The documentation of the tp_dictoffset is a bit unclear when describing the responsibilities of a base type with a nonzero tp_dictoffset.
http://docs.python.org/c-api/typeobj.html

I feel there should some statement to the effect of:

"""

If a type defines a nonzero tp_dictoffset, that type is responsible for defining a `__dict__` slot as part of the tp_getset structures. Failure to do so will result in the dict being inaccesible from Python via `obj.__dict__` from instances of the type or subtypes.

"""

The reasoning is twofold:

1) `PyType_Ready` does not add the default getset members like `type_new` does. This prevents the instances of the type itself from retrieving `obj.__dict__`

2) `type_new` will provide the default `subtype_dict` getset member for subclasses, but this calls `get_builtin_base_with_dict` which will resolve to the most base type which is not heap allocated; in this case, the C type. Since this type has no `__dict__` getset member, the lookup fails.


Adding a bit of verbage about this "gotcha" would likely save some headaches in the future.

@Chris can you prepare a patch for this?