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trogdor
trogdor
11:01 AM
@BESW Myth enders?
 
BESW
BESW
Yes.
 
trogdor
trogdor
ok, I was not sure
 
BESW
BESW
Oh, oh, oh. He should play DRYH, where you can break the fabric of reality to whatever extent your creativity allows, but you have to willing to risk becoming a monster to do it.
Or he could play The Princes' Kingdom and try to figure out WHAT sort of balance that has.
 
trogdor
trogdor
lol
that last one cracks me up
because,.... we seemed to have a lot of trouble with that game
like jeez
all I remember now is a horse related death?
did that happen?
 
BESW
BESW
Yes.
 
trogdor
trogdor
11:09 AM
ok then yeah
that game yo
 
BESW
BESW
And it's the same engine as that game your brother ran with Matt and us.
 
trogdor
trogdor
yeah Dogs in the Vineyard?
I remember
 
nitsua60
nitsua60
@Helwar It's been linked here a couple of times. I hope you don't mind: I'm going to edit your message so that over in the star board it's got some context.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
11:34 AM
Morning, Nerds
 
trogdor
trogdor
ah the classic
happy time of day to you computer person
 
BESW
BESW
11:56 AM
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
ha
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
@BESW oh! i recognise that cosplay! that's great!
 
BESW
BESW
[grin] I picked it for you.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
and notice the belchers in the background?
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
@goodguy5 now i do!
 
BESW
BESW
12:11 PM
Welp, my brain has started reading "workshopping" as "worshipping." Time for bed.
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
Goodnight! :)
 
trogdor
trogdor
@BESW @doppelgreener what is it from?
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
@trogdor It is Prince Robot IV, from Saga. He is the heir to the Robot kingdom.
 
trogdor
trogdor
Oh of course
Why don't I know that? XD
 
Tiggerous
Tiggerous
@doppelgreener Thanks, I knew I recognised him.
 
Helwar
Helwar
1:03 PM
@nitsua60 sorry I was out for lunch, you edited what message?
 
Secespitus
Secespitus
@Helwar You can click on the arrow on the left side of the message to see which one. It's the one where you copied the link to the newest blog article into the chat. Now there is some text that explains what the link points at.
 
Helwar
Helwar
Oh... great. No problem! Whatever makes everything work better :)
also I was curious about these starred messages, how are they picked? whatever people stars the most? someone with admin credentials picks them?
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
it's funny you ask. there have been a lot of conversations about that
 
Secespitus
Secespitus
@Helwar Hover over a chat message and look at the right - there is a star. Next to that star is an arrow by the way that allows you to respond to a certain chat message. Makes it easier to follow a chat conversation.
Mods and room owners can pin something to the top, but other than that it depends on what is starred the most
 
Helwar
Helwar
@goodguy5 I'm new! :)
@Secespitus cool! I was just manually writing @ and the nickname to do this
 
Secespitus
Secespitus
1:13 PM
Though new stars will slowly push older ones out.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
@doppelgreener would you please address helwar's question? Because I don't think I can do it without cynicism.
 
NautArch
NautArch
@goodguy5 danger will robinson!
 
Secespitus
Secespitus
@Helwar You can do that, too, but then it simply highlights the last message from that person when hovering over the message.
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
@Helwar We use our starboard to be effectively landmarks for people to check back in on later. They're highlights or interesting things users visiting tomorrow would appreciate having their attention drawn to; interesting events, messages which draw attention to a particular conversation, etc.
some chat rooms will use it differently; in some chat rooms a star is used as a like button, but this chat's historically decided to not use it that way.
@goodguy5 thanks for the poke.
 
Helwar
Helwar
thanks for the info :)
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
1:19 PM
Messages get starred by whoever feels like starring them -- if you hover over a message you'll see a button for starring it on the right. There's also a dropdown arrow on the left, and a button for starring the message in that as well.
 
