D&D 5E "Why don't you just shoot it?"

[Yunru]

Sacre bleu! He's on to me.

Give the existence of the catapult spell and cattle as a trade good...

Edit: Man, catapult sucks. I'm definitely replacing the "maximum increases by 5" with "maximum increases by a power of 10."

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

Straw, meet man. I didn't claim distraction was impossible. Only nearly impossible, and specifically with regard to age vs. insults. Jeebus man. That was a bad one.

You might want to retake the logic course that taught you about straw man fallacies. Because that wasn't the logical fallacy I used. Especially since I made it a point to address your actual argument in my next section.

The bad one was your complete BS statement about insults not working. Tell that to every person who's responded to road rage with even worse road rage. Tell that to the cops who've gunned down people for insulting them. Tell that to the soldiers and bikers who have severely beaten people for insulting them. Tell that to the judges who have gotten angry and sentenced someone worse than they deserved just because of the criminal insulting them. Tell that to most politicians, some of whom make entire half-century-long careers out of getting vengeance for an insult paid to them.

I can cite people who are famous for not responding well to insults. Steve Jobs used his own death to get back at people who insulted him, just because of how badly he took insults. Linus Torvald is famous for his temper-tantrums because he feels insulted. One guy I shouldn't mention the name of is basing at least part of his current political career on responding to insults.

It's entirely down to temperament. Someone who is even-tempered? Doesn't matter how much you insult them. Someone who is prideful, like every example I mentioned? Easy as pie.

 

[Yunru]

Problem is, dragons are also depicted as wise. Wise beings tend to have more control than that (as witnessed by their Wisdom Saving Throw proficiency).

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

Problem is, dragons are also depicted as wise. Wise beings tend to have more control than that (as witnessed by their Wisdom Saving Throw proficiency).

In DnD, that depends on the dragon species. Not all species are depicted as being that wise, despite the wisdom score (which, as written, is more discernment than wisdom).

 

[Ancalagon]

5e also makes it trivially easy for non-weapon-using ranged characters (casters) to just keep casting in melee, and, possible, with feats in use, for ranged weapons, too. That's more the crux of the issue, ranged types forced into melee may be in greater danger, but they don't necessarily lose any effectiveness, while melee types unable to close, do. That'd be OK, if, say, melee were relatively more versatile or powerful in some ways, but optimal ranged builds take the DPR crown, and casting is vastly more versatile than melee.

This is completely true, and I agree with you that it's a problem in 5e...

... but the melee guy should still carry some kind of ranged weapons.

 

[Yunru]

There's also the superiority complex to get past as well mind you.

Even if ants could talk and I knew what they were saying, I probably wouldn't get riled up by them. They're just ants.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

There's also the superiority complex to get past as well mind you.

Even if ants could talk and I knew what they were saying, I probably wouldn't get riled up by them. They're just ants.

Even if they were chanting "Murder the human" over and over again in a sing-song voice while looking directly at you?

Superiority complex at that point tends to respond with, "okay, they're trying to be a threat, kill them." Which, incidentally, is the standard human response for any animal that becomes a threat to humanity...

 

[Yunru]

Even if they were chanting "Murder the human" over and over again in a sing-song voice while looking directly at you?

Superiority complex at that point tends to respond with, "okay, they're trying to be a threat, kill them." Which, incidentally, is the standard human response for any animal that becomes a threat to humanity...

I'd think it cute, maybe creepy, and if it got annoying, crush them as a whole.

One ant (read: character) chanting it repeatedlt? Not worth more than a passing notice.

Especially if I've a guy throwing fire at me

 

[Maxperson]

You might want to retake the logic course that taught you about straw man fallacies. Because that wasn't the logical fallacy I used. Especially since I made it a point to address your actual argument in my next section.

Whether or not you addressed it in the next paragraph, you still altered my argument and then argued against it. That's a classical Strawman.

The bad one was your complete BS statement about insults not working. Tell that to every person who's responded to road rage with even worse road rage. Tell that to the cops who've gunned down people for insulting them. Tell that to the soldiers and bikers who have severely beaten people for insulting them. Tell that to the judges who have gotten angry and sentenced someone worse than they deserved just because of the criminal insulting them. Tell that to most politicians, some of whom make entire half-century-long careers out of getting vengeance for an insult paid to them.

It's not a BS argument. Dragons, while they may be prone to enjoy compliments, are not prone to losing it when insulted. They are more intelligent and knowledgeable than anyone else in the party, with MAYBE the exception of an old elf.

I can cite people who are famous for not responding well to insults. Steve Jobs used his own death to get back at people who insulted him, just because of how badly he took insults. Linus Torvald is famous for his temper-tantrums because he feels insulted. One guy I shouldn't mention the name of is basing at least part of his current political career on responding to insults.

Sure, and I'll wait for you to cite one that is several hundred years old.

It's entirely down to temperament. Someone who is even-tempered? Doesn't matter how much you insult them. Someone who is prideful, like every example I mentioned? Easy as pie.

That's objectively false. Age mellows/alters temperament. That's a well known fact.

 

[Maxperson]

Even if they were chanting "Murder the human" over and over again in a sing-song voice while looking directly at you?

Absolutely. It's an ant. Why would that bother me?

Superiority complex at that point tends to respond with, "okay, they're trying to be a threat, kill them." Which, incidentally, is the standard human response for any animal that becomes a threat to humanity...

Which there has never been. Not once has there been an animal that is a threat to humanity. A threat to some individuals, sure. Humanity Never. Also, eliminating a threat doesn't mean distraction or anger. You can eliminate threats with calm indifference.