TRPG General Chat

Althis

4:00 AM

@BESW Never, absolutely never underestimate the silliness of fashion.

Sandwich

Fashion can get pretty silly

BESW

@Althis It's actually super simple and practical!

Sandwich

There were actually Tin foil dresses that were being made a few years ago that people actually wore

BESW

Big dull bone needle, some thick wool thread, and you can make hair stick in places that would need a ton of bobby pins, a thousand years before bobby pins were invented.

Shalvenay

I bet most folks hearts would be in their throats at the idea that airline pilots wouldn't do anything immediately about an engine catching fire on takeoff...but yup, that's the procedure. use the power to get up to a safe altitude, then deal with the burning engine

Althis

4:04 AM

@BESW Are you really trying to defend the practicality of the industry that came up with ingenious ideas such as this:

Pixie

@BESW I should look into these techniques... I'm terrible with bobby pins. :P

Althis

And this:

Sandwich

That purse could be rolled with a stick down a dirt road

Althis

Sandwich

Well what if you really need a place to hold a drink

Althis

4:05 AM

And this:

Sandwich

I don't see the appeal on the first two

Pixie

Scarf hats are practical. :P

BESW

@Althis I'm protesting the idea that a narrow modern extremist subset of a worldwide multi-thousand-year-old set of traditions should be taken as representative of the whole.

Sandwich

But thats adorable

BESW

→ 1 message moved to Not a bar, but plays one on TV

Althis

4:07 AM

@BESW Too much skin?

BESW

@Althis Yeah. People use this chat at work.

Althis

I see.

That would be difficult to explain.

BESW

→ 2 messages moved to Not a bar, but plays one on TV

Althis

@Sandwich Athos Simões?

That doesn't sound that bad...

Althis

4:22 AM

So.

Iron Heart

But not ponies in combination with D&D-like RPGs, hopefully.

Althis

Ponies and RPGs.

Were you even in that chat?

How did you even do that?

Iron Heart

Psychic.

Althis

Did you even roll for it?

Sandwich

He could just be AFK in the chat

And got pinged on the right

BESW

4:24 AM

@Althis Transcript refreshing, at a guess.

Iron Heart

There are no rolls, only costs to be paid.

Althis

Equivalent exchange

Which reminds me, I never did make that FMA RPG happen...

I probably should PM people that said they were interested in it again.

Iron Heart

Anyway, ponies.

Sandwich

Yes that

Iron Heart

Latest season of ponies has been cuter, animation-wise.

Sandwich

4:28 AM

Oh? Do tell

I stopped at season 2

I also feel the need to share this because its awesome and I WISH I could do it in Dungeons and dragons

Thats probably the best part of Final Fantasy 6

Suplexing a multi-ton train

Miniman

@Sandwich Does it make me a bad person that I usually just resurrected it?

Sandwich

Not of you Suplexed it first

Iron Heart

Ponies are generally more expressive...

Sandwich

Because you need to show it who's boss

Iron Heart

Sandwich

4:35 AM

Thats a lot more animation frames than prior seasons I can see it in their expression @IronHeart

Dont really know who that is though

Somepony I've never seen before

Iron Heart

She's one of the first ponies seen in the show, actually! One of a trio of unicorns from the first episode, who asked her to come to a party.

"Her" being Twilight Sparkle, whoops.

Pixie

Ohh, hey. I have that lemony one.

Oh no, I'm thinking of a different one. Darker hair, gem cutie mark.

Sandwich

4:56 AM

Ive heard people talking about ponies that came in little booster backs

But I never saw any of them

Pixie

Blind bags, probably. The little plastic ones? I have a ton of them.

Sandwich

Maaaybe?

Pixie

Mainly, I wanted Fluttershy and it took me the entire series 1 to find her. :x It was actually my first series 2 that I got her in. xD

(I didn't realize at the time that they had codes printed on them that told you what was inside.)

Sandwich

Thats no fun

Pixie

Trading figures are suffering.

Sandwich

4:58 AM

All I would want

Is probably like

Rarity and Trixie

And Octavia

Pixie

They started selling major ponies in small 3 or 5 packs along with some special figures. There are a few of those I really ought to pick up sometime, and sometimes they'll put out some cute ones I like the design of.

