yeaaah... but I can't avoid slacking off and then feeling Kronos whipping on my back when the deadline draws near

But if it worries you, why prep in the first place?

because I want to play

by prepping my character I mean making the build, backstory and such

I know for myself that getting into a vicious circle of prepping, running, worrying about prepping and so on is not healthy

Okay, what would happen if you don't do any of that?

Just, say, do a Eimyr's Six prep?

(hah, I'm totally coining this one)

I mean, I need to have my feats and traits done

otherwise my character is unplayable

and I need to buy my gear and stuff

I can't avoid it

What level are you starting on?

1

so it's no excuse for me not to build it properly

hm

when I'm tentative about how I should build my char, there's one thing I tell myself

"Hell, how am I supposed to pick stuff if I don't know how the game is played?"

My concept for my 5e Bard turned on its head about three sessions in.

It turned to "I should have played a Druid", but still

It completely changed my perspective.

I'd say, grab a trait, race, class, a feat that you know you really need (or have to take to take something else) and go ahead with the game

I see

ah you're right

the GM will surely allow me to change my build if I don't like how it plays

Precisely.

such things happen in almost every game we play

hmh

let the feats rain

now, tell me about @eimyr 's six step prep

You can always say it straight to your GM: "Look, I want to build a [gish/dual wielder/blastmage/CCdude/wtvr] and I have no idea, and I'll probably know what I'm doing by game no 3, so can I maybe fix it if I screw up?"

Haha

It's just that once my players were badgering me about how much backstory they need to write.

I said I need at least 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs is OK too, but if they write 6 pages, I won't read it.

I've been saying that ever since, as it gave them a very good idea.

hoho

how would you rate my Grzegorz backstory?

I had players actually write 6 sentences.

one of them wrote 6 extremely simple sentences, like "X comes from a small village. X is a proud warrior. X learned fighting at a temple." etc.

and the other one wrote 6 paragraph-length sentences

can you repost your link?

@eimyr I find less is more, in terms of backstory especially for an RPG where you will grow into a PC and how you want them to be

6 words it probably better though

I'd read 6 pages but its unlikely anyone would ever write so much

@JoshuaAslanSmith Me too. I actually like to ask people familiar with Fate to just give Aspects to their character.

artificial padding nonwithstanding

@Sejanus I have a sort of a "lifelong companion" favourite character. I could totally write 6 pages about it.

thumbs up to you then

@eimyr docs.google.com/document/d/…

it's on the lower first page

above your inspiration Polish quotes

ouch

I didn't mean that to proliferate.

ah, it's private if that's what you ask

I like to think of RPG characters as similar to a character in a screenplay, you need to be able to say the core of the character in a single phrase for someone to latch onto in an elevator pitch

@Golokopitenko Stowaway orphan boy-turned Shamash zealot. Worked on a ship. Values justice, but seeks retribution. Deeply distrustful. Bureaucratic and unyielding. Patriotic to the point of nationalism.

it of course depends on the kind of game

I actually like the last sentence about cinnamon the most.

I doubt anyone really needs a page or two background for your regular DnD game, but on the other hand that's the bare minimum for my WoD games

Story might or might not have been great, but this last sentence tells me more about the character than the rest of it combined.

heh you're right it's stereotypical

what do you recommend for a better background?

I mean, I can see it already. Slightly dramatic, control freak, ostentatious, stands out, somewhat hedonistic, maybe a bit greedy

the above just from the cinnamon line

Oh, if you like it, it's cool. I wouldn't say you need to change it :)

solely form the cinnamon??

how do you extrapolate those?

(did I get the personality right?)

not at all, sorry

well, cinnamon is an exotic spice, I thought he'd be enjoying that despite the price.

Standing over landscapes is dramatic, but puts you in control

you're right

well, he is rather contemplative

people who dress in red are rarely shy or nondescript

he likes to gaze upon the horizon and feel the calmness that the might of nature can transmit

I see.

Welp.

but I wasn't honestly thinking that much when I wrote that last phrase

This just shows how diverse people are.

cinnamon for Dune, red because most people like red, and he is an inquisitor (see PF's class art)

I mean, there are countless interpretations.

and gazing on landscapes because... I honestly like to do that too, but I thought it'd fit for Grzegorz

What I like here is that it has a personal touch.

but you were spot-on about the cinnamon

it used to be an expensive and exotic spice

well, liking it doesn't mean he is used to consume it though!

maybe he tried it one and fell in love with it, or maybe he purposely takes walks on the local markets to bask in the fragance

Knowing my party mate likes cinnamon is more information than "he comes from Kingdom of Philtrum and fell from a tree in childhood"

do you think so?

absolutely

you could take that Grzegorz is scared of fire

what can I do with this info as a party mate?

or that he could see himself on a young peasant

or that he resents sailors

But there's little actionable stuff for me.

But what I can do is to buy him a cinnamon cookie.

Or a red scarf.

