TRPG General Chat

3:00 PM

if you need a +1 magic weapon your system progression is broken

or your playerbase should be playing a purely loot based game

@JoshuaAslanSmith Well there's the catch that that +1 is not just +1 but also bypasses nonmagical weapon resistance (which is very common)

Although I think they are still boring x)

Joshua Aslan Smith

right, but a flavorful magic weapon vs a statistical magic weapon

like +1 magic weapon vs sting, it glows n the dark when orcs are near

kviiri

@JoshuaAslanSmith Yea, exactly

I never was too fond of those +X weps

Our barbarian was getting bored in one short campaign segment I ran and I asked him if he'd like a magical item. "Yeah a plus something axe", he said, but I really didn't want to give him just a minor boring stat boost

David Coffron

@doppelgreener nvm. Got a fast answer on SSDs so I duped mine

Joshua Aslan Smith

sting is never explicitly a better sword, all of the elven craftsmanship is in the aesthetics and its ability to detect orcs thats it

kviiri

3:02 PM

Ultimately I gave him an axe that counted as magical and allowed him to cast certain spells on last-hits.

(Because he's of the type of player who likes to land killing blows)

doppelgreener

@DavidCoffron mods can do that, but wow that's quite a rare situation

Carcer

I'm designing a sort of post-apocalyptic setting where nobody knows how to craft magical items at that scale anymore, so every magical item available is necessarily ancient and special

doppelgreener

@Carcer so like breath of the wild?

Carcer

they can make big magical objects, but not something the size of a sword or armour

haven't rediscovered miniaturisation

I have not played breath of the wild so can't compare

but I'm sure a lot of works have had the same concept, ancient forgotten magic/science isn't the most original trope

Joshua Aslan Smith

BotW is a zelda game where you startplaying after link/everyone failed and ganon won like 1k years ago and the prexisting societies have fractured and fallen apart in a bronze age collapse kind of thing

there is a lot of very D&D lost/corrupted magic-tech stuff foing on

Carcer

3:07 PM

cool. Broadly similar concept for the setting I'm designing, big magical disaster many generations ago and what's left of civilisation is contained in limited safe areas outside which stuff is wild and weird

Joshua Aslan Smith

yeah, like D&D S.T.A.L.K.E.R could be pretty cool really depends on the ruleset at this point for me

David Coffron

@Rubiksmoose do you remember him? He seems pretty excited. XD

Sir Cinnamon

oh dear

Carcer

@DavidCoffron it's difficult not to read that comment without imagining him pressed up against a window in a storm, spraying mustard on the window

Joshua Aslan Smith

he needs to know RIGHT NOW

Rubiksmoose

3:14 PM

@DavidCoffron hah! Awkwardly enough I do not, but if this person changed their username and profile pic I wouldn't really have any way of recognizing them I don't think lol.

But apparently I made an impression lol

Carcer

I feel like these comments probaly ought to be flagged but I'm not sure what to flag them.

Rubiksmoose

Not Needed I would say.

It is entirely "Conversational"

Does anyone else see a weird simpsons-esque bust in mustard's profile picture (in the small one especially)?

doppelgreener

@Rubiksmoose yes

Rubiksmoose

Good good. Always good to get a Wednesday sanity check lol

doppelgreener

To me it's someone with a big head with puffy cheeks in a red dressing gown

Rubiksmoose

3:27 PM

That is exactly it for me as well.

Carcer

I also saw that and it took me a long while to realise it was not that

David Coffron

@doppelgreener any rules about linking to online marketplaces? I was going to link mustard to a place where he can find the half-elf variants without having to buy the whole book (dndbeyond.com which is approved by WoTC). Is that allowed?

doppelgreener

@Carcer I just assumed it was some weird claymation screenshot until Rubiksmoose actually asked about it :D

@DavidCoffron Linking to D&D Beyond is absolutely 100% fine

Joshua Aslan Smith

always okay to refer to the original publisher

doppelgreener

You may link to marketplaces, you may link anywhere. The rules are don't link to places that engage in mass piracy or otherwise are just really unsafe to point someone to.

But absolutely for sure you may link to D&D Beyond.

Like Josh says it's the original publisher

Carcer

3:40 PM

well

strictly it's not

doppelgreener

okay, yes, but that's splitting a hair that's seriously weird to split

Carcer

dndbeyond has a license to publish the content online and is obviously closely entwined with wizards but explicitly is not wizards

ravery

is my answer unviewable due to a -3 vote? I've edited it

-3

A: What size category is a reduced Tarrasque?

