Wednesday 12 January 2022

Yes, you can be a barista in D&D. Get over it

 Yesterday I wrote about the so-called "barista" adventure for D&D set in Strixhaven in which I explained how I would improve on it because currently the engagement factor is pretty low. 

A certain segment of old-school fans on Twitter have taken great umbrage with this adventure because it's what they see as an erosion of what D&D used to be. It's a little pathetic, really. You can criticise the adventure fairly for how it engages players, but to say that it's the sign of some sort of apocalypse in gaming is silly. 

Now, I love ye olde D&D games. I really like OSR stuff, whether it's based on the original game, an offshoot or a totally different game (i.e. BOSR). But to decry 5e (a game I don't particularly care for) and its players as the harbinger of all things "woke" is whiny at best. 

1. You can do what you want in your gaming world. If you want to just run a gritty dungeon-fucker, then do it. 

2. Old D&D and OSR are right there. They're catered for you. Go have fun with that. 5e clearly isn't for you. 

3. This particular setting is based on a Magic: the Gathering set. M:TG is famously science fantasy. Strixhaven is not Dark Sun. 

4. In the scheme of things, what does it matter?

There's room for all kinds of flavours, playstyles and traditions even under the same banner. There are thousands of games out there - hell, create your own! The world isn't ending because there was an adventure in the 40 years of D&D where you have to wipe a table. 

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