MitD XIX: The Potted Plant Is Starting To Look Reasonable

[Ruck]

What does it mean to hit the lightest? You picked a definition that requires believing Rich is trying to convey a particular house rule that's necessary to understand what's going on in the scene. I picked a definition that's dependent only on D&D instincts and the stat block we know Rich is looking at anyways.

What you're actually saying is, "when the MitD proposed a game that I understood to mean one thing, he actually meant something I didn't understand," and yes, I'll sign on to that. That's exactly what I'm saying. You got it wrong.

I think it's pretty clear that "lightest" means "lightest"; the closest appropriate definition I can find in Merriam-Webster is "exerting a minimum of force or pressure." So I take it to mean "who can hit the lightest" means "who can hit with the least force."

Or maybe you didn't, I don't know. Bottom line is the scene has more than one interpretation, and since stonewalling over one particular interpretation is not creating consensus in the thread, maybe it's time to consider other interpretations and look at different candidates.

Then propose an alternate definition and a creature that fits by that definition and also still fits the big scenes. As far as I can tell right now, you're just asking people to think about the possibilities of alternate definitions, explanations, and meanings, but not actually trying to use them to get to an answer. Are you trying to determine what the MitD is most likely to be, or are you just trying to have a discussion about how you think many things are widely open to interpretation?

Preach it!

Your analysis ignores everything about the MitD's well-demonstrated personality and other personal traits. You can look to the mechanics for whether MitD is capable of the actions he performs, but unless you think all members of a species have the same personality and that personality is in their stat blocks, this argument just doesn't wash. (Even less so in a story where the author has been very explicit about his belief in, and the themes of the story of, not judging a sapient creature merely by their race.)

But, again, you are still not actually trying to propose something that fits-- the Hunting Horror doesn't-- you are just trying to tear down the Protean. As I already said:

But all roads in this thread lead back to trying to determine what the MitD's species is. Thus, if an alternate idea for how the storytelling process might have unfolded-- like yours-- doesn't include a creature that would fit MitD if that was indeed the process (say, a creature that has a non-base attack that is weak but can still launch its targets a great distance), then I'm unclear how it gets us any closer to the answer, or what you are trying to get us to think about that would help our process in determining the answer.

If the things you're talking about aren't in service of trying to find a better fit for MitD's species, then what is your goal here?

Listen to the refrain: Y'all have never understood me, I have never understood you, I get assigned opinions that aren't mine, blablabla.

I can think of at least five people off the top of my head you have misquoted, mis-paraphrased, and thus mis-assigned opinions to that aren't theirs-- and in some cases you have insisted you were correct to do so, or that you have some rule against looking up what they actually said and therefore your paraphrasing should be good enough.

How often does that have to happen before you start to consider that it's you, not them?

(Indeed, considering your complaints that "the Protean has ruined the thread"-- even setting aside your presumption of speaking for many other people there-- have you considered that the only reason we're discussing the Protean today is because you brought it up?)

But more importantly, the crucial factor here is not that they have a weird way to communicate amongst themselves, it is that proteans can communicate telepathically, can speak every language, and yet don't because they are extreme xenophobes. That one would speak to the hunters, and in basic no less, is extremely surprising. Not because it can't, but because the normal way every protean interacts with a non-shapeshifter is by attacking.

So no, I disagree that it is a con. It is, in my opinion, a pro.

I'll second this.

"Why not just keep track of them all?" I hear you ask. Well, because I was doing it to have fun (my wife is occasionally openly appalled at what I consider "fun"), and keeping track of them all in a spreadsheet somewhere would have made it less fun for me, so I didn't.

Well, now, I'm appalled that you don't find keeping spreadsheets of your hobbies fun.

(Admittedly, I'm the kind of person who, after our Excel training on formulas and such at my job, thought, "Cool, I can use this to automate the breakdowns of my poker results in so many ways!")