In 5e, specific overrules general. However, which is the specific, might be up to DM discretion. The following would allow the benefic of Reduce without contradicting size. I would say the Tarrasque is still gargantuan, but half as gargantuan as he was so reduce it's damage due to the size reduc...

doppelgreener

Sony outsources their networking & data centers for the PS4 Network to other companies. Does that make the PS4 Network a third party service? Not really.

Carcer

I think it's enough to say that it's an official resource

doppelgreener

3:41 PM

But when WotC outsources their online service & content to another company to run and maintain, people suggest D&D Beyond is a third party service.

Carcer

it's not really the same as outsourcing a function

doppelgreener

I mean. WotC requested it be made. WotC supplies its content, endorses it, and points to it. It exists at WotC's behest and support. What about it is third party exactly?

Carcer

now that you are describing it I think I had a different impression about why this site existed

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose thanks for the image! Appreciated, amigo. :)

doppelgreener

It sprung up specifically because WotC was seeking to outsource the creation of an online information portal for D&D 5e content.

Carcer

3:43 PM

hrm

doppelgreener

Before that they were in talks with another company called Trapdoor Tech to make it, but they decided to part ways with Trapdoor Tech and instead outsourced it to Curse network.

Carcer

it's not outsourcing by the definition that I would think of, in that it is presented as being from a separate entity rather than under the name of wizards

but sure

just my brain getting pedantic about definitions now

doppelgreener

outsourcing just means "get another company to do this work for us" and that's it, there's no branding or presentation requirements for something to be outsourcing

Carcer

I agree that in all meaningful respects it's an official source

doppelgreener

you and a bunch of other people in the D&D community

it's kinda weird that the line gets drawn at all

i mean i wish the MTG side would follow the cue of the D&D side and outsource some of its services

Rubiksmoose

3:48 PM

@KorvinStarmast No problemo! sorry for the formatting issues. I had my device crap out right as I was trying to fix it.

Joshua Aslan Smith

does it have official D&D branding and have a pass from legal, is it funneling money to Wizards/hasbro?

its official

Carcer

yeah, it's only that the relationship between things can be complicated

Rubiksmoose

Interesting relevant tweet:

Joshua Aslan Smith

its like when had to call a call center for updating my credit card info for the 4e tools and the company was just a general billing and subscription company

Rubiksmoose

The "Player's Handbook" is the game's official rulebook. #DnD https://twitter.com/ApolloLumina/status/1022888062458757120

Tweeted by JeremyECrawford on July 27, 2018 at 5:58 PM

I give a mix of answers: some are simple, and some are aimed at teaching people to fish. For example, if you learn that the "Player's Handbook" is the official D&D rulebook, you're never tripped up if another source contradicts it, for you know that the PH takes precedence. #DnD https://twitter.com/medik68/status/1022916331325325312

Tweeted by JeremyECrawford on July 27, 2018 at 7:01 PM

Joshua Aslan Smith

3:52 PM

heh

its true though in the way the mm and DMG are presented

DMG is like heres a book long unearthed arcana article

with items, optional rules, class modifications, race modifications, and some timps on gming

Carcer

I mean, case in point, I work with a shedload of cisco kit, some of which we have on support directly with cisco and some which is supported through a third party supplier who themselves works with cisco, and it is a very significant and important distinction when it comes to how we can go about doing things

and crawford's clear stance (as rubiksmoose shows above) is that the books published by WotC are the only OFFICIAL rules source, so

it's not surprising that others in the community may adopt a slightly disdainful tone to dndbeyond as well

doppelgreener

It's probably the same line that gets drawn that basically disowns third party publishers

Except in this case it's also winding up disowning the product they're paying for

Carcer

and dndbeyond isn't always in complete agreement with the current state of the game

the last time I looked I think the resting rules in basic rules specifically weren't reflective of current errata

doppelgreener

There's probably some definitions getting overloaded here.

"Official" can mean a bunch of things. Here they're using it to mean "authoritative" or "primary".

Xirema

Speaking of, anyone else see that massive reddit post that blew up about roll20?

doppelgreener

3:56 PM

D&D Beyond is also "official". It is the online D&D 5e service WotC points people to.

Carcer

@Xirema no. Do enlighten

doppelgreener

I talk about it a bit further up. :)

4 hours ago, by doppelgreener

Roll20 is having a PR episode. A Roll20 staff member banned a user from the Roll20 subreddit on the basis of concern they might be a ban evader, they weren't sure but chose to “play it safe” and ban them (chronicled here). The user is concerned that they, and the other person Roll20 staff thought they were, were both banned apparently specifically on the basis of having criticised Roll20.

(We should avoid gossip and backbiting.)

There's other messages that follow about the situation.

