TRPG General Chat

trogdor

12:32 AM

@BESW that lines up perfectly with the day I can't stay nearly as late

BESW

Yeah, so if you wanna come to the con...

trogdor

so that works out great

what time is it?

BESW

I dunno how much other than Lady Blackbird would be of interest to you though.

11-6 Saturday, 12-5 Sunday. Epixcon wobsite.

trogdor

Lady Blackbird is great, but it might indeed be the only reason I would go

BESW

There'll be D&D tables and some TCG tables, costume contests, anime screenings, etc.

Maybe some board games? They're trying to pivot from "anime con" to "geek hobby con."

But it's all very last-minute (Agana Shopping Center didn't give the organizers enough time) so a week from the con they still don't know exactly what all will be in it.

trogdor

12:47 AM

sheesh

well I will consider going at least

I wouldn't even do that if you were not going to be there running something

that the thing is Lady Blackbird is a nice bonus

bruglesco

1:00 AM

Hey

Shalvenay

hey there @bruglesco, how're things going?

BESW

[wave]

bruglesco

@Shalvenay all is well

Been a while since I poked my head in here

How are all of you?

Shalvenay

doing fine here

BESW

1:22 AM

Low-key panicking about suddenly being asked to do my first con game ever.

user15026

1:36 AM

You've got this :)

KorvinStarmast

2:01 AM

@BESW An interesting challenge to your community building efforts

Shalvenay

hey there @KorvinStarmast

KorvinStarmast

@BESW I would recommend the one minute sales pitch, not the one sentence sales pitch. (elevator pitch more or less)

@Shalvenay Good evening, and how art thee?

BESW

@KorvinStarmast It's hard to fit the one-minute sales pitch into the program pamphlet.

Shalvenay

@KorvinStarmast doing alright, as to you?

KorvinStarmast

@BESW Ah, I'd still recommend more than one sentence. A paragraph? Three sentences?

@Shalvenay Our local mosquito population are most affectionate.

Our recent tropical depression blessed them with ample breeding pools, and so they overwhelm us with kisses

Shalvenay

2:06 AM

@KorvinStarmast :P

Mike Q

@KorvinStarmast I am confused. Since when is commentless downvoting inherently an issue with RPG SE?

KorvinStarmast

@Shalvenay I have over thirty confirmed kills in 48 hours in the house alone ....

@MikeQ I don't think it is, and I think that particular user is saddened by more than commentless downvoting.

@MikeQ Seen it on all of the sites where I participate

It was Draco's comment that I had hoped to highlight, is that not the one that cropped up?

Mike Q

It did, it says the site is uninviting, doesn't really explain how, so I can't really agree or disagree with their opinion

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ The discussion on that meta q&a has ranged over a variety of topics and discontents. I find each position has something to it for me to mull over. The answer I offered was directed more at what prompted the question than the question itself.

@MikeQ I don't want to reopen that can of worms here tonight. Doppel and BESW encouraged me to raise it in meta, and I did, so I'll leave it at that.

BESW

@KorvinStarmast That's a very personal frame to give the conversation, directing it at me individually.

KorvinStarmast

2:12 AM

@BESW that is a direct link to a discussion you and I had a while back, maybe over a month ago, in re your efforts and ideas on community building. I believe that your efforts along those lines continue, do they not?

@BESW I thought that you might find that observation of interest in light of your efforts in that direction.

BESW

Yes, but you've presented the link to me as "a challenge" to me personally, which it is not.

KorvinStarmast

@BESW Given how you still receive whatever I send to you with a negative slant, I guess maybe let's drop it. I thought you might find that feedback of interest, but if not, then I guessed wrongly. I was in that same thought acknowledging hour efforts at community building.

BESW

You could say "our community building efforts" or "rpg.se's community building efforts" and it'd be more accurate and less needlessly confrontational, as if I'm personally responsible for the community's efforts to be a welcoming experience (which you'd made clear multiple times are not acceptable to you, so... yeah, please don't put an entire community on my shoulders).

KorvinStarmast

Good night all. @BESW, if you can't take a compliment, then how about I just bid you all good night and wish you well . Cheers.

BESW

@KorvinStarmast Thank you for the thought. I was interested in that meta post and have discussed it previously.

It's difficult, however, to see a compliment in having someone link me a complaint about the entire site and say it's a challenge to my efforts in avoiding what the person's talking about.

Perhaps you misspoke.

nitsua60

2:44 AM

@NautArch Present low-level guys who are thematically-linked to BBEG who also have similar mechanics. If a bunch of earlier encounters have included "slippery" foes (but who weren't otherwise too difficult to deal with) you communicate the possibility without overly frustrating that one player.

