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This blog comes as the result of the perpetual debates over the Martial classes, if they should be limited by the boundaries of reality or allowed to be the equivalent of the magical classes; a concern over the level of realism in the game.

This is an interesting question: how much should D&D reflect reality and how much it should stand apart? When should we push for more realism in the game and when should realism give way to gameplay?

The Problem

Classes like the fighter struggled to find balanced with myriad magical classes.

Players want fighters to have meaningful options and choices, they want their fighter to be able to contribute to combat at any level. Fighters and martial classes shouldn’t be sidekicks to the wizard. However, by removing the limits of reality there’s

As has been joked, D&D has no rules for tummyaches. There are the loosest requirements for biological needs, there are no rules for washroom breaks or visiting the “little cleric’s room”. Although, one can easily imagine the potential Gygaxian horror of separating from the party to relieve oneself only to be attacked by some improbable monster designed specifically to attack heroes in that vulnerable state.

Shudder.

Even sleep is a rather vague concept. PCs rest not because they need to sleep but because they need to recharge abilities and the current edition actually goes out of its way to limit resting and encourage the forgoing of sleep. While 3e had penalties for forced marching there were no disadvantages to not sleeping. While a few races have bonuses related to staying awake