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12:00 AM
@Ben released a "just the maps" version of my dungeon app. A little clunky, and still pending publication
 
Ben
@BlackSpike OH nice :D
 
@Ben will be avaialble from:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Mad+Dwarf+Productions
when it finally passes muster
 
Ben
Are you "MadDwarf"? Lol
 
:) That is one of the names I go by ...
 
@BlackSpike will it be exclusively mobile, or will it be available for desktops as well?
 
12:02 AM
@Shalvenay Android Only
 
@BlackSpike :/ how come?
 
(Donjon have a very good browser-based one)
Partly, I'm specifically trying to learn Java/Android, to write Apps. I've done web-pages ... and I can't be bothered to either learn easy-conversions, or completely rewrite for multiple platforms! :D
 
Ben
@BlackSpike Yis. I like it because it is very extensive - creates random encounters and fully customisable, but yeah... it's PC only.
 
@BlackSpike I've used the Donjon one before, and it is good, but doesn't quite do what I linked you a while ago with the multi-story dungeon thing
 
I take some inspiration from Donjon ... hope to become known as "The Android Donjon" one day ... :D :D :D
 
Ben
12:06 AM
Them some big aspirations :P
 
The trick is in 1) including lots of stuff 2) calibrating it well.
I'm not up to speed on either yet ... but getting there ...
the maps was a few months of smashing my face into the keyboard, giving up and going to the pub, a Eureka Moment, a week of knocking the algorithm together, and a month of tweaking it! Still needs more content and lots of tweaking ...
@Shalvenay what was the multi-storey thing? I've not implemented that in current app , just single level
 
Ben
@BlackSpike Programmer's stress relief. There's something oddly therapeutic about rolling your forehead across the keyboard haha
 
haha
 
@BlackSpike being able to assemble multi-story dungeons where the rooms and stairs are in the right place for it all to fit together
 
Ben
@Shalvenay Actually yeah. That was certainly one of the main problems I have with most dungeon generator apps.
They're single-level only
 
12:16 AM
@Shalvenay aha. Yeah, that actuallyl adds quite a bit of work ... :(
 
@BlackSpike yeah, I can kind of understand that, as it's the kind of thing that most of the algorithms for this simply aren't designed to handle
 
Ben
@BlackSpike Potentially... but perhaps not? You can store object tags with coordinates, if a certain checkbox is checked?
As far as the algorithm goes though... that's the tricky part. Placing a hard value into a randomly generated sequence could potentially throw a fork into the mix
 
1
Q: By RAW, how can Prestidigitation create sound?

J. MiniAs an example of the uses of Prestidigitation, the 3.5e PHB lists "Common tricks with prestidigitations include producing tinklings of ethereal music". However, the rules text for Prestidigitation, as duplicated in the SRD, does not appear to make any references to sound or the means to create i...

 
There is probably a way of doing it... create lvl 1, including stairs ... mark Level1-Array with Stairs. Hard-Mark Level2-Array with adjoining stairs. Create lvl 2. Check if stairs are connected (in a room or corridor) if not, make a new corridor
 
@Ben Er...no? No-one sees the Emperor. And the Golden Throne keeps Him alive, but it's not part of him. Even if it was, that wouldn't make worshipping the Omnissiah not heresy. The Emperor relies on machines, as do we all, but there's nothing to suggest he worships them.
 
12:22 AM
Even place "Level 2, Room 1" around Stairs, rather than random
 
@Carcer Yep. Someone without the ability to vote is potentially not capable of properly reviewing something that has made it into those queues. It's not about stopping you from looking at that stuff, it's about making sure someone who has votes looks at it.
 
Ben
@Miniman The Emperor doesn't worship the Omnissiah - he is the Omnissiah.
@BlackSpike That's a good idea :D a hard origin point for the algorithm to start at
 
Could even include "multi-level" connectors: these stairs go all the way from level 1 to 4 (mark Maps 2-4 with stairs). Or just to level 4 (mark lvl 4 Stairs. mark levels 2, 3 with USED SPACE )
 
@Ben Again, everyone knows that's a polite fiction.
 
Ben
@Miniman though again, I don't think you'd catch anyone actually admitting to that. It's like God and Yahweh.
They're not the same being... but they're not different beings either
 
12:32 AM
Hmmm ... Currently I keep the map data in a 2d array (co-ordinates). Each "tile" has a value: R1 (room number one), C2 (Corridor from room 2), S1 (solid rock around room 1 and C1), etc. I would have to add some 'marker' for stairs ... in the Array? In a Room ("Rooms" are java Objects)? A separate Object? ... hmmm
 
@Shalvenay I think in this case what you have to do is design obstacles that don't require PCs to pretend to forget the things you said openly in front of them. Like, the lich of course also spawns a tiny scrying sensor so all of your companions can watch you get torn apart by ghouls and lament their weakness. It sure would show that smug jerk up if someone worked out how to hijack that to save you!
 
