TRPG General Chat

7:00 PM

@kent In my opinion, stealth casting should never be allowed unless you're a sorcerer with subtle.

@kent different games :) Played a paladin 5-20 across about 5 years. That campaign ended somewhat recently and in new one I've been a divination wizard, then battlemaster fighter, and now an evocation wizard (had some bad luck in character survival)

Medix2

Though there are rules they aren't the best defined, and require a good deal of cross-referencing. At the end of the day, I don't think I've had any GMs agree fully on the methods of spellcasting and foci/components and so forth

kent

@medix2 I do love the amount of threads I'm seeing of elaborate ways to get around it. Particularly in casters/martial mixes with people tying swords and staves to themselves

Yuuki

@NautArch Or you're a method director.

NautArch

7:15 PM

@Yuuki heh. Also, I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on Shiness...but also on RDR2 and hope they've resolved the bugs.

Yuuki

And sometimes, you don't need to do a whole press release for some secondary billing who isn't going to draw an audience on their lonesome.

@NautArch Hmm... never heard of Shiness.

I'm playing Tokyo Mirage Sessions right now though.

NautArch

@Yuuki @Medix2 recommended it

Yuuki

Now that's a game that has no shame. It's so quintessentially Japan that it's kinda endearing.

NautArch

and it's only $10 :P

Medix2

I'd recommend watching watching gameplay, to see if it's something you'd enjoy. But I definitely recommend it

Yuuki

7:22 PM

In hindsight, I'm going to walk back on the "quintessentially Japan" to "quintessentially anime".

Hot RPG Questions

3

Q: What demons are related to the demon lords Juiblex and Zuggtmoy?

Juiblex and Zuggtmoy are demon lords, and the 5e material I have access to include the Monster Manual, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and Out of the Abyss. The Monster Manual doesn't have much to say about these two demon lords (at least not with regards to which demons might follow them), but from...

KorvinStarmast

7:53 PM

I am such a good support sorcerer that I got the party killed and had their souls delivered to Asmodeous-what class should I MC into in order to be a better support? My favorite question of the week.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast y'know...I totally missed the storyline delivered in that question. I feel like we need a new meta question about these types of things.

The Oracle

0

Q: There's a new Ask Questions page!

The new ask page is now live on the network! is the post on main meta (meta.stackexchange.com) describing the thought behind and the new features of the Ask A Question redesign. Check it out and leave any feedback there.

discussion questions

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch I think we just need to sit back and laugh. They may be continuing with the other players rolling up new characters, or with a new group (of suckers ...)

goodguy5

8:10 PM

There we go, now I'm proud of that Fate answer.

it was a little half-butted before

Xirema

I feel so bad for my players in my campaign. They came up with an ingenous plan to get paid for the task they can no longer actually complete, and it's going to fail because, for the first time this whole campaign, they decided to spare people instead of killing them.

Of course it still depends on what they actually do, so there's still a chance they snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, so to speak, but the plan as they outlined during last night's session... will not work. 😆

Yuuki

Why not reward them in other ways?

Hot RPG Questions

7

Q: Is the offspring of an elf and a half-elf an elf or a half-elf?

If an elf and a half-elf (let's assume the elf and the half-elf's elven parent are of the same subrace, to exclude that as an additional complication) were to have a child, would the child be an elf or a half-elf? I can see this going either way; one argument might be that the child would be an ...

dnd-5e lore forgotten-realms elf half-elf

NautArch

@Yuuki yeah, if it's ingenuous and awesome, I'd see what I could do to make it work

nitsua60

Designing an AI to GM D&D

Xirema

8:22 PM

Depends on a lot of factors. Basically, they were instructed by the Mage's Guild to kidnap the absconded Archmage of the guild and bring him back alive. But they arrive to find the Archmage already dead.

However! The party has a Changeling! They can shapechange into the Archmage, and then the party brings them back, disguised as the Archmage, the Guild takes them, pays the party, and then the party helps break them out later.

Problem: some of the wizards that were in the tower where they found the dead Archmage already found the body, know he's dead, and when the party fought them, the Cl…

It's like that scene in Bojack Horseman, where the two boats are set to collide, and the airline pilots are looking down at the imminent collison and the guy is like "we swore an oath, never to interfere with the matters of land nor sea!" and they just have to watch as the disaster unfolds.

NautArch

Oh, hmm. Nevermind :) i missed the part about that they were technically running a scam

Xirema

@NautArch I mean, it's a really clever scam! But I can't narratively justify it succeeding unless they've got some last minute clarity or eleventh hour twist to pull it off.

