TRPG General Chat

12:08 AM

So many pinned posts!

@Rubiksmoose Some of the election stuff can probably be consolidated. And not sure what @NautArch thinks but we could probably unpin the DDB content-sharing campaign invite for the moment, since it's not really time-sensitive

I'd suggest including the link to the questionnaire in the "self-nominations are open" message

linksassin

@V2Blast Perhaps just a pin to the main meta post and the election chat room where all the other links are consolidated anyway.

goodguy5

@KorvinStarmast XD

I'm not sure why I was called out, but I appreciated it

Shalvenay

hey there @linksassin, how're things going?

linksassin

@Shalvenay G'day. Not too bad. Yourself?

Shalvenay

12:19 AM

@linksassin alright here

linksassin

@Shalvenay You might like to know I took some inspiration from the solo games you run in the Backroom occasionally. I ran one for one of my players to fill out some backstory details and it went really well.

A. B.

Anyone for a quick game of chess? Or anything?

Shalvenay

12:36 AM

@linksassin ah, that's good to hear :) what system and what sort of story? :)

Joshua

Oh hey A.B. I like chess but I haven't got a working online player right now

linksassin

That main game is pathfinder and it was the backstory for my Gnome Oracle player. She's a fey foundling and we just played through some of the key parts of her backstory.

I like the one on one play. I think I'm going to try to to more of it.

Particularly since Matt Colville's video on it.

Ben

~wave~

Joshua

Maybe one of these days I'll set up a dungeon with half a dozen exotic traps and see who wants to run it

that is, try to run through it

mostly embedded puzzles

Ben

I saw "p" and "zz" and read it as "embedded pizzas"

Someone_Evil

12:41 AM

@Ben My kind of dungeon!

Ben

Look out for the triple cheese... That will swallow you whole

And the pepperoni is deceptively hot

Shalvenay

@linksassin ah :)

Joshua

Unfortunately "the hovering vase" was designed for high level players.

A. B.

@Joshua Sounds like fun, with or without embedded pizza :-D
How do you mean, not a working player? I know one site https://lichess.org/P6EDP4NC but maybe it doesn't work on your machine, is that what you mean?

Ben

@linksassin I did that for a player. It was pretty fun :D

A lot more story telling

Joshua

12:46 AM

Yeah, lichess is broken for me due to bad ADA support

Ben

Not sure about the veg, but I can definitely agree with Mac n cheese XD

A. B.

@Joshua Ah, blast. Amazing how many things can go wrong with a modern website.

@Ben :-D

V2Blast

@Ben calling veggie pizza evil is just slander by meat-eaters

pineapple on pizza is the truly divisive one

I assume pineapple as a topping is why pizza alignment questions are no longer allowed

Someone_Evil

I find aligning pizzas to the horizontal plane most useful, but maybe that's just me

Joshua

1:02 AM

I find aligning pizzas to the stomach most desirable.

2

Hot RPG Questions

6

Q: Balancing a Portent feat based on the Lucky feat

I am looking to make a homebrew feat based on the Lucky feat but using the Portent mechanic, and am trying to find the balance point on the amount of dice. Disclaimer: I don't think Lucky is overpowered, neither does anyone at my table, but as it is the closest feat to what I am looking for I am...

Ben

@V2Blast Yeah. This was one of the first I found, and I agree with you there

I'd probably put it at Chaotic Good, or lawful neutral

Capricosa is always the iffy one for me... I can never guess just how strong the tomato flavour is going to be

V2Blast

1:34 AM

@Ben I had to google that one

Pizza capricciosa

Pizza capricciosa (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpittsa kapritˈtʃoːza]) is a style of pizza in Italian cuisine prepared with mozzarella cheese, Italian baked ham, mushroom, artichoke and tomato. Types of edible mushrooms used may include cremini (white mushrooms) and others. Some versions may also use prosciutto (a dry-cured ham), marinated artichoke hearts, olive oil, olives, basil leaves, and egg. Some versions may be prepared using a thin crust. Although it has similar ingredients as pizza quattro stagioni, they are arranged differently. == See also == List of pizza varieties by country Food portal...

Ben

I mean, I really enjoy it - simplistic, and strong flavours, but you can never quite trust the tomato.

V2Blast

I've never had it, but then I'm vegetarian and apparently it includes ham :P

Ben

There is a vegetarian style similar to it... but this one does go well without the meat toppings :)

I also like to add olives

BESW

Nobody seems to even be considering all the non-tomato-sauce pizza options.

Pesto sauce pizza, mmm.

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 I thought that it would amuse you. :)

Ben

1:42 AM

@BESW Yes

I love doing that on home made pizzas.

BESW

I never have sufficient ingredients to make enough pesto for a whole pizza at home, unfortunately.

Ben

@BESW Same. that's why we use pita bread, make mini pizzas. not only then do you not have the issue of not enough pesto sauce, but it also allows you to get creative.

BESW

Clever!

Ben

Once we had a family "design your own" pizza night, and dad added cashews.