@Glazius yeah, :) that's definitely a better way to do it
 
@Glazius I like the idea. crow-bar the metagaming into the Game! :)
 
Ben
@BlackSpike I would say that would be the best option - because they technically are their own "object". And adding them as one also allows for additional funtionality
@Glazius How to Lich 101
 
I recall a discussion about Exalted, and do Exalts know how many "motes" of "mana" they have for their powers? There was a big push towards "Yes" because the powers were known and studied. so mote-counting (I won't use that Power yet, I need my motes for something else, and I get 5 back end-of-round) is actually NOT meta-gaming! :)
 
12:36 AM
@BlackSpike yes, the best thing to do with metagaming is push it into the IC sphere
(if anything, my EVE Online experience taught me that)
 
7
Q: If you kill a Solar Angel can you use its Slaying Longbow?

ErikSolars have the following weapon attack on their stat block: Slaying Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) piercing damage plus 27 (6d8) radiant damage. If the target is a creature that has 100 hit points or fewer, it must succeed on a DC ...

 
@Shalvenay or not :) we sometimes do "cut scenes" where I show the BBEG ordering his minions around. Not something the PCs would ever see, but gives the players something to work with. A form of exposition, without being a boring info-dump
 
@BlackSpike eheheh
 
BBEG <cut-scene> Hah! Those fools think they can sneak around my defences? Activate the Laser-Sharks!
Players: Laser sharks? Oops!
PCs: I bet the BBEG has defended this route some-how ... we should be alert for traps, or guards ... he might even have dolphins with blasters!
 
Ben
 
12:48 AM
hahaha
How did you know? My next BBEG has ( **scribbles furiously ** ) -always- had Chainsaw Piranhas!
 
Ah ... when what the players surmise is so much better than what you had planned.
 
Ben
@C.Ross My GM has openly admitted to this haha.
 
Good GM!
 
I've stopped even pretending, and just ask the players to tell me what's going on.
 
12:53 AM
@BESW yup!
 
Ben
He now has a recurring Bad guy based on one of our first D&D characters - a Human Barbarian with the Bear Totem. He hugged everything to death, and didn't actually use weapons in the conventional sense - instead he would simply grip the handle of the weapon, and punch.
 
I like playing games which actually make room in the rules for players to barge in and say "NO BUT LISTEN HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING" without my having to ask.
 
Ben
Gaston.
@BESW We do that, so many aspects of our games are just things we've pictured in our heads. Changelings, for example, make a sort of flatulent sound when they change shape, like a flipbook with skin.
 
I love love love the Majestic 13 "mission briefing" mechanic.
It consists of the GM presenting a very basic, broad sense of the adventure, and then players take turns adding details and complications to flesh out what it'll be like and what challenges they're likely to face.
 
The candy Factory was riffing off players' ideas. They were wondering where the BBEG would hide ( I had no idea yet!):
He might be near the Old Carnival.
He needs access to sugar (he has a Condition to boost him, but burns calories FAST)
Where does the Carney get its Candy? ...
They basically decided, and then "went to ask an NPC who might know these things", so i could tell them "Oh, you mean the Olde Candy Factory?" :)
 
12:57 AM
None of the details being added are binding (misinformation is a hazard of the job) but you get bonuses to overcome them if they come up somehow.
 
Our group is quite split on having such Rules. 1 is very against. I'm an old-fashioned viking-hat DM, others really like the idea.
We tend to do it free-form
"minor" details, I always allow the players to call. Or at least get a roll for ...
In the Candy Factory: it's a factory, is there a forklift truck nearby? Well, obviously there are some around ... nearby? sure, why not!
 
You might like InSpectres' take on it? When someone mentions a company resource for the first time, they roll their character's Resources stat to see how good or bad the resource is. And once per scene one player can do a reality-show-style confessional in which they can establish diegetic elements everyone else has to play around.
So it's strictly controlled but very open-ended within those controls.
 
Sounds interesting
 
Ben
I had a situation like this.
DM: A grenade lands at you feet, in the opening of the doorway"
Me: "I kick it back in and close the door"
DM: "..."
 
@kviiri I'll find out how much fun Australia is. So far, I have made it to Singapore, I'll be in Canberra this evening and likely extremely tired.
 
Ben
1:05 AM
@Anaphory BRING HOT THINGS
And stuff them in your clothes lol
 
I did pack warm clothes. Woolen socks, scarf, gloves, pullovers. I saw the weather forecast and packed appropriately, I hope.
 
Ben
I believe the average temp for Canberra atm is in the negatives
 
Ooh, average? I thought that was the minimum expected nighttime temp!
 
