Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1251676" data-attributes="member: 812">Hey, I'm not trying to say there's only one possible interpretation of how D&D power advancement maps to the real world. I'm just offering up one I think is interesting.But to address:ruleslawyer: the answer is simple -- D&D power selects for paranoia. The good guy will always get beat by the bad guy. There's just no contest -- unless the "gods" get involved (as in LotR, which is a great illustration of the notion that without "grace", salvation is impossible) -- the tricky, deceitful, back-stabbing SOB will always win. This doesn't work in our world because our power is social and eventually people will stop trusting you and poof goes your power. Not so in D&D.And keep in mind I'm not talking about evil. I'm talking about paranoia. I'm talking about self-preservation. The best solution, given D&D power systems, is to kill everyone else who possesses power, because they are a potential threat to you. It's like big countries stomping on small countries -- but it's not exactly like that because of the fundamental difference in power types I mentioned in my earlier post. You can't map these struggles to our world; there's no correlation.So this is all just speculation. But for me, coming up with reasons why it would be just like our world (or just like our stories) is kind of beside the point. I'm much more interested in exploring ideas as to why it might be different.Trickstergod: Why would the immortal ruler be the exception? Again, it's the smart play. I mean, after having gone to all that trouble to acquire this power, this safety, you're just going to die of old age? Not me, pal.And as for rulers not bothering to acquire real power -- well, they'll just get annihilated the first time somebody who went another route and DID acquire some power comes along. Sons of rulers having cushy lives just isn't going to fly -- if I know I only gained my power through my personal hard work and dangerous effort then I know perfectly well that my son or daughter is going to need the same power level as I have in order to manage things, or else they'll fall prey to the first assassin beholder that comes in through the window.I think it's interesting to imagine a world where politicking doesn't do you any good, because the sorcerer ruler of the neighboring kingdom is scrying on you, knows all your plans and in fact had you killed last week by a shape-changing demon. A ruler doesn't need to KNOW stuff, they need to be able to survive stuff.I mean, come on, the notion that Richard vs Saladin proves that high-level characters balance each other is just silly. At best, it proves that common folk suffer whatever fate the powerful decide to visit upon them. And that's in OUR world.</blockquote>

Verification