Re: [Wargamer] DnD fans debate whether sushi is unrealistic in a make-believe game

On 9/6/2024 6:31 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 6 Sep 2024 09:34:29 -0400, Ed P <esp@snet.n> wrote:
 

On 9/6/2024 3:40 AM, Kyonshi wrote:

Source: https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/taco-sushi-debate
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DnD fans debate whether sushi is unrealistic in a make-believe game
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New art from the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook has sparked
debates about racism and what real-world foods fit in a fantasy game.
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Mollie Russell
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Published: 2024-09-05
Dungeons and Dragons
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Bewilderingly, sushi and tacos have become the focus of a heated
Dungeons and Dragons discussion online, as art from the new D&D Player’s
Handbook happens to feature both of these foods. After a fan Tweet from
September 1 decried this artistic choice as “nonsense”, several members
of the D&D community rushed to defend sushi and tacos’ status as fantasy
game food.
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That original tweet came from X user osgamer74, who shared new art for
the Heroes’ Feast spell from the 2024 Player’s Handbook. “Tacos? Sushi?
What the fuck is this nonsense?”, they comment.
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That original post has gained a lot of traction (so much that its
creator has now muted the post), so osgamer74 has expanded on their
original thought. Apparently, their, er, ‘beef’ with the artwork is that
sushi and tacos are too “contemporary” for D&D’s mostly faux-medieval
settings. They equate them to McDonald’s meals, as osgamer74 can buy
both in their local mall.
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Better just to eat pizza while playing the game

 Oh, for the days when a gaming session revolved around pizza, crisps,
and soda!

I mean, pizza is of course the best kind of dish for a lot of events, and game nights are just one of them.
Beer was actually the drink of choice for a long time, as I found that about one or two beers during a game helped with lubricating the game. By now I should not drink anything anymore (meds...) and so that has fallen to the wayside.

      [And after a particularly good session, maybe a run to
      the donut shop to celebrate!]
 Nowadays,* none of our group can afford such dangerous diets. Oh sure,
we might splurge on some junk food (because D&D without crisps isn't
the same; you need to have SOMETHING at hand to throw at the DM when
he makes a ruling you don't like! ;-)
 But as often we're likely just do without the unhealthy stuff,
replacing it with stuff that doesn't destroy our aging bodies so
quickly. We just can't afford to do it anymore. Why, the other day*
somebody brought KALE to munch on! The horror!

Well, but kale is perfect to throw at a DM doing bad rolls...

 ....
 As for the sushi/topic debate... it's just silly. Yes, it's
unrealistic that a completely different culture in a completely
different world would create a snack that looks exactly like modern
day food (especially tacos, which are heavily dependent on modern food
processing). But, at the same time, the ideas of these food aren't so
alien: pound wheat and water to make a tortilla, wrap it around some
meat and veggies and you get something similar to a taco. Eating fish
and veggies raw isn't that unusual either.
 Plus, we're happy to overlook so many other anachronisms in the game
that drawing the line at taco and sushi is ridiculous. In a world
where elves are using rifles to shoot at plate-armored dwarves (who
happily munch on sandwiches in their downtime), _that_ is the hill you
want to die on in the battle about realism?

I think the main issue is that people don't really see it as anachronisms, because that's just how they think a medieval world would be. I had this discussion earlier where someone linked to an article (https://www.blogofholding.com/?p=7182) that was arguing that DnD is basically anti-medieval. In fact, what I found to be a nice quote: "There’s more explicit textual support in OD&D for Mars than there is for fantasy medieval Europe."

 Although maybe it's all just lingering resentment over 2nd edition
D&D's much-maligned attack-roll system that is the cause of it all.
Taco is only one letter away from THACO, after all. ;-)
 

I occasionally understand THAC0, but even when I was playing with it it felt like an enormous kludge. Either the old table-lookup method or the simple Attack-roll system from 3rd edition always made more sense (and were mathematically equivalent.
DnD has had this habit of keeping utterly baffling artifacts from the early times of the hobby for way too long, long after everyone else already switched to something way easier.
The same actually with descending AC. I know the arguments for it, I just don't know why anyone would be making them in good faith.