TRPG General Chat

4:05 AM

8

Q: If you use "Monstrous Adventurers" from "Volo's Guide to Monsters" for a PC, do you use a background?

I was looking at Volo's Guide to Monsters, the section on "Monstrous Adventurers", and wondered whether you include a background when you use that to create a character of one of the species listed there. It doesn't say in the section, and there aren't any sample characters. I think that many o...

kviiri

5:42 AM

@Yuuki I got my accordion from the basement

My neighbors are going to love this.

Apr 24 '18 at 17:32, by kviiri

@NautArch There's a saying here that a gentleman is someone who can play the accordion. But doesn't.

V2Blast

7:53 AM

World War Z, Figment, and Tormentor x Punisher are currently free on the Epic Games Store until April 2: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/free-games
(After that, Gone Home and Hob will be free from April 2-9.)

AncientSwordRage

9:21 AM

New unearthed arcana dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/spells-magic-tattoos

@kviiri tell that to TMBG

BESW

9:33 AM

I don't think TMBG ever claimed to be gentlemen.

AncientSwordRage

10:44 AM

Is that not They Might Be Gentlemen?

kviiri

11:04 AM

the accordion is surprisingly nice to play

My earlier attempts were rather frustrated

But I've been playing melodica in between, it has maybe helped me get a touch for piano-like keys but no looking

NautArch

11:22 AM

o/

@KorvinStarmast Well, I mostly just had to pull a couple punches, but they fought their way through the room. One player went down 3 times (and not yet fully done with the battle.)

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch \\oo/

NautArch

@AncientSwordRage um, i think you have an extra arm

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch I'm just this guy, y'know?

Someone_Evil

12:00 PM

Is the main site being really unresponsive for anyone else?

BESW

Hot RPG Questions

3

Q: Why would I ever pick bows over powers?

Bows seem in terms of damage, flexibility, etc. just flat worse than the most basic of spells. Why would I ever want to use a bow over a bolt?

savage-worlds

AncientSwordRage

12:23 PM

@Someone_Evil I use chat more than main

goodguy5

12:42 PM

<ITAG>! and happy Friday

AncientSwordRage

@goodguy5 ?

goodguy5

Nov 8 '19 at 14:08, by goodguy5

wait a second, can we make ITAG into an internet slang?

AncientSwordRage

AMAZING

I just usually say 'Ahoy'

nitsua60

1:19 PM

@AncientSwordRage Speaking of whom, They're livestreaming a show tonight, 7pm eastern.

AncientSwordRage

@nitsua60 cool

nitsua60

They Might Be Streaming!

"Who's 'They May Be Streaming?'"

"What?"

"It says here 'intellectuals meet other intellectuals at La Maisonette'... it's. Well, I don't know what it is."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know. They say every time you call this number another child goes hungry. It's They May Be Giants. In the Village Voice."

KorvinStarmast

2:05 PM

@nitsua60 wait, is that a childhood obesity solution, or is this some other kind of jest? 8-|

nitsua60

@KorvinStarmast tmbw.net/wiki/Lyrics:Untitled

Read that ^^, then click into the "song" tab, read it, then read the lyrics again. I promise it's worth five minutes of your life.

(Even better if you can find a recording of it to listen to the second time.)

Someone_Evil

Can I borrow a pair of experienced eyes for this questions dupe status?

goodguy5

2:24 PM

I'm inclined to think dupe, but not sure enough to vote

Someone_Evil

That's pretty much where I ended up too

Axoren

2:45 PM

Huh... at what point does an Object Interaction become Use Object? Opening a door, pulling a lever, hitting a button, hitting a button on a device that launches a projectile...

Is activating a primed ballista an object interaction if its activation is 'hit button' or 'pull lever'?

Someone_Evil

Ballistas have specific rules in the DMG I believe (assuming D&D 5e)

Hot RPG Questions

3:05 PM

7

Q: How can I best run a cinematic battle with three opposing factions?

