TRPG General Chat

Ben

12:30 AM

Morning all

BESW

1:11 AM

[wave]

Ben

Hows life?

BESW

I was working on Long Live the King of Monsters and suddenly I'd completely re-written Surgadores instead.

Ben

Hahaha

BESW

So... confusing? Life is confusing.

Ben

I saw you mentioned Sugardores

Oh, that's a given. Haha

BESW

1:15 AM

yeah, there's a shiny new playtest and I feel pretty good about it.

trogdor

Life is unffffaaair

Sorry couldn't help myself

Joel Harmon

@KorvinStarmast Seems I'm still miscommunicating on that, and this might be faster. I didn't intend to say that it's not a Paladin spell. I meant it's not an always-prepared spell for any given Paladin archetype from the PHB.

KorvinStarmast

1:41 AM

@JoelHarmon Not sure why you bring that up. All he is asking about is prepared spells, not "always prepared spells." The spells change with a long rest. That's the whole topic of the question.

Joel Harmon

@KorvinStarmast Agreed on the question premise. I just caught your bless mistake, and thought you might have been implicitly using rules I didn't think were there.

Turns out they are there, though they don't cover that spell.

KorvinStarmast

@JoelHarmon No, and I am glad you caught that, since command was what I should have used since it was on my example prepared list So good catch! :)

Joel Harmon

I just wasn't certain enough of myself at the time of original comment to make that edit myself, Just In Case you knew something I didn't.

KorvinStarmast

@JoelHarmon here, I'll cast bless on us both. Wait, did I forget to prepare that one? Arrggh!!

The Oracle

2

Q: Angry DM/GM site change - link updates?

Someone kindly pointed out that the link in this answer to an Angry DM post goes to what looks very much like a malicious domain squatter. Looks like he's moved to angrygm.com. I can try to track down the post I was linking to, but it seems to me this is something we should/could be systematic a...

Joel Harmon

1:47 AM

@KorvinStarmast Now I'm worried. Doesn't that spell require line of sight and a 30' range? :P

KorvinStarmast

@JoelHarmon I can't see, no no no no no, I can't see. (Oblique Frank Zappa reference) (Yellow Snow)

Ben

1:59 AM

I heart this community

Even if we can't sort out our issues, we agree to d and move on. Respect and consideration of others is the priority and it's just always great to come back to that everytime

@BESW I finally saved that. I don't know why I didn't the first 3 times haha

Joel Harmon

@Ben In my view, communication errors are always two-way. It requires verification of understanding. Here, Korvin and I were both not explicit enough about the difference between all Paladin spells, spells a Paladin always has prepared from their Oath, and the subset of the first group that the Paladin happens to have prepared right now.

It turns out that a couple of reasonable adults can discuss something and come to an agreeable conclusion, even on the internet.

Ben

@JoelHarmon exactly. Understanding that is key.

Joel Harmon

Well, that and Be Nice is more than just Don't Be Mean.

BESW

@JoelHarmon Related tweet.

Ben

2:21 AM

I actually had a bit of a revelation recently about communication.

There are 3 basic levels: Hearing, Listening, and Understanding

Hearing is basically "You have spoken, and I have not interrupted you, and now that you are finished talking, it is now my turn"

Listening is "You have said something, and I will address that"

And Understanding is "You have said something, which I believe is 'this', to which I will respond"

Hot RPG Questions

5

Q: Can a paladin prepare more spells if they didn't cast any the previous day?

I know this seems like a silly question but it was just a random thought that I had today. I know Paladins only get so many spells a day by preparing them usually when they wake up and pray to their god. That much I understand but my thought was that there isn't anything saying they can't pre...

dnd-5e spells paladin spellcasting

BESW

@Ben Unfortunately, I've run into several people who think active listening techniques like "What I hear you saying is..." are "putting words in their mouth" or the like unless the technique is explicitly called out like a cheesy martial arts film.

Ben

@BESW Yeah. These three "levels" are sort of like "on a scale of 1 to 10". There are points in between, and there can be issues when people aren't on the same level.

Some people feel it's best to not say things that might be considered harsh, even if they are simply constructive criticisms, and vice versa, people who offer constructive criticism are often seen as cruel or harsh, depending on who they're talking to.

Communication isn't really something that can be defined so easily, of course.

BESW

When there's an assumption of good faith, a mismatch of form can be easily overcome. But unless the conversation is super important, and especially on the Internet, when people start accusing me of bad faith practices I just shut up and let them dig their own hole.

Ben

Gotta know when to hold em, fold em, and when to walk away

BESW

2:37 AM

Yeah. At that point it's about not escalating and definitely making the whole space unhappy on the chance that one person might turn out to not be just looking for a fight.

