TRPG General Chat

V2Blast

12:00 AM

@AncientSwordRage No problem! :D

@BESW Ooh, will definitely have to check it out if JMM is involved :)

Adeptus

2:07 AM

Essentials Kit rulebook is today's freebie. So now everyone can access the Sidekick rules.

Hot RPG Questions

2:40 AM

2

Q: Is Ready required on your turn in order to use reaction abilities in between turns?

Do you have to Ready a reaction to use it? Thus, you would have had to used Ready as your action on your turn and wait for the trigger to use the reaction. Would it be correct to say that you cannot use a reaction without first Readying your reaction, except in Opportunity Attacks and abilities t...

GcL

2:52 AM

@Adeptus Where is that?

BESW

Goblin Court v2 is now live!

4

Adeptus

3:07 AM

@GcL dnd.wizards.com/remote/freematerial

Wizards are releasing free content each weekday. This is week 3, you can still get some of the previous content.

GcL

Thanks

Joel Harmon

@NautArch With sufficient pressure and friction, it's possible to use your sleeve/forearm to do that. Keys, on the other hand, are much trickier.

kviiri

9:06 AM

I've opened doors with my foot since childhood, I wonder where I picked that up from

I'm a tea drinker and usually have a cup with me wherever I go in my house, but that occupies only one hand

It helps that we have handles, not knobs here

Hot RPG Questions

2

Q: What is the rarity of this homebrew magic item, Wytchfire Crystal Orb?

The magic item functions as a Driftglobe with the following additional properties: Requires attunement by a spell caster As a bonus action on your turn, you can speak another command word and move the orb up to 20 feet in any direction. Provides protection from scrying (like an Amulet of Proof...

dnd-5e magic-items homebrew

V2Blast

11:11 AM

@Adeptus ah, nice!

Zachiel

11:49 AM

We all know it's not particularly precise (because of the ambiguity about what that "I" means), but I like this wikipedia definition:

> RAI: Rule as Intended, opposed to RAW, RAI is used to balance out over-powered mechanics while arguing about the true intention the rule being exploited by RAW originally has.

It's not "we use the true intention", it's "we argue about the true intention".

Hot RPG Questions

12:16 PM

13

Q: Do gods need to be worshiped?

I am working on my first homebrew setting using a spelljammer sort of cosmology, and I have run into some confusion. So far, my understanding is that gods in D&D only exist where they have followers. How, then, does a god create a world from nothing? If no world = no worshipers = no god to create...

dnd-5e lore religions-and-deities spelljammer

NautArch

howdy howdy

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Uh, howdy, I drove past a whole bunch of pelicans this morning. Their routine has not been interrupted as far as I can tell.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast BUt were they wearing masks?

KorvinStarmast

@Zachiel Or we try to discern the true intention ...

@NautArch Noses too big ... wait, I'm one to talk!

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast heh

me too :P

NautArch

12:44 PM

started dead in thay. SO far, I love it.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch grats, that ought to be fun .... I am hoping to get my THursday grop through Sunless citadel, Forge of Fury, and then at long last run Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan; this was the intent when we started this "shared world" thing but then the "adventurer's guild" concept went out the window when the first DM teleported us to a different part of the world and we were first level. And then RL cost us his participation.

And that started three years ago.

NautArch

heh

Definitely made some minor mistakes at the entrance, but that's fine.

Now that they've chosen their starting point, I can dig in.

There was just too much content to start with.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch yeah, I reviewed that module in TftYP and was shaking my head by the time I was done.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast It's enormous.

And the characters can pick which location they want to start in. So I was just like "guess i'll figure this out on the fly!"

And what do they do in the first few minutes? Start a fire in a forest.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch what did you finally decide on rare item wise once they turned in the artifacts/legendaries?

@NautArch Love it! :)

NautArch

1:01 PM

@KorvinStarmast Oh, thanks for alerting the vault of your position!

@KorvinStarmast I gave them each a choice of four rare items. Items repeated across players can only be chosen once. SO everyone had an opportunity to get a potion of invulnerability, but if someone took it, then no one else could.

I offered a bit of a mix between weapons/armor/utility.

They allc hose weapon/armor.

