TRPG General Chat

Ben

1:10 AM

@MikeQ The He-mancer

trogdor

Lol

He did use magic to like,... "Transform"

I use the word loosely because it mostly involved clothes changing

It seems like

What a waste of a magic sword

Joel Harmon

1:26 AM

@MikeQ Of course, the Hemomancer is much less fleshed out than the Tissuemancer.

Ben

@JoelHarmon I find the tissuemancer usually gets clogged up fairly quickly through level progression.

Joel Harmon

@Ben I've found 'snot a problem.

Ben

I did give it a shot... but yeah, he just got bogged up. I had to throw him out and get a new one

Joel Harmon

That's a ply-able attitude.

Ben

New character concept: A caster that only does parlour-shop magic. Not great in battle, but has advantage on causing confusion

Shalvenay

1:55 AM

hey there @KorvinStarmast

KorvinStarmast

@Shalvenay Hail, I just reviewed the Eberron UA. Lovely thematic approach, bloody bloated and over featured race choices. Do not fit the 5e Chassis. I hate power creep ... sigh.

Shalvenay

@KorvinStarmast yeah, power creep is annoying

KorvinStarmast

But the ideas and how they fit together thematically I really liked.

Ben

Town Guard: "What are you doing here? This area is off-limits!"
Wizard: *starts pulling an endless scarf out of his sleeve*
Guard: ...wha?

KorvinStarmast

@Ben Misdirection sometimes works

Joel Harmon

1:58 AM

I saw it working over there points

Ben

Wizard: *slides his thumb off and on again*
Guard: How??

KorvinStarmast

@Ben Hey, you'll put someone's eye out doing that!

Mike Q

Barbarian: *Slides his thumb off and on again*
Barbarian: AaarrrggghhH!!!
Cleric: Are you serious

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ Only takes half damage now, he's raging

Ben

Hahahah

@MikeQ Throws it at the guard and runs away

Mike Q

2:00 AM

@Ben The thumb is an improvised weapon and does 1d4+STR bludgeoning damage

Ben

@MikeQ called shot for the eye to cause the blinded condition

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ Barbs rule, guards drool...

Ben

2:12 AM

So someone went to town on Trump's WOF Star with a pickaxe, then called the cops on himself.

BESW

2:24 AM

The rarely observed "Chaotic Lawful" alignment.

user362639

Hello

Shalvenay

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

Joel Harmon

@Mustachachu Hello and welcome!

user362639

whats going on in chat

Joel Harmon

Not a whole lot, currently. Europe is mostly asleep, and it's about the time when the eastern USA starts drifting off.

user362639

2:29 AM

yeah

user362639

went to front line days today

user362639

tried to join adventure league

user362639

but the group accepting player's dm was not able to come

user362639

the other had 9

Shalvenay

@Mustachachu drat

Joel Harmon

2:31 AM

In my experience, 9 is too many for most RPGs.

user362639

and were less appealed to the thought of letting somebody join

user362639

yeah

user362639

and when you have to wait more than nine turns in battle

user362639

but I got to see the place

user362639

they use maps and

user362639

2:32 AM

character pieces

user362639

which just lets us know how much more effort the dm puts in

user362639

they also have pokemon, magic, and other card games

Joel Harmon

@Mustachachu Some of that can be player driven. I have a player who is into Warhammer and minis in general. He's usually good for a map and some figurines. Otherwise, I just pull out some legos.

@Mustachachu Most Friendly Local Game Stores have a variety of games, not just RPGs. Inexplicably, RPGs apparently don't drive enough sales to keep a store open in most locations.

The Oracle

0

Q: Why doesn't my curious badge count all my well received questions?

After reading this Meta.SE post and reviewing this question and answer I can't seem to work out why the progress noted for my 'curious' badge is only 2/5 instead of 3/5. I don't have a positive question record: (total questions - negative questions - closed - deleted)/total questions >= 0.5 (4 ...

user362639

I yeah they also have video game competitions

user362639

2:39 AM

sup @Miniman

Miniman

@Mustachachu Nm, just keeping an eye on the site while I'm at work.

