TRPG General Chat

Adeptus

01:06

@Carcer That argument has been around for a while. Crawford tweeted an answer some time ago. SA just made it more official. On the upside, Natural Weapons have been clarified as officially weapons, so you can smite with them.

so a Lizardfolk paladin can smite-bite

Thomas Markov

02:39

@V2Blast Do you think the new SA on compelled duel brings any clarity to my question here: rpg.stackexchange.com/q/171085/62294

Bardic Wizard

03:03

I have a really weird tactical question. If you had access to magic (a 20th level wizard with all 5e wizard spells except wish in their spell book), and were basically given the palace at Versailles, how defensible would it be as a fortress?

the attackers are effectively a hundred thousand infantry and a thousand cavalry, no magic

My initial thought was the wizard should just fireball everything but that’s probably not a good option

The other idea was that the wizard casts a lot of plane shifts so all the cavalry disappears, then fireballs the rest

Would either method be a decent defense?

Miniman

The plane shift one is terrible, since it's a single target spell.

Fireball needs to be upgraded to meteor swarm to be a viable way to kill thousands but is otherwise not bad.

BESW

03:19

If I were that wizard, I'd use divination magic to find the person who sent the army, and then use dream to have a nice... talk... with that person.

Bardic Wizard

Our school d&d group is doing a tactical combat thing — basically each person has the same scenario and has to figure out a viable defense, but I’m gming so I’m not involved as a competitor (which is why I’m asking about it and not planning on my own)

@BESW ... hmmmmm

BESW

Stopping an army doesn't stop the person who sent them from wanting you to be subject to the effects of an army.

Bardic Wizard

It’s a tactical simulation, so it’s not really meant to be realistic

BESW

A more direct physical response to the army itself, would just be to cast a lot of guards and wards and some judicious illusions, then let the army demoralize itself.

An army with no magic whatsoever, upon understanding that they're facing a wizard of that caliber, will not be inclined to blunder around in the fog and webs, trying to break magically warded doors, etc., while the illusions give the impression they're being stalked by a minotaur or whatever else you find amusing.

Bardic Wizard

Fair

BESW

03:30

I might make the programmed illusion of a prismatic wall in front of the palace, with a programmed illusion of myself delivering a "If at any point you decide to leave, I won't stop you, but if you keep coming I will consider it an act of aggression" speech.

And then when the first brave soul tries to get through the illusion wall, I cast a real prismatic wall under it.

I don't see any completely non-magic army feeling like throwing their low-HD soldiers at a prismatic wall, it just chews them up without any benefit.

Bardic Wizard

@BESW pretty much...boom...

BESW

And that's all 6th level stuff.

With three illusions timed properly you can create an apparently uninterrupted wall illusion (each illusion lasts five minutes then resets after ten minutes; just have each one's trigger be the previous one running out) for 24 hours.

If you wanna be mean, toss a weird at them every now and then.

Part of this is a show of power: an army isn't just gonna shrug and go "Hm, guess we'll find another way in." They're gonna go "This palace has enough magic on its side to do all of this, maybe we should re-think our lives."

Bardic Wizard

03:53

This gives me ideas now ... sleep is really good for low hp enemies...

Hot RPG Questions

04:29

7

Q: Roleplay pacing in non-combat situations

So I am running the Baldur's gate: Descent into Avernus module and my players are taking very long to approach certain situations. To set an example: There is a gate with two guards who are checking everyone who passes through. They need to get inside (because of their own choosing and also their...

Adeptus

Maybe a few *Enemies Abound* into the crowd at random:
> You reach into the mind of one creature you can see and force it to make an Intelligence saving throw. A creature automatically succeeds if it is immune to being frightened. On a failed save, the target loses the ability to distinguish friend from foe, regarding all creatures it can see as enemies until the spell ends. Each time the target takes damage, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success.
> Whenever the affected creature chooses another creature as a target, it must choose the target at random fro…

Feb 25 '15 at 0:01, by BESW

The second-best debuff is death. The best debuff is "He's on our side now."

2

Carcer

07:42

Mirage Arcane would be very effect against an army of mundanes

it won't hurt them but you could make it basically impossible for them to get to you

V2Blast

08:26

@ThomasMarkov Yeah, I saw that in checking for a relevant Q&A for each of the new entries in the Sage Advice Compendium, but wasn't sure how relevant it was there. May be worth the answers incorporating it, but it didn't seem like a topic directly asked about in the question. (May also be relevant to other Q&As on whether teleportation counts as movement... But it's a tricky issue, since we don't know how much the ruling can be generalized.)

AncientSwordRage

08:46

@Adeptus Wololol

AncientSwordRage

09:10

@V2Blast whats the ruling?

