TRPG General Chat

12:07 AM

My biggest problem with this week's episode of Doctor Who:

I mean, it also made no sense and the characters were so bog-standard Moffat it hurt, but it was fun and the plot wasn't very Moffatty.

Miniman

Hey, I recognise one of those!

Adeptus

I notice it was written by Moffat and someone else (whose name I have forgotten). Hopefully we'll see more episodes written by anyone-but-Moffat...

BESW

And Moffat? "Don't blink" was good. "Don't breathe" was saved by the cinematography. "Don't turn around" was pretty durn great. "Don't think"? Now you're a self-parody.

@Adeptus Yes, I'll have a double helping of This, please.

...although on reflection, I suspect that Moffat as a writer, with other people on editor/producer/director duties, would be superior.

He's not a bad writer within the confines of his talent; he just needs someone willing to tell him when he's repeating himself or going into the Bad Places.

(Yanno, like any other creative person ever.)

doppelgreener

12:25 AM

@BESW this question might be down your alley in several ways

having played 3.5e, and a rogue, and a sneaky rogue at that

BESW

Rogue isn't the problem.

doppelgreener

@BESW who's the woman in the bottom right?

BESW

He's playing with a GM who allowed him to join the game with a character build (flanking rogue) which the GM had no intention of actually permitting to function, and hasn't even thrown him a bone by giving him opportunities to use his secondary features.

@doppelgreener Irene Adler from Moffat's Sherlock.

doppelgreener

@BESW ah, alright.

@BESW ouch. (I wasn't sure if it was a GM ruling, or the fact they didn't read the rules, and the rules don't let them do what they thought, and the GM is unwilling to overwrite the rules)

BESW

> I've talked to the DM, and he's unwilling to change his ruling.

This isn't about rogues. This is about a GM who doesn't warn players that his house rules will negate their characters until they encounter the house rule in play.

doppelgreener

12:31 AM

yes, aka someone not being a very excellent gm

BESW

This is a freaking warning sign.

It's not the flanking thing. It's the letting players use builds you intend to torpedo thing.

If I were in that player's shoes, I'd tell the GM exactly how uncool that was, roll a new character, and give the GM one more chance to not be a massive jerk.

doppelgreener

@BESW [activates the sirens]

oh wow.

I thought I mentioned it yesterday, and it turns out you mentioned it a year ago

the whole thing where GMs get to be massive jerks and tyrants, and get away with it totally at the table, and the players feel that somehow they have no ability to stare at the human across the table from them and say "Hey, man, that's not cool", reminds me of the Stanford Prison experiment

I have no idea how people completely forget they are a bunch of people sitting at a table, and they all still have obligations to make sure they're having fun and that nobody's being a jerk.

Heck, even in board games when it's our job to destroy each other, my friends and I call each other out when someone's being a jackass.

BESW

How's this for a comment on Tridus's answer?

> I think it's important to notice that the GM allowed a character build which his understanding/modification of the rules rendered impotent. This is not responsible GMing, nor does it set a good precedent, and both GM and player should be made aware that if such behaviour continues it'll quickly cause toxic frustration and resentment likely to break up the game.

doppelgreener

@BESW may even be worthwhile as a comment on the question, pointing something out to answerers.

but, yes, good comment

actually, yeah, probably mainly on Tridus's answer

BESW

Aaand KRyan dropped a lot of that in his answer.

And now I have remembered this.

Oct 19 '13 at 2:20, by BESW

@AlexP Concept: a character with Int as a dump stat and an Amulet of the Planes.

Oct 19 '13 at 2:22, by BESW

I call it "The Game-Changer."

doppelgreener

12:47 AM

@BESW oh god this is hilarious

BESW

[The party is at a fork in the road. One path is clear and well-kept; the other is weedy and muddy and looks hardly used.]
Bard: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and we--"
[cleric of Olidammara pulls out amulet]
Cleric: "--We get plane shifted randomly!"

3

doppelgreener

@BESW it sounds like a great rescue device though.

about to die horribly to a horde of orcs: pull out amulet.

~~20%~~ 50%(?) chance of immediately dying horribly is better than a 99.999% chance of very soon dying horribly.