KorvinStarmast

@Ben My wife agrees with you on pita bread pizzas. For those reasons you mention and more.

Ben

1:46 AM

It actually worked well. I can't remember the rest of the toppings though

BESW

Whole wheat crust with extra-garlicky pesto sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, bell peppers, mushrooms, red onions, spinach, topped with chili pepper flakes... maybe some bacon if I'm feeling it.

Ben

@BESW meat as an optional garnish is what makes a good pizza :D

BESW

I feel like "optional garnish" is generally the best use for meat.

cf fried rice.

Ben

The fact that it doesn't need it is what I like about properly made pizzas

Joshua

I actually do have the first three puzzles ready for playtesting but there's no narrative thread so it's going to feel weird.

Ben

1:51 AM

@KorvinStarmast My mum came up with the idea for our family, not sure if she got the inspiration from somewhere else. they work really well though :D

@Joshua first three pizzas* ready for play-tasting* :P

Joshua

Ok it's a pretty good joke but I don't know how to respond to that

Ben

Haha

Maybe half to make it an exercise course, just to balance it out?

nitsua60

2:10 AM

I'm going to be shameless for a second:

It's desirable that the answers that eventually come to this question all stay at the same score. (Early answers will get early upvotes which snowball, later on as the election comes there's tail-off in how many voters read through all the answers, and there's no particular reason to suppose that's a signal we want reflected in the eventual votes.) Please don't vote on answers you like/dislike, and please do use your votes to level out any imbalances you see arise. Thank you! — nitsua60 ♦ 50 secs ago

^^ could use some upvotes to make sure that it stays prominent and catches readers' eyes.

Thanks =)

Adeptus

2:53 AM

@V2Blast Most pizza places here don't do artichoke on capricciosa. Just mushroom, some type of meat (ham, prosciutto, salami, or pepperoni), and maybe tomato or capsicum.

One of my favourites is what a local chain calls "dangerous mushroom" - mushrooms with garlic & herbs. With the usual tomato paste & cheese.

Ben

@Adeptus colour me intrigued

BESW

@Adeptus That doesn't sound very dangerous. Unless they're using garlic the way I do.

...or if one of the herbs is cilantro. [shudder]

Adeptus

@Ben it's from Australia's Pizza House, if you have one near you

Ben

@BESW "mixed mushrooms and herbs"... the specifics are not divulged

@Adeptus I'm up in NQ, so unfortunately not

Adeptus

@Ben 11 secret herbs and mushrooms?

Ben

3:50 AM

Welp... submission for mod has been posted

BESW

4:28 AM

@Ben I don't see you listed, just your Q&A post.

Ben

..whoops

Ok, I've reverted my Q&A post for the time being.

Just to make sure I'm doing it right lol

V2Blast

@Ben I think it should just be a matter of nomination, and then you can link your questionnaire responses from your nomination post (or in a comment on it). See the previous election for an example :)

V2Blast

4:58 AM

@BESW minus the bacon, that sounds delicious. :D

@Adeptus oooooh

BESW

@V2Blast It is! It's what I get at the choose-your-own-toppings pizza chain here.

V2Blast

I haven't had pizza in ages

BESW

The only danger is that if you let them put too much of the veggies on, especially the mushrooms and bell peppers, it gets really soggy.

V2Blast

makes sense

Ben

5:17 AM

@BESW I worked in a pizza joint (one of the chains) for about 6 months. One option for your pizza was to get "double toppings".

BESW

@Ben cf "raw dough"

Ben

Then they came out with a seafood range, and one pizza in particular was so bad that we had to specifically state that we would not allow this.

It was so thick with toppings, that even after 2 runs through the oven, it still would not be cooked properly.

BESW

Hot RPG Questions

1

Q: Can I use the Samurai fighter's Fighting Spirit feature to make a Sneak Attack if I am also multiclassed into rogue?

I'm thinking about playing a fallen samurai in a D&D 5e campaign. If the character multiclasses into rogue, can the Samurai fighter's Fighting Spirit feature be used to trigger the rogue feature Sneak Attack?

dnd-5e class-feature multi-classing fighter sneak-attack

Ben

@BESW borrowing this.

...indefinitely

kviiri

8:00 AM

@Ben Regarding your bardic inspiration question, that's actually not too far off from how bardic songs work in... some system I've at least read

13th Age at least has Bardic songs that have a continuous effect but I can't remember off the top of my head whether they're usually numeric buffs, debuffs or something else.

Also, happy to see you're running. (it's good exercise, haha :D)

Miniman

It's how they worked in D&D 3.5e - which is to say, it's what 5e changed it from.

(I'm not saying it was a good change, but it's worth considering that this was how it worked, and they made the decision to change it.)

kviiri

4e also didn't have songs as distinct from any spells by what I recall

LizWeir

I think 4e had a fair number of "until the end of the encounter, [nearby allies] gain [benefit]" powers

kviiri

13th Age has actually three distinct things for bards: battle cries, spells and songs. Songs are continuous, spells are what you'd expect and battle cries [can] trigger when making melee attacks.

