D&D 5E Don't Throw 5e Away Because of Hasbro

[SlyFlourish]

Hey, Mike, I have no problem with you or your content, but I did want point out that that is an actual treasure recommendation. “Any” is a specific treasure preference defined in the DMG as a roll on the Random Horde Table. For a CR 2 monster, that’s 2d4 x 100 GP and 1d4-1 magic items.

Other preferences include Individual (roll on the Random Individual Treasure Table), and the Treasure Themes of Arcana, Armaments, Implements, and Relics. In the case of a listed Treasure Theme, a roll is made on the Random Horde Table, and any magic items found are rolled or selected from the appropriate Theme’s table.

I know, and I recognize that its similar to the 2e way where you had monsters tied to treasure tables. I also dont think it's very useful. I can always go roll on the tables. I think it would have been far better to do what A5e did and offer some actual treasure for a monster so I don't have to go reference another book in the middle of a game if I end up running a monster on the fly.

Some are just fine with "treasure: armaments". That's cool. I'm not.

 

[SlyFlourish]

I wasn’t wrong - I was talking about your original video. In the follow up (your words) “The Story Behind WotCs Blurring of D&D 2024 Videos”.

“I happen to be launching a Kickstarter on the following Tuesday. I bet this would be a good video to bring attention to my site and to my Kickstarter, because you know I’m running a business as well. […] I get it, I’m also promoting my own kickstarter, so it’s not like you know, Im not a saint in this thing.”

So a little bit more than fortuitous. You explicitly spelled out the link. You were making YouTube videos about D&D products at least in part to promote your own books. Your follow up videos - the one I copied, plus the follow-follow up Update on Blur-gate. (Not sure if you coined that term or not). Both making hay out of the controversy that has got so many people wound up, that they’re still raising it months later here. To be clear I didn’t bring blurgate up. A poster here did listing what he felt were the indignities of WotC which meant they couldn’t follow them.

Maybe I’m unfairly holding you partly accountable for the many other videos made by other folks attacking WotC about the same subject blurgate - it’s not about individuals for me, it’s about the collective impact of negativity from commentators. You contributed to that and fueled it. You can say and do what you like but when you create a thread where you basically said there are lots of us making 5e stuff you can buy from if you don’t like WotC. You’re gonna get called out on that. Particularly when it benefits you financially.

I think you're mixing up cause and effect. It was fortuitous that I got the PHB and had the opportunity to preview it the week before (or week during? I can't remember). But I didn't set that up. That was circumstance. I definitely gained an advantage, both when I posted my original video and almost certainly when things blew up (but I couldn't say for sure if it really helped the KS or not – it's hard to draw a clear conclusion and it's almost certainly not as big as you think).

The difference is – I didn't intend for any of this and, really, I wish the whole blur-gate thing didn't happen because I really liked the PHB and was excited to talk about it. Sure, I'm critical, but, trust me, I wasn't happy at all with what happened or the results. If the whole thing could have gone the right way – letting us preview it as we did in the end – I would have been much happier with the circumstance.

There's a common feeling that YouTubers who chase these stories are "doing it for the clicks". Some do, but I haven't met any of them who didn't believe what they said. Just because controversy brings attention doesn't mean the controversy isn't true.

 

[Imaro]

I know, and I recognize that its similar to the 2e way where you had monsters tied to treasure tables. I also dont think it's very useful. I can always go roll on the tables. I think it would have been far better to do what A5e did and offer some actual treasure for a monster so I don't have to go reference another book in the middle of a game if I end up running a monster on the fly.

Some are just fine with "treasure: armaments". That's cool. I'm not.

The problem with set treasure is how useful is it longterm vs a table with multiple entries and results.

If I'm doing a one shot or a random one off monster... great. But if I'm running a campaign that features a monster or group of monsters heavily.... I might get 1 or 2 uses before my players are scratching their heads on why the 5th goblin has the same treasure as the first.

I think the ideal solution would be both but I'm trying to think of any monster product i know of that has done this.

 

[Umbran]

I'll ignore the childish quip and try to answer this respectfully...

Im not going to admit I'm wrong because ....

Mod Note:
....because you started this line with publicly calling out an individual for something they wrote over a year ago, setting this entire exchange up as an antagonistic and ego-filled conflict and virtually guaranteeing that neither of you were going to back down.

This didn't start well. If you want it to end well, please dial back on the aggression. Thanks.

 

[Faolyn]

Collection agencies do not necessarily only recover stolen goods. But, yeah, it wouldn't matter if they sent Mr. Rogers to retrieve the cards, WotC would still be in the wrong.

