We all know that the classes of D&D have numerous roots in various cultures, and more keep getting added in with every new source for the game. But some aren't quite true to form, while others are so historically accurate it's kind of creepy. Regardless, it is important that great care be taken in portraying both the historically authentic sources along with the spirit of those sources.
For example, Ninjas. The ninja is very popular in popular media these days, RPGs like D&D included. That said, every "ninja" build I see is based almost exclusively on techniques that do follow through on the spirit of how ninja worked to operate historically, so good on the makers of all that D&D ninja build stuff, but they completely forget that Shinobi (another word for ninja) were about more than that. Ninjas were intended to be versatile in many things, so why do none of the builds also include giving ninja extra skill proficiencies? Also, ninjas were also about being prepared as much as possible, and their weapon lists were far more varied than you might think. Just try and get info about the weapon displays at one of the many ninja museums and you'll see what I mean. Also, I recommend look up the "Six Essential Tools of the Ninja" and see about recreating them in the game for players and adding those to their inventory. I also recommend going and checking out the Which Ninja series on Youtube, it will give you a breakdown of how true to form some specific ninjas in popular culture really are.
The Barbarian Class actually does have a historical counterpart, the Berserker from Norse culture. They just didn't operate as seen in the game, but from what I have gathered they get pretty darn close. They also seem to draw some historical inspiration from Scottish history in how they are portrayed. In Scottish history, there was a tribe known as the Picts, who were known to historically run screaming onto the battlefield completely in the buff. The Barbarian gets their [Berseker Rage] ability from the actual historical warriors known as Berserkers, and possibly their weapon preferences.
My point in all of this is simple, knowing more about the Classes you play and how to use history to make them potentially better or more fun to play. Let's see how much more we can expand everyone's understanding
There's one very simple, and very good, reason to not make the classes historically accurate and that is game balance. If Wizards made every class perfectly historically accurate some would be overpowered compared to others. Adding extra proficiencies to Ninjas, as in your example, would unbalance them and make them more powerful than the other classes.
Game balance and fun is much more important than historical accuracy. For starters, magic.
My point in all of this is simple, knowing more about the Classes you play and how to use history to make them potentially better or more fun to play. Let's see how much more we can expand everyone's understanding
To be fair, you make a decent point, but the point of the game is to have a good time. I want to be told a great story where I participated with a strange collection of characters with flaws and bonds that make them great. Forcing history into a fantasy game is pointless, imho. You can draw inspiration from history to create a character but I personally think it would be a dull experience if you create a character that resembles from a person in history. Making a rogue who has social anxiety sounds more interesting than the William Wallace character defending his homeland.
I'm with you on that, I wasn't saying to base them of any specific characters in history, of which there are very few confirmed for Ninja themselves, but look at the equipment and weapons they used and how they were used. Popular media mostly gets ninja wrong in that regard. Shuriken were never a primary weapon for ninjas, they were used mainly as a distraction. And there's actually a list of 6 items every ninja should have, you can find that list with very little trouble these days, and ninja were also expected to have a wide variety of skills to use when needed, so expanding the list and number of skills they have potential access to isn't really going and making them incredibly OP, it's just making them more versatile with a bit more to their starting kit.
I get what you're saying, and I'm not advocating we do something like making every spell on the lists for Wizards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Clerics, Paladins, or Druids more powerful. I'm just saying to turn to history for a little inspiration. Besides, ninjas have a list of 6 things they should never be without, all of which are pretty mundane items and probably par for the course for a few different characters.
The six items are:
Amigasa: a wide-brimmed straw hat.
