TRPG General Chat

Shalvenay

12:42 AM

hey there @nitsua60

nitsua60

12:54 AM

Hiya

@Shalvenay Howzlife?

Shalvenay

slow. getting ready for the convention :)

hey there @Icyfire

as to you @nitsua60?

nitsua60

@Shalvenay Another long day. Full-day interview, followed by a few hours in the car and just finished up a concert. Now I get to write a test then go to bed =)

Shalvenay

1:08 AM

hey there @Ash

Shalvenay

1:27 AM

hey there @NautArch

user15026

@Shalvenay hey

Shalvenay

@Ash how're things going?

user15026

They've been a decent amount better, but they could always be worse. So that's something.

user15026

(A series of long, frustrating days this week have left me kinda braindead and the week isn't over yet....)

Shalvenay

ah. sorry about the short notice -- but if you still want to run the dungeon with Eldramesha and I, I'm available tonight and should be available tomorrow night as well

user15026

1:40 AM

Tonight I don't have the brains (we were massively understaffed today at work, which lead to some....interesting moments). I'll get back to you about tomorrow (it will depend if work goes any better). I am so sorry that I am constantly busy or out of spoons in the evenings. I am horrendous to plan with and I feel so stupid about that

Shalvenay

@Ash yeah, my apologies -- it would have happened earlier had Nitsua's game not runneth over and I been able to plan a bit better...

user15026

It's okay, I'm not too worried :) Life happens. Right now it seems to be like a freight train of things and chaos, but eventually it will not be so. :)

Yuuki

3:00 AM

> Why is 5e so easy.
> has a 6-person party
> creating medium difficulty encounters

Shalvenay

hey there @Yuuki

yeah -- I'd expect the game tone to shift away from hack-and-slash with such a high-level party, even

Yuuki

'ello

Shalvenay

hey again @Icyfire

how're things going?

Icyfire

heh hai

Eh, procrastinating on work

Shalvenay

ah

Yuuki

3:06 AM

@Shalvenay Yeah, hack-and-slash is probably best left to 6-ish.

Icyfire

Also I had written a pretty long response to that "why is 5e so easy" question before it got deleted >.>

Shalvenay

@Yuuki a sword can't fix the last ruler's inept lawmaking :P

Yuuki

And as far as I can tell, 5e characters aren't armykillers like they are in 3.5e.

Shalvenay

yeah

Icyfire

Yeah

Shalvenay

3:07 AM

3.5e characters could get nuts

same with PF

Icyfire

I can see why they toned it down

Still, I think there were useful things to say on that difficulty point

Shalvenay

I'm still scratching my head about how to deal with issues of law in a courtroom-drama type story-thread

I seriously wonder if that's like...uncharted waters.

Icyfire

Fictional trials are always hairy

Shalvenay

yeah -- it's bad enough dealing with issues of fact

but a fictional appeals court?!

Icyfire

Does it follow a real-life legal system

Or do you have to figure that out too

Shalvenay

3:13 AM

I'd probably be cribbing heavily from RL appellate procedure instead of trying to make things up from whole cloth

(believe it or slurp it, I actually am acquainted with a couple folks in the legal dept. at $work who have gone and argued before the US Eighth Circuit)

Icyfire

Sounds like a pain :P

Shalvenay

but yeah -- it sounds like a fairly extreme level of challenge to DM

in part because the workflow diverges so drastically from a typical courtroom drama's

Icyfire

If it's a PBP kind of game, at least you have a lot of time to figure stuff out

Shalvenay

(oftentimes, a case that hinges on issues of law will get decided by the lower court early on a summary judgement or judgement-as-a-matter-of-law, then get punted upstairs to the appeals court on an appeal of that early ruling)

@Icyfire even if it isn't -- legal process actually lends itself somewhat well to a PBPish form-factor as that's much closer to how real courts work what with this motion practice business and all

hey there @daze413

BESW

Last time I did anything close to that, I used the Great Law of Peace as my legal model.

daze413

3:25 AM

@Ἄρτεμις the question could be valid, but it'll take a lot of work to mine the actual question inside. It's good that you put in all the details but it's left it unfocused.

Shalvenay

@BESW what is the Great Law of Peace if I may ask?

daze413

@Shalvenay heyoo! happy international table top day, everyone!

Shalvenay

hehe :)

Yuuki

Oh, that's today?

BESW

@Shalvenay You may know it as the Iroquois Constitution.

