TRPG General Chat

12:00 PM

partly I don't want to just blurt it out, and partly I am also just not sure how it will turn out, PC agency and such factoring in

working with/to making/make sure the PC's have lots of input even when I am GMing is something I am really trying to work on focusing on

eimyr

Well, if there is one thing I don't like in Fate it's the player input into the world.

worldbuilding is my pleasure from GMing, don't take it away from me Fate!

BESW

It's pretty easy to remove that bit from Fate, or to keep it to minimal elements, and it doesn't hurt the system if the group's cool with that.

trogdor

while also trying to seed in surprises in the story, or even just in individual characters, for them, cause I like those myself, and I also like giving them to other people

eimyr

I don't mind additions, but when I prepare a gritty low fantasy world and the first player shouts "I wanna be a wizard and there is a huge society of wizards!" followed by intense nodding by the rest I start fuming.

trogdor

mm

BESW

12:03 PM

@eimyr That... is not a Fate problem.

trogdor

our group really likes to decide stuff

BESW

That is a social-level "establish what kind of game is being played and be sure everyone's on board with it" problem.

eimyr

I almost tableflipped once when that happened.

doppelgreener

@BESW @trogdor YESSSSS. So many crystals!

trogdor

so my old style of GMing, granted I have not done it often anyway, won't work for us XD

eimyr

12:05 PM

Well, that was part of the game, but then everyone said "but it would be better with magic!"

"It can still be gritty and low fantasy! Can I have Fireball?"

trogdor

not that I don't want to change it, just that it had kinda turned into a fast habit to really dig into the rail roading

BESW

And you, as a person in the game, can say "I'm not really cool with that, hear me out."

trogdor

@doppelgreener for my idea, explaining it with crystals kinda takes the punch out of it

eimyr

puppyface "But I wanna be a sorcerer so baaaaaad... can I be a sorcerer that does not do it?" and the second one goes "OK, but there is gunpowder? Surely there has to be gunpowder"

trogdor

for many of our in world stuff, crrrryyyyystaaaaallllllssssss are fine

BESW

12:06 PM

@eimyr This is clearly a miscommunication about what you meant by "low fantasy."

eimyr

Clearly.

trogdor

but for this one thing of mine I kinda have to put my foot down on that XD

eimyr

I went with "OK, you can have it, but it's such a rarity you will be called out on it."

And they were cool with that.

doppelgreener

@trogdor Do not step on the crystals, they are sharp! You will hurt your foot!

trogdor

lol

eimyr

12:07 PM

But that game was a misunderstanding of how Fate limits choices in general.

anyway...

trogdor

@doppelgreener you know what I mean you joker

eimyr

lunch

LOL: lunch - You can perform this action again in 1 seconds - retry / edit / cancel

trogdor

lol

doppelgreener

@eimyr None of this sounds like a problem Fate causes or tries to fix, like BESW says. This is just players having buy-in into your view of the world and the kind of game you want to run... or not having that buy-in, maybe because they're not clear on all the stuff in your head.

[decides post is better without spoken styles of emphasis]

@eimyr Wow that's a bit overzealous there chat, pace yourself.

Bas Jansen

Afternoon folks

doppelgreener

12:09 PM

@BasJansen I contest that. Good evening!

William Mariager

6

Q: Can a wizard delay spell preparation?

My wizard has just woken from a long rest and is thinking about what spells to prepare for a new day of adventuring. The PHB says on p.114: You prepare the list of wizard spells that are available for you to cast. To do so. choose a number of wizard spells from your spellbook equal to your In...

BESW

@BasJansen [wave]

William Mariager

I was just reading that question.

trogdor

part of the idea for having everyone in a game, not just fate but fate is a decent example, decide what is in the game world,... happens to be not trying to say there is magic everywhere after someone already said they wanted it to be low fantasy,... at least not without discussing it and doing some kind of compromise

doppelgreener

(@eimyr Also there's the whole thing where anyone can declare story details and whatnot, but anyone can say "hey wait that's not ok with me, can we not do that / do it like this instead")

trogdor

12:12 PM

@doppelgreener yeah, this is pretty much what I was trying to say

Bas Jansen

quick tiny question, I know that there was a thread going into detail as to when grappling damage is actually applied in dnd 3.5 (e.g. if only when someone doe a grapple check to do damage or if whenever a grapple check is won), yet I can't find it. Does anyone have a link to it?