Ben
I am however, form North Queensland, so anything below double digits is freezing. Haha
@Anaphory probably more accurate. Lol
I'm just being dramatic I think hahaha
 
Do you know any chatizens from further south? I wouldn't mind meeting people while I'm around.
 
1:13 AM
Just The Maps is now LIVE! :)
It may be a little glitchy ... it's just a preview/test-run, really
 
user15026
@Ben I have a friend from Adelaide who will be moving to Canada eventually and she is like "it got to 5C here and I thought I was gonna die. Canadian winter might kill me."
 
Ben
@Anaphory @Linsassin and @Miniman, but I don't know exact locations haha
@Ash If I ever come to Canada, it will during a heatwave and I'll still be wearing a hoodie and jeans
@BlackSpike Oh, I just remembered, we gave the GM an idea for an enemy in our Savage Worlds game. "Dwarf-nado"
The final version was honestly far less chaotic than our original concept, but still equally memorable
 
haha! Love it!
 
user15026
@Ben Hahaha probably
 
"Be careful what you say around the GM ..."
 
1:25 AM
@Anaphory I'm from melbourne but not so good on the free time for meeting people.
@Ben It's only the forecast lows BOM forecast
 
Ben
With our original concept, we were investigating "Powers". One was the ability to have minions. The next was the ability to give your minions the same powers that you have. So it developed into a swirling horde of miniature people with tornado powers, just causing utter and complete havoc.
The GM decided to just focus all the points into the hurricane power, so it was a Dwarf with the ability to create a tornado originating on him, on command
 
@Ash That's my wifes major resistance to me working overseas. She hates the cold and it rarely gets into negatives here.
 
Ben
@linksassin Realistically, yes, I'm being dramatic. But seriously, nope.jpg
 
OK, late here. time for zzzzzzzzzzzz
have fun y'all
 
Ben
@BlackSpike [wave]
@Rubiksmoose [wave]
 
1:34 AM
@Ben Canberra is bloody cold though. I would never go there in winter
 
@Ben howdy!
 
Ben
@linksassin I suppose it is a redeeming factor of Melbourne. If you're cold just step out of the shade! haha
@Rubiksmoose How's things?
 
@Ben Melbourne: if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes.
 
Incredibly exhausting today actually. How about you?
 
Ben
So true
@Rubiksmoose Well, I'm only halfway in. I should be finishing my plugin, but... procrastination has set in
And the 80's synthwave isn't helping haha
 
1:38 AM
The trick is to find a way to procrastinate procrastinating
 
Ben
Interesting...
 
I unfortunately haven't discovered the trick. I've been putting it off.
 
Sometimes this is my desktop wallpaper:
 
Ben
@Rubiksmoose If you find it, let me know... I've got other things to work on... like... this excuse
 
@BESW Does that help?
 
1:41 AM
Sometimes.
 
@BESW [feels sudden compulsion to pick up an art]
 
@Rubiksmoose Productive procrastination is my biggest flaw. I can justify it by getting something done but it's not usually the thing I'm meant to be doing.
 
I hear you so much.
 
Ben
@linksassin this
 
Also:
 
Ben
1:44 AM
@BESW I am finding myself waiting anxiously for images to be uploaded about avoiding procrastination, instead of doing the things I should be doing.
 
Ben
@BESW Very true. One of the major reasons why our main product isn't actually a product yet. We kept coming up with "good ideas" to add in.
 
user15026
@BESW oh I like this but I don't because it's true and I don't like that
 
Ben
@BESW Indeed haha
 
1:47 AM
 
user15026
@BESW exactly!
 
Ben
The audacity. Here I am, perfectly happy in my bubble of unreality, and you have to go and pop it. :P
 
@Ash I would order you the 14-inch wall decal but I think they aren't selling it anymore.
 
user15026
@BESW and then I could make grumpy faces at it!
 
2:27 AM
lol
best thread
 
 
1 hour later…
3:42 AM
7
Q: When casting a spell with a long casting time, what happens if you don't spend your action on a turn to continue casting?

DucksGoMoofulInspired by a comment in this question, which reads as follows: It says you must spend your action each turn, but it does not say that if you do not spend an action that the spell fails And the rules for spells with long casting times are as follows (emphasis mine): Certain spells (inc...

 
@HotRPGQuestions you create an alternate dimension where you complete the spell, meanwhile in this dimension the spell no longer exists
XD
 
4:02 AM
 
4:15 AM
Anyone watch the first Democratic debate (night 1 and/or 2)?
 
I'm kinda scared to
 
4:47 AM
Ah yes, the thing where people fight in half-minute intervals over the right for me to be unable to vote for them anyway.
 