Joel Harmon

2:48 AM

@BESW I prefer to turn it around and make it about me with something like "I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean...". It sets the tone as teaching, not arguing. Of course, some folks are just incorrigible, and the only way out peaceably is to smile and nod until they think you agree with them, then they leave.

Ben

@JoelHarmon That's a good tactic. It takes the blame off them, which allows them to be less aggressive - they're not being "attacked"

Joshua

3:15 AM

Ugh; In my experience "what I'm hearing is ..." is usually a preamble to disaster.

Ben

@Joshua "Okay, just calm down"

Hahha

BESW

Mmm. Active listening got seriously corporatified and formulized into passive-aggressive uselessness, but the basic principle is sound.

Ben

Sometimes it can just be the person you're talking to. I've spoken to some people that only want to interpret everything you're saying as hostile. There's no cure for that

Joshua

The best readback I've gotten from one of those was one that sucked all the qualifiers out, turning a highly specific idea into a general idea that was never meant to be a general idea.

Hot RPG Questions

3

Q: Can a character use multiple reactions in response to the same trigger?

Let's say you're a fighter with Combat Reflexes, and Boundless Reprisals. This means that on a given turn, you will have up to 3 reactions to use: Two normal reactions, and one additional reaction which can only be used to take attacks of opportunity. If a creature provokes an attack of opportun...

opportunity-attack reactions pathfinder-2e

Hot RPG Questions

5:27 AM

10

Q: Does the Beacon of Hope spell maximize the HP regained from any Potion of Healing?

I’m really looking for validation as to how I think this would work. The Beacon of Hope spell description states (emphasis mine): This spell bestows hope and vitality. Choose any number of creatures within range. For the duration, each target has advantage on Wisdom saving throws and d...

dnd-5e spells healing hit-points potions

Derpy

7:24 AM

@Ben To be fair, I have seen people on other Stack sites using the "Be Nice" thing in that way :_:

Nyakouai

Hellooooo

kviiri

Hi

@Ben Sadly, I've dealt with many people who do this because they're depressed or so :(

Pierre Cathé

8:23 AM

Morning folks

Hot RPG Questions

9:22 AM

4

Q: How does attacking during a conversation affect initiative?

Say the party is smooth-talking a guard, and the rogue loses patience and throws a dagger. Combat ensues...is the next step to roll initiative? If so, does the rogue's thrown dagger not count as his first round attack?

dnd-5e initiative

BESW

I'm working on a postcard-sized zine version of Surgadores.

Ben

@Derpy my dad brought up an interesting point about that actually. His generation was brought up with the lesson that you are "obligated to treat others with respect". The downside of this is that people would forget that others should also behave in the same manner. My generation however was taught the opposite "I deserve respect". And again, people can forget that others deserve the same.

You can see how that can go south very quickly sometimes

BESW

@Ben I've heard this generational argument and like most generational arguments I find that it's pretty much limited to a particular visible intersectional population.

Ben

@kviiri I have been in that position. It's hard to overcome sometimes. Thankfully, I am a person that sees the "bigger picture". While I might interpret people's behaviours toward me as hostile or degrading, I always have that voice in my head that reminds me it isn't always so.

@BESW yeah.

Derpy

9:40 AM

@Ben let me do a quick search....

in Sugarcube Corner on Meta Stack Exchange Chat, Feb 6 '17 at 16:38, by Derpy

People don't know how to be happy, always busy keeping their mask in the society we built

in Sugarcube Corner on Meta Stack Exchange Chat, Feb 6 '17 at 16:38, by Derpy

and as a result the good old adagio is becoming even more true.

in Sugarcube Corner on Meta Stack Exchange Chat, Feb 6 '17 at 16:39, by Derpy

> If you can't be happy, at least try to make others more unhappy than you

sadly, I still think that the actions of too many users can be summarized to this.

@BESW even after reading about your idea yesterday, I still managed to misread it as "sugar-dores" and for a brief second was expecting something about sugar-flavored doritos.

BESW

10:11 AM

@Derpy That sounds more Irish.

I switched up the dice mechanic; it's now rolling multiple unmodified dice where the number of dice is based on your progress, rather than rolling one dice modified by your progress.

Derpy

@BESW I officially hate you :P

Tell me, @BESW .... what superpower do you have????

