Why couldn't I be more into stamp collecting...

Hi,

A brief bit of gaming snark courtesy of this review of D&D 4th ed. on RPG.net:

But some weapons just seem pointless. Consider this example - why would a rogue ever choose a hand crossbow over a sling? Both do the same amount of damage, have the same bonus and properties. But the crossbow is 25 gp and weighs 2 pounds while the sling costs 1gp and weighs nothing.

There aren't a lot of these cases, but there are enough to raise an eyebrow. This is such a basic mistake, given the amount of playtesting that Wizards put this game through, it is a shame such a basic problem that should have popped up everytime a character was being created still was overlooked.

I have seen in each case of character creation this same problem pop up where at least one player will say "why would I buy X weapon when Y is the same but cheaper?"

He's right of course. There is no reason to choose the hand crossbow over the sling except maybe for the fact that hand crossbows are totally badass!

I mean, really. Unless you've just escaped slavers or you've just been anointed the King of Israel, there is never any good reason to take sling over hand crossbow. Want to make that flying leap, twisting in midair to pick off the guy with the hostage? Hand crossbow. Want to deliver a deadly dose of poison through a small crack in the door behind the bad guy? Hand crossbow. Want to improvise a trap? Hand crossbow. Want to have a tense, dramatic standoff where everyone is pointing their weapons at one another? Hand crossbow. Just think of how stupid that scene in Reservoir Dogs would've looked with everyone twirling their slings like some beginner poi class?

You see, buddy, there's this little thing called style and it's at the heart of roleplaying -- it's very core essence in fact. Yeah, yeah, there's no "mechanical bonus" for looking cool. You don't get an extra "+1" for being a badass, but there's no "+1" for buying the cheapest crap you can either. Style isn't something you use in the game -- it's how you are judged by the other people at the table.

So there's your group. You've got Lightfoot Pine-Sol, the Elf, with his finely crafted longsword that glows with moon-runes in the night. Over there is Standfast Rockbeard, the Dwarf, wearing the armor passed down from father to son for over 10 generations along with the shield and hammer given to him by his Jarl when he became his vassal. Finally, there's you. Bob the Rogue with his "layered clothing" armor and dinky sling from Wal-Mart. You aren't a brave adventurer. You're an embarrassment to the party. Assuming the other players don't just kick you out of the game, you will be the constant laughingstock of the table. All because you couldn't bear to live a little and drop some gp on quality gear.

Finally, if you're really gonna Scrooge McDuck this whole thing, you overlooked the most stinging criticism of all: why the hell does a sling cost 1gp? It's just a leather strap (if that). Next to a stick, it's the most easily improvised weapon in the world. Those kids in the West Bank don't have gold pieces lying around and they seem pretty well stocked with 'em. Cripes, a quarterstaff is almost as good as a longsword and it's 10gp cheaper (again, a stick costs 5gp, what's up with that?). Or you could get a Great Club which does more damage on average than either quarterstaff or longsword and is a steal at only 1gp (or just break off a table leg and use that). If your aim is to get the most bang for your buck, then I'd be calling out WoTC for this blatant error in common sense.

cripes
Tom

Why couldn't I be more into stamp collecting...

Hi,

A brief bit of gaming snark courtesy of this review of D&D 4th ed. on RPG.net:

But some weapons just seem pointless. Consider this example - why would a rogue ever choose a hand crossbow over a sling? Both do the same amount of damage, have the same bonus and properties. But the crossbow is 25 gp and weighs 2 pounds while the sling costs 1gp and weighs nothing.

There aren't a lot of these cases, but there are enough to raise an eyebrow. This is such a basic mistake, given the amount of playtesting that Wizards put this game through, it is a shame such a basic problem that should have popped up everytime a character was being created still was overlooked.

I have seen in each case of character creation this same problem pop up where at least one player will say "why would I buy X weapon when Y is the same but cheaper?"

He's right of course. There is no reason to choose the hand crossbow over the sling except maybe for the fact that hand crossbows are totally badass!

I mean, really. Unless you've just escaped slavers or you've just been anointed the King of Israel, there is never any good reason to take sling over hand crossbow. Want to make that flying leap, twisting in midair to pick off the guy with the hostage? Hand crossbow. Want to deliver a deadly dose of poison through a small crack in the door behind the bad guy? Hand crossbow. Want to improvise a trap? Hand crossbow. Want to have a tense, dramatic standoff where everyone is pointing their weapons at one another? Hand crossbow. Just think of how stupid that scene in Reservoir Dogs would've looked with everyone twirling their slings like some beginner poi class?

You see, buddy, there's this little thing called style and it's at the heart of roleplaying -- it's very core essence in fact. Yeah, yeah, there's no "mechanical bonus" for looking cool. You don't get an extra "+1" for being a badass, but there's no "+1" for buying the cheapest crap you can either. Style isn't something you use in the game -- it's how you are judged by the other people at the table.

So there's your group. You've got Lightfoot Pine-Sol, the Elf, with his finely crafted longsword that glows with moon-runes in the night. Over there is Standfast Rockbeard, the Dwarf, wearing the armor passed down from father to son for over 10 generations along with the shield and hammer given to him by his Jarl when he became his vassal. Finally, there's you. Bob the Rogue with his "layered clothing" armor and dinky sling from Wal-Mart. You aren't a brave adventurer. You're an embarrassment to the party. Assuming the other players don't just kick you out of the game, you will be the constant laughingstock of the table. All because you couldn't bear to live a little and drop some gp on quality gear.