I miss when they made a lot of original brushables though. =A=

Sandwich

I dont care about the brushables

Iron Heart

Pixie

They're still my favorite. Blind bags are tiny and smell weird. :I

Seriously, I put my blindbags in a bag to store them, opened it up after a while, and was met with a smell disturbingly like gasoline. To be fair, brushables offgas too.

Iron Heart

Sandwich

5:03 AM

Well plastics are made out of gas-solids and such

Is that from a newer season or something Iron?

Iron Heart

Yes.

Pixie

Well, yes, but ideally, children's toys should maybe not offgas to the level that these things do. It is concerning to me. :P

Sandwich

It does seem pretty expressive

What season are they up to now anyway

Seven? Six?

Pixie

@IronHeart I can't keep watching this because I'm going to do it.

Sandwich

You can chat a few extra times and it will disappear forever @Pixie

Iron Heart

5:07 AM

Season 5, first part of two, according to official announcements.

Pixie

@Sandwich I am mostly kidding. Except about actually doing it. xD

Sandwich

Well it will be gone soon enough

The room is slowly filling with water (chat)

Pixie

But I have saved it, dooming myself to a life of adorable Fluttershy. Whatever shall I do?

Sandwich

RIP

Pixie

here lies Pixie, who partied too soft

Sandwich

5:11 AM

yay

Iron Heart

Sandwich

Thats gotta be a new one

I dont remember her having wings

Iron Heart

Which is a good thing, because you don't remember her getting wings, and the fit half the fandom threw.

Sandwich

I could imagine the fallout

When the other five ponies are left out in the dust and she gets them

Friendship is Inequality you know

~~Harglebarglefargle~~

Iron Heart

~~butts~~

it's three of these on each side -

Sandwich

5:18 AM

Awesome

Iron Heart

@Sandwich (See attached file.)

Sandwich

Attached file?

Iron Heart

@Sandwich I'm trying!

Sandwich

The grin on her face is infectious

She has that crazy fangirl look in her eye

Iron Heart

For good reason! I do recommend catching up, if you can.

Sandwich

5:27 AM

Man Extra History is such a good webseries

doppelgreener

@IronHeart Ooooo, this is after she becomes an Alicorn.

Sandwich

I guess being a 20th level wizard wasnt enough for her :I

She had to go and grow WINGS

Pixie

Hmm. I am interested in the origins of alicorn to refer to a winged unicorn. It was being used that way pre-G4 in the Sailor Moon fandom for sure. But historically, "alicorn" refers to a unicorn's horn.

It appears there is a scifi/fantasy SE question that deals with this. [rubs hands together]

Iron Heart

@Sandwich It's probably closer to 7 through 13 range.

Sandwich

Eh

Semantics

Iron Heart

5:39 AM

@Sandwich Accompanying it is a growth of a handful of inches.

Compare ponies in the above shot, for instance.

Sandwich

A growth of a handful of inches

Thats what she said I suppose

Iron Heart

... shush.

Pixie

Interesting. Per this question, looks like the first verifiable reference to flying unicorns as alicorns is from 1984 in the Xanth series (which also has pegacorns and unipegs, which obviously did not catch on in the same way).

Sandwich

Unipegs sounds awful

I'm glad they aren't called that

Pixie

I have heard the term.

Sandwich

5:43 AM

Pegacorns sounds better but not by much

Pixie

I find alicorn a little confusing, but I've also accepted it as standard since its reference to Pegasus in Sailor Moon fandom, so. :P

Sandwich

Then again they could've also called them "Magical Flying horses"

Pixie

But even back then -- like late 90s, early 2000s -- people always said, "The proper term is an alicorn!" with so much confidence in that, and I never could figure out why it was the proper term. xD

doppelgreener

@Pixie unipegs and pegacorns are terrible names

it is no wonder + a relief they did not catch on

Pixie

@doppelgreener They are not nearly as majestic as the creature would suggest. :P

doppelgreener

5:47 AM

@Pixie the name suggests they are retarded, because the name is retardedly bad

that is my expectation set by the name

Sandwich

I'm quite fond of "Magical Flying Horse"

Pixie

@doppelgreener Just for future reference, I would kinda prefer that adjective not be used when I'm around. (I agree with the sentiment though. They are not superior names. xD)

Sandwich

They could've called them "Pegahorns" too

doppelgreener

@Pixie noted

Pixie

Thanks!