I was basically just going to suggest that :P

This is the message I was writting

> @BESW would have to check how this is gonna work during an actual playtest, but based on numbers alone I think that the Surgadores gameplay is somehow biased towards using a shield player to forcefully ward of death on the first 3 rounds by marking all their gimmick while another chosen player completely colors their mask by stabilizing the patient three times (using marks if necessary).
At that point the player can act as an (almost) perfect shield for WRESTLING DEATH - they have a +3 bonus, 5 is the score needed for success so... they lose only on a result of 1?

It is official, this is a simulated world and BESW is one of the interfaces of the underlying program.

He must be using branch prediction and future search/ ahead execution prediction to always be a step ahead of us.

BESW

[grin] The original version of the game used multiple dice, but the implementation was very different and yesterday I just didn't want to mess with multiple-dice probabilities.

Today I still don't have the brain for it, but I was willing to just do it anyway.

V2Blast

Fez is free on the Epic Games Store until tomorrow: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/fez/home
After that, Celeste and Inside will be free from August 29 to September 5th.

@Derpy I keep reading it that way mentally even after reading the doc and knowing how it should be pronounced

BESW

I'm tempted to re-name it Cirujadores.

Derpy

@BESW well, correct me if I am wrong but in the original v2 version if you try to optimize to fill one mask at time and then have those player WRESTLE DEATH then the probability to lose would be 1/6 ^(# of player with full masks)

means that if you can get at least two players to have fully colored mask.... you now are at 1/36? 0.02...... basically you already won, it is only a matter of time. And it is still possible that your mask-complete players managed to pull out a 5-6 result before and thus still have some emergency mark on hand

BESW

10:30 AM

That sounds right.

I'm very bad with probability.

But I know that it didn't feel right.

It would've worked better with the v0.2 rule that you couldn't wrestle Death at all once you'd gotten your surgical successes, but that rule made for a do-or-die final turn.

trogdor

@BESW ooooooo

Derpy

10:48 AM

To be fair right now it seems that the incentive is to mark your GIMMICKS at the first opportunity available. Not only you get a free success, but each marks becomes a +1 for a successive attempt at STABILIZING. It is like spending a fate point but with a great difference: you get permanent bonus and depending on the action you may also get closer to final win conditions (if the "point" is spent on STABILIZING)

To be clearer: the felling that I get now is that you actually become "stronger" by spending your resources as fast as you can.

BESW

11:07 AM

I need to do some playtesting because you're right, but there's a balance between increased probability and guaranteed probability that I need to poke at.

Also a particular design goal got lost in the shuffle and I need to put it back in.

Hot RPG Questions

11:20 AM

4

Q: How does line of sight for spells work, accounting for familiars?

I had to make a call today and I'm wondering how this scenario should've gone down The map was a U-shaped hallway; the party was on the lower left of the U, with the enemies on the upper right. The wizard has an owl familiar who could see an enemy caster, with the wizard seeing through the fami...

dnd-5e spells familiars line-of-sight counterspelling

BESW

> Choose the gimmick you’re using to operate, then roll three dice minus one dice for each of your marked gimmicks, plus one if you’re using your signature surgical technique.

> Choose the gimmick you’re using to wrestle, then roll a dice plus one dice for each crayon color on your máscara (up to three), plus one if you’re using your signature wrestling technique.

I'm going back and forth between three and four for the operation baseline.

I don't like subtraction but what are you gonna do.

Derpy

11:40 AM

@BESW You could say "roll one dice for each of your unmarked gimmicks" but.... it is pretty much the same, just reworded.

BESW

That's much better, thanks.

Carcer

hang on

okay, this is a game about luchadore surgeons

I understand. continue

BESW

Yes, it is a bit weird.

trogdor

it's great and you should feel great

Nyakouai

From what I saw in surgery, the idea of luchadores surgeons is not that absurd, so yeah, no problem here

insert gif of surgeons hammering a clamp to put a prosthetic right

BESW

11:55 AM

The game was inspired by a conversation in this chat room three years ago about a relief sculpture called "Keeping Away Death," by Julian Hoke Harris for the Fulton County Dept. of Health and Wellness building in Atlanta, Georgia.

Derpy

at least you don't carve a star on the patient....

BESW

ooof I made the mistake of clicking the Angry GM link in the feed.

Derpy

(... the healing touch in trauma center always felt a little out of place...)

BESW

I mean...

Derpy

12:19 PM

@BESW I know, the joke was more about the fact that drawing the star actually manages to slow down time for everyone else but you and reduce vitals loss for its duration. Plot wise, it is described as some sort of extreme concentration power... but many made the "selling the patient soul to some demon" joke back when the game came out

BESW

@DonFusili [wave]

Derpy

(and to be fair, what do you expect when the ingame visual effect of the power is this? - disclaimer: link contains very stylized image of a stomach and nearby bones - it is a "surgery" game after all)

BESW

Yeah, I'm not really a target demo for online video game community references.

