Final Week Fables: Forests & Fey

So I’m super late with this, mostly because I actually used my weekend resting. But I soldiered on and kept writing! …ish! …And got it done the week after!

So what’s February’s picture inspiring my story? The picture you probably saw as the first thing you noticed about this post?

None other than THIIIIIS!

Is this…a game within a game?

So…let’s get into it, then!

Fabletop: Failure Is An Option

The board is set.

The pieces are moving.

You go forth to determine the fate of the world.

…You trip and fall to your death in the chasm below.

Also, you pee your pants. That’s not related to anything you were doing, but why not lose even MORE dignity?

Final Week Fables: The McCroftman Trail

VERY late. As usual, a mix of rest and procrastination. But wherever you are in these trying times, I hope you’re doing well!

So, what’s the image inspiring May’s short story?

I knew we shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque.

AHA! Dwarves! SURELY these dwarves will be the focus of the short story?

…What do you mean not exactly?

Note: The following is a bunch of vignettes which are largely influenced and inspired by or connected to my own D&D character’s backstory and my head canon for it. It may seem disjointed or lacking any relatable context. But if you’d still like to read it, thank you kindly, and I hope I’ve arranged things in an entertaining way!

Fabletop: You’re Out Of Alignment

So apparently, Orcs are trending on the internet because some people think they’re racist.

Now, I COULD jump on the bandwagon of outrage in one camp or the other in a vainglorious attempt to get more clicks.

But y’know what? It’s not worth it. Instead, have this summary and my take on it because I think knowing SOME of it is educational:

1. The premise: Orcs are presented as inherently violent, brutal, simpleminded and even evil.
   The descriptions here were based on what early colonisers used to describe Africans and other people of colour.
   Therefore, people on the internet decided to get outraged and accused D&D of making the orcs a racist analogy of people of colour. Or, at the very least, accused them of still using racist language “when they should know better”.
2. Yes, old writing for Orcs INADVERTENTLY borrowed from a mostly-white and somewhat-xenophobic time. Gygax got it from Tolkien, Tolkien got it from colonisers.
   Using that language, however, doesn’t automatically make you racist unless you mean it in that way. Just like having a racist grandparent doesn’t automatically make you racist.
   But even if YOU don’t mean it that way, try and be sensitive to others who see it that way. If it IS hurtful to them, then what YOU mean is immaterial, like how if someone accidentally shoots you, it doesn’t matter that they didn’t MEAN to shoot you.
   To take the illustration further: You don’t pick up racist grandpa’s worldview of how “funny looking folk are bad”. However, you accidentally pick up some of the bad words he uses, and THOSE can definitely hurt people. A toddler might pick up the F-word without knowing what it means, but they still shouldn’t be saying it in polite company, after all.
3. Should it be changed to accommodate others? Yes, no, and maybe.
   “Yes” if you want your orcs to have actual depth and motives beyond being fodder to kill guilt-free. That’s not even being politically correct, that’s just writing.
   “No” if your gaming group is fine with them being guilt-free minions to fight (something even modern, critically acclaimed series make use of).
   And “maybe” depending on whether your players are comfortable with it or not.
4. My take? As the Bible says and I sum up: Do not cause others to stumble “just because of my freedoms”. (Romans 14: 13-23)

There. THAT’S done. Now to get to the actual content! I may not be talking about how inherently racist orcs are or are not, but I AM talking about something related: Alignment.

Nature? Nurture? Deeds or motives? What makes something Good, Evil, Lawful, Chaotic, or Neutral?

For that matter, does it actually affect characters in any way?

Fabletop: The Amazing Racials

Ah yes, different sentient species. A feature of fiction featuring feelings, fears, and fantastic fighting.

Where “race” is not just a matter of the same dull humans growing up differently with different cultures, but wildly different and exotic creatures grow into civilisation like the rest of us. Unlike the real world, we are not alone as an intelligent species. And myth and stories certainly have no shortage of these different beings.

Humans, elves, dwarves.

Halflings, gnomes.

Half-elves, half-orcs.

Aasimar, tieflings, genasi.

Githyanki, githzerai.

…What? I’m not making those up! Those are real fictional species in D&D!

Fabletop Classes: Cite Your Sorcerers

You FOOLS! Magic is a fundamental FORCE OF NATURE, the very language of the GODS! Mastering it takes rigorous study and focus! A lifetime of devotion and impeccable mental acuity-

…What do you mean you were BORN with magic?!

Fabletop: Marvel At DC

It’s Tabletop Gaming Week on this blog, my random readers on the internet!

And I figured that I’d talk about an element of RPGs which lends itself to a punny title: DC.

Well, I’m more of a Marvel guy, but I enjoy both enterprises. But enough about that irrelevant tangent! Let’s get back to the real juicy stuff: MATH AND DICE ROLLS.

Fabletop: The Death Tax

Doesn’t matter how tough or swift you made your character. Doesn’t matter what sort of broken, overpowered, totally legal character builds you’ve prepared.

Eventually, bad rolls are going to catch up to you. Eventually, you will bite off more than you can chew (alright, that one is more like “immediately” for most players). Or perhaps, and this is a BIG perhaps, you might be roleplaying character development and having your character give their life for a higher cause.

But mostly you die because of failed dice rolls and overwhelming force and/or numbers.

An Aasimar paladin-druid delivers a divine smite in beast form.

So, what happens when we die? Theologians and scientists will give you all sorts of answers and criteria for considering that question, but thankfully for gamers, games have had more solid rules. Let’s look at them, shall we?

Fabletop: Role Play In Games

WWYCD: What Would Your Character Do?

D&D and other tabletop RPGs can be boiled down to two things: The rules, and the writing. The crunch, and the fluff. The dice rolls, and the player roles.

Alright, that was multiple examples, but they all amount to the same pair! And today, I’ll be talking about the soul of the game: Roleplaying.

In other words, your old childhood games of playing pretend, only now with more MATH!

Fabletop Classes: It’s A Bard Knock Life

Come hither my friends and lo, hear my story,

Of the minstrel who went in search of his glory,

A jolly rapscallion who lived for such fun,

With rapier wit always on the run,

He’d ridicule others for their looks or their stench,

Then o’er at yon tavern he’d hit on a w…oman as a respected equal with her own goals and dreams.