Revisionist game publishing

[ExploderWizard]

Evolution? Genome?

That's 21st century common sense. It has nothing to do with pseudo-medieval settings.

Heh.

Common sense and truth are timeless. I could go back in time and call an ancient farmer a proto-agronomist. The fact that the individual wouldn't understand the term would not make it less true.

 

[Garthanos]

Evolution? Genome?

That's 21st century common sense. It has nothing to do with pseudo-medieval settings.

Sure the particular character in question just lost his racial connection to the goddess of the dark... and that is permanent you can expect to just re-woo Nyx... by spending more time in the dark.

 

[Mark]

proto-agronomist

Shhh. PH4 spoilers are not appreciated.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Common sense and truth are timeless. I could go back in time and call an ancient farmer a proto-agronomist. The fact that the individual wouldn't understand the term would not make it less true.

Except that this "truth" isn't true in D&D settings. Creatures didn't evolve; they were shaped by the primordials/gods/whatever. Genetics don't work as we understand them. Hell, physics doesn't work as we understand it, not all the time.

To say that a race's development must follow modern understandings of genetics is simply ignoring the nature of the setting itself.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Except that this "truth" isn't true in D&D settings. Creatures didn't evolve; they were shaped by the primordials/gods/whatever. Genetics don't work as we understand them. Hell, physics doesn't work as we understand it, not all the time.

To say that a race's development must follow modern understandings of genetics is simply ignoring the nature of the setting itself.

All very possible in fantasy setting to be sure, heck anything completely bizarre could always be attributed to a mad wizard's experiment gone wrong.

It still looks better for a system to be able handle racial traits in a logical consistent manner. How many aberrations can there be before such creatures become the norm?

 

[JPL]

All very possible in fantasy setting to be sure, heck anything completely bizarre could always be attributed to a mad wizard's experiment gone wrong.

It still looks better for a system to be able handle racial traits in a logical consistent manner. How many aberrations can there be before such creatures become the norm?

Again, I think that since PC rules only apply to PCs, the chances of there being even a single darkblind kobold in the whole campaign world are pretty low.

In D&D, PCs are always exceptional. Usually superior to the typical member of their race, but sometimes, for game balance, they have a disadvantage.

The alternative is to just make the race in question unavailable as a PC. Seems odd to say a kobold is just too darn powerful, but there it is.

And the third alternative is to just give the kobold his darkvision and move along.

Reminds me of my reaction to "Savage Species." Great, I can play a stone giant! Except he's medium sized! And not particularly stone-like! And he's gonna die before 2nd level! Or I can play a genie that . . . is pretty much a regular guy in MC Hammer pants, at first level.

 

[Asmor]

Evolution? Genome?

That's 21st century common sense. It has nothing to do with pseudo-medieval settings.

In particular, it makes no sense given the context that most races are implicitly or explicitly assumed to have been created whole-cloth by deities and other entities. Evolution in D&D is the exception, not the norm. All I can think of off the top of my head are subraces (e.g. drow, and even that's kind of iffy to call it evolution since they were changed by a deity).

 

[Asmor]

Hell, physics doesn't work as we understand it, not all the time.

How can you expect physics to work when math in D&D is fundamentally different?

Pi = 4! Firecubes for the win!

 

[pawsplay]

Minotaurs can pick up weapons of their fallen comrades. The equipment list in the stat block does not indicate the weapons are large.

So the weapons are definitely not large? Halflings can use them?

PC Kobolds have just been too much on the outside, exposed to regular daylight. Their darkvision has simply been lost to them. It's a little like pigmentation for human skin...

Most of my games would be more likely to feature kobold delvers than kobold farmers. Maybe I'm wacky that way. And what if your campaign is set in the side of a mountain riddled with caverns? What if the party always travels by night? What if the kobold wears a poncho, a straw hat, and sunglasses? It's a contrived explanation. We know why it's contrived. We know it has nothing to do with logic and everything to do with justifying a game construct. Kobolds lack darkvision because they are PCs.

Sure, every kobold could be darkblind, spent too much time in the sun, an obscure subspecies, and so forth. And they can go adventuring with an albino human, a one-legged dwarf, a halfling with pituitary gigantism, and a pixie who lost their wings tragically in a game of tag.

Essentially, not giving kobolds darkvision says, "This is too powerful or causes problems." Which amounts to, "There is not very much good play experience to be gained from a group in which one party member has darkvision... having an actual, real kobold in a party could not possibly be interesting enough to justify figuring out some way to balance it."

I don't think the way to handle monstrous PCs is to turn the party into adventurers from the Land of Misfit Toys.

 

[ExploderWizard]

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I don't think the way to handle monstrous PCs is to turn the party into adventurers from the Land of Misfit Toys.

You must spread some XP around...........