Derpy

yep, I know, sorry.... it is just that the idea of a luchador performing surgery brought back memories of some of the surgery you do in Trauma Center.

You fight viruses with lazers beams.

And they fight back.

BESW

12:35 PM

That does sound potentially traumatic.

Derpy

it is a tad.... over the top.

I mean... in one of the game you have to kill the final boss virus by injecting some medicine directly into it with a syringe

which means that the virus is probably about the size of a beetle.

and since it is running around super fast.... you combine the Healing Touch of two surgeons cast simultaneously to completely stop time

by the end of the game I was surprised the main character didn't turn super saiyan

NautArch

1:34 PM

@JohnP Welp. New PSU didn't solve it. New mobo on way. So much fun! :(

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch :( Hardware debugging is fun!

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose Hate it when the general response is throw money at it.

But i've got so little hooked up, it's really hard to test. At this point, it's either CPU or Mobo. I've already pulled both sticks and put one it at a time to see if it was one of the RAM sticks. I guess it could be both...

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch I'm with you 100%. Ugh. I had to make so many trips out to Microcenter when I was debugging a problem when I was doing my build. Turned out to be a freak broken power cable in the end on the brand new PSU. And I was lucky enough to have a niche computer store relatively nearby too...

NautArch

But in better news, after 5 week hiatus, got a game night tonight and levelling to 4 after a long rest :)

Rubiksmoose

1:51 PM

@NautArch that would be odd...

@NautArch Nice!

A 5 week rest is long indeed ;)

goodguy5

baby + gaming = difficult

But I've managed to get a few sessions in

JohnP

@NautArch boo!

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose Yeah, August is a big vacation month so scheduling is the worst.

and one of our players is having a baby soon. So we'll likely having another big break.

But I think I finally deicded on what i'm doing for the level for my wizard (who lost his brother due to 3 consecutive failed medicine checks the first encounter at level 1).

Picking up Magici Initiate (Bard) for Healing Word, mending, and message. PIcking up Hold Person/Find Familiar/Shocking Grasp as wizard spells. Campaign seems very orc-heavy as enemies so HP could be really useful. Wasn't sure about Find Familiar, but too many good opportunities where a familiar is helpful.

goodguy5

guys guys.

We have restaurants come to our office and set up in the kitchen most days.

Todays is called....

Bumpin' Dumplin'

NautArch

@goodguy5 I read that wrong and as disturbed

goodguy5

1:57 PM

Bumpin Dumpin?

NautArch

yup

Rubiksmoose

hahaha

nitsua60

@Rubiksmoose abdominal surgery in July: 5 week rest was just about right =)

(Back to running for the first time this week!)

Rubiksmoose

@nitsua60 Did you level up?

@nitsua60 Nice! How'd it feel?

(if you have already run)

nitsua60

@Rubiksmoose Weight? Yes.

@Rubiksmoose Embarrassingly slow and short. But a couple of weeks should put that right.

JohnP

2:06 PM

@nitsua60 I resemble that. I haven't run in nearly a year...

nitsua60

@JohnP I did 14mi. at a 9:00 pace the week before the surgery. I jog/walked 2 mi. the other day =\

Oh, well. I've got a 5mi. in October to keep me on low-level goals, so hopefully that'll help me not push it too fast.

JohnP

@nitsua60 That's not bad at all. I've ran for so long that I've been burned out since I did ragnars in back to back years a while back.

Rubiksmoose

@nitsua60 Hey, I'll bet you run faster than me after surgery than I now normally :)

@nitsua60 That good, I'm very prone to going too hard.

Which sounds like the last thing you should be doing^

nitsua60

@Rubiksmoose I'm actually bringing my 11 year-old along with me through this bit of training--it'll be his first "race" >1mi. So it's nice time together, nice to get him working toward that goal (that he set), and helping keep me from doing something stupidly-hard.

JohnP

@nitsua60 you mean like...running post surgery? :p

Rubiksmoose

2:15 PM

@nitsua60 That seems both very smart, and super adorable.

nitsua60

@JohnP Something like that =)

KorvinStarmast

2:47 PM

@JoelHarmon Wait, are we doing it wrong? 8^D

goodguy5

3:07 PM

Writing an email for work, I want a word between useful and useless.

and I'm trying to avoid saying "less useful"

Not a super formal email, so it doesn't have to be great.

NautArch

@goodguy5 can you give us the sentence for context?

Pierre Cathé

"not as useful as it could be " ?