Except one who chose utility and then didn't want it and gave it to someone else (the ghost lantern)

The cleric nearly chose Galder's Bubble Pipe, but switched to a sunblade (light cleric)

Zachiel

@V2Blast In one of my groups, I have a player who does that. He usually becomes a target for pencil erasers right after he does.

NautArch

@Zachiel yeah, no one is reminding me of stuff :P

@KorvinStarmast One very cool thing the warlock did was cast a wall of light on some Gorgons when they were in a somewhat confined space. Blinded them and while the gorgons could move to attack and know location, they didn't need to leave the wall to do it. So they stayed and got hit each round. 4 round fight and they never made their save. Blind the whole time.

Zachiel

I should have said "a target for erasers and angry 'would you shut up for once?' stares."

NautArch

1:21 PM

Hmm, there's a Pool of Recovery that will allow a short rest refresh upon drinking. But only once in a tenday. Do I tell the players that or teach it to them when someone tries again. I'm guessing the latter just because they'd have no reason to know.

Someone_Evil

1:52 PM

@NautArch The time to bring up how it works is when they start bottling it

NautArch

@Someone_Evil Although, looking at this answer, they recommend making it Long Rest rather than Short.

It also seems they are allowing it 1/day

Someone_Evil

Are you looking to change the pace like that Q is for?

NautArch

@Someone_Evil WHen I found the question and reading the module it made a lot of sense.

This a fast-paced assault, and if it's set up like you have time, then it loses the urgency.

I think the Q&A are both really good.

But an at will 1/day long rest also seems like a lot.

BUt I also don't think BBeast had a 7 person party.

GcL

2:11 PM

@NautArch portable fortress?

NautArch

@GcL Yeah, it's kind of like giving them that.

BUt without needing any time.

THey just drink it and get the effects.

Maybe i'll do it a Short Rest eveyr other day.

But they haev to drink from pool, not carry the water.

GcL

Oh I had an item that did that.... it had some terrible side effects from prolonged use.

NautArch

@GcL If they try it before it 'refreshes', there are penalties. A creature can drink from the pool safely only once per tenday. The second time the creature drinks in a tenday, its hit point maximum is halved for one tenday (remove curse negates this effect). The third time the creature drinks in a tenday, it suffers the effects of a harm spell (save DC 15).

GcL

Daylilly ... drink as tea to stave off exhaustion and allow a short rest to be treated as a long rest, or consume all at once as a potion of haste. Prolonged use incurred exhaustion that could not be removed. Long term use incurred addiction.

@NautArch So like fountains in many digital rpgs... not rogue. don't drink from those fountains

NautArch

@GcL We've got two paladins, so the party's saves are pretty good. One has a +4, the other a +3.

Someone_Evil

2:19 PM

What character level?

NautArch

9

The language does say "drink from the pool", so i think i'm good with not letting them carry it.

Someone_Evil

And having two paladins also negates the lingering effects of harm pretty easily, the damage still stings though

NautArch

Definitely leaning towards Short Rest and refresshes safe use every other day

And if the penalties are fixed after a day. Basically change tenday to every other day.

I'm also noticing ROll20 has a problem with Large creatures. It seems to make them Huge.

or not and i'm an idiot. I think with hexes at our table, we've had large creatures take up two. But should it be 4 like roll20?

Someone_Evil

2:45 PM

DMG 249 says 3 for large, 7 for huge

NautArch

would not have guessed 3. bah. i'll just keep it as-is. I've got enough to figure out with these dungeons.

James

3:30 PM

I have never used the RPG site, so I'm not exactly sure what kind of questions are allowed. Is it OK to ask about balancing a boss encounter my players will be fighting?

Or would that be a better question for this room?

NautArch

@James howdy James!

Is the boss homebrew or an existing monster?

James

Homebrew

NautArch

That's a bit trickier. You'd need to provide the full boss stat block, and at a minimum the party makeup along with what level of difficulty you are looking for in the fight.

But before that, it may help to determine the CR of the boss.

Have you done that? And have you used encounter tools to rate difficulty?

James

I couldn't just list the classes and levels? (Of my players)

NautArch

We'd also need to know of any minions and environment of the fight.