Ben

@miniman is always watching....

Miniman

@Ben Well, not always. Since I'm on mobile, you can see my icon drift in and out when I pop in.

Ben

You're breaking the illusion....

:P

user362639

@Miniman shhh...

user362639

2:48 AM

@nitsua60 hello

nitsua60

@Mustachachu hiya

user362639

how are you

nitsua60

@Mustachachu Good. Just got home from a smallish 5e session. L16 and up play sure gets wacky....

user362639

I came to front line games

user362639

the adventure league dm canceled so I couldn't join

user362639

2:55 AM

and the other group had 9 players

user362639

but there is always next week

nitsua60

@Miniman will like this cheese: in that party the rogue has that thing where they get to take two turns during the first round. And there are two battlemasters in the group, one with +10 initiative, one with +1. So they pretty reliably "bracket" the rogue's second turn in initiative.
So the rogue goes, and sneak attacks, and on the fast battlemaster's turn a Commander's Strike allows the rogue to sneak attack again, and the rogue goes their second turn and sneak attacks again, and on the second battlemaster's turn a Commander's Strike allows the rogue to sneak attack again....

@Mustachachu Yeah... sounds like they need more GMs. Time to step up, man!

user362639

Oh no no no

user362639

way to young

user362639

not good enough

user362639

2:59 AM

also that is awesome @nitsua60

nitsua60

@Mustachachu not with that attitude =)

user362639

Im not an adult

nitsua60

@Mustachachu It's... just ridiculous. I don't really believe in high-level play, but it's for a playtest.

user362639

not even a teen

user362639

not going to give exact age for privacy purposes

user362639

3:02 AM

it would be awesome if I was able to though

nitsua60

@Mustachachu Don't sell yourself short. We all start at some point, and there are some really excellent things I see happening with the young (teen and preteen) GMs at my two AL sites.

Miniman

@nitsua60 Too much to hope that it's an Assassin, I assume?

nitsua60

If nothing else, when you're 20 and pulling together a group you'll be a hell of a lot better GM than people who didn't start 'til they were "ready."

@Miniman I don't recall. That would have redoubled, or maxxed, dice on a crit?

user362639

thanks

nitsua60

But I'm not trying to push you, or anything. Just know that age/experience shouldn't hold you back.

user362639

3:09 AM

when I was at front lines with my dad, that was one reason I was super nearvous

Miniman

@nitsua60 Depends on surprise and initiative order, but it would mean crazy damage.

user362639

hey @Rubiksmoose

user362639

how are you

user362639

one of the things that got me less stressed was when my father showed me a video of a chicken wearing shoes

user362639

I also learned they had chain dice bags

user362639

3:13 AM

and little figures, unpainted and painted

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 That's some quality cheese right there.

user362639

:A

nitsua60

@JoelHarmon It feels a bit like we're a gunnery emplacement or something. 4-person crew: one casts foresight, one fires, another tells them to shoot again, they shoot again (they're so amped up on adrenaline), and then another tells them to shoot again.

@Miniman On the other hand, when I nat-1's the dex save against meteor swarm, then nat-1'd the Indomitable reroll of that save, then nat-1'd the Lucky reroll of that save... the dice gods had their revenge.

Joel Harmon

@Mustachachu If you're old enough to play an RPG, you're old enough to DM one. The lower bound I've seen is five; I've heard of younger.

user362639

DANG

Joel Harmon

3:17 AM

Granted, that wasn't D&D, and the rules were.... flexible.

user362639

0-0

nitsua60

@JoelHarmon Yeah, if you're talking not D&D, my 5 and 6 year-old kids have run Amazing Tales for each other and for me. D&D, though.... I'd imagine 10 is a good lower bound. Maybe a little younger for a precocious reader.

