TRPG General Chat

linksassin

12:17 AM

@Ben Yeah, I didn't realise quite how dependent I had become until it was gone.

Hot RPG Questions

1:32 AM

7

Q: Total distance per day for different travel paces?

The travel pace description and table on page 181-182 of the Player's Handbook states that a normal travel day may contain 8 hours, and gives the following table: Pace: /Hour /Day Miles in an 8-hour walking day: Fast 4 miles 30 miles --> 4x8 = 32 miles (-2 miles a day) Normal ...

Hot RPG Questions

1:56 AM

6

Q: Produce Flame Cantrip as a readied or holding action?

PC states that they are going to use a ready action to cast Produce Flame, and that they want to throw the flame when trigger happens. Does the casting happen as a reaction, or do they need to wait their turn to attack as action on a later turn? They produced the flame to see on their turn.

dnd-5e combat cantrips readied-action

Bardic Wizard

5:51 AM

How’s it going, other humans (or presumably so)?

I have been up too late studying again

Anyways, my sleep deprivation says good night

Adeptus

6:30 AM

trogdor

7:02 AM

lol

AncientSwordRage

9:19 AM

@BardicWizard +++BLEEP BOOP+++

KorvinStarmast

12:30 PM

@Ben If you love doing it all, do it until you find that you aren't getting the amount of rest that you need. While you are young enough to do all that, why not? Fill up you life with enjoyable activity? Heck yeah, that's a good thing.

@kviiri I think that's neat, keeping track of tea.

@Ben Yes, for creative work, I've found it best not to overlap it with bed/rest.

kviiri

@KorvinStarmast It started when I off-handedly commented that I drink roughly my weight of tea (brew, not dry leaves) every two weeks

KorvinStarmast

@kviiri 20 gallons?

(about 70-75 liters?)

kviiri

About 70 liters is about right – I down about five liters a day x)

It's a bad habit at times, I just feel I can't concentrate without having a mug nearby

well ok, maybe closer to four per day. My current pot isn't quite 1.5 l

KorvinStarmast

Any particular kind of tea?

I have a coffee addiction, I am trying to get down to 3 cups a day ...

kviiri

I have quite diverse tastes, although I generally prefer unflavored ones (with some exceptions)

My current flow is Lapsang for calm mornings, Rwandese Rukeri estate black tea for energetic mornings, Assam in the afternoons, Vietnamese Oolong for stress relief, and licorice flavored for when the situation calls for licorice

Thomas Markov

12:44 PM

Cant say Ive ever been in a situation that called for licorice.

NautArch

not an anise fan?

Thomas Markov

When I was a kid I always consumed an alarming amount of twizzlers at the movie theater. Always red, never black.

NautArch

I have very much come to appreciate black licorice and anise flavors

KorvinStarmast

@ThomasMarkov my roullette strategy in an nutshell

NautArch

And my time in Turkey gave me a real taste for Raki (although not drinking alcohol anymore kinda stopped that intake)

KorvinStarmast

12:55 PM

@NautArch sambuca got me back on it when I was in Italy. We'd had anisette years before and I'd lost my taste for anise based drinks.

Thomas Markov

@NautArch Ever have turkish delight?

KorvinStarmast

@ThomasMarkov been 25 years since I had some ... not that fond of it, but it's nice in a small amount with a cup of hot tea

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov on a moonlit night?

Bardic Wizard

1:43 PM

@ThomasMarkov wait, you don’t still do that???? is legitimately confused as to how anyone could ever give up alarming amounts of sugar

Thomas Markov

I still get my sugar, it just comes from beer instead of candy.

(which you should wait until you are legally permitted to consume)

Not trying to contribute to the delinquency of a minor.

AncientSwordRage

@BardicWizard I stopped when I was making people so nervous about the amounts of sugar and caffeine I consumed

Thomas Markov

On this question I've downvoted every single unsubstantiated answer, which is most of them. Op specifically asks: "My campaign is DND 5e set in Eberron, but any term from any setting or TTRPG or otherwise would work." Most of these ansers reference no RPG related source at all and should be deleted.

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov I voted to close as opinion-based

Thomas Markov

This answer is the only one that even attempts to cite RPG-related sources.

