TRPG General Chat

KorvinStarmast

12:13 AM

@Rubiksmoose It's the toxic player problem. Handle it that way. No game is better than a bad game.

@Rubiksmoose One of my best DM's was an Episcopalian priest.

BESW

44

Q: Can a D&D campaign be successfully used as a Sunday school teaching instrument?

I am an RPG guy who is also active in my religious community. Recently I was asked to conduct a class at my local mosque (my religion's equivalent of a church) for kids ages 7-12. To make it interesting for them, I was toying with the idea of DMing a D&D campaign during the class. But in order t...

MikeQ

@Rubiksmoose Regarding the post in question, would it be fair to respond with experience with a similar but not identical situation? e.g. a player who's uncomfortable with the violence, or some other game aspect that conflicts with their personal values?

BESW

@MikeQ So long as you explain your experience and why you think it's applicable to the situation; all we expect is that you back it up.

KorvinStarmast

12:30 AM

@V2Blast You can't make this stuff up, I guess. slaps forehead

Hot RPG Questions

12:42 AM

23

Q: What should I do about a religious player who refuses to accept the existence of multiple gods in D&D?

I am working on a campaign which I am going to run for a group of friends, all of whom are new to D&D. I was discussing available classes with one of the players, more specifically classes with access to magic and the differences between them. I brought up that paladins draw their powers from t...

dnd-5e problem-players religions-and-deities

3

Q: Could a soul from the Soulmonger be restored in the ToA campaign after this event?

Assume some soul was sucked into the Soulmonger. This event could happen with this soul, when it is inside: Is it possible to resurrect a soul after this event happens? Maybe with a Wish spell or the Divine Intervention cleric feature?

dnd-5e published-adventures tomb-of-annihilation soul

Rubiksmoose

12:54 AM

@MikeQ Yeah, I agree with BESW. Just support your answer somehow. We don't care how. Analogous situation experience is great if you can show how it applies.

@KorvinStarmast oh yeah I hope you didn't interpret that as saying that all religious players (or DMs) are problematic, but that is not at all what I was trying to say (and is patently untrue)

@KorvinStarmast definitely agree.

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose Goodness no, amigo. Your heart is in the right place. I am a practicing Christian (Catholic) and there is no way in heck that I'd pull that kind of stunt in D&D. It's really bad form, what's going on with that player.

(and if you check mxy's gaming blog, he's got a link to a Christian gaming mag that I used to have saved ... hang on, link forthcoming)

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast Good good good just checking. I myself was once very religious and my family still is. And many many of my very good friends still are.

MikeQ

Trying to explain the alleged wrongness of the player isn't a productive solution

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose here is the link

@MikeQ Hmm, I think that the player's trying to bully the DM who is asking the question needs to be addressed in the question. So I did.

The DM is trying to be nice and this person is laying out a "my way or the highway" attitude. I don't think ignoring that helps an answer.

Arrgh, that kind of situation so frustrates me in real life. (Ran into stuff like that in our golf league a decade ago ...)

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast It's honestly very hard for me to pin down exactly what is going on with the problem player. All we have are two very terse statements which, while painting a poor picture, are obviously far removed from whatever actually happened.

MikeQ

1:04 AM

@KorvinStarmast Yes, that part is true. But most of the answers seem to take the attitude of attacking the player as narrow-minded. Which is unfair, and unproductive. This isn't a right/wrong issue, it's a compatibility issue.

Rubiksmoose

And devoid of a lot of context

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ Yeah, we do have the old "one side of the story" problem ... which I raised on meta some years ago

@MikeQ this one

@MikeQ It does not help that the asker is choosing to say "no other game' when I suspect that among the thousands of games out there, that group may find one that structurally has more player in put into world building.

Yet we can't do game rec ... arrrgghhhhh!

Shalvenay

@KorvinStarmast yeah -- it seems like the underlying issue is one of setting at heart

KorvinStarmast

@Shalvenay In the interest of be nice, I will not express what I think the problem is at heart ... grits teeth

linksassin

@KorvinStarmast We can do "There are games that may work out better, for example..." as part of a larger answer if you can justify why. I thought we only banned game-rec questions not answers.

Shalvenay

1:11 AM

and yeah, I think linksassin is right

BESW

@KorvinStarmast You can given an answer that is game recommendation, if that's a reasonable solution to the problem (though in this case you have to first justify why you're challenging the frame of the question), we just can't ask questions that are simply "rec me a game."

KorvinStarmast

@linksassin Indeed, and I included a Microscope rec :) in my answer

I didn't rec Traveller since it has been too long since I played it.

Not a lot of gods in that one

If only Aramis hadn't become less active ...

Rubiksmoose

@BESW There honestly aren't very many strict limits on what you can put in an answer. Only sometimes what topics can be asked about. I think people often forget that.