V2Blast

10:01

> Can a creature under the effect of compelled duel teleport more than 30 feet away from the caster? No. You can’t move farther than 30 feet away from the caster of compelled duel by any means, including teleportation.

media.wizards.com/2020/dnd/downloads/SA-Compendium.pdf#page=15

AncientSwordRage

@V2Blast Ah ok, that doesn't really make compelled duel much better though, does it?

NautArch

11:56

@nitsua60 Yeah no damage around our house, but lots of trees down in the area. School is remote today as they clear the roads.

NautArch

12:07

@Carcer Yeah, I get no divine smites on ranged, but it seems like an unarmed strike should be fine.

Thomas Markov

12:32

@NautArch nice catch on that link

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov I thought it was homebrew/lore until i checked (haven't played CoS)

I'm still unsure about the actual intent of that question.

My hunch is this is a dupe about using holy symbols and really has no relevance to the magic item.

Thomas Markov

Can you take the "Use an Object" action to do anything with a vanilla holy smybol?

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov I don't think so.

Or at least, i can't think of a case.

attacking with it would be an improvised weapon

and i'm not quite sure what "use an object" would do.

Thomas Markov

So it isnt a dupe, since this question is about activating the magic item with your action.

Or maybe it is. If you can find it Ill look at it

NautArch

Where does it say that? ALl it asks is about pulling the necklace out.

THere's no action or reason listed for doing so

WHich is why i asked if it was for use in spellcasting or for using one of the item actions.

Thomas Markov

12:41

Seemed clear enough to me. Whatever the question was, I answered it.

NautArch

i guess.

also, the rules do allow for someone wielding a two-handed weapon to use a hand to display a holy symbol, but if it's S&B then there is no free hand.

You can do the drop/pick up dance as a workaround

The whole somatic/material thing and warcaster.

Thomas Markov

I can present a holy symbol while holding a broom.

I tried it this morning.

I just cast a delete vote and it went from 0 to 2. I feel powerful.

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov real world ability does not override the rules, though.

it says you must have a free hand

Thomas Markov

I'll work on more clearly working out those details in the answer.

NautArch

I'm hoping OP clarifies so you can answer more directly

I voted to lose until we have those details. Not downvoting.

but you may want to consider removing until we know the deets.

Thomas Markov

12:54

Cant delete an accepted answer.

But I agree with you now, Ive VTC'd.

Wrote the answer at 4 something in the morning.

NautArch

i may downvote :(

sorry

Thomas Markov

lol id downvote myself if I could. I need to be more clear.

Which I will do my best to salvage the answer for the question as it is currently written.

NautArch

I'm not sure you can, but go for it!

Thomas Markov

I rolled back to an earlier revision that mentions free hands.

nitsua60

@NautArch I'm silently lamenting a consequence of our new facility with remote teaching/learning: it seems like "snow days" (and their ilk, the downed trees/leaking water main/a raccoon died in the air duct and we need to air out the school a day) are gradually dying away =(

Thomas Markov

13:01

I once had school off because some kids broke in and egged the hallways.

@NautArch wheres the reference about dropping your sword for free

Bardic Wizard

@nitsua60 I’ve never had a snow day. Closest thing I’ve had was a half day in middle school after an unexpected power outage.

NautArch

@nitsua60 Yeah, i was wondering if snow days were a thing of the past.

nitsua60

@ThomasMarkov Not that I'm condoning vandalism... but occasional completely-surprise days off are one of the best things we can give kids, IMO. Speaking as a former kid, as a parent, as a teacher, and a school administrator.

NautArch

27

Q: Is dropping a weapon "free"?

I've seen many people on StackExchange and other forums mention that you can drop something as a free action, but I've never seen it sourced, or come across support for it in the Player's Handbook. The, "Other Activity on Your Turn" section makes no mention of dropping items. I've personally bee...

dnd-5e actions

@nitsua60 And the directive for today was confusing. Going virtual! Which schedule? The virtual schedule or the two cohorts? Oh, two cohorts? HOw is the teacher going to manage two cohorts simultaneously? Oh, she can't? So it's cohort schedule? What shoudl we do during virtual? Oh, nothing? Ok.

@nitsua60 @BardicWizard I'm not saying the senior prank of some of my friends was putting nitrogen triodide on pieces of equipment of the school, but...

Thomas Markov

Now I just want to delete this answer.

NautArch

13:06

The dangers of the fastest answer :(

I guess you could just delete the contents?

Thomas Markov

Custom flag: "I think my answer is wrong, and it is accepted so I cant delete it. Can you delete this for me?"

@NautArch Ive got a pretty good track record with quick answers, but I cant be perfect.

@Someone_Evil Thanks mate.

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov yes you can!

:D

Thomas Markov

What you're saying is "dont post answers when you wake up in the middle of the night and youll be perfect"?