Carcer

oh, banned from the subreddit

I misparsed that on the first go

doppelgreener

Right. Banned from the subreddit (which is run by Roll20 staff), and then the user decided to close and delete their roll20 account since they consider themselves unjustly removed from the discussion space, and onlookers agree.

There's a lot of people piling in saying they're also cancelling their subscriptions, moving elsewhere, or were considering Roll20 but now definitely won't use it.

Xirema

Yeah. I'm always a bit tepid when it comes to gamer community blowups, because they tend to give me Gamergate flashbacks, but also, a business cofounder moderating their own subreddit? That's a biiiiig red flag, right there.

Yuuki

4:00 PM

It can be said that this whole thing is a bit of an overreaction, but massive blowback like this emphasizes the importance of good PR.

David Coffron

@doppelgreener I mean... you can use it for free. I get cancelling subscriptions but it's a free resource if you want it to be.

doppelgreener

Ultimately it looks like they've generated a PR nightmare out of one dude leaving one post providing feature critique in a thread requesting feature critique.

Yuuki

And also maybe not being the PR guy if you're a co-founder.

Carcer

so, basically elon musking it, then

Sir Cinnamon

I heard about this last night. I wanna look more into it but man, no company comes off well when they get pissed at criticism

GreySage

4:01 PM

@doppelgreener Usually gamer blowups and "people cancelling their subscriptions" amount to next to nothing. If I were roll20 I wouldn't be worried

Xirema

@Yuuki That too. PR takes actual training, you can't just slouch into the job just because you founded the company.

Yuuki

I find that it's common in tech companies, partly due to a minor cult of personality and partly due to the tech sector's general disdain for marketing and sales.

Xirema

I mean, you can if you're still a startup—but also, a startup probably wouldn't be important enough to generate this kind of backlash.

Yuuki

I dunno, if you're ever have anything public-facing like a forum or subreddit, you need to hire at least one PR person, imo.

ravery

if he is this banned user, then he'd be banned again regardless of what he posted. and no one knows why the original user was banned

Xirema

4:03 PM

@Yuuki I agree, and also want to change the subject quickly because I've accidentally started like 5 conversations in this room about Tech Sector toxicity in the last few weeks just on my own. =P

Rubiksmoose

@Carcer You are correct. Just verified this. Of course this matches many of the books out there so in this case it is no more out of date than them. Still, this is a bad oversight.

Yuuki

@GreySage Judging by the co-founder's comment on the post, which has been downvoted into oblivion, it does seem to be the case that they're not worried.

doppelgreener

It'd probably be safe and sensible for them to:
1. Remove staff from the moderation list, and outsource moderation to a neutral third party.
2. Reverse the person's ban. Reach out to them privately and directly with a personal apology. Offer one year free subscription if they wish to return to Roll20, and express understanding that they may not.
3. Publicly apologise to the community for screwing up. Say they are installing neutral external moderation on the subreddit and say they have reached out to the person banned, reversed the ban, and offered them free time if they want to return.

Yuuki

It's mentioned in the comment threads, but Reddit used to have a policy of strongly discouraging companies from running their own subreddits.

'Course, that all went the way of the dodo when they realized that they needed to make money.

doppelgreener

@Yuuki well... that precedes the current state of fiasco escalation. So that might change still.

This is the reason companies have a social media team though: the social media team is not responsible for the product, so the social media team does not have to feel personally slighted if the product is being criticised.

They can be impersonal and not care, and just focus on keeping things working smoothly.

Carcer

4:07 PM

unfortunately the side effect of that is often that the social media time doesn't know very much about the product, either

Xirema

@GreySage The thing I'd be worried about is the fact that I don't know how big Roll20 is to begin with. Usually when people talk about cancelling their subscriptions, we're talking about companies like EA, who are way too big to give a flying poop what people think of them.

Rubiksmoose

@Carcer However, they also haven't updated the pdf version of the basic rules either which means it is in agreement with the parent source.

Carcer

see: every social media intern who took to twitter to ever say anything ever about their site's password policy

@Rubiksmoose [shakes fist at wizards]

Xirema

Roll20 isn't as big as EA though. A consumer outrage machine large enough to both hit r/all and start occupying Twitter might actually do damage to them.

GreySage

@Xirema Twitter was the worst thing to ever happen to businesses, but it's so funny to watch them fail at it.

Rubiksmoose

4:10 PM

@Carcer The last time they updated them was in 2015 with the last PHB errata.

Joshua Aslan Smith

I feel like gamer outrage can even change EA, ea didnt go bankrupt or even face that risk but the downturn in battlefront 2 sales basically caused a lot of investor questions and the company to change tact with their next major release of BF5

Carcer

of course we save your password in plaintext, friend user, how else are we meant to email it back to you when you forget it? All of our login pages use HTTPS!

