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

[Tonguez]

I'm not sure DnD is Medieval, its more renaissance but I push it to modern 16/17th century - castles and kings and thatch roofed villages, knights and towers and breastplates were still common alongside Alchemy, Artificers and Mercantilism - I've got no problem with flintlocks, theyre not much different to wands but use-up actions to reload, Airships are magical too

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If you live in a big city then the "country" is exotic for you, in the same way for somebody living in the country the big cities would be "exotic".

Epic Fantasy is the easiest option to start from zero. Magic allows more freedom to change the plot.

Sci-fi gets old very poorly. When you are watching old sci-fi productions you miss modern technology, for example the mobiles.

Shootings with firearms aren't so exciting like epic duels with melee weapons.

 

[Zardnaar]

It's what I want/likes.

I don't mind other stuff added eg Eberron but core that's what I want.

 

[Horwath]

1. swords are awesome

2. It's mechanically easier, ranged weapons have smaller effective ranges, so battle space is smaller.

3. Armor can function both mechanically and logically.

4. "Fireball" effect is earned through special class training and not just bought by the dozens from army surplus shelf that every level 1 schmuck can use it.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

One feature of a typical medieval society, as inspired by feudal age western Europe, is that it lacks a strong central government. There's no police or standing army, so people are apt to ask wandering adventurers for help when they have problems that need to be solved with righteous violence.

That also means that nobody has the power to object when those adventurers go plundering historical ruins.

 

[Weiley31]

I like swords.

Nothing wrong with enjoying the simplier things in life.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, Conan, Tarzan, 3 Musketeers.

All these stories have the hero and the villain with most having knights with magic swords doing brave deeds fighting evil.

None of those are actually medieval though. Some of the Arthurian stories were, but that's the closest you get.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

One feature of a typical medieval society, as inspired by feudal age western Europe, is that it lacks a strong central government. There's no police or standing army, so people are apt to ask wandering adventurers for help when they have problems that need to be solved with righteous violence.

That also means that nobody has the power to object when those adventurers go plundering historical ruins.

The government wasn't centralised, instead progressing through many layers of allegiance, but it was strong. A lot stronger than we are used to these days. If you weren't member of the nobility you had very little personal freedom. You couldn't choose were to live, you couldn't travel, you couldn't choose your job, you couldn't own weapons, you couldn't not go to church. Justice was harsh and arbitrary. There certainly was not room for "wandering adventurers". They were called bandits and faced summery execution.

 

[Zardnaar]

The government wasn't centralised, instead progressing through many layers of allegiance, but it was strong. A lot stronger than we are used to these days. If you weren't member of the nobility you had very little personal freedom. You couldn't choose were to live, you couldn't travel, you couldn't choose your job, you couldn't own weapons, you couldn't not go to church. Justice was harsh and arbitrary. There certainly was not room for "wandering adventurers". They were called bandits and faced summery execution.

Depends on when and where you lived.

 

[fuindordm]

Pre-industrial, human-dominated worlds are a nearly universal canvas for storytelling. As a DM you can draw on a multicultural canon of both real and mythic history as you create your own setting, while the players can find archetypes and tropes to latch onto making it easier for them to imagine themselves part of that setting. The breadth of the canon also makes disruptive elements entertaining without breaking the contract between GM and players to have a common understanding of the world.

The more you deviate from history or pseudo-history, the more explanation is needed. As a worldbuilding DM, where do you really want to put your effort? In explaining the world or settting up interesting stories and challenges?

Other genres tend to have either much narrower scope, or much smaller canon of common lore that players can form expectations around. They can be very entertaining but are also more dependent on having players who are deeply invested in the genre.