August 31 Update
With some comments on Wizards of the Coast
August 31 Update
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Once again, Wizards of the Coast, I am disappoint. Even though I’ve known to give things a benefit of the doubt unless they did something to wear out my patience, I knew we’d be in trouble when they made the 5th Edition Spelljammer Boxed Set three sixty-four books. I already guessed that the 2nd Edition version of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space with their two 100-page books would have more information (albeit in that terrible three-column format.) I can excuse them tweaking crystal spheres and doing away with the hard shell over wildsapces, but not devoting only a third of the Astral Adventurer’s Guide on how to Spelljam. A third of a 64-page book. Compared with the 2E Box Set you get so much more information on interplanetary travel, how to set up a solar system, how can you get deities to reach their clerics and paladins, and so on.
People are already working on a better version of the 5E Spelljammer and my own brain had pounced on fixing it myself. I felt I needed to incorporate parts of both versions of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space into Swifttail, especially with conforming spelljamming vehicles into Swifttail’s Stat Block format, and how combat works with vehicles. And then there’s the need to include Planetary Display Maps and a way to randomly generate a wildspace, and not to mention a lot more things. I won’t have everything down pat right now, but the Spelljammer Worldbuilding Document I’m working on will be a good start.
And oh yeah, I’ll probably have to do the same with Planescape when Wizards gets to it in 2023.
That’s not what Wizards of the Coast have done as of late, but it’s the only one that disappointed me. The other two I’m actually ‘cautiously optimistic’ over, in spite of what I’ve heard over the usual Youtube channels. But then again, I’m dealing with a Current Year dynamic that is, by now, as ingrained in so many people’s psyches as it is understandable. Please excuse me for talking about it here.
Since 2016 or maybe earlier if you count a cancer-ridden Jane Foster being able to lift Thor’s Hammer, people have been given the kind of changes that invoke the trope of ‘Get Woke Go Broke’ so many times that they expect it in any change, even if it doesn’t have any signs that they’re going to do away with decades of established lore and history or forcibly change beloved characters to make them ‘resemble more like the real world.’ Bonus points for shaming people who won’t watch it or claim that they’re doing the IP they were gifted with a grave injustice.
We’ve seen this song way too many times, and countless formerly beloved brands have become despised because of it. Remember a time when Star Wars was actually good, or Marvel Comics, or Saint’s Row?
I call it the ‘Rings of Power effect’ after the most blatant example of this. And it’s the reason why, whenever anyone ever does anything about any existing property or brand nowadays, there’s a near Pavlovian groaning chorus of “aw ****, here we go again.” Too many things were corrupted by ‘the current thing’ too many times by now, and by now people just expect it. ‘What beloved part of my childhood is going to be taken from me this week,’ people keep asking.
It’s a response I do my best not to make myself. As long as it doesn’t hit me over the head with Twitter politics, crap over decades-long established lore, or call me a bigot for even making light and honest criticisms over what they’ll doing, I’ll give something the proverbial honest shake. All they have to do, as far as roleplaying games in general, is understand this one ideal. It’s a line that I find myself typing so many times—and cross it out in over half of the instances—because it explains my viewpoint over many things here in Tales of Penumaria: The D&D World is Not Earth.
Worlds like Toril, Krynn, Eberron, Ravinca and the Rock of Bahl are supposed to be unique worlds of their own, with environments, peoples, and socio-political melodramas that are different from what we see in the Real World, and that is a good thing. The things that go on in the campaign world, especially in the socio-political areas, are supposed to, can, and in some cases will be, different than what they are in the world we live in. This campaign setting will be a world that had different experiences and will have different peoples, different cultures, and different issues that plague them than what we have here.
Therefore, it would be disingenuous at best, and outright violence at worst, to force a setting to ‘reflect the Real World and share Our Message.’ That’s what the people who made Rings of Power have done to Middle Earth, and they deserve all the mass spamming of ‘Evil cannot create anything new’ they got. Instead, Middle Earth should have been allowed to be a real Middle Earth. The campaign setting should be presented as a real world of its own, standing on its own merits, and if there are parts in there that are different than what someone on social media demands should be, so be it. In short, don’t be ‘woke.’ Be ‘based.’