BESW

For several Fourth Doctor stories, he had the TARDIS on random to evade a nigh god-like being he'd double-crossed.

doppelgreener

@BESW so he'd just travel to a random time and place in each episode?

BESW

Each story, yes.

(Classic Who had each story last several episodes.)

(No love for my perfect matching of the meter and rhyme? Philistines.)

doppelgreener

12:56 AM

@BESW schwa?

BESW

@doppelgreener "The Road Less Taken," final stanza.

Miniman

@BESW I thought it seemed familiar

Although it might be from other parody versions, now that I think about it

Adeptus

@BESW I appreciated it

doppelgreener

@Lord_Gareth these ones; read a bit above and below. specifically, hopes that allowing rage to give bonuses to noncombat actions will generate RP.

A bit off topic, but dropping this here:

3

Q: What Stack Exchange domain names do I need to white-list to handle smooth login credential transfer?

I use Firefox to log into my Stack Exchange account(s) and the login handover between Exchanges works well - for vanilla Firefox. A while back, I installed the Self-Destructing Cookies add-on for Firefox. (An absolutely superb plugin, I highly recommended it). For sites that pass credential co...

Miniman

1:15 AM

@doppelgreener I actually have been struggling with this, thanks!

doppelgreener

I've started using a Firefox extension this question is about, called Self-Destructing Cookies. I've previously already changed my browser configuration to disallow third-party cookies, which means that only the sites I actually visit can leave cookies on my machine, and only when I visit them, meaning a million ad services don't litter their tracking cookies on my machine.

BESW

1

A: How should I handle a ruling that really hurts my character?

Suggest a different system. This is not a minor rules variant your GM is imposing: it's a major change to a fundamental mechanic used by many classes and monsters, and I suspect it's just symptomatic of a deeper challenge your group is facing. It sounds like your GM is very interested in making...

doppelgreener

But now I've found this extension, which by default makes cookies self-destruct after I close all of a site's tabs. That is, unless I specifically change the default for that site: (a) whitelist it so its cookies are never destroyed, or (b) amber list it so that they're only destroyed after I totally close my browser.

This means the junk cookies, or tracking cookies, dumped by every odd site I visit, and all the news sites I regularly visit, and so on, go away and get destroyed, instead of littering my machine or leaving me trackable.

I am very happy with this.

@BESW [clicks, reads]

BESW

Ah, yes, the downvotes have started. [basks]

doppelgreener

@BESW interesting idea, upvoted since it could have some merit. But, I still very much desire to see someone call out the DM explicitly.

Nobody yet has said it as straighforwardly as you did: the DM allowed a player to join the game without warning with a character whose build was going to be torpedoed by house rules.

BESW

1:20 AM

Mmm. I'm going to add that.

Miniman

@BESW I doubt you'll take many downvotes for that answer

doppelgreener

so, examining the system: the DM did a bad thing. Answers are responding to dealing with that behaviour. You, personally, are taking a guess at diagnosing why that behaviour existed, and suggesting a radical response that may work wonders. A good move and a bold move.

BESW

2

A: How should I handle a ruling that really hurts my character?

This is symptomatic of an underlying problem. This is not a minor rules variant your GM is imposing: it's a major change to a fundamental mechanic used by many classes and monsters, and I suspect it's just symptomatic of a deeper challenge your group is facing. If so, the rogue thing won't be an...

@Miniman So far I've got 2:1 ratio.

doppelgreener

1:39 AM

> The GM wants things to make sense as a story, rather than as a collection rules.

needs an "of"

BESW

Thanks.

doppelgreener

@BESW your revision is a phenomenal improvement on what was already a fair answer

this is one of the occasions where I wonder if I should make a bounty for this answer, then remember you already have >20k and don't really need it

2

BESW

Thank you.

doppelgreener

You're welcome!

Moving on past well-deserved compliments, I'd like to make a clever title on Meta but I wonder if I could do better.

I'm going to make a question prompting the WoD users to start their retagging effort, since nobody is taking the initiative to do so yet it seems, and the issue seems to be one week on with no challenge, so the new tagging scheme seems like it should be fairly settled.

I am thinking of titling it something like...

