@GuerillaGrue @Shyfer 3rd Edition is when they even started *trying* to push back, by getting rid of class and level limits by species.

@Khrux @kbal The impression I've gotten over the years is that Gygax was certainly sexist at the time (expecting that D&D would obviously not be for women, for example) only to ease off as the years went by (being pleasantly surprised that actually women do like D&D). This contrasts with his racism, which I understand him to have hewed strongly to until the day he died.

@Shkshkshk @dnd Hags being considered fey, Sora Kell or any of her daughters would be appropriate.

@Whidou @Ziggurat @mozz Absolutely this. A "random encounter" can be finding a magical spring, a traveling merchant, a lost child, faeries who invite you to a riddle-game, or any number of other things that don't involve combat.

@Shkshkshk @196 Suffice it to say that I suffered through over a decade of "bad classroom management", a lot of which went above and beyond mere attempts at containing screaming and crying... and meanwhile, the "teasers" (the teachers insisted that the verbal bullying be called "teasing") got away scot-free.

I ultimately dropped out of school because of the way the teachers treated me, even two years after they actually finally decided putting the bullies on notice was a worthwhile step.

@Shkshkshk @196 Do you also have an excuse for why the bullying victim gets punished by teachers instead of the bully?

@Shkshkshk @196 Do you have means by which to report potential bullies? Because I can only imagine a bully thinking this way.

@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars Of those:

* A bus stop
* A restaurant
* Maybe a park, I haven't timed it?

There's also a convenience store (with no associated gas station), which while expensive has proven handy in emergencies.

@phase @psion1369 Some of the issue is simply that a lot of people don't have the slightest idea that D&D is a single example in a larger category called TTRPGs.

For most people outside the hobby, "TTRPG" draws a blank stare, and "RPG" conjures thoughts of video games. "Like D&D" gets some superficial comprehension.

And then there are the people who drive the rest of us nuts calling *ANY* TTRPG "D&D", whether it bears any resemblance or not...

@AngryCommieKender As far as I'm aware, that happened far earlier than the era you cited. I've heard that people were calling them "T$R" and "They Sue Regularly" in the early 90s, before the general public exploded onto the Net.

@AngryCommieKender @Susaga Eh, I wouldn't really call TSR's issues in "2.5"/late 2e similar to the issues surrounding the cancellation of the d20 System Trademark License, the 4e GSL, or this past January's OGL debacle. For one thing, the game never officially had an open license before 3e came along. For another, late TSR's woes had more to do with their reach exceeding their grasp.

@Shkshkshk @196 ...If you do that to my old laptop specifically, will that make it less flaky, or is its tendency to freeze these days a hardware problem? 😜

@Eagle0600 @Velynt Or its 5e-based successor, Everyday Heroes.

@eerongal @slyflourish The column pickings there have shriveled over the years in favor of their forums. The main column there that still matters is Designers & Dragons.

@Flushmaster @copacetic I dunno, there's one WoD game that could be pressed into the MMO mold with some work: Werewolf: the Apocalypse.

Be a furry, shapeshifting, rage-fueled ecoterrorist, tearing apart fomori in the streets at night, raiding Pentex buildings, diving into surreal Umbral landscapes to learn Gifts from spirits, attacking Black Spiral Dancer strongholds...