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
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Wandering Monsters: Monster Mashups
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="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6155365" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>I think this works when you're talking about a specific D&D world. <em>The Forgotten Realms</em> has a particular orc. So the next Neverwinter-based game, when it uses orcs, should have FR orcs. And the comic book series set in Dragonlance should have DL orcs. And the videogame in Eberron should have an Eberron orc. </p><p></p><p>And something that's not branded with a specific world or setting gets to do whatever it wants, according to its own needs. Maybe Nentir Vale orcs are like this. Maybe World Of D&D Movies orcs are like that. Maybe they're even basically like the FR orcs or the DL orcs or the Eberron orcs with the serial numbers filed off. All well and good. </p><p></p><p>A particular <em>D&D Orc (tm)</em> that WotC tries desperately to make part of its brand identity is only going to ring hollow and inauthentic, because the idea of One True Orc is absurd in the context of the hyper-local nature of the games. Warhammer, Warcraft, Forgotten Realms, Lord of the Rings...these all have a specific setting they're taking place in, it makes sense to have one kind of orc for those specific settings, and so Warcraft orcs (for instance) become tightly branded, because they have a particular character and history that is unique to that setting. To have one particular orc that every D&D game is expected to play with unless the DM makes a special exception is basically nonsense. It's also asking to be crammed into places it might not belong just to cement the branding, which hurts the diversity and modularity of the game (a la the GSL's "You can't re-define elf" insanity).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 6155365, member: 2067"] I think this works when you're talking about a specific D&D world. [I]The Forgotten Realms[/I] has a particular orc. So the next Neverwinter-based game, when it uses orcs, should have FR orcs. And the comic book series set in Dragonlance should have DL orcs. And the videogame in Eberron should have an Eberron orc. And something that's not branded with a specific world or setting gets to do whatever it wants, according to its own needs. Maybe Nentir Vale orcs are like this. Maybe World Of D&D Movies orcs are like that. Maybe they're even basically like the FR orcs or the DL orcs or the Eberron orcs with the serial numbers filed off. All well and good. A particular [I]D&D Orc (tm)[/I] that WotC tries desperately to make part of its brand identity is only going to ring hollow and inauthentic, because the idea of One True Orc is absurd in the context of the hyper-local nature of the games. Warhammer, Warcraft, Forgotten Realms, Lord of the Rings...these all have a specific setting they're taking place in, it makes sense to have one kind of orc for those specific settings, and so Warcraft orcs (for instance) become tightly branded, because they have a particular character and history that is unique to that setting. To have one particular orc that every D&D game is expected to play with unless the DM makes a special exception is basically nonsense. It's also asking to be crammed into places it might not belong just to cement the branding, which hurts the diversity and modularity of the game (a la the GSL's "You can't re-define elf" insanity). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Wandering Monsters: Monster Mashups
Top