@daze413 If the @ name doesn't auto-complete, the person hasn't been in the chat room recently enough to get notified.

Yuuki

3:26 AM

Poop, I probably should've stopped at my comics store, they usually do something.

daze413

speaking of International Tabletop Day, I think it's a shame that rpg.se isn't doing anything special on "our" day...

Shalvenay

@BESW ah, interesting

I'll have to look that up

daze413

@BESW ah dangit... ah well, he deleted his question so fast though.

Chemus

@daze413 Well... we started the Mod Election

Icyfire

@da

daze413

3:29 AM

@Chemus which is cool and all... I don't know. Although now I think the election on this day wasn't a coincidence :o

Icyfire

@daze413 Yeah, I guess it really was more of a rant

Chemus

Whoo?

daze413

@Chemus it's deleted. 10k+ only

BESW

@Shalvenay For my last campaign with my first group, I wanted to re-skin and re-build everything so they'd have a sense of wonder and discovery rather than a sense of "oh, I read about that monster/place." I did this by having the traditional D&D world be a continent on which magic was slowly dying, and the PCs were part of an exodus to a New World across the sea. The most visible local people on the New World were partly modeled on the Iroquois Nation.

Chemus

@daze413 What's deleted? The Election?

Icyfire

3:30 AM

@Chemus It was a question about why 5e is too easy

Shalvenay

@BESW nods

daze413

@Chemus this question. And I was excited to see a question about high-level play

Icyfire

@daze413 I thought about self-answering a question with the answer I had already written haha

Chemus

@daze413 cc @Icyfire Ahh, I was trying to say 'Whoo? It's Mod election Day. Party party.

Icyfire

XD the problems of text communication

daze413

3:32 AM

also, I heard (from SSD's meta answer ) that we're getting four mods? Really? That "easy"?

Shalvenay

@daze413 we will have 4 when we're done with the election, yes

Chemus

Apparently, but it's still not updated on the election selection thingummy

BESW

Sure. Three's the default, but any Stack can get more mod slots as needed.

@Chemus Yeah, they're trying to find somebody to fix that.

Chemus

I ain't played 5e yet, but it could well be too easy. I suspect that it merely requires less system mastery than 3e, so feels easier at the outset.

Yuuki

@BESW I realized that the worldbuilding I did this afternoon resulted in a world so large that I could easily set up multiple continents to start fresh several times.

Icyfire

3:36 AM

@Chemus I think 5e's balance is aimed a particular kind of gameplay that's not super intuitive

daze413

@Shalvenay historic! The prophecies have told of this day: A single mod election becomes two, and it aligns with International Tabletop Day. That there's some destiny stuff. I bet one of the two who are elected is the chosen one, and the other will be the anti-hero or something

BESW

@Shalvenay I also mashed in Catholic concepts of original sin, a gross oversimplication of reincarnation, and a good dose of Walt Whitman.

Shalvenay

heheh

Chemus

@Icyfire What's this unintuitive paradigm?

Shalvenay

I actually came up with a conceptualization-of-rights a while back for a stab at a campaign world, let me dig it up

daze413

3:37 AM

@Chemus Depends on what's "easy". I think, but can't back up, that the higher level you are, the less actual balance matters.

Icyfire

@Chemus I feel like when I first started DMing, I wanted to just throw single big monsters against the PCs. Also, I felt like every fight should be difficult. But 5e's difficulty works a lot better with many fights per day, and when PCs fight against groups of enemies

Chemus

@daze413 Like 3.5's e6 style?

@Icyfire That sounds like more of a feature than a bug: you get more DM experience and can throw more complex encounters at your group, as it too gets more play exp.

BESW

@Icyfire That's more 4e's combat paradigm, so folks coming in from 3.5 and PF may be having that same problem.

(The instant you put two different kinds of monsters on the field in 3.5, difficulty ratings--tenuous at best--go pfft.)

Icyfire

@Chemus It certainly is a feature, but it's not obvious. I think the designers somewhere said their intent was for low-CR monsters to be relevant throughout the game

Chemus

@Icyfire That's my impression (and recollection of designers' stated intent) too; to me it increases verisimilitude a little.

BESW

3:42 AM

I loved 4e's three-knob settings for monster difficulty. It let me tune things really nicely.

