Let's talk about Lacrymas' homebrew fantasy setting where paladins are eunuchs

[Bara]

You should record these gameplay sessions that you are planning for the codex's perusal.

Fool's gold was a good read and people should check it out.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/completed-campaign-journal-tethys-fools-gold-dnd-5ed.119088/

 

[Ataraxia]

You should record these gameplay sessions that you are planning for the codex's perusal.

Yes, I would love to watch them too.

Especially if it shows someone's getting castrated in tabletop format

 

[NJClaw]

Maybe Thac0 wants to join us?

 

[Cryomancer]

Lacrymas, there are outsiders on your settings? Like Demons, Devils, Angels and so on?

 

[Reinhardt]

"your setting is not miserable enough! add mages, demons and devils!"

 

[Thac0]

Maybe Thac0 wants to join us?

I read the thread from time to time, and already from afar it feels like I am taking PSY damage.
I think if I were to participate I would just end up insulting Lacrymas more than he deserves, he seems alright when it is not about DnD and related systems.

You couldn't pay me to play on his tables, from what he tells about them here, and I am sure he is a great friend irl, lets he wouldn't find players at all with such absurd ideas.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Lacrymas' proposal aside, you should check out Stormcrowfleet's thread if you are interested in playing some TTRPGs under a normal DM, Thac0.

 

[Cael]

Maybe Thac0 wants to join us?

I read the thread from time to time, and already from afar it feels like I am taking PSY damage.
I think if I were to participate I would just end up insulting Lacrymas more than he deserves, he seems alright when it is not about DnD and related systems.

You couldn't pay me to play on his tables, from what he tells about them here, and I am sure he is a great friend irl, lets he wouldn't find players at all with such absurd ideas.

PSY? Not like SAN.

 

[Thac0]

Lacrymas' proposal aside, you should check out Stormcrowfleet's thread if you are interested in playing some TTRPGs under a normal DM, Thac0.

Oh I have more DnD currently than I need, I Dm currently 2x per week up from 1x per week.
I have to watch that my other hobbies don't come to short currently with how packed my schedule is between that and other things.
The only thing I could maybe do is play by post, I had a round ages ago where we did that and that was neat.

Also I make it a habit to not play DnD with internet people, some folks you meet are great but too many retards play this game.

PSY? Not like SAN.

It is so bad it lowers my hitpoints, like those Mindflayer screams, not even my sanity

 

[Lacrymas]

I am open to suggestions as to why the setting is bad, you know. Outside of "it's a tyrannical fascist dictatorship!". That's not even a criticism of the construction of a fictional setting, even if it were true. Also, what are these supposed "bad things" which happen at my tables?

 

[Thac0]

I am open to suggestions as to why the setting is bad, you know. Outside of "it's a tyrannical fascist dictatorship!". That's not even a criticism of the construction of a fictional setting, even if it were true. Also, what are these supposed "bad things" which happen at my tables?

Even the very way you build your world grinds my gears. It is all logical chains, if this people had these abilities then this would happen. That is not how I think you should build your world and that misuses the abilities of the author and the DM.
Noone gives a shit about realism in your worlds, there is no supercomputer that emulates your world and tries to find cracks in the logical framework of it. The only thing that matters is authenticity.

In Fantasy you are writing about the Fantastical, in a way that hopefully does not break the immersion of the reader. As this their immersion is your coin to buy the supernatural with. There is nothing to be gained in being realistic ober being authentic.

Also whats so bad about your pnp?
You hold grudges.
You hold grudges against mages, against clerics, against anyone who plays a tiny bit more complicated class.
The DM has to attempt to be as impartial as possible, in order to make the game fun for all participants. I am sorry for those that can not see your underlying trauma against whatever your hateclass is at your current table and rolls one up.

 

[Lacrymas]

This is just how I think in general. I can't help but construct any setting in this manner. I don't think this is a criticism of the setting, however, as the degree of logical consistency is hardly a pain point.

I don't "hold grudges", lol. And against clerics? My go-to class is a cleric. I don't like arcane magic because it has been misused for half a century now and I don't like how much nerds defend it and fetishize it, and think it's the only characteristic trait of a fantasy setting. Tolkien himself disliked Gandalf's magic more or less, that's why he's barely in the story. I'd go as far as to say that a wizard as a protagonist is a perversion. Either way, I don't punish players for whatever class they want to play, but if they agree to play in my setting they also agree to the lack of arcane classes. We also play some official modules from time to time and I don't have pretenses there, they can play whatever they want.

 

[NJClaw]

In Fantasy you are writing about the Fantastical, in a way that hopefully does not break the immersion of the reader. As this their immersion is your coin to buy the supernatural with. There is nothing to be gained in being realistic ober being authentic.

It depends on what the players are looking for. Someone who wants the standard fantasy experience probably won't enjoy this setting, but once you have already explored dozens of Standard Fantasy Settings™ born from the same exact premises, every singularity is welcomed.

I played with a DM whose setting heavily penalized sorcerers (not even arcane casters in general: wizards were perfectly fine), and I had tons of fun playing a sorcerer. I had to fake being a wizard, using my limited selection of spells to simulate a far vaster spellbook. In my experience, once you have already played the game for several years, these kinds of limitations can make the game feel fresh.

 

[Cael]

I am open to suggestions as to why the setting is bad, you know. Outside of "it's a tyrannical fascist dictatorship!". That's not even a criticism of the construction of a fictional setting, even if it were true. Also, what are these supposed "bad things" which happen at my tables?

