TRPG General Chat

Shalvenay

12:05 AM

@IronHeart -- the transformers still work -- they're just terribly deriorated and overheating badly

Iron Heart

Oh my.

Shalvenay

that's part of the problem with this place -- 99% of it is still live, despite how decrepit and chaotic it is

well, decrepit from an electrical perspective

whole dungeon's an electrocution waiting to happen

(in fact, there are three victims)

(in the dungeon, that is)

Shalvenay

12:59 AM

oh, and one more thing re the earlier convo -- I have actually suggested things that are so extreme that not only have other RPers refuse them, they don't want to trust me to ever suggest ideas again because they feel I am that far beyond their bounds

Bobson

1:39 AM

@Shalvenay Another good sign of being in the wrong group.

Miniman

1:52 AM

@Shalvenay example?

Bobson

Should probably take it back to the bar if you're going to continue that conversation.

doppelgreener

2:49 AM

@BESW Wow. Is Community Radio something like Welcome to Night Vale: the RPG?

Miniman

3 hours ago, by Bobson

Community radio sounds like a game about Welcome to Nightvale.

3 hours ago, by BESW

@Bobson It's basically a Nightvale RPG with the serial numbers filed off.

:P

doppelgreener

Woo!

@BESW Did you buy this thing?

doppelgreener

3:05 AM

@JoshuaAslanSmith WHAAAAAAT? You have a d20 chance of losing your foot and crippling your movement speed every time you take a critical hit?

Miniman

@doppelgreener Strictly a variant rule.

doppelgreener

@Miniman Sounds like a shoddily designed variant rule for DMs who want their party to be cripples by level 10.

(and then, miraculously cease to care after level 10 or whenever it is you get 7th level spells)

Miniman

I don't disagree with you.

A large percentage of the variant rules seem rather poorly designed.

But their focus has been on providing options to suit different playstyles, and I guess some people enjoy this type of rule.

doppelgreener

Yes I am getting the sort of impression that "variant rule" also meant "rigorous playtesting is a nice-to-have"

Shalvenay

which edition is this?

Miniman

3:10 AM

@doppelgreener Yes I am getting the sort of impression that "variant rule" also meant "rigorous playtesting is a ~~nice-to-have~~ didn't happen"

@Shalvenay 5e

doppelgreener

@Miniman but it should probably contain a disclaimer that you will get crippled, and it sounds like that disclaimer doesn't exist?

Shalvenay

@Miniman -- example I can give is someone wanting a gory scene and getting the idea of twisting someone's ribs 180 degrees, one rib at a time

Miniman

@doppelgreener I'd have to check, I think it does say something about this variant being specifically for people who want to deal with permanent character problems.

@Shalvenay Oh, extreme like that. That's a simple thing to work out.

Shalvenay

@Miniman -- well -- it did dissuade another player from ever considering me as a potential villain-player

BESW

@doppelgreener I have not; I'm not really a Nightvale aficionado. I thought you might want to, though! I'd be happy to have it in our rotation, but I'm not the guy to run it--at least at first.

Miniman

3:17 AM

@Shalvenay Assuming you want to be, you could just ask what rating people are looking for. Most groups I've seen tend to end up with PG for most things, violence up to M.

BESW

@Miniman I'm reasonably sure that for "legacy" variants of the game, lack of rigorous playtesting is a feature.

Shalvenay

@Miniman -- sounds like a useful shorthand to me

doppelgreener

@BESW I will at least buy it and take a look then. :)

Miniman

@Shalvenay I was just using TV ratings (are they different in other countries?), but yeah, it's a nice thing to have set out.

Magician

3:45 AM

@doppelgreener Everyone's an owlbear in 5e!

That explains so much.

David Wilkins

4:08 AM

Anyone recall a question asking about the plastic box that holds pencils char sheets etc. From the Aquisitions Inc. Games?

BESW

3

Q: What is the paper/pen/dice case used in the PAX Prime 2014 game?