> Editors: the Retaggening. (Or: Start retagging the WoD threads!)

or maybe just WoD: The Retaggening?

or I am overcomplicating it. I am good at doing that sometimes.

BESW

Nah, just flip it to get the "real" title first.

doppelgreener

1:48 AM

Ok. :)

BESW

> Start retagging the WoD threads! (AKA "Editors: the Retaggening")

doppelgreener

@BESW lovely

wax eagle

one of you sourcing/editing gurus want to help me figure out which statements in this answer are in need of a source?

I mean I can reference chapter and verse of an adventure or two, but I'm not sure that's the part the commenter is having trouble with

BESW

I think that's the bit.

The "drop by 5" thing is the only part I'd like to see sourcing for.

But [shrug].

wax eagle

k, lemmie see if I can find a secondary reference on that in HOTDQ

Miniman

1:53 AM

@waxeagle I think he just doesn't believe that rolling = max(10, d20)

wax eagle

@Miniman shrug I'm not sure what to tell him on that...there are of course certain things where active perception should be called for rather than passive, but 99% of the time, if you're rolling perception it's to try to do better than your passive

interesting...that starter reference is the only place in a published adventure where the DC drops for trying to find something (I want to say a DC was completely eradicated on close inspection somewhere else though). It's a situation where w/o a DMG we're deriving rules based on published material without a sufficient volume of material to actually derive a rule

BESW

Beautiful.

And since apparently not even the game developers are following the rules laid out in their adventures...

wax eagle

they have a prexisting condition of "have played D&D before" though

trogdor

yeah, but the thing is

they called for perception rolls as the DM

they didn't say as the PC's "I am going to be looking for stuff"

wax eagle

yeah...

trogdor

2:06 AM

that is where I believe the issue is

wax eagle

DM habit...I guess

trogdor

because they have it written in their own rules for passive perception to be used

BESW

And in any context except "We are going to showcase our new system by modelling how we expect you to play our adventure," that'd be fine.

But in that context... Bad Wizards. No cookie.

Oh, wow. The more this poor rogue guy edits his question, the more I'm feeling that my answer is super-appropriate.

trogdor

as for rolling and then going back to passive,.. I don't know for sure how that should work, but it seems to me that if you rolled you are taking a risk. either the roll gets 10 or higher, or you forfeit your passive score for that particular instance

otherwise there is suddenly no reason not to roll all the freaking time

and in my experience, a session of 4e takes too long as it is even without making it optimal play to always roll perception everywhere

BESW

....aaaand now I'm not so sure. It sounds like he's grognarding 3.5 rather than narrativising it.

doppelgreener

2:16 AM

@waxeagle could you thaw my spoil-lair?

wax eagle

@doppelgreener sure!

@trogdor again, that's the backwards approach in my mind. You check passives first, and if no one sees anything the option to look is there.

the passive score exists to tell you if you see anything right away

doppelgreener

@waxeagle thanks :)

The Oracle

0

Q: Start retagging the WoD questions! (aka "Editors: the Retaggening")

About a week ago, we discussed how to sort out the World of Darkness tags in Clean up tagging for "World of Darkness" related questions. The question's been settled for about a week, and it seems you have all come to agreement on a particular scheme with no major disagreements voiced. I'm creati...

discussion tags

trogdor

2:33 AM

@waxeagle yeah, that is basically what I was trying to say

if you want to roll first it should come at some kind of price, just cause that isn't the way it should be done

wax eagle

yeah. You don't get to fall back on passives if the roll is too low.

and I think I've clarified that as my intent in my answer

huh 5e is finally down to being described by "questions asked this week" instead of "questions asked today" not sure what the threshold on that is

(5 it looks like)

BESW

2:48 AM

[face/palm] I did some work for a book a while back and now they're publishing it and getting permissions (which is totally the wrong way 'round, but I'm unsurprised in this case).

And so I get an email asking me to give permission for them to use "the illustrations I have provided," with no list or description.

Oh, yes, I'm going to give you a blanket statement that like.

Just spent ten minutes working out Fizzgig's new "Acid Urine Spray" attack in D&D. I love having a pet.

Tweeted by UrsulaV on September 23, 2014 at 2:33 AM

mattdm

3:16 AM

Huh. How many people on this SE site used to frequent rec.games.frp.dnd? I recognize some names!