@BardicWizard hop on over to the Rime Room

Rime Room

Bardic Wizard

1:55 PM

@AncientSwordRage @ThomasMarkov you can never have too much S-U-G-A-R!!!!

@ThomasMarkov what for?

Thomas Markov

To talk about Rime of course :P

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch yes, and it's also too broad as far as I can tell. any TTRPG anywhere On the other hand, it might be salvageable as a history of gaming question (see Daniel's answer) but that may not be the purpose of the OP.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast I honestly think the question is okay. IT's the answers (again).

Thomas Markov

If you remove "or otherwise" from the sentence I quoted it as adequately scoped.

KorvinStarmast

I am beginning to feel like it's a discussion prompt ... but I can be shown otherwise I guess

Thomas Markov

2:04 PM

Otherwise it should be on literature stack exchange or something.

KorvinStarmast

@ThomasMarkov English SE would be where this belongs, but I doubt they will let it migrate over

Thomas Markov

Which is why we should close it and stop collecting totally unsupported answers.

KorvinStarmast

we did (close it) I cast the 5th vote

NautArch

yay us!

KorvinStarmast

beers all around!

I can't believe I got a Ring of Shooting Stars last night. My warlock is Celestial. Perfect Fit! (Thematically)

Thomas Markov

2:07 PM

@KorvinStarmast Except for Naut

NautArch

Kaliber for me, thanks

KorvinStarmast

(But I think my brother shoudl not have had so many very rares in that room behind the Iron Golem. (Yes, a bunch of level 8 PCs fighting an Iron Golem (CR 16!!)

Wizard nearly died from the poison gas breath. (He got better)

Thomas Markov

@KorvinStarmast Rod of the Pact Keeper wont boost the DC for faeire fire cast from that ring.

KorvinStarmast

2:36 PM

@ThomasMarkov Since it is not a warlock spell, right?

Thomas Markov

It's not, but even if it was it wouldn't matter.

KorvinStarmast

Did you read the answer at the link?

Thomas Markov

Yeah, it uses your save DC, minus any conditional changes to your save DC that it doesn't satisfy.

Rod of the Pact Keeper only changes your save DC under certain conditions.

ACtually, it might work if you are an Archfey warlock.

Thomas Markov

3:01 PM

Already got 2 reopen votes here, maybe a good idea to just get a meta going.

KorvinStarmast

@ThomasMarkov yes, it might

Thomas Markov

Alternatively, I'd be satisfied with a reopen if we made a small edit that would invalidate all but one of the answers.

But, I think that course of action should get some meta consensus.

To meta!

NautArch

Invalidating previous answers doesn't change community upvotes.

Thomas Markov

Sure. My point is that as written, the question is too broad and opinion based, and so are most of the answers, and fixing the question necessarily invalidates those answers.

NautArch

3:24 PM

Sure, but I doubt that moves theneedle for upvoters.

GcL

@ThomasMarkov What edit would that be?

Thomas Markov

"My campaign is DND 5e set in Eberron, but any term from any setting or TTRPG or otherwise would work." ---> "My campaign is DND 5e set in Eberron, but any term from any TTRPG setting would work."

JohnP

3:43 PM

@NautArch @BardicWizard @KorvinStarmast my martial arts school is closing.

NautArch

@JohnP oh man :(

Is ityour own?

JohnP

@NautArch No, it's not. But it's basically about ruined my instructor. He's been working 2 jobs + the school, and just can't do it any more.

I hate it, and to make it all about me, I have to find a new instructor to submit me for 6th degree testing for next year. And hes a good friend, this just sucks all around.

Bardic Wizard

@JohnP oh no! I hope he does better and I hope you find a new instructor

having to change things is hard but hopefully it’ll work out

JohnP

@BardicWizard I think it will. He had been talking about retiring when his youngest graduates HS in a couple years, but everyone wants to go out on their own terms. And he's been teaching full time for 28 years...

Bardic Wizard

@JohnP That’s a long time

NautArch

3:59 PM

@JohnP I am so sorry :(

Upper_Case

@JohnP That's awful, I hope it doesn't throw you off too badly

JohnP

@Upper_Case shouldn't too much. One of the things about being the rank I am, is that I have had 5 years working on this form, and I know all the instructors above me that I could go to. It's just...yeah.