Yuuki

And let's just stop the gaming-related stuff there because I don't want to talk about consumer outrage with BF5.

doppelgreener

@Carcer "everything's secure, gary, what do you know about security. storing passwords in plaintext is fine, we have a certificate on the website and strong password requirements for peoples' 6-12 character passwords."

Xirema

@doppelgreener [Muffled Agonized Screaming]

Carcer

4:12 PM

@doppelgreener "we've disabled pasting into the password field because using a password manager is insecure and you shouldn't do that"

Joshua Aslan Smith

"were running Apache Struts [6 distros back] so its super secure"

Trish

@doppelgreener Oh, plaintext passwords are fine?! Great... dies

@Carcer and encourage weak passwords...

Xirema

@doppelgreener "Passwords require a number, lowercase letter, AND uppercase letter! How could anyone possibly break it?!?!"

doppelgreener

@Xirema "our phone lines are COMPLETELY secure so if you think there's something insecure about reading out your password to a customer service agent who can access the full password in plaintext, then sorry the problem is on your end don't let people eavesdrop ~TN"

Yuuki

@Xirema And exactly 8 characters! That's a really long password!

Joshua Aslan Smith

4:14 PM

@Xirema [ muffled catawumpas]

Carcer

the single most annoying password-related thing I ever had was when I finally worked out that the password setting function for a site would silently truncate after their character limit

their unspecified character limit

Joshua Aslan Smith

haha thats pretty bad from a user perspective

Carcer

yeah

Joshua Aslan Smith

totally a database column field limit

Carcer

it was only the password set, too

the login did not

doppelgreener

4:15 PM

@Carcer OH NO

Carcer

so I'd set the password and then be unable to login with the password I just set

it took a while to figure out that one

ravery

@Carcer so it was the data base truncating not the login screen

doppelgreener

this reminds me of php sad #47 which introduced quintillions of password hash collisions

GreySage

@Carcer That is just the worst thing I've ever heard

Carcer

@doppelgreener oh php.

doppelgreener

4:19 PM

@Carcer that's slightly better than setting the password then being able to log in with any arbitrary password that matched the pre-crop section

if only because it's slightly more secure by still only allowing 1 password to let you in, instead of many permutations

Carcer

true enough

doppelgreener

also it's an obvious fail

if it silently cropped on saving and on checking then you might've never noticed @_@

Carcer

yeah, that could definitely have been worse

Sir Cinnamon

Blizzard was doing that for a while

Carcer

but it was the most annoying to me because it took me a while to figure out

Sir Cinnamon

4:31 PM

you could type or math only the first 8 characters of a password and it would match

Carcer

it was not obvious there was a character limit

Sir Cinnamon

OH! And they were removing case sensetivity

Carcer

case-insensitive passwords is the highest order of nonsense

Sir Cinnamon

The easiest thing in the world to implement too. It's actually harder to NOT be case sensetive

Carcer

depends on the language your auth system is written in

I'm sure php has like three different inconsistent ways to ask for case-insensitive string comparison

one of which rounds down depending on the phase of the moon

David Coffron

4:40 PM

@Carcer I'm going to include a RNG which strings from moon phases in all my games from now on

Carcer

@DavidCoffron harken ye back to good old dungeon keeper - that had bonus levels which were only accessible on days with a full moon.

David Coffron

@Carcer reminds me a bit of Pokemon where some Pokemon only show up during specific times/days (or show up with greater frequency)

Carcer

though I think the calendar of moon phases they put in only extended so far into the future, so it might be the case you need to set your system clock to several years ago in order to get them to show up now

Rubiksmoose

@DavidCoffron My mind was so blown when G/S/C did this.

Helwar

@Carcer that's not quaint at all

David Coffron

4:44 PM

@Carcer really? That's weird. Moon phases are fairly regular so they could've just made a formula based on the system clock, no?

Carcer

@DavidCoffron you can figure it out programmatically, but it is simpler to just hardcode a list of dates

for a little easter egg having someone write code to work it properly may not have been considered worth the effort

DK is very old

doppelgreener

Donkey Kong?

Carcer

Dungeon Keeper

Rubiksmoose

That is what I thought as well lol

doppelgreener

@SirCinnamon OH NO

that & the thing before it

Carcer

4:48 PM

I might be wrong though, they could have done it properly

doppelgreener

there's no reason to make passwords case-insensitive. D:

Yuuki

@Rubiksmoose It was definitely cool and felt so much more immersive, but only being able to catch specific Pokemon at certain times could get frustrating.

doppelgreener

and so many reasons to leave them exactly as-is

Yuuki

Especially if it was Morning-only.

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki Agreed, but I thought it was fun overall.