Hm! That'd be his weak spots!

And when we are spying, I know who to send up top

top?

Like, on a hill that overlooks the town.

ah i see

he could be distracted though!

I prefer knowledge of here-and-now relevance

but, y'know, that's one man's opinion

I see what you mean

no, you're right

well the backstory is more so we know what he did

but yes, it doesn't tell us HOW he is

maybe I should make a short line about the things he hates

like... heathens and the smell of cheese

or maybe he gets seasick!

didn't he work on a ship?

I think likes are awesomer. Keeps you on the positive.

@Miniman Hey, I saw you have some of those spell cards for 5th edition. How do you like them? I was looking for a good way to keep track of my prepared spells and stumbled on that question you answerd

The cards in question if anyone else knows: miniaturemarket.com/gf973904.html

@PremierBromanov There is a decent Android App just for that. I used it, liked it, recommend it.

@eimyr Thanks, but I prefer tangible stuff when I'm playing. Just feels better, more space to work with

but my prepared spells and slots are interfering with my notes sometimes lol

the cards would be great with my binder, it's got some clear pockets I can put them in and still keep my notes in place

@PremierBromanov That's cool, everyone to their own.

Indeed. I didn't mean to sound like I was blowing you off, I do appreciate the recommendation and the gesture

No worries, I didn't get that at all.

If anything I've been butting in.

(I would actually prefer nifty cards myself too, but I don't play that much 5e)

@PremierBromanov Honestly...they're missing enough details that half the time I was looking them up in the PHB anyway, so I decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Oh really? What kind of details are they missing

@PremierBromanov Well, it's not all of them, but a lot of them don't actually have the full spell text.

Oh, right. Things like Detect Thoughts and the like?

Yeah, those more complicated ones.

And the simpler ones I can mostly just remember, especially if they're ones I use often.

Other than that, pretty good? I usually print out a list of my spells for my binder so I've got the spell descriptions handy

@PremierBromanov Pretty good, yeah. Especially for things like quickly checking whether you can cast it while silenced or similar.

Anyway, 2am, so I have got to disappear.

Thanks!

Afternoon all.

rpg.stackexchange.com/review/suggested-edits/27232 Didn't the old title capture the actual problem better than the new, more specific title

It's more likely to be found for more transferable situations

I'd say so

Plus it's more boring, somehow, despite mentioning a catapulted, exploding, magic boat.

Flagged.

@PremierBromanov For my player characters I don't use them, but when I had to pull in an NPC who cast as an 18th-level wizard, they were invaluable. I'd strongly second @Miniman's comment about the spell text, though: if the spell's got any complexity to it you'll be pulling the PHB anyway.

11 pages into Big Eyes, Small Mouth and there's already more explicit discussion of how to decide the game style and make sure everybody's on the same page than most games I've played have in the whole rulebook. Anyone ever tried it?

No, but I'm always happy to see that kind of section in a game.

I'm unlikely to ever play Call of Cthulhu, for example, but I love reading its advice chapter.

Newer games tend to have more of it (Lovecraftesque's raison d'etre is navigating Mythos-type horror so that the group is in control), but plenty of older games do it too.

Hmm, played it once at a con but never read it

Cool

Horror games tend to be the most self-aware of the importance of group coherence and buy-in.

Makes sense.

Since horror games have a particular kind of atmosphere and evocation as their goal, breaking the mood or going too far is both easier to do and harder to recover from.

Yeah it seems like it would be really tricky to GM. And also, trying to do a serious horror game wouldn't work with... any of the groups I've played with, I'd say; people would be too busy cracking jokes.

you can have serious horror with cracking jokes

@nitsua60 Sounds good. Like I said, I like to have a printout of all the spells my character has access to with the full text and everything. The cards will simply help me keep track of the prepared spells

the humour can make the horror even more real :)

Nightmares of Mine is a particularly good resource for horror gaming, and indeed it dedicates some pages to the importance of reprieve.

Most horror games need moments of relief or catharsis, because unrelenting tension is exhausting and after a while the players just stop feeling it.

If everything his horrorhorrorhorrorbloodgoreshockhorror, then it becomes jaded. Having contrast with some humour is a really good way of pacing the horror

ninjad :p

Makes sense, I guess. Personally I've never really been into horror as a genre in any medium, tbh.

However, it is important to have player buy-in so that the moments of true horror don't get hijacked too often, as that's difficult to recover from.

There are kinds of horror that I just can't get into, but I'm developing a taste for some forms of it and some of my players are really into that kind of gaming on occasion.

I have a very steady, settled group and tend towards dark games, and everyone knows the score

Ok, I've just done a quick google session on "nets" and I wanted to clarify if this was applicable in 5e?

Basically, can I get a net of a different material, to make it harder to break out from?

That's D&D 3.5 OGL.

@BESW Ok yeah, from memory I don't remember anything from the 5e PHB about net materials

I don't know 5e, but I do know it's not 3.5.

