Godbound: Mixing Godbound with 'Modern D&D'

This is a more comprehensive and polished version of a scrapped post that went through many revision. With some sloppy copy paste from the various scrapped version.

Combining Godbound with 'Core D&D'

As an OSR game (well, a rather unorthodox one mind you), Godbound obviously has its roots in Dungeons & Dragons. While the default Godbound setting (both the implied setting and described realm of Arcem) is very good and unique without resorting to the tired fantasy cliché, these same cliche have a very strong place in the collective imagination of those involved with Tabletop Games and to a lesser extent, fantasy novels and videogames. It just would not be the same without elves, dwarves, dragons and wizards. We tend to call this High Fantasy.

Now let's be clear: Godbound very much is 'high fantasy'. What I'm talking about here is the style and ideas generally associated with the often (rightfully?) maligned 'modern D&D', which is to say the style and tone which has grown away from the more grim and bizarre days of OD&D into the absurdities of the Forgotten Realms (beside Ed Greenwood's weird sex life, that is!) into the over satured weirdness of D&D 3e to 5e, including Pathfinder. What I've come to realize is that these ideas aren't inherently bad: they just more often than not create implied (or not so implied) worlds which are ill-suited for low-level adventuring if one even tries to think about them.

But for divine-level heroes? Now that's another story. The more I look into the bizarre worlds created by the editions of D&D I am most familiar with the more I realize they seem suited for high-level play with characters more akin to fantasy superheroes than adventurers out for loot and glory In many ways, modern D&D seem like it want to create highly fantastical settings filled with countless sapient races, magical beings and divine-level entities and then somehow (when it remember it's roots, anyway!) expect us to just roll mortal characters in a world filled with reality-altering beings. No wonder the caster supremacy problem is so prevalent and endemic!

One could see this post as me trying to put through 'rehabilitation' the D&D I've grown up with by making it understand that what it wants to be is, on many fundamental, not being Dungeons & Dragons. In many ways, one could look at it being similar-ish to Exalted but with the years upon years of D&D lore, which generally tend to evolve to an increasing mishmash of whatever element of previous editions and/or settings were popular or liked by the writers.

The assumptions are:

• There is a staggering variety of sentient humanoids, almost more like Star Trek or Star Wars' myriad aliens than a fantasy world centered around humans and maybe a few races. And that's just taking into account the creatures which can be player characters!
• Likewise, the paths to power (read: classes) are immensely varied. You have all manner of unique ways to wield magic, train yourself or use the power of something else and possibly make it your own.
• There are other planes of existence which are physical places you can go to provided you have the magical means to get there and not die. Oh, right, forgot to mention: planes have a nasty habit of being a bit too literal, so the Plane of Fire is nothing but heat, flame and lava and the Plane of Negative Energy is a black hole of death. Which sort of suck.
• Related to plane and creatures: you have massive, sometimes even infinite outer planes filled with immortal beings which range from otherworldly spirits with their own goal and purpose to the far more boring 'they're all creatures which embody alignment X'.
• There is a ton of Gods and they tend to be rather thematic, even down to a list of domains.

Meanwhile, the assumptions/implied setting for Godbound are:

• The world is damaged/broken by some divine cataclysm.
• The universe has any number of pocket realms and other realities for heroes to adventure into provided they have the tools and means to explore them.
• There are formerly-mortal divinities with thematically-themed powers. These are expected to be the player characters, forming a pantheon.

Looking at strongly shared elements, we get:

• The worlds are full of weird, wonderful and horrific monsters, many which can utterly end any ordinary mortal it come across if malevolent.
• The technological and societal levels are bizarre and inconsistent: in many aspect the settings are oddly in line with 20th and 21st century but it has swords and castles. It's appellation of 'medieval' is a massive misnomer.
• There are a ton of ruins and potent magical artifacts scattered all over.
• Both settings have many science fiction and science fantasy elements once one dig below the surface of faux-medievalist. In many ways, this is much more Zardoz than Excalibur!

Of course some people might feel a bit annoyed that I collectively refer to modern D&D as a singular 'setting' but I'm going off the implied settings from 3e to 5e, which are the editions of the game I've been familiar with throughout my life until recently. I'm all too aware exceptions exist!

Embracing The Cheese?

In many ways, quite a few people find the 'fantasy clichs' tiring. However, my highly biased opinion is simple as such: I've wrnt so far into hating these that I've come full circle in loving them all over again once a greater understanding of their roots, evolution and appeal come from. In other words, this?:

It may seem silly and indeed it is silly, but that does not make it any less valid. There kitchen sink has continued to appeal to people over the year for reasons and there is nothing inherently wrong with it provided one use it right and understand how to use it.