NautArch

But it could open up a new plot hook

goodguy5

@nitsua60 come on, you and I both know that article is about Xirema

GcL

8:41 PM

@nitsua60 I caught that article on my reader yesterday. My favorite part was the quote "Martin doesn’t think they would make a good DM. 'We're nowhere close to this being a reality yet'" Story telling is hard, yo.

@Xirema As I was reading that, I was kinda hoping for a Weekend at Bernie's style scheme with a necromancer.

Changeling is fun too. They get advantage on CHA rolls for deception for that sort of thing, no?

Xirema

@GcL That was only Unearthed Arcana. The official version just gives them proficiency in two skills from a filtered list, one of which can be Deception.

V2Blast

@Medix2 tbh I've never had any confusion about them for the most part, aside from a few bits where the rules aren't explicitly stated (and thus are left to be inferred from Crawford tweets and such, or otherwise speculated).

Xirema

FWIW, the Changeling is a Rogue who's about to get two more Expertise proficiencies, so if they choose Deception, there might still be a way out for them...

KorvinStarmast

@nitsua60 hardly a good idea, since computers don't understand fun

GcL

@KorvinStarmast They don't actually need to. Plenty of computer games are very fun despite the computer not inherently understanding fun.

KorvinStarmast

8:46 PM

@GcL To be a DM you need to; the "AI as DM" is a crap idea.

GcL

@KorvinStarmast On the flip side, a bunch of D&D isn't fun because the DMs don't understand what fun is.

@KorvinStarmast I kind of like the let's make an AI DM as a goal. Sets a nice high bar that's fun and offers a chance to play D&D under the auspices of "I'm doing research!"

V2Blast

@KorvinStarmast Arguably, many humans don't either? :P

KorvinStarmast

@GcL the only part I like about your reply is play D&D under the auspices of "I'm doing research

V2Blast

I guess GcL already kinda said that

:P

@KorvinStarmast lol

KorvinStarmast

@V2Blast fun is where you find it

V2Blast

8:49 PM

what if I find it under the couch cushions?

GcL

@V2Blast You must be one of those rare individuals that delights in change

Like Scrooge McDuck

KorvinStarmast

@V2Blast Then Cardinal Fang will put you into the comfy chair

But as DM I might give you a point of inspiration

V2Blast

lol

KorvinStarmast

@V2Blast Oh, yeah, for Salt Marsh. I am rather liberal with issuing inspiration points, so don't be afraid to use one when you have one when the stakes are high. The way the group plays, inspiration crops up with some frequency as an award

(And some people still horde those single points ... arggh!)

V2Blast

Yeah, I think you mentioned that

I think it's a common problem

in terms of getting people to use their inspiration

honestly I often forget I have it

it can be helpful to remind players of that

@KorvinStarmast Do you enforce players having to use it before rolling (the first die)? Or do you let people use it to reroll after the fact (ostensibly before they know whether it's a success or not)?

goodguy5

8:59 PM

At the start of every session, I give out two free "ally only" inspiration points (blue poker chips - where yellow are "regular")

NautArch

this is about to reopen, but it doesn't seem like they narrowed it down?

Or am I being daft?

goodguy5

reopen so that it can be closed as POB?

V2Blast

@NautArch I assume people saw that the system tag was added and voted to reopen without noting/noticing other issues

@NautArch I can't rule out the possibility of both though ;)

GcL

@NautArch Seems narrow enough for an answer. Goodness of fit ~ AC * AoE DPS seems narrow enough to get a reasonably useful answer.

It would be nice to know which is more important, but that can be assumed by whoever answers the question.

Hot RPG Questions

9:17 PM

20

Q: As a DM, how can I handle my Druid spying on everything with Wild shape as a spider?

I GM Lost Mines of Phandelver. My player's level 2 (soon 3) Druid has discovered that while in Wild Shape in spider form, they are almost impossible to catch, especially since in caves etc. they "fit in" (which I agreed to twice). However, this results in the PCs knowing pretty much the entire ...

dnd-5e gm-techniques wild-shape lost-mine-of-phandelver

Yuuki

Hmm... AoE DPS is interesting then because Paladins are definitely more of a single-target nova class.

trogdor

@RandomDudeWithAKnife oh, a little late as an answer, but yeah I kinda like 4e better than 5e personally

RevenantBacon

@trogdor YOU HEATHEN! :p

trogdor

lol

KorvinStarmast

@V2Blast The use of inspiration is to give yourself advantage on a roll. (But I have seen "re roll, you have an inspiration point" now and again; if the situation arises where I think that's the best path forward, I'll make that ruling on the spot). But the general case is "give yourself advantage on the roll" which is its intention.

It's not a matter of forcing anything, it is "you can give yourself advantage" on a roll where otherwise you could not.

If you have inspiration, you can expend it when you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. Spending your inspiration gives you advantage on that roll

Also a big fan of players passing their insp points to other players as a "that was cool, here!" thing.

