Reality in fantasy... how much is too much?

[The Shaman]

I was just watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

It's not television. It's HBO.

(My wife and I watched it, too.)

The only thing that messes with my sense of disbelief in these things is when the wings are too small. If the wings appear appropriately proportional to the size of the critter, then then analytical portion of my brain can relax and enjoy. If the wings are too stubby, then my brain starts tapping its foot and saying stuff like, "Oh, yeah, as if!"

I have no problem with a hippogriff lifting 300 (or 900) lb., but he's gotta have the wingspan.

 

[sniffles]

I was just watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In it, Harry and Hermione break Sirius from captivity and fly off with him on the back of a Hippogriff.

My analytical mind got to thinking, with such a small wingspan even a strong hippogriff would have a difficult time staying aloft with something like 300 lbs on its back...

...at which point I had to remind myself that hippogriffs don't really suffer the reality of gravity... or do they?


According to the MM, a hippogriff can carry up to 900 pounds.

I know this is fantasy but that seems plain ludicrous.

Am I being too anal or should there be some kind of nod to reality.

According to the PHB people can lift ridiculous amounts too. I think I'm an average strength sort of person, but I can't lift 50 lbs. over my head.

I think there should be a nod to reality for things that are based in reality, but for things that are fantastic, like hippogriffs, reality flies out the window (pun intended). Although I admit there's a point at which my willingness to overlook reality runs out. I have a hard time with really enormous creatures like 50-ft-tall giants or 150-foot colossal great wyrm dragons. I'm willing to accept that creatures even bigger than dinosaurs can exist, but when they get so big that feeding and housing them is a problem then my suspension of disbelief stops.

For flying creatures such as hippogriffs, though, I always figure that their flight is based as much in magic as it is in physics.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I don't reject the unreal - I reject the boring.

For instance, my Honours degree is in religious studies. That doesn't make me cringe at the stereotypical presentation of D&D religion because it's hokey and unrealistic - I cringe because it's dull.

I tend to think that the most important concern in a game like D&D is that everything contributes to making a fun and enjoyable story. Too much concern with "realistic" physics (as if there's any point injecting realism into an abstracted game system like D&D) or society (as if Greyhawk or Faerun were medieval Europe) has a strong negative impact on fun, for me, if it's done in a humourless fashion.

That's not to say I'm laissez-faire about consistent worldbuilding detail; just that it should be in the service of a good story, not in the service of simulation.

 

[Romnipotent]

everytime you apply physics to a fantasy game god kills a catgirl.

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

everytime you apply physics to a fantasy game god kills a catgirl.

Which is exactly why we need to keep at it.

 

[Celebrim]

According to the PHB people can lift ridiculous amounts too. I think I'm an average strength sort of person, but I can't lift 50 lbs. over my head.

Based on my atheletic performance, I admit to being in the bottom 50% in strength among men. I can lift 130 lbs. over my head.

My brother, who was on the All State Academic Football squad and was a two time heavyweight State wrestling champion is probably in the top 1%. In college, he was clearing 350 lbs., and benching over 400 lbs.

The world record in the clean and jerk is 580 lbs.

Make of that what you will.

 

[Storyteller01]

According to the PHB people can lift ridiculous amounts too. I think I'm an average strength sort of person, but I can't lift 50 lbs. over my head.

 

[JamesDJarvis]

According to the PHB people can lift ridiculous amounts too. I think I'm an average strength sort of person, but I can't lift 50 lbs. over my head.

jeepers? What are you a hobbit?

 

[sniffles]

jeepers? What are you a hobbit?

Well, I could probably lift it, but then I'd fall over backwards. I been sick.

 

[Kanegrundar]

I tend to keep the absolute basics of science like the law of gravity, velocity, etc. but everything else is hand-waved away. Heck, in the planes, don't expect any physical laws to apply!!!

Kane