No. If they had sent someone without such a terrible reputation, we probably never would have heard about it unless Cannon chose to complain about it online. The only reason we heard about it is because they sent Pinkertons.

 

[Remathilis]

No. If they had sent someone without such a terrible reputation, we probably never would have heard about it unless Cannon chose to complain about it online. The only reason we heard about it is because they sent Pinkertons.

And what group would that be? The police? Ask Brionna Taylor how that went. Or maybe you mean Blackwater?

Let's be real here. Any group sent to Cannon's house would elicit the same condemnation. The Pinkertons are just recognized from Red Dead Redemption and thus memeable.

 

[Faolyn]

They hired the pinkertons because they are a reputable company and one of the largest in the country that do things like track down stolen goods. Despite your insistence that they are jack booted thugs because of what long dead people did back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries along

It's very convenient you keep ignoring what I say about what they're doing now.

with being featured bad guys in red dead redemption 2

Never played it; don't know anything about it except for the animation errors in the first game. I didn't even know they were in RDR2 until people started saying that the Pinkertons are these poor innocent people not like how they're depicted in it, WotC did nothing wrong, waah, go buy their books.

there's very little evidence they've done much of anything controversial in modern times.

Unless you could illegally spying on people who are trying to form unions.

The cards were stolen. They were not stolen by the guy who eventually received them. It appears an employee at WOTC may have stolen them, though WOTC is remaining quiet about that. That's what can likely be deduced from the deleted video, and the explanation about where the end-recipient got them, and the nature of the questions from the detectives.

Then why did WotC deal with the distributors first? Or why seize the cards right then and there, instead of waiting until they had found out which distributor it was, then getting the cards back? For that matter, if "WotC is remaining quiet about that," how do we know they were actually stolen by anyone in the first place instead of released by accident?

Obviously because THEY ARE ONE OF THE LARGEST CORPORATE DETECTIVE AGENCIES ON THE PLANET.

DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE THE BEST PEOPLE FOR THE JOB TO GO AFTER AN INDIVIDUAL INSTEAD OF A COMPANY. Since we're shouting and all.

Let me ask you this: their private firefighters who just risked their lives to protect homes in the Palisades, do they also match your Wild West shenanigans image?

Are these private firefighters spying on or trying to sabotage union-makers?

Why do you keep insisting I have a "Wild West" image of them when I keep referring to things they've done within this century? Even a couple of years ago. Not 150 years ago.

Honest opinion time?

I think some of y'all think that we're judging you for buying D&D books and so are looking for any excuse to make us into the bad guys or to claim we're stupidly uninformed, so you don't have to feel judged.

I mean, seriously, what's your endgame here? "WotC did nothing wrong, so it's dumb of you to 'throw away your books'"?

 

[Faolyn]

And what group would that be? The police? Ask Brionna Taylor how that went. Or maybe you mean Blackwater?

I already did this. Cease and desists, requests to take down the video, asking YouTube to put a strike against him if he refuses. Go after the distributors, not the recipient.

Let's be real here. Any group sent to Cannon's house would elicit the same condemnation. The Pinkertons are just recognized from Red Dead Redemption and thus memeable.

I had no idea they were in RDR2 until people started talking about it in threads like this. I honestly barely even have a "Wild West" image of them; my primary image of them is from union-busting.

 

[Faolyn]

Here we go... MM isn't even out yet but you had to disparage it for...well I'm not sure for what particular purpose in this post but hey it's your ( mostly uninformed) oppinion.

Have you missed the multiple threads on this very forum talking about the MM? There's one thread that has 113 pages in it atm. Enough information has been revealed to have an informed opinion on it.

 

[Faolyn]

Don't get me wrong i like some of the things you listed but feel they also have drawbacks...like pigeonholing monsters as opposed to allowing the flexibility a DM needs to find their own way monsters work in their world.

While this is absolutely true, how many DMs really do that? There are frequent discussions and even arguments over whether or not a particular monster acts or even looks a certain way canonically. Heck, look at all the arguments over alignment, with some people being dead set against removing it because "how will they know how the monster is supposed to act?" (An actual argument I've had given to me, since I'm anti-alignment.)

This is because most DMs go by what's in the book rather than make up their own interpretations. Maybe they like the official interpretations, or they might not have the time and energy to worldbuild, or might fear they can't do a good enough job, or might not want to have to constantly have to tell their players, "I don't care what the book says, in my world, this monster is ABC instead of XYZ."

So for most DMs, having tables of lore, signs, activities, names, etc., is extremely useful.