BESW

@WilliamMariager What's on your mind about it?

William Mariager

Is there any big problems with allows wizards to prepare like that? It increases their flexibility, but only in situations they can predict. I've always had my players prepare beforehand, but I actually like the idea of giving them a bit of flexibility. They still need to be careful. Having nothing prepared when a random encounter happens isn't good. But having the wrong spell prepared sometimes leads to a days rest which is often just glanced over.

BESW

@BasJansen I'll go digging.

Bas Jansen

cheers ^_^

doppelgreener

12:12 PM

@trogdor yesss, this is true stuff

BESW

@WilliamMariager This could be a great main-site question, provided it's asking for peoples' experience doing it that way, rather than speculation (which folks in chat who are familiar with the system will probably be happy to offer).

William Mariager

Yeah, I wasn't sure it'd fit the site since it's kinda speculative. But asking for experiences is a good idea.

BESW

That's a good way to tidy up a lot of questions.

@BasJansen Nothing comes up easily, going deeper.

@BasJansen Is it this?

Bas Jansen

Let me check

trogdor

uh,... looking for that grapple question, I just saw an insane number of questions asking the same general thing

I am not clear enough on the rules for duplicates though

and such

I mean, it was just a cursory look, but they all have the same heading question

but I also think they probably would have been caught by now if they are all still there,.....

if they were too similar

BESW

12:18 PM

@trogdor Check if one says Q: and the others are A:

Bas Jansen

There is such an insane mess of rules regarding grappling in 3.5, most of those questions probably have minor (but essential) differences

BESW

If you don't specify is:question or is:answer, a search will kick back the question AND each answer as a separate result.

trogdor

@BESW this is indeed the case XD

mystery solved XD lame mystery, but solved all the same

Bas Jansen

@BESW No, that's not it. I remember the thread attempting to describe which grapple checks result in grapple damage (e.g. attempting to escape a grapple and failing the check would (or not) yield damage)

BESW

2

A: Improved grab while being grappled

On this particular topic you should judge rules yourself (you may call it homeruling it). Rules for Improved Grab aren't clear enough and with a lack of example of play section tied to them there is no certain RAI. RAW may be read in different ways and which of them is "right" is up to you. Fir...

Bas Jansen

12:20 PM

with damage, i refer to improved unarmed strike or natural attack (via improved grab), both should follow the same rule in that regard

hmm... it was my own question? Damn... I should have remembered that hides

However, thank you ;)

BESW

My pleasure.

And yeah, sometimes I run into an old answer that I'm nodding along with and trying to upvote, but it's mine.

Bas Jansen

would be more amusing if you wanted to downvote yourself, thinking what is this rubbish

BESW

[pretends that hasn't ever happened]

trogdor

lol

that has not happened to me, but I do sometimes get anxiety about my own answers regardless

not so much questions because,.. I am just asking stuff in those

BESW

Heh. I'm much more anxious about my questions.

I tend to get really misunderstood.

trogdor

12:24 PM

I don't ask many questions on the site though

or at least I don't post them too often

I may have gotten some answered in chat without thinking to post them as questions on the site

XD

doppelgreener

12:43 PM

@BESW how could you say such a thing

BESW

@doppelgreener One of our very first interactions was on my third question, wherein you re-stated the reason I was asking the question as if it were something I hadn't considered, and got 13 upvotes for it.

doppelgreener

@BESW haha, I think someone had actually responded before that saying "have you tried making them blinded"

BESW

Which doesn't make it any weirder that you had to say what I'd already said: using the Blinded condition doesn't feel right for the context.

Magician

Unrelated, but having usernames dynamically changed makes following ancient conversations difficult.

