D&D General Thaco the angry clown... really?

[Scribe]

I played when THAC0 was a thing.

Couple years ago I actually whore a shirt around Gen Con that read "I REMEMBER THAC0" (which pokes fun at my age more than THAC0, would post a picture but can't find the shirt).

Speaking for myself, I found the clown pretty funny.

I find his inclusion funny as well, and I'm not a fan of THAC0, but I'm simply saying its not difficult to see how some could see it as more than others do.

 

[Mort]

Wow. Really? I've been playing forever. This isn't aimed at us at all. Not even close. You can feel that way, of course. But they aren't mocking us at all, imo. They are mocking bad game design, that they own. I find it funny.

In its time, THAC0 was actually a big step forward!

Before that. you had to refer to printed tables to see whether you hit or not - THAC0 simplified it.

 

[Zaukrie]

In its time, THAC0 was actually a big step forward!

Before that. you had to refer to printed tables to see whether you hit or not - THAC0 simplified it.

I've been playing forever, as I stated....

And what thaco was isn't relevant. The point is, they made fun of game design. Not those that played the game.

All of 5e is a huge nostalgia game.... And people think wotc is making fun of them? I just don't understand that at all. Like I said, people can feel how they want, I just don't get this at all.

 

[Deset Gled]

The point is, they made fun of game design. Not those that played the game.

I think the lesson here is that some people self-identify as game mechanics.

... which I started typing as a joke and then realized was much more true than I intended/expected.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Personally, I'd rather see Bohemian Earspoon and Glaive-guisarme-glaive.



.

I remember back in the early '90s using a hex editor in the D&D CRPG Pool of Radiance and accidentally creating a glaive-glaive-guisarme and a flail-flail-fouchard fork. We had great fun figuring out how that second one worked (were the flails attaches to the end of the forks?). They also had terrible THAC0s (like 40), but did incredible damage (like in the 100s), so when you rolled that 20, you were set!

 

[Retreater]

Dude, have your read any of Piers Anthony's Xanth novels? You would absolutely love them!

I haven't read them. As a librarian, I'm familiar with them, though. I'm a little reactionary about humor in my fantasy.

I was bullied insistently for liking D&D and fantasy. People would make fun of me and how "stupid" the interest was. I'd get beat up over them. When I wasn't defending myself against these attacks, it was fighting my family to accept it as not Satanic or a corrupting influence. I had to hide my gaming and fantasy books for a time. Later - when I was an adult - my ex-wife "found God" and she wanted me to stop playing - which was one of the factors in our divorce.

I think my past has shaped me to avoid whimsy in my fantasy (some relevant, naturally occurring humor is okay though). I'm also cautious about dark, edgelord characters or evil parties.

I had to fight every step of the way to be able to stay with this hobby. I don't find a lot of humor in it. But I'm also not a gatekeeper. I want it to be easy and welcoming to everyone. I don't have a bubble pipe.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

People would make fun of me and how "stupid" the interest was. I'd get beat up over them.

Bullies make fun of your "stupid interest" no matter what that interest happens to be.

Always remember, you can never get more stupid than a bunch of grown men chasing a pigs bladder round a muddy field.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Always remember, you can never get more stupid than a bunch of grown men chasing a pigs bladder round a muddy field.

That's not true! I dare to be more stupid!

I deeply care, not about being a grown man chasing a pig bladder around a field ... but about WATCHING them do it.

And .... I care deeply not based upon the people doing it so much as the laundry that they are wearing that day.

In addition, I truly believe that the things I do, such as the clothes I wear and the position I am sitting in, can affect the actions of these people playing miles away.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Dude, have your read any of Piers Anthony's Xanth novels? You would absolutely love them!

I only read the first two. I do not recommend them to anyone. If I were to summarize them, it's would be: A creepy dude high on LSD writing fantasy novels to flesh out his own sexist ideas.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Name - Thaco, clear ties to older version of the game, and all that entails, favoured still by some.

Appearance - out of shape, older male, and in the close up, bad skin.

Attitude - sad, tired.

Outlook - hates kids.

Role - Gatekeeper.

---

Now, if you take this as a whole? It's very very easy to see this as a statement about more than Thaco. Intended or not.

I look forward to the later NPCs which surely will come that poke at other stereotyped 'tropes' of groups of players.

Right?

This is how I saw it. It's not just a retired character named Thaco. It's an old angry clown who doesn't want people to touch his stuff and hates kids named Thaco. Why not a retired gamesman who likes showing kids his favorite carnival game?

And considering there are constant blow ups between the old gen and new gen of players (old D&D is racist! Old players are gatekeepers! etc New players are whiney! New D&D is easy mode!), this seemed like WotC adding logs to a fire.