TRPG General Chat

Yuuki

12:01 AM

Learning Methods of Pastry

trogdor

Um

Yuuki

It's fantasy Great British Bake-off.

user15026

@Yuuki now I want this.

trogdor

Lol

Himitsu_no_Yami

@Ben I started it but it got derailed quick and the player lost interest

user15026

12:02 AM

@BESW This reminds me there is one more muffin in the breakroom. And I am the only human here. Maybe I should put the muffin out of its misery and into my belly.

BESW

"Its Misery" is a terrible name for a breakroom.

user15026

snorts

user15026

....is it good or bad that my brain went "but an apt one for here"

V2Blast

@Ash dewit </palpatine>

@Ben I've both played it and run it

Hot RPG Questions

5

Q: Can I delay my turn to the end of a round, by not rolling for initiative?

I am a Cleric and the main healer in the party. I've noticed that often it can be quite helpful for me to have my turn towards the end of the round rather than at the beginning, but I tend to come up at the beginning because I have a high Dexterity score. It can help quite a bit coming up later...

V2Blast

12:05 AM

(technically I started running it while I was still playing it... but the IRL group I was running it for was able to find time to meet less often than the weekly online game where I was playing it)

nitsua60

@Ben o/

Ben

I'm running it for a new group of players, and we're still only at the beginning - the goblin cave hideout

The wizard used prestidigitation to distract the wolves at the entrance, and it says they can break free "if goaded"

You reckon making "cat noises" would glad them into breaking free eventually?

V2Blast

12:21 AM

@Ben it would probably mad them

:P

but yeah, that seems reasonable as a thing that might provoke them?

Ben

Thought as much. The party got hit by the tidal wave, and knocked out of the cave, so they regrouped outside, they've been past the wolves several times now, and they were sick of "dealing with them" so the wizard distracted them with that instead.

Good thinking, I thought, but it depends on how long the party is in the cave for. If they clear the cave in less than an hour, I'd make it so the wolves are still distracted by the sounds, so they can slip past easily. Otherwise they may have to deal with the wolves again

Miniman

When you say "deal with", I'm guessing you don't mean kill, since that's generally a one-and-done solution.

Yuuki

@Miniman More like a nice game of poker

Miniman

Have they not figured out that they can ignore the wolves entirely by using the main corridor, or are they just trying to avoid that?

Someone_Evil

12:50 AM

Why would ignore them? They are good little puppers at heart. Hey, let go! That's my hand. I need that...

nitsua60

1:04 AM

s/need/needed

Ben

2:14 AM

@Miniman I made it out/interpreted it like the wolves were near the entrance and saw them all walking past

V2Blast

3:32 AM

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/farming-simulator-19/home
Farming Simulator 19 (only the base game) is free for 1 week until February 6.
(The Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride and Pandemic computer game version will be free the week after that, until 2/13.)

SmokeDetector

3:51 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of answer, non-latin link in answer (142): How to accurately describe mental danger by monainsa on rpg.SE

nitsua60

4:40 AM

1

Q: Looking for a system: Epidemic Outbreak

What system could suit a short-term survival-horror campaign focused on a "realistic" epidemic outbreak scenario? (Realistic as in crunchy or gritty-ish, I know it's pretty vague, sorry) I'm thinking about a quarantine setting, with the PC's needing to adjust themselves to the situation (both psy...

game-recommendation disease horror

If the OP drops in, I think Dread might be worth a look. I, personally, haven't tried it for anything other than slasher-movie night, though.

Hot RPG Questions

5:11 AM

9

Q: Player Characters all picking on one other PC

I DM a Savage Worlds game with six players. I'm coming on this problem where some of the characters tend to bully one of the other characters. For context, the character getting picked on is played by "Bob." Bob's character is young, naive, silly, and his homebrewed power is unpredictable, he su...

gm-techniques roleplaying savage-worlds teamwork

kviiri

7:02 AM

-8

Q: It feels impossible to play non-D&D RPG's

I dislike D&D, but it feels like the only choice I have when I want to play an RPG with friends. D&D is so popular and so many people play it exclusively, that it takes way too much effort to even introduce other RPG's to D&D players, as they generally are too scared to try anything besides it. I...

indie-rpg

^ spam flags needed

Hot RPG Questions

7:13 AM

7

Q: Can the Actor feat allow a character to effectively speak a language they don't know?