Kaginawa: Grappling Hook with rope
Sekihitsu: Slate Pencil
Kusuri: Field Medicine
Sanjaku Tenugui: Three-foot Cloth (basically a towel)
Uchitake: Striking Bamboo (tool for starting fire)
Not to mention there are numerous techniques not portrayed in popular media you can read about to act the basis for any abilities or techniques for when you make a ninja. I'm just saying that looking at what history, real history, has to say can lead to some more interesting characters. I'm not advocating basing characters on any specific historical figures, if a player wants to do that that's their prerogative, but at the very least you should check to see your character has access to the proper skills, abilities, and equipment for what they are supposed to be. Usually, the providers of the official stuff for the game do a reasonably good job when it comes to relation of the real-world version with a fantasy spin on it, but other times they just decide to go with what is easily recognizable in popular media and not really go much deeper than that.
As I said before, I'm not advocating for anything that could horrendously skew power balances, I'm just saying to be a bit more critical of the source material for the game and see what you can do to make it better or more interesting in cases where it has become lackluster.
I get what you're saying, and I'm not advocating we do something like making every spell on the lists for Wizards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Clerics, Paladins, or Druids more powerful. I'm just saying to turn to history for a little inspiration. Besides, ninjas have a list of 6 things they should never be without, all of which are pretty mundane items and probably par for the course for a few different characters.
The six items are:
Amigasa: a wide-brimmed straw hat.
Kaginawa: Grappling Hook with rope
Sekihitsu: Slate Pencil
Kusuri: Field Medicine
Sanjaku Tenugui: Three-foot Cloth (basically a towel)
Uchitake: Striking Bamboo (tool for starting fire)
Not to mention there are numerous techniques not portrayed in popular media you can read about to act the basis for any abilities or techniques for when you make a ninja. I'm just saying that looking at what history, real history, has to say can lead to some more interesting characters. I'm not advocating basing characters on any specific historical figures, if a player wants to do that that's their prerogative, but at the very least you should check to see your character has access to the proper skills, abilities, and equipment for what they are supposed to be. Usually, the providers of the official stuff for the game do a reasonably good job when it comes to relation of the real-world version with a fantasy spin on it, but other times they just decide to go with what is easily recognizable in popular media and not really go much deeper than that.
As I said before, I'm not advocating for anything that could horrendously skew power balances, I'm just saying to be a bit more critical of the source material for the game and see what you can do to make it better or more interesting in cases where it has become lackluster.
Not to go into Ninjas... but more so for... I guess "Barbarians".
Do you remember the show on (I think history channel), Deadliest Warrior? And they would do those simulations and what not. It got me to thinking about the Apache Indians. and how the "closest" thing to the Apache Indians is the "totem warrior Barbarian". But the Totem warrior barbarian is nothing like historically accurate native american tribes. D&D hasn't encompassed Native American warrior tribes as an inspiration for subclasses it seems. So while "Ninja" may be popular, and I get the Naruto effect, theres various other historical groups that are also not represented well. Genghis Khan's Mongol armies. Roman Centurions.
I think more so then the "unbalancing" issue, is that when you go that route, there's just too much clutter. and 5e was about helping to simplify.
And to an extent, I appreciate that simplification. But you have to remember; oversimplification can be just as detrimental as anything else. It's always important to strike a balance between what is wanted, the genuine history, the spirit of it all, and what could make it viable with everything else. To my knowledge, Roman Legionnaires have yet to show up as a Fighter build, centurions were the ones that had twenty plus years of campaigns under their belts and given a leadership position looking over lower-ranked legionnaires. That said, some might say it's a shame legionnaires/centurions haven't shown up as a fighter archetype yet, and I'm not going to fight them over that, you like what you like.
And I remember Deadliest Warrior, it was on TNN/Spike TV, but History channel does have a sort of successor to the series with Forged in Fire, the weapons' tests at the end of each episode feel very similar the pre-fight tests from Deadliest Warrior. And I kind of want to see that show return, I haven't seen any news about it for quite a while now.