I was looking the PAX Prime 2014 game and couldn't help but notice the nice looking cases they have: in the upper portion you can store your character sheet / books, and at the bottom there's a compartment for your dice and pens. What is this thing called, and where can I buy it online? (You ca...

David Wilkins

That! Thx

doppelgreener

5:24 AM

> *Its attacks hamper enemies until the end of its next turn, and it does 2 attacks whenever the escalation die is even.

Meaning every second turn, it could possibly hamper you and then tear a limb off in the same turn.

What is this escalation die!?

Magician

@doppelgreener Indeed.

doppelgreener

Is it a die that counts up as the encounter continues, with things escalating in power as it counts up?

Magician

Pretty much.

Escalation die is as simple as it is great. It's a (preferably giant) d6 that you place on the table at the start of round 2 and increment each round thereafter. All PCs add it's value to their attack rolls.

Which means PCs may start losing the fight, only to rally and overcome the mean monsters in the end, in the grand tradition of all fiction ever.

Iron Heart

[snip] Carry on.

Magician

It also prevents alpha striking - why use your heavy guns at the start when you have a much greater chance of hitting with them later.

And then there are a bunch of abilities that trigger off the escalation die, both for monsters and PCs. For instance, wizards have cyclic spells that don't get expended when cast on an even escalation die value. It's also worth pointing out that once the die hits 6 it stays there, and it's an even value.

doppelgreener

5:28 AM

Oh wow. x)

That is awesome.

(Thrillingly awesome.)

Magician

@IronHeart Should have left it, it's an interesting bit of news :)

Iron Heart

yeah, figured I should have waited

Marine life, meet Nautilus!

3

Magician

@IronHeart No point, I can talk about 13th Age for a while.

And then there's sheer insanity. An epic level commander (think 4e warlord) can use a couple of abilities to first turn the escalation die into a d8, then roll it and keep the rolled value. An epic necromancer can steal it for a turn, cackling madly, and be the only one who benefits from it for a round, treating it as an 8. They are then instructed to return the escalation die to the table, telling others they should be grateful.

doppelgreener

@Magician LOL.

Magician

Together with abilities that trigger off a die roll (bite might be a regular attack that also poisons the target on natural 16+) they add up to monsters being sort-of programmed beforehand. DM doesn't spend much time choosing from the options, instead the monster tells them what it does.

doppelgreener

5:41 AM

I love games that do that.

Add little personal touches by instructing.... well, giving the player an excuse to say something excellent like that.

@Magician I probably need to try this game one day.

Magician

@doppelgreener Yes! It is fun. Even its bestiary is a great read.

doppelgreener

@Magician I remember you leaving me gobsmacked or cracking me up with extracts from its bestiary in the past.

Magician

Hehe. They have Kobold Grand Wizards! Level 0 mooks. I don't think I've seen any other level 0 creatures in the game...

Or how about devils (in 13 True Ways), which all have a devil's due trait: if you want to add escalation die to attacks against them, you have to pay something, depending on the devil. Each time.

One of my favorite new monsters is slime-skull: "The slime killed the creature, the creature's ghost killed the slime, and now the two are trapped together - bound to the skull. The roughly humanoid blob of slime slurps morosely along with the skull bobbing around inside it. Some slime-skulls work at getting their mucus-coated parts to simulate a voice box, so that they can whine and threaten and curse out loud, but their rants usually cut out mid slurp."

And if it kills someone, it'll nom their head and run off to make another slime-skull.

doppelgreener

6:05 AM

@Magician xD wow. what are those like?

@Magician hahaha. wonderful.

@Magician oh nuts!!

Magician

@doppelgreener They typically buff the devil one way or another. Except for the lowliest of devils, the lemures. If you pay them their due, one ends up somewhere else on a battlefield. They don't teleport, but there's so many of them, squirming around...

doppelgreener

@Magician were it not for the atmosphere surrounding these i would be sorely tempted to make one who's just been trying to complain about the airconditioning being broken.