James

3:33 PM

I'm familiar with CR, but I haven't calculated the CR of a monster before.

NautArch

@James Bare minimum would be number of PCs and their levels.

@James Do you have the DMG? It starts on page 273.

James

I'm also not 100% sure what a goal CR should be. I have 4 players at level 2 (Monk/Paladin/Wizard/Bard), and so far they haven't fought anything harder than CR 2 which always ends up being easier than I expect.

NautArch

we may need to know what magic items the players have as well. SOmetimes those can swing a fight.

James

@NautArch I'll check that out, thanks

NautArch

@James Dndbeyond's encounter builder tool is pretty cool.

James

3:36 PM

I've mostly used dhmstark.co.uk/rpgs/encounter-calculator-5th and 5e.tools

NautArch

For quick and dirty, I use this one and kobold fight club provides more, too.

Someone_Evil

homebrew-review springs to mind, there are some prior examples for what has worked before as questions (also add monsters and/or cr-calculation)

NautArch

Level 2 is still pretty squishy. I'd be wary about putting something too big up.

James

@NautArch It's quite possible (maybe even likely) that I'll let them hit level 3 before going after this encounter

NautArch

I think you could post a question on the mainsite, but we would need to know the specifics of the encounter. Boss stats (and preferably CR that you've calculcated) along with any minions and relevant environment issues.

James

3:38 PM

They're very close to leveling anyway and have their next encounter planned out

NautArch

But showing that you've done your diligence in calculating CR and encounter itself would go a long way to a positive response.

That way you can cover why you think it's okay and discuss areas that concern you.

James

As a quick sneak peek, I want the boss (a necromancer wizard) to have a homebrew cantrip, and I really like this. Ghostly Leach:

Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d4 necrotic damage. Gain temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt by this spell. This spell’s damage increases by 1d4 when you reach 5th level (2d4), 11th level (3d4), and 17th level (4d4).

NautArch

@James What level is your necromancer? And so basically on a hit, he deals a little damage and gets a little temp HP?

Given that temp HP doesn't stack, I don't see that as a big deal. But giving a wizard an extra d4 hp/round is still somewhat significant. Although that few HP probably won't make a final difference. Wizards are squishy, their goal is to not get hit, not to be able to take a hit.

James

@NautArch I don't know specifically what level he is. I asked an IRL friend who has more experience DMing, and he advised me to not build NPCs the same way that you'd build a PC

Though I get the impression he's level 5/6 ish

Since I'd like him to be able to cast Animate Dead

NautArch

@James Is it that you want him to be able to cast it, or that you want undead minions and that's "how" he'd get them?

James

3:43 PM

I guess more of the latter

Someone_Evil

Note the casting time, it is not a combat spell

James

I'd also really like him to be able to summon another zombie during the fight at least once

NautArch

Casting time is going to make that an issue. Better to just have another one 'enter'.

James

I was planning on letting him cast it as an action. Is that a terrible idea?

Since he'd only get to cast it during the fight once realistically

NautArch

yeah, that's kinda weird (to me)

Someone_Evil

3:47 PM

It's workable, but the CR becomes harder to calculate (not that it's a precise science anyway)

You don't need to make it a spell though. Just have it as a special action (1/Day)

James

Oh yeah, that's reasonable.

NautArch

I'm sure you've already seen this, but combat balance can get really hard once you start adding more creatures. A powerful wizard with minions can be very deadly.

JohnP

NautArch

ha! Gru is pretty deadly, tho.

JohnP

There we go

@goodguy5 - There is a Honeywell App Engineer II position avail in your area. Not sure it really fits what you are looking for, but take a look and see. If you want to apply, lmk I'll send you a link and ping the manager.

goodguy5

4:00 PM

sure, send it on discord

JohnP

Ugh. Trying to remember all my passwords after a week of furlough is for some reason troublesome.

NautArch

@JohnP password managers ftw.

JohnP

I have 4 installed, because I keep forgetting the password to the manager :p

Not really, but it feels that way sometimes.

Himitsu_no_Yami

4:33 PM

@JohnP LOL I feel that

Hot RPG Questions

4:52 PM

2

Q: Can you Ready a Help action against a creature not (currently) adjacent to you?