KorvinStarmast

OOh, wait, maybe I can add a link to Aramis' Traveller blog ... hmm, don't be hasty ...

BESW

@Rubiksmoose Yeah, if you can back it up and be reasonably nice about it, an answer that actually tries to address the problem is unlikely to get actually removed, just maybe downvoted to h*ck

Rubiksmoose

1:16 AM

@BESW Yikes. I think you've shown me that before, but still yikes.

linksassin

@BESW Is that the most downvotes answer on the site?

BESW

@linksassin It was, but I haven't checked for a while.

Rubiksmoose

@linksassin rpg.stackexchange.com/…

It appears to be still

KorvinStarmast

@BESW What's interesting to me is that I think Lucas had that experience, which informed the answer. I had the odd experience in the 80's that went from D&D gaming to a hook up to dating etc and still gaming the same group ... so almost the opposite experience to Lucas' one. But since Lucas didn't add enough detail to "back it up" I think the Gs/Bs requirement was lacking.

BESW

Yup.

linksassin

1:21 AM

@KorvinStarmast Yes, it's certainly not the worst answer on the site. Just the most unpopular opinion I think.

user15026

@BESW I appreciate what they're trying to say, but wow they could have said the things in...not that way

Rubiksmoose

I mean, as always, when writing an answer it helps not to be wrong ;)

And I don't think the advice in there matches what many of us have experienced. Myself included.

KorvinStarmast

Tritium's answer is solid, and sadly that user seems to have been run off by our meta drama over the past few years. (sad face)

BESW

@Ash "I had a similar experience and here's what I learned from it" is a LOT different from "I had a similar experience AND THUS ALL SUCH EXPERIENCES ARE DOOMED."

user15026

@BESW Exactly!

BESW

1:24 AM

That it doubles down on several existing toxic myths about geek romance and the presence of women in hyperfocus spaces...

linksassin

I think one of the major issues with that opinion is that putting gaming above actual human relationships means that you're missing out one of the best parts of roleplaying games.

2

Joel Harmon

I had watched a similar "players dating players" experience, and now they are happily married.

BESW

Yeah. Friends playing games, not friends playing games.

Joel Harmon

The biggest problem with my wife also liking RPGs is finding a babysitter, because our friends also like to play.

user15026

@BESW That's a really tricky distinction to grasp sometimes

linksassin

1:26 AM

@JoelHarmon Getting my then gf into rpgs is the shared hobby we needed and we're now married.

@JoelHarmon My GMs wife had to give up gaming once they had kids for that reason. She wasn't that invested though.

Rubiksmoose

My gf (now wife) also played PF and 5e with me for years.

@linksassin Well said!

BESW

One of my college friends considers me responsible for helping him find his wife, because they found each other through RPGs and I'm the one who originally dragged him kicking and screaming to an RPG session.

On the other hand, I had a guy in a group who tried to Play The Game with a fellow player, and I wasn't equipped to handle the situation so she left.

trogdor

@BESW Doooooooooooomed

KorvinStarmast

@BESW yup. In a perfect world ... but that would massively reduce traffic on our site. ;)

linksassin

@KorvinStarmast Lol. In that world IPS.SE would be doomed.

KorvinStarmast

1:30 AM

@BESW Don't blame yourself. That kind of thing is tricky RPG or not.

linksassin

@BESW Would you have done anything differently now? That sort of thing is always difficult.

KorvinStarmast

@linksassin When one considers the bandwidth saved ... maybe a good thing?

nitsua60

@KorvinStarmast Amen.

user15026

BESW

@linksassin Yeah, I feel like I would have a much better sense of what was actually going on, and be more confident about kicking him to the curb the instant he didn't respect her.

KorvinStarmast

1:34 AM

@nitsua60 I will not bore the chat room with my various experiences in the world of awkward such situations create ....

linksassin

@KorvinStarmast A world in which counseling and support is no longer required because everyone gets along would certainly be a good thing.

KorvinStarmast

@linksassin True, I guess, but alcohol sales would suffer . (looks up current price of Imbev ...) OK, not happening any time soon.

BESW

(Looking back, he was on one of those absolutely toxic "when women say no they're just playing hard to get" trips.)

KorvinStarmast

@Ash is that the sperm cell of an anime fox?

confusion spell saving throw failed

user15026

@KorvinStarmast nope, it's Doom Kitty/Ghost Kitty from Girls with Slingshots

KorvinStarmast

1:39 AM

@Ash Ah, thanks for the link.

Heh, that one cracked me up

V2Blast

@Ash found it: girlswithslingshots.com/comic/gws-chaser-1098

user15026

Yep, that's one of the spots it shows up :)

V2Blast

3:10 AM

behold, the Swedish wolf-corgi:

twitter.com/41Strange/status/1133795513608728576

BESW

AAAAAAAH

V2Blast

@BESW this is the appropriate response

MikeQ

Is this the famed Dire Corgi?

