TRPG General Chat

1:16 AM

@trogdor Yeah, it was a fun movie that was a good story. And I will admit, both my wife and I are huge Sean Connery fans (the voice of the dragon) that helped

Pixie

1:27 AM

Ugh. I'm having to do math. By which I mean look up a calculator specific to what I need, become confused, do research, find math other people have already done (which I should have thought to do to begin with), and then recheck it with the specific calculator because my initial calculation was way off.

(I suddenly became worried whether settlements of the size I thought could fit in my hexes at the scale I had made them. Yes, they can. :P)

KorvinStarmast

2:08 AM

@Pixie Yes We Can! :) Glad it worked out.

Shalvenay

hey there @KorvinStarmast

ravery

@KorvinStarmast -- I just rewatched it. excellent movie :)

Shalvenay

hey there @Nandoviski, welcome to the RPG.SE lair :)

nitsua60

2:24 AM

@MikeQ the only time I care about alignment is if we're doing law-chaos as originally conceived: actual sides in an actual conflict between forces that want a universe that works according to predictable rules (like gravity, spell slots, &c.) and that want a universe that spins off into madness in every direction. That have their own secret languages and that try to infiltrate others' groups and thwart each others' plan for the future of the universe.

ravery

Since it requires a Twitch account to view any content not in the basic rules, should we be linking to D&D Beyond? It seems that for most people the link is useless, unless they have or create a twitch account

Volo's, Xanthar's, PHB, MM, DMG all restricted content.

nitsua60

[citation needed]
I'm not saying I doubt you, though. I'm saying "I *need* that citation. Because I want to read more things like this."

BESW

Dec 11 '14 at 10:24, by BESW

Also I have found this essay on garlic's magnet-nullifying properties which discusses how the kind of thing a fact is influences how obvious its truth value seems.

ravery

rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/126122/…... the champion link

nitsua60

@ravery I feel like there's already a meta on this. [rummages]

20

Q: Stance on using D&D Beyond for references?

With the release of dndbeyond, and seeing it used a few times around the site, I wanted to ask if we have (or should have) a policy regarding using direct links to a paywall shielded website, instead of referring to physical books. Naturally, we encourage pasting in the relevant text in case of ...

ravery

2:32 AM

Possibly, but I've seen a few edits to question, and once to an answer I write that added links to restricted content

nitsua60

@ravery For me the question there is whether the edit made it any harder for someone with a physical reference to follow your question/answer. As long as it didn't then it's an unambiguous improvement, IMO.

trogdor

@KorvinStarmast I like Sean Connery well enough but my brother really likes him a lot, or at least used to

ravery

@nitsua60 -- no it did not harm the questions/answers, but for me didn't add to it either. I realize Volo's and Xanther's content is probably difficult to find, but the majority of the standard books are in freely accessible SRD's

trogdor

I don't know if he cares as much for him now

ravery

@trogdor -- he was good as 007

trogdor

2:38 AM

I barely saw him as 007

ravery

@trogdor yeah that was 1980 or so, perhaps earlier

hard to remember that far back

trogdor

Yeah slightly before my time that

ravery

@trogdor no 007 since has been as good

trogdor

I'll take your word for it

nitsua60

@ravery "for me" is the key there, IMO. It didn't harm it for you, and there certainly exist people for whom it improves it to have the link vs. not. So it's a win.

trogdor

2:43 AM

I liked Peirce Brosnan as bond but I don't know how popular that idea is

XD

nitsua60

@ravery No Bond has ever been as good as $USERS_FIRST_BOND, unless you started with Lazenby.

ravery

@nitsua60 rodger dodger

@nitsua60 True, I am likely biased in that assessment

but Connery did have that flair that fit the role so prefectly

nitsua60

@ravery I feel like Bonds and Doctors follow that law. For me it's Roger Moore and Tom Baker =)

I assume you mean this flair:

ravery

Yeah, I like the earlier Doctor's also

pinterest.com/pin/697424692268861362 no one can do it like he can

Miniman

@nitsua60 The user(s?) obsessively adding it everywhere is a bit much, though.

nitsua60

2:49 AM

@Miniman Is there someone on an edit-crusade? I haven't really seen the site today.

I see someone who's maybe done about a half-dozen on the front page right now--is that the one?

Miniman

@nitsua60 Aye. Not spamming them, but there's been a heck of a lot of edits consisting solely of a link over the past few weeks...maybe months.

ravery

@nitsua60 -- yep, the first three post in new questions

trogdor

How odd

But yeah personally so far I like the old who doctors a little better than the newer ones

ravery

@nitsua60 - and he's the same that did the previous ones I noticed

trogdor

Though I have seen very little Capaldi

nitsua60

2:53 AM

Interesting. Looks like it's been a bit of a project, somewhere between 6 and 12 a day, and spaced out a bit.

