What supplement would you really like to see Wizards produce?
- Thread starter Altalazar
- Start date
Altalazar
First Post
Gez said:
I wonder why I haven't seen more requests for books that would be useful for the infamous "low magic" folks. Though I suppose this book would qualify - if you can make a whole campaign where the arch-villains are kobolds, that seems to fit into the low-magic realm very nicely.
I'd like to see a book on speciality-priests - though this more fits into the category of something I'd probably like to see in the Complete Divine.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
WayneLigon
Adventurer
I would kill for such a book. I wish someone would do it, WOTC or not! And yes, note the qualifier if you're readingscholz said:
There were some 'riddles' in the Dragon a year or two ago (?? Or maybe in a Dungeon adventure?) , but they were all totally useless since they were actually word problems and puzzles rather than actual riddles. Solutions revolved around how things were spelled, or taking the first letter of certain words.. things like that. Puzzles might be appropriate for some things, but I need things that would be on old tombs, things Sphinxes would say, etc.
DonAdam
Explorer
The musings of an economics guy:
An economic system would be hard. I can't imagine doing one without picking either playability or realism (in relation to the rules set out by the core books) and losing the other.
In the modern world, we're continually amazed when new inventions originate from a mass of millions of people. How much more so with magic? However, while such an effect could not be predicted, you could fiat something that is reasonable enough for a fantasy adventure game.
An important point is the energy in the system; in any real world economy, energy is used and must be replenished (by more drilling, more labor, etc.). Magic items, as written, are not used up. Thus, as you move forward through time energy accrues. We have no real world phenomenon analogous to this. This is something that can only be ignored if it does not happen at a rate that would disrupt any individual company or political sphere with which the PC's were concerned.
The really important things to consider would be game balance (of course), making it interesting for the players (I don't think people roleplay being MBA's; that would be dreadfully boring, so you have something that is going uphill relative to grabbing a sword and whacking monsters in the head), and that makes it so that the players do not quickly have society-wide effects because of one business venture.
As far as a variety, I'm not sure to what degree that would be possible. Political order is everything. Magic rules are everything. Between the intersection of those two and the relationship between them (what's really to stop a powerful wizard's guild or church from taking over?) you have a ridiculous number of variables. I think you could account for differences to some degree, but it would probably be better to start with a baseline set of rules.
Of course, I would gladly give it a shot if I was getting paid
However, whoever said that it would need to be playtested extensively is dead on. It would be worth it though, especially to get rid of the silly labor = value assumption in the core rules. 
An economic system would be hard. I can't imagine doing one without picking either playability or realism (in relation to the rules set out by the core books) and losing the other.
In the modern world, we're continually amazed when new inventions originate from a mass of millions of people. How much more so with magic? However, while such an effect could not be predicted, you could fiat something that is reasonable enough for a fantasy adventure game.
An important point is the energy in the system; in any real world economy, energy is used and must be replenished (by more drilling, more labor, etc.). Magic items, as written, are not used up. Thus, as you move forward through time energy accrues. We have no real world phenomenon analogous to this. This is something that can only be ignored if it does not happen at a rate that would disrupt any individual company or political sphere with which the PC's were concerned.
The really important things to consider would be game balance (of course), making it interesting for the players (I don't think people roleplay being MBA's; that would be dreadfully boring, so you have something that is going uphill relative to grabbing a sword and whacking monsters in the head), and that makes it so that the players do not quickly have society-wide effects because of one business venture.
As far as a variety, I'm not sure to what degree that would be possible. Political order is everything. Magic rules are everything. Between the intersection of those two and the relationship between them (what's really to stop a powerful wizard's guild or church from taking over?) you have a ridiculous number of variables. I think you could account for differences to some degree, but it would probably be better to start with a baseline set of rules.
Of course, I would gladly give it a shot if I was getting paid
However, whoever said that it would need to be playtested extensively is dead on. It would be worth it though, especially to get rid of the silly labor = value assumption in the core rules. I really like this idea, and had been thinking along the same lines recently. Couple it with some of the DM fluff mentioned in other posts, and you've got the Beginner's Guide to Running D&D. Somebody make this!
Oh, I just read this next comment:
I like that take on it, too!
I've been saying this on the Wizards boards, but my suggestion is to combine these with some new content for a "Beyond Faerun" Toril sourcebook.
Arnwyn
First Post
Darn right it would be. Why do you think I'm willing to *pay* for such a book, instead of doing everything myself? (Note that you're not the only economics guy around here...)DonAdam said:
No problems there - I think we all know how much of a place realism has in D&D... Basic plausibility and versimilitude? Important. But "realism"...
DonAdam
Explorer
That's what I meant by `realism,' and I'm not even sure that that's doable. If everyone in a D&D world acted according the rules laid out in the core books, none of the assumptions they make about the praxeological world would hold.
Any chaotic (and almost any neutral) god would be foolish not to grant spells to any faithful followers. Any peasant with a wisdom 10 or higher would be foolish not to pray for those spells. Imagine a world where most peasants could cast purify food and water and create water. We have no way of modelling that.
When wizards and higher level clerics start getting into business ventures, it becomes even more complex.
This is all fine, because the D&D spells and classes were not meant to model a world as a whole, but rather adventurers. Because they are presented as rules by which the world operates, however, I think you lose what alot of people would like to pretend is versimilitude.
Again, this is not a total barrier to getting it done. It's just to say that, like the adventuring rules, you've got two options: just ignore the consequences of the rules and design everything to be fun for the genre you're modelling (the D&D solution, a fine solution IMO) or have to find a way to model a whole world.
My point is that anything that did anything but fiat the existing world would totally break down the minute the players starting showing any initiative. So the rules, like the adventuring rules, have to focus on playability for the PC's and just fiat the rest. Hence the tradeoff that I think is inevitable...
And yes, I never claimed to be the only econ guy around here. I just figured that I would let people know which perspective I was coming from, for the sake of full disclosure and all that.
Edit: Having thought about it a little more, I guess I'm saying that "economic system" might not be doable, if we understand "economic system" as, you know, an economy. What we might be after is really models for the players to run a business in D&D in the context of whatever economy the DM fiats a kingdom or world to have.
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