Songs have a "sustain" effect that continues as long as the bard succeeds in maintaining it, and a "Final Stanza" effect that's a larger boost and happens when the song ends. A bard can sing while casting spells and fighting, which is kinda neat.

LizWeir

of course the big difference between a 13th Age or 4e song and a replacement for Bardic Inspiration in 5 is that 13A and 4e have them as individual powers, so they can be designed for a specific use - "song of healing" and "song of stabbing my enemies better"

which means less wide implications to think through

and is making me wonder what 5e spells could be flavoured as Bard songs! Crusader's Mantle is my first thought because Crusader's Mantle is always my first thought.

BESW

8:28 AM

That reminds me, I should check out 6.4e.

trogdor

9:45 AM

6.4e?

BESW

10:00 AM

@trogdor 6.4E is a module by John Erwin for the 6e Game Jam. The jam is for marginalized creators to use Jared Sinclair's PbtA system 6e (which is kind of a speculative next-gen D&D-like) as a jumping-off point to explore how they'd like a D&D-like game to be. 6.4E, in particular, is an addon for using 4e-like powers in 6e.

Powerdork

10:13 AM

I'm so tired

The format doesn't lend itself well to leaving information that helps understand how to move in the situation of the question but that doesn't directly answer the question

KorvinStarmast

11:13 AM

@Powerdork for that we have chat

Hot RPG Questions

11:56 AM

3

Q: In Eberron, is it possible for a character to be a member of two or more Guilds?

TL;DR: A character who is a member of the Blademarks Guild of House Deneith was invited to join the Clifftop Adventures' Guild and he accepted, will there be any consequences for him? Detailed Question: I'm running a campaign in the setting of Eberron, using the Rising From the Last War book as...

dnd-5e dungeons-and-dragons eberron factions

3

Q: Is this homebrew Chromatic Smite spell balanced?

Based on the original question from before, see it for some of the feedback considerations. The quick version is that this is intended as a hybrid of the chromatic orb and green-flame blade spells. Between the previous feedback and talking to the player about their intentions with the spell the f...

dnd-5e spells homebrew-review

NautArch

12:46 PM

howdy howdy

kviiri

12:56 PM

hiya

NautArch

Have you played a West Marches style campaign?

Had to delete my answer, but it actually left me more confused

kviiri

Yes and no. I borrowed some elements from the style for my last DnD campaign, and similarly borrow some tropes for other systems

NautArch

The recent question asks about how to handle the issue of rests when you always return to town. And I see always returning to town at end of session is part of west marches, so that seems like an always-on issue?

JohnP

hey all

NautArch

howdy! How are things?

JohnP

1:02 PM

decent, decent. Somehow in all this my wife, who has been absolutely nowhere came down with a wicked case of strep. tested neg for covid though

how are you all?

been helping teach zoom for martial arts, and also lost close to 20 lbs

NautArch

@JohnP You have kids, my man. Little petri dishes are still little petri dishes even when limited :P

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@JohnP Hello. Missed all the horror stories and reasons for avoiding zoom?

NautArch

@JohnP having a meh day today.

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

There's been a big bunch of those linked here some weeks or month ago.

JohnP

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica yeah, but we locked it out pretty well.

@NautArch yeah, she was out in the yard planting in the az sun for three days straight, I think she got sun poisoning and then got strep.

@NautArch sorry to hear that.

Shalvenay

1:06 PM

hey there @JohnP, how're things going?

JohnP

sup?

saw dop and nits both hanging it up

Shalvenay

@JohnP yeah, it's that time again. I've been alright out here myself

JohnP

@NautArch anything ya need? I gots memes.

NautArch

@JohnP heh, nah. I'll get through.

JohnP

kk.just let me know. working from home gives me lots of time on the side.

kviiri

1:20 PM

@NautArch Yeah, that's complicated to a degree. For my groups, rest at the end of every session has been a feature of DnD in general, and I personally dislike it a lot. I find the episodic style where sessions don't have to neatly succeed each other is a bit easier to pull off in systems where you can't just sleep your wounds away

NautArch

@kviiri Interesting. So in typical west march campaigns, they live in the 5 minute adventure day world?

kviiri

@NautArch I'm not sure if it's typical for WM in particular. What I'm saying is, it's been typical for all our DnD games, with or without explicit WM influence.

NautArch

@kviiri ah, gotcha. Yeah, that's definitely not how we play. But the WM style does seem to have it baked in.

unless i'm not understanding it

kviiri

@NautArch Yeah, I'd guess it's at least more suspectible.

NautArch

Definitely interested in how other WM experienced folks answer.

NautArch

1:41 PM

@Ben Nice self-nomination!

JohnP

@Ben Yes, what naut said.

nitsua60

@NautArch Certainly seems that way. If you're playing rests by RAW, it's quite the narrative stretch not to just assume that someone can spend an hour gathering themself once into a town. It's, like, one of the main purposes of a settlement, after all =)

JohnP

Hey, @nitsua60 - Sad to see you step down.

nitsua60

@JohnP Thank you. I'm not =)

Someone_Evil

Now I want an RPG where you have to specifically leave settlements/cities in order to gather yourself again.