(Dealing with this now in a RL campaign were a particular type of foe has ~interesting~ death-effects. The first few they've seen aren't too bad, but if BBEG has something like that, they'll have been warned!)

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 I can only assume that by "RL campaign", you mean you're literally running around in real life killing baddies for their ~interesting~ death effects.

trogdor

3:20 AM

lol

Kieran Mullen

Anyone online for a really stupid, basic D&D 5E question?

Shalvenay

fire away

Joel Harmon

@KieranMullen Sure.

Kieran Mullen

I am an older RPG'er. I ran D&D with an original, illegal copy of Deities and Demigods.

Back then, there were Mages, with a subclass of illusionists.

Joel Harmon

@KieranMullen For reference, we don't support illegal stuff here in any way, shape, or form.

Kieran Mullen

3:23 AM

(It was illegal because TSR included copyrighted stuff of Michael Moorecock w/o his permission).

(It was removed from the next editions :-)

Joel Harmon

@KieranMullen The More You Know

Kieran Mullen

Anyway.... I stopped playing D&D for many years.

Now, I see that there are sorcerers, wizards, warlocks, etc. What mechanically differentiates them? Different spell lists?

Joel Harmon

@KieranMullen There are different spell lists for each class, available just before the list of spell descriptions.

They all have the same basic number of spell slots per day (except Warlock), then tweak that concept somehow.

For example, Wizards have a recovery feature, whereas Sorcerers have a Sorcery Points feature for either recovering or boosting (metamagic) spells.

Kieran Mullen

So, different actual spells, and the recovery is different?

Joel Harmon

Wizards have a book of spells, and change their memorized spells for the day based on that book. Sorcerers always know the same spells day to day. Clerics can select any spells from the Cleric list for the day.

Kieran Mullen

3:28 AM

How different are the spell lists? By that I mean are they effectively similar in that they all have damage spells, defense spells and informational, but healing is left to the clerics?

Clerics were run that way in the Old Days (tm) as well.

@JoelHarmon Clerics were run that way in the old days (tm) as well.

Joel Harmon

Warlocks are the odd duck here; they have many fewer spell slots, but they get them back after a short rest rather than a long rest, and those spells are always upcast to the highest available level for the warlock. It encourages going nova in more fights, because they can rest and get back to full more easily than a wizard.

Clerics still have more healing/buffing with some damage. Wiz/sor tends to be more damage-y, but there are certainly enough spells to make an illusionist, necromancer, etc.

Kieran Mullen

@JoelHarmon But healing is still limited to clerics/druids/paladins?

Joel Harmon

@KieranMullen If you only look at the spell lists, than that's basically right.

Oh, also Bards, who are full casters.

Within each class you choose an Archetype. This includes Wizards picking a school of magic to specialize in, Sorcerers picking a magic source (Wild or Dragons), Clerics picking a domain, etc.

Paladins and Rangers are half casters, and one Figher archetype and one Rogue archetype make you a one third caster.

Kieran Mullen

@JoelHarmon Thanks, I looked at the SRD and saw a lot of the spell abilities I remembered, but could see much operationally different between the sorcerers, wizards, etc. I see from your answer that the flavor specialization is different between Wizards and Sorcerers.

Mike Q

There is also some overlap between spell lists of different classes

Kieran Mullen

3:36 AM

Looks like Clerics, Rangers, and Paladins haven't changed much in concept, but thieves never had built in spells in the Old Days.

Joel Harmon

Flavor wise, Wizards are more studying magic, Sorcerers are more intuitive manipulation of magic.

In 3.5 anyway, Rogues using Use Magic Device was pretty important, On the other hand, you called them Thieves, not Rogues, which dates you a bit :)

Kieran Mullen

Thank you - this helps me understand the spirit of many of the questions on the RPG.se

Mike Q

Thief became Rogue in... 3e, I think

Shalvenay

@MikeQ yup

Kieran Mullen

Yeah, I had one of the original boxed sets. A real neckbeard.

Shalvenay

3:38 AM

@KieranMullen healing is divine casters (clr/drd/pal/rgr) + bard

Mike Q

And giving some rogues magic in 5e, that's to replicate the Arcane Trickster, which was typically built as a rogue/wizard multiclass in previous editions. Same thing with Fighters becoming Eldritch Knights.

Kieran Mullen

did?

oops. Autocorrect: What is "drd"?

Joel Harmon

@KieranMullen Druid.

