D&D 5E (+)What Ubiquitous DnD Tropes Get It Totally Wrong?

[R_J_K75]

However, I think a lot of D&D tropes (especially literacy) draw too much from the Renaissance than from the Medieval Period most associate with D&D.

The one thing that might get in the way regarding widespread literacy is whether one sees the printing press as being too high-tech for one's setting, as I do.

I generally play in the Forgotten Realms, and rarely a few other campaign settings. Most of my games as a result have a mix of technology when it comes to comparable real world historical eras. So I never really considered D&D, even when I started playing in the early 80s as strictly medieval, I saw it as a little of everything. You may run into societies of varying technological advancement and knowledge from adventure to adventure. The only exception was Dark Sun, which is its own thing all together.

 

[Iry]

Conservation of Ninjitsu - Adding more ninjas does not make the existing ninjas weaker. Killing the ninjas does not make the remaining ninjas stronger.

 

[Charlaquin]

Actually, I seem to recall Mr. Gygax saying that they (drow) got their coloring because they are the negative picture of a wood elf. Wood elf = Dark Hair, Light Skin. Drow = Light Hair, Dark Skin.

Huh. I always assumed it was meant to be symbolic of tarring and feathering, but that makes sense.

 

[Tonguez]

Trope got wrong: that with the magic and learning and information exchange generally available in a typical D&D setting, civilization in general hasn't advanced immensely from how those settings are usually portrayed.

Take something as simple as sailboats. The late-1800s tea clippers (e.g. Cutty Sark) are generally considered to be the peak evolution of the multi-masted sailing ship and thus of the Age of Sail, while the early 1800s is generally considered to be the era of peak evolution of the wooden-hulled sailing warship (e.g. Victory) before engines and iron got involved.

Most D&D settings and cultures are assumed to have existed way longer than it'd take for ships to evolve to these points, though warships would doubtless have evolved differently without cannons. So why is it that something like a clipper ship is always seen as a too-modern anachronism in a D&D game?

More importantly, why would any intelligent seafaring culture use anything else except the best, provided they had the materials to build it? Put another way, isn't it logical to expect that, absent any hindrances, things would tend to rise toward the greatest common denominator?

These same principles could be applied to almost any aspect of pre-electric or even pre-industrial culture and science. Papermaking. Bookbinding. Art. Most of the sciences. Astronomy. Paper money. Agriculture. Etc. almost ad infinitum.

The ancient greeks had a working steam engine and the egyptians had automatic doors - both were used as Temple Wonders and not for general use by the public. The Pathian Battery was used for elctroplating but never developed for other uses.

So just because the materials and know how exists doesnt mean it will become ubiquitous in a pre-modern, pre-industrial era.

I’ve always thought most players wanting to mess about in boats are seeing themselves as a 17th century Bucaneer and probably dont know enough about sailing ships to actually care about accuracy.

 

[Eltab]

Oh, I’m sure it was. I would be very surprised to learn it was done out of active malice, rather than simple thoughtlessness. Still has icky implications I would rather just sidestep, so my Drow are pale.

I don't like the entire idea of The Underdark (because it strategically outflanks every nation populated by non-darkvision races) and therefore in my world, classical Drow are hard up for living space. But when they appear, they are obsidian-black or slate-black, not high-levels-of-natural-melatonin-in-their-skin-black. They are supposed to to have suffered hostile divine intervention in their history.

 

[3catcircus]

Let's see:

That somehow everyone in a city is living in a decent building with relatively good access to clean water.

That all villages can get by without being tied to a manorhouse.

That most wounds don't end up as festering gangrenous sewers if bacteria because magic - most people are commoners who won't be able to afford healing services.

That other than "evil races," racial prejudices don't exist.

That everyone is buying and selling with coins or gems instead of barter.

That tromping around in heavy armor in extreme climates has minimal effect without intervening layers of material - in even a temperate climate, a hot summer day should lead to scalding hot armor and heat exhaustion and a frigid winter day should lead to frostbite.

 

[Lanefan]

The ancient greeks had a working steam engine and the egyptians had automatic doors - both were used as Temple Wonders and not for general use by the public. The Pathian Battery was used for elctroplating but never developed for other uses.

So just because the materials and know how exists doesnt mean it will become ubiquitous in a pre-modern, pre-industrial era.

Depends on the materials. Also, the ancient Greeks and Egyptians didn't have very many correspondingly-high level civilizations to compare notes with, unlike the typical D&D setting that has several or even many.

I’ve always thought most players wanting to mess about in boats a... probably dont know enough about sailing ships to actually care about accuracy.

Problem is, I do know just enough to care.

 

[Charlaquin]

I don't like the entire idea of The Underdark (because it strategically outflanks every nation populated by non-darkvision races) and therefore in my world, classical Drow are hard up for living space.

Makes sense. In my world, the Underworld (not Underdark) is part of the Otherworld (combines elements of the Faewild, Shadowfell, and border planes). There is no such sprawling underground network in the material plane, but the deeper you go underground in the material plane, the more likely you are to unwittingly stumble into an Otherworld crossing.

But when they appear, they are obsidian-black or slate-black, not high-levels-of-natural-melatonin-in-their-skin-black. They are supposed to to have suffered hostile divine intervention in their history.

The fact that they are an unnatural skin tone doesn’t actually erase the iffy implications of a skin color being a punishment from the gods. It would bother me even if it made their skin alabaster, or blue for that matter. The fact that they were punished by having their skin darkened does make it hit a little closer to home, but it doesn’t stop being iffy because you pick a different color.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

WRT drow being black-skinned because of a curse

Which is pretty gross, if you think about it.

There is a mythological precedent : Apollo cursing all crows to be black because the one he sent to spy on his mistress (Coronis?) brought back bad news. Given the strong Apollo vibe of Corellon Larethian and the facts that drow rhymes with crow... and it comes to mind easily. Of course, applying it to humanoids can be strange if it conjures an imagery that was probably outside the scope of the designers.

 

[Charlaquin]

WRT drow being black-skinned because of a curse

There is a mythological precedent : Apollo cursing all crows to be black because the one he sent to spy on his mistress (Coronis?) brought back bad news. Given the strong Apollo vibe of Corellon Larethian and the facts that drow rhymes with crow... and it comes to mind easily. Of course, applying it to humanoids can be strange if it conjures an imagery that was probably outside the scope of the designers.

There’s mythological precedent for lots of problematic things.