Iron Heart

5:55 AM

Winghornss.

Sandwich

Winghorn doesnt sound bad either

doppelgreener

hornwings

winghorn sounds a little unimpressive compared to alicorn

"well it's got wings and a horn, so i guess that's what i'm calling it now"

Sandwich

Alae-cornu is the latin pronunciation for the word "Winghorn"

Wing is "ala, or alae"

Horn is "Cornu, cornus, or cornum"

Which would give rise to the pronunciation "Alicorn" I suppose

Pixie

Right, that's an etymology that makes sense, and alicorn as a winged unicorn is well-established enough that it's going to continue to be used that way regardless. xD

Sandwich

Winghorn is the literal meaning of Alicorn

Thats funny

Pixie

6:02 AM

Well, alicorn's classical etymology is that it's a variant of unicorn, I believe.

But it's arguable that its usage in this case was inspired by ala/alae.

Sandwich

Well in latin

Uni or unis translates to one

So Uni-cornus would mean one horn when translated

Pixie

Yes, that's the meaning of unicorn. In its actual historical usage though, alicorn was likely a corruption or variant thereof that had nothing to do with ala/alae. Words do funny things in practice.

But it's quite possible that someone modernly could look at alicorn and connect it to ala/alae, or make an authorial decision to do so.

Sandwich

Mare caballio would be the literal translation of Sea pony

Shoo be doo

Pixie

I just find it interesting that -- it appears, anyway -- someone borrowed the term for a unicorn's horn to use as a winged unicorn species in a fantasy novel and in about 10 years it had become established that it was the proper word. xD

Sandwich

Mare is actually the latin word for "Sea"

Ha

So a female horse seapony would be a Mare mare

Pixie

6:11 AM

Heh.

Man, Pegasus was so cool. Twinkle Yell and Moon Gorgeous Meditation were some of my favorite attacks. It was kind of a pointless power up, but... so cool.

Sandwich

Thats adorable

Better put a seizure warning on that though

Pixie

Yeah, true. Very flashy.

Sandwich

I still like the original Sailor Moon transformation with the crazy ribbons

Pixie

Yeah, that one's pretty cool. It's not my favorite transformation in the series (Venus and Pluto are better, and the outers had the best ones in general xD), but it's so classic.

Sandwich

You mean the one with the stars?

Pixie

6:20 AM

Venus had the star ribbon.

Sandwich

Didnt like that one at all

I liked Jupiters with the lightning atom

More than Venus

Pixie

Haha. I loved it. It looked best as Venus Star Power, I think. And yeah, Jupiter's transformation was cool.

Sandwich

It was.. Subatomic

Though I suppose Pluto lost all of her power when Pluto was no longer a planet

Lol

Pixie

Lies! The moon is not a planet. :P

Sandwich

Isn't it still bigger than pluto though

I don't know how big they are relative to one another

Pixie

6:23 AM

Even asteroids get to be sailor soldiers.

Sandwich

Yep

The Moon is in fact bigger than Pluto

Pixie

Pluto is tiny. Which is funny, 'cause she's almost the tallest one.

Sandwich

She's huge

like Opal huge

Pluto smaaaash raaagh

38 more upvotes

That's all I need for my Great Answer Badge

Pixie

Good luck!

Pixie

6:38 AM

Apparently this is a quote from someone's Maid RPG game:

> “It’s a sentient banana! You can’t make banana pudding out of it!” (x)

Magician

@Althis Go for it. Not sure what "narrative vacuum" you're talking about, it's been a while since I wrote that.

Pixie

Tell that to my players who ate the naga boss after taking her out...

Sandwich

Tasted like Chicken I bet

Pixie

They were so practical about it.

Sandwich

Sogeking!

We love yooou!

King of Snipers!

So amaze!

I bet they were like

"You cut off the tail and cook that."

"I'll cook the torso."

Pixie

6:56 AM

Real maids waste nothing.

