WOG summary

The World of Greyhawk contains examples of the following tropes:

• Artifact Of Good / Artifact of Doom: There are several of these, such as the Crook of Rao (good) and the Scorpion Crown (evil).
• Author Avatar: Mordenkainen (Who you may recognize for being the author of many spells of inconsistent quality) was originally Gary Gygax's player character. Zagyg might almost certainly was also an avatar for Gygax.
• Back from the Dead: After Rary killed him, Tenser was revived through a clone of himself he had hidden away.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Lord Robilar.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Rary of Ket was always seen as the most reserved and soft-spoken member of the Circle of Eight. Then he killed two of his friends and tried to Take Over the World.
• Broken Base: And how. There are many fans who absolutely despise the changes wrought by From the Ashes and do not consider it canon, or otherwise dislike other parts of the setting, such as Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.
• The Brute: Warduke. Originally a D&D action figure from the '80s, an issue of Dungeon retconned Warduke as the martial champion of the Horned Society (an empire of devil-worshippers). A hulking monster of a man, Warduke is presented as the ultimate physical threat in a non-epic campaign.
• The Chessmaster: Mordenkainen.
• Crossover: Greyhawk has crossed over with numerous other D&D settings, though most of these crossovers are of dubious canon at best.
  • Oerth is one D&D world among many connected through the Spelljammer and Planescape campaign settings, at least until 3rd Edition when different settings were given their own cosmologies.
  • Vecna and his traitorous lieutenant, Kas, were briefly imprisoned in the Demiplane of Dread, home of the Ravenloft setting. Azalin Rex, one of the archvillains of Ravenloft, also originally hailed from Oerth.
  • Duke Rowan Darkwood, one of the prime movers in the Planescape setting, was born on Oerth. He later used magic to travel to the world of Forgotten Realms, and from there to the City of Sigil in Planescape.
  • Mordenkainen, along with Elminster from Forgotten Realms and Dalamar from Dragonlance, was one of the "Wizards Three", a trio of archmages who met for friendly get-togethers in a humorous column in Dragon written by Ed Greenwood.
  • Completely canon however is the presence of various spells bearing the name of Greyhawk mages (such as Mordenkainen) in other settings. One would suspect Planewalkers were involved at some point.
• Crossover Cosmology: Iuz is the grandson of both Baba Yaga and Nyarlathotep.
• Demon Lords and Archdevils: Most of the notable demon lords have had a hand in Oerth's affairs. Most notable are Graz'zt, the father of the half-demon demigod Iuz; Fraz-Urb'luu, a demon prince trapped under the ruins of Castle Greyhawk for centuries; Demogorgon, Prince of Demons, who launched a bid to conquer all of Oerth in the "Savage Tide" adventure series in Dungeon magazine; Lolth, Spider-Queen of the dark elves, who has ravaged both Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms; and Zuggtmoy, the Demon Lady of Fungi, who conspired with Iuz to build the infamous Temple Of Elemental Evil.
• Devil But No God: Tharizdun, an Omnicidal Maniac Cosmic Horror, is the ultimate force of evil in the cosmology, having the power to force all other evil deities and fiends to do his bidding; there is no corresponding good counterpart. A direct confrontation between Tharizdun and the forces of good would have destroyed the multiverse, so the neutral gods tricked him into sealing himself into a trap.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The racist, blond-haired Scarlet Brotherhood are basically Nazis.
• The Dragon: Saint Kargoth to Demogorgon. Also Kas to Vecna.
• The Empire: The Empire of Iuz.
• The Emperor: The god-king Iuz.
• Evil Is Sexy: Graz'zt, Iggwilv, Eclavdra. Maybe Mordenkainen if you go for older guys.
  • Mordenkainen isn't really evil, he just does evil things sometimes.
• Evil Overlord: Iuz.
• Evil Sorcerer: Many.
  • Rary the Traitor, a formerly heroic wizard who turned on his companions, the Circle of Eight.
  • The undead Acererak, a skeletal wizard who's been dead for so long that all that's left of him is his skull. Easily the most sadistic sonuvabitch in the entire history of tabletop gaming, all thanks to his abode: the Tomb Of Horrors.
  • Vecna: The ultimate evil sorcerer made good. Er, evil. Star of a series of popular adventures (including the awesomely named Die, Vecna, Die!), Vecna ultimately achieved actual godhood as Oerth's God of Secrets.
  • Following Vecna's apotheosis, one of the most powerful mortal spellcaster on Oerth is the witch Iggwilv (who tips the scales at 30th level!), a binder of demons who influences her son Iuz's empire.
    • Not to mention, she sleeps with Graz'zt. There's binding, and then there's binding.
• Evil Versus Evil: Evil groups like the Horned Society, Iuz, the Scarlet Brotherhood, the Aerdi kingdoms and Turrosh Mak are just as apt to fight and plot against each other as they are the forces of good.
• Face Heel Turn: Rary and Robilar.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Baklunish people are similar to real-world Middle Easterners. The Olmans and the Flan are clearly based on Native Americans-the Flan on northern First Nations (Cree, Sioux, Iroquois, etc.), and the Olman on the southern nations, especially the Maya and Aztecs. It's implied that the Rhenee are Roma, having arrived on Oerth from another place called "Rhop"—possibly Europe.
• Fantasy Gun Control: Guns are generally accepted not to work on Oerth, although exceptions are made in some cases for the hero-god Murlynd and his paladins.
• Five Races: Humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes and halflings.
• For Science: Zagig created the wacky demiplanes of Dungeonland and the Isle of the Ape pretty much just because he could.
