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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Heathen72" data-source="post: 5469398" data-attributes="member: 7029">I think it's important to note that the OP is essentially discussing dungeoneering, almost a subgenre of gaming, which has a long and storied history. And I think the point that these environments need not represent some natural order is well made. The dungeon can be a game within a game, where players suspend their disbelief for a while to enjoy the puzzles and combat found within, even if the world outside the dungeon is one of politics and intrigue, or romance and deep narrative. It doesn't have to be just dungeons, either. The Rule of Cool has been used in a few threads recently (Piratecat's "look ye mighty" thread, and fireinthedust's "frozen oceans" thread to name a couple) to counter advice from some posters that the GMs' ideas would benefit from being more in line with the natural or sociological order. Sometimes people seem to forget that it is a fantasy game we are playing, and that too heavy a reliance on real world facts can actually get in the way of telling a fun story. *Cough* Encumbrance *Cough* Things don't have to be explainable to the nth degree, and in any case, GM's don't always know in depth botany or anthropology. So if you are bothered that the GM referred to the dungeon supports as "balsa wood" when he described the two headed Ogre crashing towards you, perhaps you are focussing on the wrong thing!* Sure, it's wrong -laughably wrong - and sure, it breaks your suspension of disbelief. But dude, there is an Two headed Ogre swinging a Club at your face. Stop nitpicking.That said, just because a game doesn't need to follow natural order doesn't mean that it shouldn't follow any sort of logic at all. It doesn't matter how fantastical or magical your world is if the story you are telling doesn't hang together well. People like to look for patterns. We want to find reasons when something is really odd. So there should be some sort of internal logic to your game. This applies to dungeons too. People will happily player through a random dungeon, but if you put a werewolf, a vampire, a flesh golem and a lich in rooms next to each other, your players will start looking for Abbot and Costello. And to be fair to the those who want more reality in their games, without you we might still be playing in worlds consisting of nought but dungeons, savage wildernesses and village taverns. It's nice that our game worlds are a bit more real. We just need to acknowledge that our character's don't live on earth. And even if they do, it's still a game.*admittedly, if my GM says a supporting beam is made of balsa wood, I will want to figure out why! But you get my point</blockquote>

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