Miniman

Personally, when it's happened to something of mine I've undone it. I wrote an answer based on the wording in a book, I don't need a link to words I haven't read that are often subtly different.

trogdor

And none of Jodie yet at all either

Miniman

Also, if I'm being honest, I dislike DNDBeyond on a personal basis and don't really want it touching my stuff.

trogdor

Lol

I don't personally like someone editing the content of my posts

ravery

I don't mind spelling corrections, but when they start rewording it ...

Miniman

3:00 AM

I mean, no, great, a 3rd way to buy books I already own in a digital format because WotC is completely clueless about digital tools. Love that.

Love it.

trogdor

There are some great grammar edits and stuff like that, but content edits, I feel, should at least come with a courtesy question Like, "can I edit this part?"

@Miniman XD

Oh god the disdain

nitsua60

@Miniman Medium 2 being VTT?

trogdor

The earned disdain

XD

Miniman

@nitsua60 3 ways to buy books I already own: Fantasy Grounds, Roll20, and DnDBeyond.

They come up with a new one about once a year, I really look forward to it and preorder everything I can.

ravery

Though, roll20 let's you put in any content you want. It's what I play on

Atleast for the 5e sheet, it is completely customizable

Miniman

3:06 AM

They all let you add any content you want. They all also "let" you buy all the content you already own in book form.

ravery

well roll20 gives you the 5e. Fantasy give you 3.5e sort of.

Miniman

Roll20 gives everyone access to the 5e content that's free (the SRD), but you have to pay to access anything else.

Not sure what you mean by "give you 3.5e sort of".

trogdor

That sounds "wonderful" cough cough cough

XD

ravery

@Miniman -- creating a game doesn't give you the content, but there is a premade that has the 3.5e content....I guess if I paid a subscription I might get it

roll20 give you the 5e SRD regardless if you pay, but there are some additional perks for paying the basic subscription

Miniman

@ravery FG doesn't do subscriptions, you buy the books in the form of modules that let you use the content.

ravery

3:15 AM

@Miniman - I thought there was a monthly cost also, "buy a license"

then you have to buy the modules for 5e

Miniman

The subscription is for access to program features, the modules are separate.

That said, it's barely usable without the subscription features, so...yeah.

KorvinStarmast

3:37 AM

@Miniman I tend to feel as you do about the link project ...

@Shalvenay Sorry I missed that hail, I was doing other stuff on the pC at the time ...

PhiNotPi

@kviiri I haven't added any other mechanics yet... but I probably should. There are plenty of other changes from our normal play style, mainly in that I will be paying much closer to the party's equipment and to resource gathering/use. For a food gathering example, this means walking through the steps of figuring out where a specific plant could grow, identifying the plant, gathering it, meal preparation (avoid eating diseased things), and then keeping track of resource depletion on a map.

I have found some homebrew content online which could add an alchemy component, among other things. Contains a list of herbs listed by biome and also describes what potions can be made from which combos. I don't want to have to teach my players a whole alchemy system though... so it might be the case that I tell them what they can make as they find herbs.

Nandoviski

4:13 AM

@Shalvenay thanks mate :)

SmokeDetector

4:24 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Url in title, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, blacklisted website in body, blacklisted website in title: mumybear.com/keto-burn/ by user45750 on rpg.SE (@doppelgreener)

kviiri

7:01 AM

@Rubiksmoose Yea, the issue is very strong in both Pandemic and Arkham Horror, although for different reasons. In Pandemic, the technically open detail that the time limit is rather strict tends to come as a surprise to players, but Arkham Horror is largely about just knowing one's way around the game: which locations to stalk for good encounters and so.

kviiri

7:38 AM

@PhiNotPi Yea, I'd recommend it :) the usual "roll to see if you survive" gets old quite fast.

Pixie

7:56 AM

@KorvinStarmast Thanks! Now I'm trying to decide travel speeds that are neither fiddly or a pain to track nor completely without variation. :P It's not really site question material though, I don't quite know what I want yet.

Pixie

8:13 AM

Just haven't played enough. I think, because I really don't want to mess with "is the party lost" mechanics, I'll say that you can fully explore 1 hex per day regardless of foot or mount travel because it just takes time to thoroughly canvas an area or to make it across if you don't know exactly where you are.

But travel sans exploration gets a bonus of 1 hex per day if you have a map/experienced guide/well-marked roads, and 1 bonus hex if on horseback (negated if mountains, swamp, or desert). I think... that is worth trying, at least.

kviiri

Is your game about exploration?