Our cat is so weird. She hisses at the kids and won't let them come near, but when they are in the backyard playing she sits in the window and meows forlornly.

Upper_Case

@JohnP Cats... it's not acceptable for people to come near, but they should want and try to come near

NautArch

I have a rescued dog who was pretty clearly abused. She wants to say hi to strangers so badly but she's so scared and just barks.

GcL

4:16 PM

@ThomasMarkov I think that's too open ended. The people answer is fine and could cite many many pages from the Races of Eberron book that uses "people" to describe the inhabitants of the nations.

The question would be better if it asked for an Eberron sourcebook source for the term.

I think folk is also used in the Five Nations book, but I'm less sure about that one.

Upper_Case

4:56 PM

I'm having trouble deciding on an approach for an upcoming session: I tend to hate proper mazes in games, as I feel they provide options but not choices and so waste time. But I have a segment coming up in a session on Sunday that uses what is, effectively, a maze, and so I want to give players a chance to beat it. Natural choices for that include clues the players can observe and interpret, or using PC scores to determine how mazed they are

As an informal poll, do people here have a preference between those, or a distaste for both and some other method that they would prefer?

MikeQ

@Upper_Case What system are you using? And could you clarify what different options you are considering?

GcL

@Upper_Case I did something of a maze in a jungle setting as three of the four player characters were survival proficient. They were allowed and encouraged to ask about what they could discover about the advantages/disadvantages of the paths ahead of them. So they had a choices like: faster & more dangerous vs. slower & safer.

Upper_Case

@MikeQ Sorry, that would be helpful! It's D&D 5e

GcL

Also, they knew the jungle had many varieties of poisonous and venomous species, so they were on the look out for that. It essentially provided choices between going through territory of a venom based predator or a strength based predator.

Upper_Case

And the specific setup is a tower covered in layers and layers of illusions, both magical and practical. The PCs will be moving through a series of almost-identical rooms, with slight variations in room size and positions of furniture, with a minor disorienting effect when moving from one room to another

GcL

5:00 PM

If you've got arcane characters or martial characters, coming up with a "maze" of sorts for those is a matter of choosing the appropriate setting.

@Upper_Case What is being put in to make that interesting?

Is there something in the rooms that incentivize going to the next room? Is there something they can guess and be rewarded if their hunch is correct?

Upper_Case

There is time pressure, with a horde of demons pursuing them. More time spent in the maze means more combats and fewer resources for the final encounter of the dungeon. The narrative intent is to really drive how confusing the area is

GcL

To me, it sounds kind of boring. Something to be slogged through instead of explored. What kind of choices are being offered to the players?

MikeQ

So is it a maze puzzle that the players would solve in real-time? Or is it a dungeon (with monsters, traps, etc) with a maze-like layout (turning corridors, dead ends, etc)?

Upper_Case

@GcL That's what I'm trying to determine. There will be clues the players can observe and interpret, and also chances for PCs to overcome the disorienting effects of the dungeon. I'm trying to decide on the mix

GcL

@Upper_Case I suggest neon signs, blaring sirens, and sledge hammers as the most subtle of clues to use. Anything less on the nose is likely to be missed in my experience.

@Upper_Case What does a choice that is informed by clues and leads to overcoming the disorienting effects look like? Can you give a brief illustration of such a choice where one side is overcoming disorientation and the other option does not?

Upper_Case

5:06 PM

@GcL The dungeon doubles back on itself, so they can gain extra rewards by mastering the confusing elements, and there is time pressure from avoidable combats draining resources. I'm not worried about making the player clues too subtle, but I want it to be a fair puzzle (either for the players or the PCs)

NautArch

@Upper_Case Why not present the situation and provide some information (maybe based on rolls) about the options?

Less maze and more difficult decisions and consequences

GcL

I concur. Or fun decisions and entertaining results.

MikeQ

If it's just a maze-like layout (and not a puzzle), then I'd recommend either (A) making sure all paths contain something interesting, or (B) using narration to describe winding halls and dead ends. Actually exploring empty halls and dead ends may feel like you are wasting your players' time.