JohnP

1:55 PM

@nitsua60 Heh.

NautArch

@nitsua60 Yeah, now I wonder how this is handled for other tables. It doesn't seem like an issue with their table, but an issue with WM style in general.

The only other way to 'play' it in my mind is to narrate return to settlement with leaving and little to no rest.

Just becuse you got back to the settlement, doesn't mean your day is over.

Someone_Evil

But there you get a problem if other characters are joining the next session fresh

nitsua60

@NautArch My understanding, though, is that going into the session the assumption is that you're going to tackle a self-contained thing. So, yeah, you're either designing with full rest and resources in mind, or you've got to tweak with rests somehow.

NautArch

@nitsua60 ah.yes. And that's a good point @Someone_Evil.

Yeah, I dunno. Definitely interested to see what other WM folks have to say.

nitsua60

I've played but not run/desgned WM, so I'll also be interested =)

NautArch

1:59 PM

Heck, we don't even finish some combats in regular play at times in a 4-5 hour session.

a huge combat that's deadly with waves for a 5 minute adventuring day still may be an issue

anyone buy a scooter for their 6-9 year old recently?

Is Razor still the one to get?

nitsua60

@NautArch It's still the one circulating around our neighborhood. (That may be because they're pretty indestructible, and so there's a lot of handing-me-down, though?)

NautArch

@nitsua60 yeah, non-plastic is a big selling (buying?) point for me.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Best grasp of Hadar I ever saw was MikeQ in a 1 shot. there was this really tough mini boss flying about on a flying bull and Mike timed his EB to attack when the guy made an attack run on us - got within 90 feet of us. EB hit and grasp pulled him ten feet toward us. Since he wasn't attacking the steed, the DM ruled that "you pulled him off the horse" and the bugger fell.

That was some nice bonus damage and well all swarmed him ...

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast My god, it's beautiful.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch None of the guys at my table have played locks, so i have not been second guessed yet, but I have not taken agonizing blast yet. I am trying to get the most out of other invocations (the occasional 1 point of damage from eb I just live with)

NautArch

2:09 PM

@KorvinStarmast Yeah, i've got it now with my 'lock, but i'm planning on dropping it when we level. Which won't be for another 2 weeks it seems :(

KorvinStarmast

I like pushing or pulling enemies into the Wizards Wall of fire ... they think they got out, and "Repelling Blast" shoves them back into the ring of fire ... And Johnny Cash sings "I repelled into a burning ring of fire ..."

Teamwork for the win!

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast My hexblade really is going to focus in on melee attacks, so all the EB stuff is gone for me.

MikeQ

@NautArch For the character that Korvin mentioned, I had built a paladin/hexblade and the whole point of EB was to pull things into closer range

NautArch

I'm thinking that Hex is my bread and butter always-on concentration, and i'll start picking more social type spells to supplement. Otherwise, I feel too one-trick ponyish.

Hot RPG Questions

1

Q: "Continuous" Bardic Inspiration

The bard's Bardic Inspiration feature states: You can inspire others through stirring words or music. To do so, you use a bonus action on your turn to choose one creature other than yourself within 60 feet of you who can hear you. That creature gains one Bardic Inspiration die, a d6. Onc...

dnd-5e class-feature homebrew bard

KorvinStarmast

2:16 PM

@NautArch have not had hex since level 2; my tome lock's theme just didn't fit hex after that. With so few known spells, I keep "trading in for that nice one over there!" ... but the choice for wall of fire at level 7 was just too easy to make. (Yeah, I know our Wizard has it but it's just too good!)

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast hexblade definitely feels like it fits :)

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Oh heck yeah, that would seem to be a bread and butter spell for hex blade.

NautArch

I'm just moving up to level 3, and not a lot of spell options for social. I think i'm going with hex, shatter, arms of hadar

Debating about swapping Arms out, but i'm not sure for what and I like the idea having it in my back pocket in case i'm surrounded. I guess i could go misty step, but arms seems more fun.

KorvinStarmast

I got an uncommon magic item that we have found to be insanely useful. Wand of Web. Our Rogue/Ranger (scout/hunter) likes when I web stuff. He has advantage if enemy is restrained ...

@NautArch Go with arms, it's a signature "I'm a Warlock" kind of spell, isn't it?

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast Our moon druid seems to favor Giant Spider, so she webs a lot.

@KorvinStarmast definitely :)

Our paladin invested in Dex over Con, so I've actually got more HP than him.

and having gone S&B, higher AC.

KorvinStarmast

2:20 PM

We had a squad of orogs coming at us and I webbed them, the Wizard fireballed them. Their dex save? Disadvantage for the FB on all of the webbed ones (4 of 6) . And, additional 2d4 to each of them as the web burned off. Full damage plus a bonus! Our Fighter and our Barbarian cleaned up the rest of the mess in short order.