Hot RPG Questions

8

Q: Can you keep a readied action even through incapacitation?

The following scenario occurs: Alice takes the Ready action to do something at a later time (the specifics don't matter). An enemy casts Hold Person on her, she fails the save and is now Paralyzed, and thus incapacitated and therefore she cannot take actions, or reactions. By some means the ene...

dnd-5e conditions readied-action

Memor-X

3:47 AM

@Xirema well they are one in the same. a single faith with 2 goddesses. one who embodies Hope and one who embodies Love. so a Cult to the Dark Goddess of Love is really just members of the Church of Madoka who go out and brutally bash/murder Incubators

and who doesn't like beating the crap out of a cute little white creatures who are puppet clones of a race of yuri hating manipulative sobs who see humans (particularly human girls) as nothing but cattle

user15026

@V2Blast I don't like dogs much (they make me nervous, too many bad experiences I guess) but omg cute

trogdor

4:05 AM

I like dogs but they gross me out a bit

I had like 4 dogs as a kid and I saw them do some pretty gross stuff

Cats do some gross stuff too but boy do dogs do more

V2Blast

@Ash I like cats and dogs mostly from afar

trogdor

I like dogs from afar

Cats are great though

In my opinion

MikeQ

Neither are as gross as humans though, which can be liked safely from afar

scribbles note to self: TTRPG for dogs?

trogdor

@MikeQ amen brother

Except dogs are way better at giving me space than humans

BESW

May 5 at 13:36, by BESW

Have I Been Good? by jeeyonshim: a LARP for two players, one of whom is a dog. On sale for $8 until the end of Dog Jam 2k19.

Rubiksmoose

4:20 AM

@trogdor I wish my cats would give me less space. CUDDLE ME MORE.

My wife gets all the cuddles.

trogdor

@Rubiksmoose my cat can hardly leave me alone for 10 minutes

The other one is kinda a sociopath who only really likes my dad and one random friend of my parents

Rubiksmoose

@trogdor I'd offer to trade, but I deeply love my kitties even if it isn't reciprocated often lol

trogdor

Same

BESW

Ash's cat is a snugglebug.

trogdor

I got really upset hearing the other cat's diagnosis a month or so ago even though he ignores me (at Best) most of the time

Rubiksmoose

4:23 AM

The most insulting thing they do (and do often) is literally walk over me to lay on my wife's lap

@trogdor awww I'm really sorry to hear that

V2Blast

@BESW oddly, it's now $5

trogdor

My cat teases people by laying just out of reach and meowing at them

V2Blast

I've never had a pet

Rubiksmoose

@trogdor hahaha such a cat thing to do

trogdor

@Rubiksmoose he's got anywhere from a year to maybe three left according to the vet

BESW

4:25 AM

@V2Blast twitter.com/jeeyonshim/status/1133493147835805699

trogdor

That hit me harder than I would have expected

V2Blast

@BESW ah

Rubiksmoose

@trogdor I'm so sorry. That must be incredibly difficult. I can't imagine how I'd be dealing with that kind of news.

trogdor

I'm dealing with it a lot better now but I was the one who had to hear it and drive him home when we took him to the vet

I cried all the way home

Rubiksmoose

@trogdor That must have been...tough to say the least.

trogdor

4:27 AM

I only actually stopped when I got there

@Rubiksmoose Yeah

Rubiksmoose

:'(

trogdor

But it was also good to get it out

I need to let myself cry

It literally makes me feel better

user15026

Emotions are good to have!

Rubiksmoose

I'm actually kind of afraid because I haven't taken the kitties to the vet in years (laziness (yeah I'm not proud of it) combined with the fact that one of them is an absolute monster to take to the vet)

user15026

I am sorry to hear about the cat, though.

Rubiksmoose

4:28 AM

@trogdor A nice hearty cry can often really take a lot of pressure off so that makes sense.

But still, at least now you can treasure the time you have left with full knowledge. And that's something I suppose.

user15026

I am, as my friends and loves can attest to, a strong proponent for tears and such as emotional release things.

BESW

user15026

Gotta let yourself feel things and then often they're easier to process

user15026

hugs

Rubiksmoose

@Ash I find it is often absolutely shocking how much better crying can make you feel.

user15026

4:30 AM

@Rubiksmoose I know, right?