A good example of what I’m talking about comes from a recent publication from Wizards many people panned because of the ‘Rings of Power’ effect: Journeys through the Radiant Citadel. This book is a collection of adventures set in various worlds based on many real-world cultures, all connected to a hub world where all of those civilizations come together and combine melting pot-style into a culture of its own. It would’ve been much better received if it weren’t for the ‘Rings of Power’ Effect, which Wizards inadvertently triggered when focusing on the ‘diversity’ of the creators as they’re promoting this work. By focusing on the identities of the authors, they brought on the groans.
However, if you take a look at the book, you’ll realize that they didn’t go the ‘Rings of Power’ route here. They didn’t take an existing setting and bend it to match those desired cultures. Instead, they took those cultures and created entirely new worlds with them. Each of these settings became vibrant, interesting, and curiosity-encouraging setting on its own. You could create whole campaigns in these settings and not even think of the original culture that inspired them. And then you include the hub setting, the titular Radiant Citadel, which is a much better melting pot than what America is right now.
Folks, this is how you should do it.
They didn’t just race-swap everyone in Toril. They didn’t gender-swap characters as they did in Van Rhichton’s guide to Ravenloft. They didn’t create a caricature of someone like me who prefers Old School play as a dour child-hating clown like in Wild beyond the Witchlight. They didn’t take what was existing away and trash it, they make their own worlds, lore, characters, and stories, and added to what was existing. They were not Evil. They created something New. They did not corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made. In fact, they made their own and added to what was invented or made. I will always find that commendable.
And then there’s the proverbial situation that might put half the internet into meltdown if this happens: There are twenty-seven civilizations that had a part in creating the Radiant Citadel. Thirteen of them have adventures in this book. There are two others mentioned at the end. That’s twelve civilizations yet to hear hide or hair over. Suppose what would happen if one of those civilizations is found by the Radiant Citadel…and that civilization was based on European culture. Like Norway, Denmark, France, Spain, even Germany, or, dare I say it, Russia?
Too many people on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit would have a freaking stroke. Especially when Speaker Sholeh would take one look at this so-called ‘white’ culture and…welcome them into the Citadel with open arms, claiming that they are ‘a lost a sibling to our family who has finally returned, and it’s a time to celebrate, and kill the fatted calf and have a feast!!’ The salt that would flow through every social media site would be legendary.
My only complaint to Wizards is in its promotion of Journeys through the Radiant Citadel. I would have avoided using any ‘woke’ terms as humanly possible, and then focus on the variety and vibrance of what’s inside. I would describe the work as “an anthology of adventures that take place among an assortment of settings inspired by many real-world civilizations and cultures, united by a hub world where all these cultures congregate and blend together.” I’m sure that the book would be much better received.
I would have done the same with their biggest development in D&D this year. If I were working for Wizards of the Coast and if they want me to make the announcement on One D&D over at Wizards Presents 2022, I would go something like: “Dungeons & Dragons have always been a game where everyone was welcome to play, it has been this way all the way back when Gary Gygax created the game in the 1970s. That’s because the most important people in the game were not the rules, the modules, the publishers, the writers, the artists, the editors, the store they bought it from, or any other outside influence, but the people playing the game on the table. The Dungeon Master, and the Players; those people are, and will always be, the most important part of the game. They can be anybody, they can play as anybody, and the adventures they would have would take them anywhere and anything can happen to them. While for decades it languished in obscurity as a strange game played only by small groups of nerdy geeky kids hanging around in basements, all that changed thanks to the Internet. All those games played over streams, along with the advent of Fifth Edition, made the public realize that everyone truly was playing the game, regardless of who they were, where they came from, or what kind of a person they are. And this exposure and influence have given Dungeons & Dragons the proper recognition it deserved. D&D has come a long way on this journey. Allow me to show you the next step.” And then I’ll introduce One D&D.
