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

[Argyle King]

Nothing is simple, IME. Definitely a topic worth being considered and thinking through, not just sprinting headlong into potential social rejection because you didn’t consult anyone who could have told you that you were accidentally using a trope that has been used against a particular marginalized group, in your work.

There are plenty of POC who are part of the TTRPG and fantasy communities, so there is no need to act like it’s a question of hiring someone based solely on being a POC.

I have not at any point suggested -nor has it ever been a part of my position- that people who are both part of POC groups and part of the TTRPG community do not exist.

I am choosing to not take offense or assume meaning because I know that a lot can be lost when communicating without body language, tone, and etc, but -if there is some belief that I have acted in the way suggested- I would posit that such a view is not aligned with the content or context of my comments, thoughts, and inquiries as a whole.

 

[Zardnaar]

I have not at any point suggested -nor has it ever been a part of my position- that people who are both part of POC groups and part of the TTRPG community do not exist.

I am choosing to not take offense or assume meaning because I know that a lot can be lost when communicating without body language, tone, and etc, but -if there is some belief that I have acted in the way suggested- I would posit that such a view is not aligned with the content or context of my comments, thoughts, and inquiries as a whole.

Cats and dogs don't post on Twitter.

Well at least they don't complain zzzzzzxxxxxxxxxxxxxxccccccccccvvvvvvvvvv........

 

[Son of the Serpent]

So here I am on the sidelines watching a battle of words by combatants with tunnel vision. All this talk of the Medieval influence or even the European Renaissance influence on role playing games and yet very few wish to discuss the obviously anthropomorphic role playing game Historia for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

View attachment 121540

So many comments about cultural appropriating or mis-appropriation, and yet few detailed reflections on why in Historia the RPG, the dogs and cats are dressed in human garb.

Would those dogs and cats have evolved their fashions along similar lines if their evolution brought them to sentience the same way ours has?

Are human-styled fashions and armor practical for such bi-pedal canines and felines both?

Are the power dynamics between the species balanced, or is their stereotyping at play?

Will these depictions offend dog lovers or cat lovers, or is it even cruel to dress animals in human guise? Is it dog-face or cat-face cosplay?

Seriously, most comments on this thread seem stuck in the quagmire of entrenched trench warfare firing off salvo after salvo of artillery shells, hoping to route the enemy, but, instead just catching innocent bystanders who look upon the carnage and wonder why the hobby has become so steeped in vitriol.

if you wanna dm an online play by post i will absolutely play this game. Imma be a catfolk. If not im definitely still gonna hunt down a group to play this with.

 

[imagineGod]

Cats and dogs don't post on Twitter.

Well at least they don't complain zzzzzzxxxxxxxxxxxxxxccccccccccvvvvvvvvvv........

Sure, if grumpy cat was still here today but even then...

 

[Zardnaar]

Sure, if grumpy cat was still here today but even then...
View attachment 121542

Not to familiar with grumpy cat because I barely use social media.

I did start using Facebook and Reddit in lockdown. First use in about a year or 3.

 

[imagineGod]

Not to familiar with grumpy cat because I barely use social media.

I did start using Facebook and Reddit in lockdown. First use in about a year or 3.

You missed a lot then, like this gem of a meme...

 

[Tonguez]

It's almost like were're talking about a fantasy world where things can be different or something... Or maybe people, right. don't want to deal with that kind of crap in their elf game...

Nah... Clearly every human being in [INSERT D&D WORLD HERE] should be a massive bigot because "realism!"

Not at all, the fact that so many worlds have multiple races interacting as friends suggests that isnt the fact. However the OP assertion that peasants ‘freaking out’ over scaley-skinned humanoids being absurd is a debateable point if the GM wants to explore that

So here I am on the sidelines watching a battle of words by combatants with tunnel vision. All this talk of the Medieval influence or even the European Renaissance influence on role playing games and yet very few wish to discuss the obviously anthropomorphic role playing game Historia for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

So many comments about cultural appropriating or mis-appropriation, and yet few detailed reflections on why in Historia the RPG, the dogs and cats are dressed in human garb.

Would those dogs and cats have evolved their fashions along similar lines if their evolution brought them to sentience the same way ours has?

Are human-styled fashions and armor practical for such bi-pedal canines and felines both?

Are the power dynamics between the species balanced, or is their stereotyping at play?

Will these depictions offend dog lovers or cat lovers, or is it even cruel to dress animals in human guise? Is it dog-face or cat-face cosplay?

Seriously, most comments on this thread seem stuck in the quagmire of entrenched trench warfare firing off salvo after salvo of artillery shells, hoping to route the enemy, but, instead just catching innocent bystanders who look upon the carnage and wonder why the hobby has become so steeped in vitriol.

I am quite offended by the implied ageism of using a hound moribund upon its obfusecate throne, contrasted against the lithe and upright activity of the illumed feline actor. Its especially hurtful given the mythic enmity of Cats and Dogs being perpetuated to the point of absurdity

 

[Mirtek]

That's why it is a general rule and not a specific one. If someone is going to produce a sourcebook for, say, a campaign set in medieval Afghanistan, one would expect that not only would the Western authors thoroughly research it, they would hire writers or at least consultants and sensitivity readers from Afghanistan and with historical knowledge of the place. It isn't a particularly high bar.

But no one, or almost no one, sets a sourcebook in medival Afghanistan. Just like almost no one sets a sourcebook in medieval europe. That's never the goal.

The goal is always to set a sourcebook in a transfigured "hollywood" version of either setting. Historical accuracy is not not failed to met, it's never even on the list of goals.

There's no research done beyond "wow, this myth and that monster sound neat".

Nobody wants the merrits of ancient Greece's democratic system or the breakthroughs of their philosophers in the sourcebooks, they want Harpies, Hoplite'ish arms and armor and hydras. And while you're at it, throw in a sphinx for good meassure (because why not? It's not really ancient greece, but close enough and more importantly it's cool). And bastardize the whole lot of it until it's "cool enough".

Well, more historically accurate campaign settings have been tried, they just all failed to sell copies.

 

[Mirtek]

You know what pisses me off? When they let non-ninjas portray real ninjas in martial arts films.

To be fair, they have to do it. Studios tried making moving with real ninjas playing ninjas and it turned out that none of the test audience could later actually spot them in the finished movie

 

[Morrus]

The goal is always to set a sourcebook in a transfigured "hollywood" version of either setting.

Not Hollywood. The myths and legends of those cultures were not created by Hollywood. Hydras and Robin Hood and stuff may be used by Hollywood in the way that a game designer might use them, but attributing the world's myths and legends to Hollywood is the exact opposite of what we're talking about here.