The Gaming Den

I'm pretty sure this image of a black dragon is from 3e
http://www.draconika.com/img/black-dragon.jpg

As is this mini
http://www.rpgminiatures.com/acatalog/4 ... queen.html

Those horns are about tangential to the mouth

Insomniac, Ferret, WTF are you two talking about? Haste isn't on the War cleric's (or any cleric's) spell list, Potent Spellcasting doesn't say anything about adding +WIS damage per die, and in any case Potent Spellcasting only applies to cleric cantrips.

Can't clerics get Eldritch blast on their list? Eh, if not I'm sure they've got another good candidate.


In other news, Trapdoot Technologies finally got their Kickstarter launched. They want -half a million dollars- (well, 435k), and are in fact refactoring their product to support (you guessed it!) Pathfinder. I am lol-ing over here.

OgreBattle wrote:

FrankTrollman wrote:This may seem like a weird nit to pick, but how does Tiamat's black dragon head eat? It has horns that run parallel to its mouth. For some reason I just can't even look at that without thinking of the tragicomic image of the black dragon head desperately trying to scrape things into its mouth with its tongue.

-Username17

Melts into goo with acid breath, laps it up.

Were you agreeing or disagreeing with Frank there? Since he was mocking the idea of needing the tongue in order to pull food in.

I reject your ant-eater black dragons. They are aquatic. They can eat food underwater where the horns pose no problem unless they're trying to eat an elephant or something (in which case they have claws to snap off a piece). MM I 3.5 indicates they like to let their food bloat under water for a few days anyway.

[edit: Doh, forgot to address Tiamat specifically, or rather add my own question- do multi-headed beasts even need to eat through every mouth? I don't see why they would.

My entry was:

ONE
would be too many.

Sorry about saying Haste was on the list. It is not on the Cleric list.

But doesn't Potent Spellcasting add your casting modifier as damage to cantrips?

Potent Spellcasting (Both Lore and Light Domains, the only ones that have this) - Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.

So, what the fuck is up with artificers?

Infuse Weapons and Armour:"The spell slot you expend determines the type of weapon, armor, or shield you can create." (well not create, just turn a mundane one, into a magical item for 8 hours)

So I can spend a 6th level spell slot to turn a non-magical armour into a +2 for 8 hours, yay?
And it doesn't even list what kind of shields I can create

Though at level 14, you can craft a magic item (from table A or B) once a month. No cost is listed, so I assume you get one for free?

I like how despite bounded accuracy supposedly restricting all the bonuses, you get shit like a straight up +1 bonus to AC. Now this is probably less than just getting a +2 dex, but I would not be surprised if you could take this as part of your deathstack o' doom AC build to ignore the fixed RNG forever.

On that note, as you are guaranteed to get all of three magic items ever, the artificer seems to be pretty decent because he can actually guarantee:
a) 2 bonuses to AC/to hit to drive people off the RNG
b) An actual, non-bullshitty source of magic items during downtime.

Seeing as the actual rules for getting magic items are "argue with your DM", I see a lot of artificers popping up in parties to hand out useful magic items before wish comes online.

Feel free to yell at me if I am wrong.

What bothers me the most about that is that it looks like it was obviously typed out on someone's MSWord Mac. The fonts aren't even cohesive.

...You Lost Me wrote:What bothers me the most about that is that it looks like it was obviously typed out on someone's MSWord Mac. The fonts aren't even cohesive.

OMG - that's seriously some low-rent indie quality production. It's like they seriously just don't even care anymore; like they're just checking some boxes to justify their presence at the company, given their slow-as-shit release schedule.

This Eberron stuff is a joke. Mearls is a loser.

He writes:

These game mechanics are in draft form, usable in your campaign but not fully tempered by playtests and design iterations. They are highly volatile and might be unstable; if you use them, be ready to rule on any issues that come up. They’re written in pencil, not ink.

Okay, sure, this stuff _is_ free. But the SRD is also free. The Pathfucker SRD is also free.

Have they no shame? Just throwing unplaytested, amateur-looking shit into the market without even the PRETENSE of having it be professional quality material for hobby's most iconic game.

Some random loser could have put together this stuff in a few hours with zero effort. It is an embarrassment that the WOTC D&D team did this.