Mike Q

Cleric/Druid/Paladin/Ranger

Shalvenay

@MikeQ exactly

Kieran Mullen

3:40 AM

Ah yes.. Druids were a subclass of Clerics.

Rangers a subclass of fighter

Illusionist a subclass of Mage.

And Monks were an oddity off on their own.

Shalvenay

yeah -- you're going straight from AD&D classes to 5e, skipping the 2e and 3.x magic splits on the way

Joel Harmon

@KieranMullen Some things never change.

Shalvenay

yes, 3e? narrowed monks from their AD&D/2e utility-ness

playing a monk/priestess dual class in AD&D was a bit of a hoot :D

Kieran Mullen

:-) You had to have good stats to pull that off.

Mike Q

@KieranMullen That's why certain classes are said to be MAD, which stands for something like Multiple Attribute Dependent

Shalvenay

3:44 AM

@MikeQ in AD&D/2e, it wasn't just a dependency, it was a hard prereq

Kieran Mullen

yep!

Joel Harmon

@Shalvenay That only comes in for multiclassing in 5e, of course.

Shalvenay

@KieranMullen yes. best part about that char -- she was a gnoll, with decent INT. spoke more languages than the human in the party by far XD (got a decent across-the-board roll with a bit of DM fiat to help out in a couple of key spots to make the char work)

Kieran Mullen

As a returning RPG'er, it seems to have gotten a bit more difficult for people to pick up the game if they are not familiar with RPG's. Just looking at all of the interactions of spell effects discussed on this site is a hoot.

Joel Harmon

@KieranMullen I need to scurry off now. I hope I was helpful, and that I'll see you around.

Shalvenay

3:46 AM

@KieranMullen I'd say it's easier than it used to be

5e is much less finicky about this sort of thing than 3.5e was, thanks to some design changes WotC made

Kieran Mullen

Ok! Thank you everyone, and good night!

Shalvenay

(not that AD&D/2e didn't have crazy spell interactions either, that is :P)

BESW

4:40 AM

@KieranMullen D&D has definitely accumulated a lot of "because tradition, that's why." The wider world of RPGs, though, is intimidating mostly for being spoilt for choice. I tend to collect games with an eye toward "If a new-to-RPGs friend shows up on Geek Night, can we get them playing in under fifteen minutes?"

Ben

5:35 AM

5e - Improvised weapons

> An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage

I don't see how using a table (provided the character has enough strength to effectively wield it) deals 1d4 damage.

Miniman

5:52 AM

@Ben So, just to be clear, you think hitting someone with a table should do more damage than stabbing them with a knife?

dot_Sp0T

6:51 AM

Hmmm, there don't seem to be any much traveller players :/

@BESW thanks for the pin and support!

BESW

7:02 AM

@dot_Sp0T Sorry it hasn't panned out.

What do folks like to see in table signs for con games?

dot_Sp0T

7:21 AM

@BESW as in signs to advertise opportunities to play boardgames at a convention?

BESW

yeah. Whatever I've got at my table to draw people in.

I've been asked to do a non-D&D RPG table at a local con next weekend, and I've never even seen a con RPG table before.

[panicked googling]

dot_Sp0T

what game you doing?

BESW

I've decided on Lady Blackbird.

dot_Sp0T

Damn that looks cool

What system is that?

Or is it a wholly self-contained thing?

BESW

It's decidedly not D&D, but not frighteningly unfamiliar. The rules are concise and easy and come printed on every pre-made character sheet already. The setting and conceit is familiar (roughly, it's Princess Bride on Firefly in Star Wars). The pre-made characters are well-made with obvious hooks (and you get XP for hitting your character's major traits!) but open-ended enough for players to make 'em their own...

And the GMing style makes it one of the easiest games for me to GM, ever.

@dot_Sp0T It draws a lot from a game called Solar System, but it's not exactly like anything in particular.

dot_Sp0T

7:25 AM

Are you artsy&crafty?

BESW

I'm a graphic designer.

Major in art studio. Print specialty.

dot_Sp0T

how about filling a balloon with helium and disguise it as an airship?

BESW

....I'd have to make at least four to get through the two-day con.

dot_Sp0T

@BESW sounds like a fun and cool challenge?

BESW

Maaaybe.

I'm not sure I'll have the time in just a week though.

dot_Sp0T

7:26 AM

you could even make some more and give them away to the players that utterly impress you (sneak advertising)

another thing you could do would be to write a big poster saying 'DnD NOT'

BESW

I'm mocking up some potential table posters.

dot_Sp0T

(Depending on whom you ask I am or am not quite creative)

BESW

Anaphory

@BESW That seriously depends on how the con advertises tables in general. In Amsterdam, people were asked between blocks what they'd run next block, and then the organizer went verbally through the list and everyone named gave a verbal pitch. Here in Leiden you had to sign up through an online form in advance, pitches were plain text published on the website.