NautArch

hahaha

and don't read the comments on news articles

Bardic Wizard

@NautArch what. Did. You. Do?????

NautArch

13:14

@BardicWizard I'm definitely not saying it was put on chalk, door handles, and bottoms of chair legs.

I'm also not saying help was provided from the chemistry teacher, either.

Hmm, had been getting network drops from my access points and replaced an ethernet cable. Haven't had a drop in awhile.

Someone_Evil

Fun with contact explosives

Bardic Wizard

@NautArch were you trying to blow stuff up?

NautArch

@BardicWizard oh geez, no. Just make loud noises.

Bardic Wizard

I really want to hear this story.

NautArch

That was pretty much it. Contact explosive made, applied, and had some bangs the next day.

Bardic Wizard

13:17

The real question is why??? Why’d you do it???

NautArch

school wasn't very happy

@BardicWizard senior prank

nitsua60

13:53

@ThomasMarkov I've had to do that before.

Thomas Markov

14:08

I once had to vacuum the soccer field.

AncientSwordRage

astroterf?

Thomas Markov

Grass.

AncientSwordRage

...

Thomas Markov

Oh right. That's a bit of an odd thing to do.

Experiment with pure sodium went horribly wrong.

There was an explosion, had to vacuum up the glass.

NautArch

14:24

woof

I was making a supersaturated solution of sugar water once and pulled the beaker out of the bath. It shattered hot sugarry water all over me and the floor. Thank god for lab aprons.

Bardic Wizard

I was “explosion kid” at ballet for years. Worst one was in the bathroom of the theater we performed in. There were six of us in there and it managed to cover me quite a lot and everyone else a little — it was only a large amount of vinegar, citric acid crystals, soap, and baking soda but it was a huge mess to clean up. We got away with it though

GcL

@BardicWizard I like the sentence "I was _____ at ballet for years." The blank for myself and all my team members was "discovering new muscles to be sore"

Bardic Wizard

@GcL same. At least twice I surprised a parent at exactly what I’d strained

Rubiksmoose

15:46

@GcL I also did ballet for a short time with my gf-at-the-time. Man was that brutal even when I was very in shape (I was also in wrestling, track, and cross country though pretty bad at all of them lol)

Bardic Wizard

@Rubiksmoose ballet is crazy brutal. Especially pointe class ...I remember why I hated it (quit when i started high school)

Rubiksmoose

@BardicWizard And I was only the muscle. I didn't have to do anything super technical like pointe.

NautArch

16:35

→ 12 messages moved to Not a bar, but plays one on TV

Rubiksmoose

→ 4 messages moved to Not a bar, but plays one on TV

Thomas Markov

@Ash Thanks for speaking up. To quote BESW from last week, "Anyone can ask for a conversation to be moved to the Not A Bar (or other chat room) at any time and a room owner or rpg.se mod will re-locate it as swiftly as possible. This does not reflect poorly on the topic, the conversers, or the asker; sometimes there's just a need for conversations to be opt-in rather than opt-out. Every RO and rpg.se mod has agreed to support this, and we'll never ask for justification."

Rubiksmoose

Just FWIW Ash has been around for quite a while. So they are well aware of this^

Thomas Markov

@Rubiksmoose Consider it the weekly PSA ;)

NautArch

I'm keeping that notice pinned for...ever?

Definitely for a long time

nitsua60

16:41

@NautArch An argument for making it part of the room description, maybe?

Rubiksmoose

It never hurts to remind everyone for sure. Just making you aware of that specifically since you maybe didn't know that Ash has been active here for quite a while.

NautArch

@nitsua60 oh, hmmm.

nitsua60

I could go either way on it.

Rubiksmoose

I recall the character limit being pretty low, but we might be able to squeeze it in there if deemed valuable

nitsua60

The "sporadic reminder" model is nice and authentic, and people see it actually working.

NautArch

16:42

@nitsua60 Going to let it marinate.

but the pin is also pretty good.

nitsua60

But it (necessarily) comes infrequently, and maybe leaves gaps.

The description would always be there, but might seem a little formal/less sincere.

I think the stars (visible support from the active chatizenry) are a good signal, which maybe makes me lean in favor of the pin.

Just a shame that the place that should work for something like this probably isn't as good as our emergent hack.

Rubiksmoose

16:55

room topic changed to TRPG General Chat: Main chat room for tabletop role-playing games. Anyone can ask for a conversation to be moved to the Not A Bar (or other chat room) at any time [dice] [pen-and-paper] [roleplaying]

(just doing some tests)

I'll revert back in a minute

room topic changed to TRPG General Chat: Main chat room for tabletop role-playing games. Anyone can ask for a conversation to be moved to the Not A Bar (or other chat room) at any time and a room owner or rpg.se mod will re-locate it as swiftly as possible. This does not reflect poorly on the topic, the conversers, or the asker; sometimes there's just a need for conversations to be opt-in rather than opt-out. [dice] [pen-and-paper] [roleplaying]

NautArch

Woof. That's a lot of content in that description. I think I prefer the notice.

doppelgreener

"Anyone can ask for a conversation to be moved to the Not A Bar (or another room) at any time:" followed by a link to the message?