Rubiksmoose

Not the fact that it does necessarily, but the pure extent of it. The brain is a weird and complex thing.

trogdor

@Rubiksmoose we didn't even know for sure there was anything wrong with him, he had some gradual Weight loss and my parents thought it was parasites

Which it was not

Rubiksmoose

@trogdor oh....

user15026

@trogdor Oh, hun. hugs hugs hugs

trogdor

It was early kidney failure which we have him on a special diet for now

@Rubiksmoose FYI he haaaaaaates vets too

He tried to kill all life on the planet when we took him there

This was after giving him a sedative pill in his food

Rubiksmoose

4:34 AM

@trogdor We literally have to drug ours to even have the vet give him a check up

trogdor

He's a terror

Rubiksmoose

@trogdor Same!

And the thing is they absolutely don't believe how sweet he is at home. And he gets so upset he upsets his sister who is much calmer normally.

trogdor

He hates guests, he only tolerates family , except dad who he actually bothers to show affection to

Rubiksmoose

That's the weird thing, our cats love people

trogdor

And that one other person he barely sees but still loves somehow

user15026

4:35 AM

My cat is the opposite, he's this stupidly affectionate mush

user15026

He will purr and cuddle just about anyone.

trogdor

@Ash my cat is like that but only for me mostly

And thankfully she barely protests at the vet

And I took her there and she was fine

user15026

Well that's something at least!

trogdor

I don't know how I would have reacted to bad news that day considering how surpringly upset I was to hear the sociopath ones kidney problem

I never would have expected that reaction over him cause he barely knows I exist

user15026

Pets have away of crawling into our hearts.

Rubiksmoose

4:41 AM

Well that sounds truly devastating. I hope your time with him is as long and happy as is possible.

@Ash and in a way that is completely unproportional to how affectionate they are to us.

trogdor

I hope so

I'm worried though because he steals my cat's food

user15026

@Rubiksmoose oh definitely

trogdor

And he needs to only eat his

Rubiksmoose

Well I've got to head to bed, where almost certainly one fuzzy jerk is in my spot in the bed next to my wife. Every. Single. Night. And then he often just leaves when I get there and move him lol

@trogdor what a jerk!

trogdor

So we keep an extremely close eye on him but I don't know how long it will be before we have a habit of complacency over it

@Rubiksmoose he's horrible

But it's really for his health

Rubiksmoose

4:43 AM

Yeah I have no idea how you'd even control that.

trogdor

@Rubiksmoose I feed them in separate rooms now

Rubiksmoose

@trogdor ah ok. Has to be a pain though

trogdor

And when she no longer wants to eat I put her food up where he can't get it

@Rubiksmoose it is, that's what worries me

My father and I are the only ones who feed them and I don't know how seriously he is taking this

In fact I kinda suspect not too seriously at all

And even I need a break from policing this ridiculous cat

Rubiksmoose

oh sure that totally makes sense.

It's tough dealing with loved ones when they need extra time and attention. Even if we know they need it and why.

trogdor

Mm

BESW

5:08 AM

@Rubiksmoose This.

V2Blast

5:21 AM

@Rubiksmoose related to that point: reddit.com/r/dadswhodidnotwantpets

this question's been tagged with the proper edition and still needs a few more votes to reopen:

3

Q: Do I add my ability modifier to the damage of the bonus-action attack granted by the Crossbow Expert feat?

The Two-Weapon Fighting rule says: When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand. You don't add your ability modifier to...

dnd-5e feats damage attack

V2Blast

5:55 AM

Did we have some sort of question about homebrewing lesser versions of things like the Headband of Intellect or Belts of Giant Strength, that actually just set your ability to score to something moderate like 11 or 13?

actually, that might just have been a discussion I had with a group on another server where a character in a West Marches game rolled a 4 for Int (but their other scores were good enough that they couldn't reroll) and wanted a "Headband of Average Intelligence"

linksassin

@V2Blast This search makes me think no.

V2Blast

yeah, I realized right after I asked that it was about the discussion on a different server that I mentioned in the following message :P

linksassin

@V2Blast This is the only question related to those items and homebrew. rpg.stackexchange.com/q/84521/48759

@V2Blast Whoops. I should have read the whole thing before hitting send I suppose.

The items sound pretty cool though

V2Blast

@linksassin still appreciate you checking!

mainly it was a discussion of whether such an item would be balanced, what rarity it should be, whether it should require attunement (I think this was the main one)

linksassin

6:15 AM

@V2Blast It's funny, because you think it would be less powerful than the existing ones. But it still allows the players to hard dump a stat then get away with no penalties. So would be at least Rare I would think

V2Blast

@linksassin yep, that was the concern

SmokeDetector

7:56 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Potentially problematic ns configuration in answer, username similar to website in answer (57): What should I do about a religious player who refuses to accept the existence of multiple gods in D&D? by Contactyahoo Helpdesk on rpg.SE (@doppelgreener)

V2Blast

8:14 AM

Spam here:

-7

Q: Which Space To Be filled?

