nice.
hmm I'm not totally agreed with the theory on meat vs brains in roleplay, as my experiences tended to b the reverse.
The meat tended to think up crafty (meta) ideas to defeat the goblin army and when/if this failed ran off, leaving the dumbstruck nerds to get trampled.
Although this may be a result of the average age...maturity might have backfired on our roleplaying classes. or that of my DMs...although he might have been just plain evil* instead of realistic. He made us die early by various methods undead, tropical disease, spiders, choking on beer, a chair to the head, etc, thus ensuring none of us had opportunity to become demi-godlike wizards. Except for the thief who invariably had run off with the partys swag to score more pixiedust to snort.
*He spoke often of his DM exploits in that dark alternate AD&D universe ... I forget the name, but it made us roleplayers paranoid. edit: ravencroft? It made me think of lovecraft I remember.
My characrters included: Nordic bard, nordic warrior. etc, etc...eventually warrior-priest of undead slaying.
In another setting a physically useless gnome-like alchemist with a useless meatshield Ogre servant with a head full of phobias in stead of brains. We were revolutionaries and rebels, but the DM had other ideas and had me (the geriatric gnome) craeling through caves and climbing trapped towers without ogre only to get ejected, scorched, boiled, covered in acidic goo, raped by giant rats, etc. Meanwhile my great protector was sitting outside sucking its thumb because of a little spider.
...
sadistic bastard.
Why are DM such cruel masters?
...
this was before DF, mind you.
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Anyhow.
I agree on most of the points made on magic.
The toxic stuff not so much. Not everything needs to be overly complex.