Helwar
Helwar
the first days I kept thinkig: huh, maybe I clicked the star by accident or something...
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@doppelgreener and eagle moments. Those are important too;)
 
NautArch
NautArch
@DavidCoffron We didn't end up using Reverse Gravity in the water. FIght was tough against these Sea Dragon things, but we made it through without too much danger. Well, except for our Dwarf Cleric and his unicorn. THey nearly drowned. Like one round away and no one knew about it.
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
@DavidCoffron well, naturally.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@NautArch oh THAT was the reason for the question. Very clever
 
NautArch
NautArch
1:22 PM
@DavidCoffron Wanted to make sure we didn't waste it if he dropped it
I did finally get off a Polearm Master/Sentinel combo to stop the approaching sea dragon. But that mainly just forced it to focus it's attacks on me. So tank mission accomplished? Sadly, I forgot about my Vengeance Paladin thing where I could move away and do it all again. Oopsy.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@nitsua60 Endemic to this stack system, though I am sure it was not an intentional feature
 
nitsua60
nitsua60
1:41 PM
@Secespitus and age--stars "die off" according to the $ALGORITHM.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
1:54 PM
@NautArch Sounds like a fun session.
 
NautArch
NautArch
@KorvinStarmast It was a ton of fun. Every round we had to make Athletics checks to see if we stayed upright on the ship, and the ship made a capsize check. We made it pretty far before the ship capsized, but most of us went prone each round.
And during that we were fighting off those lightning sea dragon things (not sure what book they were from.)
then once in the water post-capsize, our sorcerer dimension doored to land with one of our clerics. The barbarian and I with swim/water breathing swam - but each round in the water we also had to make athletics checks to fight the storm and be able to move forward.
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
> They get an answer… but the answerer gets scolded for “encouraging ‘low-quality’ questions.”
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
I threw in a reopen vote for this question but it may still need some work.
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
This bothers me a lot because I personally think questions and answers should be evaluated independently.
 
nitsua60
nitsua60
@Yuuki I agree. Plenty of times I've DVed Q and upvoted A.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
1:59 PM
how is that not a charop question?

Unless you're suggesting "Can a wizard be made to be effective that does not deal direct damage?"
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
@goodguy5 To which the answer is "wizards are more effective when you don't focus on blasting".
 
NautArch
NautArch
@Yuuki unless you're an Evoker?
@goodguy5 It's got good constraints.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
okies
 
NautArch
NautArch
...and about to start a few hours of meetings...wheeeeeee
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
@NautArch You're still probably best suited for battlefield control. I think some good ones are evocation spells.
 
The Oracle
The Oracle
2:09 PM
2
Q: Should I delete an answer I posted too soon before knowing the question was a duplicate?

BloodcinderI ninja-answered the question Can one still deal Non-Lethal Damage if they trigger the Automatic Kill feature? with an answer right before it got closed due to being a duplicate, because I didn't check the close votes before hitting submit on my answer. In fact, I'm one of the people who voted fo...

discussion duplicates policy etiquette deleted-answers
 
Helwar
Helwar
@goodguy5 Is that question really that wrong? Yeah he asks how to be overpowered, but given the constraints he gives the answer can be perfectly objective. There is room for variance and I can see multiple answers being good enough to be "the answer" but is it really "too broad" ? :S
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
"Too broad" is basically a judgement call.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@goodguy5 I think it is a charop question.
@Helwar Are we talking about the same question as I linked to?
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
Actually, I think "too broad" is often confused with "opinion-based".
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
> also, that question had to be edited to get out of too broad, and mxy had a point on the linked guides ...
 
Helwar
Helwar
2:21 PM
@KorvinStarmast I think so, the one about the non damaging wizard optimization?
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
/@Helwar Yeah. It poses quite a trick of "here are my criteria, how can I make this work" and I think that fits our "what problem are you trying to solve" well enough.
 
Helwar
Helwar
please note that I was not arguing the conclusion, just trying to understand it. As I said plenty of times, I'm new and don't know the ropes to well so learning is a priority :)
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@Helwar I don't see him asking to be overpowered. Hence my confusion.
 