@NautArch snort

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast My damage output won't be as high, but that's fine. I'm there to help frontline, provide some control spells, and maybe do some more social stuff.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Hex - which ability do you usually target with that?

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast Wisdom :) Mostly so I can potentially use it on a social check at some point.

KorvinStarmast

ah

NautArch

Sadly, both times I tried, DM just set a DC rather than an opposed check.

KorvinStarmast

2:23 PM

:(

JohnP

heya @KorvinStarmast

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Of course, during the same battle a few rounds later (my brother likes to throw large formations at us Berserkers plus veterans) I cast hold person while flying, so I fell 50 feet and took 5d6 damage. DOH!

@JohnP Hi John.

you gonna run for mod again?

Hoping to see your self nom soon.

JohnP

I dunno. I was pretty much laughed at the last time, and still only 19/40 on the mod score

KorvinStarmast

@JohnP I think that your mod experience on other stacks, and the fact that you weathered the storm of last years SE/SO mess are solid factors in your favor. IMO.

JohnP

I'll think about it, I am in a different situation this year.

Rubiksmoose

2:34 PM

@KorvinStarmast Plus he's been around and active a lot more now!

(on this site obvs)

KorvinStarmast

@JohnP Just thought I'd toss out some encourageement. :-)

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast You tossing your hat in again?

GcL

@NautArch That could be very confusing if you're just out of the shower and using a towel for your hat.

JohnP

@GcL He's a hoopy frood who always knows where his towel is.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Nope.

JohnP

2:41 PM

@KorvinStarmast Thanks. It is appreciated

JohnP

2:58 PM

@KorvinStarmast - Although, don't forget I finished behind this user in the voting :)

KorvinStarmast

@JohnP Ooh, I had forgotten. And off topic, here's a neat film on "how to use rocket power in a helicopter" that may amuse you. at 4:25 in the film we see an engineer using a slide rule ...

JohnP

@KorvinStarmast I'll check it later, but yeah, that was not an overwhelming show of support

The Oracle

2

Q: Is this a bug in the spoiler quote rendering?

I was writing this question about what Mordenkainen's main school of magic would be when I encountered a problem with how it was rendering spoiler quotes. If I nest a blockquote inside the spoiler quote, then any text after the nested blockquote is not hidden, even though it's still within the ...

bug status-review formatting spoilers

KorvinStarmast

I guess you can empathize with Ralph Nader. :-)

JohnP

@KorvinStarmast ??

KorvinStarmast

3:06 PM

@JohnP (Third party candidate in 2000, got very little support ...) (aside: I got to meet him once in person, had a nice little chat with him. )

JohnP

@KorvinStarmast oh that's right, forgot he ran.

NautArch

3:46 PM

@Someone_Evil Great nomination response as well!

Someone_Evil

@NautArch Cheers!

JohnP

@Someone_Evil - Congrats. I think you'd be good.

KorvinStarmast

@Someone_Evil Thanks for tossing your hat into the ring.

GcL

4:46 PM

@KorvinStarmast He's a fun topic. Certainly for Not A Bar... but then again... nowhere is a bar these days.

@KorvinStarmast Is that the peroxide powered kit?

kviiri

4:57 PM

I'm a bit surprised by the low volume of candidacies so far

I hope more are coming in, there are quite a few good people in here

nitsua60

@kviiri I think that in 2017 a bunch of us nominated fairly "late"--I know in my case it was the finding an hour to set aside and write out answers to the questionnaire, and then a second hour to go back and touch up my first incoherent ramblings.

GcL

@kviiri Wasn't there a bit of upset about how moderators were treated by SE? I would expect some of those feelings are still present, and could affect the turnout.

Himitsu_no_Yami

Can anyone come up with a good reason as to why a cloak of protection is an uncommon item while the ring with the exact same function is rare?

Cus thinking about it I got nothing

NautArch

@Himitsu_no_Yami Only thing I can think of (and i'm pretty sure this may have been asked or at least talked about here) is that you can wear more than one ring. Once you've committed to the cloak, you can't wear another cloak.

Xirema

> Three subclasses reappear today in Unearthed Arcana, each with a new form. The Revived, Noble Genie, and Archivist subclasses are now the Phantom, the Genie, and the Order of Scribes. Check them out here: dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/subclasses-revisited #DnD ― twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/1260253659239084032

3

NautArch

5:08 PM

And maybe that you should be sleeping without a cloak? But you can sleep with a ring on?

nitsua60

Limitless Adventures has funded a GMless dnd-5e adventure for L6 characters. I really like the authors and have backed a lot of their "adventure seed"-type products, though I haven't tried their first GMless adventure (yet).

KorvinStarmast

@GcL yes it is.

Himitsu_no_Yami

@Xirema The warlock is cool, the rogue was cooler before and the wizard is somewhat interesting

probably gonna make that warlock tbh

Xirema

@Himitsu_no_Yami I dunno if I like this version of the rogue better than the old version, but I will say the identity and theme of the new one seems a lot more coherent.

