D&D General Why the resistance to D&D being a game?

[Incenjucar]

It really is fine to say that you like magic always being better than non-magic, and that you want D&D to follow that, and that you have a feeling it would be more popular than an alternative. Personal opinions are fine, but cripes do claims about things turn into media literacy contests.

 

[Alzrius]

Rock Lee.

"Badass normal" is a category.

As a Naruto fan, this isn't really the best example. Consider that he loses his one-on-one fight against Gaara (who has the power to manipulate sand), and subsequently loses his one-on-one fight against Kimimaro (who has the power to manipulate his own bones) and has to be saved by Gaara. He later cuts Madara off from the Juubi, but only because Naruto had given him (and everyone else) a Demon Fox Cloak.

Now, Might Guy does slightly better, in that he actually defeats Hoshigaki Kisame each time they fight, but while Guy is able to injure Madara, he does so at the cost of his own life, whereas Madara just regenerates all of the damage.

(Of course, "badass normal" doesn't really apply to anyone in Naruto, since even Rock Lee and Might Guy can use magic chakra; they just use it for self-enhancement rather than spellcasting jutsu, i.e. manipulating their chakra gates to the point of being able to punch so hard that they literally bend space, not to mention kicking off of the air itself, etc. "Badass normal" is still supposed to be "normal.")

 

[Incenjucar]

Gaara was fused to a demi-god kaiju. Rock was otherwise kicking everyone's butt until power creep.

 

[Alzrius]

Gaara was fused to a demi-god kaiju. Rock was otherwise kicking everyone's butt until power creep.

Even after losing Shukaku, Gaara's power level is still impressive (which he showcases during the Fourth Great Ninja War).

Likewise, Rock Lee lost against Kimimaro, who was literally dying of a disease at the time (as in, he kicked the bucket about ten minutes later). He couldn't even beat someone at death's door.

 

[Incenjucar]

Even after losing Shukaku, Gaara's power level is still impressive (which he showcases during the Fourth Great Ninja War).

Likewise, Rock Lee lost against Kimimaro, who was literally dying of a disease at the time (as in, he kicked the bucket about ten minutes later). He couldn't even beat someone at death's door.

...who then died from that disease right before killing Gaara, the other person mentioned who defeated Rock, and otherwise was stronger than Rock and Gaara working together.

 

[Alzrius]

...who then died from that disease right before killing Gaara, the other person mentioned who defeated Rock, and otherwise was stronger than Rock and Gaara working together.

Yeah, which solidifies that Rock Lee is at the bottom of the power-scale, since he can only use taijutsu.

Also, "working togther"? Um, no. After Rock Lee was decisively defeated, Gaara took over, and Rock Lee's one attempt to get back in the fight ended when Gaara basically tossed him aside.

 

[Incenjucar]

Yeah, which solidifies that Rock Lee is at the bottom of the power-scale, since he can only use taijutsu.

Also, "working togther"? Um, no. After Rock Lee was decisively defeated, Gaara took over, and Rock Lee's one attempt to get back in the fight ended when Gaara basically tossed him aside.

I do acknowledge they eventually linear/quadratic him as all the main characters fuse with more and more nonsense. At the time of his introduction, however, it still takes Gaara to take him down.

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

I think if we are to refer to fiction a better example than Rock Lee is the main character of One Punch Man. There is absolutely no bs of any kind involved, and his powers are extremely grounded (in the sense that the explanation is consistent: he simply trained well).

I don't remember all his feats but I think he can jump to the moon.

But I suspect that for some reason which I can't imagine at all what it could be, all anime comparisons will be ignored.

 

[Alzrius]

I do acknowledge they eventually linear/quadratic him as all the main characters fuse with more and more nonsense. At the time of his introduction, however, it still takes Gaara to take him down.

Yeah, except it's not "eventually"; that's his first major fight!

Prior to that, we see him initially challenge Sasuke, pointing out a weakness in the sharingan (i.e. that even if Sasuke can copy his moves, it's pointless if his muscles aren't up to the task of replicating them), but that fight ends before it starts. During the Forest of Death arc of the Chuunin exams, Rock Lee's biggest accomplishment is that – even after his sense of balance is compromised by a sonic attack – he's able to keep moving just long enough to let Sasuke use Orochimaru's curse mark and recover, ending the fight against the three Sound genin.

He's given an impressive presentation, to be sure, but that's largely to paint him as being Naruto's version of the Worf Effect, so that when we see Gaara (who's been foreshadowed as an incredibly dangerous opponent) finally cut loose, his victory is much more impressive than when we initially see him (Gaara) off some nobodies. That's a far cry from Rock Lee "kicking everyone's butt."

 

[Alzrius]

I think if we are to refer to fiction a better example than Rock Lee is the main character of One Punch Man. There is absolutely no bs of any kind involved, and his powers are extremely grounded (in the sense that the explanation is consistent: he simply trained well).

I don't remember all his feats but I think he can jump to the moon.

But I suspect that for some reason which I can't imagine at all what it could be, all anime comparisons will be ignored.

I'm not as up on my One Punch Man, but while it's never referenced as such from an in-character standpoint, Saitama's powers are essentially satire; the "real" question of how they operate isn't answered (that I'm aware of).

Garou, however, would be a much better example (though only in the sense of nothing blatantly supernatural; when you're breaking a tree in half while tied to it, you can't really say that's "badass normal" anymore).