Yeah
Also just,.. good lord too many people
That in itself scares me
 
yeah, they had to split it into two nights just to fit them all
 
5:10 AM
it looks like this question got a few close votes but nobody commented to explain what they found unclear about it:
3
Q: Appropriate Obstacles for a "Find and Question" scene

dewordeIn my game, my players want to ask Arianna of Southton questions about the Gorgov family necklace. This seems like a good opportunity for a legwork scene where they have to find her within the church and then ask her questions. My question is how this fits within the mechanical structure of DCO....

 
5:43 AM
@V2Blast Looks to me like drive-by close voting by users who don't know the system.
 
I suspected it might be, but I'm not too familiar with the system myself
 
I don't entirely understand the question but I'm pretty sure if I knew the module it would make sense. It seems clear enough that if you can answer it you would understand.
 
6:02 AM
Yeah, doesn't seem actually unclear to me.
 
6:28 AM
This portal game question actually sounds like a pretty cool backstory for a character in pretty much any game.
 
@linksassin Sounds like Nest to me.
 
@BESW Sounds like a fun game.
 
I haven't played it, but it looks solid from skimming through it.
 
I was envisioning something more like playing the only human in a campaign setting.
The Magic Kingdom for Sale books come to mind and I think that could be entertaining.
 
I also once ran a D&D 3.x campaign where I let my players use material from all d20 supplements, and their PCs were all randomly portaled into the campaign setting for reasons nobody ever figured out.
(It sounds crazy, but it was probably my D&D 3.x campaign with the least power spotlighting problems.)
 
6:35 AM
@BESW Sounds interesting. How much effort did it take to resolve the mechanical differences?
 
We didn't make any effort.
There's very little mechanical interface slip between d20 System products.
Sure, your SG-1 character has a machine gun, but it's still just d20 + mod vs AC and roll HP damage; the zombie has AC and hit points.
 
I guess its more of a balance/scaling thing. Though I guess most of the d20 systems at the time had fairly similar modifier scaling.
 
The balance between d20 Systems was never a bigger issue than the balance issues already plaguing D&D 3.x.
 
@BESW That's fair.
 
6:51 AM
@linksassin Reminds me of the isekai subgenre
Isekai (Japanese: 異世界, transl. "different world") is a subgenre of Japanese fantasy light novels, manga, anime, and video games revolving around a normal person from Earth being transported to, reborn, or trapped in a parallel universe. Often, this universe already exists in the protagonist's world as a fictional universe, but it may also be unknown to them, as is the case with Sonic X. The new universe can be an entirely different world where only the protagonist has any memory of their former life, as in Saga of Tanya the Evil, or one that they reincarnate in. It may also be one where a formerly...
 
As always, GURPS has a book to cover it. (In this case, a genrebook.)
 
7:46 AM
[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in answer, bad keyword with email in answer, email in answer, pattern-matching email in answer, potentially bad keyword in answer (347): Are Warforged PCs affected by healing differently than other PCs? by peyton swayer on rpg.SE (@doppelgreener)
 
8:25 AM
@V2Blast oh that's what that is called huh?
 
8:46 AM
0
Q: Why would this be considered unclear?

dewordeI've got the answer I wanted, but I'm intrigued by why this question would be considered unclear. There might be better ways to write it, but it seems like it would be clear enough to people who understand the mechanics of Dusk City Outlaws I'm probably going to ask more questions on here about...

 
7
Q: How does the Hunter's Mark spell cast on a Roper interact with attacks against its tendrils?

ordiIf I cast Hunter's Mark on a Roper and I attack its tendril, do I get the 1d6 bonus damage? Each tendril has its own HP/AC, but it's a part of the Roper's body.

 
@BESW "None of the major social media platforms have a dislike or "rate low" button." Reddit doesn't count as a major social media platform?
 
No.
 
seems arbitrary
 
8:53 AM
It is not a social media platform, nor is it as prominent or widely used in the way that sites like FaceBook and Twitter are. It's still niche in the public consciousness, and it's not social media.
(And, you know, that seems like an arbitrary thing to pick at in the blog post. Is her point less persuasive because she doesn't use Reddit?)
 
no, and if anything reddit downvote bandwagons are a kind of the encouraged active engagement she's talking about
reddit literally has a sorting option for "controversial". It pretty much reinforces her point
I wasn't trying to enact some kind of scathing takedown, just genuinely querying that particular assertion because I thought reddit counts as social media and it is one of the most popular sites in the US (~#6 apparently) and the world.
 
9:29 AM
[shrug] Its status as social media is... arguable, at the very least.
 
9:57 AM
I'd say it's sort of a social media platform, but it certainly isn't its primary function - at the very least, it's a very different platform from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
 
 
1 hour later…
11:12 AM
sure, I agree it's a different kind of format and it clearly doesn't have quite the oppressive dominance that platforms like facebook and twitter do
still easily big enough to matter when it comes to how online discourse is shaped
 
Yes, but RPG discourse?
I've never encountered anyone referencing Reddit as an RPG community, especially outside D&D circles.
 