BESW

...yes.

doppelgreener

12:48 PM

@BESW well, i did say a lot of things about why that you didn't say

eimyr

In that case it's easy to cope with: greeeeeeeen

doppelgreener

you did say the dirt in the eyes thing though :)

BESW

Throw in the whole Fate Gremlin thing and a few other bits, and yeah--I have a tendency to get my questions poorly understood. It's probably my fault, but that doesn't make me less anxious.

eimyr

Fate Gremlin? What is a Fate Gremlin?

doppelgreener

[changes avatar to something red, everyone wonders where doppelgreener's gone]

eimyr

12:50 PM

Is that like a Dice Goblin?

BESW

The gremlin is a tendency to give answers focused on Fate as a narrative game when it's inappropriate to do so.

Magician

Dice the Goblin, a fourth goblin brother. Compulsive gambler covered in scars and bandages.

3

doppelgreener

It's BESW's personification of a problem that kept coming up when Fate Core came out: people would ask "how do I handle this mechanical thing effectively?" and others would answer "fate's a narrative game, so forget about the mechanics and tell your story".

Magician

...though "compulsive goblin" is also a thing worth examining.

doppelgreener

Oh, oh! I have an idea for this one.

BESW

12:53 PM

> Fortune favours the bloody. You can choose to succeed with style at cost, instead of simply succeeding at cost, by filling in your lowest available consequence slot as the cost.

eimyr

> Each scar tells a story. You gain +2 to Rapport if you manage to display a scar resulting from a relevant situation.

AARRGH I HATE THESE

NEVER RIGHT

doppelgreener

> Dice the Goblin: Scarred and bandaged goblin lackey
The fastest hands
Eyes like a hawk
World-class swindler
Always have an escape plan (that involves the loot)
+3 Sneaky
+2 Clever, Quick
+1 Flashy, Careful
+0 Forceful
- There's only the rules others don't know yet: When you spend a fate point to reroll, you can instead replace one of your fudge dice with a d6 and roll that.

eimyr

BTW, is Atomic Robo Roleplaying Game Handbook called ARRGH?

5

doppelgreener

now I am happy.

BESW

@eimyr ...not until now.

trogdor

12:58 PM

lol

Magician

@doppelgreener Curios that Dice doesn't have any Forceful.

doppelgreener

@eimyr HA. Yes. It is now.

trogdor

@BESW XD

doppelgreener

@Magician I imagined him being more like a cheat and a sleight of hand master.

His injuries are probably from all the times he escaped with the loot.

Magician

> All in. Once per session when you do something monumentally ill-advised, roll the dice. For each +, you get a fate point. For each -, a consequence.

doppelgreener

1:00 PM

@Magician I like this. :D

eimyr

@MAgician mind blown

Polyducks

Are you guys making up fate attributes?

trogdor

@Magician can you still spend a fate point to re roll?

doppelgreener

@Polyducks They're called stunts, and a goblin, but yes.

trogdor

nvm

Magician

1:01 PM

@trogdor What kind of a gambler would you be if you couldn't.

trogdor

greener took the words out of my mouth

@Magician hee

BESW

@Magician [adapts Tesla stunt]

doppelgreener

@trogdor [gambles them away to someone who'll accept abstract language for stakes]

BESW

> Lucky Number Three. When rolling a Flashy action, if exactly three of your dice show the same result, you get a boost for free. For example, +++0 would get you a free boost, as would ---+ or 000-, but not ++++, ----, or 0000.

trogdor

@doppelgreener well you didn't get this one BURNINATE!

BESW

1:02 PM

@Polyducks The Goblin Brothers.

Polyducks

For the lulz For each person that laughs at your declaration of action, you get a +.

Am I doing this right? :/

trogdor

@Polyducks does it count if only you laugh?

doppelgreener

> Gotta do it just right. When you reroll dice that were already in the positive, you get a +2.

(I can't tell if this is for the compulsive goblin or the gambling goblin.)

Polyducks

@trogdor If you're laughing, how can you declare action?

how on earth do I make bolded text?

@Davidwilkins Hey David!