Helwar
Helwar
@KorvinStarmast true, I read the question with several interruptions in the middle so I might have got that wrong. The point is almost the same though, he wants to optimize the character (and usually in my table that means becoming as OP as possible :) )
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
OP and optimized aren't the same thing in 5e. In other editions, it could be.
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
2:27 PM
@Helwar The best way to become OP is to sit on the other side of the DM screen.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
^
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
Can't have your cheese rule zero'd if you're the DM.
 
Helwar
Helwar
I know, still it wasn't the point of what I was saying :)
 
Tiggerous
Tiggerous
2:42 PM
'The how to teach mey wolf to wield a shortsword question' reappeared - did someone undelete it?
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@Tiggerous huzzah
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
I don't think it was ever deleted
 
Tiggerous
Tiggerous
Maybe I just lost sight of it. Part of me can't believe that no one has favourited it.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
done
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
3:05 PM
omg! it WAS based off of Sif
 
NautArch
NautArch
3:18 PM
@goodguy5 sif?
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
Sif, the great grey wolf
 
NautArch
NautArch
@goodguy5 ah, that guy.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
So I've been working on homebrew rules/a new system for making split party more bearable in D&D. Specifically, I want to make the system more friendly to DMPCs so that a player in the split party (if it's expected to be a long term split) could take on the role of DM and effectively have two concurrent tables. Are there any systems that have DMPC friendly mechanics I can model after (or possibly switch to)?
Side note: any way to make this stackable? Seems either shopping or opinion based to me...
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
ooh. I just had an idea for it
the stackable question is something like:

"How can I handle splitting the party (in a way that doesn't suck)?"
My brand new untested idea:

1. a timer. let's say 3 minutes.
2. have the inactive party co-dm

(so, PCDMs instead of DMPCs)
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
If you're talking about running a multi-DM table (even if it's only temporarily multi-DM in the long-term), I don't think there's any system that explicitly handles it other than "talk it out".
 
The Oracle
The Oracle
3:35 PM
0
Q: Should I bring up interpersonal speculation in an answer?

AlexI just answered this question about a player feeling left out in a gaming group. It came to light after I posted that the DM is his teacher, rather than a peer. It seems plausible to me that the DM might be intentionally favoring certain players because they're "problem kids" at school. This cl...

discussion
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
I popped the picture into the question, to show the inspiration, but if I got the fair use thing wrong, or the attribution wrong, someone please advise.
@doppelgreener Hoping I did not goof up the fair use thing with this image. If I did, pls advise.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@goodguy5 I've worked with timers in the past and they always feel... wrong. Even if you find the right balance (for us it was 4 minutes), it always seemed to come up at the wrong times (like in the middle of an exciting bit. I found myself playing on for 30-90 seconds a lot of times anyway, seemed better to just switch sub-parties when it felt right and it went well. The issue is, if they are going to be split for half a session up to multiple sessions that can get tedious, hence my question.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
oooooooooooooooooh
I meant, half a session still works, but multiple hrm....
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
My players just brought to me a "we feel limited by the system since we dont want to make plans that will split the party long trrm even if it makes sense and is a cool/fun/good strategy
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
imo, one of the problems with handling split parties is that nobody wants to do a separate session but that also means that the split parties know exactly what the other party is doing.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
3:47 PM
[I almost hit the rep cap with answers that are days or even weeks old... nice]
@Yuuki my group is very good at separating out what their characters know. Our issue is the narrative breaks
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
@DavidCoffron Whenever a player starts talking about their motivations and thoughts, I consider taking out my phone.
And that's how I try to separate character knowledge from player knowledge.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
I hope they don't build a town called Tristram here ... looks like the hole behind Pepin's house ....
 
