Desdichado
Hero
You do realize, I hope, that d20 and D&D are two different things?
Middle Earth - LotR
- Thread starter Swiftbrook
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You do realize, I hope, that d20 and D&D are two different things?
Storm Raven
First Post
ecliptic said:
They also use the term chain mail, which is incorrect as well, so I'm thinking these guys aren't who I would turn to when looking for accurate terminology.
And yes, TSR did just make up the term "plate mail" when they put it in their book.
Last edited:
Sigurd
First Post
Joshua Dyal said:
You do realize, I hope, that d20 and D&D are two different things?
Absolutely, but IMHO modern Dungeons & Dragons (represented by D20) is a victem of its own popularity. Players look to publications, especially if they are 'official' to expand their game world without regard for the Dungeon Masters creation/responsibility. DM's don't want to be mean to their players and are certainly cowed by too many good ideas. The campaign world gets waterred down and looses interrelation/dependence. Instead of a struggle (like Tolkien's Middle Earth) you get an unbelievable supermarket of unrelated adventures all held in stasis till the players have a chance to get to them.
The setting has no gratitude for the characters because they are in a state of perpetual rework.
History is completely maleable as an 'ancient' ruin is dropped in on a moments notice. Another race or power is inflated when the players get strong enough & the game goes on like a pinball machine. There is nothing wrong with that if it makes people happy but it is the antithesis of tolkien where the story has been in the making for thousands of years and everything is related.
Earlier D&D is better on this score than recent but you can find the trend certainly in AD&D. As soon as TSR realised there were three times as many players as DM's they created more and cooler books for players. That isn't wrong but I think it is one of the defining thing about AD&D - more, more recent, more magic. You haven't seen nothin until you see what just came out!
Its a challenge for a DM. Rolemaster had one focus for its middle earth system and a different approach to magic that I find much more 'tolkienesque'. ymmv
S
Desdichado
Hero
Chain mail (or maybe chainmail, although I don't think there's a substantive difference between those) is at least used by experts in medieval arms and armament, though; folks like David Nichole or Ian Heath who write for Osprey. And sure, Osprey isn't the definitive reference material, but they do do their research well.Storm Raven said:
I've never heard anyone complain about the term chainmail before; what's the story?
Desdichado
Hero
Huh. I haven't found it to be so. But I see you're point, I guess.Sigurd said:
Storm Raven
First Post
Joshua Dyal said:
Because the accurate term for what is called chain mail (armor made from linked rings that superficially resemble chain) is actually simply mail. The term chain mail was never used when the armor itself was in common use. Calling mail armor "chain mail" is as accurate as calling "crossbows" "guns"
(By the way, the word mail is derived from the Latin word mascula (roughly meaning mesh), into Old French as maille, and then into Middle English)
Desdichado
Hero
Fair enough; I've heard mail used periodically as chain mail. I've also seen examples of a few other forging techniques that are occasionally called ring mail, though. Although rare, I think they were at least common enough that chain was added as a clarifier.
ruleslawyer
Registered User
Feel free to provide counter-evidence or debate, then.Joshua Dyal said:
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