@Magician So... a fight with a lemure that lasts a few turns... might wind up with six other lemures entering the world elsewhere?

BESW

@doppelgreener I would not complain bitterly if you brought it to Geek Night.

Magician

@doppelgreener Hah. The way it's written, it's the already present lemures running amok. But either could work...

@BESW Another advantage of 13th Age is that if you're familiar with D&D, you can more or less make a character from the book, with very little extra guidance needed. Though someone should actually read the rules...

doppelgreener

@Magician How accommodating is 13th Age to a story that might only last a few sessions?

Magician

6:13 AM

@doppelgreener I don't think there's anything in it that'd break horribly. You may choose to turbo-level, or not.

It also has some tools for improv and letting players drive the story, to some extent.

For the purposes of a one-off to try the system, I think I can share my dropbox folder with all the (legal) pdfs.

BESW

I have a pen tablet! I will be alternatively squeeing and cursing as I figure out how to hook it up, and unavailable for the duration.

Magician

!!!

doppelgreener

@BESW Yaaaaaayyyy!!

Which model?

(tip: the pen stand might contain extra nibs and a nib remover)

Magician

Also, the default 13th Age setting is bonkers, with things like living dungeons that occasionally crawl to the surface and rearrange themselves as they see fit. I'm extremely tempted to buy a large adventure which has a living dungeon with a grudge against the PCs, stalking them across the world.

I haven't used a pre-written adventure for over a decade, but that's just brilliant.

doppelgreener

@Magician hahahaha.

"Hey look, a smithy!" (it's the dungeon)

"Let's head into that village, see if they have any food we can buy." (it's the dungeon)

"It's a dungeon! Maybe it'll be fun." (It isn't, it's that one dungeon again.)

Magician

6:21 AM

doppelgreener

@Magician Oh, wow. That's what a dungeon looks like?

Magician

Evidently so, when it's surfaced and tries to eat you.

Eyes of the Stone Thief. With an actual Dungeon Master monster!

doppelgreener

@Magician so they're like... architectural worms?

Magician

@doppelgreener Elemental architectural collector possibly extra-dimensional worms.

doppelgreener

oh man.

BESW

6:34 AM

@doppelgreener Pen and Touch medium. It doesn't have a separate pen stand.

doppelgreener

@BESW link plx?

BESW

[overwhelmed already]

@doppelgreener A large violin!

doppelgreener

@BESW oh jeez now I see why the title is what it is. That looks beautiful.

BESW

yes, but now I'm confused.

So many options all at once.

doppelgreener

Take your time!

One by one.

What options have you confused?

Photoshop options, or tablet config options?

BESW

6:46 AM

I haven't even opened Photoshop yet.

I have WacomTablet.app and WacomDesktopCenter.app that I'm fumbling through.

Well, mostly the former, because the latter seems oddly unresponsive.

doppelgreener

Oh boy.

BESW

Well, at first it just said "no connected" and wouldn't let me select anything.

Then it decided to let me click things despite being unconnected.

I hit "update driver" since that's usually a good thing, and now it's unresponsive. Which might not be bad, but it's comforting.

And meanwhile the Wacom Tablet preferences screen is overwhelming with choices that I just barely understand but don't yet have any idea what will mean for me.

And the Desktop Center is how I access my user manual.

That design seems poor.

Gonna shut down Chrome in case that's doing something weird again.

doppelgreener

@BESW have you restarted?

@BESW yes, those are things to take one option at a time, rather than be overwhelmed by all of it.

If it has button config, that's definitely something to take steadily and experiment with.

BESW

I will restart.

doppelgreener

7:04 AM

My being used to 4e (where the rules are generally very clear) and Fate (where the rules are very clear plus what we make up) is very much showing to me now. A lot of these 5e questions seem to be answering something kinda simple with "it's unclear and you should speak to your GM about it," and that seems ungood given what I'm used to.