I am running a game of 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. I am going to run a climactic battle that has three factions- one will be the players, one will be their main antagonist, and the third will be an additional antagonist that is also trying to beat the main villain. I am wondering if there ...

dnd-5e combat encounter-design

4

Q: What happens when 2 casters cast time stop at once?

If spellcaster A readies an action to cast time stop as soon as spellcaster B casts time stop, then on spellcaster B's turn they cast time stop, what happens? Who takes extra turns first? Also, can whoever goes first counterspell the other's time stop, and does doing so end their time stop early?

dnd-5e spells time readied-action

nitsua60

@Axoren If you don't care about whether it hits a target, I'd say yes. If you want to harm someone, sounds like an Attack to me.

Axoren

3:19 PM

@Someone_Evil That solves it, it's explicitly an action for that.

@nitsua60 If you're gonna make it an Attack Action, would you allow someone to spend their extra attacks shooting a bow immediately after?

At our tables, we don't use that weird awkward ruling that the Attack Action is atomic, i.e. you can't bonus action or object interaction between attacks. Clearly plenty of things can already be woven in-and-around attacks like Opportunity Attacks and Reactions. So, personally, I find someone switching between a Ballista and their main weapon to not be too farfetched.

It just seems kind of funky, like it could be the beginning of a challenge build: fire as many ranged weapons as possible in a single turn.

nitsua60

@Axoren Sure: "drop" the ballista for free, draw-and-nock uses Use an Object and then fire away =)

Axoren

Achievement Unlocked: Fire a Hand Crossbow, Light Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow, Short Bow, Long Bow, and Ballista in a single turn.

Achievement Unlocked: Fire a Hand Crossbow, Light Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow, Short Bow, Long Bow, and Ballista, throw a Javelin, Hand Axe, and Dart, and use a Sling in a single turn.

The Oracle

3:43 PM

1

Q: Answering own questions

A while ago, I asked “It is reasonable to ask a question that you don’t actually need answer to?” (here) and the response was negative: no, you shouldn’t ask a question unless you have it as a real issue personally. In that case... what is the community’s perspective on the practice of ‘answeri...

discussion self-answering

Rubiksmoose

@doppelgreener dang! that was some quick turnaround on that excellent answer to ^

nitsua60

@Rubiksmoose Greener clearly sock-posted the original question, having the answer ready to go.

Or perhaps we're all just a little strangely-scheduled these days?

Rubiksmoose

@nitsua60 XD Going for most pointless abuse of sockpuppeting ever?

nitsua60

I think at one point I registered a sock just to have a low-rep account and be able to see what the site looks like without the privileges. It only lasted a week or so, IIRC, because it was so frikkin' annoying to be logged in as the alt without realizing it and try to do anything.

Rubiksmoose

4:01 PM

@nitsua60 hah! I had a non-registered sock for like 2 days before I lost it due to caching.

Joel Harmon

4:19 PM

@Rubiksmoose Losing socks is a common problem.

2

Rubiksmoose

@JoelHarmon hah!

doppelgreener

@Rubiksmoose thank you! :D

goodguy5

4:55 PM

@Rubiksmoose don't forget to check the dryer lint cache. sometimes socks get sucked into their (depending on age and model)

nitsua60

5:06 PM

@goodguy5 Also, you can usually make a new sock out of all that lint--there's enough.

Xirema

5:31 PM

So the new Unearthed Arcana is interesting. Lots of Summon spells where you

- Summon exactly one creature
- The creature you summon scales to the spell level and your spellcasting modifier
- The (non-consumed) material component costs exactly 300gp.

And for pretty much most types of theoretically summonable creature types.

I saw people speculating on Reddit that this might be leading up to some kind of Planar book, i.e Planescape 2020 or something like that.

nitsua60

8:13 PM

@NautArch picked up a 3' single buck saw on craigslist, sharpened it up last night, and gave it a try today. That thing does through wood like a hot knife through ~~styrofoam~~ butter!

s/does/goes

RandomDudeWithAKnife

8:25 PM

hello!

how is everyone?