David Coffron

4:49 PM

@Yuuki yeah especially when my parents didn't late me play much so i could only play in the middle of the night while they were sleeping

Rubiksmoose

It is probably why they haven't done something exactly like it since I think.

Yuuki

@DavidCoffron I choose to believe that this is why Umbreon is the more popular one of the duo.

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki hahaha

GreySage

@DavidCoffron Change the device's internal clock

David Coffron

@GreySage I was like 9

Yuuki

4:50 PM

@Rubiksmoose I do miss scheduled events though.

Rubiksmoose

@DavidCoffron I like how badly this misfired on them. Now not only are you playing the same amount, you are also losing sleep.

Yuuki

The bug-catching contest in Goldenrod City was great. And sometimes frustrating. But also great.

Getting a Scyther before the first half of the game felt so much better than having to wait until the Safari Zone in Red/Blue.

Rubiksmoose

Oh man I had forgotten about those.

David Coffron

@Yuuki I uses to get so mad during my semi-competitive battling says that some events were Japan exclusive. Petty teenager days

Yuuki

@DavidCoffron The good thing is that GTS is far more accessible now than it used to be. And events are easier to access as well.

Just be in a place with wi-fi rather than having to show up in-person.

I somewhat recall a Surfing Pikachu promotion that I couldn't do because I didn't live in New York and therefore couldn't go to the only Pokemon Center in the country.

Rubiksmoose

4:55 PM

@Yuuki Those were the worst!

@DavidCoffron There are actually still a ton of events that are still Japan exclusive.

David Coffron

@Rubiksmoose yeah but i dont care as much anymore xD

Rubiksmoose

For whatever reason they often get much better and more frequent events than here, but I think it is getting slightly better.

Rubiksmoose

5:07 PM

@DavidCoffron why did you spoiler that quote in How to resolve Burning Hands with a Dying Ally?

(especially since the previous sentence in the answer gives the spoiler in full as well)

Just curious honestly.

David Coffron

@Rubiksmoose I mean bc it technically is a spoiler.

Rubiksmoose

I guess so, but then we need to spoil the whole thing because the sentence before it already spoils it.

But I don't think it matters that much either way honestly.

David Coffron

5:23 PM

@Rubiksmoose the sentence before could just be a way that wolves might react to getting blasted by fire. The quote is information the players may not be privy to

Rubiksmoose

Cool. Makes sense.

David Coffron

5:51 PM

26

A: Can spells be cast through a Wall of Force?

Mike Mearls rules Wall of Force does block spells, including lines of effect Quoting Mike Mearls on Twitter: Aug 28Jim Miller ‏@pokereleran@mikemearls Is there a line of effect in D&D and does Wall of Force block it? Mike Mearls – ‏@mikemearls@pokereleran in general, a barrier that stop...

Mike Mearls = "knows the game supremely well." I beg to differ

He knows D&D lore really well and he has a great intuition for what makes the game enjoyable, but I find his rules knowledge for 5e to be a little lacking

Rubiksmoose

@DavidCoffron Depends. If by "the game" you mean "the rules" then probably not. If by "the game" you mean "creating fun around a table", then I would agree he knows it well.

David Coffron

@Rubiksmoose +1 that's exactly how I'd put it

I guess I just have this gut reaction when people quote Mearls as a rules authority when he's been shown to be wrong more times than I can count

Rubiksmoose

@DavidCoffron I agree and feel the same way. I mean JC has his share of mistakes but he is actually far more reliable than Mearls at least about not contradicting basic written rules.

It was also a large part of why I really wanted to bounty that Q&A to try to get another better answer up towards the top.

David Coffron

@Rubiksmoose well it got Quadratic my updoot so part of the mission accomplished

Rubiksmoose

@DavidCoffron woohoo!

Colin Gross

6:05 PM

For some people consistency is as important as fun.

kviiri

@DavidCoffron Amen to this

Rubiksmoose

I actually gave the top answer a downvote. I don't like dev only answers in general. And especially when there are valid textual evidence to discuss and the dev in question in Mearls.

Colin Gross

@Yuuki I haven't been tracking the roll20 fecal theater since this morning. Anything new or interesting?

Rubiksmoose

Though I agree with the ruling, the answer itself is not good.

Colin Gross

@Rubiksmoose So Mearls generally gets a -1 from you?

Yuuki

6:09 PM

@ColinGross I've heard the subreddit mods have been purging critical posts with a frenzy.

kviiri

@ColinGross Rubik didn't say that, they said they don't like dev only answers, and FWIW it's a sentiment I understand and share.