(Maybe that's part of the design and one of the experience goals? But needing less GM conversations and decisions seems like it would be better for a game of that style that has so many rules...)

BESW

...okay, it looks like maybe there's some driver problems with Wacom and the version of OS X I'm using.

[sigh]

[pokes around] Looks like they shipped me a seriously outdated driver, to the point that their in-house driver updating system can't even figure out what kind of hardware I need a driver for.

(The Wacom Desktop Center thinks I have an unconnected Cintiq Hybrid.)

...ahah. The Desktop Center only works with Cintiqs.

...that is silly.

doppelgreener

Wow. @_@

And yes.

Did you install the driver from the CD?

BESW

Yes.

doppelgreener

Right.

BESW

Now I've installed the driver from the website.

doppelgreener

7:16 AM

That's definitely going to be at least many months out of date.

BESW

The CD driver was 6.3.6, which dates from September 2013.

doppelgreener

oh dang.

BESW

It does not include support for OS X 10.9 at all.

I'm rather impressed my tablet worked as much as it did.

But I'm still confused about WHERE IT PUT MY USER MANUAL.

One thing that floored me immediately: the tablet comes set so that I can control the cursor by just hovering the pen.

This was not something I had anticipated, for some reason.

...aaaand they won't let me register because they won't let me be from Guam.

And none of their "contact us" forms have a "registration trouble" section. Am I really going to have to call them?

They'll probably have a push-tone system that won't get me to a real person either.

Sent off a little letter to some poor guy in technical repair asking him to forward it to the right folks.

BESW

9:00 AM

Tonight's dinner is blanched kale with garlic, walnuts, garlic, and sesame seeds, lightly sautéed in apple cider vinegar and more olive oil than I usually use, served on whole wheat penne.

doppelgreener

9:35 AM

@BESW this sounds yum.

is it one of the top secret types of kale?

BESW

I wouldn't know, and if I did I couldn't tell you.

It is delicious, though. Next time I'll use more kale, less oil, and a bit of salt.

doppelgreener

oh good!

BESW

And I might not blanch the kale.

doppelgreener

@BESW you probably do not need to register it

@BESW and yes, they do this thing and it is awesome.

BESW

@doppelgreener Having an account with Wacom gives me access to lots of resources, though.

doppelgreener

9:37 AM

@BESW Oh! Ok.

Make sure you set your tablet to have the same proportions as your monitor.

e.g. via a FORCE PROPORTIONS option on the screen mapping dialog or whatever

BESW

Ah, yeah, I saw that.

doppelgreener

9:49 AM

good!

That is one of the settings that is not so much "on" vs "off" as it is "on" vs "my tablet seems to be broken what is going on"

BESW

@doppelgreener Fair enough. I knew it was important but wasn't sure which way it was important to keep it.

doppelgreener

@BESW alright :D

BESW

[watches all the YouTube videos]

BESW

10:12 AM

"What'll you give us for it?" "I'll let you live." "Oh, ha ha, I've used that line too. Try again." --@UrsulaV #dnd

Tweeted by lasrina on February 17, 2015 at 1:52 AM

BESW

10:22 AM

...okay, watching people on YouTube explain vectors without any foundation in maths or physics just crossed the line from tedious to hilarious.

doppelgreener

Here, have an explanation of vectors using games and mario.

It's actually a really good tutorial!

BESW

yey!

Also I am bemused by this guy who advocates "Always undo and redo until you get it right before moving on."

doppelgreener

11:06 AM

@BESW say what?

BESW

►

doppelgreener

@BESW that might be appropriate for some things, but i'd suggest rather than doing that, go in with a very close zoom (you're creating the original at absurdly high res, right?), be steady and careful, and erase and draw more to correct mistakes rather than undoing.

When you're reliant on undoing, you get lazy and waste time, and you'll often undo and start again then realise that the one you undid only had a little mistake!

