@RevenantBacon What do you mean? I didn't say anything about "PF-1e compatible". I was addressing the mention of 3e/3.5e stuff, for which DMsGuild only sells stuff distributed/licensed by WotC to my knowledge (and not by third parties).
> 2013 OneBookShelf, in conjunction with Wizards of the Coast, launches DnDClassics, a marketplace dedicated to selling PDFs of Dungeons & Dragons products from every edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game. [...] 2016 OneBookShelf, in partnership with Wizards of the Coast, launches DMsGuild, a community content program that allows creators to make content using Wizards of the Coast properities. DMsGuild replaces DnDClassics.
so idk what DnDClassics was like earlier
I only know DMsGuild itself was a thing specifically as of 5e
ostensibly there might be some legacy stuff from DnDClassics that might still be distributed on DMsGuild ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And in the context of the conversation it's about viable options for hosting third-party content from international devs, not WotC double dipping their own content.
Normally, when 2 players roll identical initiative in combat, they decide between themselves the order they do things in and then stick to that on subsequent rounds.
How should the DM handle it if the NPC rolls the same initiative, especially if they are in combat directly with the player who rol...
Am I reading these rules right? There seem to be some strange inconsistencies in the benefits some prestige classes grant to the base spellcasting class. Here are some examples, all from the 3.5 DM's Guide (although the inconsistencies continue in other rulebooks).
Archmage (page 178) buffs spell...
Are the locusts created by the Insect Plague spell affected by other spells like Fireball, Cloudkill, Abi-Dalzim’s Horrid Wilting or similar spells? By similar spells I mean spells that deal damage on an area greater or equal than the 20-foot-radius sphere of the Insect Plague spell.
The Insect ...
Suppose I have cast Aid on 3 of my allies, and those allies have all dropped to 0 hit points and fallen unconscious. I would like to get all of them back on their feet as quickly as possible. Can I cast Aid again to restore 5 hits points to each of my 3 allies who are already under the effect of ...
Finally realized another defense I get for free for using a magnatar as a base. Don't bring any ferrous items there. It's not like Earth's magnetic field.
It’s a world and game that’s supposed to be super cooperative and friendly. Would it be better just to go GM-less? And if so how do I make a way for it to respond to the players?
@BESW I liked goblin mom. It abbreviates nicely to GM while feeling more family-like
But the name is just the tip of the iceberg, in my opinion; it's about attitude and there's a lot of games which use "Game Master" but have a more cooperative, collaborative attitude, like Lady Blackbird and Fate; and games like White Wolf which have a 'nice' name for the role but it's still quite antagonistic.
Beverly Cleary wrote a whole novel with a protagonist named GIRL, and when she was re-typing the final to send to her publisher she heard a neighbour shout "Ramona!" down the street so that became the name of the character.
I find naming characters somewhat tricky and so I've been considering forgoing proper names in my writing and instead just calling people The <Occupation/Role>. It's not unheard of of course, but it feels like something that feels like there should be more artistic intent behind it.
Leaving characters nameless should only be done with a deliberate intent. I studied "Thing we didn't see coming" in high school and one of the major discussions was about the impact having a nameless main character had.
Often I find that I overthink it. Anything you choose will be fine, most readers/players won't notice/care.
I got on a role with names starting with E recently. 7/8 npcs my players met last session along with 2/3 locations. They laughed but then moved on because it doesn't matter
Also, what’s a way to write about safety tools in a way that won’t get the game mocked by some of the not-particularly-nice people in my class who may read the game? (I showed off a map of the world on social media and mentioned I had a game about it in the works that now a couple of people wanted to see. Including some people who I don’t know very well and only let follow me because I know how to mitigate them being jerks)
I don't think there's a problem with code naming one's characters, but if one does alternating code and proper names, the distinction feels significant and if it's not actually significant, it feels bad.
@BardicWizard I find that avoiding the specific vocabulary and just making it a thing that's part of the game, helps. Have you seen how Wanderhome handles safety tools as social scripts?
@linksassin Yeah, they had role names for each commando display as the most prominent name in the first installment. Eg. The guy who sniped was displayed as The Sniper in the first game, and the saper was The Sapper
It reads like something to resist damage or bad consequences but is actually open ended and can be used to resist content as well. And the cost is low enough that you can always choose to do it.
If somebody thinks the Journeying Tools text is worthy of mockery for being too "sensitive" or whatever, they're just showing their own [snip] in front of everybody.
And both mechanics actually achieve a big part of what I want to do which is make it a normal part of the game to be able to say “I don’t want that to happen”
@BESW From a completely subjective experience. The people that mock or resist the use of safety tools are often the kind of players that are the very reason safety tools need to be used.
I think there was a question on the site a while ago where someone was having issues with sensitive topics. Most of us suggested safety tools. And they responded mockingly with "all the answers are telling me to talk about my feelings or use stupid cards. I want a real solution".
I recently noticed that on top of getting a great level of spell resistance and inheriting their master's excellent base Will save bonus, a Wizard's familiar grants the Scry on Familiar (Sp) ability to its master, with the benefit:
If the master is 13th level or higher, he may scry on his famili...
@lisardggY That reminds me of Altered Carbon. It's a cyberpunk(ish) setting. The key tech advancement is a device that is implanted at the base of everyone's skull, and stores all their thoughts/memories/personality etc. So, you can send your "self" to a new body an indefinite distance away, or get a replacement if your original body dies. If you can afford it. The ultra-rich are called "meths" (=Methuselah) and live virtually forever. The poor mortgage their bodies for others to use.
