tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post5609738661685405373..comments2024-03-25T22:48:31.750-04:00Comments on Dreams in the Lich House: D&D Cures World Hunger; Global Disease is NextJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-63559644022996117682011-09-01T10:16:48.412-04:002011-09-01T10:16:48.412-04:00Thank you for the link, and I'm glad you'v...Thank you for the link, and I'm glad you've participated in the discussion. I think imago1 has a key point here- D&D is unbalanced. In terms of the practical politics FrDave is right, a lot of the solutions already exist and we haven't implemented them, so why expect fantasy worlds to be any different? But actually the developed world <i>has</i> implemented most of the solutions, so the question becomes - why don't fantasy worlds develop, especially given that their medieval real-world equivalents did?<br /><br />I've added to my post with a new one that analyzes the <a href="http://faustusnotes.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/cost-effectiveness-evaluation-of-divine-intervention-to-reduce-infant-mortality/" rel="nofollow">cost-effectiveness of divine intervention</a>, and finds that - shock - actually getting clerics to intervene to reduce infant mortality is really cheap, really cost-effective, and really easy. It includes policy recommendations for medieval rulers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-75065065386976280612011-09-01T09:47:41.064-04:002011-09-01T09:47:41.064-04:00'
Why don't we develop settings like Faust...'<br />Why don't we develop settings like Faustusville, though? Well, why don't we have a lot of sci-fi settings like that? The traditional conflicts utilized for gaming (and gaming inspiration) are stymied by those levels of technology. '<br /><br />Also, developing a fiction setting that doesn't collapse under the weight of its own plot holes is difficult.<br /><br />I think games like Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft will fill the gap - we need computers to work out the underlying mathematical models of logically consistent fictional worlds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-2877060810381111622011-08-31T13:27:01.320-04:002011-08-31T13:27:01.320-04:00I made lots of low lvl, but world shattering spell...I made lots of low lvl, but world shattering spells such as fly, light, create food and water, esp, knock, etc, into high lvl spells, or blunted their effects. Create food and water is akin to rabbit meat or snowmelt--fills a void, but lacks necessary minerals for longterm subsistence. Cure disease is a high lvl spell; light spells require concentration, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-42879335237428859902011-08-31T12:59:17.579-04:002011-08-31T12:59:17.579-04:00It could be possible that the God(s) might not lik...It could be possible that the God(s) might not like God-granted clerical magic to be used as a simple tool and interfere in the course of nature except for exceptional circumstances. Sure, Clerical magic could bring about paradise, but is Man worthy enough to receive it?<br /><br />Take the Biblical God as an example. He has the ability to make Man immortal, spare women from the pains of birth, and let Man prosper without the need of work; he let man live in paradise. But Man has sinned, and has punishment he faces death, has to bear children in pain, and has to work for a living.Omer Golan-Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09242085820257230639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-26842836746170922722011-08-31T11:52:26.771-04:002011-08-31T11:52:26.771-04:00I agree that substituting magic for technology bri...I agree that substituting magic for technology brings D&D into the realm of futurism and sci-fi; conversely, it means every setting that keeps technology primitive should pass the acid test: Why hasn't magic yielded a futuristic utopia?<br /><br />Omer hits on one idea; do PCs and NPCs follow different rules or not? How do NPCs gain levels?<br /><br />FrDave's reply is bleak; one assumes in a fantasy world where clerics communicate directly with their deities, moral choices would carry greater weight than the real world. Maybe human nature would be the same even in the face of greater evidence of the divne? In our world, the means to end world problems are controlled by monied interests; one approach to the fantastic world would be to put the control of magical resources also in the hands of power groups - a fantasy twist on the dystopian future.<br /><br />I'll think further on this 'problem of magic'; for now the easy solutions are still constrain magic heavily (LOTFP) or constrain the NPC demographics so that magic *can't* change the larger worldJohnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-56577736794541408462011-08-31T11:18:28.865-04:002011-08-31T11:18:28.865-04:00Why don't the collective we (D&D players a...<i>Why don't the collective we (D&D players and Dungeon Masters alike) develop settings like Faustville that substitute magic for high technology?</i><br />We already live in that world. We currently have the ability to wipe out hunger and disease. They ought not be issues because we have the magic (technology) to combat both. The problem is a human one: people are greedy. There are enough people in the world who fear freedom and put their own interests above others that hunger and disease continue to plague the world despite the available technology.FrDavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00459281821319914530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-40959097658637541262011-08-31T11:10:15.250-04:002011-08-31T11:10:15.250-04:00So by these standards (and the numbers work out pe...So by these standards (and the numbers work out perfectly) there is 1 14th level caster in the City, but 7 12th level casters, and over 1000 7th level casters.<br /><br />I'd probably make them rarer than that, but of course there I'm dealing with a more modern setting, that has been transformed somewhat by magic.<br /><br />Why don't we develop settings like Faustusville, though? Well, why don't we have a lot of sci-fi settings like that? The traditional conflicts utilized for gaming (and gaming inspiration) are stymied by those levels of technology. New ones could be found, sure, but it requires a lot of out of the box thinking about a world fairly alien to our own.<br /><br />It's the problem of so many pre-cellphone plots being hobbled by the advent of cellphones put only made exponentially more difficult.Treyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04647628467658839351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-76486736594743156842011-08-31T10:10:20.628-04:002011-08-31T10:10:20.628-04:00The majot questions here, IMHO, are:
1) What do y...The majot questions here, IMHO, are:<br /><br />1) What do you gain experience from? Could you gain experience from everyday work, or only from adventuring and combat?<br /><br />2) How common are adventurers in the setting?<br /><br />If you can only get experience from adventuring AND most people don't adventure (it's HIGHLY dangerous at low level, after all), high-level characters, especially casters, will be high level. Sure, a few career soldiers and mercenaries might have a few levels under their belts, but even them would probably see less combat and collect less treasure than 'proper' adventurers.<br /><br />So things will be far more medieval.Omer Golan-Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09242085820257230639noreply@blogger.com