@trogdor that is how I remembered our conversation, but I was not comfortable speaking on your behalf

V2Blast

9:34 PM

@KorvinStarmast I didn't say "force", I said "enforce", because I know that's how it's written... And I've had DMs who house-ruled otherwise

:)

Sounds good

KorvinStarmast

@V2Blast Sorry, I misread that. 8^o

Nits was on DM who (when a crit landed on a PC) offer up "uh, if you have inspiration point, you may want to roll that other die on this poison save" and IIRC that PC was trogdor's paladin

Lesson Learned: when the giant scorpion hits your low level character with a critical tail strike, the damage balloons rather quickly if the poison save isn't made ...

V2Blast

lol

@KorvinStarmast Everything balloons quickly at low levels... Especially your character, until they go pop

KorvinStarmast

As I remember that little battle, it was the first time I appreciated the Tabaxi climbing class feature ... Shalvenay's demonstration of Tabaxi speed and climbing was a nice "and here is why Tabaxi are a cool PC to have in a forest or jungle" moment

@V2Blast Snort, yeah.

Medix2

9:58 PM

@KorvinStarmast If the poison damage is behind a saving throw the critical hit at least won't double it

NautArch

@GcL I'll let others decide and answer :) I've already used my close

Hot RPG Questions

10:14 PM

6

Q: Does the Aspect of the Moon Eldritch Invocation effectively allow for unending Wild Shape?

Let's assume minimum, Moon Druid 4, Pact of the Tome Warlock 3 Wild Shape works by: You can stay in a beast shape for a number of hours equal to half your druid level (rounded down). You then revert to your normal form unless you expend another use of this feature. You can revert to your...

dnd-5e warlock druid wild-shape eldritch-invocations

trogdor

10:30 PM

@KorvinStarmast fair enough

I do indeed like 4e better than 5e, D&D as a whole isn't really on my radar too much anymore but if I were to play it again it would probably be 4e, or possibly 13th Age assuming you count that as D&D

sorta how people still kinda count Pathfinder as just "D&D from a different publisher"

I do prefer 5e over 3.5 though

KorvinStarmast

@Medix2 Indeed, which is why the paladin wasn't killed ...

trogdor

I think it's definitely an improvement over 3.5, although looking back on 3.5, I enjoyed it at the time but I had a lot of little issues with it that would make it extremely hard to actually enjoy now XD

KorvinStarmast

@trogdor yeah, there are similarities, but 5e is a lot less clunky

trogdor

that's how I would boil it down too

KorvinStarmast

I just re read Clark Ashton Smith's The Dark Eidolon (vinatage 1935) That's the kind of stories that E.G.G. and his cohorts grew up reading in the pulp mags ... swords and sorcery stuff ... that writing style isn't used much any more, but I remember reading a lot of short stories like that in my early D&D days to get the sense of wonder and the mystical going ...

... what's weird is that the author's "voice" has traces of Kahlil Gibran's meter to it ... (been reading him lately as well)

(I still preer Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd stories, however)

The Oracle

11:09 PM

2

Q: How do we address edits to a question that invalidate answers, which were based upon key information not provided by the querent?

A new user has posed this homebrew review question, which has gone through a ton of edits and is seemingly in a rollback war between users: How would a major buffing ability effect challenge rating? There is currently 1 answer to this question and it's premise stems substantially upon informati...

discussion editing

Medix2

Should that question ^ be retitled to clearly be about the question in question? The scenario here seems unique with the number of edits and the timing of answers and the closed future question.

Someone_Evil

I think it would be better to refocus it to be specifically about that question, which I think mostly means title and adding a specific (hah!) tag. I'll suggest it on the question.

Someone_Evil

11:29 PM

I think we forgot to update our homebrew review guidance with the wait 3 days thing, which is generally enforced, but not clear from that meta (which is the one we link to). Do we still need a meta to confirm that addition?

Hot RPG Questions

7

Q: How to approximate decaying probability distributions with few dice?

I am looking for ways to generate a probability distribution using dice which produces results that are skewed towards lower numbers, ideally as some kind of smooth decay. For example, imagine a random encounter table sorted by difficulty, in which such a roll would ensure that low-danger encoun...

dice statistics

Medix2

@Someone_Evil That sounds like a good thing to add to me. Though with this question I'm unsure whether the update was a revision or something else (the changes were quite significant)

Someone_Evil

@Medix2 I thought about it because of the second one (I voted as a dupe per that policy, but it was closed as unclear), the nature of edits to such a question is already covered in that guidance

NautArch

As pyrotechnical suggested, I VTC'd until we figure this out

Axoren

11:57 PM

@goodguy5 You're a monster. Thank you.

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