BESW

I actually expect to, like him, be using this a lot in vector contexts. But we'll see.

doppelgreener

Then zoom in real close.

BESW

I was trained on "use a pencil, not an eraser, start light, go darker over the lines you like."

doppelgreener

11:18 AM

You're working in vectors, so you can zoom in as close as the software will let you.

BESW

Which I think, in digital art, translates to lots of underdrawing layers.

doppelgreener

@BESW Valid for traditional mediums. In digital painting, the page and eraser never wear out or suffer damage.

BESW

@doppelgreener Ah, but it's not about wasting resources.

It's about--as you say--training yourself to not be lazy, to get it more accurate the first time, to make mistakes in ways you can mitigate, and to welcome the providential "good mistake" when it happens.

doppelgreener

Sure, but that's also because the eraser is destructive. Your physical page can only take so much erasing before you start wearing through it, and you have limits on using your eraser because at a certain point you'll be destroying everything nearby too. These lessons exist for reasons that don't exist in digital art.

Digital art comes from different principles, like: everything is in infinite supply and can be used infinitely and many things can be done and undone and redone and you will simply wind up back where you started with almost no change.

Also you have layers.

@BESW So, let's put it this way: I follow a digital artist who does all the lines on one layer in one sitting, and then all the colours together in one other layer.

Many many layers can actually be a hassle.

But other artists do use lots of layers. Like, one for the hair, one for the skin, one for the clothes. Whatever works.

In my case, and the artist I follow when she needs it, I'll do one basic underlayer of a rough sketch or some guideline shapes or so on, then I'll make it faint pink or whatever. I'll then do the proper thing over that, and if I don't like a line I'll work on erasing the 'wrong' sections and adding more to it. Then on the colouring layer I'll give the entire thing undercoats, lock the transparency, and then detail and shade away.

I used to do lots of layers of lines and colors, but there's the times when you need the shirt (one layer) to be above one layer in some parts and below it in other parts. Or other layering problems which forces you to divide stuff up that belongs together. It can create more problems than it solves.

This works fine for some people though.

Also lots of layers increases the chance of drawing on the wrong layer and having to erase everything you just did and redo it because you can't just cut and paste it to the right layer.

(if you're lucky, you can just cut and paste it to the right layer.)

BESW

[takes notes]

....the "and touch" part of "pen and touch" seems to have mysteriously stopped working.

I probably toggled something, but I can't find it.

doppelgreener

11:35 AM

Stack Exchange just went into read-only mode!

@BESW maybe a button on it is bound toggle between touchy and no-touchy?

BESW

There's a slider on the back for that. It's in "TOUCH ON."

Iron Heart

The back? Curious placement.

doppelgreener

There's a detail I really like in read-only mode: the cursor changes when you hover your mouse over a vote arrow.

BESW

@IronHeart Not the bottom, the far side.

Iron Heart

Oh, the outer edge. Much more sensible.

[zwips out]

BESW

11:45 AM

Hmm. The only fix I've found is someone who's trying to translate his control options into English.

doppelgreener

uh oh @_@

Someone said unplug it then plug it back in?

or in a sense: turn the connection off and on again

BESW

He said he changed one of the features on the preference menu and then rebooted.

But which feature... the translation is generic.

> I removed preferences settings using Wacom tab in the control panel. Sorry but I don't know what these options are exactly called in English.

doppelgreener

@_@

There are other people who said they used the wacom tablet control facility to remove their settings, resetting to default or something.

BESW

12:05 PM

It's a separate program, not in the preferences panel, but I found it.

And it worked.

Now I have to be careful about re-doing my settings and see where it all goes fooey.

doppelgreener

Yay!

(ish)

BESW

Safari Sagudi.

Also, I mapped one of my pen's rocker toggles to cmd-z.

doppelgreener

on my intuos4 i bind one of the side buttons to that

and the one right above it to redo

BESW

Probably a good idea.