Amusingly, Druids as a class are actually pretty close to the spirit of the Druids of history. The religious practice of the Celt peoples, especially noted in English, Scottish, and Irish histories, was known as Druidism, and the high priests of the faith were the Druids themselves. D&D kind of blended the three different ranks of priests in the Druidic faith together to create the D&D Druid but that's forgivable because of how it managed to evoke the essence and spirit of what the Druids were to the peoples they were part of during their times.
It's amazing what a little jaunt through history can reveal at times
True, but the grappling hook would have to be easy to stow and conceal, much like the cat claw design used with the Kaginawa or some sort of collapsible design
True, but the grappling hook would have to be easy to stow and conceal, much like the cat claw design used with the Kaginawa or some sort of collapsible design
Cat claws aren't what I would call a grappling hook, but I think the closest thing to that is Gloves of Swimming and Climbing.
And you can always add non-mechanical customizations to gear, so a collapsible grappling hook is not a problem.
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We all know that the classes of D&D have numerous roots in various cultures, and more keep getting added in with every new source for the game. But some aren't quite true to form, while others are so historically accurate it's kind of creepy. Regardless, it is important that great care be taken in portraying both the historically authentic sources along with the spirit of those sources.
For example, Ninjas. The ninja is very popular in popular media these days, RPGs like D&D included. That said, every "ninja" build I see is based almost exclusively on techniques that do follow through on the spirit of how ninja worked to operate historically, so good on the makers of all that D&D ninja build stuff, but they completely forget that Shinobi (another word for ninja) were about more than that. Ninjas were intended to be versatile in many things, so why do none of the builds also include giving ninja extra skill proficiencies? Also, ninjas were also about being prepared as much as possible, and their weapon lists were far more varied than you might think. Just try and get info about the weapon displays at one of the many ninja museums and you'll see what I mean. Also, I recommend look up the "Six Essential Tools of the Ninja" and see about recreating them in the game for players and adding those to their inventory. I also recommend going and checking out the Which Ninja series on Youtube, it will give you a breakdown of how true to form some specific ninjas in popular culture really are.
The Barbarian Class actually does have a historical counterpart, the Berserker from Norse culture. They just didn't operate as seen in the game, but from what I have gathered they get pretty darn close. They also seem to draw some historical inspiration from Scottish history in how they are portrayed. In Scottish history, there was a tribe known as the Picts, who were known to historically run screaming onto the battlefield completely in the buff. The Barbarian gets their [Berseker Rage] ability from the actual historical warriors known as Berserkers, and possibly their weapon preferences.
My point in all of this is simple, knowing more about the Classes you play and how to use history to make them potentially better or more fun to play. Let's see how much more we can expand everyone's understanding
There's one very simple, and very good, reason to not make the classes historically accurate and that is game balance. If Wizards made every class perfectly historically accurate some would be overpowered compared to others. Adding extra proficiencies to Ninjas, as in your example, would unbalance them and make them more powerful than the other classes.
Game balance and fun is much more important than historical accuracy. For starters, magic.
Professional computer geek
To be fair, you make a decent point, but the point of the game is to have a good time. I want to be told a great story where I participated with a strange collection of characters with flaws and bonds that make them great. Forcing history into a fantasy game is pointless, imho. You can draw inspiration from history to create a character but I personally think it would be a dull experience if you create a character that resembles from a person in history. Making a rogue who has social anxiety sounds more interesting than the William Wallace character defending his homeland.
I'm with you on that, I wasn't saying to base them of any specific characters in history, of which there are very few confirmed for Ninja themselves, but look at the equipment and weapons they used and how they were used. Popular media mostly gets ninja wrong in that regard. Shuriken were never a primary weapon for ninjas, they were used mainly as a distraction. And there's actually a list of 6 items every ninja should have, you can find that list with very little trouble these days, and ninja were also expected to have a wide variety of skills to use when needed, so expanding the list and number of skills they have potential access to isn't really going and making them incredibly OP, it's just making them more versatile with a bit more to their starting kit.
