Someone doesn't know their enemies

[Dark Psion]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/tt/20061003a
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Notice the line;

Pseudodragon Lore

The mischievous (some would say annoying) tiny dragons have become a staple of D&D since their inclusion in the 1980s. Attractive, intelligent, and capricious, pseudodragons are a creature on which adventurers may want to do their homework before allowing in their group.

Knowledge (Arcana)

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more pseudodragons. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC Result

15 This tiny reptilian creature with butterfly-like wings is a pseudodragon. This result reveals all dragon traits.

If your Pseudodragon has butterfly wings, I'm afraid you have actually caught a Faerie Dragon, but if you are breathing the air around it, you probably don't have a care in the world at this point.

 

[Crothian]

Obviously, the dragons are so clever that they have confused people into identifying them falsely.

 

[diaglo]

and the pseudodragon was introduced in the 70's. not the 80's.

yeah, the writer of the article has his dragons mixed up.

 

[Klaus]

THANK YOU!

I thought I was alone in being bothered by that!

Here's a more accurate line:
15 This tiny reptilian brownish-red creature with bat-like wings and a stinger is a pseudodragon. This result reveals all dragon traits.

 

[Barak]

While the error is amusing, it does bring up an interesting idea.

I know there is no critical failure on skill checks, and that's generally a Good Thing (tm) for many reasons. But in the case of knowledge checks, I'd like to have misinformation given when, say, the PC rolls a 1 -and- the result is under 15. And in the case of pseudodragons, that's as good a misinformation as any.

 

[wayne62682]

Ugh.. so let me get this straight: you need a DC15 Knowledge Arcana check to even know what the frag it is?! Not to know its traits or abilities, but just to be able to say "That is a pseudodragon".

And people wonder why I think using knowledge skills to ID monsters is ridiculous. Maybe if they upped all the skill points for all characters to at LEAST 4+Int per level.

 

[Shemeska]

THANK YOU!

I thought I was alone in being bothered by that!

I suppose it's better than the earlier article on Wizards that claimed that archfiends didn't exist at all in 2nd edition...

 

[diaglo]

I suppose it's better than the earlier article on Wizards that claimed that archfiends didn't exist at all in 2nd edition...

maybe it is b/c the d00d who is writing these articles doesn't know his head from a hole in the ground when it comes to D&D before WotC.

 

[Bardsandsages]

Ugh.. so let me get this straight: you need a DC15 Knowledge Arcana check to even know what the frag it is?! Not to know its traits or abilities, but just to be able to say "That is a pseudodragon".

And people wonder why I think using knowledge skills to ID monsters is ridiculous. Maybe if they upped all the skill points for all characters to at LEAST 4+Int per level.

Why is that such a surprise. That seems reasonable to me, unless your setting has pseudodragons as common as cats and dogs. Then I could see your point.

Remember, your character does not have access to the MM or any other official WoTC book.

I remember a friend of mine coming down from Philly to a party at my parents house. My parents live out in the country. At one point, my friend screamed that there was a giant rat in the back yard. Turned out to be a oppossum. She had never seen one, and while she had "heard" about oppossums, she couldn't identify one.

So it is entirely reasonable that while someone might have heard of a creature, they can't identify it on sight.

 

[diaglo]

Remember, your character does not have access to the MM or any other official WoTC book.

nor does it appear that the writer did.