BESW

@Polyducks Surround the text with double asterisks: **text**

David Wilkins

1:04 PM

@Polyducks howdy

doppelgreener

@Polyducks Let me grab the stunt templates for you.

trogdor

** on either side of the word or words

Polyducks

Thanks, @doppelgreener. I'll still have no idea what I'm doing.

Cheers @BESW and @trgodor

Just munchin on pringles and wasting away what is left of my lunch hour

eimyr

mmm, pringles

Polyducks

irk?

eimyr

1:06 PM

Tesco has pulled out the fun flavours recently :(

Polyducks

Like what? They still have prawn cocktail where I am

In America they have pickle flavour

eimyr

yeah, those are the british crap flavours

Polyducks

easily my favourite and most rare

lol

What are the Polish master race flavours?

doppelgreener

Fate stunt templates

4 mins ago, 2 minutes total – 7 messages, 1 user, 0 stars

Bookmarked 1 min ago by doppelgreener

eimyr

prawn cocktail, salt and vinegar, salt and that last one are terrible

trogdor

1:08 PM

eww, what? pickle flavor chips?

Polyducks

Perogi flavour crisps don't have the same ring to them :p

Magician

> Compulsive goblin. GM gets a special fate point added to their budget each scene, that can only be used on compelling your goblin aspect.

Polyducks

@trogdor join us or die

trogdor

BURNINATE

XD

BESW

@Magician [squint]

Polyducks

1:09 PM

lol I thought of you the other day. I was in an RPG where you make your own pixel art, and someone had made the burninate dragon

trogdor

I actually kinda like pickles, but I can't even fathom how horrible they must taste in chip form

Magician

@BESW It's kiiind of like Signature Aspect.

eimyr

@Polyducks PLMR for crisp flavours: Paprika, Green Spring Onion, Smoked Bacon, Chive and Sour Cream.

Polyducks

They're amazing. Not too far off from a very sour salt and vinegar

BESW

@Magician [squinter]

trogdor

1:10 PM

@eimyr oh that last one sounds like it would be probably my favorite ever XD

doppelgreener

@Polyducks Some of the stunts we're coming up here break those templates, 'cause they're just the starter to help you learn the ropes.

eimyr

squintest?

Magician

squintee

BESW

@eimyr We wouldn't want to publicise untested squins.

Polyducks

@eimyr PLMR = Private Land Mobile Radio?

eimyr

1:11 PM

Polish Master Race. I didn't make it up.

trogdor

why is there an L?

Magician

@doppelgreener This is very true. I purposefully try to come up with something out of the box.

Polyducks

what's the L for?

trogdor

lol

eimyr

to fit the PCMR backronym

@trogdor @Polyducks you would make a cute couple

BESW

1:12 PM

[raised eyebrow]

trogdor

I am not sure about that one XD

eimyr

also, PL is international code for poland

Polyducks

oh

doppelgreener

@trogdor he means you should fuse and combine your strengths and dominate the planet.

Polyducks

Where do you stand on BBQ?

trogdor

1:13 PM

@doppelgreener is that what couple means now? XD

David Wilkins

@Polyducks BBQ is for eating, not standing on

Polyducks

@trogdor cool! My super power is writing websites. You can burninate stuff and I can document it.

doppelgreener

@trogdor it's just the vibe i got

trogdor

lol

Polyducks

@DavidWilkins oooh so close! You only get half points. The expected response was 'in front of the grill with a sausage fork'!

David Wilkins

1:14 PM

Since I don't know what the f^^k a sausage fork is, I will just keep eating with my hands

doppelgreener

@DavidWilkins it's a fork made out of sausages. it's not very useful. keep using your hands.

trogdor

it isn't for eating XD

David Wilkins

BBQ is, @trogdor

Polyducks

Guys, I've just invented the worst big-bad cursed artefact in the world

trogdor

@DavidWilkins yes, but the fork is not XD

David Wilkins

1:16 PM

@Polyducks sausage fork of doom?

doppelgreener

@Polyducks worst worst or best worst?

trogdor

unless you want sausage straight off the grill XDXDXDXD

Polyducks

Pandora's Pringle Can. It contains all of the world's evil segregated out into hyperbolic paraboloids, and once it's opened you are unable to stop pulling them out.

eimyr

@Polyducks not if that's a british sausage. That stuff is made of horrors.