Himitsu_no_Yami

5:24 PM

I like how the old one is "You've been dead before/this isn't your first life" this one doesn't even mention that unless I overlooked it

instead talking about "maybe you fell asleep in a graveyard" or something

Xirema

@Himitsu_no_Yami Well, yeah, they definitely excised that stuff.

Himitsu_no_Yami

The old one was definitely cooler IMO for that reason at least

Hot RPG Questions

5:37 PM

10

Q: Does an aura affect all creatures including ones only partially in the aura?

In the image below, I have a paladin with a 10 foot aura of protection. I have three characters labelled 1, 2 and 3. We have been playing that character 2 and 3 would be in the aura, but character 1 would not be. Is this correct?

dnd-5e area-of-effect battle-map aura

KorvinStarmast

@Himitsu_no_Yami Because they felt like it. The magic item classifications are approximate rather than digital. I think you may be seeking a level of precision that simply isn't in evidence. See boots of flying versus broom of flying for another example of, huh, that's an odd difference and then look at wings of flying.

JohnP

well...unprintables. Lots of them.

Just got notified my position has been eliminated.

Rubiksmoose

@JohnP Oh no. I'm so sorry.

:'(

JohnP

yeah, well....yeah.

NautArch

@JohnP oh crap, man. You have any leads?

JohnP

5:48 PM

nope. I'll have to start from scratch.

Rubiksmoose

What industry?

KorvinStarmast

@JohnP Noooooooooooooooooo!

David Coffron

@Xirema Wails of the Dead for the Phantom is very interesting

Sometimes it will be better to attack a weaker creature to get the wails that are guaranteed damage against a more heavily armored creature

nitsua60

@JohnP Sorry, John.

David Coffron

Perhaps keeping a couple toads in your backpack to throw onto the ground and then strike it with your sword.

Mark Wells

5:53 PM

@DavidCoffron I want that to be a deliberate choice to encourage that tactic because it supports the class's theme, but I don't think it actually connects up at all.

David Coffron

@MarkWells I'm running the numbers now

AncientSwordRage

@JohnP ugh that sucks

Mark Wells

@DavidCoffron If you have to run the numbers to know whether to play the class this way or that way then I'd call the design a failure.

GcL

Some people like sorting out the numbers and probabilities. Some people play at tables where you need to be optimized for something in order to participate effectively.

David Coffron

@MarkWells I just had a mathemetical curiosity. I think the expected way to play the class is just to use the ability when there are more than one target you want to deal a lot of damage to

GcL

6:05 PM

I think it's a particularly useful feature in encounters where there are minions. It would be particularly useful for many of the mid level encounters I run with a main foe and a bunch of their henchmen or cronies to provide enjoyment for the aoe players.

Also, it doesn't use up a reaction which means it could fire twice in a round. That's a lot of sneak attack dice.

David Coffron

@GcL Mhm. That's the numbers I'm looking at now. How much lower does the AC of the minions have to be to where it is better to attack the minion and get the guaranteed half-sneak-attack, then just attacking the main foe outright

@GcL Has to be on your turn

GcL

Gotcha. So just an extra half again sneak attack dice.

I think you could go by straight up AC, but taking out a minion usually means removing a damage source for the party. The free psychic damage to a main foe increases the tactical advantage of removing a minion.

David Coffron

6:40 PM

@GcL Looking at just damaging the main foe (either by attacking a minion or using a proxy like a frog strapped to your belt), I made a spreadsheet which lets you calculate it. Can't upload to google drive right now, but I will when I get home; you have to have a vast differene in AC for it to be worth it.

At level 1 it has to be basically 15 AC difference. At level 20, you only need between around 4 and 6 AC difference (4 if they both have highest AC, 6 if they both have low AC)

If you are strapping rats to your belt. It is only better if...

the following ACs are met:

So it's kind of good for that purpose at high levels when the ACs are higher and the sneak attack dice are higher, but otherwise the wails are only good if you are benefitting from damaging the minions (i.e. if they aren't getting cleared by AOE anyway)

Or if there are multiple "strong enemies"; then it is just extra damge

Himitsu_no_Yami

6:55 PM

I have discovered my first 0 player game and it's actually rather fascinating

LizWeir

ooh, what is it?

Himitsu_no_Yami

Life

LizWeir

ah! yeah

my first thought was this, because I hang out in... very specific circles: medium.com/@balehman/the-tragedy-of-gj237b-928cfeae460b

Himitsu_no_Yami

dunno what it is and stupid web filter is blocking it

LizWeir

alas

Himitsu_no_Yami

6:59 PM

I'm playing in Notepad on my work computer lol

Rubiksmoose

7:25 PM

!!/notify 11 rpg.stackexchange.com

Someone_Evil

Is the un and redelete so it get's properly marked by the system?

Rubiksmoose

@Someone_Evil Correct. Specifically Smokey's system. Just to train the AI (or whatever powers it) further.