Upper_Case

@GcL Each room has between two and four doors, and moving from one room to another imposes an illusory spinning effect on the PCs. That can be overcome by a Wisdom check (which one PC will almost certainly pass with ease). Remaining information can be gathered from the positioning of the furniture (an end table indicates the "correct" door based on whether or not a bed is positioned along the same wall or any other wall)

Players can also leave marks to help indicate rooms they've already been through, and which doors they've used, but that is more relevant to backtracking than to moving forward towards the maze's end

Mark Wells

@Upper_Case Does this mean you're doing the thing where everyone gets to attempt the check and only one of them needs to pass?

GcL

5:09 PM

@Upper_Case I expect figuring out the "correct" door will take a while unless there is some other clue that informs them the position of the furniture is key to sorting it out.

Upper_Case

@MarkWells The PCs that fail will get the map with no extra information, while PCs that pass will get the map with indicators that keep their bearings. It is virtually guaranteed that the player whose PC passes will inform the others of the correct information

GcL

@Upper_Case That you can foreshadow by them finding an old mark left by an previous ill-fated party. Also, leave them the blood stained hunk of chalk in the next room.

Upper_Case

@GcL The narration will make it clear that there is a clue in the furniture positions, but won't reveal what that clue is

@GcL That's a really good suggestion, I will include that

GcL

@Upper_Case I'd skip the check then. Maybe roll a d8 to pick the character that is disoriented. characters are 1-4 and 5-8 are everyone saves.

Upper_Case

The rooms are laid out in a map I already have, but players will only see the room that they are currently in

GcL

5:12 PM

@Upper_Case I'd add at least one more if not two more clues about the furniture positions as they go along just in case they miss the first one.

Upper_Case

@GcL That would keep things moving quickly and let me emphasize the time pressure too-- another good suggestion

GcL

I found good use out of the players finding the BBEG's early smaller attempts at dungeons/towers/castles/strongholds to test out if the players even like playing through the "clever" ideas. Narrative excuse to try out some new stuff in small scale.

Upper_Case

@GcL It will be a major feature of narration for each room they enter-- they will always hear about the end table and the bed, and no other features will be as consistent through the maze. Though I'll need to work in another clue so that they can infer the meaning of the positions before finishing the whole maze

GcL

If they hate going through a four room maze, a twenty room maze is unlikely to provide more fun.

kviiri

I actually learned the term "end table" less than a year ago

NautArch

5:14 PM

@GcL Hmm, that didn't work last time. I think I'll double down!

Upper_Case

@GcL That's what the clues are for; its' not a maze, it's a puzzle

GcL

@Upper_Case I don't think that's on the nose enough. My experience is the more explicit the better for clues.

kviiri

ESL privileges include learning random words and terms for everyday things when you least expect it.

Upper_Case

@GcL True enough, that is the best way to go. But I want it to be a puzzle, and so it will be tricky to avoid giving away the answer... but that's always the issue

GcL

@Upper_Case The players are listening to a lot of narration in the course of a session. It's not easy to pick out what narration is important always. Even when you think it's obvious, it's way less obvious to the players.

@kviiri What interesting term did you come across most recently?

kviiri

5:16 PM

@GcL frustrum

Upper_Case

@GcL I'm well aware. And I have extensive experience DM-ing for this group in addition to having known its members for decades, as well as time and encounter limits on how long they'll spend in the maze area if the section starts to take too long

GcL

@Upper_Case Having a common cadence of description like that can also lead to players tuning it out as they're "hearing the same thing" over and over.

Bardic Wizard

@kviiri which means?

Upper_Case

In the same way that most combat encounters can be expected to result in player victory, this encounter will also lead to victory. I just want the illusion-based challenge to be included, noticeable, and meaningful

GcL

@kviiri Where did you come across that? teaching calculus in English?

kviiri

5:18 PM

@BardicWizard the parts of a geometric solid between two parallel planes. Eg. imagine a cube, then two parallel blades cutting it into three slices: the middle part is a frustrum.

@GcL I'm trying to crunch my thesis together (it's way overdue) along with some other students and we occasionally read each others' texts or snippets

I don't personally do much geometry, I love it as long as it's simple stuff but I'm more of a discrete math guy myself

Bardic Wizard

@kviiri fun word!

kviiri

I can't recall if I've come across any "everyday" terms recently

GcL

@kviiri Neat. How far along are you?

