Why did Giff (the hippo-men) receive modern-day fragmentation grenades in MTOF?!?

Elderbrain · Jul 13, 2018

If you compare the stats for the grenades in the Giff entry in MTOF with the ones listed in the DMG for the modern-day fragmentation grenades, they're the same. Wouldn't it have made more sense to give them the Renaisance-era bombs from the DMG, especially since the Giff have Renaisance-era guns, not modern ones? And where are the Giff getting these grenades - from some equivalent of modern-day Earth? Also, I see PCs trying to obtain these things... I suppose the Giff could have made these things themselves, but then why the primitive guns?

TwoSix · Jul 13, 2018

Just flavor them as era-appropriate bombs, sized for hippos.

jgsugden · Jul 13, 2018

Was that intended to be a list of adventure hookds? Because that is what it sounded like to me...

Seramus · Jul 14, 2018

Bigger bombs for bigger hippos!

Henry · Jul 14, 2018

The primitive bombs probably didn’t have the appropriate DC or damage that the designer wanted for the creature entry, so they beefed it up. The primitive bombs are DC 12 and 3d6, so maybe not that they were looking for. I suppose they could have called them “Giff Bombs” or some such and just used the same statistics?...

I must admit that the image of a hippo-man guffawing as he tosses a cartoon-style fuse-bomb makes my inner DM smile.

Dannyalcatraz · Jul 14, 2018

Playing angry, angry hippos!

Umbran · Jul 14, 2018

"Wouldn't it make more sense"...

More sense? Sense?!?

You are talking about a bipedal hippo with opposable thumbs, and erudite speech, known for flying around space on open-decked ships like sailing the ocean while wearing pith helmets and clothing from the Napoleonic to Edwardian eras...

And you are worried about how much sense this makes?

Post Script: Having described this conversation to my wife, she's now in the next room giggling maniacally, but seriously insisting I run a game in which she can play a sexy librarian space hippo. We clearly left "sense" behind several sourcebooks back.

Jester David · Jul 14, 2018

Elderbrain said:
If you compare the stats for the grenades in the Giff entry in MTOF with the ones listed in the DMG for the modern-day fragmentation grenades, they're the same. Wouldn't it have made more sense to give them the Renaisance-era bombs from the DMG, especially since the Giff have Renaisance-era guns, not modern ones?

Well, it says "modern items" but grenades have been around for a century. They were heavily used in WWI.

Plus, as others have said, it's possible to size up regular grenades for use by the larger gif, as the medieval bomb and grenade weigh the same.

Elderbrain said:
And where are the Giff getting these grenades - from some equivalent of modern-day Earth?

Same as their weapons. They make them. Black powder is highly prized.

Elderbrain said:
Also, I see PCs trying to obtain these things...

Good luck. The Giff hire themselves out to get black powder weapons. They're not going to sell them, and will hunt down anyone who steals from them.

Elderbrain said:
I suppose the Giff could have made these things themselves, but then why the primitive guns?

I imagine they're following recipes and patterns made by others. So they know how to make guns, but the simpler explosives are more advanced.

Again, it's likely the fact it's being thrown by a 7-foot hippo person and likely weighs 2-3 pounds that makes it deadlier and not the technology level.

Jester David · Jul 14, 2018

Umbran said:
"Wouldn't it make more sense"...

More sense? Sense?!?

You are talking about a bipedal hippo with opposable thumbs, and erudite speech, known for flying around space on open-decked ships like sailing the ocean while wearing pith helmets and clothing from the Napoleonic to Edwardian eras...

And you are worried about how much sense this makes?

Post Script: Having described this conversation to my wife, she's now in the next room giggling maniacally, but seriously insisting I run a game in which she can play a sexy librarian space hippo. We clearly left "sense" behind several sourcebooks back.

And the World Cup is 480 people from 32 countries journey from across the world to run around a small grassy plain in their shorts chasing a stuffed plastic ball that they have to get to the far side of the meadow without picking it up or using their hands.

Life is silly. Nothing we do makes sense. Pointing out the insanity in our daily lives and mocking things that people enjoy and care about doesn't improve anything or add anything to the discussion.

It's not a useful argument because it could be applied to ANY discussion about the game.

Umbran · Jul 14, 2018

Jester David said:
It's not a useful argument because it could be applied to ANY discussion about the game.

No. Only those discussion based on "sense" or "realism". And, when the game is neither sensical nor realistic, my point is valid. I mean, think about it - historical accuracy on space hippos? That's a problem? The fact that the DMG calls one renaissance and the other modern matters?

If you have an issue of game balance, or other functional aspect of it in the game, my point does not hold. If it had been, "Gee, i find those grenades are well outside the range for the critter's CR. Do you all find it the same? What do you think of using this less powerful weapon from the DMG?" I'd have made no such comment as I did.

Why did Giff (the hippo-men) receive modern-day fragmentation grenades in MTOF?!?

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