Sandwich

Right now I'm installing JP PSO2

I've finally gotten tired of waiting for Sega to release it in the US

Pixie

@Sandwich I'm getting there...

Sandwich

Play it with me @Pixie

Its easy to start

Its been three years since it was announced

reddit.com/r/PSO2 Go here and click on the right where it says "Aida's Tweaker". That will install and download all of the english patches for the game.

Then you just need to follow the guide to make an account

Pixie

Is there a reason people don't play the SEA version? Do they IP block?

Sandwich

SEA recently removed their IP block because people were having issues connecting due to a bug

But the problem with that is when they find and fix the bug they're going to put it back up

They've done it many times in the past

Pixie

7:14 AM

Ahh. Kinda surprising the Japanese game doesn't. My main issue with that is, even if I've got people I know I can play it with, it's still a little frustrating to be playing an MMO and mostly not be able to communicate with people. It's also technically against the ToS (last I heard) to be a non-Japanese player on the JP server. I don't know how frequently they ban, but it's a disheartening idea to think I could lose all my work if they did.

Sandwich

Ship 2 is the English ship though

All English players play on Ship 2

And if you're concerned about getting banned, ask if it happens on the Reddit

Pixie

I think I'd still rather be safe than sorry for now. I know to be cautious, but it'd be really frustrating if by chance it happened anyway.

Sandwich

I'm tired of Sega

Pixie

Also I hear it's awfully grindy. xD

Sandwich

Like dead tired of them

Pixie

7:27 AM

Yeah, I can definitely understand that.

Sandwich

They don't understand how to make games anymore

They havent had a successful sonic game since the Gamecube

Pixie

I think every new Sonic game announcement and release is an exercise in "ooh! maybe- no."

It has been that way for me for a while, at least.

Sandwich

It pretty much needs to be 2D

And it has to be rendered in a way that compliments speed

Pixie

7:53 AM

Iron Heart

[pony]

Sandwich

I have one of those too

A GM face I mean

It looks like this

vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/uncyclopedia/images/3/35/…

@sevensideddie Dang you were fast on that question SSD

Pixie

... I just totally read that as "seven sid eddie" and squinted for a minute before I realized, oh.

Sandwich

I wonder if that guy meant AD&D-1e @Doppelgreener

On an unrelated note

An NPC named "Seven Side Eddie" would be so cool

Because he always plays with loaded dice

doppelgreener

@Sandwich he tagged it AD&D 2e, but yes maybe

Sandwich

8:08 AM

Weren't Segments taken out of 2e?

@Pixie You sure you don't wanna play PSO2 with us Pixie? It's gonna be me and my friend

Pixie

@Sandwich For now I'll pass, but I'll let you know if I ever download it.

Sandwich

9:14 AM

Wibbs

10:13 AM

Not feeling too great, so this wont be a full answer, but there are a few things that immediately sprint to mind:
- It would be helpful if you could show me their full stat block of the Fighter so I can make sure you haven't missed anything with character creation.
- You don't roll a Wild Die for damage, so you're fighter should be rolling d8+d4+4 and adding the totals rather than taking the highest
- Spells can be disrupted, and it is a perfectly valid tactic to focus fire/Shake the spell casters to try and get those pesky spells to drop

Wibbs

10:24 AM

Also, posting your issue on the official forums would be a really, really good idea

Zachiel

1:12 PM

Alas, good Renaissance men. I'm in need of your aencyclopaedic cultu... no, ok, just your D&D 4e experience.

(I know, I purposedly exaggerated with the AEs to sound more pompous)

trogdor

lol

Zachiel

@Trogdor @BESW @Waxeagle and of course I can't really remember who else: this is not going on the main site because it asks for opinion. I built a 4e character for our D&D game had too few players, and now a new player is coming in. She has never played, never read the manuals (yet) and I want to know if this character I made might be too complicated for a complete newbie to grasp (generally speaking).

trogdor

what level is your game at?

Zachiel

8

BESW

Troggy's probably got this one covered.

Zachiel

1:19 PM

It's a Blackguard so it basically deals more damage if: she activated the smite power; she used a certain utility power in that round; she is near to a bloodied character or is bloodied herself; she is attacking a bloodied enemy; she is charging; she bloodied or killed someone the previous round; and several other things one of our players has noted on the margin of his sheet.

