D&D General Less is More: Why You Can't Get What You Want in D&D

[Voadam]

Has there been a good Lawyer subclass of the Bard in any edition?

My favorite option for RPG classes in the legal field was in Warhammer where they had two that I remember, I played the first.

 

[Alzrius]

I have vague, and probably wrong, recollections of an attorney/lawyer NPC class in some old dragon magazine or something.

There was a kit for lawyers in the Masque of the Red Death setting in Dragon #215.

 

[MGibster]

Reading Snarf's posts made me the man I am today.

 

[Voadam]

The 2e Warriors & Priests of the Realms had a kit for priests of Tyr the justice god who acted as judges, the Scales of Tyr.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I think Snarf is open to criticism, and would understand the humor in my saying "TLDR" with a smiley face concerning a thread titled "Less is more".

I don't think he'd think I was being intentionally unkind. I don't know as my other criticism of Snarf is they will post these dissertations and then not engage with responses as if this is a blog rather than a discussion forum. Maybe he will this time?

I am going to briefly drop back in and address this, as well as a few other collateral points.

First, it is not true that I don't engage in debate, but constructive, and, um, otherwise. If you look into any of countless other discussion threads, you will see that I will definitely engage in a productive (or, sometime, unproductive) back-and-forth. However, over time, I have increasingly chosen to not do so for the threads I have started. There are several reasons for this, but the trend was born from my examination of recurring experience.

Specifically, I would write long, considered, and nuanced OPs. And inevitably, there would be several comments along the lines of, "Well, what about X??!!!" Of course, I had already addressed X in the OP, but the person either ignored it, missed it, or their acknowledging that I had addressed it would get in the way of the point they were already going to make.* Which would lead me to a reply that was always along the lines of, "To quote the OP, 'insert quote from my post.'" Which, yeah, was both responsive, but also lead to the person I was replying to getting into more of an argument, because they really just wanted to argue.

*If you look in this thread, you will see it here as well.

After a while, I realized that the original post I made would be my thoughts on the issue. After all, if I'm going to write that much, I should probably say what I'm going to say, amirite? That doesn't mean I don't read the comments- I genuinely love seeing where people take the ideas! And I will often see ideas or comments or arguments that might lead to, or be incorporated in, another post. It's not that I think my ideas are infallible; far from it. It's more that it's fairly rare for me to see a reply that I feel demands that I need to reply to it. I'm okay with people having differing opinions, and I think that my opinion, and my justification, is in the OP- why just keep re-stating it? After all, if that many words didn't work, why would more words?

As for the length, if you don't like my posts, I have a 100% money-back guarantee. When I write, it's because I enjoy it. No other reason. I don't get paid ... certainly not by the word, because that would make me the Bill Gates of Enworld. I know that long-form isn't for everyone (and my posts are hardly long-form!), but I promise that if you don't read my posts, there are tons of other people here that start threads with very few words. Given that I write for my enjoyment ... while I do take constructive comments seriously, I won't be changing my style, verbiage, or length. On the other hand, if you want to start paying my normal hourly rate to write less ... well, DM me and we can start talkin'!

@FrogReaver - You asked how long these take me. There is no single answer. The simple and short answer is that each post takes a lifetime! The slightly longer answer is that most of these posts are churning in the back of my brain somewhere ... and when they suddenly erupt, I just start typing. The actual writing of the posts doesn't take that long (between thirty minutes and two hours), but the time might be more if I need to verify facts and check sources as I am writing. Finally, there are two other things-

First, I will sometimes start a post and give up somewhere between 50% and 80% of the way. I will save those and re-visit them at a later date to see if they are worth posting. That said, many posts like that aren't worth saving, but I might take part of it to use in a different post later. Recycling, it's good for the environment!

Second, when I'm in the mood to write, I have to write. So I just write and post. What you see (with the exception of the rare previously-discarded post that has been recycled) is always the product of sitting down, writing it in one swoop, and then posting. Which means you will see typos. I do not edit.* I will often go back and look at a post I wrote and see terrible typos, but I prefer to leave it like that. See, you can't rewrite, 'cause to rewrite is to deceive and lie, and you betray your own thoughts. To rethink the flow and the rhythm, the tumbling out of the words, is a betrayal, and it's a sin, FrogReaver, it's a sin.

*The one exception is if someone in the comments identifies a factual error.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I am going to briefly drop back in and address this, as well as a few other collateral points.

