D&D General Drow & Orcs Removed from the Monster Manual

[Paul Farquhar]

D&D 2024 is really lame for making goblins into Official Fey (TM) and not doing the same for Elves/Eladrin, I will honestly die on this hill. Pick a lane!

From a game design perspective, I don’t think it’s a good idea to make goblins and elves the same, even if they are in folklore. The goblin king works as a fey without him having to be an elf as well. He is a shapeshifter, he can be tall and good looking if he wants to be.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

In mythology, yes. I’m not fond of Rowling, but she got her elves right.

I mean bro, I'm sorry but Rowling doesn't get to be called "mythology" just yet, give it a couple of centuries.

In myth, fey beings were sometimes small and ugly, and sometimes taller than humans and beautiful/glowing, and the beautiful weren't reliably any nicer than the small ones. And we know for a hard fact that Tolkien's elves and thus D&D's elves are derived directly from Norse (Indo-European) mythology relating to the tall/glowing/beautiful kind of fey being.

From a game design perspective, I don’t think it’s a good idea to make goblins and elves the same

Why though? You provide no reasoning. Elves even have a trait called Fey Ancestry which, functionally, could be elegantly replaced by making them actual Fey.

And you're talking a lot of smack about pop culture, but in pop culture elves are fey 100% as much as goblins are (i.e. in some places both are, some places neither are - but if one isn't, and one is, it's goblins who aren't and elves who are!).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I have not chosen to abuse dogs

But if you were trapped in a warehouse with some guard dogs who wanted to rip your throat out, and you had a weapon, what would you do?

It’s the context that matters, not the species.

 

[TiQuinn]

But if you were trapped in a warehouse with some guard dogs who wanted to rip your throat out, and you had a weapon, what would you do?

It’s the context that matters, not the species.

I think the context here is you're in the process of committing a crime.

 

[TwoSix]

In myth, fey beings were sometimes small and ugly, and sometimes taller than humans and beautiful/glowing, and the beautiful weren't reliably any nicer than the small ones. And we know for a hard fact that Tolkien's elves and thus D&D's elves are derived directly from Norse (Indo-European) mythology relating to the tall/glowing/beautiful kind of fey being.

I'm reasonably sure hardly anyone wants to replace tall, beautiful humanoids with short, wrinkly ones. That's not happening.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I think the context here is you're in the process of committing a crime.

Not necessarily. You could be an employee of said warehouse, and the guard dogs could be riled up or poorly trained. I've seen dogs behave unreasonably only a few times, but in none of those cases was the human they attacked doing anything wrong at all, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

(I may be a little biased because a friend of a friend was literally ripped limb from limb by dogs and killed, whilst trying to prevent them from attacking a woman and her baby. Supposedly tame dogs too.)

 

[TiQuinn]

Not necessarily. You could be an employee of said warehouse, and the guard dogs could be riled up or poorly trained. I've seen dogs behave unreasonably only a few times, but in none of those cases was the human they attacked doing anything wrong at all, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

(I may be a little biased because a friend of a friend was literally ripped limb from limb by dogs and killed, whilst trying to prevent them from attacking a woman and her baby. Supposedly tame dogs too.)

Fair enough. I think the point is that Warpiglet said they'd never abuse a dog. Defending oneself against an animal is not the same as abusing that animal.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

But if you were trapped in a warehouse with some guard dogs who wanted to rip your throat out, and you had a weapon, what would you do?

It’s the context that matters, not the species.

Totally. But we can still have dogs or wolves as a creature entry in general, I assume.

Or multiple entries…it’s a moot point I realize upon reflection. Buy the book or not said to self and other.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

but in pop culture elves are fey 100%

And they are “little people”, just like they were in the older folktales (maybe closer to 3 foot than 1 foot).

I’ve got nothing against changing elves into fey, but I don’t see much advantage to doing so when we have goblins (and the generic fairy from WBtWL) for that now.

 

[Alzrius]

Jared the Goblin King

It's Jareth, not Jared, you philistine. Now go perform the Magic Dance^© ten times in repentence, or you'll be banished to the Bog of Eternal Stench.