DnD Silliness

You know, Dungeon and Dragons is one of those... interesting things.

See, on one hand, it tries to be that classic, standard fantasy roleplaying game. Basic races are elves, dwarfs, halfings and humans Basic classes are Wizard, Cleric, Rogue and Fighter. Its typical and stereotyped and awesome because of that.

But then, it also has this really strange bent to it. See the thing is though, DnD has tried to do more than that as well. DnD became popular enough to demand “splat” books, where they publish a crapton of books by every Tom, Dick and Harry that thinks they can design a campaign, class, dungeon or monster. Some of the splat books are awesome, some aren't. But then you get some really... weird stuff..

I didn't play much DnD 3.5 beyond Nevewinter Nights I and II, but I got the gist of the setting. The Forgotten Realms is a cool setting with enough typical Fantasy that it worked. But the problem was that when you go beyond the Forgotten Realms and hit some of the Higher Level stuff you get... weird crap like the Astral Plane and alternate dimensions and far out creatures (sure, Minotaurs aren't so bad, but Wilden? Githerzai? Instectiod races... yea that's weird). And then there are also some weird non-standard Campaign Settings (Ravenloft comes to mind).

My point is, one of the things that humors me about DnD is how it attempts to do much but often ends up with some really weird stuff that just doesn't really make a lot of sense. For instance: Psionics. Really, I'm sorry, I just don't see how this stuff works in a fantasy setting. You want Psionics, play a modern/sci-fi game. You want magic, play a fantasy game, the two do not mix!

I have no problem with lots of strange variations on the Cleric or religious classes: Avenger, Cleric, Runepriest, they are all the same thing to me, honestly. But Psions... haha no. Not even in settings where there is “no magic” do Psions really make sense to me. When I picture a Psion, I picture Sci-fi, DnD isn't sci-fi. End of story.

Some of the weird races also kinda strike me as odd. Wilden, for instance... these basically appear to be walking, talking, human-sized trees. There are a few other races that don't make a lot of sense in Player's Handbook III as well. In fact, its interesting to note how Player's Handbook I had a lot of standard fantasy races: Humans, Dwarves, (two kinds of) Elves, and Halfings, then some stranger stuff like Tieflings (Demon/human hybrids). I still have to say that Tieflings are a lot less weird than... insectiods.

Player's Handbook II added a few more “off” things, but generally stuff that still works in a typical fantasy setting. Sure, not a lot of people don't know what a “Deva” or a “Shifter” is, but these races don't exactly feel out of place in a fantasy setting with some context. Shifter's are basically just werewolf-human hybrids, Deva are former divine beings, it works. And yes, the some of the classes are more obscure in terms of title, but they are essentially Fighters, Mages, Rogues, etc respeced to fit a bit of a different background. Avengers are essentially rogues with a Divine Influence. Invokers are mages that use divine power. Some of the classes are simply “classic” archetypes like the Bard or the Druid that aren't as stereotypical as the Wizard or Fighter. Bard's appear everywhere in Fantasy and Folklore (Alan-A-Dale of Robin Hood for instance), but they certainly don't fight exactly into the Fighter/Rogue/Wizard/Cleric archetypes. You could make one work as say, a Rogue or a Fighter, but that doesn't necessarily mean it fits perfectly.

But the Player' Handbook III takes it one step further and adds some races that really require specific settings and/or themes to work properly. I've never heard of a Shardmind and it doesn't really make sense in a typical fantasy setting. A Deva kinda does: An Angelic being demoted to mortality because of past failings. A Half-orc certainly does. A Shardmind, no.

And I think that's one of the weaknesses of DnD. In trying to do everything, it comes off as kinda silly. A Shardmind, some sort of intelligent crystalline creatures, obviously work in a specific setting. The problem is, there are few “standard” fantasy games that will allow you to play a Shardmind over a Dwarf or Elf. Sharmind's are cool, but they don't work as a standard fantasy race. The same with Psions, only more so because Psionic powers are stupid in fantasy.

Settings like Warhammer fantasy roleplay have done their best to make themselves unique and cool. The demons of Warhammer Fantasy are different than the demons of any other setting. The demons of DnD are exactly like your standard demon, except there are a LOT of them, and then you have the really strange enemies like “Purple Worms.” Yes, there are giant, man-eating purple worms in Dungeons and Dragons. Older versions also had man-eating walls and man-eating clothes, for the truly sadistic Dungeon Masters.

How do I say this... DnD is awesome Shardminds are awesome, in the proper context. A shardmind is awesome if you have it in a really specific instance and give it proper background and goals. But when you throw out this really fancy race with little context, it comes off as strange, silly, and a way to create a new combination of power-gamey bonuses. Everyone knows what your typical elf is—there is no need for context. No one knows what a shardmind is—there is every need for context.

A world with elves and dwarves and snowy mountains and magical forests and evil dungeons is really cool. Its a standard, stereotyped world anyone can imagine and play in. That's what I like about DnD: it is a base that provides for some awesome, typical fantasy that everyone knows about already. But when they throw out fancy races or strange realms without a lot of context I get frustrated and annoyed. Sure there is an Astral Sea and an Underdark, but WHAT are these things? Oh, I have to buy a book you haven't published. And, furthermore, they come off as silly and unbelievable often times.

Oh well, that's DnD I suppose: awesome base that expands to silliness.