D&D 5E What’s So Great About Medieval Europe?

[doctorbadwolf]

Why are we still stuck in this era?

I mean, not that I’ve ever seen a fantasy work that accurately portrayed the Middle Ages, regular cleaning/bathing rituals, advanced is art, music, and sciences, and all, but still, why? What is so interesting about it? There are most of 20k years to draw upon for roleplaying inspiration before the advent of the cannon, across the globe.

What is so interesting about the (very much pseudo) medieval tableaux that keeps the community stuck at that well?

 

[Guest 6801328]

Right. Ok. But besides the Inquisition, what has medieval Europe ever done for us?

 

[Zardnaar]

Why are we still stuck in this era?

I mean, not that I’ve ever seen a fantasy work that accurately portrayed the Middle Ages, regular cleaning/bathing rituals, advanced is art, music, and sciences, and all, but still, why? What is so interesting about it? There are most of 20k years to draw upon for roleplaying inspiration before the advent of the cannon, across the globe.

What is so interesting about the (very much pseudo) medieval tableaux that keeps the community stuck at that well?

Heritage, a lot of myths and legends come from that era. It's what people are familiar with even on a casual level.

D&D was designed by people of European descent.

D&D also has influence from the Classical world filtered through that era.

Take a Bollywood movie. Guess who made it and who it's target audience.

It's knights in shining armor, the crusades, royalty, castles,swords, romance, chivalry.

The whole genre is a fantasy of the medieval era.

 

[Jaeger]

Tolkien.
Robert E. Howard
Robin Hood
King Arthur

Medieval Europe is directly responsible for Western Civilization.

And its mythology was filled with Heroes and Adventure.

All those things are F#@king Awesome.

Also - What Zardnaar said.

 

[Morrus]

Well, it’s my cultural history. Other cultural histories are available. It’s not better than them, but it’s pretty awesome (and also awful, in its realism, but we’re creating fictional fantasy worlds).

I’m not really up for role playing “regular cleaning/bathing rituals” though, sorry. Not my bag.

 

[opacitizen]

The archetypal, common myths with their villains and heroes.

The folktales and pseudo-folktales that a real lot of ttrpg players grew up with and remember fondly from their childhood… and are happy to return to and re-tell or act as protagonists in.

The not-too-far but not-too-close window of time they're set in.

Next up: "What's so great about pizza?"

 

[atanakar]

Mystara (Know World), the BECMI world, is multi-national and multi-cultural. Same for Greyhawk.

If you read attentively the human race section in the 5e PHB you will see the multi-cultural world of the FR. The book starts with a Berber style fighter on page 1.

No idea why players mostly play in European centered countries. I did an Arabian night desert campaign once. It was very interesting. Theros is Greek centred and seems to by selling well.

 

[Doug McCrae]

There are most of 20k years to draw upon for roleplaying inspiration before the advent of the cannon, across the globe.

Isn't that what the typical D&D setting does tho? Take everything cool and well known from the last 5k or so years of global history. Late medieval England and France, Vikings, ancient Egypt, Mongols, Islamic Golden Age, ships from the Golden Age of Piracy, the lawlessness of the Wild West, and modern morality and politics.

 

[Parmandur]

Same reason that fantasy itself dominates the RPG scene: familiar tropes aid role-playing.

 

[Todd Roybark]

The Black Death.

I mean, Europe didn’t even have chocolate or potatoes yet.

Is anyone’s Fantasy, a world without chocolate or potatoes?