Lord_Gareth

My god, a newcomer

@BESW, inflict hospitality upon him!

BESW

Nah, he's been around before. [wave] Hi again, @mattdm.

mattdm

heh. hi!

BESW

This is the only online tabletop RPG community I've ever been active in.

Miniman

One of 2 for me

doppelgreener

3:19 AM

@mattdm i didn't, not even as a copy of someone, you can't prove anything

mattdm

Back like... a decade ago.... the usenet groups were pretty great.

Lord_Gareth

I'll just be here in my PTSD corner.

mattdm

And by great, I mean filled with pointless flamewars and ridiculous personalities and etc.

Because, internet.

But it was fun.

Lord_Gareth

I was never part of usenet

But I am the veteran of many harsh and terrible hells from which there is no true escape.

mattdm

Yeah I mostly stopped because of 4e wars and blah blah blah. And I didn't really remember it that much, but then I was pleased to see some names here and think "Oh hey that was one of the sensible people".

I won't name names. :)

BESW

3:24 AM

Yeah, nobody wants to be outed as "sensible" on the Internet.

5

mattdm

anyway. "sensible" says it's time for bed now. :)

BESW

G'night, then. See you around.

Lord_Gareth

@BESW Can I get you to tell me if this makes sense: giantitp.com/forums/…

BESW

Hah! Nothing makes sense in GitPland.

doppelgreener

@Lord_Gareth it would benefit from a link to the source of that quote

Lord_Gareth

3:29 AM

@doppelgreener The source is myself.

Unless you mean the quoted question?

BESW

Since it's not a system I'm very familiar with, and it's dealing with lore and a class I know nothing at all about, all I can do is talk about the way it maps mental stats to personality traits.

Which 3.PF is AWFUL at doing, so my brain shuts down as soon as I see any attempt.

Miniman

@BESW I'll keep that in mind for next time I need you to stop talking...

doppelgreener

@Lord_Gareth yes, a link to the same message you're quoting

BESW

It takes a lot more than my brain shutting down for me to stop talking.

Miniman

@BESW Well played, sir.

BESW

3:32 AM

You could just as easily argue Harbingers are Wis-based, with similar wording tweaked only slightly.

Lord_Gareth

@doppelgreener giantitp.com/forums/…

BESW

So... yeah, it makes sense, but it's in a context where eloquence trumps content in the sense-making department.

Metool

@doppelgreener There's a little >> icon next to the name Taveena in the quote.

If you ever find yourself looking at GitP again.

BESW

@Metool Perish the thought!

[Note to self: Spirit of Intellect named Parrish.]

doppelgreener

@Metool Yes, but there is not one next to "Myself". I cannot visit the context of Gareth's quote of himself, and read the messages around his message. See what I'm getting at?

Lord_Gareth

3:43 AM

@doppelgreener Well you should have specified that's what you wanted

doppelgreener

as in

BESW

@Lord_Gareth Generally, if there are two quotes in the post and only one is cited, and someone asks for a cite to a quote in the post...

doppelgreener

BESW

Although citation is often taught as a legalistic butt-covering procedure, its primary function is and always will be to provide context and a place to look for more information on the subject. That means citing one's own work is just as important as citing someone else's.

doppelgreener

@BESW right, that. My immediate response was "Ooo, I want to read more about this! ... aww, there's no link to LG's post."

afk a little while

Lord_Gareth

3:56 AM

Testing, can you hear me?

trogdor

yep

well, if by hear you mean see what you typed out

pretty sure I can't hear you making any noise

Metool

@Lord_Gareth poke

Adeptus

@Lord_Gareth Nope. Turn up the volume.

BESW

Hey, chat! I have a proposition for you.

Metool

@BESW And I have a preposition for you.

(amongst)

BESW

4:08 AM

I have a game I'm starting tomorrow, and my players haven't filled in much of the setting yet. I'd like to get suggestions from you guys.

Dorian

What kind of suggestions?

BESW

Here's the setting page, with Places and Faces.

Suggestions for the blanks are most needed, but proposed changes to existing stuff is also welcome.

Dorian

Oh well, sorreh. That type of setting isn't my forte. I'm a high fantasy guy, any ideas you get from me are likely to be unusable lol.

