D&D General What *is* D&D? (mild movie spoilers)

[Micah Sweet]

The rules have never supported that though - even back when there where only four classes, half of them where spellcasters. D&D has always been high magic, if you want to play it otherwise you need to make substantial alterations to the published rules.

D&D PCs have always supported high magic. The actual setting? That has varied quite a bit, and the current version as shown in the movie is a high magic  world.

 

[AnotherGuy]

D&D PCs have always supported high magic. The actual setting? That has varied quite a bit, and the current version as shown in the movie is a high magic  world.

Which settings do you consider not high magic worlds?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

D&D PCs have always supported high magic. The actual setting? That has varied quite a bit, and the current version as shown in the movie is a high magic  world.

A setting where the PCs are pretty much the only spellcasters doesn't make much sense - it's PC exceptionalism taken to the extreme. And it's never existed in official publications - take a look at the Gygax written early adventures - there are generally several high level NPCs in the local village, including clerics. And rival adventuring parties have always been a thing. And enemy wizards OC.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Which settings do you consider not high magic worlds?

Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Mystara, basically any setting they're not currently supporting or planning to support.

 

[Micah Sweet]

A setting where the PCs are pretty much the only spellcasters doesn't make much sense - it's PC exceptionalism taken to the extreme. And it's never existed in official publications - take a look at the Gygax written early adventures - there are generally several high level NPCs in the local village, including clerics. And rival adventuring parties have always been a thing. And enemy wizards OC.

Do those things lead to a world with highly visible magic surrounding everything, like the movie has? A lot of that stuff back in the day was pretty isolated, or at least not flashy. Most of the OSR doesn't look like the movie, and it sure as heck was based on D&D.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Greyhawk,

With a high level cleric in every village?

Dark Sun,

Where everyone has psionic powers?

Mystara

A hollow world full of animal-people?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Most of the OSR doesn't look like the movie

Because it was written before they had cheep colour printing.

 

[Micah Sweet]

With a high level cleric in every village?

Where everyone has psionic powers?

A hollow world full of animal-people?

A hidden hollow world most people never saw. Also, psionics are mostly pretty subtle, and clerics aren't going around casting flashy spells and showing off in every village.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Because it was written before they had cheep colour printing.

Is this a joke? You really think the financials around artwork make up the difference?

 

[AnotherGuy]

With a high level cleric in every village?

Where everyone has psionic powers?

A hollow world full of animal-people?

I feel I'm not qualified to comment on DS and Greyhawk, but animal-people does not a high magic world make. Having said that, there are geographic areas within Mystara that are indeed high magic, and certainly the modules reflect an abundance of magic items which irks me, but those were early days of design. What I do like about the setting is that they allow for the tempering of the overall magic via the drain of the radiance from the Nucleus of Spheres.