D&D 5th Edition is not perfect. But then again, nothing can ever be ‘perfect.’ I wouldn’t be making Swifttail D&D if it were. 5th Edition needed to be worked on and Wizards of the Coast knows it. There are missing parts that need to be filled, balance issues to address, errata to incorporate, rules to clarify, and all the other items that could make the game easier to play. While some of us would never be interested in any official virtual table (or for that matter D&D Beyond) even if they were paid money, we would be very interested in what improvements will go into the game proper.
So when I found out what some of those changes would be, especially with the first official One D&D Unearthed Arcana, my only thought was to start looking for how to get One D&D, which in my mind was D&D 5.5th Edition, to play nice with Swifttail D&D.
As I said earlier (forgive me for repeating myself,) I created Swifttail not to replace the official Fifth Edition from Wizards of the Coast, but to customize it to fit my play style and suit my aging eyes. I moved some words around and added a lot of text styles (the use of bold, italics, and underlines) to draw the eye to where they needed to be, such as that dice notation, DC number, or ability. I incorporated keywords from previous editions to reduce the length of the text (‘Make a Fortitude Save,’ instead of ‘you can make either an STR save or a CON save.’) and make sure there was ample reminder text. (They put reminder text in Magic: The Gathering cards, do they?) And I put it all in Microsoft One Note which will reduce page flipping to a bare minimum of clicks and even use the search feature to make getting to what needed to be gotten quickly. It’s the swift part in Swifttail.
But as I continue to develop Swifttail D&D, I find myself taking the game on a path different from where Wizards is going. This isn’t as much for socio-political reasons—I don’t believe that everything has to be political—but more like a ‘road less traveled’ mindset. While Wizards of the Coast wants to modernize Dungeons & Dragons and focus more on its inclusivity and welcoming of everyone to play—something I believe was always the case since its inception—I’d like to give this modern ruleset a more classic feel and incorporate Old School Renaissance styles of play to it.
Don’t get things twisted: I’m not making any judgments on the two ‘forks’ of D&D 5E. I’m not going to say who’s right or wrong here. I’m just acknowledging that we’re taking things on different paths. However, I believe that we are both headed in the same direction. Even though we’re coming from two different points of view and playing the game in different ways, we are playing the same game. Just because we’re seeing A differently doesn’t make A any less A.
Also, I don’t see One D&D straying that far from what we know as D&D 5E. Granted, there would be different options and methods to roll up a character, or there may be certain tweaks of stat blocks or how some mechanics are used. But the main engine of the game would be similar enough. The basic rules, how the game is played, how it can be interpreted on the table, the dice rolling, the checks and saves, and how exploration, traveling, and combat works. I don’t see that getting changed that much, if at all, when 5th Edition transfers into One D&D.
I’ve always seen Swifttail be completely (or as close to complete as humanly possible) compatible with Wizards’ D&D 5E. At this point—although I may be proven wrong in the future—I can assume that One D&D would be similar enough for me to have Swifttail work with both versions. I’d like to see a player use the Players Handbook from 2014 with a printed-out character sheet sit down with another player who is using the latest Unearthed Arcana on D&D Beyond, and be with a Dungeon Master that is using the Swifttail system with everything in Microsoft OneNote, and have everything work with only minimal hassle if at all.
I will keep you posted on how One D&D progresses and how Swifttail adapts to any changes as developments appear.
Progress Report
Sunken Citadel Worldbuilding Document is in the Planning Step. There are other items here, but I will mention them when they come up.
Swifttail Basic Rules Volume 1 and Spelljammer Worldbuilding Document are in the First Draft step. In fact, Spelljammer is nearly done with the First Draft and will soon be in the Proofreading Stage.
Amber of the Woods, Episode 3 is past the Proofreading Stage and is into the Second Draft.
There will be another progress report, and maybe some commentary and plans, with the next article.
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Tales of Penumaria is Copyrighted ©2022 David “David Foxfire” Gonterman, and is licensed under the ‘BY-NC-SA’ Creative Commons License. All Dungeons & Dragons related material is available under the Open Game License from Wizards of the Coast. Follow this link for credits and details on the licenses.