Cloud of Daggers 5e You fill the air with spinning daggers?

games-industry

Sdjz

10:00 AM

Some more spam here:

-2

Q: JOSAA 2019 Registration

The qualified students of JEE Main and JEE Advanced are invited for JoSAA Registration 2019. The registration will be initiated by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority. Candidates can register themselves on the official website. After registration of JoSAA 2019, applicants will be able to take par...

experience-points

SmokeDetector

10:14 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword with email in answer, email in answer, pattern-matching email in answer, potentially bad keyword in answer (261): What do I need a Hacking Kit for? by Level Seven Hacker Group on rpg.SE (@doppelgreener)

BESW

"Class: The Character Sheets," Doctor Who RPG character sheets for season one of Class, on Siskoid's Blog of Geekery.

Hot RPG Questions

10:51 AM

6

Q: Do I add my ability modifier to the damage of the bonus-action attack granted by the Crossbow Expert feat?

The Two-Weapon Fighting rule says: When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand. You don't add your ability modifier to...

dnd-5e feats damage attack

Carcer

having an unusual amount of spam this morning, eh

trogdor

11:20 AM

it is more than we've been getting lately

goodguy5

12:02 PM

Oh, I blocked that bot long ago

ha! I used to take Ritalin as a younger adult, but I didn't feel like it was helping enough.

Concerta, though. That was great.

@JohnP While I do love a Labrynth joke, I was trying to stay in-universe.

Derpy

12:18 PM

@goodguy5 you never saw Bender's Game (the 2008 Futurama movie), right? That's basically what happens when they first meet the wizard Greyfarn.

goodguy5

I can't remember if I saw that one or not...

Derpy

it is the scene when they go to Greyfarn house.

before developing into a full parody of The Lord of The Ring scene with Gandalf and Frodo... they find Greyfarn house in the middle of a swamp.

Not only the house exterior is an outhouse, the first time they open the door the interior is indeed an outhouse too.

goodguy5

It seems familiar. But not very.

I've watched most, if not all, of Futurama

Derpy

12:34 PM

@goodguy5 it is the movie that basically devolves in a D&D / LotR parody halfway in.

kviiri

@Derpy So the outhouse interior is in the outhouse but the interior of the house is in the outhouse too?

Apart from that --- how's everyone doing? I hope you're having a nice day :)

We went to walk in the bayside park near us, and saw the coolest kites so far --- they had tails that extended to over ten meters, I'd reckon!

Derpy

12:50 PM

@kviiri the actual scene plays like this... They arrive at the "hut" in the swamp, Benders goes on a long epic description on how the greatest wizard ever lives there (while the other are clearly thinking that is just an outhouse). They open the door, and the wizard is sitting inside with a toilet roll in hand. The wizards says something like "just a second", closes the door, reopens it and now the inside looks like an hobbit house.

kviiri

@Derpy Ah, the old Mountain King time warp trick

Plus some "bigger on the inside"

Derpy

@kviiri now you remembered me about this gem.

Sir Cinnamon

1:40 PM

"Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted."

Is this a new feature?

David Coffron

@SirCinnamon Is that something that shows up on stack posts?

Sir Cinnamon

35

A: What should I do about a religious player who refuses to accept the existence of multiple gods in D&D?

One player should not be allowed to force his personal views on the other players. If he has a problem with Paladins, he's not going to react well to Clerics either. This player needs to realize that the game world is not the real world, and it does not need to conform to his ideas of how the re...

Apparently!

BESW

15

A: What's up with this "please edit to add citations" banner?

This is a post notice. It's like the banners mods can put under questions, except this one is for any post, including answers. The “notice added” event will show up in the post's revision history; this one just doesn't have an easy link to its revision history yet because of no edits done so far...

David Coffron

@SirCinnamon I've seen it before, but it's been a while and I don't know what triggers it

Derpy

41

Q: What are these notices under my post?

My post has been marked with a notice in a box underneath it. What should I do about this? Who attaches notices to posts? What kinds of notices are available? What should I do if I think a notice should be added to a post? What should I do if I think a notice should be removed from a post? Re...

support faq post-notice

this ^

Sir Cinnamon

1:43 PM

So not new, just rare (because they have to be added manually by a mod?) cool, thanks guys

JohnP

@goodguy5 In universe, just a different galaxy : nerdist.com/article/labyrinth-roleplaying-game-jim-henson

Mark Wells

@SirCinnamon Whoa. Is "citing reliable sources" Wikipedia-style actually our standard now? I was under the impression that basing an answer on personal experience solving similar problems was perfectly acceptable.

Hot RPG Questions

5

Q: Is the act of suffocating itself considered to be taking damage?

Is the act of suffocating itself considered to be taking damage? Example: A Green Hag is poisoned with the Oil of Taggit poison and falls unconscious. She is then carefully placed into a Portable Hole and then the hole is closed. After 10 minutes, the Hag should be out of air due to the prope...

dnd-5e damage conditions poison breathing

KorvinStarmast

@MarkWells It is, per Good Subjective/Bad Subjective guidance. On that question, mxy makes that point in a comment.