BESW

It's set in the Dresden Files universe.

Dorian

Which I have absolutely no experience with lol

Except the idea that it's kinda sorta occulty here and there? Or something?

BESW

4:12 AM

It's a gritty urban fantasy franchise: the main character is a wizard private eye in contemporary Chicago who investigates supernatural crimes.

For this playtest of the Dresden Files Accelerated Editions alpha material, my players decided to use the same general setting, but go back 150 years.

Grubermensch

It might not fit your group, but you don't have a brothel on your setting list.

BESW

The main characters are a small-town sheriff and the town's rabbi.

Grubermensch

Certainly seems like a place one might encounter drama.

Dorian

And you appear to be looking for the basic stuff? Doesn't look like you're asking about weird things or big bads. I can write stuff for basic townies and the like, but I'm in a sort of mood...

BESW

@Grubermensch If it turns out to be useful, I think the Brown Bat Bar and Barber can also be a Brothel.

Dorian

4:15 AM

One of those... "I'm so far outside the box right now, I forgot there was a box"

Grubermensch

@BESW That's kinda what I assumed, but worth throwing out there.

BESW

I'm not sure an isolated town of 75 is gonna have a brothel.

Dorian

You'd be surprised

Grubermensch

Especially given it's a mining town, likely to be a lot of demand.

Adeptus

@BESW The Brown Bat Bar, Barber, and Brothel? Is it also a Bookshop and a Bank?

Dorian

4:16 AM

@Adeptus That. It works.

BESW

And on Saturdays there's Ballet.

Adeptus

@BESW Brilliant

doppelgreener

@BESW I need to go for a couple of hours, but when I'm back could i have your assistance in my spoil lair?

BESW

Aye!

doppelgreener

I'd like to plot out the places and NPCs for the researcher's archives.

(I don't know if they'll have faces.)

2

(The NPCs or the places.)

BESW

4:19 AM

Sounds fun.

doppelgreener

Woohoo! \o/

BESW

So, what I'm mostly looking for: adding more personality to faces and places, or suggesting new/alternate ones.

Dorian

And the sane bystanders are baffled at this boisterous building's balls. Some might be bitter and seek to remove the bile from their backwater burg in a not so benevolent manner.

Grubermensch

What do they eat?

BESW

Borscht?

Dorian

4:21 AM

BACON!

Grubermensch

No I mean for real. What's the town's food source?

Dorian

Of course there's the standard Beef and Beer.

Miniman

@Grubermensch Diamonds!

BESW

Hunting and small farming plots supplement the food Walter brings in for his general store (probably in something like bi-monthly supply trips downriver).

Dorian

And maybe a little burbon as well.

Adeptus

4:22 AM

@Grubermensch Fish from the river

Dorian

@Adeptus Bass of course

Grubermensch

Is there a ferryman?

Adeptus

@Dorian Battered, baked, or broiled?

Dorian

@Adeptus Yes

Maybe add a little bay to season, perhaps some butternut squash and biscuits on the side, and a blueberry or blackberry pie for dessert.

BESW

@Grubermensch Not enough traffic for a ferryman; there's probably just barges that come past a couple times a month.

@Dorian Or butter brickle.

Adeptus

4:26 AM

@Dorian Beans & beets

Dorian

@BESW Just as long as it's not brussels sprouts... I hate those.

Lord_Gareth

@BESW Local historic ruins are haunted by a lonely fey. She's actually very friendly, as long as you don't take anything

BESW

@Lord_Gareth We do have a haunted clearing.

And a possibly-haunted mine.

Lord_Gareth

Well, less 'haunted' and more 'dwelt within', perhaps

Dorian

Have they ever had bananas?

Adeptus

4:27 AM

1 hour ago, by BESW

Yeah, nobody wants to be outed as "sensible" on the Internet.

Lord_Gareth

"That's the old Tumbledown Ranch. The fairy there is really friendly, just don't touch anything."

BESW

@Dorian Stella Goodnight had a banana at a very fancy party in the city a few years ago.

Dorian

Didn't know faeries were an option, and someone already beat me to it.

Grubermensch

Who's the primary authority challenge to the sheriff PC?