(I've only ever played one short hexcrawl myself and it was largely about survival against hostile NPCs)

BESW

I'm tempted to suggest a ladder.

Pixie

@kviiri Yes, I'm doing a solo hex crawl, in large part because I like using random generators and seeing how the world shapes up. I'm not trying to make it super realistic, it's something I'm doing when I get a spare moment. :P But I wanted a little variation so it matters at least a little how or where I go.

BESW

Ladders let you control scaling in a predictable way, adding plateaus and jumps as appropriate.

Pixie

@BESW What sort of ladder?

I don't think I'm familiar with the tool.

BESW

8:22 AM

Well, Fate has ladders for resources and time as well as the ladder, but Betrayal at House on the Hill has a cool variation on the ladder which you might find useful... [rummages]

The four ladders on the edges of the card (Speed, Might, Sanity, Knowledge) serve as both skill modifiers and health point counts.

The interesting thing is looking at how they aren't one-for-point progressions.

See how you can progress up or down a ladder and either stay at the same number value or jump 2 or more points in a single progression?

Pixie

Ahh, I see.

BESW

Ox's knowledge starts at the green 3. If he goes down a point he has 2, but if he goes up a point he still only has 3. Up two or three points gives him 5, up four or five points puts him at 6.

You can use a ladder to pre-set where an ability (in this case, hex travel) hits a plateau or jumps up in effectiveness, if you want that progression to be something other than a mathematical formula the players apply during the game (like adding one, or adding one and then subtracting ten and dividing by two).

Pixie

I might be able to work something out like that once I have a better feel for how fast I'm progressing and how fast I want to be progressing, hmm.

BESW

Exactly!

It's basically letting you as designer put your thumb on the scale.

(I also like the basic Fate ladder concept.)

Pixie

I'm kind of in the process of retuning everything so that it's easier to figure out and more to my taste. I definitely like Tiny Solitary Soldiers, although I'm not using the scene part right now. But I also have concerns that twists being possible every time I ask a yes/no question (... often) could be too much, so that may be a dial I fiddle with later too.

BESW

8:35 AM

Hmm.

[tries to remember the name of the post-apocalyptic robot RPG he can never remember the name of]

I dunno if it's helpful for this project, but you'd probably like Fragment. It's got tables!

Lots of tables!

kviiri

Does it have DROP TABLEs?

Pixie

@BESW That's enough to warrant a download, especially at the price of free. :P

Thanks for pointing it out.

BESW

It's a GMless game about robots waking up after the singularity with some of the memories of their creators, trying to survive the new hellscape while discovering who they are, and eventually having to make a very important decision about the future of the world.

Pixie

Oh, nice. Yeah, I'm not sure if it would help me at the moment, but it does sound interesting and like a thing I might enjoy.

BESW

It feels a little bit like somebody's dream after playing the Talos Principle for too long.

Pixie

8:43 AM

I like things with dreamlike qualities too, so that may be another point in its favor, heh.

BESW

Disclaimer: I have not played Fragment yet.

Ahh, gotcha.

Good morning!

Hey!

@Pixie WE MEET AGAIN...!!

A Very Large Bear

8:49 AM

@doppelgreener Morning :)

Pixie

@doppelgreener It must be fate!

Not to be confused with Fate.

doppelgreener

:D

Pixie

@AVeryLargeBear Your name only displays as "A Very" on my screen, so what my eyes initially interpreted was "a very doppelgreener morning"

A Very Large Bear

@Pixie Sounds like the title of an episode of your sitcom

Pixie

It does!

doppelgreener

8:52 AM

One with dungeons, doppelgangers and a laugh track.

A Very Large Bear

In which @doppelgreener has a very rough morning, and gets everyone involved in some sort of hijinks (hijinx?)

doppelgreener

(either spelling is correct)

(but I'll get them involved in hijinx specifically as a personal preference)

A Very Large Bear

excellent

that also explains my confusion (I swear)

kviiri

9:06 AM

@AVeryLargeBear Sup!

