D&D General Thaco the angry clown... really?

[Bedrockgames]

I mean at the end of the day its a joke about ageism (lol those old gamers and their gatekeeping in D&D), which I suppose is on the low end of "groups not to make fun of".

I am a grognard, starting to feel old. I don't particularly mind people making fun of grogards or old gamers. I don't think it is a moral issue at all. The only thing I like is for humor to be funny. This didn't land with me, at least as described (I am sure it may be different if I read the actual entry). So I think the humor could have been done better but I don't think it is some kind of sin for them to gently prod Thac0 in this way (and presumable prod those of us who cleave to the old ways).

 

[abirdcall]

While I think the griping about this is overblown....shall we not do the misery poker thing? Just skip past it?

This isn't the oppression olympics if that is what you mean because it isn't oppression at all.

 

[Scribe]

Just a thought, but they might be poking fun at the RPGPundit, one of the consultants they removed from the 5e Players Handbook. He checks off just about every box, including always having a pipe in hand.

Well....there it is. /meme

 

[Imaculata]

Its funny to laugh at small things that people get really unreasonably upset about. This thread is the reason Thaco the Clown exists.

I'm a longtime 2e and 3e player, and I find it funnier now that I've read this thread. I'm looking forward to a future npc that makes fun of 3e and 4e.

 

[darjr]

….well played!

Why do I get the feeling this was a setup?

 

[darjr]

I think most people here in this thread are laughing with WotC or are just trying to figure out the whole thing. I think there is a chicken dinner winner in the thread.

 

[overgeeked]

I don't think it was inherently impossible to make the jump from attack matrices straight to BAB. I do think it would have been impossible to make that jump in 2E, however, because 2E was trying to stay more-or-less backwards compatible. Going to BAB means flipping the direction of armor class, which in turn means all monster and NPC statblocks using the old system are invalidated.

It was probably already mentioned, but they almost did exactly that. And it’s trivial to flip ACs. 20 - DAC = AAC. Same with THAC0 and BAB. 20 - THAC0 = BAB. Done. Put that in your conversion notes and you’re set.

 

[Olrox17]

Yeah, this isn't great. I never played 2e or used Thaco, I'm not a grognard and I love seeing the game evolve, so I don't feel personally attacked by this, but calling someone a "clown" has become more and more insulting in the recent years, which I'm sure the people at Wotc are aware of.

To target a whole subsect of the hobby (that perhaps isn't currently paying its dues to Wotc), calling them clowns for their gaming preferences and assigning negative stereotypes to them, feels petty.

I'd be similarly unimpressed if they created "Max Min the jester", a pedantic retired lawyer with an encyclopedic knowledge of laws of the universe, that somehow can't tie his own shoes because, in his own words, he "didn't spend enough points on that".

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah, this isn't great. I never played 2e or used Thaco, I'm not a grognard and I love seeing the game evolve, so I don't feel personally attacked by this, but calling someone a "clown" has become more and more insulting in the recent years, which I'm sure the people at Wotc are aware of.

To target a whole subsect of the hobby (that perhaps isn't currently paying its dues to Wotc), calling them clowns for their gaming preferences and assigning negative stereotypes to them, feels petty.

I'd be similarly unimpressed if they created "Max Min the jester", a pedantic retired lawyer with an encyclopedic knowledge of laws of the universe, that somehow can't tie his own shoes because, in his own words, he "didn't spend enough points on that".

You know, its quite offensive to be offended on behalf of all those people in a category you do not belong to who are not offended.

 

[John R Davis]

Bullies make fun of your "stupid interest" no matter what that interest happens to be.

Always remember, you can never get more stupid than a bunch of grown men chasing a pigs bladder round a muddy field.

Well, except the frothers who support the bladder chasers!
Never played 2nd so don't recall THACO. Still playing BECMI on occassion, and I like a nice Table to consult.