The laughter is more your retarded rationalisations than the setting itself. Of course, you banning wizards for being fascists and creating a tyrannical fascist dictatorship in its place is pretty much the definition of irony, and those are always amusing.

 

[Lacrymas]

I have never banned wizards/arcane spellcasters for being fascists, that's a ridiculous strawman and conflates two entirely different ideas and topics. I have said wizards who are born with magic are a fascy idea/concept, especially when it's hereditary, not that they themselves hold such beliefs. That has nothing to do with the rationalisation for the lack of wizards in my setting. Which is first of all that arcane magic is too abstract and limitless, which tempts easy hand-waving of narrative issues, and second because I think wizards are always a logical problem for settings because 99% of the time there's no reason for why the setting hasn't turned into a mageocracy. It has nothing to do with fascism. Not all dictatorships are fascist, and this civilization in my setting is not fascistic and it's not even a dictatorship.

 

[Storyfag]

Lacrymas (...) seems alright when it is not about DnD and related systems.

Do take a stroll to the Diablo 2 Remastered thread. Or to the Bloodlines 2 thread.

arcane magic is too abstract and limitless, which tempts easy hand-waving of narrative issues

You are probably the ONE GM on this planet who has this problem. I have never ever had my narrative disrupted by the purportedly abstract and limitless arcane magic. Perhaps because it is not quite so abstract and limitless as you presume.

and second because I think wizards are always a logical problem for settings because 99% of the time there's no reason for why the setting hasn't turned into a mageocracy.

But you did turn your setting into a magocracy. You just keep calling the mages "priests" and insisting for some reason that YOUR mages could be toppled while the usual kind could not. You still failed to present reasonable argumentation for why that would be.

 

[Cael]

I have never banned wizards/arcane spellcasters for being fascists, that's a ridiculous strawman and conflates two entirely different ideas and topics. I have said wizards who are born with magic are a fascy idea/concept, especially when it's hereditary, not that they themselves hold such beliefs. That has nothing to do with the rationalisation for the lack of wizards in my setting. Which is first of all that arcane magic is too abstract and limitless, which tempts easy hand-waving of narrative issues, and second because I think wizards are always a logical problem for settings because 99% of the time there's no reason for why the setting hasn't turned into a mageocracy. It has nothing to do with fascism. Not all dictatorships are fascist, and this civilization in my setting is not fascistic and it's not even a dictatorship.

Exhibit No 474627254762 as to my claims of your retarded rationalisations.

 

[Parabalus]

You are probably the ONE GM on this planet who has this problem. I have never ever had my narrative disrupted by the purportedly abstract and limitless arcane magic. Perhaps because it is not quite so abstract and limitless as you presume.

PCs with access to arcane magic are much more powerful and versatile than others, to the point they heavily overshadow them. It takes GM intervention to reign them in.

 

[Lacrymas]

You are probably the ONE GM on this planet who has this problem. I have never ever had my narrative disrupted by the purportedly abstract and limitless arcane magic. Perhaps because it is not quite so abstract and limitless as you presume.

and second because I think wizards are always a logical problem for settings because 99% of the time there's no reason for why the setting hasn't turned into a mageocracy.

But you did turn your setting into a magocracy. You just keep calling the mages "priests" and insisting for some reason that YOUR mages could be toppled while the usual kind could not. You still failed to present reasonable argumentation for why that would be.

I don't have this problem as a DM (at levels below 10ish/5th spell circle), I have it as a reader/consumer of such settings. Arcane magic is limitless because you can always pull whatever bullshit spell you want from your ass to insulate your plot unless you show heroic discipline, which most authors don't. It's an explicit problem in D&D where every wizard can create their own spells. Divine spells aren't as easy to justify.

Also, I said why they can be toppled a bajillion times - their political power doesn't come from their magical abilities. It comes from the cultural hegemony and their control of the healing source.

 

[Storyfag]

Also, I said why they can be toppled a bajillion times - their political power doesn't come from their magical abilities. It comes from the cultural hegemony and their control of the healing source.

You still have not provided compelling evidence for why a magocracy cannot be toppled in a typical fantasy world.

 

[Lacrymas]

...

because their magic is limitless and comes from within.

 

[Storyfag]

...

because their magic is limitless and comes from within.

So is divine power. Not divinely granted magic, I mean the power of actual gods. And devils, daemons and djinn. Your typical fantasy setting is chock full of them and they keep the arcane spellcasters in check.

 

[Lacrymas]

This just pushes the problem back. Arcane magic is unable to be controlled outside of even higher powers (literal gods), which still keep the setting static and unchangeable. Also, if we are talking about FR, Thay exists. I see no reason why everything else in FR isn't Thay. Even then, there was a time where arcane magic could topple even gods, i.e. Karsus and Mystra.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

This is just how I think in general. I can't help but construct any setting in this manner.

Are you absolutely 100% sure you are not of German descent?

 

[Storyfag]

Also, if we are talking about FR, Thay exists. I see no reason why everything else in FR isn't Thay.

Divine intervention in the case of Aglarond (the Simbul is a Chosen of Mystra) and Mulhorand (theocracy with pharaohs who are literal descendants of gods). Opposing arcane spellcasters in the case of Rashemen (the witches). Geographical distance in the case of everywhere else.