Rubiksmoose

@ColinGross I don't downvote if I see Mearls in any answer. You can integrate his opinions as part of a larger answer that uses other sources of evidence to support the points you are trying to make. But if your entire answer is Mearls then yes I generally will give it a straight downvote for sure.

To be fair I am also likely to do that with answers that are just a JC quote.

Colin Gross

@Yuuki The entire top posts all time are now f-that-guy posts.

Looks like he's attracted the ire of /r/all

"The haters have arrived"

kviiri

@ColinGross While I sort of oppose hate trains... kinda impressive a niche-ish hobby like TTRPGs attract such traction.

Colin Gross

@Rubiksmoose Really? So does that count for any direct quotes of the rules? or is the synergy greater than the sum of the contributors?

@kviiri Yeah. I think it's pretty telling.

Rubiksmoose

6:13 PM

@ColinGross Not at all, some answers are directly given in the text so sometimes there is not a lot to say about it. So short answers who quote only the rules are perfectly fine when done well. If your answer is literally just a quote and nothing else it will probably fall foul of our guidelines against single line answers and actually explaining the answer anyways though. JC is not a rules source and certainly not a direct one.

Colin Gross

@Rubiksmoose Wait. One liners are bad?

Those are the coveted answers in the linux and overflow exchanges.

Xirema

I can't help but get the impression that a lot of the people upset now are using a [serious, unresolved] mistake by the Roll20 staff to project a whole lot of unrelated, mostly undeserved hatred of the Roll20 platform as a whole.

Yuuki

@ColinGross In my experience, anyone who uses the term "haters" un-ironically and un-sarcastically probably deserves what they're getting.

David Coffron

@ColinGross not bad, but not good either. A food answer supports the quotes with additional context

Colin Gross

@Yuuki Heck.. I used the term. I'm getting a cursed item in the next loot roll.

David Coffron

6:19 PM

@Yuuki careful for Be Nice policy. "Deserves what they're getting" is toeing a line imo

Rubiksmoose

@ColinGross From the help center article on answering: "Brevity is acceptable, but fuller explanations are better." They aren't automatically bad, but if your answer is only a single line you better ask yourself if you are surely answering the full question in the best way possible. You also have to be careful, because one-liners can come off as dismissive and aloof.

Colin Gross

@Rubiksmoose That makes sense. This does seem to be a quasi academic stack. Why answer in fourteen words when you could answer in four paragraphs.

David Coffron

I said food answer... :facepalm:

Colin Gross

Actually, probably just the difference between "answer" and "explanation"

David Coffron

@ColinGross I usually try to answer in 14 words and then expand below in case further clarification is needed

Colin Gross

6:21 PM

food answer is good answer. Sometimes you just need a banana.

Yuuki

@Rubiksmoose "It's the part of the blade where some material is removed to form a groove, reducing weight without sacrificing strength or structural integrity."

Colin Gross

@DavidCoffron I'm happy when the 14 words is in a tl;dr at the top.

@Yuuki But which one looks cooler in a vampire movie?

Yuuki

I don't know, I was just asked for a fuller explanation.

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki Hmmm I think I missed this one lol

Yuuki

Fuller (weapon)

A fuller is a rounded or beveled longitudinal groove or slot along the flat side of a blade (e.g. a sword, knife, or bayonet) that is made using a blacksmithing tool called a spring swage or, like the groove, a fuller. A fuller is often used to lighten the blade. When combined with proper distal tapers, heat treatment and blade tempering, a fullered blade can be 20% to 35% lighter than a non-fullered blade without any sacrifice of strength or blade integrity. This effect lessens as the blade is reduced in length. A blade is said to be "fullered" after introduction of the groove. Fullers used to...

user15026

6:23 PM

facedesk

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki ahhhhhhhhhhh. lol

David Coffron

I didn't downvote your answer here because it's not a poor answer, but the other answers that have more support via quotes or logical explanations are better so some of them got an upvote

Rubiksmoose

This is an example of a good brief and supported answer.

But even then clearly more explanation was desired so not good enough.

David Coffron

0

Q: Is there a way to make my enemy attack me?

When I was creating a character for 4e D&D game useing online sources I accidentally found a class that I really liked - Knight. My problem is that it was a 3.5 source; in 4e it has really diferent class features. In 3.5 it had an ability to make enemies make him the preferred target, so that...

dnd-4e

Best username lol

doppelgreener

@trogdor @BESW D&D 4e question that is very much down your alleys: rpg.stackexchange.com/q/132474/1204

David Coffron

6:36 PM

@doppelgreener your new avatar is a lot like mine. I'll make a change tonight

@Rubiksmoose do you remember who's green geometric background this was? Was it NautArch?

