Reinventing the Wheel: changing common D&D tropes

[Afrodyte]

Based upon the responses here and elsewhere, here are some more cliches that I'd be interested in seeing responses to:

9. cash economy based on gp
10. universal languages
11. alignment = personality
12. universal pantheon
13. mundane magic
14. cosmopolitan cultural relations
15. other things you have noticed and altered (like metrosexual elves)

 

[Arrgh! Mark!]

1. Adventurers as a seperate class

Yes, in a way - though the terms thief, mercenary, scoundrel and criminal are the sort of seperate I mean.

2. PC's as exceptional characters
Yes, but only through struggle. Prior to attaining levels they were normal people with normal histories and backgrounds. They become exceptional, earn exceptional.

3. Clear distinction between PC's and Monsters

No, but thats because I'm a low magic. end of bronze age sort of era - the evils they fight tend to be of human persuasion. They ran away from a giant snake once.

4. Arcane/Divine magic

Grim tales version, though I don't call a divide - magic is magic.

5. Cooperative Party Structure

Yes and no. Various races hate one another and to begin with the party was rather fractured - but with struggle there came understanding.

6. Medieval European

Pre-medieval alright. height of the bronze age, end of the bronze age.

7. Race = Culture

One race (Human), about 8 different cultures. They dislike one another. Other races exist, but more as fey than humanoid.

8. Epic or Heroic plot

Heroic all the way.

9. Cash economy

Based on the silver piece, though weights and measures are different for each kingdom.

10. universal languages

no, no, no. There are four common languages though, used in some kingdoms and not in others.

11. alignment = personality

No alignment, all personality. My question was 'What is good in life?' and they answer

12. universal pantheon

nope, nope, nope. Different kingdoms have different beliefs - some a monotheistic tradition, some polytheistic, some animism, some animalism, etc etc.

13. mundane magic

Not really, though superstition is high. various chemicals, powders, sleight of hand and so on is thought of as magic - nothing to the black art or anything but there you are.

14. cosmopolitan cultural relations

Em, no. War, strife, hatred and revenge are what spawn adventurers, not monsters.

15. other things you have noticed and altered (like metrosexual elves)

I've taken monsters almost completely out of the picture - as I've always said that evil is in the heart of man. Men are far more evil than goblins after all. Monsters are now demons - summoned, particular to places or what have you. The adventurers (level 3 now) have encountered a whole 2 monsters - and one was just an oversized snake - so just 1 monster then. Magic is also nice and eeevil

Low magic all the way. It's certainly a change from Forgotten Realms.

 

[Shades of Green]

1. adventurers as a separate class of people
In the socio-economical sense of the word? no, since they are too few to form a distinct part of the economical relations, and since they are composed of people from several class origins; starting adventurers are mostly either lower, impoverished Nobility, townspeople, dissident peasants or "displaced" elements, similar to brigands and highwaymen.

2. PCs as exceptional characters
Could be, depend on specific campaign/player preferences; Playing "ordinary" guys is quite possible. Sure, on higher levels you WOULD be exceptional, but that's a result of your wealth and experience, not your "breeding stock".

3. clear distinction between PCs and monsters
Who says that all adversaries would be "monsters", and that all "monsters" would be adversaries? Undead/Dragons/Abberations aside, in my campaign you are as likely to fight Human brigands as you are to speak your way out of an encounter with an Orcish band. Sure, Orcs are savage, but they could be reasoned with some of the time.

4. arcane/divine magic divide
In the most part, due to rule convinience; But the in-game distinction is one of the origion of the spell (channeling of general extra-planar energy vs. channeling energy from specific planar beings and/or from nature), rather than of the magick's nature.

5. PCs organized into a cooperative party structure
If there is more than one player, this is the "default" teamwork structure. In-party bickering and/or fights are annoying when they become too numerous.

6. medieval European setting (well, a more hygenic version, anyway)
Post-medieval Eastern European setting (think 1500's Transylvania) in the less advanced areas; Early Industrial level of technology (think 1700-1800) in the REALY advanced places (Dwarven and Kobold/Goblinoid nation-states). Some areas aren't even similar to European states.

7. race = culture
Not nescerily. Sure, the Dwarves have their own distinct culture, and Elves have a semi-seperate culture, but Humans and Halflings (and, to a degree, Elves and Gnomes) share the same cultures in many places. And the so-called "Goblinoid" empire is actually pretty much multi-racial; Some races have their own cultures, but overall the many races (Kobolds, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears, Trolls, Orges and a few others) share a combined, proto-industrialist culture. Each contributes its part, and has it's function (Kobolds as inventors/early capitalists/rulers, Hobgoblins as the backbone of the military, Goblins as cheap workers/cannon fodder, the rest as shock troops and heavy workers, though workers are drawn from all races - even Kobolds).