Dorian

@BESW That must have been a fancy party indeed.

BESW

4:29 AM

@Grubermensch King and his Men. The game is going to start with King announcing they're taking over the town, and the party discovering that King and his Men have some kind of supernatural power to back up their claim.

Grubermensch

Okay, but there was a preexisting challenger before these guys showed up. Who was it?

BESW

Then the PCs will find some way to gain supernatural power of their own to combat King's Men.

Stella Goodnight is the unofficial power in the town, but she and the sheriff probably see eye-to-eye on most things; she's probably the force behind his election.

Dorian

Idea...

Give me a moment to flesh it out though.

Grubermensch

Who lost the election?

Dorian

That mine, what's the story behind the mine?

BESW

4:33 AM

@Dorian Urban fantasy: vampires, werewolves, fairies, demons, ghosts...

@Grubermensch Not sure.

Dorian

Hey, fae are often excluded from "urban fantasy"

Grubermensch

@BESW Whoever it is will be a good candidate to cause minor inconveniences for the party.

BESW

@Dorian It was opened as an ore mine, then struck diamonds and boomed until its work force was depleted by the War. Chuck died in a mysterious explosion trying to run it practically by himself, and the mine's been abandoned ever since. It's said to be very dangerous, though whether that's because it's unsafe or haunted by Chuck's ghost depends on who you ask.

Further discussion would have to go into the Spoil-Lair.

BESW's Spoil-Lair

CAUTION: High chance of plot. Not for BESW's players.

Lord_Gareth

ironheartsurge.tumblr.com/post/98118380809/…

BESW

@Lord_Gareth I can get behind that.

Dorian

4:59 AM

@BESW yes

Hmm... Question. Anyone familiar with Eldritch Glaive (D&D3.5) in depth?

BESW

I speculate that @Lord_Gareth is the one to ask.

Lord_Gareth

@Dorian Insert sex joke here.

Miniman

@Dorian Nope. Does this mean you've decided to go the Glaivelock Yoda?

Dorian

@Miniman I can't remember. Not the build as it was anyways.

Lord_Gareth

And I'm not familiar with it in-depth, but if you'd be kind enough to quote the ability I can RAW the living hell out of it.

I know very few of the overall rules for 3.5. My talent is in understanding them without further instruction.

Dorian

5:05 AM

ELDRITCH GLAIVE
Least; 2nd; Blast Shape
Your eldritch blast takes on physical substance, appearing
similar to a glaive. As a full-round action, you can make a
single melee touch attack as if wielding a reach weapon. If you
hit, your target is affected as if struck by your eldritch blast
(including any eldritch essence applied to the blast). Unlike
hideous blow (Complete Arcane 134), you cannot combine your
eldritch glaive with damage from a held weapon.
Furthermore, until the start of your next turn, you also

Spellblast (Sp): This invocation (Lesser; 4th; Eldritch
Essence), learned at 3rd level, allows you to place an arcane
spell that affects an area upon your eldritch blast. If the eldritch
blast hits its target, the spell's area is centered on any corner of
the target's space, even if the spell could normally be centered
only on the caster. If the eldritch blast misses its target, the
spell is lost with no effect.
It takes a full-round action to cast the spell and fire the
eldritch blast. Only an area spell with a casting time no

Can those be used together?

Lord_Gareth

Yes

Dorian

My main concern was that they both state it uses a full round action.

Also, if you were to add a spell onto the Glaive, and you have iterative attacks, does the spell apply to each?

Or just the first attack?

BESW

> Only the first target of your eldritch blast is affected by the spell.

Seems straightforward.

Lord_Gareth

Glaive is an odd duck but neither of those overwrite the general rule that you may always combine 1 shape and 1 essence

Dorian

What if it's the same target?

Lord_Gareth

5:08 AM

With no specific exception, general rules; one full-round action gets you a spell and a glauve

Dorian

You're attacking the same target twice with say Greater Dispel wrapped in your Glaive?

Lord_Gareth

Game rules read him as 2 separate targets

Dorian

Alright. Wasn't sure about that. I figured it was something along those lines though.

My main worry was whether they could be combined at all.

