Rostere

I find this idea appealing...

The problem with fantasy games is not that they don't depict the rural populace (the large majority during the corresponding historical ages), but that they depict society as a whole wrong. Oh, here's Pete Peasant casually strolling by the nobles on Main Street. Nobles would have carriages, or in some cases horses, and probably also a retinue of bodyguards and courtiers to accompany them. I could think up an interesting synopsis for a fantasy game where you only ever interact with noblemen. I don't think that's the case with PE though, and I would like the devs to understand that the social differences between classes in society was much larger than they are today.

It seems to me that at least in your first part (it's hard to tell with your horrible English) you seem to argue that if the moon and Venus had the same size/(distance from Earth) ratio, then Venus would be larger than the Sun when seen from Earth if placed on it's original orbit. Well, Venus and the Moon do not have that same ratio so you've said nothing about the real world...

What. I can't see how any of your calculations prove anything. How does any of all this you've written about Venus contradict modern science? Can't tell if schizophrenic or just regular cultist...

I still want a cow companion. Or the potted plant on wheels. Failing that, a tapir.

So realism versus, what's the word, it starts with an F. Oh yea. Fantasy. no realistic fantasy vs. unrealistic fantasy. < seriously. Realistic fantasy is a bit of an oxymoron though isn't it. For all the "realism" that song of ice and fire had, walking into funeral pyres still seemed a bit unrealistic (but maybe I've been hanging out with the wrong crowd). I guess all the raping and politics made up for that, right? You haven't understood the slightest what he's trying to say. By "realistic" they mean that if the book describes how she's invulnerable to fire (a fantasy element), then the potential consequences of that are thought out and consistent with the rest of the fictional universe.

I agree with this.

Jorge Luis Borges. (Close second: Umberto Eco)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/world/middleeast/israel-moves-to-expand-settlements-in-east-jerusalem.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 I just don't understand the timing of this. Palestinians: "Please help us UN, the Israelis are stealing our land" Netanyahu: "OK, then let's take some more land". Wouldn't Netanyahu be justifying the Palestinians' move then?

I'm interested in how the ancient peoples identified their gods with celestial bodies. I would like a twist on that - maybe the god Nhngnhnfthull is actually a physical body orbiting the world of PE, or at least an object in the sky. Maybe it's a distant, bright star pulsing with energy, a huge moon/ asteroid that one day will threaten to crash into the world of PE (that would make for a nice apocalypse absolutely not ripped off Majora's Mask) or just a huge, strange fleshy creature floating among the clouds with the help of sacs of gas. I like the idea of gods who are represented somehow by physical objects. Another idea would be the god Atavian, a god of prosperity and long life, who was shattered into a thousand pieces by some spiteful, warlike deity. The shattered remains of the god were then used as a currency in the PE world.

I believe that's a witch hunter... A "witch hunter" in WH40K is a member of the Ordo Hereticus, which is one of the three main branches of the Inquisition. Here's the piece in question on their site - "Inquisitor with Inferno Pistol & Power Sword".

A lot of people presuppose that magic is a gift. I'd rather see it as a mix of a gift and an art - you require intelligence to learn magic, but you can be extremely intelligent without knowing a single bit of magic because you've never been taught. If magic was hard to learn, then only wealthy people who could afford the schools could learn magic without risk to themselves or their environment. If magic is entirely a gift, it would probably serve as an equalizer between the classes and we would see a much more progressive society than the medieval ones we're used to. Magic should be possible to learn by yourself, (without even a tome to teach you...) but since so few people can read and only hermits and other crazy people have the time on their hands "wild mages" who've learned magic by themselves or from just a book should be very uncommon. If it is known that using magic drains life from the environment like in Dark Sun (or at least twists it somehow so that it's not inhabitable or safe) we have solved the economic problem. Maybe it's possible to create gold, but that would take a lot of human sacrifice - that would make for some interesting plot lines. Additionally, magic which causes harm directly (like fireballs, for example) should be exempt from this since it is destructive in itself, that would be really convenient for game purposes. For example, if I managed to magically turn lead to gold, maybe next day people who slept outside will lose their hair, pets and household animals who've drank rainwater will become ill, similar to the effects of radioactive fallout. Or maybe the magical energy comes from some other "dimension" and I've just destroyed the property of some Lovecraftian horror who will come after me to reverse the spell for revenge or to have its magical energy back. Just let there be some sort of "catch" to magic so that we can explain why magic does not rule everything in PE.

The obvious question here is why they don't empower, say, a gun or a halberd. We need an explanation why monks are restricted to empowering their own bodies.

I believe that's a warrior-priest... This would be more like it: (also my favourite WH40K piece)

I think I've read somewhere that humans and elves can't mate in PE. (All for the better if you ask me)

Priest.

well papal knighthoods were bascially warriro monks, but were using armor and weapons like other knights... it just might be other way Agreed. Now here's my ideal Monk.

I liked how Arcanum defined the different races by relating them to the magic - tech scale. The section on races in the manual is one of the best pieces of lore written for any game setting, in my opinion. I hope PE will give all races unique relations to the "soul" concept in a similar way, something beyond "it's a Dwarven soul, it's metallic and smells of ale".

That is a very plausible explanation in this case. But different monsters require different explanations. As long as you know what you're doing and think about it, that's fine with me.

You haven't understood the problem at all. Realism is the wrong word. To make things clear: blocks which eject mushrooms which in turn make you grow larger are consistent with the surrealistic Mario universe. Implementing the same mechanic in the next Modern Warfare game however would probably cause an outrage, because it is not consistent with what we know about the Modern Warfare universe. So, if you go deep underground to a crypt which has been sealed for thousands of years and encounter a pack of hobgoblins, because that's what the DM rolled on some table, immersion would be pretty broken. Where did they live and where did they get their food and water? Their sudden appearance there is not consistent with what we know about the stone crypt, or the hobgoblins. It's all about immersion and internal consistency. If the world feels like it's been designed by a six-year old it's going to feel entirely different. If you want an Axe Cop- like cartoonish game where the premises are so stupid and absurd it's fun, maybe you should mail the devs about that, because I don't think that is their intent with the game. I don't know about you, but for most others it does not take significant "resources" to just THINK A LITTLE when you create a dungeon.

I have to third this assertion. If the dungeon is supppoed to have 15 levels, then how is fresh air, water, and food being brought in to see to the needs of the inhabitants and how is all of the waste being handled? If it's populated by undead or clockwork creatures, then that eliminates a lot of the questions of biological viability, but it still leaves unsolved the question of why all of those entities are sticking around after all of these many decades or centures of abandonment. Something has to account for their presence. Who on Earth gives half a flying ****? FAIL. There's a difference between making sense and introducing superfluous gaming mechanics. Also, a lot of people care, me included.

I think it was a brilliant approach to the problem, well explained in the game and the awesome manual (kudos to the author!) I think the same, especially after thinking about magic in PE now. Arcanum had a really convenient solution to this entire problem.

It's not strictly a dungeon per se, but I thought Constantine's mansion in the "The Sword" mission from Thief was fantastic. EDIT: And also, Vendigroth from Arcanum.

It would be cool with a "dungeon" where you are teleported to an alien celestial body. Maybe the residence of a long- dead scientist/wizard of an ancient civilization on a moon or asteroid or something like that. Another idea is a dungeon which is actually the inside the intestines of some huge, strange deep-water fish, or a derelict ship belonging to some unknown civilization.

Believable?