Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Mix multispecies traits
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 9026616" data-attributes="member: 58172"><p>Before continuing on to the Ardling, a brief note.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The official 5e Good Planes are</p><p></p><p><strong>LLG</strong>: Arcadia</p><p><strong>LG</strong>: Mount Celestia</p><p><strong>GLG</strong>: Bitopia</p><p><strong>Good</strong>: Elysium</p><p><strong>GCG</strong>: Beastlands</p><p><strong>CG</strong>: Arborea</p><p><strong>CCG</strong>: Ysgard</p><p></p><p>As a Scandinavian, I somewhat object to the location "Ysgard" as if "Chaotic by Chaotic Good". D&D traditions are problematic about characterizing "primitive" ethnic groups. The way it describes Norse cultures to be as if "fur-clad" "chaotic" "barbarians" is both factually incorrect and part of this wider problem. A more accurate representation of these reallife cultures is to make æsir and jotnar be creatures of the Material Plane. The thunderstorm itself is a kind of "æsir", each mountain is a kind of "jǫtnar", and so on. The closest thing in D&D to this concept is that certain places are psionic. In any case, trying to make Norse traditions fit in an alignment chart is absurd. Some individuals might arguably Lawful or Chaotic, but they all hang out together in the same place. To mischaracterize all of them as if "chaotic" barbarians is problematic. Inhospitable places like icy Niflheimr, fiery Muspelheimr, and empty Ginnungagap are actual places like the polar ice cap, the Saharan Desert, and outer space. Even if reworked as abstractions, they would be more like the Elemental Chaos. I would be more comfortable make the Norse nature beings be Elementals, maybe Primordials, and maybe Giants (meaning æsir, alfar, and dvergar are all "Giants" and the definition of a Giant is an apparition of some feature of nature).</p><p></p><p>Relatedly, I would make Greek gods Archfey, rather than trying to display them within ethical alignments. According to the ancient Greeks, the Greek gods are otherworldly, rivaling, and capricious. There is a medieval tradition to describe Greek gods as "fairies", including Pluto with his own fairy court, and dryads explained as a kind of fairy. Making the reallife traditions about Greek gods serve as alignment figures is confusing at best.</p><p></p><p>Names like "Arcadia" who are an ancient indigenous people in Greece, and less helpful terms like "Limbo" that dont really describe D&D Chaos, are probably worth doublechecking too.</p><p></p><p>Hades is more like 5e Shadowfell, and better to call the NE plane by its other name Gray Waste.</p><p></p><p>Maybe make its theism more archetypal like the Thera setting, and nontheistic Divine options along the lines of Paladin more prominent. This can also help reallife players feel more comfortable and "safe" when playing D&D, since the way that religions get portrayed can interfere with the enjoyment of the game.</p><p></p><p>A 5e version of Planescape needs to vet everything in the earlier D&D traditions.</p><p></p><p>D&D 5e seems to be leaning away from referring to reallife ethnicities, and that is probably for the best, even if sometimes disappointing. Updating the D&D Ysgard would be part of the cultural sensitivity going forward.</p><p></p><p>That said.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 9026616, member: 58172"] Before continuing on to the Ardling, a brief note. The official 5e Good Planes are [B]LLG[/B]: Arcadia [B]LG[/B]: Mount Celestia [B]GLG[/B]: Bitopia [B]Good[/B]: Elysium [B]GCG[/B]: Beastlands [B]CG[/B]: Arborea [B]CCG[/B]: Ysgard As a Scandinavian, I somewhat object to the location "Ysgard" as if "Chaotic by Chaotic Good". D&D traditions are problematic about characterizing "primitive" ethnic groups. The way it describes Norse cultures to be as if "fur-clad" "chaotic" "barbarians" is both factually incorrect and part of this wider problem. A more accurate representation of these reallife cultures is to make æsir and jotnar be creatures of the Material Plane. The thunderstorm itself is a kind of "æsir", each mountain is a kind of "jǫtnar", and so on. The closest thing in D&D to this concept is that certain places are psionic. In any case, trying to make Norse traditions fit in an alignment chart is absurd. Some individuals might arguably Lawful or Chaotic, but they all hang out together in the same place. To mischaracterize all of them as if "chaotic" barbarians is problematic. Inhospitable places like icy Niflheimr, fiery Muspelheimr, and empty Ginnungagap are actual places like the polar ice cap, the Saharan Desert, and outer space. Even if reworked as abstractions, they would be more like the Elemental Chaos. I would be more comfortable make the Norse nature beings be Elementals, maybe Primordials, and maybe Giants (meaning æsir, alfar, and dvergar are all "Giants" and the definition of a Giant is an apparition of some feature of nature). Relatedly, I would make Greek gods Archfey, rather than trying to display them within ethical alignments. According to the ancient Greeks, the Greek gods are otherworldly, rivaling, and capricious. There is a medieval tradition to describe Greek gods as "fairies", including Pluto with his own fairy court, and dryads explained as a kind of fairy. Making the reallife traditions about Greek gods serve as alignment figures is confusing at best. Names like "Arcadia" who are an ancient indigenous people in Greece, and less helpful terms like "Limbo" that dont really describe D&D Chaos, are probably worth doublechecking too. Hades is more like 5e Shadowfell, and better to call the NE plane by its other name Gray Waste. Maybe make its theism more archetypal like the Thera setting, and nontheistic Divine options along the lines of Paladin more prominent. This can also help reallife players feel more comfortable and "safe" when playing D&D, since the way that religions get portrayed can interfere with the enjoyment of the game. A 5e version of Planescape needs to vet everything in the earlier D&D traditions. D&D 5e seems to be leaning away from referring to reallife ethnicities, and that is probably for the best, even if sometimes disappointing. Updating the D&D Ysgard would be part of the cultural sensitivity going forward. That said. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Mix multispecies traits
Top