But I guess Mearls learned his lesson with Skill Challenges. Now he just tells everyone in advance, "hey, don't hold me to any standard -- these rules might not actually, you know, be any good... if they mess up your game, well I warned you!"

It would be hilarious if it wasn't so fucking pathetic.

FUCKING MEARLS

Some of the recent entries on this site,

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Wizard ... -E4718.htm

give some ex-employees' window in the situation. Poor PR, poor management, in particular,

Management ready to throw anyone under the bus to avoid their own inability to motivate and be a part of the team.

Advice to Management:
Stop blaming your direct reports for your own failings

I like that half or more of the complaints from glass door are from people echoing the sentiment here. It seems a little surprising that people who own WoTC don't see it, if a bunch of strangers on the internet can accurately describe it.

Also love that apparently their marketing team is the worst.

You don't need glass door reviews to know that; just look at D&D's godawful art direction.

Anonymous WotC employee wrote:- You'd be hard-pressed to find a more poorly managed company
- Better make friends. Managers and above will become petty and retaliatory if they don't like you
- Don't worry about doing a good job. Nothing is based on merit. You'll be judged on who likes you
- Nothing is organized. Nothing is on time. Everything is on fire
- You will work well over 40 hours a week and not be compensated in any way for that
- Don't take holidays for granted. You'll work some of them

That sounds exactly like the company looks like from the outside.

Mearls has failed to produce the product he was contracted for every single time since 2005. Despite having never turned in anything on time, finished, or functional, he still keeps staying on. That fits in with the "who you know, not how good a job you do" thing described by actual employees so well that it's scary.

I also notice that things that come up over and over again is the gross incompetence of Marketing and IT. Those are... well... obvious. The fact that their digital initiatives have been colossal failures demonstrates conclusively that their IT department is shit. And the bizarre tone deafness of their marketing strategy over the last decade or so (at least on the D&D side) seems to ground that one in reality as well.

-Username17

In contrast to the uncompensated >40 hour work week.

Anonymous WotC employee wrote:There is no better place for the 15 minute a week workers. There’s so many of us I don’t worry about losing my job, even if the managers cared. But they so obviously don’t care that it’s one less thing to worry about.

I also liked the bit where the company typically blames the sales team for the lack of sales. Rather than, say, demand for the product. It so sounds like an old-boys cigar and brandy club where management doesn't even read the reports, as long as it's "their boy" writing it. Or TSR in the 90's. Or the government of NZ, which is essentially the same thing.

How does Mike Mearls have a job? He's friends with his boss, who doesn't give a shit about D&D. End of story.

Or how nice and talented a group of people are there slaving away at the bottom. Because you have to be everyone's friend and agree that it's all sales' fault or you're fired. So everyone's really nice and some of them are even working.

Apparently wotc asked someone to take down their online 5e character generator.

This part in the notice caught my eye though

I was disappointed that WoTC's attorney also required me to remove my "Pathfinder" generators.

Is this just someone bullshitting?

Spiritual warfare in D&D? Dafuq?

I remember being annoyed with that generator because it didn't have magic items.

Goddammit I regularly used those generators. And THAT is the final nail in the coffin. 5e and WoTC can fuck right off.

Badly handled bad IP laws are bad for everyone.

Also, that guy would make me freeze-smile, nod, avoid eye contact and look around for the exit (and a new doctor).

ishy wrote:Is this just someone bullshitting?

With three character generators down it seems unlikely. Just a lawyer getting trigger happy and being a PR nightmare as lawyers are wont to do.

How the fuckity fuck does WotC ask him to take down a Pathfinder character generator.

DSMatticus wrote:How the fuckity fuck does WotC ask him to take down a Pathfinder character generator.

While prima facia absurd, WotC might actually be legally entitled to do that. Paizo has grandfathered in the ability to print references to various monsters and character options through their previous stewardship of Dragon and Dungeon magazine that you do not. It is entirely possible that that character generator referenced something or other that is owned by WotC which Paizo has the perpetual license to print that the character generator does not have through the OGL alone.

It's also possible that WotC's lawyer was just waiving his dick around. Like you do. Such subtleties are probably lost on a guy who believes that Dungeons & Dragons can be used to lead children to Jesus through the act of roleplaying as an aspect of spiritual warfare IRL.

-Username17

Pathfinder generator is back online.