Rubiksmoose

Noooo everyone can't change their avatars, what an I supposed to do actually read people's names?! Ridiculous!

doppelgreener

@DavidCoffron oh right! i was meaning to flip mine

Rubiksmoose

It was nice guycs believe

David Coffron

@Rubiksmoose I'm only gonna eecolor or shrink the green on a different backdrop. It'll look similar just less green

doppelgreener

but i have things i need to do so i will let you change yours and look forward to seeing what you pick XD

Rubiksmoose

6:39 PM

*guy's

Rubiksmoose

6:49 PM

goodguy5 specifically (don't know why I didn't do that in the first place lol)

If I'm remembering correctly

David Coffron

@Rubiksmoose yeah yeah. Now I remember

GreySage

@Rubiksmoose I should change mine to be exactly the same, but green instead of blue

David Coffron

@GreySage you monster

I wasn't here during the Paris attacks but out of curiosity did you all get the wave of French flags that showed up all over the internet?

KorvinStarmast

@Yuuki Steve Jobs being a significant outlier in that regard.

Yuuki

@KorvinStarmast Well, maybe in the sense of less disdain for marketing and sales. But Jobs has/had a pretty massive cult of personality.

KorvinStarmast

7:01 PM

@Xirema Where do you think that the need for the new code of conduct, and the new user experience change comes from? ;)

Xirema

@KorvinStarmast Hooooo boy do I have opinions about that, not least of which are about the outraged tech sector boys that are really upset that they're not allowed to be transphobic in their IRC chatrooms anymore, pretending that being called out for their bigotry is them being "censored".

(There was a massive-relative-to-the-normal thread on r/vulkan on that subject)

Rubiksmoose

But then again we are now veering back into discussing tech sector toxicity again,

Xirema

Yeah.....

It's so hard to escape though.

Rubiksmoose

Very true. Just pointing out the path we were on lol

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose How is that different from talking about the weather? Some things just are. :p

Colin Gross

7:26 PM

@doppelgreener I'll have you know that I like to keep my rule book sources anonymous for their own protection.

You start citing PHB or DMG and then you've got dozens of people hounding them and reading them like a book.

@Rubiksmoose That seems like an unending can of worms.

@Xirema Interestingly, I worked with a couple other freelance people that used the HRC rating of organizations to decide who they'd take contracts with. These people didn't really care one way or another about lgbtq rights, but used it as a general litmus test of organizations. Short handing it to, if you can talk about persistence layers and business logic implementation cogently regardless of how the people at the table present themselves.

Axoren

Okay, I'm gonna order food and make some major revisions to that question.

@Helwar I'll take a look, but I think someone corrected it as an obvious edit already.

Xirema

7:42 PM

@ColinGross I mean, I can't even begin to hazard a guess as to the "cause-effect" relationship, but it's well established that an organization being able to bring demographically diverse voices to the table correlates positively with their problem-solving abilities. So even if you're just a conniving Capitalist just trying to turn a better profit, you'd still benefit from doing stuff like that.

Colin Gross

@Xirema That's basically how this pair ran their freelance work. I liked it. Thought it was an interesting metric. The relationship for these two was the higher the rating, the more likely a contract was to be hassle free.

Xirema

(If I WERE to make a "cause-effect" claim, I would argue that skills like empathy, skills which are sorely lacking in a lot of tech sector cultures for being too touchy-feely, make you a lot better able to understand complex problems, and also make you better at being tolerant and accepting of diverse people)

But of course, I'm not doing that, because I'm not an expert on the subject. 8)

Colin Gross

yeah yeah.. like patience and all that, but how long is that going to take?

KorvinStarmast

8:29 PM

@Yakk has the best answer to the burning hands question d7 posed. IMO.

Sir Cinnamon

8:45 PM

I think i prefer yours unless some more detail and clarity is added to Yakks

trogdor

@doppelgreener ah it's on hold though,.......

Sir Cinnamon

@GreySage This is what I'm (poorly) attempting to describe in my comment study.com/cimages/multimages/16/cone-slices.jpg

GreySage

9:07 PM

@SirCinnamon I understand, and agree that would make some kind of sense. That isn't what Yakk wrote however. Yakk specified a circle, not a disc.

Sir Cinnamon

@GreySage I interpreted that as a colloquialism (much like how a lot of that question is using cone and triangle interchangeably) but fair enough, if the confusion prompts a clarifying edit then all the better

KorvinStarmast

@SirCinnamon Thank you kind sir.

I went text heavy, Yakk went with text light. :)

GreySage

@SirCinnamon I think if it specified disc then it would be a great answer, right now it's kind of confusing and meh

@KorvinStarmast I think your answer would benefit from a clear answer upfront, right now the answer (3d cone) is buried in the middle beneath charts and quotes.