Per the combat rules, Alternatively, you can aid a friendly creature in attacking a creature within 5 feet of you. Is there anything in the rules that prevents me from readying an action to help one specific creature (Friend) attack another (Enemy), should at some point before my next turn ...

dnd-5e readied-action

AncientSwordRage

5:09 PM

i.imgur.com/UyywnkD.mp4

doesn't work :'(

Rubiksmoose

5:22 PM

I think it would work without the reply

Himitsu_no_Yami

@KorvinStarmast Seems pretty fun, may have to make a couple of tweaks to run it with people who may not want the prebuilt characters though. What level should the PCs be at? I couldn't find that anywhere (tho I may just be blind)

AncientSwordRage

5:56 PM

The official D&D Dragon Talk podcast announced that WotC is doing a promotion with local game stores. If you pre-order Mythic Odysseys of Theros through your local game store, they can give you a 50% off code to purchase it on DnDBeyond.

2

dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/dratalk-bdave-walters

@Rubiksmoose nope, I didn't think so

V2Blast

@AncientSwordRage Yeah, they've posted about that on social media too

NautArch

that really should be an always-on promotion.

V2Blast

@Zachiel I mean, I'm usually reminding players of stuff they didn't realize/forgot to do too (within reason), so it balances out.

NautArch

ohman. just rolled for a random encounter from the signal fire my players created. Next session going to be interesting.

V2Blast

@James Welcome! That is generally fine on RPG.SE, but as NautArch mentioned, the more details you provide for us, the better :)

on a different note, WotC apparently shared some stats about D&D's growth and demographics as of that 2019 year-end survey:

Interestingly, they too went with "TRPG" as the abbreviation :)

KorvinStarmast

6:05 PM

@Himitsu_no_Yami 13:04 Start at level 1, 0 HP. Beginner Adventure

AncientSwordRage

@V2Blast our university table top society went with Bath Uni Table Top Society or BUTTS for short

Himitsu_no_Yami

@KorvinStarmast gotcha

KorvinStarmast

6:18 PM

@AncientSwordRage heh, sophomoric humor for the win! +1

Himitsu_no_Yami

Wait I just realized, you said "0 HP"

0 HP kills people

(especially quickly when your luck is as bad as mine)

V2Blast

@AncientSwordRage lol

Mark Wells

@KorvinStarmast I recommend level 0, 1d4+Con HP

KorvinStarmast

@MarkWells Whoops! I meant "O XP" but I can't brain right now. @Himitsu_no_Yami

Himitsu_no_Yami

@KorvinStarmast lol that's a lot safer

KorvinStarmast

6:24 PM

@Himitsu_no_Yami "OK, to start this game, you are in a coma. First, roll a death saving throw ..." That soulds like a great way to start in media res but not for beginners.

Mark Wells

I've been wanting to try an adaptation of the Darkest Dungeon rule: 0 HP, still conscious, but if you get hit, save or die. But my regular group is not into this.

NautArch

i'd rather make deathsaves at 0hp then risk immediate death.

Mark Wells

Could be death saves instead. The point is that it doesn't take you out of action.

NautArch

ah, i'd be more into something like that.

Himitsu_no_Yami

Isn't there a barbarian subclass that is kinda similar?

Mark Wells

6:28 PM

So upside, you can try to escape or heal yourself or fight back. Downside, the enemy does not think you're dead :)

James

6:48 PM

@V2Blast Unlabelled y-axis ahhhhh

Rubiksmoose

Time for a round of help rubiksmoose write his first session!

Himitsu_no_Yami

oh boy

James

@Rubiksmoose Oh hey Rubiks! Long time no see :)

Rubiksmoose

What kinds of fun things can happen to spice up the first day at superpowered high school? (the HS is on an island and everyone there has superpowers, the 4 PCs know each other already). Our 4 main characters are a druggie zombie, a hot headed punk, a quiet character whose powers suck her own life force, and an alien AI pretending to be human.

@James howdy! How are things?

