Quote from: Omega;824546Alot of the assumptions only work if you focus on one of the settings. Problem is, even the DMG bounces around settings a little. Its mostly Forgotten Realms focused. But you have bits of other settings in there too. The MM though is all over the place.

1: Pretty much. Aside from Known World and maybe Greyhawk, most of the settings have relatively active hands on gods to one degree or another.

2: Not so much untamed as it is large. There is often a fair amount of space between settlements. FR at least in its current incarnation comes across as much more populated.

3: FR at least is. But past that its all over the place. Excluding setting specific fluff the DMG is relatively blank on that. Could be old, could be new. But most fantasy settings tend to lean to old. The MM implies truely ancient beings and civilizations.

4: Sounds right. Or more aptly, the rise, fall, and sometimes rise again of civilizations be it through conflict, intrigue, hurbis, or supernatural. But theres near allways "something" going on that is in dire need of being stopped ASAP.

5: Very magical.

Agreed that most published settings dabble all over these core assumptions as given in the DMG. Of course you could develop your own setting that stuck precisely along these lines, and in fact I intend to do just that with some minor tweaks of course. You know I'm glad that you mentioned the MM because it's not something I have ever really considered as a source of setting assumptions and that strikes me as an oversight now.

Quote from: Arkansan;824554You know I'm glad that you mentioned the MM because it's not something I have ever really considered as a source of setting assumptions and that strikes me as an oversight now.

Well the setting assumption I got from the MM was, demon-spawns @#$%&ing everywhere.
Quite a few classic monster have, in the fluff text, been retooled as the results of demons. Minotaurs are now cultists turned into Minotaurs by a pact. Chimera, Jackalweres, Gnolls, and so on. Maybe that is fluff from one of the settings. If is then they did not indicate it. And some of it contradicts existing depictions in the various settings. Other bits just feel really off center. Which is why I just totally ignore the fluff text.

The Aboleth fluff also sets up that there were races existing before the gods.

Huh, didn't even notice any of it. I have never really payed much attention to monster fluff text in MM's, suppose it's worth idea mining though. I kinda like the demon spawn everywhere idea, I like the idea of monsters as being truly "evil", sort of a spawn of Cain kind of idea.

Quote from: Arkansan;824574Huh, didn't even notice any of it. I have never really payed much attention to monster fluff text in MM's, suppose it's worth idea mining though. I kinda like the demon spawn everywhere idea, I like the idea of monsters as being truly "evil", sort of a spawn of Cain kind of idea.

Yeah, its fairly wide spread and to me its annoying as, ahem, hell.

I wouldnt mind if it were new creatures to showcase this idea. But its retconning established creatures for no apparent reason other than to have demon references all over the place.

Minotaurs, Lamia and Chimera. Human cultists turned into monsters by demons. Medusas may as well. Nightmares are now pegasus turned into monsters by demons. Gnolls, Jackalweres. blah-blah-blah. Etc.

So for me and the current three groups I am in that got tossed in the garbage bin right off. No one wanted it. We did though work out some new creatures based off that idea.  A goat them for the minotaur-style cultist-turned-monster. A two-headed chimerical beast better fitting the Demogorgon fluff. Two babboon heads on a displacer beast style body. etc.

Quote from: Omega;824960Yeah, its fairly wide spread and to me its annoying as, ahem, hell.

I wouldnt mind if it were new creatures to showcase this idea. But its retconning established creatures for no apparent reason other than to have demon references all over the place.

Minotaurs, Lamia and Chimera. Human cultists turned into monsters by demons. Medusas may as well. Nightmares are now pegasus turned into monsters by demons. Gnolls, Jackalweres. blah-blah-blah. Etc.

So for me and the current three groups I am in that got tossed in the garbage bin right off. No one wanted it. We did though work out some new creatures based off that idea.  A goat them for the minotaur-style cultist-turned-monster. A two-headed chimerical beast better fitting the Demogorgon fluff. Two babboon heads on a displacer beast style body. etc.

I can see why it would be annoying if you are working from longstanding tradition on the lore. I never payed attention to established monster lore though so it doesn't bother me all that much.