Polyducks

@eimyr it's called "recycling".

trogdor

1:17 PM

@Polyducks do you have to eat them afterwards?

Polyducks

@trogdor n...yes.

trogdor

lol

David Wilkins

can they be barbecued first?

eimyr

@Polyducks and then you have all those toponym flavours, but they are just differently flavoured minced s***s.

Polyducks

Yes, with the exception of drought and wildfire.

toponym?

BESW

1:18 PM

...the Internet doesn't seem to have a freely-playable version of Da Tong Song.

eimyr

named after a place

Polyducks

@eimyr, if I have to google all the words you use it isn't a conversation any more, it's a lecture.

@BESW let me see them to-on-ongs.

doppelgreener

@Polyducks For those unaware... Pringles: Once you pop, you can't stop.

eimyr

@BESW will the Coconut Song do?

Polyducks

@doppelgreener <3 fat man's curse

doppelgreener

1:19 PM

This is more true of Country Cheese crackers though

eimyr

@Polyducks I recently made this: chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/27524287#27524287

BESW

@Polyducks It's Malafunkshun, so it's "Let me see your own," but yes.

trogdor

lol

Polyducks

I don't get it :(

trogdor

I did not think you would

he is being cheeky and referencing something that pretty much only someone from here would get

Polyducks

1:22 PM

Still don't get it / 10

trogdor

lol

BESW

Malafunkshun is a local band that specialises in parodying local language, culture, and customs.

trogdor

I am not going to explain his little joke for him XD

Polyducks

Right, lunch is over. I'm going back to pretending to work while lurking this chat

@BESW Oh right. Well... that's obscure

BESW

And in the local English dialect, "yours" and "your own" have distinctly separate meanings.

Polyducks

1:24 PM

so sort of like...

let me see you're tongs?

BESW

Any tongs you happen to be using at that moment would be "your tongs." But if they're the tongs you brought to the BBQ and will take back home when it's over, they're "your own tongs."

Polyducks

haha!

What an odd distinction!

trogdor

indeed

Polyducks

I think I've heard something like that in the south of England

BESW

It's very important in a culture with large families living in shared spaces.

nitsua60

1:25 PM

@BESW sounds like a good name for a... crap.

trogdor

I see what you,... oh never mind

BESW

If you share closet space with four siblings, whatever shirt you grab to wear that day is yours, but it's certainly not your own.

Polyducks

With my experience of having three sisters, that is the opposite case

BESW

"Yours" and "your own" establish boundaries over who has the right to make certain decisions about the subject.

Polyducks

if they've worn it last it becomes theirs. I've seen many a flesh torn

BESW

1:28 PM

Yeah, the "yours/your own" distinction helps clarify that kind of thing.

And it's definitely a cultural distinction as well.

Dec 17 '13 at 7:40, by Jonathan Hobbs

I have learned a new word and I am very pleased it was used to describe Space Ghost in a slightly tilted bowler hat xD

Magician

What a strange fellow this Hobbs person must have been.

BESW

Dec 26 '13 at 4:34, by Alex P

What is chromatic proprioception, specifically?

Polyducks

Where are you sourcing these from?

BESW

(This chat has a long, proud tradition of introducing people to new words.)

@Polyducks A room search for "new word."

eimyr

(~~This chat~~ BESW has a long, proud tradition of introducing people to new words.)

2

David Wilkins

1:32 PM

We've had temperatures of -10 F (-23 C) the last two days and I am ready for Spring to come.

BESW

It's not always me.

Polyducks

He's like a living dictionary

@DavidWilkins you and me both

trogdor

@BESW eh, doesn't seem like it has happened exceptionally often? kinda surprising really

BESW

Well, not when folks specifically say "new word."

trogdor

true

the search does kinda have to only give you what you ask for

it's almost like a really grumpy genie

2

BESW

1:34 PM

For example.

Sep 9 '13 at 13:05, by Aaron

@Magician Sense I started to frequent this chat I think I have learned a new term almost every day.