Bardic Wizard

@kviiri I like math but especially geometry since it’s really helpful for mapping stuff, as well as for fiber crafts

kviiri

@GcL About 45 pages, need to write a few paragraphs here and there, proofread lots and then submit it

MikeQ

5:22 PM

@Upper_Case Is your goal for this to be a mapping challenge for the players, i.e. drawing a map will help them navigate the maze?

kviiri

Mainly "finishing touches" remaining

GcL

@kviiri Nice. I hope you win.

kviiri

Thanks!

Upper_Case

@MikeQ That will help them, especially if they think of it early enough (which I will encourage)

kviiri

The thesis has... went on way longer than I wanted. I kinda burned myself out with this.

Upper_Case

5:23 PM

@kviiri That's an awesome spot to be in!

kviiri

It's probably the #1 cause of unhappiness and stress for me since I started years ago and now it's almost done

reminder to everyone struggling with long-term overdue projects: don't let those things deceive you into thinking you don't deserve rest, leisure and self-care.

GcL

@kviiri Yeah, that's what a principal investigator or advisory committee is for /S

kviiri

Especially don't do the thing I did where you pour lots of time into low-quality leisure activities instead of the ones you actually want to do

(for the longest time I spent the time just idly browsing imgur etc because I didn't "deserve" video games or somesuch)

Also, if someone wants to hear a mathy explanation on what I do I'd be happy to gush a bit about what I do :D

I promise it's not too boring

(it's not a promise I intend to keep)

Bardic Wizard

@kviiri I’m interested in hearing.

GcL

@kviiri Do you have an elevator pitch?

kviiri

5:33 PM

@GcL Automatically composing asympotically optimal distributed algorithms for a certain family of graph problems

Thomas Markov

@kviiri Maybe in Elemental Plane of Math?

kviiri

(can be explained in WAY less fancy terms, I promise ye)

@ThomasMarkov Brilliant idea

JohnP

@kviiri First time I came across the term frustum was in an interview with John Cormack I was reading, which made me realize just how advanced he was.

> The visibility associated with quake is a cluster to cluster
potentially visible set (PVS) algorithm, masked by an area connectivity
graph (in Q2 and Q3), followed by hierarchical frustum culling (which
does use the BSP). The software renderers then performed an edge based
scan-line rasterization algorithm, which resulted in zero-overdraw for
the world.

Thomas Markov

Elemental Plane of Math

RPG.SE's space for quarantining Probability/Math/Statistics re...

1

0

Q: Is this question about alternatives to the word humanoid too broad or opinion based, or is it well scoped?

The question: Is there an alternative word to be used in place of Humanoid? At time of writing this meta, the question is on the verge of being reopened without modification after its initial closure for being "opinion based". The question is clear, but the scope is a concern. In particular, we s...

discussion specific-question

Bardic Wizard

5:52 PM

I finally finished a cool project!

5

It’s an embroidery of a d20 that looks like a pumpkin

Rubiksmoose

6:09 PM

Nice!

Bardic Wizard

I’m ... not great at straight lines

NautArch

@BardicWizard er...pumpkins don't have straight lines

hate to be the one to tell you

Bardic Wizard

@NautArch dice do

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch pinterest.com/pin/395472411001120250/?nic_v2=1a1Bog6uA

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose Are we talking about making a Spookly embroidery?

GcL

6:20 PM

@BardicWizard d3 kinda look like american footballs

RevenantBacon

6:34 PM

@BardicWizard That's why I use rulers and grid paper.

GcL

7:12 PM

@RevenantBacon Have you tried dot paper? or the inverted grid paper with light grey background and white lines?

RevenantBacon

Dot paper yes, inverted grid no. Sounds neat though. Also, I wasn't entirely truthful, because I mostly use my computer for map making now.

The Oracle

3

Q: Is this question about alternatives to the word humanoid too broad or opinion-based, or is it well-scoped?