@doppelgreener yeah, I think that has a lot more to do with how good the product is

Ok, so some further investigation suggests that nets in 5e don't (can't?) have any special qualities, but I'm not sure if this is just for a basic rope net.

> Dealing 5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10) also frees the creature without harming it, ending the effect and destroying the net.

hey there @Ben

O/

how're things going?

Got a bit of a breather going at the moment, haha.

It's been super busy

Rolling out new software at work, upgrading the network, managing customer databases, user training etc, (I work in IT).

@Ben heheh. in a bit of a drought actually when it comes to RP -- my 2e DM's been out of action for a while, one of my 3.5e DMs has lost his muse more or less, and my other 3.5e/5e DM is too busy to DM until the summer shows up (although he has stuff planned ;)

@Ben In IT, you say?

for now....all I have is Wax's game as far as tabletop goes

@Ben is another IT guy IRL

I've also recently moved, so I've been managing all the associated stuff with that, plus we're starting a new Archery club

@Ben IIRC there are different strengths of rope even in 5e, in the DMG if not elsewhere, so I think it'd be totally reasonable to extrapolate that to nets at least as far as damage required to break out of it.

@doppelgreener I laughed harder than I was expecting to hahaha

@SirTechSpec Is there any official ruling about different net materials? Or is that more house-rule-y?

@doppelgreener Sadly at our place we're called ITS so I can't do that, even mentally

@Ben yeah -- that'd keep you busy alright

@SirTechSpec alas

@Ben For that you'd need to ask someone who knows what they're talking about, I'm afraid - I'm actually pretty new to 5e

@Shalvenay Yeah definitely. There's also a few other things going on, but its' all seemed to be calming down atm, which has allowed for a bit of a breather :)

@Ben OTOH -- I have another wild character idea in the cards, and hopefully a couple more games brewing up for over the summer

Also, I'm trying to figure out if this is just statistical clustering right now or if the intersection of {people who like RPGs} and {people who solve their problems with StackExchange} really is mostly IT folk.

@Shalvenay I also have a few other characters waiting in the ranks :) but I am also afraid that my primary character (my dragonborn) is on the tipping point - he might be dead in the next session (if we ever get there!) :(

@Ben yeah -- want to hear what I've been brewing up character-wise?

Sure

@SirTechSpec You may discover the key to world peace in the process

@Ben basically, a gnoll holy warrior who fights open-paw

@Shalvenay what class?

@Ben that I'm not sure -- Monk, Pally, Cleric, or mixes of the above could all work -- it's heavily system dependent

@Ben (also, I found out that 4e char creation is likely not for me)

To me that sounds very Monk-ish

Primarily unarmed combat, plus monks are very spiritual, so it fits the bill :)

it does fit thematically -- but it's not nearly as good a choice mechanically in some of the systems I'd be looking into

I honestly think that while, yes, mechanics help when working with the rules etc, theme always makes for better roleplay :)

@SirTechSpec @Ben There's nothing about different rope strengths in my many reads of 5e canon. Silk and help are explicitly called out as having the same strength (PHB 153); weight is the value of silk. I will say that "property," "properties," "proper," "lycanthrope," "propel," "Europe," and "trope" are the most common supersets of the string "rope" in the PHB and DMG. Also, the Rope of Entanglement would be an excellent material from which to make your net.

@nitsua60 So nothing about chain? Silver, iron or otherwise?

If not, that'd be more of a "homebrew" invention for 5e?

(or adaptation from an earlier edition)

@nitsua60 Weird, I thought different types of rope were listed as having different HP in the DMG, but apparently I made that up.

Crazy thought/question

Are mounts in 5e really worded such that you cannot attack -> move -> attack while mounted?

(assuming I never dismount and want the mount to do my movement for me)

It looks like (PHB 198) even a non-intelligent mount gets its own turn in the initiative order, because its initiative is set equal to yours, and ties in initiative (PHB 189) still result in two distinct turns, the order just gets determined by the players/DM

@lithas That was my understanding of it too. Hence why you need a skill to keep it under your control.

But if you're mounted, your movement relies on the mount.

@Ben right, but I guess my real question is whether that movement happens during your turn or if the mount gets its own turn

I know that the RAI is almost certainly that it happens during your turn, but i'm not seeing support for that in the PHB

that seems like a pretty big nerf to mounts from previous editions

@lithas It would make sense, since the mount is (effectively) under your control, but from what I've heard/been told, like you mentioned earlier, the mount has it's own turn in the initiative order.

@Ben yeah... I'm going to ask that as a question just to be sure I'm not missing anything

I'm no authority on the rules unfortunately. @Miniman might be more likely to help

but it certainly seems like the (unintuitive) case

Ah, here's a question that addresses it. rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/68059/…

Ok, so yes they have "individual" turns, but can be combined into one

It's more that you have 2 concurrent turns

but essentially, yes