TRPG General Chat

12:05 AM

While We Wait for Death by Sealed Library. This is a game played wherever warriors gather on the eve of battle. Around a roaring campfire, huddled in a creaking tent, or in a demon-infested dungeon. While we wait for death to arrive, we tell stories about when they didn't show up.

HellSaint

Did the way comment flags work change?

When I flag an old comment it instantly disappears, so I doubt a mod actually took the time to look at it haha

Ben

@HellSaint It may have already been previously flagged by someone else

HellSaint

@Ben Nah, I mean for very old comments. This one was like 2 years ago.

Unless someone is reading a random question from 2 years ago that is nowhere near the "active" list (it is one of my own answers :P) and flagged it a few minutes ago haha

Ben

Lol fair

HellSaint

It seems that old comments with few upvotes get instantly deleted when flagged

GcL

12:17 AM

@nitsua60 It should sound like a quote from Star Wars.

BESW

(BTW, the Ennie noms have some amazing talent on them too but also at least one name that should make everybody's eyebrows do calisthenics. Some other nominees are talking about asking to be taken off the list if they have to share it with Certain People.)

GcL

@nitsua60 I had a brief vignette about that. The context was a border conflict lead by two opposing paladins of conquest. Either of the paladins was LG or LE depending on which camp you were in. To the denizens of the border area, both were CE.

Rubiksmoose

@BESW holy crap, I'm so glad we didn't end up going with "dand" for our tag naming.

Me:"D and what?!"

Ben

@Rubiksmoose also dandwiki.com

:P

GcL

@Rubiksmoose Oh you know

Rubiksmoose

12:32 AM

Lol

user15026

@Rubiksmoose I had the same confused reaction to that

Rubiksmoose

@Ben it actually took me a while to realise this site was missing a letter, but it has never stopped bugging me

linksassin

@Rubiksmoose Why was it 'dand' intead of 'dandd'?

Ben

@Rubiksmoose Ikr XD

Rubiksmoose

@linksassin I wish I knew!

linksassin

12:34 AM

@Ben Alright, hold up. You're breaking thing in my brain and I haven't finished breakfast yet.

BESW

Just think, we could've had dandde3.5

That would've been just dandy.

gszavae

Is there a way to delete an answer so it doesn't even show up as deleted?

Shalvenay

@GcL that sounds pretty cool :D

Rubiksmoose

@gszavae there is not

@BESW I see what you did there, and I highly approve.

gszavae

@Rubiksmoose thanks

Rubiksmoose

12:39 AM

@gszavae no problem!

linksassin

@gszavae No, but it can have the history redacted if require (accidentally sharing sensitive info or something)

Ben

@linksassin are you not familiar with dandwiki?

BESW

Daniel Dwiki is one of the most famous homebrewers of our generation.

6

linksassin

@Ben I wasn't aware it was missing a letter until now...

@BESW * infamous

Ben

I would argue he's good at what he does, it's simply the filing system he suses that is the major downfall. I.e., he doesn't have one :P

@linksassin And yeah ikr, I actually noticed it straight off the bat, and when someone pointed out the reputation of the site (I believe it was @BESW or maybe @doppelgreener?), that's how it stuck in my head.

user15026

12:53 AM

@linksassin same and now I can't not see it augh why did y'all take me out of my comfortable naivety

Ben

It's a "knockoff brandname". "Dand" instead of "Dee-and-Dee"

user15026

@BESW that hurts my brain.

BESW

@Ash See also: a comfortable Nativity.

Ben

I would also like to apologize for all the minds blown/broken, glass shattered and or ruination of innocence with that revelation

So there's a question - what level(s) of base class/subclass would be best for a Bardarian?

user15026

:54801411...huh that's a thing that exists

BESW

1:06 AM

Ben

@BESW I was thinking more soprano

Maybe alto

Mark Wells

@BESW In that framing, I'm now thinking about our BitD game over the weekend, and how we've gotten into a genre of almost-action where violence doesn't often solve problems but it does postpone them.

Ben

also why do I recognise that?

BESW

@Ben Wild Kratts.

@Ben Sub class?