In Osnabrück, there are sign-up sheets each with a few lines to fill your name in, with a pitch; that's probably closest to your train of thought.

BESW

I strongly doubt there's going to be anything that organized.

I think that the program will say "go to table X for Lady Blackbird," and if I tell them start times they'll put that in the program too, and other than that it's me sitting at a table hawking my wares.

Anaphory

7:31 AM

Yes, but I wanted to give context :)

dot_Sp0T

Here in Switzerland at some Cons you're happy enough if they don't mess up the spelling and start-times you give them

BESW

If I need a one-minute pitch, it's basically going to be the opening text crawl.

Anaphory

@BESW Yes! LB comes with a very beautiful pitch written for you.

BESW

I actually thought it might be good to put the crawl on a poster so observers can refer to it.

dot_Sp0T

Great as a secondary info-poster, not so great as an eye-catcher as it's just too much text

Anaphory

7:34 AM

@dot_Sp0T Indeed!

BESW

Right.

Anaphory

Put three Owl-posters out, near entrances or public spaces; if there is a spot where the RPG-interested people gather, supplement the poster there with the crawl.

BESW

I was thinking the other eye-catcher might involve the Wild Blue graphic, but I haven't gotten a version of that which I like yet.

I'm pretty sure I can only post at my table.

Anaphory

@BESW Also fine.

dot_Sp0T

@BESW circumvent that by printing t-shirts and giving them away for free to obvious boardgamers

BESW

7:36 AM

[amused] I have neither the time nor the budget for some of these ideas, but they're good.

Anaphory

@BESW Hm. That's bothersome, because it means everyone interested in your game has to find your table first, and be physically there (possibly interrupting/influencing your game) to find out more.

BESW

Yes.

This is an anime convention that's trying to pivot into a hobby convention, but the sponsors didn't give the coordinators much advance notice.

Anaphory

If at all possible, try to convince the organizers to put up one at least at the entrance to the room/hall you play in, you have good arguments. And in that case, include the metadata – “in this room”, “up to 5 players”, “Starting time: XX:XX”.

dot_Sp0T

Could make a post or some flyers and just deposit them at the info-table; I'm sure they won't mind

poster*

Anaphory

In any case, in the absence of a GM screen, a large-ish inverted-V stand with the “Lady Blackbird” swash on both sides to put on your table might be useful. It's independent of a poster wall etc. (which may or may not relate to the table nearby) and confirms “yes, this is the LB table” to those looking for it.

BESW

7:48 AM

Yeah, I'm not sure I'll have an easel or a wall or anything, so I was thinking of making stuff sized for tent-folded tabloid paper.

Also folded nametags for characters, with their blurbs on as well ("Naomi Bishop • Former pit-fighter and bodyguard to Lady Blackbird")

Anaphory

@dot_Sp0T Actually, if you managed to have something floating above your table linking (not necessarily in the internet-sense) interested people to text they can see somewhere else, that might stand in for the lack of wall.

dot_Sp0T

So, back to the balloonship

BESW

[googles "papercraft steampunk airship"]

BESW

8:06 AM

Nooope. Nope nope nope. I do not have the spoons for that this week.

kviiri

9:13 AM

Good day all

BESW

[wave]

Anaphory

10:13 AM

@kviiri Hyvää päivää! (I'm still saying Kiitos.)

kviiri

@Anaphory Hei, mitä kuuluu?

Anaphory

Joo, hyvä!

kviiri

I'm replaying Gateway, loosely based on the novel by Pohl

These old IF titles often have a nice touch for detail

Joel Harmon

11:12 AM

@BESW how many attendees do you expect, and/or how big is the venue?

BESW

@JoelHarmon I have no idea. It's gonna be at one of the largest shopping malls, but that's not saying much compared to mainland malls, and I don't know which space they're giving us.

Joel Harmon

@BESW Fair enough. I just ask because there's an obvious relationship between size and advertising strategy. With 20 people, you can clearly talk to everyone personally; not so much with 1000.

trogdor

yeah, if it's the space I am thinking of, it's impressive for here

BESW

At a very uneducated guess, I wouldn't expect more than about 50 or 75 people at any given time.

trogdor

but I also half expect we will be shunted somewhere so the normies won't get scared :P

kviiri

12:30 PM

Someone's been going through my questions and upvoting them

trogdor

apparently that happens to someone every once in a while

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