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

[Maxperson]

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)

Chart it? I just totaled my plusses up and had those listed on the paper, if I had +8 to hit from all sources, I'd roll d20+8 and it from my thac0. Roll a 17 with a thac0 of 15 and you hit -2. No need for charts to do basic math.

 

[Maxperson]

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

Now give me the average flight speed of the coconut laden offspring.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Chart it? I just totaled my plusses up and had those listed on the paper, if I had +8 to hit from all sources, I'd roll d20+8 and it from my thac0. Roll a 17 with a thac0 of 15 and you hit -2. No need for charts to do basic math.

It was something I picked up doing after the Ravenloft character sheet came out for Ravenloft in the Feast of Goblyns module:

 

[AnotherGuy]

On average, men do tend to be stronger than women, but not by much.

Which Earth in the multiverse is this?

Representing this with a Strength cap in D&D is really stupid.

Making a STR cap for female (human) characters would be pretty stupid without a complete overhaul of the ability system with regards to species and age. Like I would never accept that bent towards realism when my 3 feet halfling is able to attain maximum STR and be able to function in a world which caters predominantly for medium sized creatures...

EDIT: Our 5e campaign does indeed have a STR cap for halfings characters, but we balance it out mechanically with other perks. We have no gender caps. We do use though the physical penalties for age as per 3.5e.

 

[Chaosmancer]

It isn't a minor change in my opinion. This is pretty central Lich lore. I get the change might not bother you and that is fine. I've already given the reasons why it had value for me and other posters. So you can check those posts if you didn't happen to see them.

No, it isn't a change to the lich lore. It is the change of a single word, to a different pair of words. You may as well complain that "Breath Weapon" was changed to "Destructive Breath" and that that is central to dragon lore and a massive change.... when nothing actually changed.

And you have repeatedly stated that the entire value is... cool word. That's it. And Soul Cage is still pretty cool. Just not to you.

I think if you take a step back and take a broader look at it, you will see there is a degree of religiosity to it.

No, no there isn't.

 

[SkidAce]

Now give me the average flight speed of the coconut laden offspring.

"blue!, no red!"

 

[Chaosmancer]

I don’t know any of the media you’re talking about here enough to weigh in.

Yeah, funny that. Every single time I bring up media examples for people, they are never actually familiar with them. Also interesting how you want to lead with that when I laid them out pretty clearly so you don't need to know anything about the actual products.

I can say I am not thrilled with either camps take on media. I also find both camps use a lot of hyperbole and paint worst case scenarios. So when a movie or book comes out that is controversial, even if I share some of the concerns about the controversy, I wait several months, sometimes years to watch them so my experience isn’t shaded by the cultural discussion and controversy.

I never said the total destruction of creativity. I said chilling effect and stifling. It is constraining. But I mentioned the hays code to show people still make good things within those constraints. It doesn’t make the constraints a great thing

Again on the phrase equality feels like oppression, there is so much wrong with that. It is an incredibly bad idea. But it is impossible to get into without getting into issues outside the scope of the forum. The bottom line for me though is when I see someone use that phrase, I have less trust in their judgment

So when a controversial book comes out, you will wait months, sometimes years to engage with it, so your experience isn't shaded by the controversy.... and yet here you are, still before the official release date of this book, at the forefronts of the discussion telling us how we should view this "controversy".

Interesting.

And yes, you have repeatedly brought up the boogeyman of the Hayes code. You have repeatedly told us that this will chill creativity, constrain it, stifle it, make it worse and harder and.... where's the evidence? You have been saying this for YEARS. You keep claiming this has been a decade long slide, but there is no evidence. So why should I believe you? You've made the same claim for years, and you've been proven wrong by the things that have come out. So I have no reason to believe that THIS TIME you are correct.

 

[ezo]

"blue!, no red!"

I don't know if there is truth to this or not--I've never been able to find out, but I heard in the Matrix movie they went with the blue and red pill due to their love of the blue (the illusion, thinking you know what to say) vs red (the truth, scary and unsettling though it may be) from Holy Grail.

 

[Chaosmancer]

To be clear, I am a fan of Pandius and all the effort these unpaid dedicated fans go through to keep the setting and interest alive with their freely issued Magazine. I don't look down upon a people who try celebrate and accept humanity with its history, its flaws and its golden ages. They try impart their passion and interests into their beloved setting - be it music, linguistics, cartography, religion, history...etc

They are not harming anyone, their community is open. It is a shame people prefer to chastise...

I don't see any good coming from celebrating the flaws of humanity, when many people glorify those flaws as being righteous and the true order of the world.

 

[Faolyn]

The book I'm thinking of is 50 years old this year. But it didn't emerge out of a vacuum.

Against Our Will - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Well, just the second paragraph of that description of the book has a major flaw in it (the bit about animals not raping), but it can be forgiven for for being such an old book.