First, it is not true that I don't engage in debate, but constructive, and, um, otherwise. If you look into any of countless other discussion threads, you will see that I will definitely engage in a productive (or, sometime, unproductive) back-and-forth. However, over time, I have increasingly chosen to not do so for the threads I have started. There are several reasons for this, but the trend was born from my examination of recurring experience.

Specifically, I would write long, considered, and nuanced OPs. And inevitably, there would be several comments along the lines of, "Well, what about X??!!!" Of course, I had already addressed X in the OP, but the person either ignored it, missed it, or their acknowledging that I had addressed it would get in the way of the point they were already going to make.* Which would lead me to a reply that was always along the lines of, "To quote the OP, 'insert quote from my post.'" Which, yeah, was both responsive, but also lead to the person I was replying to getting into more of an argument, because they really just wanted to argue.

*If you look in this thread, you will see it here as well.

After a while, I realized that the original post I made would be my thoughts on the issue. After all, if I'm going to write that much, I should probably say what I'm going to say, amirite? That doesn't mean I don't read the comments- I genuinely love seeing where people take the ideas! And I will often see ideas or comments or arguments that might lead to, or be incorporated in, another post. It's not that I think my ideas are infallible; far from it. It's more that it's fairly rare for me to see a reply that I feel demands that I need to reply to it. I'm okay with people having differing opinions, and I think that my opinion, and my justification, is in the OP- why just keep re-stating it? After all, if that many words didn't work, why would more words?

As for the length, if you don't like my posts, I have a 100% money-back guarantee. When I write, it's because I enjoy it. No other reason. I don't get paid ... certainly not by the word, because that would make me the Bill Gates of Enworld. I know that long-form isn't for everyone (and my posts are hardly long-form!), but I promise that if you don't read my posts, there are tons of other people here that start threads with very few words. Given that I write for my enjoyment ... while I do take constructive comments seriously, I won't be changing my style, verbiage, or length. On the other hand, if you want to start paying my normal hourly rate to write less ... well, DM me and we can start talkin'!

@FrogReaver - You asked how long these take me. There is no single answer. The simple and short answer is that each post takes a lifetime! The slightly longer answer is that most of these posts are churning in the back of my brain somewhere ... and when they suddenly erupt, I just start typing. The actual writing of the posts doesn't take that long (between thirty minutes and two hours), but the time might be more if I need to verify facts and check sources as I am writing. Finally, there are two other things-

First, I will sometimes start a post and give up somewhere between 50% and 80% of the way. I will save those and re-visit them at a later date to see if they are worth posting. That said, many posts like that aren't worth saving, but I might take part of it to use in a different post later. Recycling, it's good for the environment!

Second, when I'm in the mood to write, I have to write. So I just write and post. What you see (with the exception of the rare previously-discarded post that has been recycled) is always the product of sitting down, writing it in one swoop, and then posting. Which means you will see typos. I do not edit.* I will often go back and look at a post I wrote and see terrible typos, but I prefer to leave it like that. See, you can't rewrite, 'cause to rewrite is to deceive and lie, and you betray your own thoughts. To rethink the flow and the rhythm, the tumbling out of the words, is a betrayal, and it's a sin, FrogReaver, it's a sin.

*The one exception is if someone in the comments identifies a factual error.

Damn it! When I plunk down my hard earned cash, I expect a finished product! You are as bad as WOTC!

What? Not compensated? Free? Wtf am I being PM’d?

Oh…uh, gotta go.

 

[Autumnal]

Reading Snarf's posts made me the man I am today.

That seems like a lot to dump on the poor guy.

See, you can't rewrite, 'cause to rewrite is to deceive and lie, and you betray your own thoughts. To rethink the flow and the rhythm, the tumbling out of the words, is a betrayal, and it's a sin, FrogReaver, it's a sin.

(We go on to discover that William Lee’s wife has been shooting up with the bug powder. “It’s a very literary high. A Kafkaesque high. It makes you feel like a bug.” But it’s the front part of this scene I was thinking of.)

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

@Autumnal

Good artists copy; great artists steal.
-Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

 

[Voadam]

After all, if that many words didn't work, why would more words?

And yet . . .

I only regret that I have but billions and billions of words to give to the eradication of bards.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Not too long. I have it on good authority that he's a self-hating bard.

I had a dream, a dream of a perfect world. One in which there was an exactly equal number of bards, and anti-bards.

And they all rushed together and exploded, cancelling each other out. And, lo, the world was a better, kinder, happier, and bard-free place after that.

Can't we all just dream a better world? I KNOW I CAN!