I get what you're saying, and I'm not advocating we do something like making every spell on the lists for Wizards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Clerics, Paladins, or Druids more powerful. I'm just saying to turn to history for a little inspiration. Besides, ninjas have a list of 6 things they should never be without, all of which are pretty mundane items and probably par for the course for a few different characters.
The six items are:
Not to mention there are numerous techniques not portrayed in popular media you can read about to act the basis for any abilities or techniques for when you make a ninja. I'm just saying that looking at what history, real history, has to say can lead to some more interesting characters. I'm not advocating basing characters on any specific historical figures, if a player wants to do that that's their prerogative, but at the very least you should check to see your character has access to the proper skills, abilities, and equipment for what they are supposed to be. Usually, the providers of the official stuff for the game do a reasonably good job when it comes to relation of the real-world version with a fantasy spin on it, but other times they just decide to go with what is easily recognizable in popular media and not really go much deeper than that.
As I said before, I'm not advocating for anything that could horrendously skew power balances, I'm just saying to be a bit more critical of the source material for the game and see what you can do to make it better or more interesting in cases where it has become lackluster.
Not to go into Ninjas... but more so for... I guess "Barbarians".
Do you remember the show on (I think history channel), Deadliest Warrior? And they would do those simulations and what not. It got me to thinking about the Apache Indians. and how the "closest" thing to the Apache Indians is the "totem warrior Barbarian". But the Totem warrior barbarian is nothing like historically accurate native american tribes. D&D hasn't encompassed Native American warrior tribes as an inspiration for subclasses it seems.
So while "Ninja" may be popular, and I get the Naruto effect, theres various other historical groups that are also not represented well. Genghis Khan's Mongol armies. Roman Centurions.
I think more so then the "unbalancing" issue, is that when you go that route, there's just too much clutter. and 5e was about helping to simplify.
Blank
1. Basic clothing isn't broken down into individual pieces, so there is no reason your clothes, traveler's cant have a straw hat.
2. Grappling hook and Rope, Hempen (50 feet)
3. Whatever the pencil was used for, I'm sure that is an item for.
4. A plain healer's kit.
5. Not a specific item for towel either, though I'm sure it could be made part of clothing or a kit.
6. Tinderbox
Pretty much everything and more except the grappling hook and healer's kit already is (or can be) part of the starting equipment.
And to an extent, I appreciate that simplification. But you have to remember; oversimplification can be just as detrimental as anything else. It's always important to strike a balance between what is wanted, the genuine history, the spirit of it all, and what could make it viable with everything else. To my knowledge, Roman Legionnaires have yet to show up as a Fighter build, centurions were the ones that had twenty plus years of campaigns under their belts and given a leadership position looking over lower-ranked legionnaires. That said, some might say it's a shame legionnaires/centurions haven't shown up as a fighter archetype yet, and I'm not going to fight them over that, you like what you like.
And I remember Deadliest Warrior, it was on TNN/Spike TV, but History channel does have a sort of successor to the series with Forged in Fire, the weapons' tests at the end of each episode feel very similar the pre-fight tests from Deadliest Warrior. And I kind of want to see that show return, I haven't seen any news about it for quite a while now.
Amusingly, Druids as a class are actually pretty close to the spirit of the Druids of history. The religious practice of the Celt peoples, especially noted in English, Scottish, and Irish histories, was known as Druidism, and the high priests of the faith were the Druids themselves. D&D kind of blended the three different ranks of priests in the Druidic faith together to create the D&D Druid but that's forgivable because of how it managed to evoke the essence and spirit of what the Druids were to the peoples they were part of during their times.
It's amazing what a little jaunt through history can reveal at times
True, but the grappling hook would have to be easy to stow and conceal, much like the cat claw design used with the Kaginawa or some sort of collapsible design
Cat claws aren't what I would call a grappling hook, but I think the closest thing to that is Gloves of Swimming and Climbing.
And you can always add non-mechanical customizations to gear, so a collapsible grappling hook is not a problem.