Someone_Evil

of some utility, of limited ...

goodguy5

The <redacted> job is currently suspended, but still shows under the daily itinerary. It seems <less than useful> to show this every day.

Pierre Cathé

unnecessary

NautArch

3:10 PM

^

goodguy5

My current working solution is "It seems more distracting than useful

Pierre, you're a danged genius

much appreciated

Happy to help

redundant?

nice

is saying "prepend" and "at the beginning" redundant?

"I would like to just prepend "[suspended]" on the job title, but I’d like some feedback (and permission) before I do so."

Pierre Cathé

3:15 PM

It does look like "at the beginning" is unnecessary ;) here. Also I might be wrong but shouldn't it be "to the job title" ?

goodguy5

works for me

JohnP

@goodguy5 "I would like to change the the job title and grouping to also reflect the status, but I would like feedback and permission before commencing work."

goodguy5

thanks team

JohnP

If you really want to get into the corporate speak: "I believe changing the report to reflect current job status and grouping by same would be a positive impact, so I am round tabling for input before making this an actionable item."

NautArch

You forgot "this also represents a paradigm shift for this role"

JohnP

3:26 PM

The report has a role?

Xirema

"We're going to make this division about 20% more efficient" Which basically just means "We're going to make you do 20% more work for the same pay".

NautArch

ah,read job title not as ticket, but role.

JohnP

mmm...roles...I skipped breakfast today.

goodguy5

3:39 PM

why is that elemental earth patron getting bombed?

NautArch

@goodguy5 because OP is spamming questions without providing the background info we request regarding homebrew reviews.

one after another

instead of addressing it in the one they had up, they've doubled, tripled, and quadrupled down on more questions.

goodguy5

going to lunch, but I have more questions when I get back....

seems like we're granting (down)votes based on the user and not on the question.

NautArch

@goodguy5 I downvoted all of them because they're not following our recommended process. THe questions are the problem. THe user is just the same person and they're not fixing it.

SO basically, I downvoted and voted to close as unclear. I normally would have just done the latter, but they are just bulldozing through with identical problematic questions.

JohnP

I really want to say no on that magic jar question, although there is no specific RAW that says so. Just interpretation of the sequence and rules on concentration.

NautArch

@JohnP it's tricky! Your body is comatose (which usually means no concentration), but your spirit is not (just limited in action options.)

I think it's legitimate to allow.

JohnP

3:46 PM

Is maintaining concentration an action?

> The only action you can take is to project your soul up to 100 feet out of the container, either returning to your living body (and ending the spell) or attempting to possess a humanoids body.

NautArch

@JohnP nope

JohnP

I suppose to answer that we would need to know where consciousness lies. :p

NautArch

only breaks upon certain circumstances, and magic jar's bit doesn't seem to be one of them.

dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/spellcasting#Concentration

G. Moylan

@JohnP tool songs playing in background

NautArch

You're not incapacitated (although comatose implies that, but then your spirit not being comatose is where it gets tricky), haven't taken damage, and you're not casting a new spell that requires concentration.

Someone_Evil

3:48 PM

Is there any way to be concentrating on a spell while in magic jar?

NautArch

@Someone_Evil you can possess a creature, cast a spell, return to the jar.

G. Moylan

So what happens if I want to keep a genie in a magic jar

NautArch

@G.Moylan I don't think you can put someone in a magic jar. THe spell target is self.

Someone_Evil

You can posess their body indefinatly

goodguy5

4:12 PM

What it should accomplish, or what your aims for it are. check

If it's an item or class, what kind of power level you're going for, if such a concept applies to your game. check

If you're sharing a monster or challenge or obstacle, include who is supposed to be challenged by it, which might mean briefly informing us about the player characters if you're a GM. (Feel free to be specific to your situation.) n/a so check

NautArch

@goodguy5 Whera re you getting any of that? All I see is a straight up list of features.

and the very loose connection of "associate it with elemental".

goodguy5

I am working on a collection of planar player options and have created this Earth Elemental patron for that reason.

"Against the other warlock patrons, of course"

it could all be restated:

"I am looking to create elemental themed class options for my game. I am hoping that this patron option is balanced against other patrons."

NautArch

Those are very generic description and don't explain any of those bits. Not stating it would be jsut as useful as it is right now.

The iteration on the sorcerer one also ignores the bullet points.

No discussion on "In order to give you feedback on whether your material is functioning well at its purpose, we need to know what that purpose is. Please also tell us if there's anything you're particularly worried about or looking to improve or fix."

It's just a copypasta of the build itself without any real orh elpful background information and requests for what to review that htey're worried about. It's low effort and incomplete.