James

Good, I've started DMing and I'm having a blast

Himitsu_no_Yami

6:56 PM

@Rubiksmoose Ever watched Sky High? you can take examples of things from that movie to spice up the first day

James

I used to dislike D&D, but I'm glad I gave it another try

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose They run out of french fries too soon during lunch?

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch [screech] [glass breaking] [woman screems]

@James That's awesome to hear! What changed?

@Himitsu_no_Yami Wow, fantastic suggestion. I'll give this a watch post haste

James

DMing, I think is what changed

Rubiksmoose

heh, DMing definitely can do that. It's like a whole different game huh?

Himitsu_no_Yami

6:59 PM

@Rubiksmoose Awesome. As soon as you said "superpowered high school" That movie popped right into my mind

James

Oh yeah, totally. The prep is almost more fun than running it. Thinking of where the plot might go and different encounters they might have

Himitsu_no_Yami

best part is if you have any kids or anything, they can enjoy it too

James

@Himitsu_no_Yami Same, I immediately thought of that

Rubiksmoose

@James That's wonderful! I find that I enjoy DMing games rather than playing more and more if I have time and energy to do prep. Or DMing the games that don't require prep if I don't :)

James

@Rubiksmoose Something funny that could happen is if the equivalent of Superman (The most popular/powerful/famous superhero) has a kid who's starting his/her first day of school their, and because their dad is such a big deal they're a brat who expects everyone to cater to them

Rubiksmoose

7:02 PM

@James ooooo. I like this a lot.

James

Like "Excuse me, do you know who I am? I'll be telling my dad about this" etc.

Himitsu_no_Yami

I've always been happy as a player, DMing is a lot of work and idk if it's right for me

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose The other three attack the Alien AI pretenting to be human. Hilarity ensues. (And by attacking I mean "disagreed with slightly" since words no longer have conventional meanings)

Himitsu_no_Yami

In other news I was always confused by the phrase "post haste" as the first definition of "post" to come to my mind in phrases like that is "subsequent to/after" and only just learned that it came from the phrase "haste, post, haste!" meaning to tell the courier or "post" that the letter should be delivered with haste

AncientSwordRage

Naps are the best

Himitsu_no_Yami

7:15 PM

@AncientSwordRage they are except for the first minute or so after you wake up and have to figure out what century you're in

KorvinStarmast

@AncientSwordRage Except when you nap in your seat on an airplane and wake up with a start as a little bit of drool comes out of the side of your mouth ....

AncientSwordRage

All acceptable

@Himitsu_no_Yami a cursory Google does not completely corroborate that etymology

Himitsu_no_Yami

@AncientSwordRage which part?

AncientSwordRage

@Himitsu_no_Yami the but where it comes from telling couriers to be quick

All the BrE sources seem to point it as posthaste, as in so quick it comes after haste.

Himitsu_no_Yami

Google search, click on "Translations, word origin, and more definitions"

KorvinStarmast

7:24 PM

this has some useful bits

A. B.

/me waves

/em waves

Himitsu_no_Yami

o/

A. B.

Well, you know what I mean.

Himitsu_no_Yami

lol

KorvinStarmast

@AncientSwordRage You could pronounce that "pos●thas●te"

"The famous Greek Philosopher Posthastes used to postulate that a quickly delivered message was superior to a slowly delivered one, using the run from Marathon as an example ..."

Himitsu_no_Yami

7:28 PM

@KorvinStarmast That would IMO be pronounced post●ha●stes

(ha as in haha)

KorvinStarmast

Pos●thas●tes ~ my philosopher who quickly arrives at conclusions, logic be damned! (Hmm, a lore bard)

Or, the new Breakfast Cereal: Post Hasties!

(There was a breakfast cereal called Post Toasties but it's been decades since I've seen it. And I prefer Cap'n Crunch anyway.)

aka Sugarbombs

@A.B. \o

A. B.

Fed up.

AncientSwordRage

@A.B. \\oo/

A. B.

Was hoping to play in a Stargate roleplaying channel I've been in before but something went wrong with my registration.

And when I tried to get it sorted out - starting from Friday - they muddled about, and wandered off halfway through talking to me, and what not, over and over again, until all the week's sessions were over.

I've had a totally shite April and I did want to get at least something out of it before it was over.