@linksassin I had no familiarity with the system but it definitely looked like completely uninformed close-voting to me. Nothing about it looked like it would be unambiguous if one was familiar with the system and scenario
 
We could ask the close voters, but on the other hand I don't think there's any real urgency to do so unless the question is actually closed and re-opening is disputed by someone.
 
Yeah, your meta answer is pretty much all we need unless further developments develop.
 
I hesitated a bit to write it because asserting someone did something because of X is always a bit of a gray area, but I think this relatively new user's concern had to be eased and I have some experience of a similar phenomenon so I opted to put it out there anyway.
 
11:27 AM
@BESW A friend of mine engaged a lot with the Shadowrun community on Reddit and generally always said it was rather good.
 
it's also nice that the actual publisher appeared to answer the question
@BESW there's a subreddit for everything, man! Even things that there really shouldn't be.
 
Yes, I am European. Yes, I frequent r/superbowl. Deal with it. :)
 
@Carcer You can ask about any game on RPG.SE too, but we don't have an impact on the tenor of the online RPG community.
 
Also, from what I see of the FATE and GURPS subreddits, they seem like communities to me. (Although for GURPS I prefer the SJGames forum.)
 
I admit I didn't have the time to read all the way through that post this morning, but the points made at the start about how social media platforms drive engagement seem generically applicable to everything.
Like, it doesn't really matter if I don't discuss TTRPGs on reddit, if I spend enough time on reddit discussing the other stuff in my life that it influences the way I behave in online spaces generally.
 
11:38 AM
mmm.... wawa waffle sizzli
 
(and again, not trying to argue against the article or to any particular conclusion, just ruminating on it generally)
my only actual use of reddit is to occasionally check best of legal advice and to argue about Worm/Ward, though
 
@BESW As a mod of /r/dndnext, I like to think it's a community. Though not exactly a tight-knit one.
 
I've always found Reddit almost impenetrable as a community. It de-emphasizes individuals and continuity of interaction, punishes extended conversation, silos aggressively...
 
@kviiri It should have some sort of joint event with /r/birdswitharms. (...It seems they read my mind: reddit.com/r/birdswitharms/comments/algwft/…)
@BESW I agree with it deemphasizing individuals, but how do you think it punishes extended conversation? (What do you mean by "silos aggressively"?)
 
silos aggressively because, well, the entire premise is that you silo content in specific subreddits
and different subreddits are essentially completely different communities.
 
11:44 AM
An information silo, or a group of such silos, is an insular management system in which one information system or subsystem is incapable of reciprocal operation with others that are, or should be, related. Thus information is not adequately shared but rather remains sequestered within each system or subsystem, figuratively trapped within a container like grain is trapped within a silo: there may be a lot of it, and it may be stacked quite high and freely available within those limits, but it has no effect outside those limits. Such data silos are proving to be an obstacle for businesses wishing...
As for punishing extended conversations, that's built into the UI.
 
It's probably better to think of them as separate sites/communities entirely
 
@Carcer Definitely agreed there
 
@Carcer Yep. A platform hosting multiple communities.
 
(though some of the worst communities tend to have their toxicity bleed into the users' interactions everywhere)
@vicky_molokh I guess it's basically like SE in that regard
 
but yes on the punishing extended conversations part, it doesn't exactly facilitate it very well
 
11:46 AM
Threading is rudimentary and makes it difficult to actually follow conversations. [pops open a random reddit link from his history]
 
that's kind of difficult to solve without just dropped the nested thread model
 
 
I did find some inconveniences in long conversations, but that probably had more to do with me being heavily used to linear threads rather than branching ones, and Reddit is branch-oriented.
Which in a way makes sense since different branches of a thread can go in very different directions, not all of which are equally interesting for a given user.
 
linear simply is easier to read, though
yeah branching is more flexible and there's a place for it but BESW is right that it makes following any one particular branch much more of a pain
 
I vastly prefer reddit's branching model in that regard, specifically because it allows people to have extended conversations without having to make a "separate thread" or essentially having a bunch of overlapping conversations
Definitely confusing sometimes, though
 
11:49 AM
On the browser interface, if I want to see Halaku's thread I need to click twice just to see the post they're responding to.
 
Old reddit is great about that because there's a "parent" button
Very rarely have I used the redesign
 
I stick to the old form.
 
It encourages disjointed reading of snippits rather than full nuanced conversations--each bit is rated on its own punchiness more than on than its usefulness in context.
(Reinforced by the voting system, obv.)
 
It's hard to accidentally step into a snipped down the branch.
 
at least comments don't have an arbitrarily small character limit
 
11:51 AM
The natural reading order favours starting from the trunk and going towards smaller branches.
 
