That's not a big deal (
"canon" even!). It's just not a major part of what makes yugoloths interesting as props in D&D, and is a more important part of the bag of other critters. So in that case my criticism would be more about wasting wordcount on something that isn't going to be very useful at getting at what makes yugoloths fun to play with. It arises out of their more interesting mercenary tendencies, which can include but does not limit them to the occasional evil god.
"Interesting" to whom? "Fun to play with" for whom?
When did you become arbiter of what is fun or interesting for all of D&Ddom? Wish I'd known. I'd've sent flowers...or a congratulatory coffee mug or something...maybe a hat. One can never have too many hats, gloves and shoes...
..huh? What was I saying? Oh yeah...
...and I don't believe anyone has suggested taking away their mercenary tendencies. That's not really part of the discussion, just thought I'd make that clear.
...and the game that people are playing when they play in those settings ain't GURPS, is it?
Fair enough. I misspoke [it was rather late/early]. Yes, they are playing D&D...in Dragonlance. My point was that Dragonlance is not
the D&D game. It is
A D&D game. Like Eberron is
a D&D game or FR or PS or or or. And I can play D&D not in ANY of those settings. The assumptions of
a setting of D&D should not be included in the core of the game. That's all I'm trying to get across.
Getting at this might be getting at the underlying issue here, in all its potential gatekeeping/tribalist finery. It has a lot to do with
local design and what "core" means in relation to that. And on this, I come down on the side of the 2e
Monstrous Manual, for a lot of reasons.
As a way to illustrate this, this comment:
....is an example of an entirely artificial, largely irrelevant distinction.
"local design" TL/DR. Can you explain what you're trying to say in 50 words or less? And what "coming down on the side of the 2e MM" means? I also am not following your "illustration"...might be the sleep deprivation, but I'm not sure that's entirely why.
Why/how is it artificial or irrelevant? Kender are from the Dragonlance setting. They belong in Dragonlance, not core. Yugoloths of a certain lore are from Planescape. They belong in PS, not core. That's where/what they were created for. I don't see how that is 'artificial irrelevant distinction'. No one's trying to "take your kender or yugoloths away." Simply put/keep them where they belong. Make everything nice n' tidy.
In fact, you could make a Venn Diagram: The circle of Dragonlance overlaps the circle of D&D, and the circle of Kender is within the circle of Dragonlance...which is within the circle of D&D...which means that Kender are part of D&D.
View attachment 57481
uh...huh....Well I guess, according to this lovely diagram, I would move the kender to be completely within the Dragonlance circle. They only have relevance within that circle. They do not exist outside of it. They were created, specifically, for that setting. Still puts them in the D&D circle...but I don't see what the point of this is. They have no purpose or use outside of that setting. The Dragonlance circle goes inside the D&D circle...it was created b it, for it. It does not have an existence or relevance outside of D&D...so, in fact, as I see it, it looks like you
can't actually make a Venn diagram about it, cuz the circles just all sit within each other, not overlapping.
I could make the exact same diagram using Planescape instead of Dragonlance and PS Yugoloths instead of Kender. The results are/would be the same. The daemons go IN, all the way in not "overlapping", PS.
And/or, better yet, a diagram where Dragonlance and Planescape are separate circles...BOTH within D&D. The PS circle is in D&D, within which are god-hating yugoloths...next to the circle of Dragonlance, within which are kender and pirate minotaurs...next to the circle of Eberron, within which are warforged and electro-magic trains...and a circle for FR and a circle for Greyhawk and a circle for every other setting and homebrew out there. I suppose, since PS was deliberately a meta-setting, a bunch of those other circles would be inside of PS...but be that as it may...All of the space that is NOT within one of those setting circles...but those setting rings are floating around in...that's the core of D&D.
Are we going to have an issue now about where I'm expecting/preferring the circles are put? Am I not doing it "right"?