Level controlled raw numbers on attack and defense stats; role controlled the combat style of the monster; and type controlled the durability of the monster. So you could have a one-hit monster (type) which could still deal damage to a player (level), and you could differentiate between whether it was sneaky or brute-force (style).

Icyfire

@BESW that sounds great

BESW

And the durability setting was clearly calibrated: one solo was worth two elites, four standards, or sixteen minions, of the same level, and was equivalent to one moderate-challenge encounter for PCs of the same level.

So I could have the same difficulty challenge with one solo, or sixteen minions, or four minions one standard and one elite...

daze413

@Chemus I wonder if someone made a 5e e6... Back in 3.5 what happened if you gained a level to get to 7th-level while in e6 mode?

Icyfire

@daze413 You get a feat

Chemus

Extra feat every 5k Xp

Icyfire

3:48 AM

Also I think the numbers in 5e are remarkably similar to the e6 progression?

Chemus

@Icyfire Dang Spellthieves

@daze413 E6 sorta Hearkens back to OD&D/AD&D when the numbers slowed down as you leveled (for HP mostly) but takes it further. And AFAIK, yes, there's an E6 variant for 5th...gonna go look it up...

daze413

@Chemus reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/2fvpr7/e6_in_dd_5e

CTWind

Looks like the 'answer' to angrygm's riddle from last week came out. More or less the conclusion we reached in chat. theangrygm.com/the-infamous-angry-riddle-solution

2

daze413

> Every 4,000 XP after attaining 6th level, a level 6 character can raise one ability score by +1 (to the normal maximum of 20). Learning a feat takes the place two +1 ability score increases (or 8,000 XP), so a character who wants to learn a feat should skip the ability score increase when they earn 4,000 XP and wait untill they earn their next 4,000 XP to gain the feat.

godskook

@CTWind, yeah, and I don't particularly care for his distinguishing between Iron and Copper in the writeup as Iron being the "dumb" answer.

Chemus

3:57 AM

@daze413 Yeah, Playing e6 in 5th appears to be about as good as it is in 3.5, but less necessary.

daze413

@Chemus imma try these rules in my current West Marches Darkest Dungeons campaign. They seem to be interesting

Chemus

Yeah, it increases choices, but not raw power. Usually (in 3.5 E6, taking the Psionic Talent feat (cumulative Power Points) could potentially get silly in a long running game, but even that wasn't horrendous)

daze413

Q: Do I have the right to call my campaign a west marches-style if the actual gameplay is: "There are 4 areas you can explore, but you must take and try to accomplish one quest on a messageboard concerning that area. One quest per area, pick one and be on your merry way!"

BESW

mu: rights are not relephant to that scenario

Icyfire

@BESW how does one pronounce mu

Chemus

4:09 AM

<<not BESW (fyi), I think it's 'myoo' (or mju). See here

Shalvenay

I think so as well -- that's consistent with other uses of the term (such as mu-metal)

@BESW I agree that you and I are looking at different...formulations here. I simply thought you'd be interested in what I came up with for what I was doing...

@BESW or are you responding to daze's Q?

SevenSidedDie

@daze413 It would seem to be a modified WM-style campaign. Think of it less as a matter of rights, and more as a matter of effective advertising to your players. (If players are already found and on-board, what you're calling it becomes moot.)

Shalvenay

hey there @Emrakul

Chemus

Re: West Marches games...I'd seen the name but never really looked at it in any detail. It seems like it could be OK, and playing it in E6 could be neat.

So far in the article I'm reading it seems kinda freeform. Not exactly Dungeon World, but ...kinda?

BESW

4:28 AM

Any scientists who play tabletop RPG's? I wonder if your chosen field of study influences what imaginary roles you play...

Tweeted by SUEtheTrex on April 29, 2017 at 2:38 AM

@Shalvenay Yes, this.

Shalvenay

@BESW ah, sorry for the confusion, haha

Icyfire

I'm a scientist

I like playing casters, because I always wanted to be a wizard and scientist is the closest I can get IRL

godskook

@BESW, how loose are we defining "scientist"? Cause speaking as someone who runs D&D at a tech college, party roles run the full gamut on campus.

BESW

Well, keep in mind who's asking.

godskook

Who's asking?

BESW

4:34 AM

SUE the T. rex

@SUEtheTrex, Chicago, IL (via South Dakota)

Hi! I'm SUE the T. rex! (SUE in all caps, please) I live @fieldmuseum. I'm a Leo, I like meat, and oh yeah... I'm the world's largest T. rex. "They/Them"

14.9k tweets, 24.5k followers, following 1.7k users

godskook

It took me an embarrasing amount of time to figure out that's an account for a TRex skeleton.