The question: Is there an alternative word to be used in place of Humanoid? At time of writing this meta, the question is on the verge of being reopened without modification after its initial closure for being "opinion based". The question is clear, but the scope is a concern. In particular, we s...

discussion questions specific-question closed-questions question-scope

Bardic Wizard

7:40 PM

@RevenantBacon i love my ruler. It is a great drawing tool, dwarves war pick (long story) and weapon

nitsua60

@GcL ZING! #truebecauseithurtsstilleventwentyyearslater

@BardicWizard Is it metal, L-shaped, about 12"x1" one leg and 3/4"x6" the other leg?

If so, I've got that ruler, too, and it's amazing for game night!

GcL

Yeah. Sometimes I'm upset about the way grad students are used as underpaid skilled-ish labor.

RevenantBacon

Mine is metal, and t-shaped with a slight overhand so it can be squared on a piece of paper

Bardic Wizard

Nope, just a rectangle thats 12in*1in, wooden, and has my name scrawled on it in at least 6 places (mostly in pen dug into the wood)

59 cents at the office supply store back in 5th grade

Anyways, I’m heading to a test now

Hot RPG Questions

8:26 PM

8

Q: How to create dice rolls for multi-attacks in a custom tabletop RPG system

I'm working on a simple tabletop RPG based in a sci-fi universe. The rule set is very basic, since I'll be playing with players with little experience and general tabletop know-how. Most of it appears to be working fine, based on a test session. The only problem I'm having are attacks that hit mu...

dice game-design attack-roll

AncientSwordRage

@BardicWizard I love it and I'm wondering why I've never seen that before

Bardic Wizard

8:40 PM

@AncientSwordRage the specific pattern or the idea?

I drew the specific pattern and this was an independent idea, but I know others have done similar things

AncientSwordRage

@BardicWizard the idea

Bardic Wizard

9:07 PM

@AncientSwordRage a google search shows nothing similar, but I was talking to my friend who’s also a crafter and she’s planning on trying something similar

AncientSwordRage

@BardicWizard great minds and all that

Joel Harmon

@Ben Something I try to do for time management is to catch myself saying "I don't have time for that" and instead say "I choose/chose not to make time for that".

It helps me reinforce to myself that I (typically) am in charge of my own time, rather than seeing it as something I don't have control over, then magically run out of.

I haven't had time to start reading GEB. Why? Because I've been choosing to re-read Stormlight before November instead. Is this something I'm comfortable with? Yes.

I haven't had time to get much sleep recently. Why? Because I've been choosing to spend most of my day working or with family, then staying up too late doing other things. Is this something I'm comfortable with? Not really. Maybe I should change that.

Bardic Wizard

9:51 PM

I’m finally not going to be the only one running a rpg game through the local library! One of the other people with gming experience is taking on a game for a few months on opposite weeks to mine. Course, I didn’t remember I needed a character until now, an hour ahead of time

does anyone have any fun character concepts? I know nothing, not even the system or genre, but just general things like inspirations I can use.

I’m trying to figure out where I should even start looking

It’s probably going to be d&d5e since the library has these books in the digital collection, but I don’t have any good character concepts sitting around

Someone_Evil

Something transformed into a human (or similar) is always a fun starting point

Or you could deliberately start the char-making process with having some relation to another character (with the player's consent). Sibling or cousin might be easiest

Hot RPG Questions

7

Q: Does Rod of the Pact Keeper boost Spell Save DC of Ring of Shooting Stars?

The Rod of the Pact Keeper(+1) increases my Warlock's spell save DC by 1. With an 18 Charisma at level 8 my spell save DC is 16. (8+3+4+1) I just received a Ring of Shooting Stars. 🍺👍 The ball lightning feature, and the shooting stars feature, require a DC 15 Dexterity save to avoid lightnin...

dnd-5e magic-items warlock spellcasting

AncientSwordRage

10:07 PM

@Someone_Evil the squirrel from Sword in the Stone, comes to mind.

@JoelHarmon this is a great rubric

Bardic Wizard

10:22 PM

@Someone_Evil ... hmm... ooh, the fox in socks turned into a human. Definitely some variety of poet or bard

Joel Harmon

@BardicWizard You could try rolling for race, class, and background, then try and figure out a personality from that.

Rime Room

Elemental Plane of Math

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