I'm gonna have to fiddle with all this stuff.

One of the "beginners tips" thing said to bind the rocker to cmd-z and right-click.

But a lot of this is going to depend on my final setup and how easy my keyboard access will be.

...I may have to take my flatscreen monitor back from my dad.

What do you map to your radial menu?

doppelgreener

Brush size, zoom, and rotate canvas

The intuos4 lets you have four different bindings for the radial menu that you can cycle through, but I left one disabled because I had nothing in particular to put there.

BESW

12:21 PM

I've got, like, 8 wedges.

doppelgreener

8 wedges...?

take a screenshot of the overlay or options for me?

BESW

doppelgreener

12:40 PM

Oh! This is very different and I haven't used this thing before.

BESW

What do you map to your rocker button?

I'm mostly getting a sense of how the different bits can be used and prioritised, more than thinking "Yes, I shall do it like he does!"

doppelgreener

12:59 PM

@BESW right click for closer to the nib, double click for further away

@BESW yes, good \o/

BESW

@doppelgreener I'm...not sure what that means.

Oh, wait, got it.

doppelgreener

@BESW oh. uh. by rocker button do you mean the button on the side of the pen?

BESW

Sorry, brain in weird mode.

doppelgreener

ok good :)

picture version of best art of a pen:
nib <=== [right click | double click]==========) eraser

BESW

I think I'm going to have to leave the near-nib rocker empty.

I click it too much by accident.

doppelgreener

1:06 PM

very well :)

Practicing:

Woo!

Morning

Hey.

Please leave your offerings of pancakes next to the ticket barriers in the traditional manner. Do NOT feed the escalators. Thank you.

Tweeted by TlfTravelAlerts on February 17, 2015 at 9:00 AM

BESW

1:45 PM

►

doppelgreener

@BESW That was thrilling to watch.

That was some excellent animation work.

BESW

I want to know what it looks like to someone not privileged to follow the TARDIS PoV.

I'm imagining the TARDIS rapidly getting further and further away without actually receding.

doppelgreener

@BESW I would probably walk away from that feeling nauseous.

but for now I will sleep. Goodnight! :)

BESW

I should sleep too.

(But really, Time Lord science should feel almost Lovecraftian in its casual disregard for How Things Ought To Work, I think.)

doppelgreener

I agree, if approached right.

From the other side it could just feel magical!

I like the Lovecraftian possibilities more though ;)

[sleeps]

Joshua Aslan Smith

3:20 PM

@johnP the largest bounty Ive ever received was 500 points and that was for this answer

12

A: How to get the most out of an encounter by combining foes

Brutes And Soldiers slow down combat A Brute or a Soldier is fine, but more than 1 of either is simply going to drag combat out. Soldiers tend to have very high defenses meaning the party will miss more often. Brutes have a lot of health which will take awhile to drill down. Both Brutes and Sold...

So while I upvoted your answer and applaud your google fo, a 3k rep bounty it is not.

JohnP

3:54 PM

@JoshuaAslanSmith You do know that was tongue in cheek, yes?

Joshua Aslan Smith

yes

but I thought I would elucidate regardless

JohnP

Nah, I didn't even expect 3 bounty, much less 3k. :)

Joshua Aslan Smith

lol

David Wilkins

5:19 PM

Hey @JohnP

JohnP

Are there more rule books yet for 5e other than the downloads?

@DavidWilkins Heya

David Wilkins

Just the three core books so far

JohnP

so if I d/l those, then I'm on the same page with everyone. Cool.

David Wilkins

They're downloadable?

JohnP

so if I d/l those, then I'm on the same page with everyone. Cool.

David Wilkins

5:22 PM

Why is chat echoing?

JohnP

I dunno, it borked when I tried to come in, something is amiss.

David Wilkins

agreed

JohnP

Aren't the basic rules downloadable? Or are there actual hardcopy core books now?