I just assumed it was a fellow nerd's account.

daze413

Hi, my name is daze, and I'm an accountant. At nights, I like to play rangers even though no one is really sure what Rangers do... Kinda like my job, really

Chemus

How does SUE type? I mean she'd have to have a stupidly high desk. And obly 4 fingers?

BESW

If a cockroach can have a daily newspaper column, I think a dinosaur skeleton can manage to tweet.

Shalvenay

@daze413 :P

daze413

4:41 AM

@Chemus not to mention can't see the keyboard because short arms, and can't crane neck (citation needed)

Chemus

@daze413 (pedantry mode) Rangers are apparently from Strider, who was at one time one of the range-ers from LotR, prior to Kingness.

daze413

@Chemus yeah, but what role does he play, in-game?

Chemus

Woodsman, tracker, guerilla fighter

Really, they're supposed to be like SEALs or US Army...Rangers. (SAS, et. al.)

BESW

I'm pretty sure Strider didn't have an animal companion. Beware the trap of assuming LotR is the primary inspiration for D&D.

daze413

I'm picturing more like Warders from Wheel of Time

Chemus

4:48 AM

@BESW You read the OD&D and AD&D ranger class desc? It appeared to borrow from Strider rather a lot. One of the level names was, in fact, Strider.

BESW

I'm not saying that D&D didn't have LotR as a visible inspiration; just that LotR is one among many and it's difficult to find any particular element with LotR as a sole source.

godskook

Elves

Everything I hear is that LotR is the definitive source on modern Elves.

BESW

Heh.

Chemus

@BESW OK, I'm not arguing that LotR is the primary inspiration, but it was one Primary of few.

BESW

You might find this interesting.

Chemus

4:53 AM

Ranger class
Based primarily on the character of Aragorn from Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

BESW

I'd like to see where the obviously non-Aragorn elements came from.

Chemus

Well, the AC was 3.5

BESW

> The AD&D second edition handbook mentions several other inspirations from myth and legend, such as Robin Hood, Jack the Giant Killer, the huntresses of Diana, and the Greek hero Orion.

Chemus

In AD&D/2e, the ranger got followers at 10th (like almost every other character), from a list of random 'forest-y' critters/characters

@BESW Yup.

BESW

The ranger had spells as soon as it was a standard character; not sure how that maps to Aragorn except with an extremely loose interpretation of "the hands of a healer."

(They also had animal followers at high levels at that time.)

Chemus

4:59 AM

@BESW In 2e (which is what I cut my teeth on) the rangers got very limited spells very late. And Aragorn inspired the flavor; not all the features. There was precious little to follow beyond woodsmanship or whatever. And yes, the hands of a healer might have been expanded into spells.

godskook

@BESW, Aragorn arguably cast at least 1 spell in LotR

Yuuki

@godskook And Dwarves.

godskook

@Yuuki, eh?

Yuuki

I think?

Never mind, it's late.

Chemus

@Yuuki ~~Hobbits~~ er halflings are from LotR too.

godskook

5:05 AM

@Yuuki, Dwarves as we mostly know them in the modern fiction largely pre-dated Tolkien. At best, he was a funneling point for them, but we had other fiction of the time that still had fairly similar conceptualizations. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves being an obvious example of something very "dwarf like" that couldn't have been Tolkien-inspired.

Like weasels for Kobolds, what monsters just "fit" into a Mind Flayer society? Other than Voidminds and possibly Gith?

Chemus

@godskook Octopus or squid

Darkmantles?

@godskook OK, so what role do you want? Mounts, or what? Additionally, are you looking for it to be in existing lore, or just fit in with it?

godskook

Just be something that would flesh out a mindflayer's base of operations with rando monsters that actually do have ~some~ excuse for being there.

I've got Trolls, Giths, Voidmind-werebeasts, and a gladitorial pit, so something....more like a Mindflayer's dog makes initial sense to me. Certainly something less NPC-ish.

Chemus

Do you have access to Lords of Madness (3.5)? It's Illithid Section is pretty good.

...mindflayer's dog... You need the Neothelid!

godskook

5:21 AM

Yeah

Chemus

Expanded Psionics HB

Nemmind. they're gargantuan

why not a half illithid dog?