Derpy

@JohnP An adventure module for a generic rpg system that also has it own simple stand-alone ruleset to be played with if you don't want to adapt it to any other ruleset?

JohnP

1:54 PM

@Derpy So they claim. :)

Derpy

@JohnP might be funny to see what they can do with that... They are the ones who published Tails of Equestria if I see correctly - and that game has a "please drawn your pony here" slot on your character card....

GcL

Is dropping to 0 hp taking damage? Are all HP reductions damage?

goodguy5

right?

Rubiksmoose

6

Q: Does current HP loss from HP maximum reduction count as damage?

There are many places where game elements interact with and react to damage. When your current HP drops as a result of your HP maximum dropping, does that count as damage according to RAW? Example So, a character with a HP max of 30 and a current HP of 25 gets affected by the part of a mummy...

dnd-5e damage hit-points

goodguy5

I don't think it is damage

GcL

2:01 PM

@Rubiksmoose Close, but isn't that altering the max hp? the character is still at 100%

Rubiksmoose

@GcL oops! misread your question. This is indeed about max HP reduction only

GcL

It's along the same lines though

It's an edge case that is an example of you end up with fewer hit points, but nothing explicitly inflicted damage.

Some character sheets record wounds and current hp is: total hp - wounds.

David Coffron

@MarkWells It is acceptable, your tabletop experience is a reliable source in our standards.

Derpy

2:18 PM

@Rubiksmoose I have some vague memory of ~~Rulemonster~~ RuleMaster actually making distinctions between max hp variations that would rescale your current hp to the new max (so 25/50hp became 50/100hp), variations that would only increase your max hp score but not your current one (ie: 25/50hp becoming 25/60hp) and others that would increase both totals (ie: 25/50hp results in 35/60hp afterward).

and I think there were even some cases when an effect worked in a way when it was triggered and in another way when it was removed / ended.

GcL

@Derpy What's your take on it? Is all hit point loss damage? or are there non-damage hit point losses? e.g. suffocation or "you lose half your current hit points on failed save"

Derpy

@GcL I fear that the most appropriate answer is that it really depends on what you can estimate "damage" means in the context. For example, if an ability triggered on receiving damage - for example because your puny scientist would become a green bhulky guy.... then perhaps a reduction of max hp because someone casted a "Weaken" spell on him should not be considered damage in that context

GcL

@Derpy How about suffocation specifically? Would you rule that as damage?

Is power word kill still an insta death? Would anyone consider that damage?

Derpy

Well, please take in account two thing:
a) as I stated multiple times I sadly don't have many tabletop rpg games lately (with lately > 5 years) and the remaining few are more in the "Fate-like" department
b) I never was a "rule" guy - whatever seemed to make sense at the moment was the final decision.

So, probably I am not your best bet here.

Anyway.... let me try asking you another question. Why are you asking yourself if "suffocation" or "power word" (or sphere of disintegration even) are damage?

Xirema

@GcL I roll a D20 and on a 10 or higher, I treat it as damage.

GcL

2:31 PM

Curiosity.

Derpy

I mean, I assume you have a reason to be trying to clarify that.

Xirema

#ChaoticNeutralDMTechniques

GcL

I'm interested in murdering a multitude of theoretical felines... apparently curiosity is like strychnine for them.

Derpy

@GcL this is kinda funny because I was just about to reply that...

> then I guess that my answer is that power word kill is "Schrödinger Damage":P
Basically it is damage and not damage at the same time, until you present me with an application case that will force me to open the box and check

G. Moylan

You could simultaneously murder and NOT murder them all if you put them in a box

I know I'm late to thae damage party here but I read the wording similar to "discard a card" vs "put a card in your discard pile"

they're fundamentally different. PWK is "reduce to zero"

not "deal damage equal to their current HP"

the result is identical but the means are different

correction it just says "dies" but the argument is still the same

Derpy

2:43 PM

I think that the original idea here was to determine out what the official RAW behavior defined for some xyz ability/rule that calls for "damage" in its description is.

G. Moylan

ah

Mark Wells

@Derpy That does seem to be the right question. For what purpose are we distinguishing "Damage" from "Not Damage"?

Derpy

@MarkWells I... kinda see that as pretty similar but yep, you are right.

G. Moylan

PWK is "kill this thing" it doesn't specify dealing damage at all. Look at the Shadow creature, for example. It has an ability that can outright kill someone regardless of their HP

PWK doesn't care what your current HP is and it doesn't affect it. you just die

your HP becomes 0. it just is.

GcL

@G.Moylan When your HP becomes 0, was that the result of damage or not?