Since I'm basically playing the character as a GMPC (ok, I let them choose the combat tactic -and- the plot dictates that character was a GM mouthpiece anyway so I don't feel that bad) I have problems tracking everything, but I guess this is also because I'm busy GMing.

@BESW Trogdor, difficulty gauge specialist. Please call evenings and weekends.

trogdor

are there also a lot of powers to keep track of?

I would think there aren't considering what level it is

but I just want to check

also, do you use the character builder? it is ok if you don't but you have an extra option if you do

Zachiel

I do. Is the option printing out the power cards? Because I also do translated power cards.

trogdor

ok

Zachiel

I think the powers are few, 4 maybe 5. It's the conditional passive bonuses that worry me a bit, and realizing how to activate them all.

trogdor

cause I have found that to be helpful keeping track of things

Zachiel

1:28 PM

Of course the more experienced players (especially her BF) can chime in.

trogdor

yeah, they do sound like a lot

@Zachiel this is something I did a lot, especially since a couple of our PC's were played by someone else but mad by me

I think the biggest thing is that as long as the other more experienced players are helping, it shouldn't be a huge issue

it might slow down play a bit to check every turn though

for the less easily remembered triggers

it doesn't sound like something too complicated to keep track of, honestly, but it does sound slightly time consuming

and one of the players in my 4E game needed a lot of my help even though I had designed his character to be as simple as possible to keep track of,... inside of what he wanted to do at least

though part of that was that we went all the way to level 30, and he had so many powers and additions to how far he was pushing people by the end there

and the extra stuff he started doing XD

Zachiel

@trogdor I had that player write a checklist we run through. Then I see which could apply based on where the character could move. Which maybe lacks some tactics as in, let's position to -create- those sonditions before charging

trogdor

it is a lot of tactical work

the main problem is, I don't know how much your new player is willing to put up with

with enough help, and a list though

I doubt it is something that will be too overwhelmingly hard

Zachiel

@trogdor I am here to identify problems I haven't tought of in order to tell her the pros and cons.

trogdor

you just have to be sure someone (like the BF you mentioned for example) is willing to stick with helping her

Zachiel

1:37 PM

He is. He's terrible at explaining things, tho' (it already become an in-joke after her first game)

trogdor

the only thing I would suggest if she really needs absolute simplicity is like, a slayer or something

as far as complexity goes though, it doesn't sound like this Blackguard build is the worst thing I have seen

it really does sound like a checklist will alleviate most of the problem

I am assuming most of the damage bonus(es) come from or are the same one though

Zachiel

Given her luck (with different die) she might be a good lazy cleric but we already have a leader and I think that would make encounters too trivial. She said she likes messing with the mind of enemies (we have an illusionist wizard in our party) but controllers are hard unless you know very well where you want your enemies to be, and she told us she wants to use a simpler character for a while, to get a grasp of the game.

BESW

Slayer, you say.

trogdor

@BESW I should have expected you to do that

Zachiel

Pffft no.
That's only a +2 proficiency weapon.

trogdor

1:41 PM

@Zachiel she might try warlock fey pact honestly

it doesn't have to be too complicated, and you can give her certain powers and feats that mess with enemies

Zachiel

@trogdor And it's not a true controller.

trogdor

the main damage bonus they get is from the curse they can use, which is relatively simple

Zachiel

"whenever you can , curse someone you plan to hit"

trogdor

unless you feat it to be different, warlocks curse just hits the closest enemy, your choice if it is a tie, and gives a d6 bonus per tier

and once the cursed enemy dies you curse someone else

Zachiel

As a feylock player, I used to move in order to choose my target.

trogdor

1:43 PM

@Zachiel yes

I ran a feylock myself

I also mixed in paladin marking (from a multiclass feat), but you don't have to do that if you don't want to

I thought it was hilarious

especially because of Eyebite

Zachiel

Currently the party has a Sentinel druid (healing, damage and the wolf companion has nearby enemies grant CA), a rogue and a blackguard fishing for CA and charging (both have CA against lone enemies) and a controller with good pushes and shifts.

BESW

Feylock sounds like a good add to that.

