tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post7710055971181859383..comments2024-03-28T01:02:01.844-06:00Comments on Coins and Scrolls: OSR: Death, Taxes, and Death Taxes: Part 2 (Design and Methods) Skerpleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-91288870889953621742020-09-06T09:31:35.891-06:002020-09-06T09:31:35.891-06:00I get to the point that taxes are a framework to b...I get to the point that taxes are a framework to build feudal settings. I have always felt fantasy RPG settings (mostly D&D ones) unrealistic, because of the way the (power) economy and society are structured. It's 19th century American mythology rather than Medieval European mythology. It's cowboys and superheroes dressed up as knights and wizards. Like in comicbooks and pulp fiction books, the settings serve the heroes, rather than the heroes serve the settings. It's completely different in folklore and mythology, where the setting is bigger than the heroes. However, D&D was designed by modern people to be played by modern people, who know very little about how to live in medieval style. It is very counter-intuitive to think (to be!) medieval. A very good DM might be able to achieve a medieval style fantasy, if playing with very motivated and educated friends, who really want that style of game to succeed. This would be a VERY rare game group. Most players don't even read the rules, and some even less the description of their own character's class.<br /><br />The comics above is very well placed. Anything that is too counter-intuitive feels VERY arbitrary. Arbitrary games are not fun. Even gonzo games must have some structure on their apparently random weirdness. I think the best way of bringing the true medieval setting alive is to use many medievally-flavoured random tables, such as those you've been making. There should be tables for every situation where the players come across the feudal/medieval system. The players should know it was the table, rather than the DM creating troubles to them. The DM is only interpreting the setting tables, like a priest is "only" interpreting the holy scriptures. The faithful would never follow the whims of a priest, they follow the holy faith that dress the whims of the priest; and they like it.<br /><br />The tables you've made are priceless for the aim of creating true medieval settings. Gamifying history is brilliant. It would be almost impossible to come up with so many weird situations that look so alien and feel so possible at the same time. Nonetheless, it is a Herculean task to research, interpret, curate, and turn all this information into game material! You've done a lot, and that guy from https://www.moltensulfur.com/ does it too, but I feel a big compilation all this material is still missing. A toolkit for medieval sandbox like The Magical Industrial Revolution using all historical information you have already gathered, and maybe more. ...please?Dehumanizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00488674541635211335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-63146315460534292132018-01-10T20:58:30.030-07:002018-01-10T20:58:30.030-07:00So, I taxed my players. I told them they were goin...So, I taxed my players. I told them they were going to be taxed. There were sad, then sold the emerald statue they found to a wizard for platinum coins and gems, which they buried. The bags of loot they carried were handed over to the taxman (and his very large goons) with only moderate haggling. Best thing though: They said there was more treasure down there, but needed the lord to send prisoners to help do the dirty work, as well as a priest to protect them from the succubus flitting around down there.<br /><br />Taxes! Are! Great!Spwackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07247063374457045751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-13798376820219914722017-06-23T05:44:47.523-06:002017-06-23T05:44:47.523-06:00Ah. Definitely good fodder for an essay.Ah. Definitely good fodder for an essay.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00694362417308874455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-65947349021324416272017-06-22T21:29:38.819-06:002017-06-22T21:29:38.819-06:00Slightly different. It's when the PCs (played ...Slightly different. It's when the PCs (played by rational human adults) engage the GM (a rational human adult) and the dialogue between them reads like two people in the modern world discussing an issue. It's when you use the sleep spell on a kobold, tie them up, wake them up, and then they answer your questions rationally instead of screaming or biting the ropes.<br /><br />Basically, it's advice for GMs and players going "You need to learn to disengage rationality. Being rational is /not always/ a skill in these games."Skerpleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-4053127243856744672017-06-22T21:09:10.819-06:002017-06-22T21:09:10.819-06:00Rational kobold syndrome, eh? I'm guessing tha...Rational kobold syndrome, eh? I'm guessing that's when DMs run things so that the typical "monstrous" races are treated more or less equivalent to humans(they might be awful, but they're still sapient beings possessing a language, arts, religious practices, tool usage, material culture, etc.)Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00694362417308874455noreply@blogger.com