G. Moylan

2:47 PM

no you just died

it's in the spell description. Same with the Shadow. If it was damage you could affect it with resistances or even certain items.

GcL

Cool. That's the first non-waffle I've been served this morning.

@G.Moylan I like that rationale.

G. Moylan

it would also specify a damage type

and neither one does

The Oracle

0

Q: A Modest Proposal for answers that aren't backed up

This has happened many times, but I'm going to focus on the most recent question where answers have flooded in that aren't backed up but are highly upvoted. If we do, in fact, want people to support their answers, then it feels like we need to do something more active when this happens. As it s...

discussion policy

3

Derpy

I assumed that the question was aimed at solving some ruling conflict with some item/spell/whatever like "this amulet of holy salvation is described as 'first time the wearer receives lethal damage the damage is negated, the wearer is enveloped in holy light, you hear Paladine voice from above the clouds yelling Not-this-time and the amulet turns into dust' - does that protect you from power word kill since the spell doesn't use the word 'damage'? "

G. Moylan

no it wouldn't, imo. It depends on the specific wording on such an item and this is why consistent rules phrases are important

if it says "the first time you would take letha damage" then no, it doesn't work. But if it said something like "the first time you would die" then it would

the ambiguity comes from "the first time your HP is reduced to zero."

because then the question focuses on whether PWK actually sets you to zero HP and that kills your, or if it kills you and your HP becomes 0 as a result. I would lean towards the latter, because of how the spell it written

Derpy

2:56 PM

that was why I stated that I would try to set any ambiguity by trying to go for whatever makes more sense in context, giving less importance to the wording and more to the story. But as I said, that comes from a "rules are there just as a general idea" pony.

Carcer

I don't know what question you're on about but RAI from crawford via tweets and stuff is that things like power word kill do not function by reducing you to 0 hp, you just die

a death caused by PWK isn't something that is prevent by any effect which kicks in because you're dropped to 0 hp

Derpy

@Carcer To be fair, I don't even know if there is an actual question here.

Carcer

death is a consequence of 0hp, not vice versa

Derpy

it started with this question, then we went up arguing from there.

6

Q: Is the act of suffocating itself considered to be taking damage?

Is the act of suffocating itself considered to be taking damage? Example: A Green Hag is poisoned with the Oil of Taggit poison and falls unconscious. She is then carefully placed into a Portable Hole and then the hole is closed. After 10 minutes, the Hag should be out of air due to the prope...

dnd-5e damage conditions poison breathing

Rubiksmoose

Arguing? In chat? [shocked]

Derpy

3:02 PM

@Rubiksmoose oooooooook, "Statementing"

By which I mean that I was just posting a random sequence of apparently related statements :P

goodguy5

@Rubiksmoose "discussing"

Rubiksmoose

"enthusiastic talking"?

goodguy5

Did anyone ever get the
"We're not arguing, we're having a-"
"No, this is an argument"

GcL

@goodguy5 What is the difference between an argument and discussion? or what's a hallmark distinction at least?

goodguy5

@GcL volume, mostly... and feelings.

Carcer

3:05 PM

@NautArch you might be getting the award for most dramatic meta this month!

Derpy

aaaaand..... I think next time I will say "debating" instead.

@GcL if you have a pile of rice grains and you keep removing a grain, one at time... at which point it stops being a pile?

GcL

@Derpy When it's too big to fit in my hand. Then it gets downgraded to a small pile. After it shrinks further than can be held in the hand of a six year old, it loses all international standing.

Carcer

yeah, the common usage of "argument" in parlance suggests the tone of discussion is rather more heated and confrontational

GcL

Or was that supposed to be a rhetorical question?

Derpy

@GcL It was supposed to be an "ok, I shouldn't have called that an argument but please now don't try to determine how many dB turn a discussion into an argument" ^_^'

Anyway, have to go for a while. See you later.

GcL

3:29 PM

@Derpy The volume isn't a delineation I use for the differentiation between a discussion and an argument. I was curious about what were somethings @goodguy5 used to make the distinction.

goodguy5

@GcL it's less volume and more intensity, I guess. anyway. lunch

G. Moylan

there's discourse, debate, discussion, argument, fight, row

and some others

GcL

Good use of row. That's more of a British use, correct?

G. Moylan

I think so, I typically hear it in that context

and "argument" is classically an exchange of conflicting ideas. which is usually considered a discussion or debate

"the argument clinic" sketch from Monty Python actually covers the topic nicely, but you have to watch the full version from the Flying Circus TV show

a "fight" is when the argument escalates to shouting or underhanded tactics like name-calling

GcL

Which is then going to lead into rewatching that entire series... and probably a showing of life of brian. I'm well familiar with that rabbit hole.

