User:Spazalicious Chaos/World Types- an Examination of D&D Assumptions

This started in my head as a sourcebook to aid fledgeling GMs in the creation of worlds, but the sourcebook format would not suit this topic very well. People who disagree should talk to me in the talk page.
 * Note for sourcebook conversion template. I am declaring this free use to all editors.

D&D is an RPG, arguably THE RPG, and as such should not have too many presumptions regarding how it is handled by it's own nature. But it's design speaks differently, and it's creators in their explainations often confuse and contradict the design. Thus, D&D as a game is unplayable without modifications or severe suspension of disbelief. This article will help with the later by presenting some of the most basic world models for D&D.
 * Universal all world subjects- magic as a talent vs skill, technology levels, econamy, random encounter/ecology design. Chapter 0. May also need the power demographic spelled out in terms of percentage of population, thus far Everyman 98.9%, Skilled 1%, Heroic 0.1%.

Type I- the Medieval World of Past
The designers claim that the historical kingdoms of old and their myths are the bases for D&Ds design. If so, the designers couldn't have fucked up worse than if they were high and writing as it came to them while watching Youtube. Let's start with the necessary ranges of power in terms of Character Level, or CL:
 * Every Men- CL 1, as the core rules make it clear that the basic farmer and solid base of all society is on 1rst level commoners. So, logically, 99% of the world are first level characters.
 * Skilled Men- CL 2-3, thus the local heros, heads of guilds and state, and official elite are going to be at this level of play. They make up less than 1% of society, but will contain within their ranks 90% of resources.
 * Heroic Men- CL 4-6, and these are the names that will be spoken throughout the worlds history. In our terms these are the Hitlers, Stalins, Einsteins, Lincolns, Churchhills, Atilas and Ceasars, among others. These people are once a decade occurances and change the world around them.
 * Godly Men- CL 7+, and are beyond the scope of mortal comprehension. These are mythic beings who really can fly through the air and kill cities with their eyes.
 * Potential sidebar- level cap.

Breaking the world down like this, there comes a list of things that need to occur in such a world for it to make sense:
 * Magic is not available just for the asking, thus no magic is available on the market. This is a very low magic world, where if you want a magic item of any kind, you must have the resources to have one specially comissioned by someone who is capable, of which it can be garunteed that effectively none exist, or you must find one as part of a grand quest.
 * Monsters above CR 4 are rare. Really rare, as in "there are only five dragons in the whole universe older than old" rare. Such monsters are ancient terrors to behold, and it may be hundreds of years in between sightings. Thus, knowleddge of these creatures are generally useless until one (and only one in your entire career) wanders into town.
 * Potential side bar- nearly unique monsters.


 * The planes beyond the material don't factor in. Period. Encounters with beings from other planes are like alien abductions- they happen rarely, and no one believes you when they do.
 * Random summons rules? Or maybe skilled summoning.


 * Your societies are going to end up closely related to real world societies, thus research is paramount to anything else. For these world to work, you need to read things other than fantasy, and preferably older than your grandmother.

Type II- the Mythic World of Fairy Tales
A lot of low level games end up like these worlds, where ancient curses and terrible monsters abound but they only prey on defenseless villages and can be defeated by children. Personages break down thus in CL:
 * Children- CL 1, as child characters are experienced enough to take on after their parents should something happen in these worlds. While not as competant as an adult of the same class, they can hold their own.
 * Need young age categories.


 * Every Men- CL 2-3, for by the time an adult is mature in a mythic world, he can produce things that similarly experienced people in our world would not be able to. However, these men, while still the majority, are still very much outclassed by nearly everything else in the world.
 * Skilled Men- CL 4-5, for the truly accomplished beings in a mythic world are on par with our worlds greatest. Masamune from our world would come to a mythic sword smith only to find that his counterpart is just as skilled and only as competant as a good 1% of other smiths.
 * Heroic Men- CL 6-8, these are the grand heros and paragons of society that are known by name in a mythic world. Kings, warlords, head wizards and high priests of historic import are of this power level, and come only once a generation.
 * Legendary Men- CL 9-12, are thought of as mere story figures if their exploits happened long ago, or as near gods if they live and breath today. These are the equivilant of Hercules and Achilles in our world, even though such men were closer to 6th level in real life (if they even existed, see Type I.)
 * Gods- CL 13+, while they do walk the earth in myths and fairy tales, are one of a kind. Only once in a millenia is there ever such a force dwelling the world.

To support such a fantasy, we find several problems with the core rules that kill many of the great tropes, creating articles such as this bundle of paranoia and the infamous Dungeonomicon (3.5e Sourcebook) to try and fix only the player end. Really, the entire game must be changed:
 * Magic must be more difficult and mysterious than it currently is. Magic items are available, but you might have to engage a pixie in a battle of pranks to get your healing potions or give up all your childhood memories to a demon before he can make you a magic sword. Spells are also too easy, and must be made challenging somehow. Requiring players to track components is not enough, either. I recommend for a true fairy tale world to attach magic item drawbacks and conditions to spells that are needed for either casting or can ruin the spell.
 * Fairy tale magic types and drawbacks needed.