• God's Hands Are Tied: It's generally accepted that the gods cannot intervene directly on Oerth, and can only act through their mortal servants. This typically takes the form of granting divine spells, although they can act on a larger scale if their mortal servants meet the right conditions, such as using an Artifact Of Good or Artifact of Doom. Exceptions to the rule are gods who actually dwell on the Prime Material Plane such as Iuz and Wastri. St. Cuthbert has also appeared on the material plane on a couple of occasions, although it's implied that the gods of evil may be able to do the same at some point to restore the balance.
• Hidden Elf Village: The elven kingdom of Celene, which refused to aid its human allies during the Greyhawk Wars.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: The character of Rary was originally conceived of as a spiritualist. That is: the Medium, Rary.
  • Has anyone ever killed him by knocking him over a cliff? "My, that's a long way to tip a Rary."
  • And the Nyr Dyv, the lake of unknown depths. "Nyr Dyv" is pronounced like "near dive." Get it?
• Ladyland: The city of Hardby was founded by a Suel witch as a monument to the superiority of womankind after men caused a great magical war, and is traditionally ruled by an all-female council of gynocrats led by a despotrix. However, in recent years, male-dominated guilds and trade unions have been chipping away at their power.
• Left-Justified Fantasy Map: Averted - to the west lies the trackless Sea of Dust, all that remains of the Suel Imperium after the Rain of Colorless Fire burnt it to ashes.
• Lovable Rogue: Gord.
• Malevolent Architecture: Castle Greyhawk is one big, mile-deep deathtrap. The Tomb Of Horrors, meanwhile, makes Castle Greyhawk look like one o' them bouncy castles.
• The Man Behind the Man: Iggwilv to Iuz.
  • To a lesser extent, Graz'zt to Iggwilv.
• Mirror Universe: Oerth has several parallel worlds, including Aerth, Yarth, and Earth. The most notable, though, is Uerth, where everyone's alignment is switched (most notably Bilarro, the evil double of Robilar).
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Iuz the Evil, Rary the Traitor.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The demon Fraz-Urb'luu was released from his imprisonment by two foolish adventurers.
  • So were Iuz, Tsuggtmoy and many many others — mostly by the same band if intrepid adventurers (Gary Gygax's original gaming group).
• Omniscient Council Of Vagueness: The Circle of Eight, founded by Mordenkainen to manipulate events across the Flaeness.
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same
• Our Elves Are Better: Actually, Our Elves Are Pretty Standard, all things considered. This was where the dark elves first arrived in D&D, though.
• Phantom Thief: Gord the Rogue. He steals mainly for the challenge (and because he loves treasure).
• Physical God: All of the gods are capable of taking material form, but the ones who most often walk the Oerth are Iuz, who rules an empire as its god-king, and Saint Cuthbert, who often dispatches avatars to fight Iuz.
• Retcon: After Gygax and Kuntz both left TSR, in the Greyhawk Wars storyline, Kuntz's character Lord Robilar betrayed his friends, killing some of them; Kuntz was none too happy. Twenty years later, Wizards of the Coast published Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, in which it's retconned that Robilar had been replaced by an evil double from a Mirror Universe.
• Science Fantasy: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. It concerns a crashed spaceship filled with aliens and robots—in the fantasy world of Greyhawk. The players can even hijack a suit of Powered Armor and take it with them after the adventure ends (though thankfully it has limited fuel). Needless to say, many fans consider it FanonDiscontinuity.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Several examples.
  • Iuz (and eight other demigods, including two other evil ones) were trapped beneath Castle Greyhawk by Zagig Yragerne, who siphoned off their power to become a god himself.
  • Fraz-Urb'luu was also trapped in Castle Greyhawk by Zagig, presumably as a practice run for his gambit at godhood.
  • At the beginning of time, the unspeakably powerful and insane Tharizdun was trapped in a remote demiplane by the rest of the gods.
• Take That: The bizarre Egg of Coot, a ruler in the Blackmoor area, was a jab at E. Gary Gygax by D&D co-creator Dave Arneson, with whom he'd had a falling-out. (They later reconciled.)
• Theme Naming: Ernest Gary Gygax named a huge number of people and locations after himself, including Yrag, Tenser, Urnst, and of course, Zagyg/Zagig Yragerne.
• True Neutral: In earlier Greyhawk stories and adventures, a lot of emphasis was placed on some characters' obsession with preserving the balance, especially the archmage Mordenkainen.
  • To truly understand Mordenkainen's dedication to neutrality and balance, consider this: Mordenkainen released a sealed evil demigod from beneath Castle Greyhawk, simply because good was "too powerful". Thanks, Mordenkainen.
• Unfortunate Implications: The description of the Rhenee—a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of the Roma—as sneaky, manipulative, unreliable, and chauvanistic plays up a lot of unfavorable stereotypes levied against Gypsies in the real world.
• The Undead: Notables include the liches Acererak and Vecna, described above. Also the first death knight, Saint Kargoth; the vampire Kas; and the piteous, zombielike King Ivid the Undying.
• Vain Sorceress: Iggwilv, the Witch of Perrenland, the mother of Iuz and on-again-off-again consort of the demon Graz'zt. She appears as a stunningly beautiful young woman and sadistically kills anyone who sees her true form—a hideous crone.
• Vestigial Empire: The fractured Great Kingdom, now split into numerous warring states.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Rary just wants to bring peace to all of Oerth... by crushing it under his heel.
  • Mordenkainen wants to keep balance, even if it means unsealing evil demigods and razing entire kingdoms.
• Wretched Hive: The Vault of the Drow and the village of Nulb.