Xirema

3:40 PM

@G.Moylan And then when they stop hitting each other and pick up their sticks, we call it a "Hockey Game".

G. Moylan

@Xirema HA! precisely

kviiri

@Xirema And then they start fighting again

GcL

@Xirema isn't Hockey entirely underhanded? Isn't overhand pass a penalty?

G. Moylan

I'm imagining the goalie just lobbing the puck across the ice now

it is possible t pass the puck airborne but it's hard and pretty dangerous. not sure about a penalty

kviiri

In case you're interested what happens in Finland after our national team wins hockey world championship, here's a neat little documentary about this year's celebrations: youtube.com/watch?v=24pySkBn7gM

GcL

3:42 PM

@G.Moylan I concur. Throwing solid hunks of rubber through the air does seem dangerous.

@kviiri They seem happy. Looks like everyone was having a good time.

kviiri

@GcL Sure

They did leave quite a mess at the Market Square though :(

Jeez that aerial shot at the end is ghastly

I can stand many things but littering nice public spaces ticks me off :(

GcL

@kviiri I can understand that. Drunken revelry does tend to leave a mess.

G. Moylan

better than college basketball fans lighting cars on fire

GcL

4:25 PM

@G.Moylan Yeah... win or lose. Win the final four! riot. Lose the final four! riot. Ugh.... there was an Iraq war to protest, but nope... riot about a basketball game.

Infuriating really.

kviiri

@GcL But WMDs!

Weapons of Mass Deception I guess

A. B.

4:50 PM

I'm trying to use those Discord links you gave me last night. Remind me exactly what I do with the link, again, using the client rather than the browser?

G. Moylan

we have a discord?

A. B.

No, these are some other Discords, I'd been asking about places where I could find online RPG campaigns to join.

Hot RPG Questions

6

Q: Can those paralyzed by the Hold Person spell be forcibly moved?

Can a character shove a paralyzed person, forcing them to move? Similarly, could a sorcerer cast the cantrip Gust to force the paralyzed person to move (without a Strength save)?

dnd-5e conditions forced-movement

A. B.

But I can't remember how to use the links.

Sir Cinnamon

if you click it typically discord will figure it out one way or another

Someone_Evil

4:55 PM

@A.B. There should be a + on your lefthand sidebar, click it and then choose "join server". Put the link where it ask for an invite link.

Rubiksmoose

5:16 PM

@KorvinStarmast extremely sadly they stopped doing it. They retired I think.

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose Oh man. :( A little joy just went out of life. :(

@A.B. I went to Roll20 and signed up for an RPG campaign two years ago. Still playing with the same group.

A. B.

I had a look round on Roll20 but it's more difficult for me because for complicated reasons I can't use voice chat and I'm also in British hours.

Sdjz

@A.B. Since you have voice chat unavailable have you considered play-by-post instead? For example, the giant in the playground forums

A. B.

5:31 PM

I've been playing play-by-post for years and I hate it.

Don't even think about it.

Sorry, cry from the heart.

Sdjz

I mean if you don't want to play by post and don't use voice chat how do you intend to do online RP?

A. B.

Aren't there any text chat ones at all?

Heck, there's one here, only it's full.

Sdjz

Ah I was including that in "play by post"

A. B.

Ah, I see.

I was thinking you meant forum-based ones.

Sdjz

So you are specifically looking for text-chat based RP

A. B.

5:33 PM

YEs.

Forum-based ones just give no feedback and so much time to dither and get stage fright. That's one reason why I want to get into real-time RPGs - when I've occasionally managed to get in on anything like that I got on much better, and I thought practising a little on one of those might help me get over the dithering!

Trouble is the ones I've managed to get in on are tavern ones - you know, or perhaps you don't - always-on social channels where there's often nobody there in my hours and when there is, 99% of the time it's just characters making small talk about what they did last night.

vicky_molokh

@A.B. Oh hey, you're looking for Euro-time text campaigns?

A. B.

Actually getting to do any active RPing in those is such a rare freak incident that that's not really a plan! So I was looking for somewhere where there is actually a scheduled game.

Yes, very much! Why, you know of one?

vicky_molokh

Several.

A. B.

Aha. Tell me more?

vicky_molokh

Assuming you're not picky about systems/settings.

But if you are, then it's another matter.

@A.B. These are scheduled games (though some of them don't have a 100% success rate from week to week), mostly GURPS.

A. B.

5:50 PM

Don't reckon the system makes much difference, I'm a newbie, I'm fairly familiar with D&D 5e but never actually played even that, and I pick stuff up fast. Think I have seen the GURPS rules before.

(and liked the look of them, although fiendishly complicated-looking.)

vicky_molokh

@A.B. Well, check its LFG channel out.

There's a list of campaigns pinned. I know at least one of them has empty slots (light sci-fi on Wednesday Euro-evenings).

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