I'd have to say alignment arguments and 1e AD&D initiative arguments.

Quote from: Philotomy Jurament;617176I'd have to say alignment arguments and 1e AD&D initiative arguments.

I also remember the arguments over THAC0. Those got pretty heated during the 2e era and faired up again briefly after 3e came out.

This is Piestro's 666th post.

Skeletor is now an unholy icon of Evil.

All the really bad rules arguments I've seen were all in wargames, not RPG's.
(Usually GW's games.)

For RPG's, the worst seem to be debates about "balance", what constitutes Munchkinism, and "why-your-favorite-game-sucks-and-nobody-should-like-it".


I'd cite specific threads, but over the years all of them seem to blur together to me.

Quote from: Fiasco;616861Throwing in real world physics is a sure fire winner too.

What would be examples of this?


Over the years in the middle of numerous rpg games, I was asked various questions related to real world physics or statistics.  (The DM and/or other players incorrectly thought that somebody with an engineering background would know something more).

In most cases, I didn't have a good answer for many of these types of questions.  Many such questions don't have any simple scenarios which were clear cut with well defined equations.

Do Dwarven women have beards?

Less a game mechanics argument and more of a setting one.

Quote from: ggroy;617267What would be examples of this?


Over the years in the middle of numerous rpg games, I was asked various questions related to real world physics or statistics.  (The DM and/or other players incorrectly thought that somebody with an engineering background would know something more).

In most cases, I didn't have a good answer for many of these types of questions.  Many such questions don't have any simple scenarios which were clear cut with well defined equations.

An example is arguing about how many people can fit in a 5 foot square.  You know, like if you  have a mini sized map that shows the 'steppong stones' in a river of lava.

Quote from: deadDMwalking;617355An example is arguing about how many people can fit in a 5 foot square.  You know, like if you  have a mini sized map that shows the 'steppong stones' in a river of lava.

A river of lava turns to ashes everything within the visible horizon.

Lava is molten rock. Imagine the heat it gives off. Just to give an example, trees within hundreds of yards spontaneously combust. Just look on Yt for a documentary about it.

Yet, the image of the half-naked evil priestess with two gargoyles pouring lava from their mouths (pro tip: if lava is melted rock the gargoyles melt too) still remains a trope. In my games nothing without special resistances survives near a river of lava.

I would nominate how the "sneak" skill (in various systems and editions) is regularly interpreted by players as a kind of invisibility power.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Reckall;617393A river of lava turns to ashes everything within the visible horizon.

Lava is molten rock. Imagine the heat it gives off. Just to give an example, trees within hundreds of yards spontaneously combust. Just look on Yt for a documentary about it.

Yet, the image of the half-naked evil priestess with two gargoyles pouring lava from their mouths (pro tip: if lava is melted rock the gargoyles melt too) still remains a trope. In my games nothing without special resistances survives near a river of lava.

Yeah, its funny how many rule systems will count falling into lava as instant death while simultaneouly imposing no ill effects for standing right next to it.

Two fantastic "debates" came out of the 4e release, each spawning multi-thousand post threads on the Wizard's community site.

1: Choose two at-wills,

While each new character gets to choose two at-will powers by default, Warlock are(where) assigned their at-wills by other choices during the character process. They got Eldritch Blast and one other depending on their pact (fey, infernal, star). Some however felt that since they did not technically 'choose' to have these at-wills by RAW Warlock got all 4.

2: Range of Commander's strike,

Warlords could use the Commander's Strike at-will to substitute their attack with that of an ally. The range on the power was 'Melee Weapon' and the internal logic could be likened to the Warlord using his or her action to force the enemy to provoke an opportunity attack thereby granting the allies attack (this is how I normally rationalized it). Others concluded that the 'Melee Weapon' in question referred to the weapon used in the attack, meaning the Warlord could command that attack at any range. Thanks to the inconsistent way the rest of the power was worded there could be different interpretations.

People got so entrenched that even the designers and customer service indicating that the Warlord needed to be threatening the target was not enough to dislodge them

Quote from: Reckall;617393A river of lava turns to ashes everything within the visible horizon.

Lava is molten rock. Imagine the heat it gives off. Just to give an example, trees within hundreds of yards spontaneously combust. Just look on Yt for a documentary about it.

Yet, the image of the half-naked evil priestess with two gargoyles pouring lava from their mouths (pro tip: if lava is melted rock the gargoyles melt too) still remains a trope. In my games nothing without special resistances survives near a river of lava.

And yet...

Here's some info on getting near lava.

Quote from: CRKrueger;618155Here's some info on getting near lava.

Pretty much, I recall reading about some Scottish tribes who managed to melt rock for their fortifications. A nifty trick, if somewhat useless as it just made the stone brittle and prone to shattering.

Quote from: RPGPundit;617736I would nominate how the "sneak" skill (in various systems and editions) is regularly interpreted by players as a kind of invisibility power.

RPGPundit

I ran an RC game for some guys and half had played before and half had only played some 3E and a lot of video games. Every time they walked into a room, the younger guys would say, "I Hide in Shadows." As if that would magically enshroud them in darkness and make them unseen.

After about two dozen times of me asking, "Who are you hiding from?" they either got the picture or got tired of me asking.