I am baffled by how people use twitter for extended discourse, so much so that there's basically dependency on third party tools to take threads of tweets and make them readable
 
I find the native Twitter interface significantly more intelligible for reading extended conversations than the Reddit interface.
Neither's great, obviously, but Twitter's also much better for continuity of interaction across time.
 
@BESW FYI: your article seems to be region-locked (it doesn't load from my native IP but does from a North American one). But I do think it reaches sensible conclusions (though, and this is weird for me to say it, its opening seems to have neurotypical-normative vibes).
('Your' in the 'one linked to by you' sense.)
 
worked for me from the UK. Did you actually get a "not available in your region" error or just site fail?
 
No, it just pretends I don't exist, not even bother to give ma 403forbidden. I've seen that happen sometimes before with other sites.
 
11:57 AM
it seems unlikely the site/host are deliberately ipfiltering regions or anything
it times out, or it serves you an entirely blank page?
 
Maybe it's a larger scale DNS problem?
 
It times out. I remember some other sites doing the same thing and when confronted it admitting this is deliberate.
 
A few years ago every site based out of California timed out for everyone using my ISP until they reset their servers.
 
it's definitely possible to do deliberately if you configure a server to just drop traffic from some ranges
but there is that adage about incompetence and malice
earlier this week a routing leak basically broke cloudflare for a lot of people
 
 
12:03 PM
Anyway, I really appreciate the conclusions about partial disengagement, about avoidance of BadWrongFun'ing people, and about agreeing to disagree and understanding that two friends of person A are not necessarily friends among themselves. I think these are things that people often forget.
 
Last year my internet connection's intermittent failure was traced, after months of replacing routers and debugging lines, to a frayed wire in a wiring box, which disconnected every time the wind blew through it.
 
Ben
So, I think I'm definitely not GM material.
I just ran a board game night. And it was exhausting
 
I wonder how you'd fare with GMless games?
What board game?
 
@Ben life hack, get drunk and make someone else run it.
disclaimer, I do not publicly support this decision.
 
Ben
@BESW Firefly adventures
 
12:10 PM
Regarding board games, I bought Spirit Island. It seems like a fun and deep co-op game and has gotten lots of praise to that effect. I also like the fact that it has the players take the side of the native life (spirits and people) of the island, inverting the usual colonial objectives, although I haven't yet read all the material that came with it to assess how fair its treatment of the native population of the island is.
They are represented on the board by champignon-shaped tribal huts, which got a slightly awkward chuckle from me. I thought the Smurfs had cornered the mushroom home market.
 
Ben
Interesting. What's the objective?
 
fend off colonizers, right?
 
Ben
Is it like Catan or something else?
 
Not much, based on what I know of Catan. I'd compare it to Pandemic or FF games' Arkham Horror et al.
 
Ben
Ah rightio
 
12:19 PM
yea, it's pure co'op
 
"co'op" is a weird way to write that
it looks like the name of an eldritch being
 
yea, but "coop" looked weird to me
 
Ben
Might suggest t to my friend that collects them :'
 
The players control spirits inhabiting an island that's being colonized by invaders who, in their greed and haste, don't know how to coexist with spirits or the natives of the island. The invaders send explorers to build towns and cities that blight the island, and the players try to stop their spread and contain the damage they do.
 
Ben
Might suggest t to my friend that collects them :)
 
12:20 PM
coop or co-op, usually...
 
@Carcer Or "coöp", as used by... I think The New Yorker?
 
"co'op" implies a contraction
 
Yeah, use coöp to avoid ambiguity with coop.
 
cooooooop
 
(I got ninja'd.)
 
12:21 PM
goop
Funnily enough, the guy who gave the ultimate recommendation to get the game is a Swedish colleague of mine. He said I could repel the Swedish colonial overlords in the game! (yes, Sweden is one of the invader country picks available)
I think the Swedish rule over Finns was for a large part "Fair for Its Day" and left us some very good institutions that continue to serve us today, but hey, I have to do it at least once.
 
@Carcer ah. "co-op" was what I was trying to remember.
It's like that time I tried for about 10 minutes to spell one of those things in a dresser. has handles. holds clothes.
 
Not to be confused with co-opt.
 
@goodguy5 I once spent an hour chatting to one of my friends from university as we ambled around the city centre taking the freshers to the local nerd shops, completely unable to remember what his name was
 
Drar? no
Droor? no
drore? no
draar? no
droor again? still no
jroor? idiot

Mommom? How do you spell this?
"uh..... d.r.a.w.e.r?"

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH of course.
 
I'm terrible with names.
 