Pity the Hellbred's stats are kinda lackluster... Hellbred pretty much writes its own character motivation XD

Thought my Dm banned Binder

I ws wrong.

I may just cheese a Hellfire Warlock with a Binder1 dip :P

Miniman

5:37 AM

@Dorian I can't remember, do classes that advance arcane spellcasting advance warlock progression?

Dorian

Yes.

It is stated as much at the beginning of the PrC section of Complete Arcane.

Miniman

Then a Sneak Attack warlock could be cheesed up?

Dorian

Also, warlocks count for having an arcane caster level.

They just can't enter classes that require "the ability to cast spells"

(without of course having it from another source)

And yes, sneak attack warlocks can exist.

In fact, there's alot of ways to make them quite well.

Adeptus

6:44 AM

13

A: How do you tell if a D&D book is 3.0 or 3.5?

Use this handy list of... Dungeons and Dragons, 3rd Edition and Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Products from Wizards of the Coast in Order of Publication The following presented in year/month order for easier sorting. Products released in the same month are presented alphabetically. Parenthetical ref...

So, MM2 was never updated to 3.5e?

Miniman

@Adeptus Bit of a worry if that's true, MM3 is on that list as having been updated

The Oracle

7:40 AM

0

Q: I feel like I'm being unduly criticized in comments, how should I handle this?

So I asked this question and I feel (and feel free to tell me I'm just being paranoid) that the comments on my question are unduly critical while also being irrelevant to the question asked. You managed to go that entire question without clearly stating how DW is fundamentally different from ...

discussion

BESW

9:23 AM

@NiteCyper Hi!

From Obscurus Lupa's review of Subspecies 2:

> So, I guess this is a good time to do some actual analysis here, and talk about why Michelle fails as a protagonist:
This’ll become more obvious as the [Subspecies] series goes on, but she’s a reactionary hero. That means: everything that she does is a reaction to something that happens to her; she never moves the story forward herself. Watch this series and name me something Michelle actually does on her own. Just try. That is, when she isn’t crying—and she does that a lot.
In a weird way, that makes [series villain] Radu our real main character, because he’s actually moving the story al…

This makes me think again about the difference between the two groups I've run Cthulhu Dark with.

In one group, every time an Investigator "failed to hold it together," the Investigator's player role-played it as the Investigator taking an (overwrought, poorly thought out) action.

In the other group, Investigators tended to scream and cry a lot.

The first group would blurt out inappropriate information, leave a door inconveniently open to the monster instead of bolting it shut, or the like.

The second group was more likely to have a nice wibble in the broom closet and then carry on.

I'm not sure what drives the difference between the groups, but it definitely impacted the dynamic of each game. In the first game, I had to run to keep up with them. In the second, I had to goad them every step of the way.

doppelgreener

9:57 AM

In the game with the frog monsters, I actually tried out being more active in my reactions to losing it, but I'd be interested to find out what drives the difference.

BESW

The frog monster game was different. It was also a little awkward on my end, because of the story I chose.

It wasn't as linear.

@AndoDaan Hi!

NiteCyper

@BESW Dang, that was late.

BESW

Better late than never? I've been tabbed out.

lisardggY

10:40 AM

Hey-ho.

BESW

Oh yeh.

doppelgreener

11:25 AM

(also #rpgs)

AndoDaan

12:06 PM

Oh, hello Besw

BESW

[wave] What's up?

AndoDaan

Nothing much. Trying some interactive fiction.

closest I can get to rpg'ing without friends

BESW

A lot of people on RPG.SE use online tabletops like Roll20, and Storium is coming out of beta soonish.

AndoDaan

Ah, cool. I might look into that. thanks

BESW

And, of course, depending on your location there's usually a game shop or card store that can hook you up with other RPGers if the handful of "find a game" websites and social media groups don't work.

doppelgreener

12:31 PM

the site has a couple of questions along the lines of "I am going to GM, and I want to find players for it"

but none so far about joining as a player, finding a new or established group

you could ask about that too if you need to know more

BESW

12:51 PM

A flag! Cthulhu rises from sunken R'yeh, destroys all the comments in sight, and sinks back to a dream-filled slumber. — mxyzplk ♦ 59 secs ago

BESW

1:06 PM

@TimB [wave] Hi again.