@goodguy5 yes, but that still doesn't go over why they've put in what they put in, what they were trying to solve, and what areas they're concerned about.

goodguy5

I'm not convinced that this is an issue, but I'll defer to the majority

Xirema

4:32 PM

I mean, in principle I think there's an argument for keeping the questions up: They clearly define what the homebrew does, and there's not a ton of ambiguity in terms of "wait, does this feature actually do what it seems like it's doing? Are you sure you want this feature to do this?" that a lot of homebrew seems to contain.

Like, if someone writes a Sorcerer homebrew where the first level feature is "All spells that deal Cold Damage add bonus Cold Damage equal to your Sorcerer Level", they'd rightfully raise eyebrows, like "Did you mean to make this once/long rest, or what's going on here?"

Hot RPG Questions

8

Q: Can you illusion a window out of a solid wall?

Right now I'm designing a dungeon that is actually a ruined castle, but with illusion magic it appears to be restored to its original shape. One of the key parts I need is a window, which is actually an illusion, on a real, solid wall. The party only needs to be able to look through this wall - ...

dnd-5e spells illusion

NautArch

@Xirema It's not about being clear or having it well written. It's about explaining what you've done and why - and how you've looked it at and why ou think each think is or isn' balanced and folks want us to look at.

BUt just putting the whole thing up with "?", doesn't seem to follow the guidlines of how we wnt folks approaching it.

Xirema

I don't know that I fully agree with the existing guidelines that stipulate we need to mandate "The reason I've written this homebrew is because I want to..." as some kind of thesis to defend.

But I also think I'm in the minority opinion on that matter.

NautArch

@Xirema then put up a competing answer to the meta :)

But I think it's more about "I've looked at this, this is why I think this is balanced, these are the areas that i'm concerned about".

That's the effort I think we're asking for (and what I'd like to see).

JohnP

4:55 PM

@NautArch As opposed to "Here. Tell me what's wrong with this."

NautArch

@JohnP Right. THey should start off with their own assessment of what's good/bad and what they're woried about. If they're not worried about anything, why'd they ask?

The Oracle

5:12 PM

1

Q: Are self-answer questions still allowed?

Shortly put I had a mechanics question about infinity-rpg regarding the stealth system that was not immediately clear. I figured out the solution eventually within the book, but thought it might make a good question and answer on the site for anyone else using the system since there are not a lo...

discussion on-topic answers

Mark Wells

5:27 PM

@NautArch I think one reason they might ask is recognizing their own inexperience, which is one of the best reasons to ask for help, but means the request will be fairly open-ended.

NautArch

@MarkWells And that's more than okay. But being inexperienced doesn't mean that shouldn't have tried to review it and discuss the bits they are/aren't comfortable with.

goodguy5

5:45 PM

welp, got a stern talking to by my boss about my work habits. some of which was well deserved (I always have a youtube window up playing something in the background while I work, and management knows what youtube looks like and not stackexchange).

But some of it was stupid, like "I invited you to a random meeting without saying anything at 12:30 and you didn't show up"

NautArch

@goodguy5 I personally don't understand the issue of having a youtube window up. Is your work getting done and getting done well? Then who cares what's in he background?

goodguy5

^

but I understand the concept of optics, so whatever. I'll play nice

NautArch

DO they allow folks to listen to music while they work?

goodguy5

yep, because you can't see that

So, I've switched off of gameplay, over to youtube.com/watch?v=nDq6TstdEi

Hot RPG Questions

8

Q: How to handle inventory and story of a player leaving

A player left my group recently. It was mutual and not-unexpected, and during the last session, the character left for an unspecified purpose. The character (lawful-good wizard) who left had a few magic items: A powerful necromantic artifact. An evil necromancer's spellbook. Miscellaneous scro...

dnd-5e gm-techniques equipment treasure

vicky_molokh

5:54 PM

@NautArch "How do you make a computer run a player play music and run the work programme at the same time?! Do you have two computers, one for work, one for music, or something?!" (Apparently a paraphrasing of some actual boss in the 90s.)

goodguy5

6:29 PM

can something regain hotness status and is there a limit on age for hotness?

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 I believe that there are surgeons in many major cities who make a living doing such things. ;) (TV show Nip/Tuck had them as a topic a few years back)

goodguy5

:rolling eyes:

Someone_Evil

A question can only be on HNQ once, and can stay there up to 72h, I believe

KorvinStarmast

The show ran for 100 episodes, earned 45 award nominations, winning one Golden Globe and one Emmy Award Huh, I only saw one or two episodes and it didn't do a thing for me.

goodguy5

but is there an age of the question?