NautArch
NautArch
@Yuuki heh, i do the same thing. Now's the time to legitimately not pay attention!
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
@KorvinStarmast absolutely fine
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
4:03 PM
@doppelgreener such sword
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
much slay
many hards
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
wow
 
NautArch
NautArch
needs moar corgi
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
Can I make a Lycanthrope character that only talks like doge. How fast would that get annoying
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
doge is not a very conversational dialect so you would have some trouble
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
4:06 PM
NPC obviously or id drive myself insane
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
but if you always misuse qualitative/quantitative words like such/many/much/so etc, that would be great. :D
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
In the style of Bane, it would never get annoying (for you).
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
Very dragon. Much hurt. Such sword. Much fight. Many backup
How doge asks for help killing the dragon plaguing the village
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
that sounds great
 
Anaphory
Anaphory
@DavidCoffron Wow!
 
Sir Cinnamon
Sir Cinnamon
4:27 PM
Anyone here have a few minutes to take a peek at a project I've been working on? I'd love some constructive criticisms and/or ideas
 
NautArch
NautArch
@SirCinnamon I've got opinions :) Is it a 5e thing?
 
Sir Cinnamon
Sir Cinnamon
@NautArch Sort of but not necessarily! Can we move to another room?
 
NautArch
NautArch
@SirCinnamon Back room?
 
Sir Cinnamon
Sir Cinnamon
Sure
 
The Oracle
The Oracle
5:00 PM
1
Q: What to do about comment misuse?

mxyzplkIn the recent community checkin post How is the community doing? [2018], the two most highly voted complaints (at the time of this writing) are about comment misuse - namely: Answering in comments (mostly on questions) Arguing in comments (mostly on answers) We have existing guidance on comme...

discussion comments
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
5:37 PM
Do I remember somewhere about being able to use off time during adventuring days as half-downtime days?
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@goodguy5 in 5e?
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
yea
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
Kind of. You need 8 hours a day to benefit, so if you have that much free time you get a full day:
"Periods of downtime can vary in duration, but each downtime activity requires a certain number of days to complete before you gain any benefit, and at least 8 hours of each day must be spent on the downtime activity for the day to count."
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
I thought there was some way to get half-days
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
5:56 PM
@goodguy5 You need to provide 24 hours advance notice to your direct supervisor.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@goodguy5 not as far as I know. You might get half-weeks from XGtE's variant rules. I'm AFB so idk
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
Also, be aware that these days will be counted against your paid time off unless you elect to not receive pay.
Half-days exceeding your allotted PTO will result in disciplinary action.
 
NautArch
NautArch
@DavidCoffron I think the summary of your Lay On Hands questions are that the paladin says they're using X amount, and then X amount are used. Effects to be taken/removed after.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
6:11 PM
@NautArch correct. That's how I think the feature works
The multiple disease question has another facet on determining which disease as well
 
NautArch
NautArch
@DavidCoffron I'd put together an answer on the multiple, but I don't think there are rules for that.
For that one, does the player/character know they're under multiple diseases/poisons?
I went to Dispel Magic for guidance at first, but that lets you target a creature and not just an effect. so that went nowhere :)
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
Yeah, that brings up the question of how does a player choose a disease/poison to cure when they're under multiple either knowingly or unknowingly.
 
NautArch
NautArch
@Yuuki bingo bango bongo
Either the player/paladin know there's something (or somethings) to cure, or they don't.
I was just in the middle of typing that answer ;)
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@DavidCoffron I remember a failure in a game about a year ago, where my monk missed on a medicine check and our barbarian stayed sick since we didn't realize that he was diseased. :P Took the paladin the next day to figure it out.
 
NautArch
NautArch
@KorvinStarmast When in doubt, i'll drop the 5 HP to test :)
but I'm also 16th level with a lot of lay on hands to burn.
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
6:21 PM
@NautArch What if they know they've been injected with rattlesnake venom but don't know that they have West Nile?
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@Yuuki Medicine check to diagnose disease.
 
