Me: D&D should really only support one setting.you are posting this in a thread about creating a setting for 5.5, so either the rules can come first or the whole thread falls apart
Well, I see that this is true. Support just one setting and way of playing things, and you have a niche game and limit the appeal. Create a game that can support multiple settings and use optional rules to support the specific type of game you want to play and you have a much superior system.Me: D&D should really only support one setting.
Enworld: Noooo! D&D's strength is that it can handle many different genres and settings!
Me: oh? How do you make a S&S setting for D&D?
Enworld: well, first you create a bunch of house rules that change the player options, combat and magic system, then...
Me:
Optional rules, like piety or dark gifts, I can understand. When you are rewriting whole chunks of the PHB, you are creating a new 5e d20 compatible game, not playing D&D anymore. I feel a lot of people mistake the two and feel as long as you are still rolling a d20, it's D&D. Whereas I feel the more of the Phb you change or remove, the less "D&D" it is an the more d20 third party game it is.
yeah, I did not vote for S&S in this mostly because D&D is no good at it. That is not the only possible setting however, nor is D&D the only game, for the rule to be true this would need to apply to a lot more than one example.
Well, I pretty much agree with Mamba that this is a thread about D&D and those are the rules the setting is going to have to fit, not the other way around. I usually go for some additional mechanics to fit things. Like I ran a campaign about a fantasy magical school, where the PCs showed up as unleveled characters and had mechanics for them getting Study Points to go through four steps of them choosing a class and getting features and cantrips, and finally becoming 1st level. However, it was also supposed to be a horror game.* I looked at various corruption and horror mechanics and found them all lacking. I decided the best way was just to go with better story telling and showing what happens rather than telling them exactly what is going on. (eg describe spell effects and monsters rather than than present by name)
I only used it as an example because it's the current topic. You can easily make that argument about horror, or noir, or wuxia, etc. D&D's take on a genre like horror compared to a bespoke horror game is like comparing authentic Mexican food to Taco Bell. D&D can borrow the names and ideas, but it isn't going to replicate authentic cooking with ground beef and cheddar cheese. That said, I still love Taco Bell for exactly what it is, and I don't delude myself it's anything resembling real Mexican. I think people would be happier if they treat D&D the same way: a tasty but inauthentic experience.