Rubiksmoose

17:32

@NautArch and no hope of putting a new line in there I think.

room topic changed to TRPG General Chat: Main chat room for tabletop role-playing games.Anyone can ask for a conversation to be moved to the Not A Bar (or another room) at any time: See here [dice] [pen-and-paper] [roleplaying]

yup didn't think that would work.

Thomas Markov

@Rubiksmoose Need a space after the period.

NautArch

Frr those who like cooking (or are interested in cooking), I found a great new recipe website that I've been using. A lot of ethnic recipes, and I'm not sure how legitimate they are, but what I've made so far here has been delicious.

Rubiksmoose

room topic changed to TRPG General Chat: Main chat room for tabletop role-playing games. Anyone can ask for a conversation to be moved to the Not A Bar (or another room) at any time: See here [dice] [pen-and-paper] [roleplaying]

Thomas Markov

@Rubiksmoose instant relief

Rubiksmoose

:)

Thomas Markov

17:34

Also link markdown doesnt work in the description I dont think.

Someone_Evil

But it does in the automatic chat message, that's fun

Rubiksmoose

@ThomasMarkov Yeah that is what I correctly thought would not work sadly.

The bare link looks very ugly.

Thomas Markov

@Someone_Evil If that's what you find fun, I would like to sell you stuff. :P

NautArch

maybe "all topics are open, but if anyone is uncomfortable, please ask us to move the discussion to Not a Bar."

That new SAC ruling on portent is one I really disagree with. I fully believe and will continue to allow it to replace the final die result.

Rubiksmoose

room topic changed to TRPG General Chat: Main chat room for tabletop role-playing games. Anyone can ask for a conversation to be moved to the Not A Bar (or another room) at any time: chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/55702033#55702033 [dice] [pen-and-paper] [roleplaying]

Someone_Evil

17:43

@NautArch Wait, what now?

NautArch

@Someone_Evil By 'new', I guess i mean the 2018. Where it replaces one roll (when rolling with advantage), not the result.

42

Q: How does the Divination wizard's Portent feature interact with Advantage and Disadvantage?

The School of Divination wizard's Portent feature says, in part (Player's Handbook, page 116): You can replace any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check made by you or a creature that you can see with one of these foretelling rolls. You must choose to do so before the roll, and you can rep...

dnd-5e class-feature wizard advantage-and-disadvantage divination

Someone_Evil

Isn't that an errata, rather than SAC? (though I also like it replacing the result regardless of adv/disadv)

NautArch

@Someone_Evil oh, maybe? Either way, not at my table :P

It really minimizes that ability.

Carcer

eh

it only matters when you're rolling with disadvantage which shouldn't be that frequent

NautArch

@Carcer a lot of monsters have advantage on saves.

Carcer

17:56

@NautArch I forgot the use case of applying portent to enemy rolls because I'm a doofus

NautArch

@Carcer hahaha, no worries. I think that's often the more common use-case (or it was with me)

I only deviated from it when I wanted to use a crit for the paladin or a crit for a death save.

Carcer

have never actually played with a divination wizard so it's all theory to me

NautArch

I may put up a "don't follow the written rule" answer.

debating

Thomas Markov

@NautArch Ironically, Id upvote it for being wrong.

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov It would be supported by my experience playing a divination wizard

Thomas Markov

18:15

@NautArch Someone has a list of questions where answers assume its D&D 5e when its not.

Maybe Medix was keeping up with that?

Someone_Evil

I recall there was something like that on meta at some point. I don't think there's any effort (nor point to) cataloging every instance (I wouldn't expect there to be any notable cross-q pattern)

Not to mention it being a compilation of users making a relatively innocent mistake, which is very much not great

BESW

23:26

I like the new chat description!

Reminder that moving to another chat doesn't change basic expectations about kindness, compassion, and respect. It's just a way to make a subject opt-in.

The same kinds of behavior are expected in other rpg.se chat rooms as are expected here.

Rubiksmoose

@BESW Yay! I wish I could hide the url and add a newline, but otherwise I think it works.

Hot RPG Questions

23:51

4

Q: Naked Sprite Familiars?

There were two question about the new Sage Advice: Does Flock of Familiars produce endless wealth in the same manner as Find Familiar? What is a sprite familiar's AC? My answer to one and comment on another is that infinite wealth from a Warlock isn't possible because the Sprite is summoned wit...

dnd-5e familiars sage-advice

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