NautArch
NautArch
@Yuuki Then the paladin cures the poison. and that's it.
if they don't know they have a disease, they don't know to cure it.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@NautArch I hope you liked my answer, I had to dig back to failure for part of it. :(
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
Also, what if they know they've been poisoned but they don't know with what?
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
at the end of every day, paladins should just go around blowing uses of lay on hands for shiggles
"did you sneeze today? lay on hands"
"achy? lay on hands"
"forget where you put your cart keys? Lay on hands"
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
6:28 PM
Can Lay on Hands perform gene therapy?
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@goodguy5 There are a couple of guys I play with who, if you put up with that at the table, would spend most of their downtime trying to cure breast cancer. :p (We tend to have a few drinks when we play, and the urge to get puerile is strong in those two ... heck, they are as old as I am ... but as with last night, sometimes I just go AFK (we are on roll20) when the silly starts)
 
Mike Q
Mike Q
@KorvinStarmast I dunno, I think a desire to cure _____ is a decent motive for a healer or potion focused character
My former heal-smash-tank character was a surgeon who believed the god of warfare commanded him to fight against disease
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
"cure cancer" is not the same as "remove cancer from one person at a time"

in D&D there is already a cure for cancer. it's called "Magic".
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@KorvinStarmast sometimes I go afk irl (glaze over and twiddle my thumbs or go grab a slice of pizza) in those situations. (Although most of the time im the purveyor of silly)
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
All you need is a battalion of 1st level Paladins or higher. opening a clinic
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
6:39 PM
Doesn't the Dueling fighting style technically work for two-handed weapons?
I mean, you are holding a melee weapon in one hand and you're not wielding any other weapons.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
Idk if all cancers would count as disease but it is definitely less of a problem with magic and divine power
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
You just happen to also be holding the same weapon in your other hand.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@Yuuki until you attack which is the only time the damage is relevant
Oh... That's what you meant....
I don't think that's what it means by 'in one hand' :P
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
I just need to be technically correct.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@Yuuki You would be if 5e was read in technical language but it's read in plain English so 'in one hand means 'in one hand and one hand only.' The plain English version of your reading is 'in at least one hand'
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
6:46 PM
wielding a weapon in one hand is a binary statement.

as is wielding a weapon in two hands.

and these statements are mutually exclusive.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
Not binary. Ternary: 0-2 hands
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
If you're piloting a giant robot, does it count if the mecha is wielding a one-handed sword?
 
Mike Q
Mike Q
@Yuuki No, because you're wielding a robot in 2 hands
 
Maximillian
Maximillian
Schrodingers broadsword. It is both wielded and sheathed until observed.
Or until your GM glares at you and asks you to get on with your turn.
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
If you're a tabaxi, don't you technically have four feet since you're a cat?
And if you're a kenku, don't you have talons instead of hands?
 
Maximillian
Maximillian
6:53 PM
<sarcasm> I'm going to wield two goblins both of which are using two weapons! This can't possibly fail!
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
@DavidCoffron well, "handedness" is ternary, but each option is a binary trigger. It either is or isn't.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
7:10 PM
@goodguy5 but it is a good idea to simplify it (when coding at least) to a selective system since they are mutually exclusive. Saves bits
0-2 is better than 3 0-1s space-wise
 
Sir Cinnamon
Sir Cinnamon
@DavidCoffron 2 bits no? left hand y/n, right hand y/n?
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
well, then you have to map that to an xor statement
 
Mike Q
Mike Q
Or use a single qubit
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@SirCinnamon valid. Both ways are the same space with that method
 
NautArch
NautArch
@DavidCoffron I really wanted to do a faith healing thing, but was worried about not Being Nice
OUt of curiosity, do folks' tables here allow players to discuss HP values with regard to healing needs?
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
7:14 PM
@NautArch making a reference to the effect of the placebo effect (and the lack of effectiveness in some situations) shouldn't violate Be nice
 
NautArch
NautArch
@DavidCoffron Bah, 'tis fine. Went with George Michael instead.
But, Lay on Hands is nearly a faith healing reference anyway
 
