Opinion: PoL and high tiers do not fit in the long run

[Nymrohd]

Also being a level 30 hero does not mean you have the administrative skills to manage an empire, the diplomatic knowledge that would let you handle a growing noble class to govern your empire, the charisma to maintain the loyalty of the troops required to maintain that empire. If you spent your life killing monsters wht exactly has prepared you to combat court intrigue? Also since when do people just blindly follow you because you conquered them? People are stubborn in matters of governance and there are existing structures in every Point of Light that have been in combat with dozens of evils for a century since the fall of Nerath protecting their communities. Why should they relinquish their authority?
Empires are built on strong, fast armies, resource and population booms, advances in infrastructure and communications. Sure magic can facilitate some of this, but if your wizard is out there roadbuilding and your paladin is training armies, who exactly is leading that empire of yours?

 

[xechnao]

Only heroes, aka player characters, get to rise to level 30 and challenge the evil gods. More than 99.9999999% of all the other inhabitants are only lowly commoners who are hoping for heroes to save them.

Whatever. Without a good reason for not to one side would eliminate the other. It will just be a matter of time. It just does not make any sense.

That's D&D, as it always was for 3 and a half editions. Fourth Edition will try to maintain this tradition.

What setting? Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Birthright, DarkSun, Greyhawk ?? These are neither PoL nor PCs are the only protagonists.

 

[PeterWeller]

This condition can't be stagnant without good reason. One side would win over the other eventually. If not a mechanism that maintains this balance of conflict must be invented in the campaign.

Are you saying its a zero sum game? There is a finite amount of good and evil available, and once one side runs out, the other has won for ever? In thousands of years of real history and thousands of years of fictional histories, where has this ever been the case?

 

[The Ubbergeek]

What setting? Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Birthright, DarkSun, Greyhawk ?? These are neither PoL nor PCs are the only protagonists.

Each of those settings had at last a few moments/era/regions who are PoL-icious.

Dark SUn IS uberPol, at the very core.

 

[PeterWeller]

What setting? Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Birthright, DarkSun, Greyhawk ?? These are neither PoL nor PCs are the only protagonists.

Dark Sun isn't points of light?!?

 

[xechnao]

In thousands of years of real history and thousands of years of fictional histories, where has this ever been the case?

As far as real competition of races is considered it definately is a zero sum game when the power level surpasses a certain level. Homo Sapiens is the only powerful race on earth.

As far as fiction, good fiction always established good reasons for every balance that wasn't a realistic one.

 

[Cbas_10]

What setting? Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Birthright, DarkSun, Greyhawk ?? These are neither PoL nor PCs are the only protagonists.

Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms....true....not PoL as written in the books, but certainly could be employed with a PoL tool by any DM.

However, Dark Sun and especially Planescape were PoL right out of the box. Heck...if Planescape was not PoL, I don't know what ever could be!

 

[PeterWeller]

As far as real competition of races is considered it definately is a zero sum game when the power level surpasses a certain level. Homo Sapiens is the only powerful race on earth.

As far as fiction, good fiction always established good reasons for every balance that wasn't a realistic one.

Are we talking about interspecies conflict now? I thought we were talking about good and evil. Homo sapiens' dominance hasn't done anything to stop the development of evil. If anything, it's promoted the spread of evil as much or more than it's promoted the spread of good.

Also, I'd say good fiction explores the imbalance and why it exists, and the imbalance towards evil over good often is a realistic one.

 

[xechnao]

Yes, Dark Sun was a wrong example to use. But yet DarkSun is a very specific intended Pol post apocalyptic setting. But PCs are definately not the only epic 30 level rising protagonists that challenge Gods. And since Dark Sun was so content specific and limited it had to be discontinioued in favor of Forgotten Realms. It is not suited for extended use as much as Forgotten Realms is.

 

[DandD]

As far as real competition of races is considered it definately is a zero sum game when the power level surpasses a certain level. Homo Sapiens is the only powerful race on earth.

Homo sapiens never had competition in forms of aeon-old gods bent on the destruction of humans, flying lizards that can breathe fire, giants with regenerating capabilities and dead unholy monsters who don't care that they're supposed to be dead. With such monsters, mankind wouldn't ever have escaped the caves which it inhabited for many ten thousand years.
And don't get me started on squid-headed monsters who can blast your minds or frog-monsters who lay eggs into you that will hatch to become new giant frog-monsters.

As far as fiction, good fiction always established good reasons for every balance that wasn't a realistic one.

Huh? What does that even mean?