Monster Manual

Monster Manual   http://edmunds-playersbook.blogspot.ca/2016/03/zenopuss-zenopusolman-goddess.html

click thumbnails to enlarge

The first hardcover AD&D manual.  Statistics, descriptions, and illustrations for a variety of monsters to populate your dungeon. Monster Manual by Gary Gygax  Gary Gygax was a proponent of a more in-depth gaming system than Original D&D provided, and in 1977 TSR published this first of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons hardcover manuals.  Redesigned from the ground up, AD&D provided "experienced" role players with complexity and detail (at the expense of individual creativity... AD&D encourages hand-holding).  Proving to be the more enduring of the two game systems, AD&D is still actively supported today, currently in its 4th Edition. Printing Information  Corrections mentioned in the Errata article of Dragon Magazine #35 were gradually incorporated from the Second through the Fourth printings. Thanks to Eric Banks, Rick Blumer, Scott Cordiner, Michael Deaton, Rich Franks, Jr, Jeff Gregor, Gary Kramer, David Lamontagne, Dave Macauley, Eric Niesley, Adrian Newman, Eric Pass, Ben Polson, Bruce Probst, Paul Stormberg, and Tyson Vickers for their research and assistance on various details of the print sequence. Thanks to Adrian Newman for the scan of the 3rd Print Beta / 4th print, and Michael Deaton for the scan of the Sixth print. We're experimenting with something different on the print listings for this page; I've removed the hyperlinks (all of which were rather superfluous, internal links anyway), and added green highlighting to elements that changed from the previous print.  This should hopefully make it easier to identify which print you have. First (Dec 1977) Cover: Lizard logo Centered, red-lettered "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" at top, with "TM Reg Applied For" in small red letters under that Rough textured (like a 1970's school textbook, which in fact it was) Spine: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" in red lettering, but no registered trademark symbol States "Gary Gygax" No ISBN anywhere Endpapers and flyleaves are red Pages are smooth No printing number information on the copyright page Catalog on last page refers to a future "Referee's Guide" and Outdoor Geomorphs sets 2-4 The first print was intended to be released in Sep 1977, but due to delays at the printer, was not released until after Christmas 1977 -- possibly even Jan 1978 Gygax has stated that this first print numbered 50,000 copies About the publishing of this print (the first hardback RPG manual ever printed), again from Gygax: "It was no problem finding a printer that could do a stitched binding and school-book cover material, as I wanted the AD&D volumes to be as nearly indestructible as could be managed.  Later on the Blumes changed that to save a nickel or two on each copy printed... as if we weren't making enough as it was. (Acaeum note: this occurred with the Fourth Beta print).  Crown Books wanted me to write a special introductory game book exclusively for them, but that was a no-go.  Simon & Schuster contacted me about book trade distribution, but they were going to take a year to set it up, so I wasn't too thrilled.  Then I got a phone call from Mildred Marmur, then the VP of Sub-Rights Licensing at Random House.  They flew me out to NYC the next week and were ready to begin distribution in a month's time.  As the remainder of the deal I negotiated assured TSR cash flow and other great benefits, I signed my name up there in their offices on the second day of our meetings.  Having Millie as an advocate was a lot of help in cutting a great deal for TSR.  Both of her sons were D&Ders!"   Second (May 1978) Cover: Lizard logo Centered, red-lettered "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" at top, but "TM Reg Applied For" has been removed Rough textured Spine: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" in red lettering, and now has a registered trademark symbol States "Gary Gygax" No ISBN anywhere Endpapers and flyleaves are red Pages are smooth States "2nd Edition, May 1978" on the copyright page Catalog on last page refers to a future "Referee's Guide" and Outdoor Geomorphs sets 2-4   Third Alpha (Dec 1978) Cover: Wizard logo Centered, red-lettered "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" at top Rough textured Spine: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" in red lettering States "Gary Gygax" No ISBN anywhere Endpapers and flyleaves are red Pages are smooth States "3rd Edition, December 1978" on the copyright page Catalog on last page has been updated; now correctly reflects a future Dungeon Masters Guide and omits reference to Outdoor Geomorphs sets 2-4   Third Beta This is a strange hybrid print.  