David Wilkins

Ahh, yea the PHB, MM, and DMG are out

you can get all 3 from amazon for under $100

Also, in addition to the basic rules and the books, they released an Eberron suppliment that is rather miniscule

JohnP

Hrm, ok. I'll have to take a look then.

really wish WotC would pull their head out and make pdf's available as well.

David Wilkins

5:26 PM

Me too

Oh hey, I have another book for you to look for

(still waiting on the mailman to deliver WoD)

Joshua Aslan Smith

@johnp there are no legal ways to digitally buy the 3 core books currently

The mini-unearthed arcana "eberron supplement" has a few things that had to be cut from the DMG due to space constraints and some stuff that they never playtested that much but that players might like

JohnP

@DavidWilkins What book?

David Wilkins

Forgotten Realms for anything prior to 4th edition

JohnP

Anything prior? Any edition?

David Wilkins

Yeah, ideally this one: amazon.com/Forgotten-Campaign-Setting-Dungeons-Roleplaying/dp/…

JohnP

5:36 PM

And are the release dates on the current 5e aug, sep and dec of last year?

David Wilkins

yes

You'll see a red flag on the front cover a few inches from the bottom. that's the easiest way to tell they are 5e

Joshua Aslan Smith

The reddish banner

JohnP

aight. cool.

David Wilkins

I was going to post a pic, but qrick-draw Joshua beat me to it

JohnP

Think I'll see if the local B&M has them first, I like supporting local when I can.

@DavidWilkins - I'll check on my way home today if the kid isn't too fussy.

David Wilkins

5:40 PM

Cool, no rush. I just want to refresh myself before I start HotDQ, which is set in the FR setting

Joshua Aslan Smith

hmmm actual shop prices are 15 bucks more a book about

JohnP

Oh, and I texted the wife. She forgot to put your book in the mail like I asked, it's been in her car for three days. :/ It will be in the mail today.

David Wilkins

and if they don't have it, I can get one used on Amazon for ~$16

Joshua Aslan Smith

the amazon costs are low because you are direct buying from WOTC

David Wilkins

lol

Thanks John

JohnP

5:41 PM

@JoshuaAslanSmith That's ok. It keeps the local store in business, and there is that whole immediate gratification thing.

I'm getting just the PHB, not going to get the rest unless needed.

Joshua Aslan Smith

Im still iffy on the DMG

its got a lot of important content

but the sections I care about are really tiny

David Wilkins

I agree with that @JoshuaAslanSmith

Joshua Aslan Smith

and it spends a stupid amount of time giving out bland advice

about how to create a world

or an adventure plot

JohnP

If they are doing that, I'm surprised they don't have a beginner DMG and an advanced DMG. More $$

Joshua Aslan Smith

And its like, youll never have enough space to actually do that topic real justice, a blog will handle this better, focus on giving me mechanical gears and content (as much as I dislike the large number of dumb d20 tables)

Its a big book

David Wilkins

5:46 PM

I think they tried to target it to people who have never DMed before, which does make a large swath of it dry

Joshua Aslan Smith

its just laid out very bad

MM is definitely worth picking up because it actually balances the story and mechanics quite well (despite me hating 5e stat block format)

most monsters just have a short blurb, large monster groups like dragons or demons have a mini chapter where they explain a lot about the motivations and history in general and then show all the different types stat blocks after that

David Wilkins

You get a few creatures in the PHB, and a few more from the free supplement for Tyranny of Dragons

Joshua Aslan Smith

yeah

you can certainly run the game without an MM

but if you are looking to do something in particular, or to just have a wide variety the MM is definitely worth picking up

David Wilkins

yep

Joshua Aslan Smith

MM felt like the most bang for my buck honestly

JohnP

5:49 PM

I would be doing it as a PC, not a DM.

I will probably get all of them, but just the PHB to start.