Tim B

hiya, just bimbling around chat rooms while SVN updates

Oxinabox

1:21 PM

doppelgreener: Bother it is too late to voice my objection the [tag:nwod-god-machine] being dual tagged with [tag:new-world-of-darkness]

Bugger.
I thought that have been made a thing with http://meta.rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/4773/lets-get-a-clear-consensus-on-the-use-of-nwod-vs-nwod-god-machine?rq=1

Stupid mess of WoD Tag mess Meta quesions.

BESW

1:42 PM

There are two kinds of people in my office... http://t.co/DKZQ4fsYRZ

Tweeted by lasrina on September 23, 2014 at 12:40 PM

Metool

1:59 PM

Good morning.

MadMAxJr

2:18 PM

We need to star more things so the Elder One pony comments go away.

3

I spent too much time thinking about that and it's horrifying.

Metool

2:41 PM

@Lord_Gareth Stance that gives you a spirit mount, y/n

Lord_Gareth

@Metool I wouldn't publish it, no

Metool

Because...

MadMAxJr

That's a little 80s action cartoon. Take a stance, summon magical mount.

Do you want Battlecats? Because that's how you get Battlecats.

Lord_Gareth

It feels, internally, like it's crossing the thin line between spells and supernatural maneuvers. Plus it'd turn off the various mounted Lance stances

Metool

@Lord_Gareth Not as familiar with those as you are.

Lord_Gareth

2:44 PM

@Metool I'm not familiar with those at all! Except that they exist and you can only have 1 stance

Hence creating issues

Metool

Mount scaling is its own issue. How does the discipline you speak of handle it?

MadMAxJr

Yeah, mount scaling is something I just discovered last weekend. My party is not thrilled their light horses have 13 HP and aren't hard for monsters to hit.

Phil

yay, a 3.5 monk question - that's bound to end well

Lord_Gareth

@Metool I honestly also cannot answer that one. You'll want to talk to Chris about it. There's every possibility that Lance will only be used for archetypes with mount-granting classes.

@Phil LINK ME THIS VILLAIN

Phil

0

Q: Is Drunken Master really as bad as everyone says?

So, when I see someone faulting the Drunken Master, it's typically because of what the character gets at level 1. Drink Like a Demon (Ex): A drunken master's body handles alcohol differently from other people's. He can drink a large tankard of ale, a bottle of wine, or a corresponding amount ...

dnd-3.5e monk

Metool

2:47 PM

@Lord_Gareth Great! Where can I do that?

wax eagle

VTC as "can of worms we don't want to open"

Lord_Gareth

@waxeagle No, I can answer this politely. It's legit

@Metool GitP, DSP, or Paizo, pick your poison. If GitP or Paizo, please use Expanded thread.

Phil

@Lord_Gareth wanna see this :D

Joshua Aslan Smith

exactly

I even linked the meta question I asked on balance questions

Metool

@Lord_Gareth Alright, what's the discipline called?

Phil

2:50 PM

sits back with popcorn to watch the comments thread on the question expand close to the speed of light

Lord_Gareth

Posted

@Metool Currently known as Piercing Lance, name subject to change

0

A: Is Drunken Master really as bad as everyone says?

It's the Mental Damage Drink Like a Demon has two problems. The first is that it's an uneven trade; you're losing 4 points of ability score and only getting 2 back. This does a few things to your Drunken Master that are bad: Lowers AC Lowers vital Wisdom-based skills (such as Perception) Lower...

MadMAxJr

TLDR; Excessive drinking while adventuring is a bad idea.

Lord_Gareth

Now are there any who remain that doubt my powah?

Just because a question is a Monk question doesn't mean it's automatically horrible, guys.

For instance, questions about Sacred Fist builds would be perfectly legit, on every single level

MadMAxJr

Well this particular question is straight forward and simple. The negatives vastly outweigh the gains.

Phil

@Lord_Gareth it's not always the question which is horrible, but the ensuing scrum of answers, disgreements and comment wars are often quite unpleasant...

Metool

2:57 PM

@Lord_Gareth Wassat.

Lord_Gareth

@Metool Monk/Cleric PrC, pretty nice actually.

BESW's Spoil-Lair

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