D&D 5E (2014) What’s So Great About Medieval Europe?

[Zardnaar]

What D&D really needs are wars of succession when the local deformed hemophiliac dies without an heir.

It's called Crusader Kings II aka medieval incest simulator. Base game is free now on steam.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I would consider authentic pseudo-medievalism in D&D is dead, and has been dying since enthusiasts for the period like Gygax left.

Look at the settings we have setting books for: the Forgotten Realms Sword Coast is well into Renaissance/Age of Discovery, with firearms in Waterdeap and conquistadores in Chult. Ravnica is basically modern-world-with-magic (see the novels), Eberron is 1920s, and Theros is based on a much earlier period. And there is very little actual medievalism in Wildermont - unsurprisingly, as Mercer is an actor and writer, not a historian.

 

[Aldarc]

Though of course, historically the rules of European feudalism were underpinned by a monolithic church as a cultural unifying factor and highest moral authority[1] which is very much not the case in most D&D fantasy worlds.

When I ran of game of Fate set in a pseudo-Renaissance Venice, this was actually one of the hurdles I faced, because how do you provide something like the Church as a unifying force of religion, but without its theology and ethics. I settled on a Church of Seven Virtues which was a church formed around venerating seven spirits of virtue that exist in the Spirit World as manifestations of the Divine Will of the Creator. So it's like the Church, but there are also a lot of ways for schisms or "protests" to form.

 

[Derren]

When I ran of game of Fate set in a pseudo-Renaissance Venice, this was actually one of the hurdles I faced, because how do you provide something like the Church as a unifying force of religion, but without its theology and ethics. I settled on a Church of Seven Virtues which was a church formed around venerating seven spirits of virtue that exist in the Spirit World as manifestations of the Divine Will of the Creator. So it's like the Church, but there are also a lot of ways for schisms or "protests" to form.

There have been many schisms and protests in the church in real life (many which were put down by force), so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[humble minion]

There have been many schisms and protests in the church in real life (many which were put down by force), so that shouldn't be a problem.

Intrafaith schisms are admittedly a much harder event to justify in a fantasy world where it's possible to cast a couple of mid-level divination spells and literally ask your deity which faction is theologically correct.

 

[Aldarc]

There have been many schisms and protests in the church in real life (many which were put down by force), so that shouldn't be a problem.

Intrafaith schisms are admittedly a much harder event to justify in a fantasy world where it's possible to cast a couple of mid-level divination spells and literally ask your deity which faction is theologically correct.

I don't doubt it would be a problem at all. The religious backdrop of my Spirit World was designed that way. "Pagans" worship various spirits as the gods of their pantheons. Another religion declares the Church of Seven Virtues as false believers because this religion venerates the one Spirit of Truth. Another branch may believe that all the spirits are revelatory of the the Divine Will and not just the Seven Virtues. Other religions may not regard the spirits worth following at all, but are instead concerned with reincarnation, divine ascension, and cultivating their own spiritual energy. Admittedly, you don't have to worry about divination spells in Fate.

 

[Minigiant]

That’s for narrative convenience. We all grew up with fairy tales so these concepts like King and Princess are memetic (if you’ll allow me some license on the term). The day to day governance of land and people isn’t important - what is important is that the local authority wants the adventurers to restore order by returning the next-in-line to the crown. We all get parents and kids. We all get crowns and castles and rescues and dragons. We don’t need accurate feudalism for what we’re doing here.

We still need the nobles. They are the quest givers at level 5.
The fuedal classes correlate to the tiers.

 

[fearsomepirate]

IIRC

Intrafaith schisms are admittedly a much harder event to justify in a fantasy world where it's possible to cast a couple of mid-level divination spells and literally ask your deity which faction is theologically correct.

You're going to need, at the minimum, a setting with mysterious deities who answer such questions in riddles, poems, and parables.

 

[Voadam]

What D&D really needs are wars of succession when the local deformed hemophiliac dies without an heir.

Crisis in Freeport, a D&D political succession adventure.

That's also the political backdrop setup of the Holy Lothian Empire in Ptolus.

 

[David Howery]

meh. D&D is medieval based because the game started out heavily influenced by LOTR (in spite of what EGG said)… the basic appeal of the game was 'hey, you can play an elf and fight orcs in this vaguely medieval world'... the nice thing about D&D is that it's bendable enough that if you don't want to use a medieval setting, you can make up something you do like...