Ben

@BESW Hmm... maybe I just recognise the art style

@BESW That also depends on whether the Subclass is the Barbarian or the Bard.

Mark Wells

1:14 AM

@Ben What's a Bardarian?

Ben

@MarkWells Barbarian/Bard multi-class character.

Think a viking with a cello that he also uses as a club

user15026

That would put it out of tune real fast no?

BESW

In all seriousness I guess it would depend on your vision of a Bardarian's skillset and competency modes. Is she a musician or poet who gets really shouty and says cruel cutting things about her opponents, or is she a melee combatant whose strides and strikes are so rhythmic she sets the tempo for the whole battlefield, or...?

Mark Wells

Yes, using a cello as a club will quickly impair its usefulness as a cello. Don't ask me how I know this.

And yes, the answer is going to depend on a more specific character concept. (So far, the answer to "what class?" is "barbarian and bard" because that's your concept.)

Ben

@BESW I'd probably go with the latter. A barbarian that fuels their rage into their music and performance as an "outlet"

user15026

1:23 AM

It frustrates me that barbarian always means they need things like rage outlets

Mark Wells

@Ash I think of that as just their idiosyncratic use of "barbarian" to mean "fighter, but really angry and physically tough" rather than, say, someone who doesn't speak Greek.

Ben

@Ash if anything, barbs actually need ways to maintain their rage - "setting yourself on fire would be an ideal way to maintain the rage - constant damage, therefore, constant rage."

BESW

Yeah, that's a... weird... hill for the class design to die on.

user15026

It just sits weirdly with me but then again a lot of those sorts of standard class assumptions are weird

user15026

Like why does rage have to be the motivation?

Mark Wells

1:27 AM

I was so annoyed when I found that D&D "monks" aren't necessarily religious that I made my monk a member of a religious order anyway. He'd karate-kick down people's doors to ask them to donate to the school for orphans.

Ben

@Ash I think (at least in my mind) it's the comparison to real world situations. Anger management is a thing IRL, so when you think "Rage", you think "I need an outlet for it".

BESW

@MarkWells Eh, since the class is usually restricted to stereotypically "undeveloped" and "horde" armor and weapons and its extra class features tend to reinforce that...

Ben

When actually they need to work themselves into a rage.

Rubiksmoose

@MarkWells "We're on a mission from God"

user15026

@Ben that feels weird to laud that though no?

Ben

1:29 AM

@Ash anger management, or the opposite?

BESW

The general aesthetic of the class has always been the "civilized" justification for being overrun by "barbarians" that they're not skilled, they're just inherently more ferocious.

user15026

@Ben its not really anger management in the barbarians sense, like it's just weird othering

Ben

@Ash One story I read put it in a good light - Elf Vs Orc.

BESW

That's Ursula Vernon, her stock in trade is subversive humanizing of dehumanizing tropes.

Very much the "if it wasn't broke she wouldn't be fixing it" category.

Ben

It was kind of like a reverse meditation to work into the rage. Whereas the Orc was actually quite a calm and quiet person.

Hot RPG Questions

1:34 AM

3

Q: Can a Changeling with the actor feat have permanent advantage and performance and Deception checks?

So the changeling's shapeshift ability says that As an action, you can change your appearance and your voice. You determine the specifics of the changes, including your coloration, hair length, sex, height and weight. You can make yourself appear as a member of another race, though none of your ...

user15026

It still feels weird to me, but hey I guess that's just me

BESW

(There's also a reason Elf vs Orc was never finished or published.)

Ben

It is odd, I agree. For me it comes from the comparison of real life vs fictional

user15026

Eh, going "well it's just fiction so it's fine" also feels weird.

BESW

They Took Our War and Before the Boats by Kevin Thien Vu Long Nguyen are games by Viet-diaspora based on stories & history I've heard all my life from first and second hand accounts. They work in tandem and can be purchased as a discounted bundle.

Ben

1:47 AM

@Ash Well, again it's not "fine", it's still weird. The difference simply explains the weirdness - it's because I'm not used to it.

BESW

Kickstarter: Not Even The Bones by William Lynn is a third party sci-fi horror module designed to be compatible with Tuesday Knight Games' Mothership RPG. The point of this adventure is to make players feel nervous and pressed for time as they try to keep the facility from falling apart while being hunted by something horrifying.