Like, can something lay low for a year and then get a surge of attention and gain hotness?

KorvinStarmast

6:40 PM

@goodguy5 something tells me that I am blocking whatever bot it is that you are responding to. (Yay, bot blocker works!)

goodguy5

the hotness bot

Someone_Evil

I think so, but it would probably require an insane spike in activity

goodguy5

@HotRPGQuestions this one

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 You may find this meta to be of interest

Someone_Evil

7:02 PM

We're okay with sharing RPG-related funnies here, right?

KorvinStarmast

@Someone_Evil I liked that last part "dave is the only one in town who knows how grappling works"

JohnP

7:28 PM

@Someone_Evil - I have no shame. :p

Someone_Evil

@JohnP I don't see what you 'should' be ashamed of. (if that was a reference, it was lost on me.)

JohnP

@Rubiksmoose - I suppose later I could compare the maps themselves between 4e/5e to gauge the difference, but I'm at work still.

@Someone_Evil Sniping fake internet points by giving the same answer with an actual reference. (The Faerun map question)

Someone_Evil

Saw that as you were typing. No worries, I spent a few minutes trying to find it, but gave up

Rubiksmoose

@JohnP I think that would be quite interesting. I do think it would be a bit more forthright to explicitly mention that this is an inference on your part and not established fact. It seems reasonable and interesting though!

But maybe it was just me that was a bit confused lol

JohnP

7:43 PM

@Rubiksmoose - I added it. I went through several varieties of official maps, and the only one that shows the gaps is the 5e SCAG.

Rubiksmoose

Very strange. Thanks!

Someone_Evil

So events during the 4e era presumably?

JohnP

@Someone_Evil Not sure if it is 4e related or something new. I'll have to look again at the 4e stuff, I wasn't looking for cataclysmic upheavals like the 5e has. I was using different search terms.

goodguy5

re: crown of madness

Assuming that one can choose how they make an attack and that the choices they get down to are:
improvised attack or unarmed attack.

which is better to use against an ally?

Assume that the improvised attack does not gain the proficiency bonus, but deals 1d4 damage +str

while the unarmed is proficient and deals 1+str

I assume that the average 1.5 damage boost is far outweighed by the loss of proficiency bonus.

JohnP

@goodguy5 closed as unclear what you're asking

Someone_Evil

7:52 PM

So which of these deals the less damage on avg?

Depends heavily on Strengths and AC. It becomes mute if the attackers strength is <10, because then the unarmed attack no longer deals damage. And with a high AC target the proficiency bonus increasing the chance to hit increases the dpr a lot

Someone_Evil

8:06 PM

I think that is a stackable question, which would let someone give a fuller answer (with lovely maths)

GcL

@Someone_Evil There exists an elemental plan of math channel for discussions about stats, tables, algorithms, and code for that sort of thing.

Someone_Evil

Unarmed crits don't deal 2+STR, right?

Rubiksmoose

@Someone_Evil According to very strict RAW, they do not.

Since the 1 is not rolled.

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose This DM doubles that 1 to a 2 for unarmed strikes that crit.

GcL

I concur with that.

If you're going to bother rolling a 20 unarmed, we can at least afford you 10 fingers worth of damage.

Which reminds me. My table's favorite roll combination is "snake balls" which is two 2's.

Rubiksmoose

8:15 PM

@KorvinStarmast Yeah so do I. It seems really really harsh to say no to +1 damage because of that strict of a reading.

I treat it like rolling a d1.

Though I am also clear that the same logic doesn't apply to other static bonuses

GcL

@Rubiksmoose that's a ball bearing, right?

Rubiksmoose

@GcL with a 1 written on it. Definitely :)

GcL

@Rubiksmoose Static bonuses increase with the square of shag carpet times woolen socks.

Rubiksmoose

@GcL That sounds like so much static electricity lol.

Is that what powers crits?

GcL

I thought that was cannon?

Rubiksmoose

8:18 PM

I thought the first person to zap another person with the static and make them make a noise decided what was cannon?

GcL

There's an actual decision about what's cannon and not? I thought it was more like a herd of cats.

Rubiksmoose

I'll take two please

herds that is

GcL

Sounds like a very entangling experiment.

Rubiksmoose

And a pleasing side effect of yet more static!

GcL

And dust bunnies.

JohnP

8:26 PM

@GcL What's cannon is easy. That's a large iron barrel to propel large ammunition forcibly against an enemy. Canon is much more nebulous.

GcL

@JohnP I know which is more important. Those with the biggest cannons make the biggest rules.