The cover is identical to the Fourth Alpha print, but the spine and the interior are identical to the Third Alpha print Cover: Wizard logo "Advanced D&D" in an angled yellow banner, top left corner; the red letters of "Advanced D&D" have black highlights, and there's no "TM" designation after it "Monster Manual" title has moved from lower mid-cover to the top Rough textured Spine: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" in red lettering States "Gary Gygax" No ISBN anywhere Endpapers and flyleaves are red Pages are smooth States "3rd Edition, December 1978" on the copyright page   Fourth Alpha (Aug 1979) Cover: Wizard logo "Advanced D&D" in an angled yellow banner; the red letters of "Advanced D&D" have black highlights, and there's no "TM" designation after it "Monster Manual" title at top Rough textured Spine: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" in white lettering Now states "by Gary Gygax" ISBN on spine, rear cover, and bottom of title page Endpapers and flyleaves are red Pages are smooth States "4th Edition, August 1979" on the copyright page; no Random House distribution notice Considered the "final" version, with all the errata incorporated   Fourth Beta Cover: Wizard logo "Advanced D&D" in an angled yellow banner; the red letters of "Advanced D&D" have black highlights, and there's no "TM" designation after it "Monster Manual" title at top Now smooth textured Spine: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" in white lettering States "by Gary Gygax" ISBN on spine, rear cover, and bottom of title page Endpapers and flyleaves are red Pages are smooth States "4th Edition, August 1979" on the copyright page, along with "Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House"   Fourth Gamma Cover: Wizard logo "Advanced D&D" in an angled yellow banner; the red letters of "Advanced D&D" have black highlights, and there's no "TM" designation after it "Monster Manual" title at top Smooth textured Spine: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" in white lettering States "by Gary Gygax" ISBN on spine, rear cover, and bottom of title page Endpapers and flyleaves are white Pages are smooth States "4th Edition, August 1979" on the copyright page, along with "Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House"   Fifth (1980?) Cover: Wizard logo "Advanced D&D" in an angled yellow banner; the red letters of "Advanced D&D" now have white highlights, and has a "TM" designation after it "Monster Manual" title at top Spine: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" in white lettering States "by Gary Gygax" ISBN on spine, rear cover, and title page Endpapers and flyleaves are white (though a red-colored copy has been spotted -- further confirmation on this needed, since the sequence has been re-done since this was submitted) Pages are now a rougher texture than previously (cheaper paper) Still states "4th Edition, August 1979" on the copyright page By far the most common of all the Monster Manual prints Sixth (1981) Cover: TSR Face logo Added "Adventure Games" under "Advanced D&D" in the angled yellow banner "Monster Manual" title is slightly lower than the Fifth print's Spine: "Advanced D&D" in white lettering Now states "Adventure Games" States "by Gary Gygax" ISBN and TSR Product Number on spine and rear cover; ISBN alone appears on bottom of title page Endpapers and flyleaves are white Pages are rough Still states "4th Edition, August 1979" on the copyright page Textual change in the preface (pg 4), adding "co-authored by Dave Arneson" (a direct result of the lawsuit between TSR and Arneson)   Seventh Alpha (1983) Updated cover art (red dragon fighting a pegasus), matching the cover style of the newly-released Monster Manual II Angled TSR logo Orange spine ISBN ("0-935696-00-8") stacked above the Product Number ("394-51113-1TSR1200") on the rear cover lower left; no UPC code nor price on rear cover Still says "4th Edition, August 1979" on the copyright page Last page has a catalog   Seventh Beta Updated cover art Angled TSR logo Orange spine ISBN ("0-935696-00-8") and Product Number ("394-51113-1TSR1200") stacked above a UPC bar code on the rear cover center; Piece Code ("2009XXX7301") in the lower left corner, but no price Still says "4th Edition, August 1979" on the copyright page Last page is blank, other than an Angled TSR logo   Eighth Updated cover art Angled TSR logo Orange spine ISBN above a UPC bar code on the rear cover center; and the price ($15.00) is in the lower right corner Still says "4th Edition, August 1979" on the copyright page Last page is blank, other than an Angled TSR logo   Ninth (Aug 1987), Tenth (Nov 1987), Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth (Nov 1988), Fifteenth (Jul 1989) Updated cover art Angled TSR logo Orange spine ISBN above a UPC bar code on the rear cover center, and the price ($15.00) is in the lower right corner Now has printing numbers and dates on the copyright page.  We've done our best to keep these printing declarations in-line with our own previous (Eighth print and earlier) print sequence, which has been difficult! Last page is blank, other than an Angled TSR logo A printing has been found that states "Thirteenth Print, Jul 1990" inside.  As this is impossible, I surmise that the typo is in the printing number rather than the date, and this is probably the Sixteenth or Seventeenth print.  Thanks to Michael Deaton for this info. An "errata sheet" was available for the First print; unknown where these sheets came from (since the books were not shrinkwrapped, it is highly unlikely they came with the book purchase).  Most of the errata mentioned on the sheet were corrected with the Second print, so we surmise it was released sometime between Dec 1977 and May 1978.  More info is needed.  Thanks to Michael Deaton for the scan. Auction Commentary & History Monster Manual (1st):  VG: $68 (1/03), FN: $128 (2/01), FN: $77 (2/02), FN: $68 (8/02),   VF: $143 (11/01), VF: $148 (3/04) Monster Manual (2nd):  VG: $12 (1/03) http://edmunds-playersbook.blogspot.ca/2016/03/zenopuss-zenopusolman-goddess.html