Okay I'm done.

Polyducks

>sense

Looks like they were about to learn another new word

eimyr

@nitsua60 I can't help but think that your avatar is a Rage comic guy playing guitar. I know I'm wrong and I'm sorry.

Polyducks

cannot unsee

thanks

BESW

@eimyr That's not nearly as messed up as Wibbs' avatar, which in thumbnail looks uncannily like a tarantula.

David Wilkins

9d20

Dice Service

1:38 PM

8

7

11

16

7

11

3

1

11

Polyducks

When actually it's a bird's eye view of @Eimyr.

...am I doing this right?

BESW

No. Please edit it.

David Wilkins

looks like the dice service has my luck programmed in!

eimyr

@Polyducks this conversation: chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/26362485#26362485

Polyducks

fixed it @BESW

eimyr

1:40 PM

@Polyducks ... it would be a great name for a band.

Polyducks

"Birds eye view of Eimyr"? Where they just make songs about fish fingers and cod.

eimyr

The previous one.

It still in history.

Polyducks

(birdseye.co.uk)

oh...snap.

eimyr

(I know, m8)

David Wilkins

@eimyr Ha!

eimyr

1:41 PM

@DavidWilkins Ha?

Polyducks

haha woops

David Wilkins

Just that you linked a comment made by me

eimyr

Perhaps?

Oh, I did.

Also, that conversation influenced @BESW's Grim. I really liked it.

BESW

Grim Jim will get played some time. If not me, another player wants to use him.

Polyducks

...Do you guys think that magic might have had some sort of basis in history?

Like, real life.

eimyr

1:43 PM

wat

of course

but wait, what?

trogdor

people couldn't explain stuff

soo, in a way yes

Polyducks

Just I went to these really old standing stones in cornwall once and it really felt energised and magical.

just me and my dad on a hill at solstice

wanted to test an archaeological theory

Hi @Roger!

BESW

@Polyducks That question gets into some fairly fundamental "nature of reality" topics.

eimyr

So you're not looking for historical basis of belief in magic, but magic in real life?

BESW

@Polyducks I do, personally, believe in the supernatural --both in the sense that there are things which science will someday explain but can't yet, and in the sense that I believe in spiritual powers entirely outside the realm of scientific understanding. But others will have very different opinions about the nature of reality.

Polyducks

1:47 PM

N...no. I don't know.

David Wilkins

@BESW also, the reality of nature

Polyducks

I think @BESW, as always, has said it the most eloquently. There are things science can't or hasn't explained yet that seem magical.

Even the things science does explain are pretty magical.

BESW

@RogerPortela Hi! You'll need at least 20 rep on any one Stack Exchange site before you can type in chat rooms, but you're welcome to hang out until then.

eimyr

@Polyducks @BESW I am a firm disbeliever in the supernatural. There might be stuff that is impossible to explain, but it still abides by some non-magical rules, which might or might not be undiscoverable.

Polyducks

Good luck, @RogerPortela :) The easiest way to do it is to correct a few answers with additional information. Maybe grab some low-hanging fruit if you can outsnipe someone to them.

@eimyr what if it was scientifically based supernatural?

eimyr

1:50 PM

@Polyducks provide an example, please. I fear I'd misunderstand.

BESW

My belief in "magical" things is directly tied to my belief that physical reality is an overlay on top of a spiritual truth; this also defines the sorts of things I won't believe in.

Polyducks

@eimyr my concepts on it are still gelatinous in nature. I'll have to return to this conversation later.

eimyr

Also, magic definitely exists, but only within the subjective reality of one's own perception. Meaning, if you felt magical in that moment, it was magical, at least to you. Maybe not to everyone, maybe to other people too, but you will never know for sure.

For all we know, we could be brains in vats.

BESW

@eimyr This is roughly my religion's attitude toward miracles, and by extension most things which can only be explained spiritually rather than physically: They're real, they happen, but only the people who experience them should make major life choices based on them.

Polyducks

ooo yeah

nitsua60

1:55 PM

@eimyr sorry, afk for the commute. It's from Eddie's (sucessful) patent application. (Full patent here.) I use it all the time in my Design class.

