Recent content by Erich the Fuzzy

Um, have you not watched the Harry Potter films? Yikes, look at the creatures running Gringotts and tell me they don't remind you of any ethnic stereotypes. Different from D&D (or Tolkien) goblins, sure, but I bet a lot of people now playing D&D first encountered goblins in HP.

I'm not sure how this change increases a turret-style approach, unless you just mean that stronger monster attacks mean a stronger desire not to be hit, so you fight from further away? Wouldn't that be the case with anything that makes monster attacks stronger? The new hit-no-save powers for...

I think these changes are exceptions (and the same happened to the Panther as the Tiger) and I think it's because someone realized the Pounce action was a little complicated with the damage varying by whether it had Advantage or not, and Prowl was FAR too complicated (combining a move, a...

They don't know a fireball is coming, so they are not likely to scatter. The way it helps your fireball is it means that, during their next turn (following when you Frightened them), they can't approach your caster & party and get too close for fireball to work without being friendly fire. They...

Again, though, if that were the case (weaking a CR 1/8 with pack tactics because they are now cheaper in encounter budget) then why did the CR 1/8 Kobold (now Kobold Warrior) get STRONGER instead of weaker? Their AC and HP both increased by 2. If the logic is that a CR 1/8 with pack tactics...

So if that was the reason, which, if any, other low CR creatures have been nerfed in a similar way? Many of the other (non-humanoid) small monsters also seem to have gotten tougher, not weaker. Including the Merfolk, Monodrone, and Twig Blight, all of whom now do MORE damage than their 2014...

Yet this wasn't a problem for 2014? This is the re-do of the Tribal Warrior, which was also CR 1/8 and had the 2-hand spear option for 5 damage instead of 4 yet also with Pack Tactics. The only change is the Warrior Infantry has 1 better AC (13 vs. 12) but 2 fewer hp (9 instead of 11) due to a...

Would a single point more average damage break that, though?

That makes some sense, but I don't like what that means for stat blocks like the Warrior Infantry who has a spear but no shield, so should default to the 2-handed damage. It makes sense to simplify it to only having one version in the stat block, but it should be the more appropriate version -...

I can sort of live with black-powder-style weapons in some D&D campaigns. But this looks like he's holding a pump shotgun, which means cartridge shells and a magazine. That's far past medieval and renaissance and right into early modern. Could they not have shown at least some kind of blunderbuss?

We used minis from the early 80s, but mostly to establish marching order or for flavour, not placed in combat positions on a battlemap. However, I came home from GenCon 19 in 1986 with a big clear sheet of plastic marked with 1" squares on one side and hexes on the other, that could be used...

In my 1986 experience in small-town Canada, which had more limited retail than the US, gaming supplies were available in some comic shops and hobby shops (selling sports cards and such) and sometimes even book stores (which sold game books) in large towns and small cities, and if you were in a...

Ah, I didn't catch that when I was there but it makes sense, so I can see people having started it by then. All the more reason they could have achieved their 3-dice-rolling shots on ST with an actual functional dice roll, i.e. a d20 to-hit and 2d4 or 2d6 for damage all rolled together.

I assume the "level 1 dwarf" meant a level 1 character (any class) who was also a dwarf (referring to her small physical size). Although he could also be implying she was only playing Basic, in which dwarf was actually a class. (He is using the AD&D DM's screen, thus they group is playing AD&D)...

1) Vecna was not a TSR-produced figure, so the DM had to come up with his own figure (to go with the stats he created), presumably by using an existing figure already missing its left arm. But technically, Vecna didn't lose his hand & eye - rather, they were all that were left after the rest of...