D&D (2024) Should 2014 Half Elves and Half Orcs be added to the 2025 SRD?

[EzekielRaiden]

I've never heard of Redwall. With what demographic did it succeed?

They're for children or young adults (given some of the themes in some of the books, I would say late preteen is loosely the right age group.) I don't really understand why that's relevant though? As the Wikipedia article notes, Jacques' work has been favorably compared to LotR, The Wind in the Willows (another popular, successful book that has extremely few human characters), and Watership Down (an actual xenofiction book...which also shows the harsh limits that true xenofiction imposes, even when focused on real Earth animals.)

I Absolutely do. One has some cultural grounding to hang on to, and the other doesn't.

What does "cultural grounding" refer to? I'm unclear on that, and without it I can't really respond to this.

 

[Micah Sweet]

dorothy couldn't of been a little dragonborn girl who lived on her aunt and uncle's farm with her salamander toto and gone through the exact same journey? why not?

She could have, but she wouldn't have been as relatable a character to the human readership of her story. Stories are written with a human in a protagonist role more often than not for a reason. That doesn't mean it has to be that way, but very often it is.

 

[Micah Sweet]

They're for children or young adults (given some of the themes in some of the books, I would say late preteen is loosely the right age group.) I don't really understand why that's relevant though? As the Wikipedia article notes, Jacques' work has been favorably compared to LotR, The Wind in the Willows (another popular, successful book that has extremely few human characters), and Watership Down (an actual xenofiction book...which also shows the harsh limits that true xenofiction imposes, even when focused on real Earth animals.)


What does "cultural grounding" refer to? I'm unclear on that, and without it I can't really respond to this.

Similarity of culture, adjacent cultural touchstones, relatable past experiences, etc. You really don't know what I mean, or are you feigning ignorance because doing so supports your point better?

Like I said, I've never heard of Redwall. From what your telling me, it's not my demographic. I can't respond to you if I don't know what you're talking about, and I believe it is unrealistic of you to consider my understanding of your example irrelevant.

 

[Scribe]

Not even sure what you all are arguing.

We, humans one and all, don't identify with humans in fiction easier?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Not even sure what you all are arguing.

We, humans one and all, don't identify with humans in fiction easier?

Seems obvious, doesn't it?

 

[Vaalingrade]

I m seeing a lot of people who aren't familiar with Ninja Turtles, Warrior Cats, and Transformers trying to say those characters weren't relatable because they weren't hairless apes.

 

[Remathilis]

The human in that group was pretty important.

Completely. When I watch The Little Mermaid, Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast, I can connect with the human characters and understand them, but when I watch The Lion King, I have no frame of reference and can't relate to it.

 

[AnotherGuy]

I'm unsure why people keep bringing up 20th century heroes and sci-fi characters in Medieval/Renaissance fantasy.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Not even sure what you all are arguing.

We, humans one and all, don't identify with humans in fiction easier?

honestly, I can't but I was voted most likely to be a space alien or become a supervillain
(there was no vote it was something less pleasant to go through)

I m seeing a lot of people who aren't familiar with Ninja Turtles, Warrior Cats, and Transformers trying to say those characters weren't relatable because they weren't hairless apes.

ad Bionicle to the list, humans never show up just alien cyborgs all the time like god intended.

I'm unsure why people keep bringing up 20th century heroes and sci-fi characters in Medieval/Renaissance fantasy.

the point does not change by setting

 

[Micah Sweet]

Completely. When I watch The Little Mermaid, Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast, I can connect with the human characters and understand them, but when I watch The Lion King, I have no frame of reference and can't relate to it.

I said often, not always. But feel free to believe that if something is criticized the critic is in favor of the extreme opposite position instead, because everything is a binary.