I have a player in my game I'll call "Joe" running a Bard I'll call "Hansel." Hansel has the Actor feat, and does not speak Orc. Hansel listened to an Orc for 1 minute a few adventures ago, a 2nd PC taught Hansel one short Orc phrase, and I allowed Hansel to repeat the new phrase, in Orc, mimic...

dnd-5e feats languages

STT LCU

9:55 AM

So... My DM killed my (and my friend's) character in a manner that I suspect is deliberate and unfun. Am I wrong in feeling upset?
The story:
> our party just killed the king of the evil humanoid tribe and rescued the hostage.
> A group of 4 guards appears in the room where we're at (with the king's corpse at our feet)
> We're all pretty spent, so I try to intimidate them to avoid the fight.
> I roll a 25 on intimidate
> The mob proceeds to say "lol you're too tired to fight and win" and charges us

^ I'm aware that sounds like a rant. It's possible that I'm just looking for understanding and grief support

kviiri

10:08 AM

@STTLCU Well my SO would, in her wisdom, start by pointing out that all feelings are ok, and the only thing that matters is how you process them. So no, you're not wrong in feeling upset!

And yes, that situation doesn't exactly sound right to me. Did the GM comment on it, in any way?

STT LCU

I was too focused not to get angry at the table (as the session was still running) and didn't want to confront him directly since I strongly believe that I should trust the DM's choice even when they seem wrong or unexpected. There might have been a deus-ex-machina at a later point (there wasn't one) or anything else really.

So no, he didn't comment.

I was encouraged by my other killed friend to give him a second chance, so I didn't look for discussions that might develop into disagreements/fights

I guess the part that hurts the most is the evident "intentionality" (if that's an english word) of our deaths

BESW

[insert plug for safety tools here]

A tool like Script Change would let you pause play to check in with everybody, say that you're uncomfortable, ask the GM what kind of resolution they had in mind, and rewind to replay with a different conclusion if you still aren't finding joy in the prospect.

A good safety tool setup usually also has the group clearly establishing shared expectations before the game.

STT LCU

@BESW Thanks for the link. It would have been useful in the scene, even though it would go against the "DM trust" principle in a way

BESW

[shrug] Trust doesn't mean letting them do whatever and hoping it'll turn out okay. Trust involves communication and knowing that they'll respect your discomfort and listen to your concerns.

STT LCU

that's right, you have a point. I didn't consider that

BESW

10:22 AM

As a GM, I want my players to tell me if I'm crossing lines. We can do more daring things and push boundaries and experiment with our play more, if we know that there are agreed-upon procedures for what happens if it goes too far.

And as a GM, I'm just as likely to use the tools to communicate with my players if they're going in directions I'm not sure I can follow.

STT LCU

I will talk to him after our next session (with our new characters)

BESW

I hope it works out well!

STT LCU

yes, and as you all say here, No Roleplay is better than Bad Roleplay

Going back to the more mechanical side of things, is it reasonable for the mobs to just shrug a 25 in intimidation? for perspective, we're level 3/D&D5e characters. At the same time, is it reasonable for mobs to start executing downed characters in the middle of an active combat?

BESW

10:38 AM

I can't speak to numbers in 5e, and "reasonable" is definitely a table call, but I did write an answer on the subject once... [rummages]

This is D&D 4e, but a lot of it probably applies:

54

A: Is it acceptable for the GM to attack a recently-stabilized character?

Yes, but it's unlikely It's entirely within the rules to continue attacking a character while he's unconscious, and a GM/monster might decide to do so for a number of reasons. However, there are usually more reasons he won't, both in-game as a monster decision and as a meta-game GM decision. Fi...

STT LCU

Thanks! I'll read it

BESW

I wrote it seven years ago, and in the intervening time I've come to believe even more that death is usually the most boring possible thing that can happen to a character.

STT LCU

I agree with that.

given the fact that the mob actually died at the end, stopping and wasting a turn to kill downed targets wasn't clever nor tactical

BESW

Also, players do much more interesting story-driving things when they aren't constantly afraid their characters will die if they make a wrong choice. The game moves faster and the characters get into more dramatic situations.

If a character gets knocked out or whatever, I'll have them kidnapped or revived by someone who demands an unusual quest as payment of the debt--or in a story with good dramatic stakes simply losing the fight is dramatic and interesting because you were fighting for a reason, and killing the character means you lose investment in the reason. Having the character survive to deal with the aftermath of failure is a lot more interesting.

kviiri

10:54 AM

@STTLCU Since this is DnD 5e which seldom has very high modifiers, 25 is a very good result. It sounds to me the GM let you roll but had decided on the outcome in advance --- one of the things I dislike about the game and how it's commonly played.