12:30 PM
"Hey, what's your full name?"
-response
"Oh, neat! <comment about middle name>"
 
in the end I broke away quickly when we were in a shop, found my partner and said "Help, I've forgotten Dan's name. Wait, nevermind"
 
One of my friends is starting to take pictures of people they meet, and putting their names on the pictures. I thinking of doing the same.
@goodguy5 I've got a friend whose middle name is the only part of their name I can remember.
 
@BESW Well with a name like "thunderjunk", who wouldn't
 
 
Ben
12:44 PM
@BESW I have a friend from school that we only refer to by his last name. Which was always funny when we called his house to see if he could talk. "hi is Mu--uhh..." [think hard for 5 seconds] "is Ashley there?"
@Carcer What's the second to last letter of the alphabet again?
 
@Ben ... Y?
 
Ben
@Carcer Because I wanna know
 
@Ben My big brother was one of those guys, because they had another kid of his name on his class. It stuck with him well into adulthood
 
@Ben HA!. GOT'EM
 
We had four kids called Henri or Henry on my class in my high-school equivalent. They also got nicknames fairly quickly.
 
12:51 PM
@kviiri almost none of the boys in my class at school were known by first names. It was almost all surname derivations
 
Ben
Hehe
 
@Carcer sounds like army :D
 
@kviiri There were two guys on my high school crew team named Matt. our coach said "This is too much. You [pointing to the younger one], you're name is Nick now." And so it was for the next 2 years.
 
Cook becomes Cookie, Fox becomes Foxy, Hesketh becomes Hesky... Harry got to be Harry but I suspect that was because his forename already ended with the -y sound.
 
1:06 PM
@Carcer Classic UK.
 
I wonder if being on a mount is identical to a mount carrying you.
 
@NautArch being mounted means you're being carried by a mount but being carried by a mount doesn't mean you're mounted
 
@Carcer okay, i can work with that :)
 
I've been almost always referred to by my first name only, although I had some short-lived variations when I was active in youth work and my IRC handle is still occasionally used
 
Man, do I hate Crawford's tweets sometimes
 
1:11 PM
though I guess technically the mount is also mounted in this arrangement
engliiiiiiish
 
@Carcer i'm gonna hold off on my answer. it's too much of a stretch for me.
I'm not sure how to handle all of the similar/potentially identical questions medix2 just asked.
They all seem like potential use-cases for answers to the real question they want.
which they also asked
 
@NautArch I must say, I feel like medix2 is making things more complicated than they need to.
 
@Tiggerous Agreed
 
All of the questions basically come down to "does a spell affecting something mean that it targets that something?"
and once that's answered, it answers all cases I think
 
8
Q: What qualifies for the target of a spell?

Tim GrantThe Jeremy Crawford tweet that @Psyntax referenced here has gotten me wondering what exacty constitutes a target of a spell. The PH states: A typical spell requires you to pick one or more targets to be affected by the spell's magic. A spell's description tells you whether the spell targets ...

should they all be dupes of that?
 
1:21 PM
> I must say, I feel like medix2 Crawford is making things more complicated than they need to.
 
@Miniman Fair.
 
That always seems to be the case
 
Earlier today I was reading that cantrip damage house-rule question and it got me thinking... The general consensus among the community seems to be that actually in 5e the classes are fairly well balanced (barring a few well known exceptions such as Beastmaster Ranger, Way of Elelements Monk), compared to earlier editions. But that each group's playstlye can do a lot to throw off game balance.
 
I'm looking into that Nystul question. It's an interesting point only inasmuch as Nystul's is capabale of targeting objects
 
@Tiggerous Personally, I'm not at all convinced that things are as even between spellcasters and mundanes as many people seem to believe.
 
1:31 PM
One of the more common ways that game-balance gets broken is the 'five minute adventuring day'. I wondered if a question around that would help discussions of those issues - something along the lines of 'How does the five minute adventuring day affect class balance?' But I wasn't sure if thatd be too broad?
 
@Tiggerous What is the "five minute adventuring day"?
 
It's a question that I'm genuinely interested in the answer to (at a deeper level than Paladins are stronger), with relevance to my own table.
@Miniman That cantrip question may value your input?
 
@Someone_Evil It's a slang term for games with few combats - i.e. rather than 6-8 combats of varying difficulties, you might have just one deadly combat between long rests.
 
@Someone_Evil It's the DnD thing that happens when the players do the "smart thing" and rest between every encounter. Often also occurs by accident when people homebrew adventures with few combat encounters
(scare quotes since it's not actually always "smart")
 
1:36 PM
@G.Moylan updooted
 
hooray!
 
Anyway, I was just wondering whether others thought that such a question sounded like it could be stackable and useful, to broader discussion of class balance?
 
@Someone_Evil Eg. in our games, we've played almost exclusively homebrewed adventures. Our GMs aren't game designers --- I have the mindset, I think, but not all the tools. The adventures are "played by the ear" and balance interactions aren't usually considered much
 
@Tiggerous This was also partially why i asked my question about easy encounters. Including more encounters that are 'easy' to fill the 6-8 i don't think makes a difference. I know that as a player, I'd just be saving my resources for when it matters and using non-resource abilities for the easy ones.
 