 * Like with Type Is, Type IIs need high power monsters to be rare. While the power threshhold for rarity is higher (around CR 6 or so), powerful monsters still need to be rare enough that they are scary. Myths with such monsters typically leave the area around them decimated, thus the ecology must be very close to real ecologies.
 * In myths, magic can and does permeate the land and people is some places, thus there needs to be mechanics to represent this, from wild magic and mythals from Forgotten Realms to natural curses and haunts from Pathfinder. These cursed/blessed areas will affect the attitudes and behaviors of neighboring peoples and critters, thus you can never forget the societal/ecological consequences of syuch places.
 * Easier permancy? Definately need magic permeation and tainting rules.


 * Research classic myths and fairy tales. And not the new G rated stuff, either, but the OLD old school stuff. The adventures write themselves half the time, and the types of things that happen run the gamut from beastiality to extreme xenophobic warrior cultures of head hunters.

Type III- the Epic Worlds of Anime
While the previous two worlds can support absolute newb characters, in Type IIIs you need to be mid level in something just to be considered competant, as these really are high powered worlds where regular people can and do extraordinary things:
 * Children- CL 1-3, for in high power worlds like the ones in anime, even the young can and must hold their own in ways real people can't. In Type III's, you will not survive third grade unless you can do something as well as a real life adult, be it fighting or spell casting or blacksmithing.
 * Every Men- CL 4-7, as the realgular men and women of anime worlds are very skilled in what they do. Their average joes can survive multiple stabbings and leap distances that real olympic athletes would piss themselves for contemplating.
 * Skilled Men- CL 8-11, for in a world full of exceptional people you must be extraordinary to stand out. A master samurai that people flock to be tutored by must be capable of slicing boulders in half at minimum, if not able to do the same as leftover force after cleaving a horse and it's demonic rival in two.
 * Low Heros- CL 12-14, as the borderline between skilled and high heros. While capable of feats real people could not even dream of, they are still weak enough that they are interesting. These are the tragic heros and the martyrs of an anime world.
 * High Heros- CL 15-16, the epitome of human expectation in Type III worlds, the men and women are forces that move and shake the world around them. Unless a party of low heros or a single high hero opposes them, they can do as they wish.
 * Demigods- CL 17+, are beyond mortal scope and have effectively unlimited power.

A Type III world is well supported by D&D as is, provided the following are true:
 * Mid level characters are common. You can not throw a stick without hitting a 7th level commoner. Literally every adult is exceptional when compared to a real world adult.
 * Need quick midlevel character rules, as the NPC generator in the DMG sucks.


 * Powerful monsters are everywhere. Unless a mouse can dimension door away from the owlcat, it will not survive. Regular animals are cute pets, maybe, but otherwise must be at least as dangerous as a wolf to survive at the bottom of the food chain.
 * Unless you are running a coming of age story, players should start at Every Man level, between 4 and 7.
 * Research anime. Lots of it. For D&D games I recommend Bleach, Blood, Devil May Cry, and Naruto for adventure ideas and also how these high powered character interact with society and those around them.
 * After thought- adventurer level econamy, complete with new starting equipment rules, ramped up mundane prices, and matching changes to Craft and Profession.

Type IV- God Mode Activated
In Type IVs, there are no gods because everything worth mentioning is almost one:
 * Unplayable- CL 5-, because literally nothing on the human scale can survive.
 * Children- CL 6-10, because in a game of gods, even babies better have the ability to fart fireballs unless they want to be demon chow.
 * Every Men- CL 11-15, for in a game of gods you need super human ability to make a living. Period.
 * Skilled Men- CL 16-20, as god-like power has to be attained to stand above supermen.
 * Heros- CL 21+, as even gods themselves are little more than heros if skilled men can concievably kick them in the balls.

These worlds are high powered by necessity and do not work at all unless the following are true:
 * There are no regular animals. In these worlds bears and cockatrices are little better than livestock in power.
 * Wizard level play is not a balance point, but a requirement. If you can not participate in rocket tag, you are dead. Period.
 * Need Wish Resistance.


 * Life, death and economy have no meaning. If you die, you will be brought back over and over until you run out of constitution or you die of old age.
 * Everyone is immortal, for reasons above. Thus, the entire world will be deadlocked in whatever state it is in, because all the people in power never die. They just clone themselves or become liches or some other thing.
 * If gods exist, they must, MUST be absolutely untouchable for them to function. Otherwise the gods will change places every day as heros kill them and proclaim themselves god.
 * Planar gods- the planes ARE the gods.


 * Any econamy at all will have to based on Forced Artificial Demand and Supply (FADS), or else there will be no business, trade, or treasure worth anything.
 * Running FADS rules and other artificial social engineering rules needed.