D&D 5E Pedantic Equipment Complaints

[orangefruitbat]

I just got my PHB, and I'm digging it. So far, EVERYTHING IS AWESOME, EVERYTHING IS COOL IN 5E...

...except the Equipment chapter. For some reason, I find myself quibbling over really petty details:

*why does the hooded lantern have 2x the illumination radius of the non-hooded lamp?

*do elephants really only cost 200 gp? (1/2 the cost of a warhorse). I know I shouldn't, but my next character is going to totally load up on elephants... Maybe this is how you get Beastmasters to not suck . (This is probably a simple errata issue and the cost should be 2000 gp).

*why does a warship cost 5000 less GP than a galley? What kind of warship is it anyways (a carrack with high towers fore and aft, a trimaran, etc)?

Can someone answer my really trivial complaints?

Alternatively, present your own minor equipment quibbles - it's more fun that way.

EDIT - one more. The sheet music on the trinkets page (p.161) is written in an inconsistent time signature. Also, who writes 2 quarter notes tided together instead of a half note?

 

[Andor]

There is some pretty iffy stuff on that trinket page. Unless your character is a Goblin keeping a necklace of elf-fingers is pretty dodgy. (09)

Why would anyone keep a figurine that gives him nightmares? (08) Although it might make a cool tie-in to your Old-one pact warlock.

A dead sprite in a jar? (46) Aren't sprites, you know, people?

There are a lot of references on that page though, everything from sandman (86) to the matrix (49), might be fun to try to pick them all out.

 

[Evenglare]

*why does the hooded lantern have 2x the illumination radius of the non-hooded lamp?

It burns brighter?

*do elephants really only cost 200 gp? (1/2 the cost of a warhorse). I know I shouldn't, but my next character is going to totally load up on elephants... Maybe this is how you get Beastmasters to not suck . (This is probably a simple errata issue and the cost should be 2000 gp).

My beast master doesn't "suck" because we roleplay stuff besides combat and my beast is very important to my character, not everything needs to be about combat . Otherwise apparently elephants do only cost 200 gp. Not in my world but apparently they do in the default assumption. /shrug.

*why does a warship cost 5000 less GP than a galley? What kind of warship is it anyways (a carrack with high towers fore and aft, a trimaran, etc)?

The warship probably costs 5k less than the galley because it costs 5k less to make than a galley, use your imagination, or up the cost. /shrug

The sheet music on the trinkets page (p.161) is written in an inconsistent time signature. Also, who writes 2 quarter notes tided together instead of a half note?

I don't know what to tell you about the tine signature, I can't even make it out plus there are dots above or below the staff which I can only guess what it means. Also perhaps they have a different concept of how to write music, perhaps in that culture they tie quarternotes together because it's tradition? I surely hope you don't think that our written music today is how it has always looked.

Those are my answers. They probably won't satisfy you but that's what they are. It's the best I could do.

 

[Andor]

Oh yeah, ha ha, your questions.

*why does the hooded lantern have 2x the illumination radius of the non-hooded lamp?

No idea, although it's only 4/3s the light radius. (60' vs 45')

*do elephants really only cost 200 gp? (1/2 the cost of a warhorse). I know I shouldn't, but my next character is going to totally load up on elephants... Maybe this is how you get Beastmasters to not suck . (This is probably a simple errata issue and the cost should be 2000 gp).

Well the warhorse is combat trained and the elephant isn't. Although presumably it is trained, god knows I wouldn't want to muck around with a wild elephant.

*why does a warship cost 5000 less GP than a galley? What kind of warship is it anyways (a carrack with high towers fore and aft, a trimaran, etc)?

I think Carrack sounds about right. It's faster that the sailing ship which I would guess to be a cog, but slower than a longship. ... Wait, its less expensive than a galley? What? Galleys are more expensive to operate certainly what with all the rowers, but should be cheaper to build. ... I dunno. Maybe the DMG will have more details?

 

[YourSwordIsMine]

My only quibble is with armor. Padded Armor must be made from Corduroy to impose Disadvantage on Stealth Checks.

Every time you take a step VVVVIP VVVIP VVVVIP! I guess it is hard to sneak around when you have all that friction generated.


Must be a hold over from the late 70s and early 80s when Corduroy was popular. I know they wanted to capture that Old School feel, but...

 

[Mouseferatu]

It's cheaper than the galley because modern editions are much more generous than older ones in how they set up the rules on carrackter creation.

I'll get my coat.

 

[DreamChaser]

My only quibble is with armor. Padded Armor must be made from Corduroy to impose Disadvantage on Stealth Checks.

Put on enough cloth to dull or deflect a blow from a bat (let alone a sword). Now try to creep down a hallway. Or play hide and seek. Or do anything useful.

Stealth is not just move silently

 

[wedgeski]

It's cheaper than the galley because modern editions are much more generous than older ones in how they set up the rules on carrackter creation.

I'll get my coat.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

GET OUT

 

[delericho]

EDIT - one more. The sheet music on the trinkets page (p.161) is written in an inconsistent time signature. Also, who writes 2 quarter notes tided together instead of a half note?

I've seen both these in bagpipe music. The former is usually because a lot of music is written by well-meaning but not formally trained composers (so they make mistakes). The latter can be a mistake, but can also be done to improve legibility - especially if the other notes around it are mostly quarter notes.

 

[Tormyr]

My only quibble is with armor. Padded Armor must be made from Corduroy to impose Disadvantage on Stealth Checks.

Every time you take a step VVVVIP VVVIP VVVVIP! I guess it is hard to sneak around when you have all that friction generated.


Must be a hold over from the late 70s and early 80s when Corduroy was popular. I know they wanted to capture that Old School feel, but...

But anyone wearing it can make a free shocking grasp attack once per short rest.