D&D Philosophy One-Liners

[Calmar]

"The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of six is a TPK."
- Joseph Stalin

"A Set of House Rules is what the people are entitled to against every game system, and what no just game system should refuse, or rest on inference."
- Thomas Jefferson

[pasko77]

What does not kill us, gives us XP.

I LOVE this thread!

[Volkov]

Where could I put a WH40k version of this thread?

[JohnnyCancer]

I'd give my right arm to dual wield.
-Yogi Berra

[comicshorse]

Ostien I'm ashamed to admit but of those images I only recognized Machievelli and the Marquis de Sade, who were the others

[Mercenary Pen]

Where could I put a WH40k version of this thread?

Your best bet is the Gaming (other) section.

[Ostien]

Ostien I'm ashamed to admit but of those images I only recognized Machievelli and the Marquis de Sade, who were the others

In the order of the image:
Immanuel Kant, Jurgen Habbermas, Michel Foucault
Theodor Adorno, Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, Friedrich Nietzsche
Ayn Rand, Frederick Hayek, Marquis de Sade

I find it hilarious.

[aje8]

Nicola Abbagnano: "Reason itself is fallible, for logic must account for all the crazy **** wizards keep doing."

Can I sig that?

In other news, win thread is win.

Locke: DnD is a social contract between the players and the DM.
Machiavelli: It is better to rule through fear than through love...... at least until some adventurers come along.
Hobbes: Life is like a Dwarf. Nasty, Brutish and Short.

Or should that last one be Kobold?

And I know everyone has done this one, but I want to as well.
Einstien: GodThe DM does not play dice with the universe. He lets his PCs do all the rolling.

[sentaku]

modified:

I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they roll; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they role.
Buddha

The mind is everything. What you make them think they become.
Buddha

unmodified:

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
Buddha

[Jayabalard]

war should only be used as a last resort

If war isn't your last resort, you didn't resort to enough of it.

[Winter_Wolf]

At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. - Aristotle, starting history's first alignment debate

Dammit, Aristotle, I said don't do that during the game!

I wanted to drop a quote from the Tao Te Ching, but my hardcopies are about 4000 miles away from my computer, and the only online translation I could find was translated poorly for the purpose.

From memory, it should be roughly like this:
Lao Tzu: "From Gygax came the original box set D&D; from the box set came AD&D Player's Handbook and DMG; from the Player's Handbook and DMG, came the 10,000 splatbooks and accessories."

[Tiktakkat]

We see, therefore, that combat is not merely a complex BAB check, but also a real complex skill check, a continuation of a Diplomacy check, a carrying out of the same by other means.

- Carl von Clausewitz

[Devils_Advocate]

I forget who on this board already said this one: "Players should not be afraid of their DMs. DMs should be afraid of their players."

"The players are condemned to be free."
- Satre, on sandbox games

"When system elitism returns it will be in the guise of opposition to system elitism."

"Strange game. It seems the only winning move is not to play." (Could be said of D&D itself, and most certainly the Blood War.)

"How smart is Vecna, really? Smart enough not to let you know how smart he is."

"What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?"

"I'm gonna pray. Know any good religions?"

[Bibliomancer]

The die is cast. Fortunately, the DM didn't see it.
-Julius Caesar

An adventuring party is no more a team than a heap of building materials is a house.
-Sun Tzu

A collision at sea can ruin one's entire day, so fly.
-Thucydides

To lead 1st level PCs to war is to throw them away.
-Sun Tzu

[Flarp]

Tier Sixes of the world, unite!
-Marx

[Soranar]

on Barbarians:

Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.
Einstein

Get mad, then get over it.
Colin Powell

The world needs anger. The world often continues to allow evil because it isn't angry enough.
Bede Jarrett

on Paladins:

A man of courage is also full of faith.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

on Wizards:

Intelligence is not a science.
Frank Carlucci

We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
Albert Einstein

What is human warfare but just this; an effort to make the laws of God and nature take sides with one party.
Henry David Thoreau


on Experience:

Experience is the teacher of all things.
Julius Caesar

Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing.
Oscar Wilde

I think we are a product of all our experiences.
Sanford I. Weill

War grows out of the desire of the individual to gain advantage at the expense of his fellow man.
Napoleon Hill

on dungeons:

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

on teamwork:

When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.
Edward W. Howe

on summons:

The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy.
Friedrich Nietzsche

[Manave_E_Sulanul]

My best friend is the man who in wishing me well casts wishes for my sake. -Aristotle

[Harperfan7]

Hobbes: "Life is nasty, brutish, and short."

Elan: "Life is Belkar?"

[Thespianus]

People still play straight paladins?

Outside of San Fransisco and the Greenwich Village, straight Paladins still exist.

EDIT: Curses! Straight Ninjas too... :(

[Thespianus]

- "A consistency proof for RAW … can be carried out only by RAI." - Kurt Gödel

- "A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying, but a life in which adventure is allowed to take whatever form it will is sure to be short. " - Bertrand Russell (unmodified)

- "Anything you're good at contributes to happiness." - Russell (As a Batman Wizard, trying to cheer up the Glass Cannon and the Big Stupid Fighter)

- "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge. " - Russell, this time after taking Knowledge Devotion! :)

[Asbestos]

FDR: The only thing we have to fear, is cause fear. And dragons. Mummies too. And Symbols of Fear

Hijacked! But probably forgot other 'you are afraid of this!' effects.

[Kaun]

Hunter S Thompson: If you're going to be Chaotic Evil, you have to get paid for it or else you're going to be locked up.

[Dimers]

Oscar Wilde: "The only thing worse than being talked about is having your abilities talked about by a rules lawyer while combat grinds to a halt."

C.S. Lewis: "I believe in Zeus as I believe that the foes are smited: not only because I see the lightning bolt, but because by it I see everything else."

Blaise Pascal: In the decision to believe or not believe in Zeus, it's the better wager to believe -- because, well, his avatar will come stick a lightning bolt up your nose if you don't.

DM Samuel Taylor Coleridge, setting the scene: "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran through caverns measureless to man down to a sunless sea."

DM Lewis Carroll, setting the scene: "'Twas brilling, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe ..."

[Dust]

Every single one of the above is gold. 24k carats of soft, puttylike gold.

[Kaiyanwang]

Nietzsche: "You must be of the Chaotic subtype to give birth to a dancing star"

[blueblade]

H.P Lovecraft - That is not dead which has a 9th level Cleric and a diamond handy. And with Craft Wondrous Item and a Phylactery even death may die.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Liebniz: "The DM is an optimizer, and this is the best of all possible campaign settings."

Another Liebniz: "Newton stole my commoner railgun idea!"

Oh, right, this one goes with the first one:

Voltaire: *recounts Lanky Bugger's crazy DM story, but adds in a fellow player who keeps praising the DM's style, throughout all the incidents past the session*

[TheFallenOne]

Leibniz: Every character is as a world apart, independent of everything else except the DM.

Leinbniz: I do not believe that a world without evil, preferable in order to ours, is possible; otherwise there would be no XP

Caesar: Alea iacta est - unless you have a Luck reroll.

Caesar: Veni, vidi, vesperugoviri

The Devils Dictionari: Lawful good(n): A willingness to find excuses to beat people up.

Hobbes: Homo homini Tarrasquus

William James: The art of being wise is the art of knowing which spells to overlook.

Think of how underpowered the average class is, and realize half of them are more underpowered than that.

[Calmar]

"La campagne, c'est moi."
- Louis XIV

"As a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich spiele RPGs."
- John F. Kennedy

"A player should be upright, not kept upright. "
- Marcus Aurelius

[MickJay]

"If it won't give you XP, don't start an encounter"

"There are appropriate times for burning things with fire"
-Sun Tzu (adapted)