And once again with the darkmantle

godskook

Yeah, Darkmantles are in the "too weak, but would still make cool backdrop" category.

Chemus

Tack on some Templates...voidmind, half-illithid, etc.

godskook

Party's going to be ~ECL6, if you're looking.

Oh gawd, not more templated things :P

Chemus

:D OK, so... Grell? (MMII) p121

godskook

5:29 AM

Perfect.

Where's teh Neothelid?

Chemus

XPH, but it's gargantuan. In MMII is the Darktentacles (p54), and it's only Lg.

godskook

Oh, I was thinking you were talkign about Intellect Devourerrs.

Chemus

Those would be great MF Dogs, no?

godskook

Yeah.

Chemus

Yeah I was reading about the Neothelid in LoM, and it looked good, so I spouted off. Then I looked where LoM referenced; XPH and found a Garg 25HD CR 15 ... pink-purple worm ...thing.

godskook

5:41 AM

Yeah.....I've been meaning to do a "fight a Titan" encounter in this setting, see how it goes to fight something way out of the party's "league" but that's easily game-able like a baseline Tarrasque.

Chemus

Hmm. I assumed that Neothelid wasn't OGL, but I was wrong.

@Icyfire has returned. The battle can commence.

Icyfire

@chemus ???

Chemus

@Icyfire I'll rephrase: "Hi Icyfire :)"

Icyfire

@Chemus oh hello

Chemus

(If I say something off the wall, just assume I'm goofing off. That's possibly even the case occasionally)

godskook

5:54 AM

The fight has been joined! Prepare to meet the maker!

Chemus

Thank the Maker! This Oil bath is going to feel soooo good!

Icyfire

hehe I figured

Chemus

Does anyone else get the impression that that Neothelid pic up there is really just a hand-puppet with tentacles?

godskook

That's one thin hand.

Chemus

Ok, so it's just me...Shoulder at the base where the rock is, etc...

Zachiel

10:03 AM

Currently open projects:
1) play to the end of Dark Souls NG;
2) create a JavaScript D&D 3.5e character manager;
3) write the spell list for my D&D 3.5e cleric, which I should have done 50 days ago;
4) start a project to rebuild all NPCs from Return to the temple of Elemental Evil under 3.5e rules, but with better builds and tactics than the official conversion project did.

Things I want to do right now: keep playing by chat and indulging in idle chat.

...HELP!

(and yes, I have a project to start a project. So very much me)

doppelgreener

10:24 AM

@Zachiel does the "start a project" phase involve some planning and identification of what the project even should be?

(if you've gone 50 days without a spell list, is that all that important to do?)

@Zachiel On #2, there's some helper frameworks which might work for you: Knockout.js does data binding, and Angular and React.js are popular frameworks for Javascript-powered single-page applications ("single-page" as in one single HTML page without navigation; they'll still have loads of different client-side pages). Angular and React.js also do data binding, so you won't need to use Knockout if you're using either of those.

Zachiel

10:40 AM

Well I don't think I'm getting any random encounters if I don't make it clear that I'm doing my part.
Right now, I have 1/4 of the list done and every time I look at it there's something better to do, like actually playing the game, even if that could mean not having spells ready and getting killed, which is a thing I want to avoid. But that won't probably happen, because people recognize I'm not ready so they don't give me what might kill me - and what could make the game even more enjoyable.

@doppelgreener I'm looking for something that injects the data in an existing page. It's justa a matter of deciding a layout and how to organize things. Like, I think I need a list of spells. And some way to filter out from a configuration page which ones I have available at the moment in order to have a less crowded interface where to tell the system if they are active or not.

My aim is to make it easy, fast and possibly error-proof, during play by chat games, to identify the buffs I have and their effects over rolls, saves, HP and AC (plus a list of miscellaneous effects suche as "immune: fire")

I have decided I want to start with polymorph spells, for it changes my base stats, and I have readied my usual shape in JSON form, but I'm ~~a bit~~ lost about what to do next. Especially since I don't want to load frameworks (this is a chrome extension, it might load in multiple copies)

@doppelgreener This most probably involves a lot of talking with people with better system mastery and DMing experience than mine, but it amounts to "do work for me, will ya?" and I don't really like that, and neither "discuss with me to no end about what would be wise to do or not"

doppelgreener

11:44 AM

@Zachiel All three of those inject data into a HTML page, provided you have the data loaded into javascript. That is what data binding in HTML/JS is all about: bind small or large spots in page content back to javascript variables.

