Would you leave your life behind?

[Furn_Darkside]

For a good feel of how medieval life (if not fantasy necessarily) was very tough and deadly ...

Well, many d&d campeigns are not exactly medieval. They have just advanced in magic where the rl world advanced in technology.

Since the original question had the suggestion you could pick your life- just be sure to pick a life that will more likely give you access to magical comforts and healing.

FD

 

[Frosty]

Actualy, the title is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ... though I confess to not having read the book. One of those books that I've always meant to read...

In that case I advice you not to. It's not a bad book it's just that Mark Twain would loathe RPGs had he been alive today. The "hero" isn't exactly a fan of King Arthur, Merlin and his knights, as he is more of an industrialist than a romantic.

 

[trix]

Indoor Plumbing

Believe it or not, there aint no indoor plumbing and their aint no double-ply-bog-roll.

You dont get the comfort of a BMW or Landy or a pair of Adidas/Nike.

No golf courses, no Nintendo, no radio.

If you could take a windup radio... you've still got no powersource.

Are you truely a mechanical engineer to duplicate 'engines'?

Can you actually build an aeroplane?

Have you the machines to build standard grade nut/screw/bolts ?

Believe it or not, modern civilization depends on something as small as the nut, screw and bolt. Thousands of people labour every day to make seemingly the most trivial thing, yet without it, society is at a serious loss.

Refined copper wire? Magnetic inductors? Boiler making?

Baah, 1 man going through a portal is not going to make any of those in his lifetime unless he dedicated his life to said work.

As a society we stand on the heads of our parents and ancestors. They built an economy that we can take forward.

Moving to some 'world' of darkness, or some D&D verse, would be a shocking loss after the first year.

You might be able to win the technical backing of one king, maybe two, but the conflicts would put an end to their society.

You promote democracy? Treason!

-Tim

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Mark Twain would loathe RPGs had he been alive today.

I don't know- I am not an expert on Mark Twain, but (from the light reading I have done) considering the literay nature of rpg's, I doubt he would object.

Near the end of his life, he stopped by a town (his home town?) and every one got into character- pretending to be people from his stories. He was thrilled with it, from what I recall. It is not exactly the same thing, but as close as you will probably get to a free form roleplaying exercise.

FD

 

[Henry]

Sure. On one condition, though.

I'd get to be his apprentice, and he teaches me how to do that reality-twisting as soon as he can. I'd leave a note explaining that I had to go "find myself", and when I could pop back, have the best of both worlds.

So in other words, your life wouldn't change much.

It'd be a tough call for me. I have many things that tie me here (my wife, a good job, close friends, etc.), and to start over in a world that is heroic, true, but also nasty, brutish, and short, wouldn't be as much of a draw to me.

As for right now, I can have all the best parts of my favorite D&D world, without the camping out, the insects, the murderous humanoids who want to end my life, and the other discomforts of living in a non-technological world. OTOH, Teleportation would be cool, but if I want to sling fireballs and move like the wind, I will join the air force and train to fly an F-16.

 

[Pielorinho]

Curious... It's not, but what if the world of our choosing was the World of Darkness? Would that still involve leaving friends and family behind, since... well... it's the same world and all? I could be a werewolf or mage without problem... thought I wouldn't choose WoD... the world is always about to end. That's no way to live... I would be grey from stress in three years.

Heh -- the best campaign I've ever played in was one set in the WoD, where we played ourselves. Reality diverged from story when, during the first session, we all -- through one form or another -- awakened to the supernatural world around us and began developing supernatural talents. We didn't have to leave anyone behind.

Of course, the GM began the campaign by having his game-self brutally murdered while we watched. So it didn't start off real happy.

It was fascinating and weird to watch over the course of the game, how our game-selves changed, became accustomed to committing acts of gruesome violence, developed the arrogance of power. We eventually ended the campaign when we were having trouble identifying with our game-selves.

As for the original question: no way, no how. I love gaming, and I might be happy in a gameworld, but there's too many people I love in this world. I wouldn't do that to them, or to me.

Daniel

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Re: Indoor Plumbing

Are you truely a mechanical engineer to duplicate 'engines'?

Nope, but I really like my car. As a wizard I could enchant it. As a Sha'ir, I could make it a genie trap.

That is the wonderful thing about magic- you don't need to know all that stuff.

Why would I like the engineering books? Well, I am a pretty smart guy- as would the wizards I trained under (INT is the primary stat after all), it might take generations, but the knowledge in there could prove more easily replicated then magic.

FD

 

[Tsyr]

Re: Indoor Plumbing

*long post about what poster thinks would not exist in our fantasy worlds omited for lack of reason to include it*

What world is this? Surely not the world _I_ selected. Nor Forgotten Realms.

Moving to some 'world' of darkness

Evidently, you aren't familiar with the world of darkness. It _IS_ our world. Just with fantasy elements thrown in. Statue of Liberty? It's there. Your favorite TV show is on the TV when you get home from work. You can go down to Mc Donalds and get a big mac. There just also happen to be mages, vampires, werewolves, changelings, demons, hunters, mummies, etc running around in the shadows.

 

[Frosty]

I don't know- I am not an expert on Mark Twain, but (from the light reading I have done) considering the literay nature of rpg's, I doubt he would object.

Near the end of his life, he stopped by a town (his home town?) and every one got into character- pretending to be people from his stories. He was thrilled with it, from what I recall. It is not exactly the same thing, but as close as you will probably get to a free form roleplaying exercise.

FD

Well, alright. I admit I don't know whether Mark would like it or not. However, I read the book when I was in my teens and I simply loved the legends of Pendragon and I was very happy when I found the book. In those days fantasy-literature was pretty scarce.

The Yankee however is such an obnoxious bastard. He's like a white supremacist in his attitude towards the people of Camelot. He thinks that he is so superior and he stops at nothing in his attempts to ridicule the knights and their ideals. He never stops to think that his knowledge might be a product of the efforts of those who came before him. He belittles Merlin by using his knowledge of astronomy and he trounces a knight in a joust using "modern" means (1890).

As I was hoping for a story more akin to the Narnia books I was pretty disappointed. Still, no shadow over the great Mr Twain. I still love Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.

 

[CrazyMage]

I already did, to become Mr. Thompson of Terror Lake. Got a lovely houseboat and a yard full of rakes.