TRPG General Chat

Ben

12:41 AM

Morning from down under

Mike Q

Good evening from up over

Ben

I've noticed that my creativity starts when I'm tired. Ideas and creative solutions galore.

But zero desire to do anything about it. Catch 22.

BESW

@Ben I call it the Sleeping Critic.

My inner critic goes to bed before I do.

Mike Q

@Ben Aye, I can relate to that. Constantly coming up with neat ideas, but often too busy or tired to actually write them down in any detail.

Ben

@MikeQ and when/if you do, they're just "cat rain" and "moon noodle"

BESW

12:52 AM

Ben

jeff-strikes-back

BESW

No, this would be jeff.

Ben

It's amazing how much effect repetition of a word can have.

I have no problems with swearing, but I was onsite for a few days, a couple of months ago, and there was one guy that used the f-bomb every second or third word. Now, if someone uses the f-bomb more than once in a sentence, I get twitchy.

And now, since my housemate is such an avid fan of telling his daughter how wrong she is all the time, "no" is starting to have the same effect.

Nothing against you, of course @BESW :) it's just a realisation I've recently discovered

On the same topic, and a lighter note, one of my favourite stories from my childhood is when my father and I went shopping. Being a toddler at the time, I wanted everything sweet and savoury. But obviously, I couldn't have any of it. So instead of getting frustrated at my constant requests, he made a game of it. He would have to come up with a way to deny me, without saying "no", or repeating himself.

Of course, I eventually caught on/started enjoying the exercise, so I'd wind up just asking for anything we walked past. Soaps, dishcloths, flour, condiments...

nitsua60

1:12 AM

@BESW (and anyone else) I've heard decent things about DFRPG and have it on my list of things I want to try this year. But first I'd like to read a bit to get a sense of the setting/expectations. If you were to recommend two or three books, what would they be?

Ben

@nitsua60 DFPRG?

BESW

Hrmm. That's a bit tricky, because the series undergoes a significant scale/tone shift around book 3 or 4.

@Ben The Dresden Files RPG by Evil Hat.

Mike Q

@nitsua60 Regarding our TOA game - Because I joined late, I now realize that I don't know (OOC or IC) what is the initial plot/main quest. That could be problematic given the upcoming session (or side-sessions). What do you suggest?

BESW

Also I'd suggest the Dresden Files Accelerated RPG, rather than the original DFRPG.

nitsua60

@MikeQ If you've the interest, a chat-based flashback RP session with some group of the other players would be cool. That time on the Brazen Pegasus when they told you what-all they'd gotten rolled up in, or long days traipsing in tunnels trying to tune out Hew's complaining and criticizing =) (cc: @KorvinStarmast @NautArch @Shalvenay @trogdor)

Mike Q

1:19 AM

@nitsua60 That could work. I know bits and pieces of things going on in the world (based on what's happened in-game), but I don't know (or don't remember) what the party's main objective is.

@nitsua60 Alternatively, Salty could stick to the whole "shipwrecked sailor who is literally and figuratively lost" schtick and tell the oracle that he just followed his friends here.

nitsua60

@MikeQ That certainly wouldn't bother me. In that case you might want to be prepared for the oracle to ask you some questions about yourself, that it may provide you info you may not even realize you might want/need =)

Mike Q

@nitsua60 That's probably easier because it avoids having to wrangle up the others. Do I need a detailed backstory (age, nationality, etc) or is this more of a values/morals/desires sort of deal?

nitsua60

@MikeQ Don't go crazy with detail unless you enjoy that sort of thing--this may be the first time in thousands of years the oracle's had a person just come to chat, rather than with a specific question/goal, so I suspect she may enjoy the opportunity to let someone else shoulder some conversational burden for once!

(I'm a "play to find out" sort as far as this goes, so don't feel the need to do any "prep" you don't want to.)

Someone help me out with this question; "illegible"s definitely not the word, but I'm too tired to think of the right one....

BESW

@nitsua60 I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask, as I've become very disillusioned about the series, especially the later books.

nitsua60

@BESW Actually, you might have X recommendations rather than Y. I'd asked about Dresden (because an old colleague had recommended them), but really what I'm looking for are a few different things to read in the "big-ass magical stuff happening and protagonists help deal with it while keeping all the 'normals' protected from/oblivious of it" vein. So maybe I'll grab DF 1 and 2, but are there others you'd recommend?

BESW

1:35 AM

Ah. I'd recommend 2 and 3, actually.

nitsua60

'kay

BESW

For "Dresden Files, but actually good," I'd suggest Aaronovitch's "Peter Grant" series. First book is The Rivers of London.

nitsua60

Is that the one where the magician falls in love with the Thames?

BESW

A tributary of the Thames, yes.

Okorafor's "Sunny" series ("Akata Witch" in the US) is more YA-ish but quite good.

nitsua60

YA doesn't bother me. I blew through 3 Nicholas Flamel books this weekend.

BESW

1:39 AM

Excellent.

There's Sandman Slim, which has a lot of style but I can't really recommend it whole-heartedly because it's kinda slimy and also nonsense.

The Rachel Peng books, and their associated comic A Girl and Her Fed by KB Spangler are... not exactly what you're talking about, but close.

Mike Q

@nitsua60 The word is "eligible". Also, regarding backstories and character detail, usually I practice what I suggest - Write 1-2 sentences of story, 1-2 sentences of personality/description, then improvise during the game to retroactively fill in the blanks.

