Gaming Pornography: Will 4th Edition lead to a more Realistic and Useful Game?

[Mallus]

There is little art in the more recent incarnations of the game, it is more like a cartoon or parody of itself. It has recently become a sort of over-bred, self-absorbed and endlessly replicating, navel-gazing Warhol.

I see you know as much about art as you do about gaming.

 

[Fifth Element]

The OP's challenge was that D&D is going away from edifying treatments of real-world mythology, religion and culture. I contend, via my Gygaxian proof text, that D&D was never about those things in the first place. It is about fantasy and fun, as Gygax himself says. The OP shouldn't mistake the inclusion of certain allusions to Earthly myth and culture which fired the Gygaxian imagination with some attempt to be genuinely edifying or "useful".

QFT. The OP wants D&D to be the way he has always played it, not the way the game itself has always been. There's a difference there.

And since older versions can be played his way, despite the fact that they're not designed that way, so should 4E be able to be played his way.

 

[Fifth Element]

The genius of 1st Ed. AD&D is something that I have begun to appreciate more and more. In this case, how it enabled both "historical simulationists", and power gamers. It seems the long term trend of D&D design is more and more toward enabling power gamers, at the expense of "historical simulationists" and others.

I don't see how 1E can be used for historical simulation any more than 3E/4E can. There are things you need to strip right out of 1E to use it as a historical simulation; same thing for 3E/4E. Things like magic, fantasy monsters, elves, etc, etc. How is it different?

 

[Hairfoot]

The real pronz

I see you know as much about art as you do about gaming.

Speaking of which, some light relief.

http://llbbl.com/data/RPG-motivational/target3.html

http://llbbl.com/data/RPG-motivational/target66.html

 

[coyote6]

Heck, if the hints about fewer magic items are true, then 4e may be more historic-friendly than 3e. You may need to create new maneuvers (or whatever they're called) for fighters & rogues, to match the flavor you want, and the power curve might be such that you want to cap levels at 10 or whatever, but at least the PCs won't need (or feel they need) tens of thousands of gp's worth of magic stuff to feel up to the challenge of their level.

Maybe. This is all rather fruitless speculation, until May (or possibly July or whenever the DMG comes out).

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Ooo, ooo!

Can we call the new porn game:

Spoiler

4PLAY

?

I agree with Patryn. A winning post.

 

[Nahat Anoj]

If people are interested in a more "realistic" or grim sword and sorcery take on the game, they might be able to keep their campaign within 4e's "Heroic Tier," which is from levels 1 to 10.

 

[Odhanan]

The more I read this thread, the more I get what Jack's saying. I don't think it has much to do with the rules, or not so much, but everything to do with what's designed with them later on, the art that's used, the feel that permeates D&D itself. And I must say, I quite get what he means when he uses the word "pornography". It's nothing to be scared of (booohh... bad word... bad word...): when you relate it to the context, Jack's argument makes sense.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

From what I read, though, Martial may not be any less "supernatural" than Arcane or Divine. I believe that the Martial classes will be taking a leaf from the Bo9S - meaning that even the basic "fighter" may be going to have more in common with Riddick, Gohan and Ryu than with Conan, Gimli or El Cid.

I don't believe this is a reasonable conclusion to draw from the available evidence.

For instance, I don't see where "intense training, dedication, or just plain old toughness" qualifies as supernatural, or why "toughness, self-discipline, and supreme mastery of his fighting skills" would remind you of Gohan and Ryu.

"A martial character is much like a world class athlete" seems like a pretty straightforward statement that these characters are exceptional, not supernatural.

 

[Korgoth]

I just want to add that you are in fact using "pornography" correctly in its original sense: something that seeks to excite some sense or desire in an extreme or unhealthy way.

Incidentally, this isn't the original meaning of pornography. A "porne" is a prostitute, and "graph" is writing or drawing. That is, pornography is writing or drawing about prostitution, etc. So it is specifically tied to a sexual connotation in the original meaning.