Mike Q
Mike Q
@NautArch I know a GM who dislikes it. When I GM I don't really care.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
Same ^
 
NautArch
NautArch
@MikeQ it's never even come up as a potential issue with my group.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@NautArch My rule is they can as long as they discuss it in character too. (U can't do it if your unconscious for example but saying "I'm just a bit scratched" can mean "I've got 6 missing hitpoints" out of game.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
7:16 PM
My favorite is
"Grushznak! On a scale from one to 54, how well do you feel?"
3
 
NautArch
NautArch
I don't think we ever considered it to be a problem.
@goodguy5 That's the way to do it.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
;)
But an idea that I just had.....
Get some red poker chips or the like.
Dole out 4,5, or 10 to each player to put in a stack in front of them.

Then remove a fractional number of chips when they take damage.

You have 50% of your health left? you should be missing 50% of your chips.
Alternatively, two stacks, one black one red.

Black is Max HP in tens, Red is damage in tens.
 
Mike Q
Mike Q
I'm in a game with a very strict GM, and they disallow characters to discuss HP quantitatively (even though they can discuss other things quantitatively, like spell slots, caster level, bonuses, etc.). If a character wants to assess the remaining hitpoints of another, he requires a Heal check to get a reading. I strongly dislike this, because the Heal check is always easy and it's just wasting time.
 
NautArch
NautArch
@MikeQ Ugh, that's annoying.
Although now that I think about it, last night's healing was done without discussion of exact needs. 3/5 were hurt pretty bad, so one cleric set up beacon of hope while him and the other cleric each did some mass cure wounds. I still had to backfill my HP with lay on hands, but I know what I needed :)
 
Mike Q
Mike Q
@NautArch Yes. He and I have fundamentally different GM styles, which has been a bit of a culture shock (I think that's the right term?) for mutual players.
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
7:21 PM
that just results in players devising a system out of character to talk in character

"Minor injuries = still at 75% or better
Medium Injuries = 50-75%
Major Injuries = 25-50%
Critical Injuries are less than 25%"
@MikeQ culture shock works
 
Mike Q
Mike Q
@goodguy5 Yes, and that means even more on-the-fly math at the table, which is already a headache because we're playing Pathfinder
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
anyway. early dismissal today
so, I'm going home... but I REALLY like this chips idea
 
NautArch
NautArch
@goodguy5 or just let them say numbers rather than doing an abstraction for the sake of abstraction
 
goodguy5
goodguy5
@NautArch oh, I do let them do numbers. this would actually be so that they don't HAVE to ask.
Everyone can just see everyone's HP bar
 
NautArch
NautArch
@goodguy5 ahh, gotcha.
 
Mike Q
Mike Q
7:32 PM
@goodguy5 My policy is to encourage players to RP this stuff, but they can discuss numbers if/when it's more practical.
 
Maximillian
Maximillian
"Hey fighter, how you doing?" "Well on a scale of 1 to 46, i'm about a 20."
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@Maximillian only to find out he only has 10/23 HP and gets one shot by the enemy archer...
 
Sir Cinnamon
Sir Cinnamon
@DavidCoffron Simplify your fractions you fool!
shouts the wizard
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
7:47 PM
@SirCinnamon "old fool?" "Gandalf!" [idk why but you made me remember that]
Speaking of. One of the coolest setpieces I ever built for a campaign was a battle of the five armies inspired combat. Super fun to work out (the party were okay with long drawn out fights including many NPCs, they got to control some, we took turns; took almost 9 hours to finish the battle, best Saturday in a while)
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@DavidCoffron Someday, a good "mass combat" tool set will arrive for 5e. But I'm not holding my breath. The UA was at least a start ...
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
8:06 PM
The name "Battle of Five Armies" always confused me because the battle never consisted of more than two opposing forces. And even if you consider the independent groups as the "armies", I don't think Thorin's company of thirteen dwarves counts as an army.
It was The Battle of Four Armies And Some Recently But No Longer Homeless Dwarves at best.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@Yuuki Are you forgetting Thorin's cousins from the Iron Hills?
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
@KorvinStarmast Are we really counting the elves and Laketown as separate armies?
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
Yes, because Tolkien did.
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
Actually, what are the canonical "Five Armies"?
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
eagles, orcs, dwarves, elves, humans
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
8:10 PM
Really, eagles? How eagles were there?
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
Did you read the Hobbit?
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
I did, but a long time ago.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
The eagles showed up as the battle was going badly, and get after the orcs and wargs a bit ...
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
Yes, but how many eagles?
 