Someone_Evil

@Rubiksmoose Figured, it just looks slightly odd on the history (and I wondered for a moment why it didn't show me as having voted to delete it)

Rubiksmoose

Well spotted!

GcL

7:40 PM

@DavidCoffron This is what the Elemental Plane of Math was for.

trogdor

8:11 PM

@BESW oooooooooooh neat

David Coffron

8:59 PM

@GcL Very true. I added the spreadsheet link over there

A. B.

9:22 PM

Does anyone have such a thing as a list of GURPS skills in spreadsheet format, or other readily editable format? It'd be handy to be able to make up a list of skills ordered by TL. When you're making an animal character or a caveman it's handy to have a list with just the relevant skills.

Hot RPG Questions

9

Q: Meenlock telepathic torment on target with 0 HP: Guaranteed 1 hour meenlock?

Consider the meenlock, a fey creature of pure terror described in Volo's Guide to Monsters (page 170). As GM I am going to have my players encounter these creatures in our next session. They have been stalking the countryside, abducting villagers and turning them into more meenlocks. However, I h...

dnd-5e monsters

Himitsu_no_Yami

Instead of figuring out how to word it into an answer, for this question I think it just depends on where you're "delivering" it from. It should be treated as cast from whichever location. Line of site from PoO (where it's delivered from) to target

1

Q: The Noble Genie Line of Sight/Effect

The Noble Genie warlock subclass states: When you can cast a spell, you can deliver the spell from your space or the bound creature’s space. My question is, do you need line of sight and/or effect from your square, your bound creature's square, or both? For example, if the player is in anot...

dnd-5e warlock unearthed-arcana archetype

one of y'all can take it and refine it into an answer

V2Blast

The new UA for D&D 5e contains revised versions of past UA subclasses: dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/subclasses-revisited

> Three subclasses reappear today in Unearthed Arcana, each with a new form. After studying your feedback on the Revived, Noble Genie, and Archivist subclasses, we’ve crafted new versions for your consideration: the Phantom, the Genie, and the Order of Scribes. You can find them in the PDF below.

The survey for the previous psionics revisited UA is also out now: surveygizmo.com/s3/5563104/…

Himitsu_no_Yami

bit late there

@Xirema beat you to it @V2Blast :P

Rubiksmoose

9:40 PM

The new wizard subclass certainly seems to get a decent amount of stuff.

I love the flavor.

Himitsu_no_Yami

agreed

Someone_Evil

Getting to halve the cost of copying any spell seems like a bit of an insult to the original subclasses, but to those who have played or seen at their table, how much does that tiny feature come up?

V2Blast

@kviiri I think narratively it's often nice to have sort of a break at the end of a session, but I don't think most of my D&D games have necessarily ended in a rest aside from the very irregular WM game I'm in where it's basically expected that we take long rests between sessions. And yeah, as @nitsua60 said, sessions are designed with that in mind.

Himitsu_no_Yami

I've only played on campaign where spell copy cost came up

V2Blast

@Himitsu_no_Yami psh

I didn't see it even though I scrolled through to check :P

Himitsu_no_Yami

9:45 PM

lol

KorvinStarmast

@V2Blast I have decided that I like the Warlock(Genie Patron) mostly as is. Maybe a slight tweak, but all in all a nice package.

Himitsu_no_Yami

Now we wait for the horrors people unleash by trying to multiclass into all three at once

V2Blast

@JohnP I was definitely one of the ones skeptical last time, but that's mostly because IIRC I literally hadn't seen you (or had barely seen you) here before the election. You've definitely been more visible here since... at least in chat :)

KorvinStarmast

Phantom Rogue has a lot of potential. But there are a lot of fiddly bits involved.

Rubiksmoose

@Someone_Evil I'm not sure spell transcription cost has ever been a huge issue at my tables.

One of my players is saying the type resistance feature is game-breakingly OP, but I don't see it personally.

Resistance isn't that big of a deal on the whole. Though I'd probably like to see it limited to INT mod per long rest or something so that they have to at least think about it and not just make everything force.

(IMO of course)

Himitsu_no_Yami

9:51 PM

@Rubiksmoose coursE :P

Hot RPG Questions

10

Q: Grasp of Hadar: can using it while flying cause falling damage?

We were fighting some berserkers. I was already flying (fly spell) so decided to use eldritch blast and the Grasp of Hadar invocation. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with your eldritch blast, you can move that creature in a straight line 10 feet closer to you. (XGtE...

dnd-5e warlock eldritch-invocations

Rubiksmoose

@Himitsu_no_Yami oF cOuRsE!

Someone_Evil

Dealing force damage to everything reminds me of a monster I used, which when hit with force or lightning would make it cause damage of the other type. So a piezoelectric golem

Rubiksmoose

@Someone_Evil That's amazing! I love it

Shalvenay

@Someone_Evil LOL! :D

BESW

10:06 PM

The Gauntlet Podcast did a short spotlight on Goblin Court!

5

I woke up to more twitter notifications than I've ever had.