Joel Harmon

But consider these two items:
1. Games are meant to be fun
2. RPGs are about imagination

Neither of those are disqualified by anyone old enough to have a conversation with you.

user362639

thats one of the things my father was telling me

user362639

they WANTED me

user362639

3:19 AM

they wanted just to have fun

user362639

that also helped me cool

user362639

:D

nitsua60

@JoelHarmon (Though I'll say, here, where my kids probably won't find it for twenty more years, that 5 is definitely a lower bound on when I can have a "conversation" with a kid and not feel like my brain's being run through a pasta-maker.)

→ 1 message moved to trash

user362639

my major problem is my confidence

Joel Harmon

The only meaningful data I got from <redacted> is "I have an extremely limited budget". And I have good news; there are many free RPG systems, requiring a financial outlay along the lines of paper, pencils, and maybe a few dice from the FLGS.

Rubiksmoose

3:24 AM

@Mustachachu I think you'll find that even old-hat DMs struggle with this.

nitsua60

@Rubiksmoose Except for those of us with way more confidence than we really should have =)

Joel Harmon

What's more, there are many kinds of things to be good at as a GM or a player. Nobody is great at all of them.

@nitsua60 Overconfidence is a kind of confidence problem.

nitsua60

@JoelHarmon I'm confident that's not my problem =D

Rubiksmoose

I see what you did there XD

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 Yeah, it's everyone else's ;)

nitsua60

3:26 AM

@JoelHarmon This, though, is totally on point. I'd love some day to see/hear a variety of GMs talking about their particular strengths and where they think those were developed.

(I, for instance, think that I good in RL at moving the spotlight around and involving people. I believe this comes from my daily practice in a classroom.)

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 Complementary to that, I find it helpful to discuss my own strengths/weaknesses with others around the table. Occasionally, their conclusions are different than mine.

trogdor

@Mustachachu as far as the confidence thing, the best way to build a little more of it is to practice with a small group of your friends

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 I got better at that by reading the Dungeon World rule book, running a session, then reading it again.

trogdor

If you have run a couple of low pressure games it makes things easier

Joel Harmon

Each of those individually had improvements for me (IMO)

nitsua60

3:28 AM

@JoelHarmon Yeah, I feel like DW should be transcluded into the D&D DMGs.

Or replace.

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 They try, but the systems are just too different.

nitsua60

There's, really, like fifteen useful pages of "how to be a (good) GM" in the DMG.

Rubiksmoose

Agreed. I think my DMing is going to be vastly improved by my stint running Masks.

Joel Harmon

Part of the problem is the DMG has to both teach the rules and be a reference, and there are many, many rules.

nitsua60

Am I the only person who feels like the D&D rulesets, as written, basically have a new GM running screaming terrified across narrative tightropes without a net from the relative safety of one combat encounter to the next?

@JoelHarmon But even the organization of the thing... it's like "let me crack open this book and maybe it'll tell me how to run this game." "Welcome, GM. You are master of this world. Let me describe to you the planes of existence." "Oh, okay. I guess that's where I start GMing?"

Joel Harmon

3:32 AM

@nitsua60 To its credit, 5e does have Know Your Players in there before it gets to the Great Wheel.

Also, to my detriment in this context, I didn't ever try to learn how to DM from any book. I started by just playing, then ran games by looking up the stuff I thought I needed. While I'm pretty sure I've read all the words in the book at least once, I can't claim to have done so cover to cover.

nitsua60

@JoelHarmon I feel like we're circling back to this conversation.

particularly at

Apr 8 at 2:25, by nitsua60

@BESW I was chatting with someone about looking forward to the 5e "Strongholds and Followers" book coming out. They claimed that "the DMG has that covered." So we got to talking and my position was that what the DMG's got is an excellent quick-reference for someone who already knows how to do all this.

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 Accurate.

nitsua60

Though I really should abuse some mod powers and edit "excellent" (and, frankly, "quick") out of that quote.