Which worked really well for the Third Reich. They made the worlds biggest cannon and got to make the rule, "making the world's biggest cannon is always a mistake"

JohnP

@GcL It's not the size of the cannon, it's how it is deployed.

GcL

@JohnP Size matters.

Well... it's really a function of density and matters.

JohnP

@GcL And velocity. Always important in space.

GcL

@JohnP I think you'll C that it's all relative.

JohnP

8:35 PM

That's too hv for me. I should make you walk the Planck.

What drives people to dig up a 4 year old post simply to post an answer of "Dude that's dumb."...?

GcL

Seems like you'd hardly need a citation to assert something is dumb.

JohnP

@GcL Can I cite you on that?

GcL

Nah. That'd be dumb.

JohnP

well played.

GcL

@JohnP I assume you're talking about this answer: rpg.stackexchange.com/a/154333/38434

What about that do you find particularly galling or unacceptable?

Rubiksmoose

8:50 PM

Wow, for what its worth magical ammo is kind of garbage priced out. I also never realised it, for some reason, becomes nonmagical once used. Dumb.

GcL

@Rubiksmoose Does it? I thought you could only recover 1/2 rounded down each time.

Rubiksmoose

> AMMUNITION, +1 , +2, OR +3

Weapon (any ammunition), uncommon (+1), rare (+2), or very rare (+3)

You have a bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this piece of magic ammunition. The bonus is determined by the rarity of the ammunition. Once it hit a target, the ammunition is no longer magical.

BlueMoon93

heyo

GcL

Oh. On hit it loses magic.

NautArch

want resusable magic ammo? Get a magic weapon.

BlueMoon93

8:51 PM

anyone have CoS on dnd beyond?

GcL

Meh. I'll stick with my binomial attrition.

Someone_Evil

Well add that to another thing to ignore about the RAW

Rubiksmoose

@GcL Yeah. AND you only get to recover half

NautArch

@BlueMoon93 yup

Someone_Evil

Not that ranged weapons have come too much in my games

BlueMoon93

8:52 PM

@NautArch can you cnfirm that this link has the pronounciation button for strsahd's name? dndbeyond.com/monsters/strahd-von-zarovich

GcL

Don't you just pronounce it "Strahd"? /S

NautArch

@BlueMoon93 not seeing a prononunciation

BlueMoon93

dunnow, but rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/68778/…

GcL

Yeah. It's just "Strahd". Like gif. You just pronounce it "gif"

BlueMoon93

@NautArch Really? Thats disappointing :( thanks anyway

NautArch

8:54 PM

@BlueMoon93 sorry :(

BlueMoon93

Np. At least drow and tiefling are solved

GcL

@BlueMoon93 How else would you throw neck accoutrements around?

Rubiksmoose

oh dang. I just accidentally discovered that my work filter now allowed DNDB links through again.

Huh.

KorvinStarmast

@JohnP Because it's the internet. Delete vote added.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast Are we switching places? :D

Rubiksmoose

9:00 PM

@NautArch Huh. I swear I remember seeing little icons allowing you to hear some words on DND Beyond in the past. But I'm not seeing them now for anything. Am I crazy or do you remember that as well?

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose No, they were definitely there. I was expecting to see that as well.

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch Ah dang they are by some monster names at least

Dang. Really clever idea though.

KorvinStarmast

9:16 PM

@NautArch naah, I have casts a lot of delete votes on "treat this like a forum, here's a one liner" over the past few years.

Black Spike

9:36 PM

Don't suppose there are any Rolemaster experts, with decent Java/Android/SQL skills, who want to cry/laugh/punch me, regarding how to get all the numbers into my database fro my Character-Gen app?

Carcer

10:18 PM

@Rubiksmoose they'll be present for whatever has actually been recorded for

which afaik is at least the core set

based on a quick filtering I'm going to hazard the guess that core + VGtM + MToF has had monster names recorded

but you're out of luck for anything in a module

curious who did the VO for the non-core stuff though

matt and marisha are recognisable on the core but not sure who the others are

Hot RPG Questions

4

Q: Is allowing Barbarian features to work with Dex-based attacks imbalancing?

The barbarian requires that you make attacks using Strength in order to get a number of benefits. This, to me, sounds very much like someone trying to enforce their personal notion of what a barbarian “should look like,” rather than a serious balance limitation. As that kind of mechanic annoys me...

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The Oracle

11:45 PM

2

Q: How to properly review a homebrew?

There are quite a few questions asking to review homebrew. The best way to ask such questions is covered in this meta: How can I ask a good homebrew review question? I'm interested in how I should write out my answer: What I need to include, how to compare it to existing material, and how to ...

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