8. epic or heroic plot scale
Depends on player preferences.

9. cash economy based on gp
Early industrial economy; GP are one form of currency, but there are also bearer bonds, early cheques, and, in some cases, even paper money.

10. universal languages
Definitely no. Sure, big empires usually have one common language inside their borders, but not outside them. Every culture has it's language(s).

11. alignment = personality
Alignment is insignificant, personality is EXTREMELY significant. Most people just don't have an alignment; leave that to Planar creatures who embody ideals rather than act on their interests.

12. universal pantheon
NO. Many gods, many religions; Several competing/semi-competing monotheistic religions; Not everyone belives in gods (some think they're just strong spirits/planar beings).

13. mundane magic
Alchemy and technology sometime create "magical" effects; minor charms (cantrip-level magic items) are also available.

14. cosmopolitan cultural relations
DEFINITELY NO! Empires compete over territories, resources and markets; lesser kingdoms compete over the same things, but in a smaller scale. War is common; suspicion of certain... 'outsiders' (and NOT in the MM meaning of the word) exists.

 

[Alratan]

1. adventurers as a separate class of people

No, as suggested by someone else, PCs tend to belong to some parent organisation of social group, be that as agents of a local lord who graduate to serving the crown directly, or as prospectors funded by a merchants guild. The closest there is to a seperate class of adventurers, are seen as bandits, the type of people who go round desecrating tombs and upsetting the social order, and are usually stomped on by the powers that be, commonly via the PCs.

2. PCs as exceptional characters

No, not until they get seriuosly high level. My general rule is that it takes about 4 years per level for levels 1-5, 8 years for level for 6-10, 12 per level for 11-15, and 14 per level for 16-20, for people to advance in level when they are doing what is normal for their proffession. This means that your average middle aged farmer is going to be 5th or 6th level, and in most places, one of those levels will be in warrior. This even extends to elves and dwarves, which explains why civilizations so vulnerable to attrittion, due to their low birth rates, can survive.

3. clear distinction between PCs and monsters

Certainly. A clear in-game cultural distinction. Most humanoid races are rabidly prejudiced.

4. arcane/divine magic divide

Yes, always good for a bit of conflict

5. PCs organized into a cooperative party structure

Usually, see point 1. When people are coming up with character concepts, I ask them to work together to explain why they are together as a team, and who sponsored them.

6. medieval European setting (well, a more hygenic version, anyway)

Yes, except for the more hygienic thing. It's actually noticeably nastier. If there are mosters lurking on your doorstep, communities can't afford dissidents or criminals, and a feudal type division of labour is even more neccassary and harsh.

7. race = culture

Yes, and no. I try and make individuals less stereotypical, but also to empasise that the different cultures are actually quite alien to each other - a dwarven/elven longevity distances them from humans alot, and different races aren't really motivated by quite the same things.

8. epic or heroic plot scale

When PCs get high level enough, they will find that an epic plot will have crept up on them.

 

[Ibram]

1. adventurers as a separate class of people

No, PC's have been mercs, bodyguards, bounty hunters, treasure hunters, brigands, and even assasins but never have they been part of an "adventuring class"

2. PCs as exceptional characters

They are, but this is a result of their experience and luck not because of some ordaned fate. And though exceptionaly they are NOT unique.

3. clear distinction between PCs and monsters

"Monsters" IMC are well and truely monsterous, daemons from beyond an ancient horrors from benath. My games focus more on NPC interactions then full fledged monsters.

4. arcane/divine magic divide

Sorcery is Sorcery, how ever you dress it up.

5. PCs organized into a cooperative party structure

This is something that I expect to get from my players (that is its something that should occur without the need for my help). It just makes the game run much smoother. Thats not to say that the party is organized like a military unit (one PC on top and the others as followers) or that there is no inter-party conflict, just that I expect the players work together most of the time.

6. medieval European setting (well, a more hygenic version, anyway)

Depends on the setting, but I use actual Medieval Europe type settings not wierd ones where they have pikes and full plate but somehow missed guns.
I've also used Orental and Middle Eastern settigns.

7. race = culture

Yes and no. Within the confines of a particular contenent one "race" has a culture, but once you start traveling far there are differences. as an example: Dwarves in the "Europe" part of my campaign world are very traditional Dwarves, in the "Orental" part of the world they are degerate savages who like eating people.

