-source="post: 1685968" data-attributes="member: 537">These are hardly the only touchpoints of inspiration that can be drawn on when it comes to fantasy. The fact that they keep getting trotted out says more about the innate conservatism of many D&amp;D gamers, than it does about the game or the genre.See, there is this Exalted game by White Wolf, which is basically D&amp;D turned up to eleven. For those who haven't got with the program, one of the lowest-powered spells that a PC can use in Exalted, rain of obsidian butterflies, is comparable to a meteor swarm in D&amp;D. A common weapon in the hands of a fighter type is a daiklave, which is a six-foot-long, one-foot-wide sword: the canonical example is Cloud's sword in FF7. Exalted loses some of D&amp;D's plot-device spells (unlimited-range teleport, easy divination, resurrection), but also has a far, far richer collection of powers for dealing with life outside the dungeon. One of its charm trees is entirely to do with getting your way with the bureaucracy!There have never been, as far as I can tell, complaints about how Exalted exists in a cultural vacuum. Far from it, in fact. Here is a post from Geoff Grabowski, Exalted line developer, originally made on RPGnet:&quot;Anyway, I felt there was a clear line of inspiration that ran like this:[code]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Dinosaurs Rule The Earth!&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Eastern Epic +&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Western Epic&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Chinese Novels&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; |&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Classical&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Lord Dunsany&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Histories&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; |&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Floating World&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; |&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Prints&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Wuxia&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; |&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pulp Fantasy&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Anime&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Riverworld*&nbsp; &nbsp; Pulp Revival&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; CRPGs&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; |&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; \&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; v&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; /&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; +-----&gt; Exalted &lt;-----------------+[/code]* Tom Mix pwnz j00.And that I could steal from basically every point along those trails, and as long as I didn't try to emphasize mututally contradictory elements. People who hate Ninja Scroll but think Red Blades of Black Cathay is elevated entertainment, or who find the Ramayana thrilling while dismissing Final Fantasy as overpowered crap often pick part of the tree and use those elements exclusively. I generally find the differences illusionary -- I don't really see very much space between Cloud Strife's sword and the ox-goad of Shamgar of Anath, other than one being more legitimate in the eyes of the person doing the imagining, which is what matters, but I like to steal omnivorously.&quot; The funny thing is, everything he says applies just as much to high-level D&amp;D. The overall tone and style of high-level play is very much similar to the sorts of things you do in Exalted, and all the precedents mentioned apply.The potential fallout of the rules on the setting is a second-order issue, coming after the potential fallout of the rules on gameplay. Buff-scry-teleport, for instance, is something I couldn't give a stuff about in terms of how society-at-large would evolve to accommodate it. Buff-scry-teleport, on the other hand, is something I worry about a lot in terms of how to avoid killing PCs arbitrarily, or how to avoid BBEGs being killed arbitrarily. D&amp;D is not the game to play if you're of a hardcore simulationist bent.Or ignore it. I have found that this works remarkably well. Don't you have better things to do with your time than trying to deal with the 7.5 billion chickens?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="hong, post: 1685968, member: 537"] These are hardly the only touchpoints of inspiration that can be drawn on when it comes to fantasy. The fact that they keep getting trotted out says more about the innate conservatism of many D&D gamers, than it does about the game or the genre. See, there is this Exalted game by White Wolf, which is basically D&D turned up to eleven. For those who haven't got with the program, one of the lowest-powered spells that a PC can use in Exalted, rain of obsidian butterflies, is comparable to a meteor swarm in D&D. A common weapon in the hands of a fighter type is a daiklave, which is a six-foot-long, one-foot-wide sword: the canonical example is Cloud's sword in FF7. Exalted loses some of D&D's plot-device spells (unlimited-range teleport, easy divination, resurrection), but also has a far, far richer collection of powers for dealing with life outside the dungeon. One of its charm trees is entirely to do with getting your way with the bureaucracy! There have never been, as far as I can tell, complaints about how Exalted exists in a cultural vacuum. Far from it, in fact. Here is a post from Geoff Grabowski, Exalted line developer, originally made on RPGnet: "Anyway, I felt there was a clear line of inspiration that ran like this: [code] Dinosaurs Rule The Earth! / \ / Eastern Epic + Western Epic Chinese Novels / \ | \ / Classical | \ Lord Dunsany Histories | Floating World \ / | Prints \ / Wuxia | Pulp Fantasy \ Anime / \ \ / Riverworld* Pulp Revival CRPGs \ | / \ v / +-----> Exalted <-----------------+ [/code] * Tom Mix pwnz j00. And that I could steal from basically every point along those trails, and as long as I didn't try to emphasize mututally contradictory elements. People who hate Ninja Scroll but think Red Blades of Black Cathay is elevated entertainment, or who find the Ramayana thrilling while dismissing Final Fantasy as overpowered crap often pick part of the tree and use those elements exclusively. I generally find the differences illusionary -- I don't really see very much space between Cloud Strife's sword and the ox-goad of Shamgar of Anath, other than one being more legitimate in the eyes of the person doing the imagining, which is what matters, but I like to steal omnivorously." The funny thing is, everything he says applies just as much to high-level D&D. The overall tone and style of high-level play is very much similar to the sorts of things you do in Exalted, and all the precedents mentioned apply. The potential fallout of the rules on the setting is a second-order issue, coming after the potential fallout of the rules on gameplay. Buff-scry-teleport, for instance, is something I couldn't give a stuff about in terms of how society-at-large would evolve to accommodate it. Buff-scry-teleport, on the other hand, is something I worry about a lot in terms of how to avoid killing PCs arbitrarily, or how to avoid BBEGs being killed arbitrarily. D&D is not the game to play if you're of a hardcore simulationist bent. Or ignore it. I have found that this works remarkably well. Don't you have better things to do with your time than trying to deal with the 7.5 billion chickens? [/QUOTE]

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