STT LCU

The kicker is that I had an oath of conquest paladin, built on scaring others :D

i rolled a 19, with a +6 mod

BESW

Oct 9 '14 at 2:04, by BESW

Personally I think if there's an all-encompassing Rule 0 which can be applied to every RPG ever, it's "don't touch the randomiser unless you're okay with any result it might spit out."

kviiri

@BESW Aye. Can be applied to every RPG ever, yet sadly, not applied :(

BESW

Although, since 2014 I've encountered some RPGs that don't use a randomiser at all!

kviiri

I never realized how much I liked the open stakes, open target numbers in Apocalypse World's rolls until I went back to DnD after a long break

BESW

11:03 AM

Gosh yes I've found GM secret-keeping to be highly overrated in my experience on both sides of the table.

doppelgreener

@MikeQ fyi — if you encounter a spam post, leave the spam links in place. it means people will recognise it as spam and destroy it appropriately. removing the links means that might not happen.

i recognise the reason for removing them & it's valid, but ironically leaving the spam fully intact (until it's nuked) is the best way to fight it

doppelgreener

11:44 AM

@BESW I agree! The same situations could instead be fun development opportunities: they struggle to survive and make it and that's fun. They might come back with injuries or trauma or phobias to deal with (given the player and group are comfortable with the idea) and that brings new avenues of complication. They might have an off-screen death and come back in a moment of badassery later.

Bradley Lindsey

11:55 AM

Would a steampunk theme fit easier with 5 or 3.5? It seems like with the more human character builds and lower magic inclusion the answer would be 5 since most 3.5s want to amp the PC abilities and magic usage more but at the same time 3.5 is much more diverse and malleable it seems so just curious.

doppelgreener

My first thought is "neither, try Lady Blackbird maybe", but failing that I'd go with 5e just because 3.5e just puts down so much stuff that will get in the way

3.5e has a lot of content, but that presents a lot of problems as well. The important stuff you find in 3.5e that you feel is sorely missing in 5e could be ported into something analogous.

kviiri

12:16 PM

I wholeheartedly second Lady Blackbird

It's real easy to get into and it's free

BESW

yeah, if the choice really is only between 3.5 and 5e, I'd go with 5e for basic structural reasons unrelated to steampunk. But if those aren't the only options, D&D of any edition isn't really designed to explore the themes and aesthetics that are often associated with steampunk, so I'd want to dig further into what "steampunk" means for your group's goals and find a system which fits that more effectively.

That said... if you want steampunk aesthetic in D&D, check out Eberron.

vicky_molokh

@doppelgreener /wave. Hey, about this game . . . are blackbirds some sort of symbol of relationships not working out in the Anglosphere? Before this game, I have encountered two songs with symbolic-looking mentions of blackbirds which had to do with a relationship implied to not be up to one's hopes. And then there's the plot of the RPG in question which seems to cover similar themes.

BESW

@doppelgreener There's a new link, btw: ladyblackbird.org

nitsua60

@kviiri Wow... someone really put effort into that spam. I mean, I know they probably just wrote something that snags a paragraph (or so) from some other post and then appends spam links, but still....

vicky_molokh

@nitsua60 Yeah, I was very disappointed to find that's not a real thing (based on the chat box text only though).

kviiri

12:33 PM

@nitsua60 My guess is that it leeched the content from somewhere

Ah yeah, googling turns up a reddit thread.

goodguy5

1:00 PM

Morning, team

kviiri

Hiya

goodguy5

1:16 PM

I just read that icelandic babies are born almost a full pound heavier than US babies, on average

doppelgreener

1:28 PM

@BESW oh sweet!

BESW

@doppelgreener Now with other games!

Also the new character sheets are awesome.

doppelgreener

@vicky_molokh I do not know!

Carcer

@goodguy5 gee, I wonder if that has anything to do with the general availability of free healthcare and significantly lower poverty?

goodguy5

I don't think that's a fair statement.

While it might contribute (and I doubt that your statement was meant to invoke a serious response), I find it likely that a plethora of factors are responsible, such as climate, average adult height and weight, nutritional norms, etc

Rubiksmoose

@nitsua60 boutique spam!

In this case it looks like it was copied from a Reddit post still some thought was clearly put into disguising it.

kviiri

2:13 PM

Was supposed to do bunch of stuff today. Wound up spending most of the time doing a big and (IMO) cool QoL magic trick

BESW

2:25 PM

Ah yes, the little-known James Bond bootleg Quantum of Lenity

doppelgreener

@BESW Featuring Bames Nond

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