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Kelcimer
Learned Scribe
USA
136 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Sep 2022 : 06:54:31
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When working with Forgotten Realms, I frequently find geographical oddities that should have logical consequences but doesn't. It is one thing to comment about individual cases, but it is another thing to back it up with an excellent resource.
I recently read a book that puts in one place a bunch of information that I had learned separately about geography and how it shapes people, plus a whole lot more I did not know. The book is "Conquests and Cultures" by Thomas Sowell published in 1999.
This book is excellent if you are interested dynamics of cultural diffusion through trade and conquest. It also repeatedly touches on how important waterways are. There is also the differences between what you might call the "hill people" of the interior and the coastal areas, and the tensions that may exist between them.
Is this necessary to run a game? No, of course not.
But does it provide a solid basis for how a the history of a world works in producing the present and what we can expect out of present trends? Oh yes, it does!
And are those applicable to defining regions of a campaign setting? I very much think so, if you are in to that.
I apply lessons that are summed up very well in "Conquests and Cultures" to the background info for both my game in the Moonsea area and another game in the Dalelands. That information subtly informs my games at the table.
If you should give it a whirl, then I hope you find it as interesting as I did.
https://www.amazon.com/Conquests-Cultures-International-Thomas-Sowell/dp/0465014003
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Azar
Master of Realmslore
1308 Posts |
Posted - 06 Sep 2022 : 09:25:41
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Ugh.
That guy...
Half of what he says makes my skin crawl; the other half makes my eyes roll so hard they very nearly go flying out of their sockets. I don't think I've ever seen someone so consistently play defense for institutional racism by throwing up nonstop deflections. |
Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.
Earth names in the Realms are more common than you may think. |
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TomCosta
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
969 Posts |
Posted - 06 Sep 2022 : 17:56:48
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| FWIW, when I wrote up all the FR languages back in the late 2E era for Dragon, I tried to factor in geography and migration patterns (to the extent we knew them at the time) into the way I looked at the languages. While the different editions have since gone a bit back and forth on the number of FR languages, some of my implicit assumptions are still there. |
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Kelcimer
Learned Scribe
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2022 : 06:20:50
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Hello TomCosta!
quote:
Originally posted by TomCosta
FWIW, when I wrote up all the FR languages back in the late 2E era for Dragon, I tried to factor in geography and migration patterns (to the extent we knew them at the time) into the way I looked at the languages. While the different editions have since gone a bit back and forth on the number of FR languages, some of my implicit assumptions are still there.
I appreciate the effort! |
Edited by - Kelcimer on 07 Sep 2022 06:56:59 |
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Kelcimer
Learned Scribe
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2022 : 06:54:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Azar
Ugh.
That guy...
Half of what he says makes my skin crawl; the other half makes my eyes roll so hard they very nearly go flying out of their sockets. I don't think I've ever seen someone so consistently play defense for institutional racism by throwing up nonstop deflections.
Hello Azar,
You sound like someone that has never actually contended with the substance of any position advocated by the man.
Instead of making straw-man arguments to fight against, why not learn what his actual arguments are and try to find a way to put a lever underneath them?
If you can't, then maybe it is you that is consistently playing defense for institutional racism by throwing up nonstop deflections.
I am presently reading Thomas Sowell's "Race and Culture". I am no slouch when it comes to history and sociology, but I'm learning a lot.
You should give it a whirl. :)
Cheers!
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Azar
Master of Realmslore
1308 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2022 : 07:29:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Kelcimer
maybe it is you that is consistently playing defense for institutional racism by throwing up nonstop deflections.
That doesn't make any sense. |
Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.
Earth names in the Realms are more common than you may think. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36793 Posts |
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Azar
Master of Realmslore
1308 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2022 : 20:36:32
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| Apologies. I was aware of other works by this guy and so I felt the need to point out that he espouses unsavory views on the subtle side (to ensure that others don't unwittingly patronize someone disagreeable); that said, as I have nothing else substantial to contribute towards this thread, I'll bow out for the time being. |
Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.
Earth names in the Realms are more common than you may think. |
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Kelcimer
Learned Scribe
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - 08 Sep 2022 : 00:52:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Azar
quote:
Originally posted by Kelcimer
maybe it is you that is consistently playing defense for institutional racism by throwing up nonstop deflections.
That doesn't make any sense.
Sure it does. The idea of institutional racism is that it is a single variable that accounts for the plight of certain minorities. The reality is that there are multiple variables at play and that race is not one of the variables necessary for any given minority to become economically prosperous. Instead of accepting that there are multiple variables at play, you deflect and argue that it is "institutional racism". You are the one defending institutional racism as both a concept and as cover so that people of certain minorities feel like victims instead of improving themselves. In doing so, you do harm to the those certain minorities that you nominally want to help. You, then, are very the institutional racism you want to defeat.
quote:
Originally posted by Azar
I was aware of other works by this guy and so I felt the need to point out that he espouses unsavory views on the subtle side (to ensure that others don't unwittingly patronize someone disagreeable); that said, as I have nothing else substantial to contribute towards this thread, I'll bow out for the time being.
What you were doing is transparent. You could have stayed on the topic of geography, but you wanted to put your politics and bias into play. You want to attack the source instead of contending with what the source actually says. You are so afraid that people may read the guy that you want to preemptively discourage people from doing so and otherwise to also discourage people from contributing to a thread on Geography and culture. You were not subtle at all.
Hello Wooly Rupert!
I would prefer to talk about geography and culture. I have no intention to talk politics, unless others field theirs. Azar got his last word in on politics and I got my last word in on the same. So I'm good.
Got any interesting thoughts on geography?
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36793 Posts |
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Conquests and Cultures