We're heading for a cabin trip tomorrow, we've got a game of Honey Heist scheduled there :)

doppelgreener

Wonderful choice. :D

kviiri

I'm trying to find my beret so I can be Gaston le Béar

A Very Large Bear

@kviiri Howdy :)

trogdor

11:20 AM

@doppelgreener k isn't as cool as z

All the cool letters wish they were z

But x, x is the best

XD

If only you could spell it like, hyjinkzx

BESW

11:36 AM

ghiyghgiynkzx

trogdor

your's is good too

doppelgreener

12:41 PM

FYI: If on mainsite you see the top bar sticking to the top of your screen, you can disable it for yourself at: rpg.stackexchange.com/users/preferences/current

5

trogdor

sticky top bar?

doppelgreener

the black top bar, for many people, is now stuck to the top of the viewport as you scroll the page.

trogdor

oh

I think that happens on my phone but not on my computer

doppelgreener

it happens on mainsite for many people now

they flipped a switch a few hours ago

trogdor

mm

no I actually don't see that on my phone scratch that XD

oh but I only have chat open on that

I see it on the mainsite on the computer

doppelgreener

12:51 PM

it's normal for the chat top bar to stick on mobile

trogdor

yeah,... I had thought at first that was what you meant

doppelgreener

[edits]

trogdor

woooooo ooo ooooooo scaaaary moooood powers! (oooooooooo)

Secespitus

@trogdor You are supposed to scream "mod power abuse!!!111" ;)

trogdor

lol

only if it's @nitsua60

:P

Secespitus

1:01 PM

@doppelgreener Thanks for the link. This sticky top bar is nearly as distracting as the left navigation on the sites where it's already activated.

doppelgreener

that's true, i haven't filled my weekly quota of mod power abuse accusations yet

trogdor

You should have fewer quotas that require people to be jerks to you

NautArch

@doppelgreener stop abusing me!

trogdor

@NautArch ah a volunteer

XD

Secespitus

@doppelgreener Oh, you are measuring it in accusations per week. I thought mods would measure that in accusations per day or per hour, depending on whether it's the weekend or a normal weekday :D

doppelgreener

1:08 PM

@Secespitus any day i'm doing network chat moderation i have to fulfil a daily quota, but i haven't been doing that today so i just have to fulfil my normal weekly quota.

@NautArch thanks! [ticks a box]

Secespitus

@NautArch You need more exclamation marks ;)

NautArch

@Secespitus !!!!1111!!!!111

doppelgreener

oh my

Secespitus

@doppelgreener Now I am imagining that like a skill "Woohoo, my accusation resistence went up by 1!"

@NautArch Thanks

doppelgreener

[ticks another box] that'll last me another week easily...

trogdor

1:10 PM

Lol

doppelgreener

@Secespitus that's probably pretty much how it works

trogdor

Why not just use the mod abuse you are already doing to wipe out all accusations?

doppelgreener

@trogdor because the quota, troggy. if i wipe it out nobody can verify my quota.

trogdor

Or are you just trying to skill up?

doppelgreener

imagine if i get audited then! i'll be ruined!

trogdor

1:11 PM

Lol

doppelgreener

they'll have to remove my diamond on account of having insufficient evidence i've been abusing it.

trogdor

Just wipe out the audit

Secespitus

@doppelgreener You mean you would be accused of insufficient accusations?

doppelgreener

that's right!

trogdor

Come on It can't be that hard to figure this all out

doppelgreener

1:12 PM

and those accusations don't count! they covered that loophole up a year ago!

Secespitus

@trogdor True mod potential there :D

@doppelgreener That's just mean

trogdor

@doppelgreener ah the hard life of an omnipotent being

:P

Audits and,... Mandatory abuse of power and, ... Whatever else it happens to apparently involve

And us sitting here nit picking how you get things done

Don't forget that one right there

At Least my job here as official peanut gallery is easy

Of course in this economy they only pay me in elephants

doppelgreener

How many elephants do you get paid?

doppelgreener

1:36 PM

I had a friend who was being paid 0.1 elephants a week, but after some animal welfare accusations they had to round off to the nearest elephant. It was quite a good pay rise, but they're not sure where to keep them all.

SPavel

@KorvinStarmast At work

Yuuki

1:57 PM

@doppelgreener Wouldn't the nearest elephant be 0 elephants a week?

And also, wouldn't the nearest elephant be several countries and possibly continents away?

Well, I guess if you count the ones in zoos...

trogdor

2:21 PM

@doppelgreener oh probably one a year

But only on years that are 2025

Elephants are expensive

doppelgreener

@Yuuki They couldn't do that, that's below the minimum wage.

Maximillian

What's the exchange rate of elephant to USD?

Yuuki

@Maximillian Well, the ivory trade is illegal in the US so if you want to exchange your elephant for US dollars, you'll have to remove its ivory first.

SmokeDetector

2:40 PM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in answer, bad keyword with email in answer, email in answer, pattern-matching email in answer: How can one spellcaster avoid complete lockdown via Counterspell against multiple other casters? by rose sarah on rpg.SE (@doppelgreener)

doppelgreener

@mech fyi if you see a post about "real" spellcasting like this one, it's spam. don't bother to reply or comment, just flag as spam like you did. (thanks for that.)

3

once a post reaches six spam flags, it's automatically nuked by the system.