Monster Manual (1st prt) Monster Manual (2nd prt) Monster Manual (3rd Alpha prt) Monster Manual (3rd Beta & 4th prts) Monster Manual (5th prt) Monster Manual (6th prt) Monster Manual (7th and later prints) Errata      sheet

Goblin Steel and copper-silver allloy Billion

 In game: Copper nickel alloy found naturally, which miners are unable to get the copper out of it.  Used in weapons and coins. 

  Elinvar steel is a component in any golem, or clockwork. It is resistant to temperature changes giving armor made with it a +1 to +5 save vs. temperature attacks.  It is not native to Oreath and is imported from worlds who know its secret. 

Historically Elinvar Steel is iron nickle alloy. As nickel is near impossible to work it has magical implications. 

 1.1 Historical

Although elemental nickel was only discovered relatively late on, its use in alloys – without knowledge of the alloy composition – goes back at least two thousand years. This is confirmed by finds of coins from antiquity, which contain up to 10% nickel in addition to copper [2].
The most ancient Cu-Ni coin that has been saved for posterity comes from the period around BC 235. It was found in Bactria and consists of an alloy similar e.g. to the former German 50-Pfennig and 1 DM pieces (approximately 75% Cu and 25% Ni). These and many other old coins are outstanding examples for the high corrosion resistance of Cu-Ni alloys.
In the Middle Ages, Saxon miners gave a mineral, from whose red colour they inferred a copper ore, the nickname ‘coppernickel’ (nickel = goblin = mountain troll). However, they would not succeed in extracting copper from it – a spell was cast on the ore by a ‘nickel’. It was only red nickel pyrites (NiAs), for the veins of ore worked in seams also incorporated copper and iron sulphides as well as arsenides.