Ben

Then again, I do like exploring different outlooks, so I could say I'd be more onboard with the whole concept of it.

@BESW Speaking of Kickstarters... I wanna petition one for Cardboard Monsters :D

BESW

My problem with the D&D depiction of the "barbarian" is that it's neither a real-world experience nor a spontaneously fictional experience; it's a reification of a real-world dehumanizing stereotype.

user15026

@Ben thaaaaat's a lot of pressure, no?

user15026

@BESW these sound interesting.

Ben

1:50 AM

@Ash Maybe. If anything I'd support it for a more professional product :P

Cardboard Monsters would be the new Uno in my house :D

user15026

It just feels weird to be like "make this thing and make it extra fancy okay"

Ben

@Ash Back in the day a few of us were on board with getting some decks printed for the LLKoM Card game version. And I'm a supporter of the product and the developer - I am constantly promoting it to any and all :)

user15026

Okay.

Ben

So simply form a marketing standpoint, yes. More people would be one board if it came in a neat little box. But if it doesn't I'm ok with that :)

BESW

2:05 AM

I'm not a professional games developer. If I were, the games I've already published would cost money. I chose not to charge for the work I've done, not even to allow tips, because at the moment I need gaming as a hobby that's good for my mental health more than I need gaming as a side hustle and I don't think tying income to my hobby is going to let me continue to treat it as a mental health self-care hobby.

Ben

@BESW Perfectly understandable. I've been presented to do some things as opportunities to earn money and the idea of that is rather unenjoyable.

And using an outlet for stress as a way to earn money is just counterproductive by definition hahaha

BESW

If I make something that leads friends to want to finance a collaboration for a limited private print run, that might be feasible if they're not just providing the money, but the time and effort of getting it printed and distributed.

But that's very VERY different from a public distribution or a Kickstarter that I'd have to manage.

Ben

Yeah

BESW

At that point it's become a professional job with clients and investors.

Ben

@BESW Similar to our original idea :)

BESW

2:10 AM

And if it ever DOES come to that with any of my games, I'll be involving indie Asia-Pacific talent to make it happen and paying them a fair price for their work.

nitsua60

@Ash It wasn't nearly so prominent in earlier editions. But when you strip out all of classes' mechanics for interacting with the world and with NPCs, all you're really left with is just their egoistic expression....

@Ash For me it was just that if it could be a thing, I wanted to gift it to many of the people in this room =)

BESW

@nitsua60 That, I could probably get behind more easily. But right now I'm stalled out on it, I need to be putting the energy into other things.

nitsua60

@BESW I'm trying to walk that line with my new hobby: I make something because I like it, it does cost me money, other people say they enjoy it, so I'm trying to give them a way to defray that cost if they want without making it into a second job. So far it's working out alright, but I'll let you know if that changes.

(Speaking of which, I have a little envelope sitting just to the left of me that I need to get around to mailing off to Guam!)

@BESW Please don't take that as pressure! Do what gives you joy =)

user15026

@BESW I feel that! This weird push of 'oh hey you have a creative outlet you should monetize it and make it a job and thus suck the joy and relaxation out of it' side hustle thing always sits so strangely with me.

nitsua60

In other news, I'm trying to fill out a survey designed by Kafka in another window... X(

user15026

2:21 AM

@nitsua60 that sounds unpleasant!

nitsua60

One question ~~asks~~ forces me to rank-order six statements by how much I worry about them (in context of sending my kids to school + CoViD). One of the statements is "I have no worries." (edit: it's a required question)

user15026

Aaaaaaa but that doesn't aaaaaa

nitsua60

RIGHT!?

user15026

At best taht should be like a ticky box that greys out the listing or something

nitsua60

Luckily (I've just discovered), the radio buttons' logic doesn't interact, so I'm free to rank each any of the six spots. So I've put two things I'm worried about as 1 & 2, "I have no worries" as 3, and the other three all at 6.

Have fun, superintendent o7

user15026

2:24 AM

Haha nice

BESW

@nitsua60 Yeah, that. Right now my hobby is costing me just time and energy and that's okay because the games I'm making, I'm making for specific friends and I would make them even if I weren't publishing them.