You don't know of any role-playing things you can drop into, do you?

James

How do you calculate average DPR of a creature?

A. B.

7:38 PM

I used to role-play in some MMORPGs but I haven't got any of them installed at the moment, not that it usually worked too well anyway, what with time zones and what with some of them having only a few roleplayers among the players and those very cliquey.

James

For a martial character it seems a lot easier, but it seems much harder for a caster

A. B.

@AncientSwordRage Well hello Zaphod.

AncientSwordRage

@A.B. I don't know of anything unfortunately

@Himitsu_no_Yami I looked past that

books.google.com/ngrams/…

Rubiksmoose

8:07 PM

@KorvinStarmast hahaha who needs words with meanings?

A. B.

8:24 PM

Just remembered, what about MUDs?

I think I'll go and cause a terrible scene in an MUD. Actually, if nobody knows who I am, I don't really see why I shouldn't.

Someone_Evil

@James What caster level, which spells?

A. B.

8:51 PM

Isn't there anything nice at all I could do?

Shouldn't wail in your channel, I suppose. I'm trying to keep it to a minimum.

KorvinStarmast

@A.B. Recite poetry to them

A. B.

To who?

KorvinStarmast

Something lyrical; Something topical; perhaps Chesterton's Lepanto

@A.B. To the people in the MUD channel?

A. B.

Oh! You know, that might work.

KorvinStarmast

Or Longfellow's 'The Wreck of the Hespress' or 'Song of Hiawatha'

A. B.

8:55 PM

And how weird is that? I was just thinking about Lepanto a few minutes ago.

KorvinStarmast

@A.B. well there ya go, I think Synchronicity just happened. :)

Sorry, The Wreck of the Hesperus; forgot how to spell that

But the Skipper blew a whiff from his pipe and a scornful laugh, laughed he !

A. B.

I don't know more than a few lines of that from memory, but hooroar for the Internet.

Pity so few games have fairies, actual ones, as opposed to Tolkien-style "elves". Almost anything can make sense without further explanation if it's a fairy.

KorvinStarmast

Of course, there's always The Raven by E.A. Poe.

@A.B. "Quoth the raven, Everclear!"

Wait, that was the variation we did at university ... sorry

A. B.

In that case I'm'a look for MUDs. And see if I can work out how to do them on Linux, I don't think I've tried since I was still using Windows.

BESW

"The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert W Service

"I started Early – Took my Dog" by Emily Dickinson

KorvinStarmast

9:05 PM

@V2Blast hmm, that baldur's gate thing reminds me; need to see if Steam still works on my PC and if my account is still active. Have not used it since Sword Coast Legends .

BESW

"Unity" by Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh

KorvinStarmast

@BESW Ooh, yeah, that's a fave. I recited/ read it to my wife on the deck of a cruise ship back in June (we were on an Alaska cruise; seemed topical) . She'd never heard that poem. My dad had read it to us when I was a kid (I served with Robert Services Grand nephew in the Navy)

BESW

For those who haven't had the pleasure:

The Cremation of Sam McGee - Read By Johnny Cash

►

My favorite poetry, unfortunately, is very difficult to find online. "She Belongs to No One" by Renaida H. Zuleta, "Lingering Sandalwood (Yasi Boi Yawa)" by Kelera Tuvou Ganivatu, "Inalahan" by Jessica Perez-Jackson...

Hot RPG Questions

9:51 PM

6

Q: To what level of detail must you know the contents of a demiplane to connect to it?

The Demiplane spell states (emphasis mine): Each time you cast this spell, you can create a new demiplane, or have the shadowy door connect to a demiplane you created with a previous casting of this spell. Additionally, if you know the Nature and contents of a demiplane created by a casting o...

dnd-5e spells planes

BESW

@HotRPGQuestions You should memorize the chapter titles, but the page numbers are optional.

nitsua60

@HotRPGQuestions a password manager would help you keep them all straight.

trogdor

lol

Shalvenay

10:42 PM

@nitsua60 XD

KorvinStarmast

10:58 PM

@Shalvenay hey there stranger

@trogdor hullo Trogdor, how you doing these days?