Zachiel

I guess the party misses the AoE from the sorceror (since they tend to bunch up a lot to avoid giving CA easily) and I worry the feylock is going to be a poor striker in comparison, albeit it gains some control

Also, the blackguard is a plot point - since it's similar in tactics and damage to the rogue I might suggest the rogue swapping (if he wants to), 4 players plus a GMPC seems a lot, and they're already breezing through enemies with one man less (I didn't change the encounter budget)

BESW

I wouldn't worry about the AoE thing. A feylock can easily disperse groups so the melee can pick them off.

trogdor

the only concern I have is if no one helps her with the only part that sounds complicated about the character you have made up

if that isn't an issue, then I don't see it being a big problem, other than possibly taking up some decent time

the feylock thing is just a suggestion if you want some other option

and it seems like it would fit what she wants to do pretty well

Zachiel

1:57 PM

I proposed both options to them, but they're still free of doing whatever they want.

Thanks for help, especially for the feylock idea.

trogdor

no problem, it isn't an entirely easy kind of problem

as I said, I myself had to help one of our other PC's every session with his character

Codeacula

wave

trogdor

he (understandably) didn't want to get caught up with making the character or keeping track of every little thing he could do

hello

Codeacula

Hey!

doppelgreener

@BESW @trogdor the old guy from the Touchstone episode is a bit of a jerk

"YOU'RE LYING!" "WE'RE REALLY NOT!" "COME NOW!" (just walks away with his people)

trogdor

2:03 PM

he is kinda a jerk

what does this touchstone do,.. actually?

doppelgreener

weather device

trogdor

I don't know if I am thinking of the right episode here

ah ok

doppelgreener

it controls the planetary weather

trogdor

yes that

I don't remember that one as well as the one I was thinking of

and your description immediately reminded me of a specific episode involving,.. one guy who was a jerk

without saying stuff that would spoil you

doppelgreener

haha

okay

trogdor

2:19 PM

the one I am thinking of is in season 4 so I would guess you have not seen it yet, I personally found it hilarious

Sandwich

5:42 PM

Just had possibly the coolest dream I've ever had last night

I don't remember much of it but it had an amazing story, drama, action.. there was a blonde loli android..

DuckTapeAl

5:55 PM

- I can get you the full stat block tomorrow, probably. It's at work, so I don't have it with me.
- Oh, okay. It's sometimes hard for me to remember what the Wild Die applies to, and it appears that my rule of thumb "all trait rolls" isn't quite accurate.
- Apparently I missed the section on disruption.
- We're using Power Points, but we've never run into a point where anyone came close to running out.
- His Fighting cost lots of skill points, but he (both player and character) frankly has no interest in problems that can't be punched. I think is Agility is d8, so that skill cost him 7 p…

Wibbs

Damage rolls aren't Trait rolls :)

Disruption can happen whenever someone maintaining a spell is damaged or Shaken

Are characters Novice level with no XP?

What genre are you playing?

I'm concerned that you think all other PCs would fold if attacked by mooks

that really shouldn't be the case at all

@DuckTapeAl would actually be helpful to see stat blocks for all PCs and a typical mook

Wibbs

6:12 PM

(including the weapons they're using)

DuckTapeAl

I have to go do some errands, but I'll be back in like ~2 hrs.

DuckTapeAl

6:50 PM

Or less, since my car apparently won't start on hot days anymore.

They're Novices with no XP, but 1 extra effective Advancement. It's a Harry Potter game, so they all got Magical Background in addition to their normal stuff. The fighter wanted to be a Squib, so he got an extra advancement instead.

I don't have the stat blocks with me, but I do know that no-one has Fighting outside of the two characters who have that as their explicit purpose.

Five characters: The nerd (poop-shoveler at an owlrey), the healer (small-time drug dealer), the leader (small-time crime lord), the brawler (pit fighter), and the house-elf (also a pit fighter).

Average mook has d6 in everything, like the book says. Their only 'weapon' is a lesser version of Stupefy that works like Bolt.

The party doesn't have any weapons other than their magic. Their magic is pretty much entirely utility and buffs.

Sandwich

7:10 PM

Aww

♚

🎼

⚀⚁⚂⚃⚄⚅

Sandwich

7:31 PM