Joshua Aslan Smith

because while the PHB doesnt have huge swaths of storytime like teh DMG does, it still has a fair bit in sections

gotcha

JohnP

6:37 PM

I need to brush up my woodworking skills.

geekchichq.com/the-emissary-gaming-table.html

1 year waiting list, 3k starting price.

Joshua Aslan Smith

@johnp yeah def

I too lust over such tables

close votes

0

Q: What are some 'Realistic' ideas for side-quests?

Okay, to start off by "Realistic", I don't mean stern, and lifeless. I mean within realms of reason, and not high-fantasy stuff. So, our group is playing a campaign, and there's no over-arching story yet. (Using modules is not something we can do) So, basically, we're going from side-quest, to ...

campaign-development story campaign

Zachiel

@JoshuaAslanSmith I need this one, then. I was just thinking about it today. But I don't need it to be bland.

Joshua Aslan Smith

@Zachiel tables?

Zachiel

No, the thing I linked to

Joshua Aslan Smith

the problem is it just gives very general, high level advice

Zachiel

6:50 PM

bbl

Joshua Aslan Smith

Ive found in general as a hobby that the community and companies are very bad at teaching the mid level stuff

David Wilkins

7:14 PM

@JoshuaAslanSmith Flagged

I'm debating on whether or not to build some of the locations in HotDQ out of foam core and paint them so my characters can have more than a box drawn on a dry erase matt to play on

Grubermensch

@JoshuaAslanSmith Isn't mid-level advice just hard to convey in any field?

Even in professional disciplines, the mid-level stuff is generally what you are expected to discover through experience, not tutelage.

Zachiel

@JoshuaAslanSmith I think I need the low level stuff as well XD

(be back later, again)

JohnP

7:30 PM

@JoshuaAslanSmith I would vtc if I could :/

Joshua Aslan Smith

@Grubermensch So I think for example the first chapter of the starter set adventure handled this really well

for us as players it was a cake walk because we know stealth, but it is written as a great tutorial section for both DMs and Players on how stealth and passive perception and trap finding work

the problem D&D's products have is that right now, they cover how to build a world, and how to adjudicate specific player actions, but not the midground of creating enjoyable play experiences and challenging, but fair encounters

JohnP

@JoshuaAslanSmith The sad thing is that the woodworking skills and materials needed for that table come nowhere near the 3k asking price.

I mean the top frame is butt-ended, not even mitered.

Zachiel

7:50 PM

@JoshuaAslanSmith Ah, ok, then yes, I do have the low grounds checked. Somewhat.

Grubermensch

@JoshuaAslanSmith I feel like part of the problem here is it's very difficult to provide good, actionable advice on this because of the combination of the breadth of D&D's audience and the complexity (and contradiction) of its mechanics.

Any bit of useful advice you can give would have to be prefaced with a few paragraphs of conditions wherein it applies.

wax eagle

8:06 PM

Finished painting my first Bones II figure: forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/…

David Wilkins

That's really good @waxeagle

wax eagle

thanks. that's about the 3rd figure I've actually finished. I've got a few half done ones.

Joshua Aslan Smith

@Grubermensch that is fair with 5e in terms of the breadth of playstyles available

the inability to ever have truly straight sword kills me as a niggling thing with minis

and even if you do get it straight it will probably slowly unalign due to jostling even if stored pretty well

wax eagle

8:22 PM

@JoshuaAslanSmith with Bones they are just super bendy... that one was attached and I ended up detaching it while painting

David Wilkins

8:33 PM

I was reading about those bones ones. They drove cars over them, dropped them from great heights...I think they even had a booth at one of the PAX conventions where they invited people to abuse them, and they only sustained very minor damage

Joshua Aslan Smith

I mean my favorite mini, which is a reaper pewter cast

has this issue

but yeah any of the resin casting any long, free form straight peice is gonna just be curled

@waxeagle this guy reapermini.com/figurefinder#detail/03498

Ive even clued the tip to the base to set it better adn the sword gets bent in from the middle

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