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

[Faolyn]

Ok, since we've now hit the rationale for gender based ability differences (thankfully skipping the halfling vs goliaths and going straight to women aren't as strong as men) there is only one last rail to touch. So I'll say it.

Darn, I just did that. Sorry!

 

[Remathilis]

I actually do prefer the old AC system. Thac0 can be tricky but we used to chart it out on the sheet as players. As a GM it it’s easy once you get used to doing the math (I would say 3E was just as hard, if not harder because you often had to add large numbers in your head on the fly, whereas in 2E the numbers were fairly contained). I don’t see us going back to it for the current editions but some of this stuff feels less wonky than it sounds or than how it is often remembered (I expected Thac0 to be very tricky when I went back to it, and at first it was initially but that passed pretty quickly (especially when I realized at times it was easier than some 3E math)

The one thing I distinctly recall was that 2e math got harder the later into the night or more inebriated you became until you reached the singularity and the DM stopped caring. Then your attack hit or miss mostly based on "close enough" and "vibes".

 

[Remathilis]

Darn, I just did that. Sorry!

Queue another 30 pages...

 

[Bedrockgames]

There is a pretty sizable difference between sexes in sporting events but also within sexes by weight division (so if you really wanted to be realistic you would also have to put caps of make characters who are in different weight categories). A light weight is going to have an extremely hard time contending with a heavy weight. That stuff is real but I don’t think you need that in a fantasy RPG where figures like Red Sonja are expected. We are doing genre and not simulating boxing matches or something

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

And none of this "attack matrix" bull.

It's not a matrix if it doesn't represent a linear function from one vector space to another.

 

[Remathilis]

It's not a matrix if it doesn't represent a linear function from one vector space to another.

Sir! None of those words are in the Bible...

 

[Bedrockgames]

The one thing I distinctly recall was that 2e math got harder the later into the night or more inebriated you became until you reached the singularity and the DM stopped caring. Then your attack hit or miss mostly based on "close enough" and "vibes".

I never drank during games, but getting tired definitely makes something like Thac0 harder. But 3E was also hard when you were tired due to the large numbers. With Thac0 the GM does need to not slip into ‘close enough’. I think if you do that, it starts to get harder than it really is (for me at least)

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Sir! None of those words are in the Bible...

I refer you to Laplace's reply to Napoleon.

(Yes, he probably never said it. But he should have.)

 

[ezo]

How conveeeenient.

It is, especially given this response as well.

But do you include similar penalties for men and the places where they're weaker than women? Will you houserule a penalty for men on Con saves, or let women regain extra hit points during a short rest?

If not, why not?

Wow. Really? Read my posts. I just said I houserule women got advantage on saves vs. disease and to resist pain, as an example.

So, yes, I have. And when I run games with the reduced carry capacity for women (for male drow), I include the other house-rules as well.

It doesn't need to be in the books to be an optional rule.

It doesn't need to not be in it, either, so when others consider it--they have guidelines for it.

Exactly--and it's especially dumb in a game where all the men in the party could be wizards and rogues and all the women could be warrior-types. Sure, my greataxe-toting barbarian just isn't capable of carrying, relatively speaking, as much stuff as your scrawny cutpurse can, because she has boobs.

No, it would depend on your female having STR 16+ vs. the male wizard or rogue with an 8. Even using a x12 vs x15 multiple, she would have 192 lbs vs. 120 lbs for the males. She would actually be able to carry 60% more than either of them.

(And speaking of realism, smaller creatures can have greater lifting capacity in relation to their size and weight than larger creatures do. Halflings should get a bonus to the amount of stuff they can carry.)

True, which is why halflings at roughly half height can carry half weight. If I did it by the all the dimensions it would only be 1/8 for medium creatures. So, halflings (or gnomes or kobolds) can carry four times in effect by making it half instead of 1/8.

 

[Scribe]

(And speaking of realism, smaller creatures can have greater lifting capacity in relation to their size and weight than larger creatures do. Halflings should get a bonus to the amount of stuff they can carry.)

(Edit: An elephant can carry about a quarter of its weight on its back before experiencing pain. A harpy eagle can fly carrying half its weight.)

African Elephant: 6000 KG
Harpy Eagle: 6-9 KG (Female) 4-5 KG (Male)