If you only need that behaviour, Knockout is the tool for you. If you want multiple pages to browse between (without having to load a new HTML page), Angular or React may be the tool for you.

Of course you can also have that behaviour without Angular or React; Knockout can do the same thing. Angular/React just make it easier if you're going far more complex.

Zachiel

@doppelgreener Ok, so Angular/React do something like tabs inside a single page, dynamically loading/unloading content?

doppelgreener

12:09 PM

@Zachiel Yes

Zachiel

@doppelgreener That might be useful. I'm going to start with a single tab for now, is it hard to implement angular later?

doppelgreener

Knockout binds elements to javascript values, and binds other factors to those values: whether the element is visible or exists based upon the truthiness of a value, how many times it should be repeated, or its classes and other attributes. it also has some event handlers.

@Zachiel you'll have some refactoring work to do but it'll be easier for you having already worked out what you need to represent in it.

Zachiel

@doppelgreener I'm having a hard time grokking the concepts - it looks useful, but I have no idea how to use it. I guess I need to lay out what I want the final structure of this thing be, maybe throw out some mockups for future self-reference.

I know I will need a dropdown with a list of everything the script can output and a "paste this to the writing area of the chat" button next to it.

And I think I want a list of flags and dropdowns up there with all of my current spells (and possibly a section for "spells cast on me by other people".

Class features that are always active I can manage from the back-end

So right now I need a back-end page where I can set my current base modifiers (it would be easier to get them from the game database but I'm unsure about how to retrieve those values...)

doppelgreener

@Zachiel Knockout has a Hello World example of how data binding works and a pretty good basic tutorial

Zachiel

12:27 PM

@doppelgreener nice

nitsua60

2:43 PM

morning, all

Zachiel

'morning

nitsua60

mid-afternoon for you?

Shalvenay

2:59 PM

hey there @nitsua60 and @Zachiel

hiya

how're things going?

See above XD

@Shalvenay Proctoring a test. I've got about twelve pounds of grading to plow through this weekend.

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 ah, the only thing worse than doing homework

nitsua60

3:04 PM

@Shalvenay True.

Shalvenay

so, on the list of things I need to prep for the convention:

1) package of mechanical pencils

2) notebook I can dedicate to DM service

3) run off a bunch of charsheet copies (I have a master I printed off, but printing the copies here is unattractive due to print driver issues with two-sided printing)

is there anything else I should grab whilst at the office supply store?

Zachiel

@Shalvenay I feel you

@Shalvenay Rubber erasers

Shalvenay

@Zachiel like pencil-top ones, or standalone ones?

(or spare mechanical pencil erasers for that matter?)

nitsua60

@Shalvenay you're GMing?

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 it's an "I'll see if there's an opportunity for me to" case :)

Zachiel

3:15 PM

@Shalvenay I don't know the right word. The white, big ones seem to work better for me. I'm thinking about the product that's commercialized as "Mars Plastic", if you happen to be familiar with it.

Shalvenay

@Zachiel the cube style (art erasers, IOW)?

@nitsua60 so yeah, I want to be prepped for GMing

nitsua60

My 5e gm-pack has:
adventure notes, spare blank paper, spare sheets, pregens, index cards, a small (4" x 6") tear-off lined pad (like a mini-legal pad) that I use for running combat;
pencils, a pack wet-erase markers, two different-colored pens (for me: I make adventure-notes an black, character/player notes in red), a slim hole-puncher, a mini-stapler, a L-shaped ruler that's 12" on one leg, 6" on the other;
my dice bag, two spare bags for players (each has 3 poly-sets plus a few spare d20 and d6), a case of 36 small (9mm) d6 in three different colors (useful for mooks and/or terrain);

Shalvenay

the mini-legal pad is a good idea for combat yeah

how do you keep the notes for various campaigns and such organized, btw?

(I was actually wondering if a 3 ring binder with dividers and page protectors for printed adventure notes etal would be good)

nitsua60

@Shalvenay The big things are a sheet that has space for each player/character. Foreach is listed any stated player-goals/interests, and the various things I like to have on hand about character. (Background and skills topping my list.) A sheet with developments-table. A sheet with NPCs and their current location, activity, goal.

Sometimes It's a binder for me, other times just a folder.