KorvinStarmast

@GreySage Let me take a look; my top line says cone. (Should I lose the parenthecital bit? )

@GreySage What would you differently, organizationally? (I made a little bit of a clean up)

GreySage

9:22 PM

@KorvinStarmast I think that looks a lot better

KorvinStarmast

@GreySage Ok, thanks.

doppelgreener

9:36 PM

@trogdor it's open again 👍

trogdor

@doppelgreener ah mk

This is a tricky one because he is asking for something that isn't in 4e

,......

Well yes you can force an enemy to attack you but only if you are a horrible masochist who wants to waste a daily meant for making them hit thier friends to instead have them target you

4e isn't designed for defenders to have all the answers,... You would need strikers and a leader who also specilized in reducing likelyhood of enemies hitting anyone but the Knight

And even that isn't the same thing

BESW

They'd be better off going for a build that forces situations, like "it's just you and me over here and so my friends are over there."

trogdor

He could take a feat that makes his marks better

@BESW yeah

Basically, what he wants is impossible

So I don't even know what to tell him

I have suggestions for making him a better defender, but I don't have exactly what he wants

GreySage

@trogdor Tell him what he wants is impossible, and suggest a better question/course of action

trogdor

Mmk

Now I gotta whip up an answer I guess

That might take a little bit

Hmm maybe actually

V2Blast

9:49 PM

An update to the /r/roll20 drama: The Roll20 employees are stepping down from moderating the /r/roll20 subreddit, and have turned over control to the /r/lfg mod team. - reddit.com/r/Roll20/comments/9j6k9s/…

trogdor

The answer is just, "I'm pretty sure this is impossible" maybe the suggestion about a different question is just a comment?

Because he kinda isn't asking for anything else

Wibbs

10:02 PM

@trogdor maybe phrase it a bit like a frame challenge?

trogdor

@Wibbs how would I do that?

@doppelgreener so I posted an answer,... Should I add into that answer a suggestion to ask a different kind of question or should I make that a comment?

I'm thinking it's probably comment territory

Wibbs

I dunno, something along the lines of 'what you're asking is impossible, but your underlying aim seems to be this. If that's the case then I would suggest........'?

trogdor

Ah

Wibbs

maybe frame-challenge was the wrong word, but you get what I mean

trogdor

I didn't think that was kosher

Wibbs

10:08 PM

is it not? why's that?

trogdor

I'm no expert

Wibbs

you could well be right :)

@trogdor I'm certainly not :D

trogdor

But a separate suggestion that doesn't encompass his actual question,....

Wibbs

why exactly is it that you're making the suggestion?

trogdor

He didn't ask for tips how to work general defense in 4e, he asked if a specific thing is something he can do

@Wibbs because i think if he still wants to go ahead with the game and be a defender he might need help deciding how to go about it?

Wibbs

10:11 PM

@trogdor maybe a comment on his question would be better then shrug

trogdor

There are a lot of options for just how to make it a bad day for enemies to attack someone else without technically taking the choice away from them

@Wibbs seems fair

Mk made a comment as well

Took way less time to do any of that than I thought

I used to take like, an hour to answer stuff XD

Axoren

Off-topic: Okay, hear me out. I know Tacos and Burritos are different. But what's the difference?

user15026

@Axoren usually tacos to me are an open thing and burritos are a closed thing

Axoren

@Ash Is that the only difference? I always assumed it was more.

Like if you screw up wrapping a burrito, does it just become a taco?

trogdor

@Ash welp you sniped that out from under me pretty good there XD

user15026

10:23 PM

@trogdor But hey, great minds think alike? :)

trogdor

Indeed

:)

user15026

@Axoren I'd say yes

Axoren

I was making a Taco and then I subconsciously folded it in like a burrito because it had too many ingredients

And then I couldn't for the life of me figure out why it wasn't a burrito instead of a misfolded taco.

I'm glad at least two people agree that I wasn't committing some sacrilege.

trogdor

10:39 PM

Lol

I don't personally consider that kind of thing sacrilege

But wtv

ravery

@Axoren Note: in Mexico, they use corn totillas which are too small for making burritos. Thus, burritos are an American food. Tacos, on the other hand, are found through out Mexico. And they are soft tacos. Fried shells are also American only.

3

trogdor

Ah interesting

I didn't realize that

ravery

yes, what most Americans know as Mexican food is actually Ameri-Mex. Much like a real Italian pizza doesn't have toppings. And french fries means french cut fries; they were not made in France.

@trogdor In Mexico, tortillas are frequently used to eat with instead of silverware as most of their meats is chopped/diced.

trogdor

10:59 PM

Ah ok

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