Rust Monster Lovin'

[Belen]

It's interesting to watch people take something they don't like, invent an entire system of beliefs and goals around that thing, ascibe those beliefs and goals to a fictional group, and then pour hatred at that group.

Your beliefs were very clear in the article., Mike.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Try this exchange.

DM: You spy a small insectoid creature with feathery antenea and a strange paddle-like tail.
Player #1: I swat it with my sword
DM: Roll a REF save
Player #1: *rolls 1*, Darn I blew it, what happens?
DM: Your sword immediately turns to rust in your hands, the monster waves its antenea and *rolls* your armor is also rusting away
Player #1: But, that was my favorite weapon and armor!
DM: Suck it up meat-bag!
Player #1: Piss off jerk! I'll go play with someone else! *gets up and leaves table*

I would love to see player #1 at my table one day, just once, if simply to laugh at and mock him.
Whiners like that do nothing to help the game.

Unless you're the kind of DM who loves to mistreat the PCs and players in a masochistic manner, Player #1 is not worth arguing with.
Show him the door.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

It's a balanced monster. Doesn't move too fast, has no missile weapon, so intelligent players should be able to kill it fairly easily.

Why balance the game for players who don't understand basic tactics? These changes strike me as very strange.

 

[Belen]

That's why I really like the idea of tying destruction to the penalty. It keeps the threat around for a bit and keeps the issue in question for several rounds.

Anyway, like I mentioned before there will be a future column where I go back and look at the feedback and talk about it. If I can think of an easy way to put together a development by gamers sort of thing, that'd be cool too.

Again. You're only turning the game even more into a recordkeeping numbers game, but I could live with it as long as they rust did not go away in 10 minutes.

I really have to wonder at the dev process at wizards. I just do not think the game is fun when everything is turned into a -2 to this stat or a +2 to this other stat.

Honestly, the redesign of the rust monster is just boring. If it has to be changed, then at least keep some cool factor, which is what 3e rules lacks.

A level playing field is fine, but it is not exciting.

 

[Hussar]

Why is the base assumption that there will be only one rust monster? While perhaps not common, it's not out of line to have two. Or, an enterprising lizardfolk could keep one as a pet. Heck, why not capture a couple, send them forward first and then wipe out those pesky adventurers?

Why the big blow up though? If you don't like the change, don't change it. It's not a case of coddling players to say that a single encounter should not screw up my entire adventure. A bit of bad luck and the fighter loses his armor and his weapon. At 3rd level, that's a major soak of wealth.

This is an AHA GOTCHA monster. It's not a threat to the party as written. As has been mentioned, people toss the wizard at it and let the wizzie beat it to death with a club. How is that a memorable encounter? It's a joke. Poof, oh sorry, you have no armor any more. Ha ha. (Insert Nelson tone)

 

[Scribble]

I'm kind of wondering what would have been the reaction if Mr Mearls had written this as an entirely new monster? Maybe called it a Warper Bug, or something, and taken away all refferences to "rusting." Would it have caused such an outcry?

Is it really a problem with the creature, or is it a "Don't touch my nostalgia!" problem?

 

[shilsen]

I'm kind of wondering what would have been the reaction if Mr Mearls had written this as an entirely new monster? Maybe called it a Warper Bug, or something, and taken away all refferences to "rusting." Would it have caused such an outcry?

Is it really a problem with the creature, or is it a "Don't touch my nostalgia!" problem?

By George, I think he's got it!

 

[Kunimatyu]

With stuff like this, it's often a case of older players(who already have a more difficult time adjusting to new stuff due to brain chemistry) seeing something from 20-30 years ago changed and flipping out because of it.

So yeah, it's a "don't touch my nostalgia".

That's not to say there aren't legit reasons to dislike it -- I for one don't like the 10 minutes thing, but even with that, I'm not flipping out.

Don't be hatin' just because WotC R&D actually thought about gameplay and altered a GG creation to make it actually fun to fight.

 

[el-remmen]

I just realized, I once had a character "go naked" due to a gelatinous cube. Maybe that monster should be changed, too

 

[Scribble]

I just realized, I once had a character "go naked" due to a gelatinous cube. Maybe that monster should be changed, too

Gelatinous cube doesn't have an instant destructo effect.