Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Decrease in Desire for Magic in D&D
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8777001" data-attributes="member: 6877472"><p>But do they have different meanings? Like, if we say a realistic or plausible D&D setting is one that isn't historically accurate, when our history is the only thing we have to base our understanding of the past upon, then we run into a problem.</p><p></p><p>If you look at the typical D&D setting, with it's arbitrary decisions on what advancements did or did not occur, and what things are impossible without magic, we end up with a world that is implausible.</p><p></p><p>Many innovations are reliant on other innovations that preceded them. Remove a link in the chain, to remove something that you don't feel "fits the D&D fantasy", and some other things that you feel do, have no logical reason to exist either.</p><p></p><p>Throwing magic into the mix just makes things even stranger.</p><p></p><p>Just one example- armor requires special training to wear, can be expensive, and has disadvantages (some real, some imagined) in D&D.</p><p></p><p>But Mage Armor, a first level spell that lasts for 8 hours does not- it's better than any light armor that exists, in fact.</p><p></p><p>Why don't we have armies of fighting men trained to be able to cast Mage Armor 1/day instead of light armor? Why aren't there better versions of Mage Armor, that can replicate heavier armors?</p><p></p><p>If magic can more effectively replace real world innovations, why do we have those innovations?</p><p></p><p>The reason of course, is usually handwaved as magic is hard to learn and requires special talent (despite the fact the rules don't reflect this in the slightest), that magicians are some kind of mafia or secret society hell bent on keeping non magicians down, etc..</p><p></p><p>Or that the resulting world wouldn't feel like the fantasy people want to play in, lol. So we get these debates about what is plausible, when our basic premise is completely flawed and falls apart if you examine it with any rigor.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 8777001, member: 6877472"] But do they have different meanings? Like, if we say a realistic or plausible D&D setting is one that isn't historically accurate, when our history is the only thing we have to base our understanding of the past upon, then we run into a problem. If you look at the typical D&D setting, with it's arbitrary decisions on what advancements did or did not occur, and what things are impossible without magic, we end up with a world that is implausible. Many innovations are reliant on other innovations that preceded them. Remove a link in the chain, to remove something that you don't feel "fits the D&D fantasy", and some other things that you feel do, have no logical reason to exist either. Throwing magic into the mix just makes things even stranger. Just one example- armor requires special training to wear, can be expensive, and has disadvantages (some real, some imagined) in D&D. But Mage Armor, a first level spell that lasts for 8 hours does not- it's better than any light armor that exists, in fact. Why don't we have armies of fighting men trained to be able to cast Mage Armor 1/day instead of light armor? Why aren't there better versions of Mage Armor, that can replicate heavier armors? If magic can more effectively replace real world innovations, why do we have those innovations? The reason of course, is usually handwaved as magic is hard to learn and requires special talent (despite the fact the rules don't reflect this in the slightest), that magicians are some kind of mafia or secret society hell bent on keeping non magicians down, etc.. Or that the resulting world wouldn't feel like the fantasy people want to play in, lol. So we get these debates about what is plausible, when our basic premise is completely flawed and falls apart if you examine it with any rigor. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Decrease in Desire for Magic in D&D
Top