- Joined
- Jan 29, 2021
Yeah, might be my bad (or RPG aficionados, anyway). Look, we all loved aSoIaF and LOTR, it was fun to read even if the text went off on weird tangents. Problem is, when the normies started playing D&D thanks to Critical Role the show and movies was their frame of reference (which left a lot of stuff out and simplified the plot). Anything that wasn't in a published module was some blatant LOTR/aSoIaF rip off because normies had no other frame of reference. Furthermore, most normie GMs didn't get how to actually RP their NPCs in an engaging manner, so there was a lot of metagaming with PCs. Normie PCs mostly didn't know how to build an actual backstory, so a lot of it was ripped off from something else. It didn't help we were already having problems with a Munchkin invasion because as the rules simplified they got a lot easier to game. Then the troons showed up so they could pretend their fantasy was reality. This all came together into an unholy clusterfuck that spilled into fantasy writing, as every GM with a half-cocked story thought they could turn their bluebooks into shekels. And some fucking managed it, which just encouraged more and more normie GMs to put their self-insert Mary Sues safely away from their gaming table.At this point I'll settle for anything that isn't
1) naive sheltered farm boy gets caught up in big villainous plot when he's saved from raiders by mysterious stranger.
--or--
2) tough street-urchin girl learns she has Super Special Kewl Powers and gets involved in political intrigue fuckery.
Seriously, it's like this shit is churned out by trained chimps. And the worst part is, my friends keep gifting me this shit because 10 years ago I was into GoT and Lord of the Rings. And I just don't have the heart to tell them it's all shit.
On the subject of witches/pagans, honestly before the rampant troonery they were usually pretty cool to RP with. A good RPer could make a CoDzilla somewhat engaging, and they were normally great at it.