Anaphory
Anaphory
(Yay, eagles!)
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
8:11 PM
A Tolkien version of "The Cavalry arrived just in time" ... enough to matter.
IIRC from the text of the book, Bilbo sees them coming as he's about to pass out/go under from being knocked on the head.
@Yuuki Correction. The five warring parties were the Goblins and the Wargs against Men, Elves and Dwarves on and near the Lonely Mountain.
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
Why are the Wargs a separate army? Are they basically just the Goblins' cavalry division?
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
But I may have been originally correct. As the battle was turning fully against the Free Folk, a large army of Giant Eagles of the Misty Mountains arrived, led by the Great Eagle. Bilbo was the first to spot their entrance on the scene and began shouting that "the Eagles are coming!", a shout that was then continued among the other troops of the Free Folk. At this point Bilbo was knocked in the head by a large stone thrown by a Goblin from above on the Mountain, and he was knocked out
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
the five warring parties are the five different camps of fans arguing what the five armies were exactly.
8)
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
1977: The Hobbit (1977 film): The "Five Armies" are the Elves, the Men, the Dwarves, the Goblins (and Wargs) and the Eagles curiouser and curioser said Alice.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@doppelgreener 6 camps of fans . I say Gandalf was an army in himself and the eagles don't count as an army
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
8:24 PM
I think my brain juxtaposed the 1977 hobbit movie (animated) with the book.
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
@DavidCoffron you're right, gandalf is a one-man army
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
(Not really. I was just being contrary)
Gandalf is kind of a push over tbh. I don't know what the hype was all about. Sure he beat one demon and came back to life but Jesus did that and so much more :P
 
NautArch
NautArch
I just read the Gollum chapter with my son. He's pretty hooked on the Hobbit right now.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
The riddle game is good fun with kids when reading that aloud.
@doppelgreener Oh, yeah, your depiction of fan armies is spot on.
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
@DavidCoffron Gandalf had to die to kill a balrog. Jesus just slapped a thousand demons out of some dude into a herd of pigs and went on with his day.
 
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
8:26 PM
@KorvinStarmast \o/
 
NautArch
NautArch
@KorvinStarmast Yeah, we talked about why the answer was the answer.
and let him try and figure one of them out. Problem is, reading at bedtime and his little brain is tired and trying to help him fall asleep and not energize him :)
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
And then there were all of the ladies in our office who swooned over Legolas .. no, over Aragorn .. no, over Legolas! .... (arrgh)
When the FoTR movie came out, I discovered a whole bevy of LoTR fans in our office. It was kinda neat.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
I think the best fan theory of LoTR is that Gandalf isn't a wizard at all. Just a warrior with a magic staff (most of the spells he cast are mediocre when compared to the other stuff we see and he spent a lot of the time fighting with weapons instead of spells)
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
Cassandra Claire had, on her blog back in those days, a silly send up / parody / slashy series of "most secret diaries" of the main characters. Aragorn's starts with "still not king ..."
If you have not read the very Secret Diaries, then enjoy some silly fun
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
@DavidCoffron To be fair, "Wizard" in LotR doesn't mean "person who uses magic" so much as it means "specific group of quasi-angels that were sent to Middle-Earth".
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
8:31 PM
@Yuuki The istari ...
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@Yuuki valid was still a fun read (uproxx.com/movies/was-gandalf-really-a-wizard)
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
It's kinda like how the Three Magi couldn't do magic or otherwise they'd teleport instead of riding camels.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
Different kind of magi ...
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@Yuuki magi originally meant priest in Persia(Zoroastrianism). Sorcerer came later
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
And "wizard" originally meant "wise man", I think.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
8:42 PM
Yeah, and the priests had to prepare spells in Vancian Farsi! 8^D
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
I prefer the Modified Adjusted Gross Income definition of magi
Makes the Easter story a lot more confusing
I still think it's hilarious that the leader of the magi was called the rab-mag
Sounds like some knock off flashlight
 
