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<blockquote data-quote="VikingLegion" data-source="post: 7347593" data-attributes="member: 6794627">On the flip side of the same coin, even though many of these worlds are medieval-style, they are not medieval.&nbsp; I can't seem to find the excerpt, but somewhere on record there is a snippet where Ed Greenwood explains the uncannily high literacy rate in the Forgotten Realms.&nbsp; Maybe it's due to the presence of priests of gods dedicated specifically to knowledge - these guys mission is to spread literacy and learning to all, it's their very dogma.&nbsp; And they can magically transcribe books in a fraction of the time, so the &quot;dearth of texts&quot; thing is less viable.&nbsp; I think gnomes have a primitive printing press in FR anyway, and probably on Krynn if it doesn't blow everything up and drown the village in ink.&nbsp; Traveling bards bring news of the day from hither and yon.&nbsp; I totally agree with you on the average peasant farmer, or even characters from Athas, as simple survival is all that most people have time to worry about.&nbsp; But I would think more cosmopolitan cities like Greyhawk, Waterdeep, Palanthas, Glantri, etc. would have a much more learned average populace.&nbsp; If it's not too magic rich for some group's tastes, I could see the use of minor illusions to enhance plays/public performances, town hall meetings, etc.&nbsp;&nbsp; I guess what I'm saying is, maybe it's somewhere in the middle of what we each hypothesized?&nbsp; Surely without the internet there wouldn't be nearly as much knowledge spread, but I'm 41 and lived the first ~20 years of my life without a cyber presence.&nbsp; I still knew what Australia, World War II, avocados, and automobiles were.&nbsp; I guess television would account for a great deal of that, but even factoring that out, I still picked up plenty of incidental information.Adventuring PCs, I would assume are at least 16 years of age (or the non-human equivalent) before they go out for the first time.&nbsp; I don't buy that they are complete tabula rasas, with the only knowledge being what the DM reveals to them over time.&nbsp; How can you not know at least the names of the gods of your world or who the king that rules over your fiefdom is?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="VikingLegion, post: 7347593, member: 6794627"] On the flip side of the same coin, even though many of these worlds are medieval-style, they are not medieval. I can't seem to find the excerpt, but somewhere on record there is a snippet where Ed Greenwood explains the uncannily high literacy rate in the Forgotten Realms. Maybe it's due to the presence of priests of gods dedicated specifically to knowledge - these guys mission is to spread literacy and learning to all, it's their very dogma. And they can magically transcribe books in a fraction of the time, so the "dearth of texts" thing is less viable. I think gnomes have a primitive printing press in FR anyway, and probably on Krynn if it doesn't blow everything up and drown the village in ink. Traveling bards bring news of the day from hither and yon. I totally agree with you on the average peasant farmer, or even characters from Athas, as simple survival is all that most people have time to worry about. But I would think more cosmopolitan cities like Greyhawk, Waterdeep, Palanthas, Glantri, etc. would have a much more learned average populace. If it's not too magic rich for some group's tastes, I could see the use of minor illusions to enhance plays/public performances, town hall meetings, etc. I guess what I'm saying is, maybe it's somewhere in the middle of what we each hypothesized? Surely without the internet there wouldn't be nearly as much knowledge spread, but I'm 41 and lived the first ~20 years of my life without a cyber presence. I still knew what Australia, World War II, avocados, and automobiles were. I guess television would account for a great deal of that, but even factoring that out, I still picked up plenty of incidental information. Adventuring PCs, I would assume are at least 16 years of age (or the non-human equivalent) before they go out for the first time. I don't buy that they are complete [I]tabula rasas[/I], with the only knowledge being what the DM reveals to them over time. How can you not know at least the names of the gods of your world or who the king that rules over your fiefdom is? [/QUOTE]

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