Maximillian

2:58 PM

Six Flags over Spamalot.

mech

@doppelgreener Ah, fair enough. Felt like adding a comment just in the off-chance that it was an actual person thinking we were interested in their... Hobby?

kviiri

Nothing really wrong with that I guess, just that it's not likely to be very useful either :)

mech

True. First time I've seen something so off-the-wall in the review queues, made me do a double-take.

doppelgreener

@mech gotcha, fair enough -- but i absolutely guarantee anyone talking about how there's this awesome witch doctor who fixed their love life and please email them or phone them here, is a spammer.

we get at least one of these a month.

kviiri

Yeah, it's context-aware spambots that notice questions that talk about spellcasting, assume it's some forum where someone's asking for magic advice and connect the dots.

doppelgreener

3:11 PM

here, take a look at this list, it's a record of all the spam we get that's busy talking about some awesome doctor so-and-so: metasmoke.erwaysoftware.com/…

Maximillian

I fear the day the bots learn to ask fantasy adventure rule questions.

doppelgreener

(which isn't all of them, because some of them weren't being caught until a few months ago and some aren't using the word "doctor")

Maximillian

They need to stop using doctor and start using wizard. Then they'll be on-topic spambot trash.

doppelgreener

I agree!

mech

@doppelgreener Some of these are hilarious. "Lord Doctor Zakuza" sounds like a great NPC name.

kviiri

3:17 PM

Lord Doctor, the academic equivalent of a Prince Bishop

Yuuki

@mech Any relation to Lord Doctor Yakuza?

doppelgreener

I miss our vampire spam. It's even better, but so rare.

Mike Q

@doppelgreener "I want to share my testimony how i become vampire,and also am rich and protected by illuminati"

"at the snack of my finger things are made happened"

Maximillian

"Your vampire race is OP. The windfall perk grants way too much money and the advanced social tie to the Illuminati grants way too many resources and contacts in any storyline."

"1/5 would not play."

Yuuki

@MikeQ This is how you wake up with no fingers.

kviiri

3:29 PM

Fingervampires

Maximillian

Instructions unclear, rolled up a funpire who can only sustain himself by taking the fun out of other peoples activities.

KorvinStarmast

hey all, hopefully @BlakeSteel is about to drop by and we can help them workshop a question. Popped in meta a few minutes ago, and I invited Blake to chat.

The Oracle

1

Q: Is "What is confusing or unclear about this wording" a proper question for rpg.se?

I'm building a homebrew magic item and I know the wording could be improved, but I need more eyes because things are clearer to me by nature of me knowing the intent. Is this appropriate for RPG.SE or should I head to the forums and chats?

discussion on-topic

CTWind

4:05 PM

Think this answer is different enough from the old one to justify its existence?

To me, the other answer sounded like it was saying "Because goodberries say they specifically need an action for use, it's not Use an Object", but that sounded wrong to me because Use an Object's description basically says that "When things say they take an action to use, that's the Use an Object action". Wanted to clarify that it's because they're magical that that rule doesn't apply, not because the item says its an action.

Hah, I was about to make this question as a self-answered one. Glad it already exists, surprised it isn't linked as 'related' in more of these question types.

David Coffron

4:56 PM

0

Q: What is unclear about this homebrew magic item description?

I have created a homebrew magic item and I want to know where potential confusion from readers may lie so I can remedy and make the description clearer. I am not looking for content critiques in this question, just an answer to what is unclear or confusing about this description? Qua'an ...

dnd-5e magic-items homebrew

Ugh. It looks like he just wanted someone to write it for him. My answer was no better than anyone elses except that it offered sample revisions.

Now I feel a little dirty

NautArch

@DavidCoffron I revised my meta answer about it.

David Coffron

@NautArch Well... Each of the answers says something useful. Hopefully we helped the asker even if it was a sort of new experience possibly-off-topic question.

NautArch

@DavidCoffron Right, but those reactions are opinions on the writing and there is no way to 'judge' which answer is best.

or even to necessarily vote on them

David Coffron

@NautArch That's why I agree. VtC Primarily Opinion Based (at least if worded as is)

NautArch

@DavidCoffron I was also a little surprised at the reaction to the SPells do what they say thing.

David Coffron

5:07 PM

@NautArch Yeah. It is a bit axiomatic but that's because that's how the game works (if asking about the rules, obviously anyone can change it if they want. In fact, in the game I'm playing in this Saturday I've been given permission to change exactly how certain spells work).

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch I think it is the use of the word "only" ... Dale_M and Miniman, I think, were the one's using a catch phrase "just what's on the tin" a lot when I was first reading here. I think it captures the sentiment without sounding pedantic.

