D&Disms That Make You Go "Huh?"

[Fifth Element]

And how about the sheer bigotry of the idea that one entire race of beings would all be smarter/stronger/more agile than all of the members of another race? Or that an entire race would be inherently good or evil?

Agree with the second part wholeheartedly, but the first one's just wrong.

A racial bonus to an ability score means a member of that race is more likely to be more agile (for example) than another race, but it does not remotely mean that the entire race is more agile than all of the members of another race.

Halflings get +2 Dex. So they range from 5-20 at 1st level. Humans are at 3-18. A human with an 18 Dex is more agile than a halfling with a 16 Dex. All this means is that halflings with 18 Dex are more common (proportionately) than humans with 18 Dex.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Yes, no Gish, just Elves (though I still think the straight Elf Cleric/Wizard won AD&D).

And Nifft, you haven't played AD&D, have you?

That was 1/2 elves. 1E AD&D elves couldn't be clerics (until UA, at least).

 

[Slife]

Here's a more general something, that I've noticed lately.

Spellcasters are REALLY GREAT for a short period of time.

Many of the 3.0 spells were moved from hours to minutes, and minutes to rounds.

And I'm left looking at the upper level spells going, "OKay sure. A wizard can move really fast for a few seconds, and he can do lots of damage within an x spread... but when does he move mountains? Spellcasters = great artillery, but where's the fantastical cosmic earth shatteringness?"

It's like high level spellcasters are good at just, well, killing things on a local scale.

That's because any time a full caster breaks out the fantastical cosmic earth shatteringness it's so broken the DM overrules it.

 

[RFisher]

Maybe not -isms, but the collection of monsters in the various MMs that seem to have evolved for the sole purpose of screwing over adventurers: the mimic, the piercer, the trapper, the gelatinous cube...I could go on and on.

If you have a world full of dungeons & adventurers that delve them, I'd expect creatures to appear to take advantage of them.

"Munchkin"

The Wikipedia article suggests that it was meant as "childishly ridiculous".

The lack of spells that would be usable in daily life.

Of course, the game isn't about daily life.

 

[Rechan]

Of course, the game isn't about daily life.

No, but a few more spells that don't revolve around combat.

 

[The Ubbergeek]

No, but a few more spells that don't revolve around combat.

I will pipe in - you are doing it wrong.


Thinker around the box... even fighting spells can have out of fight utility. Like... Fireball are a general explosive appliance? Grease in mecanic and er.... games? Sleep to quiet down a kid or to fight insomnia a bit?

And somes are oblivious, like healing spells and related spells...

Eberron is strong on that aspect (or stronger).

 

[Dross]

The lack of spells that would be usable in daily life.

The cantrip Prestidigination would seem to cover a great deal for normal life situations.
Mending, cleaning, amusing small children etc.

 

[pawsplay]

Pixelbitching
A style of GMing--specifically, a form of railroading--in which the players need to find one specific clue in order to advance on the one plotline determined by the GM, cannot proceed without it, and do not get any help from the GM in finding it. If said clue is particularly hard to find (or if the GM requires a very specific action to locate it), the GM may be said to be "pixelbitching".
Origin: Computer games, specifically point-and-click games in which you need to click a specific place--sometimes only a few pixels on the screen (hence the name)--in order to get some magic clue you need to advance in the programmed-in plotline. Coined by SteveD on RPG.net.

See also

Zorking,

A passive-aggressive form of railroading in which you are given free rein to do just about anything you want, but only one very specific, unintuitive action will actually cause the adventure to move forward.

 

[AnonymousOne]

Of course, the game isn't about daily life.

QFT. It's all about killing things and taking their .

 

[Nifft]

That was 1/2 elves. 1E AD&D elves couldn't be clerics (until UA, at least).

That's good to know. I worry that my memories of old editions have been supplanted by Planescape: Torment and Baldur's Gate II.

Cheers, -- N