BESW

Seanan McGuire's "InCryptid" series, of course.

BESW

2:01 AM

@nitsua60 Top of the list, Peter Grant and InCryptid. Akata Witch is awesome but a little less in line with what you probably want for this request.

trogdor

@nitsua60 if you are set on reading some, I would say go for the first 3 or so and try to ignore the others exist XD

BESW

There's also Dragons of the Cuyahoga, which doesn't have a masquerade but might scratch the itch anyway.

trogdor

oh yeah that one

that's a fantastic book

it also has some strangely similar themes while having a character who isn't a wizard

the like, detective of wizard stuff thing I mean

or, I forget he doesn't use magic much right?

BESW

No, he's just a reporter.

trogdor

there we go yeah

he is still detectiving all over the story though

just not an official police type version XD

V2Blast

5:19 AM

man, this spam post got deleted in 11 seconds: rpg.stackexchange.com/posts/131011/revisions

so fast!

trogdor

5:43 AM

it's pretty great

The Oracle

9:56 AM

2

Q: Notification of edits on questions you answered

Is there a way to get notified when a question you have answered gets edited? Edits sometimes change the wording or meaning of the main question and a previously posted answer can seem badly worded or incorrect. Eg. if "Can i do X" is edited into "Am I forbidden to do X", an answer that highlight...

doppelgreener

12:39 PM

so far moving Smoke Detector to NAB seems to be remaining a good idea

We tend to get inundated with a block of 5-8 spam items over a few hours each morning which might be a bit more disruptive in live conversations

trogdor

1:15 PM

yeah

conversation is more erratic and less common/frequent there

here every week day there's something

kviiri

4:10 PM

Hrm. My Windows system has been plagued by weird occasional slowdowns

Maybe with the advent of Proton it's time I got rid of the dual boot and went fully Ubuntu

0xFFF1

6:48 PM

for Dnd 5e, is it possible to have a glyph of warding for an 8th or 9th level spell, since you don't get two spell slots for either of those spell levels

kviiri

Well you can have more than one L9 spell slot, through epic boons (and I faintly recall there being some other ways too)

Also, I don't think you actually need to cast the spell (and therefore to use two slots) to use the Spell glyph.

No wait, the spell description does say you need to cast it while creating the glyph. So yeah, you need two slots.

0xFFF1

7:03 PM

can a different spellcaster provide the spell slot needed?

David Coffron

7:15 PM

@0xFFF1 not RAW but your GM might allow it since expending both of your high level slots is a pretty high cost

@0xFFF1 you can do level 8 spell glyphs. Cast glyph of warding with a 9th level spell slot and it can be used for 8th level spells

0xFFF1

okay, so you'll only need an epic boon or something for your 9th level spell slot

David Coffron

@0xFFF1 Hm? A full caster gets a 9th level spell slot starting at 17th level

0xFFF1

you do in fact need to cast the spell you're storing in the glyph

that's why it can activate immediately, such as with Private Sanctum

which normally takes 10 minutes to cast

David Coffron

@0xFFF1 yes...? What's your confusion

0xFFF1

so without being able to cast two 9th level spells at once, you can't make a glyph at that level

kviiri

7:30 PM

Yeah, but 8th level is possible like David said

David Coffron

A 9th level glyph storing an 8th level spell is possible. No glyph can store a 9th level spell without a second level 9 slot

kviiri

Well, with another Epic Boon (Spell Recall), that too is possible.

David Coffron

Is it? You need to cast the second spell during the casting of glyph of warding IIRC

kviiri

Yeah?

Spell Recall allows you to cast it without using a spell slot

David Coffron

@kviiri oh. Whoops. I was thinking of something else (the thing that lets you get spell slots back)

kviiri

7:41 PM

@DavidCoffron Now that you mention it, Spell Recall does have a confusing name

David Coffron

@kviiri @0xFFF1 you could also do it with a legendary spell scroll.

Which are scribable in XGtEs optional rules

kviiri

Neat

0xFFF1

Kill Box setup
Uses Glyph of Warding to store these spells
Force cage - trigger when stepped on
Private Sanctum - to prevent teleportation - triggered when a creature triggers the Force Cage glyph
Sickening Radiance x6
#1 triggers when a creature triggers the force cage glyph
#2 triggers when the Sickening Radiance from #1 ends and the trapped creature is still alive
#3-#6, same format as #2
Counterspell x55, 23, one for every spell slot a caster could have, 20 for sorcery points spent on 1st level spells (this also covers 2nd and 3rd due to how counterspell works), 5 for 4th level, and 4 f…

kviiri

8:02 PM

You lost me in the Counterspell bit.

0xFFF1

it's intention is to counterspell anything the trapped creature tries to cast

that means you need a glyph for every spell slot they could have

i also account for sorcerers and warlocks

kviiri

Yes, that much I understood. Where are you going to get the slots to cast that though?

0xFFF1

they are all glyphs of warding

kviiri

Yes, so you'd need hundreds of slots to cast that?

0xFFF1

yes. It will take a long time to set it up

the only thing I can imagine that would be valuable enough is a phylactery

Carcer

8:19 PM

and 200gp per glyph, too

so not just costly in time but in literal cost

0xFFF1

you'll probably need multiple killboxes, and you'll have to return to manually clear it out and reset it.

if you set the cage size to bigger than 5x5 feet, up to 20x20 feet, you'll have to have counterspells for each possible person that could be trapped in there