Having to sit there flipping back and forth muttering "are the damn traps before or after the huge chunk of magic items? Oh, right, both. Well, which part of traps am I looking for?" is neither quick nor excellent.

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 I use post-it notes to make quick reference tabs.

Rubiksmoose

@nitsua60 Yeah the DMG is fine, but none of the 5e books are laid out in a way such that I would describe them as being "quick"

nitsua60

3:41 AM

@Rubiksmoose Nor instructional. They're reference works.

(And I say anyone who claims otherwise already knew how to play when they cracked open the book.)

Joel Harmon

Ok, that's it for me for now. Later, all!

Rubiksmoose

@nitsua60 I think I have to agree here as well. I don't think anyone can possibly learn to DM from scratch from the DMG. It just doesn't serve that purpose.

nitsua60

Which is fine, to have the DMG be the reference work. But it bugs me that WotC doesn't produce anything that fits that bill. (The starter set's not horrible--in fact, I like a lot about it. But is' not "zero to GM.")

Ben

I am so good at life

I am going to share a beautiful little nugget of information for all you good folks of the world

You can strain your cup noodles easily: simply puncture the lid with a fork.

nitsua60

@Ben I think you need stronger noodles, if fork-puncturing strains them.

(Assuming "cup noodles" is your term of endearment for your triceps.)

And with that brilliant bit of wit, I bid you all a good night!

Anaphory

8:22 AM

@Rubiksmoose Everything is improved by running Masks! DMing even more so.

The Masked Rebel

9:47 AM

o/

trogdor

10:08 AM

\o

kviiri

10:33 AM

trogdor

lol

kviiri

First game of 7th Sea tonight (although beginning with some same paging and char creation)

trogdor

it's definitely a strange looking game

oh wait I must be thinking of something else

oh,... Sunless Sea yep that's what I had in my head XD

my bad

kviiri

10:56 AM

Never mind :)

7th Sea seems a lot of fun

I hope it goes well ^^

trogdor

same

I hope you all have a good time with it

kviiri

Thank you!

user362639

11:19 AM

weee

user362639

hAllo

Sdjz

@Mustachachu Hello

kviiri

Hiya

user362639

:D

kviiri

Have to go now, I need to deliver some items

The opposite of a fetch quest

Joel Harmon

11:34 AM

@Ben That seems like it might work out on lifehacks.SE

Derpy

@JoelHarmon ... that is even written out on the lid of some cup noodles brands

user362639

back

user362639

went to eat breakfast

user362639

and do work around the house

user362639

12:17 PM

:P

user362639

hello @Szega

user362639

@Rubiksmoose

user362639

hAllo

Rubiksmoose

Hello :)

user362639

:D

doppelgreener

12:43 PM

@Ben genius

Szega

@Mustachachu Oh hi. I was AFK, sry

user362639

it okey dokey

user362639

I got nothing to really talk about

user362639

so if you got something interesting like a character

Szega

I am actually creating a Fate character at the moment and hit a sort of creative speedbump

user362639

12:54 PM

what is the bump

Szega

well, in this world everyone has a "Talent", an ability we would consider supernatural. most have useless powers or not sure what it is

but PC of course have ones that are at least partially useful

user362639

mmmmmmmhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Szega

I was thinking something flexible to not limit myself much. I like the idea of creating impromptu performances. Like when i start to dance, random passersby join, as if we were in a musical

user362639

mmmmmmmmmmhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm

Szega

But not sure if this will actually be able to accomplish much

user362639

12:58 PM

well, though it may not do much, it still ok

user362639

hey @NautArch

Szega

Most of the time its just a distraction and does not vary much, which might make it boring

user362639

when you get ambushed, just start dancing :P

Szega

yeah, in that way it might even be too powerful

I do not expect much ambushing, the game will focus on heists

user362639

when you get caught START DANCING

Szega

1:01 PM

yeah, but I gotta stop sometime, and they will catch me/us then...

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