But Cardboard Monsters is a thing that could easily take so much time and energy that I'd begrudge NOT making money off of it and that would be Very Bad.

nitsua60

@BESW Understandable, totally.

Ben

@nitsua60 That's the exact sentiment I've been trying to express haha. I am not great with the use of words. I try to say something and I somehow end up saying the exact opposite lol

trogdor

@nitsua60 what?

just what?

Ben

@trogdor Each question is answered "on a scale of 1 to 6 - 1 being not concerned, 6 being highly concerned"

Oh wait. Lol

BESW

2:36 AM

@nitsua60 I would definitely worry about not being worried about that.

trogdor

lol

@Ben yeah it's more about using a ranking system and putting that in as a required thing,....

implying there is any amount of "no I'm not worried about sending my kids to a disease ridden school" XD

(not because the school is bad but because all those kids in the same place is asking to spread some Covid around right now)

(well depending where you are anyway)

Hot RPG Questions

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Q: Consistency between "yes and" with "no, because I'm the DM"

Context: I enjoy running softer systems, with Numenera being my latest favorite. I discard rules left and right in favor of what feels right during the play. I love the "rule of cool" too, and I use it liberally. One of my players is rather creative and often vividly imagines the outcome of their...

gm-techniques problem-players numenera

nitsua60

@trogdor I have no problem with that being an option, personally. I have a problem with the person who feels that way putting it as #1 and then still having to rank the five 'I'm worried about ___' statements!

trogdor

Ah

Either way though

XD

nitsua60

@Ben That--"rate each one on a scale of 'no concern at all' to 'extremely concerned'"--would have made perfect sense.

trogdor

2:51 AM

It's a weird way to try to guage people's feelings about this whole situation

And yes that seems like it would be better

nitsua60

(Then you don't even need to give "not concerned" as a choice, because they could... just... say the things don't concern them.)

MikeQ

On a scale from 1 to 6, how concerned are you about not being concerned

nitsua60

@trogdor I look at things like this and think to myself "are they trying to gather data with which to help navigate an already-identified decision point, or are they trying to make me feel like they're listening?"

I don't know which they're trying to do, but I know this instrument can't achieve the first of those objectives.

trogdor

@MikeQ lol

Yeah

Ben

@MikeQ 3.5

trogdor

2:54 AM

I would wonder why they are trying to gather information rhat way as well

It seems likely they have some specific reason

MikeQ

Maybe they're a brood of mind vampires who feed on worry, and they're assessing the parents for who would provide the most doom vitamins

According to lore, vampires are low in vitamin D (and the "D" stands for Doom)

Ben

@MikeQ I always say it stands for "Daylight" :P

@MikeQ That would explain why Doom-pires and Ly-Can-Thropes are mortal enemies

nitsua60

@trogdor I (uncharitably) assume it was brainstormed in committee and assigned to someone who doesn't have much experience designing instruments.

trogdor

Mm

That sounds like it's likely

Ben

@nitsua60 [trumpet tooting]

nitsua60

3:11 AM

@HellSaint "Otherwise, you can improve the looks of it. Perhaps the priestess has an army of 50 goblins, but 48 of them are too busy helping with the ritual..." reminds me so much of that scene from Young Sherlock Holmes where they're trying to sneak to the back of the ritual while hundreds of cultists are chanting below them....

50 goblins in the room all helping to maintain the ritual while the priestess kicks three, hissing "don't let them touch anything," and yells "keep CHANTING" at the rest is just too cool =)

MikeQ

On a scale from 1 to 6, how concerned are you about the 50 goblins in the room performing a ritual

Schools are weird

nitsua60

@MikeQ 50.

Ben

3:33 AM

One-shot game: goblin cooking show.

3

Pick your race; (goblin, gnome, orc, ogre, elf, etc). Each one has their own "cooking style".

linksassin

@Ben That's basically the premise of Goblin Quest. Goblins doing random things that wouldn't be a quest for anyone else.

Ben

The challenge involves a "secret ingredient", and players must invent a dish to incorporate the ingredient into a signature dish.