trogdor

mostly ok

KorvinStarmast

@trogdor Good, we are also mostly OK, though my wife is concerned about going back to work. (Dental Hygiene, so high risk)

trogdor

not a huge fan of being stuck in the house for all this time but I'm holding up ok

KorvinStarmast

@trogdor yeah, cabin fever is a thing that can be taxing

trogdor

I don't feel like I'm going insane though XD

really I was doing worse a couple or so weeks ago and I feel pretty good now, mostly XD

nitsua60

11:04 PM

@Shalvenay Howdy =)

trogdor

there is a very delicate balance between the fact that I would hate being stuck staying here completely alone and the fact that I hate that I am stuck with the same people for this length of time

Taylor Spaulding

11:33 PM

Hey, Guys wussup. I have a question, so currently my party is in a forest. They want to go to a set of docks, that's in a certain direction. however the direction they want to go is down a path they've already gone. Pass that and they have to find a secret path, lol. My brain is currently stuck on how to help them go down that path again; let alone help them find the secret path past that, any ideas?

Rubiksmoose

@TaylorSpaulding They have to find the secret path to progress?

Mark Wells

@TaylorSpaulding Welcome. I saw your question but chat is probably a better way to address it at this stage.

There's an inherent conflict between having a "secret path" and having them need to find it. If it's secret then there's a reasonable chance they won't find it.

So, why is it secret?

Taylor Spaulding

lol ur probably right, its kinda funny actually they want to leave the island but the only way to leave is to find those docks; which is behind the secret path. Also the reason for it being secret... is that I wasnt expecting them to have to go back through that path, until I created the map, im new so... uh yeah, lol I forgot to create the Island map.

Rubiksmoose

If there's no map and you need them to find a path, can't you just have them find another path there? Or do they know there is a secret path or have some other way of knowing that it is difficult to get to their goal?

Mark Wells

It sounds like the simple solution is to just move the path to somewhere they haven't been yet, and make it obvious.

BESW

11:44 PM

There's a principle I use in game design: never touch the randomizer unless you're okay with any result it might produce. The flip side of which is, if one outcome is interesting/necessary and other(s) are boring/stop the game, just have the interesting thing happen.

Mark Wells

Remember, nothing on the map is really fixed in place unless the players have seen it.

BESW

This is especially easy in games where characters are hypercompetent; it's really simple to just say "you found the path" rather than having them roll for a chance to fail at something they're supposedly really good at.

Taylor Spaulding

Hehehe... yeah, one was a cartographer and could read maps, so I thought it was a good Idea to show them. out of the blue would it be probable that a Treant were to give them the information or to slow.

BESW

Maybe take a page from games like Fate and Cthulhu Dark, where a roll's outcome can be about what makes the discovery complicated/dramatic rather than whether the discovery happens at all.

Mark Wells

Alternatively, it's an island, and the docks are on the coast, so if you just get to the beach and walk in one direction you're guaranteed to get there :)

BESW

11:47 PM

...which actually makes me wonder if I should have done that for Goblin Court. Hrm.

Taylor Spaulding

hahaha, makes sense

Mark Wells

@BESW My favorite thing about running BitD so far is that "success with a complication" is a common result of a roll.

BESW

@MarkWells Cthulhu Dark taught me the value of that outcome as a way to reinforce the seriousness of the situation: your characters are competent! They're getting stuff done! But they're in over their heads anyway!

And I've got that level of outcome in Goblin Court, but I also have a failure outcome and I'm wondering if I should just chuck that right on out. [ponders] I'll have to consult with some folx.

Mark Wells

@BESW For BitD, the failure outcome is also "with a complication". You never roll and just have nothing happen. (The exception is Controlled action rolls, where on failure you can just have nothing happen. Because it's Controlled.)

BESW

Right, same in GC.

"The situation always changes after a roll" is one of the explicit Goblin Mom guidance principles.

trogdor

11:57 PM

that's definitely a good idea

Taylor Spaulding

wow, great idea

Rubiksmoose

@BESW ooo! I like this train of thinking.

Mark Wells

Yeah, I think that's inherent to rolling dice for outcomes at all. Even in a total failure swing-and-a-miss outcome, you at least have established that you've lost the opportunity.

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