D&D General *Hobbits* in a late-80s AD&D product

[Old Fezziwig]

What, questionable logic and writing??? In a TSR product from the late 1980s?????

I'm as surprised as you are.

 

[aco175]

Found the culprit, unless we are blaming the editors.

I'm more interested in the XP totals and how you get different amounts for killing or defeating or retreating.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Found the culprit, unless we are blaming the editors.

I don't see why we can't blame both the writer and the editors.

 

[aco175]

I don't see why we can't blame both the writer and the editors.

I was thinking that the author might have been part of that British D&D nonsense back in the day. It might have been a natural slip.

 

[el-remmen]

Found the culprit, unless we are blaming the editors.

Blame XP:
Blame the Author: 1087
Blame the Editor: 2360
Blame Both: 4347

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I was thinking that the author might have been part of that British D&D nonsense back in the day. It might have been a natural slip.

Robin Jenkins, the Pride of Woodruff, Wisconsin?*

* May not be an actual nickname.

 

[Demetrios1453]

A "hobbit" makes an appearance the 1989 game Curse of the Azure Bonds, even though halfling characters are possible and there's an important halfling (named as such) earlier in the game.

 

[pemerton]

I'm more interested in the XP totals and how you get different amounts for killing or defeating or retreating.

From page 3:

The Monster X.P. entry is computed from the Dungeon Master's Guide listings and a subjective additions has been made for the tricks and traps of any given encounter. Three listing are provided under the monster experience points. These listing are used by the DM as the situation merits. The Kill listing is used when the characters have killed all the creatures in the encounter. The Defeat entry is used in the event the party drives off some of the creatures or otherwise meets and wins out over the creatures without causing the death of all the monsters. The Retreat listing is used if the party made an effort to defeat the creatures in the adventure, but was forced to retreat. This last entry enable the DM to recognize that the party learned from the enocunter, but just could not quite finish it off.​

Looking at a couple of entries, the retreat XP seem to be about one-quarter, and the defeat XP about three-quarters, of the kill XP.

 

[Lanefan]

The structure is close enough that shepherds have knowledge of it, such that they can say it's crowded with statues of victims. It's old enough and far enough away that its function isn't well-remembered but not so old that the shepherds can't tell the races of the statues, which suggests that it's in passable repair, the shepherds have explored, and the area's somewhat well-traveled if there are lots of victims. To me, it just feels like there's a lot of stuff to kind of straighten out. It feels over-written, like it's trying to do too much.

It works for me - the statues could be quite worn and weathered yet their species still be obvious; and the days of "somewhat well-traveled" could have been a long time ago.

 

[LordBP]

WG9 Gargoyle which was published in 1989 had mention of a hobbit thief (Stumpy) in one part and the same thief as halfling in another. Probably an editing error.