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

[Remathilis]

I'm kind of late to the conversation, but the Lizardfolk in the MM are explicitly said to be the elemental variants of them. The humanoid Lizardfolk are nowhere to be found in the MM.

They are supposed to use the NPC stat blocks.

 

[Umbran]

They take pride in snorting in derision at the traditional player base, our norms, and dismissing us as relics of an unenlightened, intolerant past.

Well, the past was unenlightened and intolerant.
Much of the present is also unenlightened and intolerant. Just a bit less so.

"They"? Meaning WotC? No, they aren't "snorting" at anyone. They are just moving forward. Failure to do what you want is not a personal attack or "snort of derision" at you.

When you publicly advocate against attempting to be a little bit more enlightened, some of your fellow gamers may have opinions about how you are stuck in the last century. But they don't speak for WotC.

 

[TiQuinn]

So yeah, maybe there's someone out there who calls teffilin "phylacteries" and who finds the use of that term in connection with liches offensive...but unless they're posting here, your availing yourself of this hypothetical personage as someone on whose behalf you're arguing against the actual member of the community you're ostensibly concerned with not offending is exceptionally backward.

Well, hypothetical or not, again I point out that it’s a three year old decision not to use that word.

 

[Bae'zel]

When they decided that genetically evil, mortal races/species were no longer allowed in the game, they officially jumped the shark. They take pride in snorting in derision at the traditional player base, our norms, and dismissing us as relics of an unenlightened, intolerant past. This is the direction they have chosen, so I will once again state for the record that I did not leave D&D; rather, it left me.

At this late date, none of their actions of this nature should surprise you. Old School Renaissance gaming has come into being for this very reason.

Private companies are allowed to do as they please with their own products. You may not like it, but to take it so personally as an affront or insult is unfortunate.

As you said, there are other games out there that better meet your sensibilities. And communities too, I can think of at least one forum out there that revels in the past ways of doing things...

 

[Remathilis]

What I find funny is that there is apparently a group of players who are offended that there isn't a tenuous connection between a Jewish holy item and the vessel an evil undead magic user keeps it's soul in. Even if nobody is offended, what is the harm being caused by changing it to something that better describes it's actual purpose?

Please, enlighten me how WotC, Paizo, and Bethesda (among others) have harmed you by removing the word phylactery.

 

[AnotherGuy]

As a Greek, I was unaware of the religious association the word phylactery had to a Jewish holy item. It is pretty cool that there are still hidden artifacts to learn within this game we love.
I have come to like the word phylactery so I will not be changing it at my table.

But even more so, and this may offend, but I love drawing on real world cultures and history to appropriate ideas for my games, in the same way I enjoy using ideas from posters here and other parts of the net.
As I have now read up a little about the use of tefillin and I think it would be cool to include its use in a similar vein for the religious purposes of some fantasy people within my campaign. My players will also learn something.

 

[Remathilis]

But even more so, and this may offend, but I love drawing on real world cultures and history to appropriate ideas for my games, in the same way I enjoy using ideas from posters here and other parts of the net.

I think that is fine for your home game. I do that too. But I think WotC selling a book to millions of people needs to design on a different set of standards than you or I. And this is one area where I think going with the generic is a boon because you can repurpose a "spirit jar" into a phylactery, a soul gem, a canopic jar, a Sith Holocron or any other object you want.

 

[Alzrius]

Well, hypothetical or not, again I point out that it’s a three year old decision not to use that word.

On Paizo's part, though I'm not sure why that's relevant here.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I just used guards as Orcs.

Increased Str to 14. Reduced AC to 15 by reducing armor to studded leather and gave them all orc traits (despite the recommendation not to tinker with str or to add abilities that confer temporary hp).

My guess was that this raises CR to 1/4 and that was a very good estimate.

 

[Gradine]

I kind of thought it was funny that in The Pope's Exorcist, they went with Asmodeus, and they made a big deal about finding out the name. They could have just picked up any book of common demon/devil names and it would have been top of the list (Aardvarkanus having fallen out of favour).

Clearly the best part of The Pope's Exorcist, apart from it in general signaling Russel Crowe's full-fledged ascent into his goofy accent era, is that at one point they find an ancient "symbol of the Inquisition" and it's literally the symbol from Dragon Age: Inquisition