8. epic or heroic plot scale

not by default. the scope of the plot varries depending on the campaing. Some campaigns are rather limited in scope, others have wide reaching repercussions.

9. cash economy based on gp

Well the SP is a bit more common then the GP but precious metals are nearly universal in their use. Now there can be problems if your coin is to foreign, but the metal is still good.

10. universal languages

Defenatly not. for each major area of my campaing world there is one language that is widely spoke (by nobles, merchants, and mercenaries) but there is no "Common" that everyone speaks.

11. alignment = personality

Nope, its a guideline for the player not a stat.

12. universal pantheon

Not at all. some of the more "Civilized" culturesorganize their gods in to a pantheon, but the pantheons are never the same.

14. cosmopolitan cultural relations

Though a large trade center may have a cosmopolitan outlook this would be far from the norm. Xenophobia is quite common, and outright Raceism is not unheard of. Some races, like the Orcs and Dwarves, are separated by oceans of blood and centuries of violent wars.

 

[Desdichado]

Cash economy based on gp
Yeah, that's a nice simple convention. I thought about ditching it, or at least complicating it and making different mints make different weights of GP so that not all gps are equal, but I decided it was too much trouble.
Universal languages
I'm not sure what you mean by universal; cross-planar? Elf monolithic languages? Stuff like that? No, my setting is a bit more realistic linguistically. But I still haven't put too much work into it.
Alignment = personality
No alignment in my game.
Universal pantheon
The players only know of a single pantheon, but they don't really know anything about it. I doubt if they really know anything about any of the gods; even their names. The campaign is shaping up to be quite secular.
Mundane magic
Nope. Magic is illegal, heretical and extremely dangerous, not to mention freakishly unnatural in my setting.
Cosmopolitan cultural relations
Relatively so. I wanted to allow the players to reasonably select all of the races I had, after all.
Other things you have noticed and altered (like metrosexual elves)
I like that one.

 

[barsoomcore]

1. adventurers as a separate class of people

Anyone on Barsoom who goes running around with the notion of "adventuring" doesn't live long enough to form a class of any kind. My PCs are just trying to stay alive. Barsoom is a bad place, and it doesn't give you many chances.

And it's out to get you.

2. PCs as exceptional characters

Well, kind of, but pretty much EVERYONE on Barsoom is exceptional. Everyone the party meets, anyway. They're forever running into preternaturally skilled swordsmen, sorceresses who can destroy half the world, ancient grim-faced warriors out to exterminate their racial foes...

Hey, the wilderness includes DINOSAURS. All the first-level clowns got eaten a long time ago.

3. clear distinction between PCs and monsters

Em, one of the PCs is a savage undead shapechanging werebeast who must drink human souls on a regular basis. So, no, not a BIG distinction.

There are no goblinoid or bad-guy humanoid races on Barsoom, at any rate. There are yak head guys and an ancient race of draconic wizards who used to "ranch" humans, but neither are very common.

4. arcane/divine magic divide

Nope. There's Sorcery, which involves drawing on the foul forces of the Shadow Realm, or there's Psionics/Spirit Magic, which calls upon the unpredictable powers of the Dream Worlds.

Gods on Barsoom are just people who got so stupidly powerful they couldn't reasonably be called "human" anymore. They certainly don't grant spells.

5. PCs organized into a cooperative party structure

Well, they hang out together and they know their chances of survival are marginally better if they stick together. If only because that gives me more targets to choose from.

6. medieval European setting (well, a more hygenic version, anyway)

Imperial Rome next to Burgundian France across from early-Islam North Africa near Renaissance Italy (recast as Spain) south of pre-Columbian Central Plains with Celtic Ireland, pre-Moslem India, and Czarist Russia. Oh, and Tang-era China and Tokugawa Japan.

With dinosaurs, steam engines, flintlock pistols and flying ironclads.

7. race = culture

Everybody's human.

8. epic or heroic plot scale

Did I mention the sorceresses who can destroy half the world? The gods (who are invariably insane and bent on mass destruction)? The three-thousand-year-old undead warriors devoted to exterminating an entire race?

9. cash economy based on gp

Don't really worry about that. The PCs have FAR bigger worries than what they can afford, and usually when they're in a town they're staying on somebody else's nickel. Any gear they want they can have, pretty much.

10. universal languages

No sir. It's always a scramble to figure out who can understand what NPC Bob just said.

11. alignment = personality

No alignment. No personality.

12. universal pantheon

See above on gods. They're bad.

14. cosmopolitan cultural relations

Pretty much. There's a couple of more xenophobic cultures but by and large Barsoom is pretty cosmopolitan. It's not an untracked wilderness or anything like that.