Rubiksmoose

@BESW That's awesome!

BESW

The mechanical hiccough they notice, is fixed in the revised version.

V2Blast

@JohnP Damn, sorry to hear that. Let us know if there's anything we can do for you <3

Rubiksmoose

@BESW :) Well I loved playing it quite a bit.

V2Blast

@BESW Nice!

BESW

10:19 PM

@Rubiksmoose Yey! I'm trying not to over-analyze my first big review.

Rubiksmoose

@BESW I think that is probably wise. Just the fact that they thought it was worth reviewing is a great thing I think right?

BESW

Yeah.

Medix2

@V2Blast Honestly, huge thanks for finding that Crawford quote, I only wish areas of effects are targets weren't so greatly disagreed upon so the tweets could hold more weight

Ben

Morning all

Played Betrayal at the House on Hanted Hill last night. Was heaps of fun :D

BESW

10:36 PM

I highly recommend these custom haunts over most of the original ones.

in Board and Card Games, Jan 4 '18 at 21:03, by BESW

@OneEyedBandit Hi! After a few games of Betrayal my friends got frustrated by scenarios that were overly complex and/or felt like one side or the other had very little chance of success. The game was still fun enough that we wanted to continue playing, so I did some Googling and found these custom haunts. By replacing the default haunt books with the custom ones, we increased our already-high enjoyment of the game immensely!

Ben

I'll give them a look!

Medix2

Oh that game is excellent

Ben

I was the traitor, and we played "better with friends", which was the one where the house flooded. I severely messed it up cos I started in the room with the boat, and all I had to do was destroy the boat, 2 of the players were in the basement and still hadn't discovered the exit back to the ground floor.

Medix2

Though some of the haunts are imbalanced and others having wording issues to say the least, I suppose that's the result of having lots and lots of writers

Ben

I ended up missing out by one point lol

V2Blast

10:40 PM

yeah

Medix2

The FAQ is pretty nice, but doesn't address all the questions I had

BESW

@Medix2 Yeah, the custom haunts (and the haunts in the expansions) are much better.

Medix2

The expansion is quite excellent imo, though... it adds a lot of ways to/from the basement and I'm not sure how to feel about it

Ben

@Medix2 sounds like a visit to boardgames.se ;p

Medix2

I really want to try out the legacy edition some time

Hot RPG Questions

11:02 PM

6

Q: Which school of magic is Mordenkainen most closely associated with?

Which school of magic is Mordenkainen most closely associated with? In particular, I'm not interested in speculation or opinions, but rather if such a thing has ever been outright stated in any officially released D&D material, or which can at least be objectively inferred from things like the so...

dungeons-and-dragons magic lore npc

KorvinStarmast

Tonight's movie snack is not salza and chips, it's roasted broccoli (olive oil and garlic) crunchy munchies. Better flavor, and my arteries also agree on the upgrade

Shalvenay

@KorvinStarmast that sounds delicious :D

KorvinStarmast

@Shalvenay Oh yeah, Mrs S is good at them roasted veggies. Tonight a hint of crushed red pepper has been added.

Our binge watch for tonight is season four of Uthred of Babenburg.

(The Last Kingdom?) Last night they had tried to get in via the sea gate and "whoops, didn't see that coming!"

goodguy5

11:40 PM

@KorvinStarmast every time I take a long shower, I think of you, now, so thanks for that.

You and your prison showers

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 No, amigo, Navy Showers.

goodguy5

same thing

If it bolsters my case for long showers, though, my hair's a foot long and (during quarantine), I realistically only shower every 3-4 days

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 Strictly incorrect. As Samuel Johnson once observed "going to sea is like going to prison, with the chance of drowning thrown in!" So Navy Showers are more hard core than prison showers. :-p

goodguy5

I'm sure that people drown in prison

KorvinStarmast

But all in all, I cackle with glee that it makes you think of me. I wonder when we can play again. That one shot with Mike as DM = gestalt! = was just the beginning, I think ...

goodguy5

11:45 PM

oh yea, great times

I'd be down

I'm free basically any non-Thursday with enough warning

nitsua60

@goodguy5 nononononononono...

goodguy5

Thursday is vidjagames with the boys

KorvinStarmast

All we need to do is find some ~~sucker~~ volunteer to run a game ... and I hear Nits is retiring as mod ... oh , wait, is he in this chat? 8^o

@goodguy5 I run our old fart's group on thursdays anyway. They just captured a baby dragon in Sunless Citadel, and dragged her 0 HP self to the Kobold queen. Hilarity ensued.

I could also run a two player game; Tom and Will Stoutly from Saltmarsh are retired Marines, a Fighter and a Ranger, and they go on two man missions in the local area ...

@goodguy5 you and one other could be the team. Sessions would be no longer than two hours. The idea is to test the limits of encounter building for two person teams and some fun RP. "Live by our wits" is the general theme.

@goodguy5 @V2Blast and @MikeQ did a sort of "larval stage" of that idea a couple of weeks ago. PC's start at level 3.

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