BESW
BESW
8:57 PM
And the Elder Edda passage Tolkien yoinked all his dwarves' names and Gandalf, described Gandalf as a half-elf.
But elf and dwarf were terms for magic-users.
Roughly speaking they were both inhuman non-gods made distinct by whether they used making-things magic (dwarves) or knowing-things magic (elves).
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
9:39 PM
@BESW also gnomes ... but I think that is from a different poetic cycle ....
 
BESW
BESW
Yeah, the meanings shift a lot over time.
 
Yuuki
Yuuki
@KorvinStarmast I wish I had a poetic cycle. All mine does is seize the gears every five minutes or so.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
@BESW Like how fizzle now means a failed spell, but it used to mean a quiet fart?
 
BESW
BESW
Not exactly, but sure.
 
David Coffron
David Coffron
(Or not at all like that, and I have been waiting years for that piece of trivia and decided now was the time.....)
Oh you beat me to it
I think it'd be cool if you could use rep lost to rep cap for bounties (or something); Might lead to rep inflation, but would still be interesting
@BizarreCake Salutations
 
BESW
BESW
9:52 PM
Some linguistic shifts are simple, like "fizzle" being used as a metaphor for any kind of disappointing failure, and then losing its original meaning.
But others are tied to culture or epistemological shifts, like dwarf, elf, and gnome changing meanings as the culture's faith changed its understanding of divine reality.
 
 
1 hour later…
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
10:54 PM
@BESW David Anthony's book The Horse, the Wheel, and Language explores some of that shifting in language ... very interesting stuff. However, it's not for the feint of heart. Part of his purpose in writing is to deal with a bunch of competing ideas from experts in a number of fields, only one of which was linguistics.
The others are anthropology and archaeology. Still, I think it's a good read.
And I had to do a lot of rereading to try and get some of the harder bits in areas well outside my wheel house
 
BESW
BESW
I'll put it on my GoodReads TBR, but my focus is more on indigenous Pasifika than Indo-European.
 
KorvinStarmast
KorvinStarmast
@BESW Well, he's up front about it. That's his whole line of inquiry: the fusion of cultural and linguistic in the proto-indoeuropean language family.
 
BESW
BESW
Yes, hence my statement.
It looks like he's selling a sensational story as much as a defensible theory, and that makes me wish somebody would write a more accessible version of Narrative and Freedom.
@NautArch For some reason your icon keeps reminding me of the Murderbot Diaries.
 
Shalvenay
Shalvenay
11:32 PM
hey there @MikeQ
 
Mike Q
Mike Q
@Shalvenay Hey, I'm finishing up at work now, I can get back on chat in like 20 mins
 
NautArch
NautArch
@BESW ha! Had to look it up, but very similar contrasts.
 
BESW
BESW
It's great.
I recommend it highly, and am eagerly awaiting the next books.
 
user15026
The second one is soonish, I think?
 
BESW
BESW
Yes!
 
NautArch
NautArch
11:45 PM
Argh, I'm already 5 unfinished series deep ( two actually are finished, but waiting on library)
 
BESW
BESW
Book 2, Artificial Condition, comes out next month.
Then Rogue Protocol in August and Exit Strategy in October.
 
trogdor
trogdor
@BESW oh yeah, the cover art XD
 
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