David Coffron

I like the way this answer says it: "One of the 5E principles is that it's exception-based; a spell only has a given effect if it explicitly says so, and you don't infer more into a spell than it says. "

NautArch

@DavidCoffron SO maybe it's a tone thing? Because it's saying the same thing :)

David Coffron

Which is identical (and more wordy, so I'm not going to use it), but it avoids using the axiom outright

NautArch

heh

KorvinStarmast

5:10 PM

@NautArch Oh yeah, tone thing, I think you've grokked it.

NautArch

and it's also about ease of reading and clarity. You could say all that to not ruffle anyones jimmies - but ultimately you're saying the same thing.

David Coffron

What other tone to take... Maybe "If the spell was intended to work that way it would say so" (that is the tone Crawford uses)

But that seems harsher to me

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Tone is a big topic of discussion at SE writ large these days ... digression ended.

SPavel

damn, rejected for visa

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast I don't think it's a digression - but i'm also not sure if it's relevant for this particular case given the existing Q&A on the site about it?

@SPavel For the US?

SPavel

5:12 PM

@NautArch yeah

I have a different, worse visa

but I want the better visa because it is better

David Coffron

@SPavel Sorry to hear. A friend of mine had a similar issue recently

NautArch

@SPavel sorry mang, i can't imagine it's an easy process currently.

not that it was easy before

SPavel

Yeah it's not great timing

but my current visa is NAFTA based so uhh

David Coffron

@NautArch Yeah, that Q&A covers its usage pretty well

SPavel

time's running out

David Coffron

5:14 PM

[obligatory careful about political discussion, if this continues; so far I think we're fine, but... RPG.SE rules and all]

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch It was me digressing from the topic at hand, I felt. And "on the tin" had wider usage; Brian B, Seven, Mxy, KRyan, BESW: plenty of people were using it. I'd be happy to see us go back to that usage, even though it's maybe a bit of a regional colloquialism in English?

David Coffron

@KorvinStarmast Maybe we can come up with our own colloquialism based on a popular question with relevant scenario. (although this question isn't popular enough) Maybe something like "you need two hands to burn 'em"

reference to burning hands requiring you to touch your thumbs together

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast Hmm, But how do succinctly say that in this case? "Spells do what they say on the tin?" That doesn't really clarify that it's only what it says. "Spells do what they say on the tin and no more?"

KorvinStarmast

@DavidCoffron Well, it says so on the tin, right? :)

David Coffron

@NautArch "Spells only do what they say" is the most succinct. Adding "on the tin" is a clarification phrase: "spells only do what they say [on the tin]"

KorvinStarmast

5:17 PM

@NautArch And no more sadly runs into the nested problem of people discussing crunch versus fluff, and in some cases one needs to do a little interpretation ...

Here is an idea. "Spells do what they say they do"

fewer words, no tone problems.

David Coffron

@KorvinStarmast I think that has the same problem as the axiom we use now

KorvinStarmast

But I am sure that can be objected to as well.

David Coffron

People don't like being told what they can and can't do

KorvinStarmast

It avoids the only pedantry, that adds a particular kind of tone.

@DavidCoffron Well, there is that ...

David Coffron

KRyan covers this well:

51

A: What is the source of the "spells do only what they say they do" rules interpretation principle?

I think your issue is more with the nature of discussing the game on the Internet than it is with how the game actually works, should work, or anything of the sort. We on the internet can only tell you that spells do what they say they do, because we are not DMing your game. We cannot change or ...

KorvinStarmast

5:19 PM

Yeah, that's a nice was to explain it.

David Coffron

But we can't put that whole answer in a line of text so it is best to just link to the Q&A and hope they read it.

(which is what Naut and I did)

KorvinStarmast

Yep. All I'll add is that only is a superfluous word in that statement

David Coffron

It is technically, but it avoids some pedantry.

KorvinStarmast

I am not Mark Wells, and I did not object to your link, nor to your statement. I was offering a perspective on why people might object.

(And I liked both answers)

David Coffron

@KorvinStarmast It may be a case of fixing it is not worth the cause. A few people might object, but making it nicer might make people wonder "why not just say: Spells do what they say" (we've all seen people get annoyed at political correctness at some point; this is somewhat comparable).

KorvinStarmast

5:25 PM

@DavidCoffron I concur with your reasoning. I personally prefer "what's on the tin" because I worked with Brits for a number of years, but I can see how that might confuse people.

NautArch

@DavidCoffron IT's also a problem in that I don't necessarily think it's a Niceness issue. It's that folks, as you say, don't want to be told what to do. Especially in a game of fantasy that gives DMs the ability to do more than what things say.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Then with that in mind, if the audience is people who are of that flexible mind set, why has this phrase been chosen? Is this an artifact of a RAW based philosophy? Or, is it an artifact of how the SE model needs to create supported answers?

