The Gaming Den

Okay, I read the books.

But I still didn't find the templates.

Why does advice like http://www.3rdedition.org/agimimnon/viewer.asp?ID=26 exist at all?

-Crissa

At this point, it's not even "advise" in any real sense of the word; it's a guy trying to be hip and edgy at the expense of what I assume is a confused kid.

Apparently, this guy has enough of a fan base that he can afford to post columns wherein he makes fun of children...and that's it.

That guy is not a master in the art of diplomacy, granted, but don't forget that the article dates back to 2000... It's entirely possible that the guy was referring to 3e MM, where the templates are at the very end of the Monster Manual.

Even in the off chance that the guy was referring to the 3.5 MM, is "advice" would still hold, since there's a whole section that explains how to read, understand and apply a template step by step starting from page 291, in the Improving Monsters section. Note that the guy never went out and say that the templates themselves were in the back of the book... Anyone with a little bit of initiative would check the monter listing on pages 3 and 4, and notice that there are two important entries: Celestial Creature and Fiendish Creature. The rest is left to your imagination...

As for the "trying to be hip and edgy at the expense of someone" remark, I guess we have all been guilty of that at one point or another in our long posting career, so I wouldn't try and go down that way...

Also, in 2000 you could still get away with making a 'joke' about that 'funny' sound clip about dnd. I'm not entirely sure you could get away with forcing three to four such 'jokes' into one paragraph even back then, though.

Kirin_Corrigan at [unixtime wrote:1121509924[/unixtime]]
As for the "trying to be hip and edgy at the expense of someone" remark, I guess we have all been guilty of that at one point or another in our long posting career, so I wouldn't try and go down that way...

Note that I never try to be hip or edgy at the expense at someone, I'm just an asshole.

Was he seriously suggesting that a Bard take Magic Missile over Summon Monster II?

-Username17

Well, it's relevent since I only have 3.0 books... But the fact that he couldn't say, 'hey, it's on page 211,' just frustrates the heck out of me.

I tried looking up Templates and then I tried looking at the entry for Celestials and then I tried to look up the references in the Manual of the Planes, hoping they'd tell me what page it was on, or even the PHB - but to no avail.

What's so wrong about saying where the darn rule is? I hadta pop open the SRD and look there, because I knew it was in it.

-Crissa

FrankTrollman at [unixtime wrote:1121536699[/unixtime]]Was he seriously suggesting that a Bard take Magic Missile over Summon Monster II?

-Username17

He's the only one who reads the rulebooks

Kirin_Corrigan at [unixtime wrote:1121509924[/unixtime]]

As for the "trying to be hip and edgy at the expense of someone" remark, I guess we have all been guilty of that at one point or another in our long posting career, so I wouldn't try and go down that way...

Oh, there's a difference.

You see, there's lots of different types of people out there, but there's three relevant to this conversation: The smacktard, the fucktard, and the kid.

The smacktard is just someone who's not too bright. They say ignorant things. Sometimes you make fun of them, but you move on quickly. After all, it's a pretty one-sided fight.

The fucktard is far, far worse. They're stupid, bitter and angry. Heck, maybe they're bitter and angry about being stupid, I don't know. At any rate, they're full of hot air, and not bright. They oftentimes mock others, but their real purpose in the wide world of internet posts is to create and fan the flames of flamewars online. Anything they get, they probably deserve.

And then, there's the kid. The little guy that might be 11, he just bought his D&D books a couple weeks ago.

He will ask questions that (to us) sound dumb. Lots of questions that kids ask sound dumb; it's a thing kids do.

However, you don't actually call the kid dumb. You don't mock him. You just answer his question, maybe tell him what page gave you that answer, and move on.

That's it.

This Agimimnon fella was bashing a kid. Even worse, he was doing it in a format in which the kid literally had no way to defend himself.

So, screw that. I'm no stranger to flaming, but I try and leave the kids alone. Singling one out like Agimimnon did is weak.