The upside is that we usually only get content that the GM at the time finds interesting --- so little to no "filler" encounters. The downside is that we usually have only a single combat a day, or two, and that does nasty things to DnD 5e balance.
 
1:41 PM
crap, I'm trying to find a refutation that things affected by spells are also targeted by them
 
@kviiri We usually have about 2 deadly encounters/day
sometimes 1, sometimes 3. With usually one SR opportunity.
 
And it's a bit of a vicious cycle: the GMs notice in retrospect the players survived the one combat of the day with ease and ramp up the difficulty, which leads to more resource splurge during a single encounter but never gives more endurance-oriented characters (like Warlocks and Monks) a chance to shine.
 
@kviiri I'm not sure if SR dependent is the same as endurance oriented.
 
@kviiri I wonder how much of it also relates to many games being played over only 2-3 hour sessions, with combat encounters being fairly time consuming.
 
Both of these classes need SRs in order to get the most out of their character in combat.
 
1:45 PM
@NautArch Well, not if you never have any short rests. :>
 
@G.Moylan You won't find one I don't think. Nothing explicit and official anyways. They either don't know or aren't willing to clarify what actually is a target of a spell and, in fact, apply the term inconsistently in the rules as well.
 
@Tiggerous Ideally, that shouldn't matter --- there's no reason why a session should end with a rest.
 
@NautArch Don't monks have to wait for LRs to get chi back?
 
(or a Long one in particular)
@Tiggerous No, SR is enough
 
@kviiri Ideally.
 
1:46 PM
@Tiggerous SR
Having played a bit as a monk, the SR dependency is actual an advantage. I can splurge during an encounter and take an hour to get all of my resources back. That's pretty huge.
I think the Warlock may be a bigger issue with simply fewer spell slots. But the Ki resource is pretty big. I can get a lot of bang out of the Ki buck (especially with stunning strike.)
 
@NautArch For sure, don't know why I thought it was LR.
 
GcL
@NautArch And you can burn a lot of ki in a single round if you want/need to
 
@Tiggerous Yes. But what's the concrete obstacle, except maybe entrenched habits?
 
GcL
e.g. disengage, bonus move, and a stunning strike.
 
@GcL And so can a Paladin. But they won't get their spell slots back until a LR.
 
GcL
1:48 PM
Monks are the anti-wizard
 
@G.Moylan I don't know how helpful this is, but I did a deep dive on targeting in this answer wrt AOEs.
 
@Tiggerous It's not really something that can be answered in a general way. Comparative damage between classes varies enormously based on encounter density.
 
My usual approach to long rests in DnD is that it's only possible between quests, that are scaled to fit neatly within one day's resource use.
 
GcL
@Miniman and encounter type... high con high str opponents are a different challenge than high dex are different than flying opponents.
 
@Rubiksmoose I'll read that, ti looks good .I'm stuck trying to prove that spells affected by another spell are not therefore targeted by that spell. In my gut I feel like that can't be true, but I'm not sure how to prove it
 
1:50 PM
Of course, the moment you step outside the box of damage, the comparison becomes a matter of opinion. And massively one-sided.
 
@Miniman That's why I was considering asking the question about how class balance was specifically affected by the 5 minute adventuring day - I suppose you could also ask the opposite too, though that's less often an issue.
@kviiri Well, you could say that about a lot of things - but I take your point.
 
@Rubiksmoose - Hey, got a question for you in all your sageness.
 
@JohnP Uh oh lol (be careful I think I left my box of sage at home today)
Shoot
 
In your experience/collective recall on RPG, has there been a question on how an inexperienced DM can run and keep a game fun for experienced players?
 
GcL
@G.Moylan spells affected by another spell? Charm spell is affected by anti-magic field. Are you saying that anti-magic field targets the charm spell?
 
1:57 PM
If it is there, I want to read it. If it isn't, I'm going to ask it.
 
@GcL The question is if Nystul's magic aura targets divination spells aimed at the initial Nystul target since it affects how they behave
 
@JohnP I'm curious, do you envisage the question to be system specific?
 
@Tiggerous Probably 5e as that is what I would probably run, but it's generally applicable.
 
GcL
@G.Moylan Does nystul's target subsequent spells cast on the recipient?
 
@JohnP Hmmm. Nothing leaps to mind immediately for that exactly. But there are a lot of that type of social question that either blur together in my mind or I may never have payed much attention.
 
1:59 PM
@GcL that's the assertion that since it affects those spells that it also targets those spells. Crawford apparently said something to that effect in 2017 but I haven't found any kind of update for that
 

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