That's where I think KRyan's answer was so helpful. He identified the limitation of that form of answer to discussions on the internet.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast I think it's an artifact of needing to have a level playing field when answering questions. We don't know every tables rules - we do know the written rule. Therefore, that's the lowest common denominator that we have to go with in answers.

Which is Kryan's answer :)

"in order for us to have a common language with which to determine how things work, we must stick to the idea that spells only do what they say"

with the link to the Q&A on it

KorvinStarmast

Yeah, it's roughly the best we can do given our boundary conditions as an SE question and answer site.

Maximillian

5:42 PM

Oooh. I managed to snag one of the last Invisible Sun boxes.

NautArch

@Maximillian How do you know you snagged it if it's invisible?

Maximillian

Because an order form told me it was there!

NautArch

My son has asked again to watch the star wars movie when anakin is a kid. Rats, I guess I need to admit to it's existence.

Darn you libraries with books that talk about that movie!

Maximillian

5:57 PM

Gotta put in a firewall block to filter out every trace of it and start a banned book list at home. It'll be like being your own China!

NautArch

@Maximillian It's too late. I've already come to terms that it's time to Pod Race.

But at least now I can watch that darth maul fight again :)

NautArch

6:15 PM

Hope we didn't help pile this question .

doppelgreener

6:39 PM

No, it seems OK.

Help piling was ... a lot more than that

NautArch

@doppelgreener Yeah, the bummer is there was a good question in there.

or maybe they saw my answer before it was deleted and were satisfied

doppelgreener

@goodguy5 Btw, on your question about guessing systems from earlier -- a few years ago it was a lot weirder. We'd get a lot more people referencing D&D 3.5e, but it turned out they were playing Pathfinder and didn't realise they were different games, or they were using a Pathfinder/D&D3.5e mix, or a homebrew offshoot, or AD&D 2e, etc.

goodguy5

as was my suspicion

doppelgreener

Every now and then it was someone playing one edition and using a completely different edition's sourcebook, and the whole reason they were so confused was...that sourcebook was not made for their edition.

D&D 5e seems to have converged things a lot, so now it's more reliably D&D 5e when someone left out the edition.

And more importantly -- just D&D 5e. No mixing, matching, homebrewing, offshoots, etc.

But previously it was just a huge headache because chances were whatever the guess was, we were outright wrong or missing something.

Nowadays it's less about the error rate of guesses, more about a perceived principle that we shouldn't have to guess (the querent's sole job is to ask a clear question) and about training new people about our expectations. It is frustrating having a member repeatedly not say what their game is and not get the idea that they're leaving out information we need and are having to guess at.

SPavel

7:03 PM

@doppelgreener How do I boost THAC0 on my hobbit Invoker?

KorvinStarmast

THAC0 wasn't a thing while they were still called hobbits. That came later (though it had been discussed, if one reads up on the grognard boards ...)

SPavel

That is the joke

Maximillian

7:27 PM

How do I hit goblin with sword? (Tagged with a system that contains neither goblins nor swords)

KorvinStarmast

7:59 PM

@Maximillian Give him a bowl of popcorn that he starts gobblin', and then hit him with a stick. (An s-word). (Sorta like ... then shoot him with a blue elephant gun. Not sure if that joke is still making the rounds)

Mike Q

@KorvinStarmast Then the goblin makes a Will saving throw, using a number of d10s equal to its Presence ability score plus its ranks in the saving throw skill

NautArch

@MikeQ Don't forgot to include any Bennies they may have.

Mike Q

tagged: dnd-6e dnd-4.5e dungeon-world dnd-5e gurps

Maximillian

Oh you just made my head hurt with 4.5e. Good job.

Secespitus

@MikeQ Don't forget to roll whether your Corruption track increases if you fail.

Maximillian

8:06 PM

Oh fun. Partial discord outage.

I was using that! Thanks internet.

Mike Q

@Secespitus Right, then you add 2d6 corruption to a d100 and check the result on the trauma tables

Secespitus

@MikeQ Depends on your backstory.

And with the right description you can get an advantage of 1d7.

Mike Q

@Secespitus You would need the feat that adds +1 side to all dice

Secespitus

Yeah, but everyone gets that with the nano-implant starting equipment.

Maximillian

Be sure to pull three blocks from your Jenga(TM) tower and roll those too.

Secespitus

8:10 PM

Each player you hit gives one extra die.

BESW

@Maximillian Some people tried to call Essentials "4.5e" but it didn't stick because it wasn't accurate.