I've gotten pretty happy using an 8.5x17 sheet folded in half as my "folder." I scribble a mind-map all over the front (that's what I snapshotted you last week in discord), the inside cover usually functions as my to-do list, and any tables I've made can go on the backside.

(Not the developments table, though. That's its own thing.)

I ran the game we played off of 4 sheets of paper, not counting stat-blocks.

And it was basically the same prep for the DW game, with the addition of a page for fronts.

Zachiel

3:35 PM

@Shalvenay vynil erasers

even if sometimes they just smear pencil around instead of actually erasing. I think it's because the leave some vynil on the sheet and if you write again over that spot the resulting graphite marks are more prone to smudging. Dunno.

nitsua60

@Shalvenay actually, I shouldn't really call that my 5e pack. With that in hand I can run 0e, 1e, 2e, 5, DW, Microscope, Lady Blackbird, Little Adventures, RfS, DED, Follow, Tales from the Loop.

Traveller. (I've got MGT2 now)

probably others

Shalvenay

3:51 PM

@nitsua60 p.s. where do you get 8.5x17 from? O.o

PC LOAD WTF

also, if I was to go with the 3-ring approach, should I just have 1 binder, or multiple?

Zachiel

Don't you hate it when a question asks for rules and you're all "yes, that's what the guy who taught me the game told me" - but you have no idea about the actual rules?

Shalvenay

@Zachiel no kidding -- it's why I think in terms of distinguishing houserules from rulings from what the books say

Chemus

@Shalvenay << (Not notsua60, in case you couldn't tell) In US, 8.5x17 is called "Ledger" Paper, available in office supply store, for example.

Shalvenay

4:09 PM

@Chemus a-ha

PC LOAD LEDGER :P

nitsua60

5:51 PM

@Shalvenay I'm a teacher. ~~Embezzlement~~ professional development is part of my daily life. You could always just use a manila folder--I tend to scribble all over the surfaces of those, too.

@Shalvenay Up to you, man. I, personally, have a few: one's "general," one's the current versions of all my AL-legal characters, if I have a long-form campaign going that usually gets a dedicated binder.

Joshua Aslan Smith

lol

Yuuki

6:45 PM

Okay, after the PHB and DMG, I think I've supported my local comics store enough and I'll be buying the rest of any 5e material on Amazon for 50% off.

The Oracle

7:52 PM

0

Q: Is recommending an online character generator ok?

Sometimes, I want to link to some online character or NPC generators. However, I know that some of the online resources, especially spell lists, are actually copyright violations. Are these online generators ok? Here is an example.

Momonga-sama

8:22 PM

Howdy

Is my question more clear now?

3

Q: How to deal with indecisive, overthinking players?

There are 3 players in my group. One, who is just beginning with roleplaying games. Second one, who has been playing multiple systems for a few years. Third one, who probably has been playing for more than 12 years. Surprisingly, the most problematic is the second one. He is constantly overthin...

dnd-3.5e gm-techniques problem-players

mxyzplk

8:44 PM

@Momonga-sama It seems to me to be a dupe of rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/13954/…

JuneShores

Hi hi.

ACuriousMind

@Momonga-sama (Disclaimer: I'm not very active on this stack, the following is just my personal impression and in no way authoritative) I'm a bit confused at what actually happens here - this one player muses about a decision for about an hour and the others just sit there and do nothing? Maybe I'm playing with unusual players, but I can't imagine a table sitting there and watching one person agonize over a decision.

I mean, if they don't say anything, this player might not even be aware he's spoiling the others' fun.

Zachiel

@ACuriousMind I have seen one player talk with the DM for one hour and other players talking about the last videogame they played for around 50 finutes, after they stopped paying attention, so... yes, I've seen that happen (but good question to ask nevertheless)

ACuriousMind

8:59 PM

Well, if the others are fine with talking about something else for that period of time, there's also no issue, but in my groups you'd usually have the other players go "C'mon, let's just do X and see where it goes from there" until the indecisive player acquiesces.

Then again, they all kinda revel in the chaos that ensues when a plan goes horribly wrong :)

Momonga-sama

9:16 PM

@mxyzplk Furthermore, mine player is indecissive.

BESW

9:45 PM

New blog post: Those Meddling Kids http://www.rickneal.ca/?p=1511 My review of Bubblegumshoe from @EvilHatOfficial, after a short campaign.

Tweeted by Neal_Rick on April 29, 2017 at 6:41 PM

Transcript for