Polyducks

@nitsua60 That's the most rock thing I've ever seen

BESW

So, I believe there's something Weird going on that people call taotaomo'na. I don't believe it's ghosts--or at least not just ghosts--because my religion says malevolent souls can't affect the physical world after they pass on. That part of taotaomo'na, at least, must be something other than ancestral spirits. Could be perception bias, could be more.

Polyducks

@BESW that thought still hasn't left my head

I actually asked for permission from the forest to enter in the last DnD game I played

you can bet I'll be doing it at every forest boundary in IRL from now on

BESW

But I do believe that after we pass on, we can have beneficial effects on those still living--so that part I'm not skeptical of, in principle, though I do think most things attributed to taotaomo'na are just perception bias and anthropomorphising coincidence.

eimyr

@BESW I don't think life choices should be made on the basis of subjective reality. But well, whether to do so is one of the mentioned life choices, so who am I to judge?

BESW

1:59 PM

@eimyr That way lies heavy drugs.

eimyr

@BESW And resulting splatbooks.

BESW

[sporfle]

eimyr

sporfle?

BESW

A short, choked-off laugh.

eimyr

oh

is that a word?

BESW

2:02 PM

Yes, although not one you'll find in a dictionary.

It's an Internetism.

David Wilkins

@BESW you can find it in the Urban Dictionary: urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sporfle

BESW

Sadly, the Urban Dictionary is about as reliable as a cat on a shelf of glass unicorns. Even when it gets things right, I always look for another source.

...wow, it's past midnight.

[closes Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign]

David Wilkins

I generally only use Urban Dictionary for things that I am fairly certain if I google I will see something I will regret seeing.

BESW

I would much rather Google "bieber" than search it on UD. (Note: not joking.)

David Wilkins

I will not, in this context, give an example of something I would rather not google.

BESW

2:16 PM

Thank you.

nitsua60

@Polyducks I've got a poster a student had made of it hanging up in my office.

(Einstein stares at him in awe/admiration/disdain/confusion from the opposite wall.)

Polyducks

@nitsua60 what do you teach?

BESW

@Polyducks Poster feng shui.

Polyducks

nice

nitsua60

@Polyducks Maths, physics, introductory engineering courses. (High school.) Occasionally I've covered a music course when someone's on sabbatical or maternity leave.

Polyducks

2:20 PM

What's sabbatical?

nitsua60

Though, really, since only 5% of my students remember more than 5% of the material after 5 years, it might be disingenuous to say I teach all that.

@Polyducks [struggling to put it into words...]

perhaps best thought of as a term (semester, year) of paid freeform professional development/vacation.

Polyducks

oh cool!

That sounds useful

nitsua60

For instance, our photography teacher, on sabbatical, hopped on a motorcycle and traveled southern Africa for a few months. He took lots of photos, I'm sure, but there was no required structure.

Polyducks

and I suppose you at least put the spark of interest into your students

nitsua60

Every few years I a kid will tell me they ended up majoring in something and that the ball had started rolling because of some throwaway comment I made while tumbling off of a tangent. So there's that =)

(Of course, none of those have ended up majoring in the subject I teach, so I'm not sure how to interpret that.)

Polyducks

2:26 PM

That's really nice of them to find you and tell you that :)

Must feel very rewarding

nitsua60

@Polyducks extremely.

BESW

It's very nice to have someone come back and say you influenced a major part of their life positively.

doppelgreener

2:51 PM

A few weeks ago I saw my old maths teacher at a cafe and got to talk to her, tell her how I was and what I'd been up to since, ask her how she was (she'd started teaching at a private school), tell her she was my favourite teacher (she really was!), that one of my friends wanted to become a teacher as well and teach well like her (also true). She got pretty teary by the end of it. :)

nitsua60

@doppelgreener I'll thank you, on her behalf, for that. One conversation like that offsets a thousand bad days' "why even bother? nobody cares" moments of self-doubt.

doppelgreener

@nitsua60 thanks for telling me what it's like :D

Fate stunt templates

Transcript for