Billon (alloy)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Billon /ˈbɨlən/ is an alloy of a precious metal (most commonly silver, but also mercury) with a majority base metal content (such as copper). It is used chiefly for making coins, medals, and token coins.
The word comes from the French bille, which means "log".^[1]

The use of billon coins dates from ancient Greece and continued through the Middle Ages. During the 6th and 5th centuries BC, some cities on Lesbos Island used coins made of 60% copper and 40% silver. In both ancient times and the Middle Ages, leaner mixtures were adopted, with less than 2% silver content.^[2][3]
Billon coins are perhaps best known from the Roman Empire, where progressive debasements of the Roman denarius and the Roman provincial tetradrachm in the 2nd century AD led to declining silver and increasing bronze content in these denominations of coins. Eventually, by the third quarter of the 2nd century AD, these coins were almost entirely bronze, with only a thin coating or even a wash of silver.<sup>[4]


Elinvar is a nickel steel alloy with a modulus of elasticity which does not change much with temperature changes. The name is a contraction of the French elasticité invariable (elastically invariable). It was invented in the late 1890s by Charles Édouard Guillaume, a Swiss physicist who also invented Invar, another alloy of nickel and iron, which has very low thermal expansion. Guillaume won the 1920 Nobel Prize in Physics for these discoveries, which indicates how important these alloys were for scientific instruments.</sup> 

Historically Elinvar Steel is iron nickle alloy. As nickel is near impossible to work it has magical implications.

Gygaxian naturalism

http://www.geekspeaker.com/on-gygaxian-naturalism/

  Maliszewski:

tendency, present in the OD&D rules and reaching its fullest flower in AD&D, to go beyond describing monsters purely as opponents/obstacles for the player characters by giving game mechanics that serve little purpose other than to ground those monsters in the campaign world.

Maliszewski waxes a bit poetic here.  While the term is enormously pretentious for pretend elfgames, the concept is integral to D&D.  Broadly speaking, Gygaxian naturalism is the mechanical expression of world simulationism.  Outside the sphere of D&D, I would describe it as “immersive mechanics,” or “rules expressing game reality through mechanical function.”  It’s the marriage of fluff and crunch, usually accompanied by lots of random tables..  By fleshing out the fantasy world through Gygaxian naturalism, D&D creates the illusion of a fantasy world–a world that might exist, at least within the imagination.

http://cporter.net/rpgs/books/Spelljammer/

http://cporter.net/rpgs/books/Spelljammer/

L'impératif catégorique (en allemand: kategorischer Imperativ ) est le concept philosophique

 Language philosopher Steve Nealedistinguishes between two types: cultural verisimilitude, meaning plausibility of the fictional work within the cultural and/or historical context of the real world, outside of the work; and generic verisimilitude, meaning plausibility of a fictional work within the bounds of its own genre (so that, for example, a character's regularly singing about her feelings is a believable action within the fictional universe of amusical).


OR



L'impératif catégorique (en allemand: kategorischer Imperativ ) est le concept philosophique central dans la philosophie morale déontologique de Kant . Introduit en 1785 à la terre de Kant pour la métaphysique des mœurs , elle peut être définie comme un moyen d'évaluer les motivations de l'action .

3.0 Spells animated object

Animate Objects

Transmutation

Level:	Brd 6, Chaos 6, Clr 6
Components:	V, S
Casting Time:	1 standard action
Range:	Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets:	One Small object per caster level; see text
Duration:	1 round/level
Saving Throw:	None
Spell Resistance:	No

You imbue inanimate objects with mobility and a semblance of life. Each such animated objectthen immediately attacks whomever or whatever you initially designate.

An animated object can be of any nonmagical material. You may animate one Small or smaller object or an equivalent number of larger objects per caster level. A Medium object counts as two Small or smaller objects, a Large object as four, a Huge object as eight, a Gargantuan object as sixteen, and a Colossal object as thirty-two. You can change the designated target or targets as amove action, as if directing an active spell.

This spell cannot animate objects carried or worn by a creature.

Animate objects can be made permanent with a permanency spell.

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