HellSaint

@Ben today's ingredient is a night hag's toe

Mark Wells

@Ben "Oh dear, Iron Chef Drow has asked for a volunteer from the audience."

HellSaint

@nitsua60 glad you liked haha

Ben

3:40 AM

You wouldn't suspect it, but ogres are very good at fat reduction stew and moss salads

Mark Wells

@Ben Also, if you need a list of possible Secret Ingredients...

Ben

But as they say - "too many ogres can spoil the broth, because they are easily tricked into extended discussions about the best way to season the dish and then the sun rises and they all end up petrified"

> "Bugbear - Really bad mutton"

XD

Ben

4:34 AM

TIL; Adam Phillips (more commonly known as the creator of the Brackenwood Series and "Bitey Castle Animations") is actually more famous than originally thought

kviiri

7:26 AM

@Ben completely apropos regarding this. Is there a name for the anime/manga genre that focuses almost exclusively on mastering a particular art, usually portrayed very exaggeratedly?

One of my roomies watches Shokugeki no Soma and another friend speaks similarly about Yakitate Japan (the former is a show about ridiculously serious-business cooking, while the latter is about baking bread in a similarly exaggerated manner). And there's Hikaru no Go which does similar with the board game go.

And Girls und Panzer by the single episode I've seen of it does the same with armored vehicle combat (simulated sport, not actual combat).

trogdor

isn't there also one about ships?

Ben

@kviiri The only one I know of is Food Wars - which I have not watched

trogdor

or something?

but they also like,.... made all the ships girls for,..... some reason

Ben

As @MarkWells suggested - Iron Chef was the basic description

trogdor

but regardless, they also like, at least apparently, researched all these ships and take their ship facts seriously even though making all the ships girls in and of itself is rather absurd rather than serious

at least in my book XD

I have no idea what it's even called

kviiri

7:36 AM

@Ben Yea it's apparently the same as Shokugeki no Soma

The reason I ask is, I'd like to know more of this genre and maybe find something that matches one of my weird hobbies x)

Ben

@trogdor I would likely be inclined to agree with you. :P

kviiri

Competitive tea drinking or something

Ben

Lolol

I did always enjoy Iron Chef

trogdor

there is a strange interconnection between taking something seriously and then at the same time doing the exact opposite

BESW

@trogdor Says the Goblin Mom.

Ben

7:38 AM

For us it was on SBS

trogdor

@BESW hey I'm not saying it's strictly a bad thing

kviiri

Food Wars was a weird show, I couldn't even poke fun at it because they always pre-empted me

Anime as an affectionate parody on anime

trogdor

lol

Miniman

@kviiri You might be interested in Chihayafuru - I haven't watched it, but someone I trust recommends it. And it's a pretty weird hobby XD

trogdor

or how One Punch Man is an anime about a powerful fighter who beats all his opponents in one punch, and it acts like it's serious right up until he one punches someone and takes away all the buildup they were doing earlier

but is also a commentary on how he's not really a hero and maybe the guys who keep getting beat up or even dying are even though they don't accomplish as much as him? One Punch Man is right on the line between serious and,... not so serious

@BESW also how dare you imply that being a Goblin Mom is anything other than serious business, or that I don't personally take everything 100% seriously all the time

at.all.times

XD

BESW

8:54 AM

Post-Police Design Challenge hosted by yenofven, kellielu, NAmin23. We invite artists, designers, and thinkers to imagine how society would function without police and to create a game or interactive experience. By imagining futures, we create models for futures that we want to achieve. The goal of this jam is to start many creators on a path to forge a just society. Starts in 13 days.

4

Hot RPG Questions

9:27 AM

3

Q: Ways to prevent Counterspell from being cast?

What ways can a character (PC or Monster) prevent an enemy from casting counterspell? What I can think of so far: Surprise the enemy and win initiative Cause the enemy to be incapacitated (or stunned/paralyzed/unconscious) Provoke the enemy into using a reaction earlier in the round (readied act...

dnd-5e counterspelling

doppelgreener

@Rubiksmoose dungeons and existentialism

Someone_Evil

9:49 AM

Dungeons and extrapolating from incomplete data?

AncientSwordRage

@Someone_Evil DAEFID?

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