D&D General Why Do You Prefer a Medieval Milieu For D&D? +

[R_J_K75]

Real world history is all over the place from a cultural and technological "time period" perspective.

I'm no historian on any means so I don't know a whole lot on the subject (I was "absent" that day) but from what little I do know I'd say you are correct.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don’t feel the need to defend or explain further, and we’re way off topic, which is “Why do you prefer a medieval milieu?”

The OP specifically asked people not to discuss why they don’t

I don't think anyone is suggesting they don't enjoy the milieu, just that lots of the reasons given are not part of it.

Colonialism is a thing you can choose to include, or choose to not include, irrespective of setting. Lets play Traveller, in the Third Imperium.

 

[JohnSnow]

I don't think anyone is suggesting they don't enjoy the milieu, just that lots of the reasons given are not part of it.

Colonialism is a thing you can choose to include, or choose to not include, irrespective of setting. Lets play Traveller, in the Third Imperium.

To me, there is a world of difference between colonialism and conflict. Not everyone views it similarly, but here’s my distinction.

“Colonialism” is the exploitation of an indigenous people (or their land) by an imperialist power on a quest for resources, usually a technologically superior one. When two powers of a roughly equivalent level of technological advancement battle over land, that’s not colonialism, because it’s not merely a resource-stripping move. Also, I’ll acknowledge the definition of “indigenous” gets awfully muddy the closer you get to the modern era.

So the Crusades? Not colonialism, because we’ve got roughly equal imperial powers fighting a land war. Which is nothing new in the Levant, going back to Rome, Egypt, Persia, Macedonia, and Assyria before that. It’s a history of cultural, religious and ethnic strife, and one conquering power after another, right up until the Crusades (and after, but that’s not the point).

 

[Aldarc]

D&D is not medieval. D&D is modernity with the pastiche trappings of a (mostly) pre-Industrial age.

 

[Cadence]

A whole bunch of minor nations in the contested regions who were pretty much erased from history.

Glen Cook's "Dread Empire" series is largely set in the small countries in between.

 

[Tonguez]

So the Crusades? Not colonialism, because we’ve got roughly equal imperial powers fighting a land war. Which is nothing new in the Levant, going back to Rome, Egypt, Persia, Macedonia, and Assyria before that. It’s a history of cultural, religious and ethnic strife, and one conquering power after another, right up until the Crusades (and after, but that’s not the point).

The British Raj v Mughal Empire and China might dispute that definition of colonialism

 

[JohnSnow]

The British Raj v Mughal Empire and China might dispute that definition of colonialism

To my mind, both of those meet the criteria of unequal power, resource exploitation, and Britain having no historical claim to either place. Plus, Britain wasn’t trying to conquer the whole world and make them citizens (Pax Romana style), so much as simply extract resources for the home country.

Which is absolutely colonialism.

But I can also concede the distinction I’m making is far from universally-accepted.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

To my mind, both of those meet the criteria of unequal power, resource exploitation, and Britain having no historical claim to either place. Plus, Britain wasn’t trying to conquer the whole world and make them citizens (Pax Romana style), so much as simply extract resources for the home country.

Which is absolutely colonialism.

But I can also concede the distinction I’m making is far from universally-accepted.

The British Raj started out as a corporate takeover (of a country).

 

[MoonSong]

Going back to the OP, I like D&D when its medievalish, because medievalesque is both well known and far away in the past for it to be cozy, familiar and not getting too topical.

Science fiction is inherently topical and can get very opinionated quiet fast. It turns into either a critique of current society or a desired future society. And well, while there are cool things to see in sci-fi, it ages poorly.

Another contrast is the age of Piracy, and well, I just don't find it all that relatable or fun. For many people that is indeed cool, but it does nothing for me. Outside of the Princess Bride and a one-hit-wonder band from the early 90's there is not much pirates in my entertainment. It's ok if people like it, but not for me.

Then we have Renassaince, early modern age and Victorian Fantasy. And yes, they all have something going for it. Steampunk and clock punk have their charm, and I've even have made a short adventure idea based upon a Holmes/Reaper idea under the gaslights. But these work best for me as the occasional alternate flavor for variety, too much for everyday play.

And finally, there's the matter of guns. They are either game breaking or immersion breaking with little in terms of balance. They also ring too close to home, as gun violence is a problem in my country. So, I really can't find meaningful escapism in a game that features them prominently.

Medieval/Fairy Tale is then a happy medium for me. One giant sandbox where I can go from very idealized to quite gritty and explore a lot of different fiction genres without changing the basic assumptions, and easily communicate the basic assumptions. It is familiar. It is cozy, and well, for beter or worse I grew in the Western hemisphere, and I'm unashamed of that part of my cultural baggage. At the same time, I'm in a position of basically no cultural power, so I feel completely unapologetic about the unsavory parts that have been brought here (and in similar threads like the one about the paladin). I don't care if my escapism recreates colonialism, I'm too unimportant for that to make a difference, and I don't care what a group of first-worlders think is acceptable fantasy for me to have.

Also, Spanish is my Mother tongue, and the two foundational texts in the Spanish language are a cantar de gesta and a novel about a guy who grew mad from reading too many books about mediaval knights! I mean, I would like to game on settings based on Antiquity, or even in precolombian times, but these have their challenges on communicating basic assumptions. (And I don't like part of my heritage used as just a superficial exotic flavor, plus with that one, I'm actually in a position where what I do can matter and affect living people)

 

[MGibster]

D&D is not medieval. D&D is modernity with the pastiche trappings of a (mostly) pre-Industrial age.

You're not wrong. I think a lot of people here have agreed to as much insofar as D&D not really being medieval. I've found D&D to be very oddly modern in many ways but have come to the conclusion that this accounts in part for its popularity.