(Also, the mind storage device is called a "stack"...)
@Adeptus Both A Memory Called Empire and On a Red Station Drifting do really cool culture/identity stuff with that technological concept.
I like them better than the Altered Carbon style genre of digital identity story because they start with a cultural concept and wonder what how that would influence technology, rather than treating technology as a guider of culture.
(Obviously technology has an influence on culture, but culture is a MUCH stronger influence on technology because it defines the context in which technology is --or isn't-- developed.)
@BESW In STS there's a term called "co-production", or "a form of knowledge production based on the dynamic interaction between technology and society".
This is a concept which a great deal of "classic" scifi seems... reluctant... to admit, as it would eventually require facing down their assumptions about the universality of conditions which are actually quite unique to the Campbellian inheritors.
And I'm so happy to see authors like Martine, de Bodard, and Leckie, get recognition for what they're doing now.
Classic scifi has had a technological determinism blind-spot, certainly. But I think it's changed a lot since the 70's, at least, and more recently. Another blind-spot is the digital divide - you don't find a lot of works focusing on new technology and the people who don't get to use it.
(Shameless plug alert, I have a podcast, even an english-speaking podcast, and out latest episode was about the digital divide in scifi)
Tech determinism is an interesting topic in that how one sees it seems significantly influenced by one's relationship with real-world technology and science. I've noticed that most often when someone requests worldbuilding feedback about a world where different cultures have significantly different technology paths (let's call it Terran vs. Protoss tech in terms of difference size), usually it's some sort of IRL-technologist (one with a tech- or sci- oriented profession/education/&c.) who points out that such a setup is deeply WSoD-breaking.
essentially I think they've taken an extremely broad reading of "spell which gains information about the target" to include "using a spell to tell someone else something about the target", e.g. conveying a verbal description via sending
A wizard multiclasses into Wild Magic sorcerer. Do spells cast from their spellbook trigger Wild Magic Surge if they are on the sorcerer spell list, or do they have to gain them from sorcerer to trigger? From the multiclassing rules: “Each spell you know and prepare is associated with one of your classes”. *This rule means only the spells gained from levels in sorcerer trigger Wild Magic Surge*.
it entirely depends on how you picked up the spell, whether it was as a sorcerer or a wizard.
but that still doesn't change my viewpoint that some SAC stuff is wrong compared to the actual rules written.
I'm looking at you divine smites and GWM rerolls.
@ThomasMarkov I am sorry for the downvote on your spruce/mistletoe answer. But it really is just an educated guess. And one that may be wrong given the history of gygax.
Technically, you gained MI from an ADI that you earned via gaining levels in sorcerer, therfore, it is a spell that you learned by gaining leels in sorcerer. Boom
I'm playing a Wild magic sorcerer and it occurred to me that the 1st-level spell added from the Aberrant Dragonmark feat could potentially trigger a Wild Magic Surge.
Is this the case, and can I use my other spell slots or pact magic slots to cast the 1st-level spell learned through this feat?
Specifically, is "Have the designers said anything about this" a valid workaround for the designer reasons close?
Most of the recent designer reasons closes have evolved in this way: "why did designer do X" -> "Has designer said why they did x", and the OP usually argues that those are totally different questions and that the latter is valid in a way the former is not.
The problem is that they attract speculative answers, and explicitly asking for citations and (some) community members reminding everyone of support/citations being necessary doesn't stop that
This is a category of questions dying at fault of the worst of their answers (and how frequent they are), and that doesn't have a subtle solution
People will answer the core of the problem, which is still "why did they do X?", adding a XY layer (to what is often a XY problem to begin with) of "my solution is obviously to fing a statement from the designers" doesn't help
Though a meta question on the line of "Designer reasons have been made off topic, how can I still get help with my problem?" might be really good and useful, similar to the one on game-rec(?)
@Someone_Evil I dont think that will work here. Users will take 1 from that answer and argue that their problem is something like a resource investigation. I can see somebody likening "has designer ever said anything about reasons" to "has publisher ever printed a source with this monster in it"
And they would not be entirely off base - both questions are asking for a legitimate source that explains their issue
Except the space of where a publisher has published a monster is bounded (the released game books) while the space of where a designer has said a thing is unbounded. And one draws speculation and the other doesn't
Though either way we'll have to explain to users from time to time. Where can do either side the most good is to make the messaging clear (hence my q about getting a close reason as above)
That question has a frame challenge aspect (ie. don't equate a bad run with bad dice), which doesn't seem to also apply to the new one, but I'm fascinated to see what happens to that Q either way
Some Indonesian TRPG developers just joined a group I'm in! Right now they're publishing Dungeon Masters Guild material while working on some indie projects, so consider supporting them:
When Madness Calls by Isaac Mandagie. A mystery/investigative story involving secret cult from another planet, creatures from the Far Realm, and a long-forgotten deity of darkness and decay. We made this when we participated in the RPG Writer Workshop Summer 2020 course.
I Wanna Go Home by Cita A F. A 2-3 hour classless adventure where the players are awakened animals trying to return the little Chub back home! A wholesome, family-friendly session with no combat and lots of roleplay with dice rolling (because who doesn't like dice)
I'm playing a Wild magic sorcerer and it occurred to me that the 1st-level spell added from the Aberrant Dragonmark feat could potentially trigger a Wild Magic Surge.
Is this the case, and can I use my other spell slots or pact magic slots to cast the 1st-level spell learned through this feat?