I have finished my campaign!

Next week we are starting a new one. I have a character idea already

MikeQ

What was the campaign? What went well and what didn't?

RandomDudeWithAKnife

In out of the abyss, most of the PC's died, including mine

I ended up with a Gnoll Warlock (Great Old One)

lawful good

nitsua60

8:41 PM

@RandomDudeWithAKnife \o/

RandomDudeWithAKnife

Gnarakx the Astounding, folk hero

@nitsua60 o/

nitsua60

                                <--                    >= 2m                   -->    \o

MikeQ

Careful now, or else you might accidentally write befunge code

nitsua60

@MikeQ I think I just won a PPCG KotH challenge. Now if only I could find which one....

RandomDudeWithAKnife

we also had a goblin summoner who rode thier edilion as a mount with a glave

MikeQ

8:48 PM

Wait, what system were you using?

RandomDudeWithAKnife

5e

summoner was homebrew

o/ @AncientSwordRage

so how is everyone?

Rubiksmoose

Befunge

Befunge is a stack-based, reflective, esoteric programming language. It differs from conventional languages in that programs are arranged on a two-dimensional grid. "Arrow" instructions direct the control flow to the left, right, up or down, and loops are constructed by sending the control flow in a cycle. It has been described as "a cross between Forth and Lemmings." A worthy companion to INTERCAL; a computer language family which escapes the quotidian limitation of linear control flow and embraces program counters flying through multiple dimensions with exotic topologies. == History == ...

TIL

TIL?

Today I Learned

oh

8:56 PM

@RandomDudeWithAKnife feeling mellifluous

RandomDudeWithAKnife

@AncientSwordRage not me lol

crazygames.com/game/universal-paperclips

Universal Paperclips /\

try it out

Rubiksmoose

@RandomDudeWithAKnife Man I played that for way too long when it came out.

AncientSwordRage

@RandomDudeWithAKnife 🚨WARNING ADDICTIVE GAME INSIDE🚨

RandomDudeWithAKnife

@AncientSwordRage yeah

AncientSwordRage

@Rubiksmoose learning befunge is probably on my bucket list if I were to write one...

Rubiksmoose

8:59 PM

@AncientSwordRage Your sights are set too low! Write your bucket list in Befunge.

AncientSwordRage

@Rubiksmoose shocked_pikachu.jpg

Now that's thinking in esolangs

Powerdork

If I wanted to look up questions about the worth of freely-available healing, what would I need to search for? I'm skimming the [healing] tag and getting a bunch of interesting questions but nothing as plain and focused as what I'm looking for

Rubiksmoose

@Powerdork hmmmm I'm trying to think if there are any good keywords to add.

5e I assume?

Powerdork

Or other games in the same style (a band of varying classes enters a dungeon and rolls initiative, with 'daily' resource schemes)

Rubiksmoose

Just so I understand what you are looking for, what do you mean by "freely available"

Powerdork

9:13 PM

At least as easily-used as the Ixalan vampire's bite, and practically uncapped (in common use, at least).

Someone_Evil

I think there is a homebrew review for a weapon where that is discussed in an answer

Might be something else, I'd maybe try to look at low voted homebrew reviews for it

AncientSwordRage

@Powerdork my MTG sense is tingling

RandomDudeWithAKnife

10:02 PM

hi I'm back

BESW

10:57 PM

Oof I had planned to publish a TRPG thing every month this year, but I dunno if that's gonna happen for March.

Hot RPG Questions

11:18 PM

12

Q: How can I avoid straw manning any belief I am against in my game?

Like every person in the world, I have my own opinions regarding politics and philosophies. Whether it be believing that the best way to govern the world is an A.I that decides everything, or saying humans are needed to manage the country, or on another topic I might follow a certain philosophy t...

gm-techniques problem-gm

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