Finally, if you're really gonna Scrooge McDuck this whole thing, you overlooked the most stinging criticism of all: why the hell does a sling cost 1gp? It's just a leather strap (if that). Next to a stick, it's the most easily improvised weapon in the world. Those kids in the West Bank don't have gold pieces lying around and they seem pretty well stocked with 'em. Cripes, a quarterstaff is almost as good as a longsword and it's 10gp cheaper (again, a stick costs 5gp, what's up with that?). Or you could get a Great Club which does more damage on average than either quarterstaff or longsword and is a steal at only 1gp (or just break off a table leg and use that). If your aim is to get the most bang for your buck, then I'd be calling out WoTC for this blatant error in common sense.

cripes
Tom

I've got friends who belly-dance...

...and my birthday is comin' up.

I'm jus' sayin'

later
Tom

I've got friends who belly-dance...

...and my birthday is comin' up.

I'm jus' sayin'

later
Tom

Am I just jealous? Or all too wise?

Hi,

So this nice lady, Marie Brennan, is an author and she's written (among other things) this book called Midnight Never Come, which is a sort of Elizabethan historical fantasy novel.

Here's the blurb:

"England flourishes under the hand of its Queen Elizabeth, last and most powerful of the Tudor monarchs. But a great light casts a great shadow. For in hidden catacombs beneath London, a second Queen holds court—Invidiana, ruler of faerie England, a dark mirror to the glory above… A breathtaking novel of intrigue and betrayal set in Elizabethan England; Midnight Never Come seamlessly weaves together history and the fantastic to dazzling effect…"

Not really my sort of thing, but there have even been some pretty positive reviews about it. And so, in a in a recent interview she was asked:

Q: So when and how did the idea for “Midnight Never Come” first come about, how long have you been working on it, and how much has it evolved from its original conception?

Marie: Actually, it started as a role-playing game.

I'm entirely serious. In 2006 I ran a game I called “Memento,” because it was structured much like the Guy Pearce movie of that name; we went through six hundred and fifty years of English history backward. The game system we were using, Changeling: The Dreaming, focuses on faerie souls who reincarnate in mortal bodies, and “Memento” was structured around a group of changelings who were remembering a series of previous lives.

The Elizabethan segment of the game (which was also called “Midnight Never Come”) ended up having this really complex backstory and consequences, so that, although it wasn't the central plot, it stretched from 1350 to 2006. And after the game was done, it wouldn't leave my mind. So I filed off the Changeling-specific serial numbers, cut the Invidiana part of the story loose from the metaplot of “Memento,” and set about turning the skeleton that remained into a novel.

um...oh man. Is it going to be bad because I'm jealous that someone turned their Changeling game into a novel? Or is it going to be bad because gaming fiction is almost always bad? Well, if someone else has a taste for it they might find the trivia useful.

later
Tom

Am I just jealous? Or all too wise?

Hi,

So this nice lady, Marie Brennan, is an author and she's written (among other things) this book called Midnight Never Come, which is a sort of Elizabethan historical fantasy novel.

Here's the blurb:

"England flourishes under the hand of its Queen Elizabeth, last and most powerful of the Tudor monarchs. But a great light casts a great shadow. For in hidden catacombs beneath London, a second Queen holds court—Invidiana, ruler of faerie England, a dark mirror to the glory above… A breathtaking novel of intrigue and betrayal set in Elizabethan England; Midnight Never Come seamlessly weaves together history and the fantastic to dazzling effect…"

Not really my sort of thing, but there have even been some pretty positive reviews about it. And so, in a in a recent interview she was asked:

Q: So when and how did the idea for “Midnight Never Come” first come about, how long have you been working on it, and how much has it evolved from its original conception?

Marie: Actually, it started as a role-playing game.

I'm entirely serious. In 2006 I ran a game I called “Memento,” because it was structured much like the Guy Pearce movie of that name; we went through six hundred and fifty years of English history backward. The game system we were using, Changeling: The Dreaming, focuses on faerie souls who reincarnate in mortal bodies, and “Memento” was structured around a group of changelings who were remembering a series of previous lives.

The Elizabethan segment of the game (which was also called “Midnight Never Come”) ended up having this really complex backstory and consequences, so that, although it wasn't the central plot, it stretched from 1350 to 2006. And after the game was done, it wouldn't leave my mind. So I filed off the Changeling-specific serial numbers, cut the Invidiana part of the story loose from the metaplot of “Memento,” and set about turning the skeleton that remained into a novel.

um...oh man. Is it going to be bad because I'm jealous that someone turned their Changeling game into a novel? Or is it going to be bad because gaming fiction is almost always bad? Well, if someone else has a taste for it they might find the trivia useful.

later
Tom

Weekend Dentist?

Hey,

I have a filling that just popped. I'd like to get it refilled ASAP. Does anyone know of a good dentist who does emergency weekend work?

later
Tom

Weekend Dentist?

Hey,

I have a filling that just popped. I'd like to get it refilled ASAP. Does anyone know of a good dentist who does emergency weekend work?

later
Tom