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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gothmog" data-source="post: 1532247" data-attributes="member: 317">I have to disagree with the main rant.  Without similar underlying scientific concepts in a fantasy world, players have no way to relate to it.  If wood doesn't burn, ice doesn't melt, and falling objects don't have a terminal velocity, then all the assumptions we have about our world don't apply.I have played in several campaigns where the rationale was handwaved away as "because its magic."  In one, the DM had rivers flowing out of a crater uphill, deserts bordering jungle with no transition (ie, savannah), normal mountains that suddenly became volcanos, weather patterns that made no sense, half-race hybrids everywhere, etc.  This totally killed the believability of the game for me, and the world seemed silly and comical, despite (or maybe because of) the epic plot the DM was trying to run.  Of course, the DM was utterly clueless about science in general (he thought lightning moved at 80 mph, and that the sun was the center of the Milky Way galaxy).I have found the best way to build a plausible world is to start with a world that is utterly non-magic and normal, and then alter just a few things by the inclusion of magic.  Add in a cursed blasted wasteland in an area, add in one or two natural occurances due to magical interactions (ley lines for example), and you're ready to go.  If the world departs too far from normality, a LOT of serious thought needs to be done as to the explanations for events, or else the whole thing lacks internal consistency and falls apart.</blockquote>

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