KorvinStarmast

8:22 PM

@Maximillian It's been too long since I played classic Traveller for me to toss in a 2d6 and skill background reference ... sigh ... what could have been. But a plasma rifle handles that goblin at least as well as a sword or a slug thrower

Arrgh, was it Traveller or SpaceQuest that had monofilament blades? Aha, thanks google, Traveller

Heck, here's a nice tool for outdoor survival scenarios ... Anthropologists and paleontologists have "tested" the technology available to Stone Age humans by using hand-knapped obsidian blades to butcher an elephant's carcass Dinner! And for left overs tomorrow, we have elephant steak sandwiches.

Maximillian

Be sure to use every part of the elephant.

Anaphory

8:41 PM

Apparently, on academia.se, even very narrow questions of comparing two things are “shopping questions”. I'm quite happy that that's not the case here!

BESW

We use every part of the animal. The body. The breath. The afternoon shadow. The fear before it died. The memory of it now that it's gone.

Tweeted by NightValeRadio on July 25, 2013 at 4:57 PM

Maximillian

Oh man. I haven't listened to Night Vale in years.

NautArch

I tried listening but just couldn't get into it

Maximillian

They're weird. Some episodes are better than others.

Stuff about the Librarians is my favorite.

BESW

8:59 PM

I prefer The Hidden Almanac.

Hidden Almanac is a podcast by Ursula Vernon, created in response to people who called Night Vale “Lake Woebegone meets Lovecraft” and how obviously wrong they are.

It's "about three minutes long, [...] and tells you about what happened on this day in history in a totally fictional world mostly inside my head, tells you what feast-day of what totally nonexistent Saint it is, and provides some questionably helpful gardening tips."

Maximillian

Night Vale can say a /lot/ and not move a plot. There's times where the narrator just lingers on a point, descriptive terms. Usually the voice acting and the dramatic music keep this passingly interesting, but it gets old.

But then there's fun stuff like THE GLOW CLOUD and how it's involved in the local school PTA program.

doppelgreener

It has highs and lows for me but will forever have a place in my heart.

Plus there's lgbt representation!

(which is part of why it will forever have a place in my heart)

Maximillian

Please do not allow dogs into the dog park.

Do not gaze upon the black figures in the dog park.

BESW

> It's for the children... and you know what happens if we don't appease the children.

Maximillian

I enjoy the Librarians which are these vague, almost wraithlike creatures.... That occasionally carry out librarian tasks.

BESW

9:13 PM

> It is the Feast Day of the Apocalypse. This will only be celebrated once, and fortunately, it is not this year.

> Have you or a loved one been lost in a book? Have you suffered emotional or physical trauma as a result? You may be eligible for compensation. Contact the offices of Emmett, Emmett and Herne to find out your rights.

Maximillian

A library is just a more literate dungeon.

KorvinStarmast

@BESW I am guessing that they come out of the corn, and things go downhill rather quickly after that.

BESW

9:41 PM

Plastic stand is excellent up-level for Balsera style initiative. H/T @rdonoghue

Tweeted by fredhicks on July 12, 2018 at 1:44 AM

PhiNotPi

10:12 PM

What's a good way for "airships" to function in D&D 5e? This is for my "an airship has crashed on an island" campaign which I will be running for some friends. I'm trying to figure out a plot device which will encourage people to explore the whole island in order to escape... my first idea would be that airships are powered by crystals, crystal breaks and thus the airship crashes, then party has to find replacement deep in caves.

doppelgreener

do you want a way for players to interact with the airship once it's actually operational, or a macguffin that powers it, or a way to handle an airship-related plot?

because a crashed desert island story with foraging and finding crystals doesn't have much to do with an airship, that's just backstory

trogdor

I have no idea how an airship would work in 5e

Peter Cooper Jr.

@PhiNotPi There's an airship in Storm King's Thunder

trogdor

I assume that they aren't already part of the normal 5e setting because the tech for it would have to be explained

Ah fair enough

Peter Cooper Jr.

I believe it's powered by a captured fire elemental for the hot air balloon, and a captured air elemental for wind to blow the propeller. But I may be misremembering. Also, I'm typing this on a big-screen TV in the living room, and some of my players are in the room and we haven't gotten to that part yet.

Shalvenay

10:25 PM

@PeterCooperJr. you need a shaft power source to drive a prop, not an air elemental blowing on it :P (right now, the thing has a RAT, not a prop, lulz)

Peter Cooper Jr.

Air elemental might have been more for a rudder, then? Don't really remember, and the book is in another room.

PhiNotPi

10:46 PM

Hmm... maybe it's not worth going into detail of how it works.

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