TRPG General Chat

1:31 AM

8

Q: Are PC Natural Weapons particularly useful?

At my table, it is generally understood that Dragonborn are mechanically underpowered but flavourwise really cool. For the purpose of this question, I'd like to just take these opinions for granted. In an effort to bring them to par with other races, I've started putting together a variant dragon...

BESW

2:15 AM

@HotRPGQuestions [fond memories of Soul Eater cheese]

AncientSwordRage

Nov 16 '18 at 10:04, by BESW

3.x had the best/worst "vampire" concept ever, though: the Soul Eater prestige class.

trogdor

4:01 AM

granted, but 4e had the most mediocre and overbuilt vampire mechanics

Hot RPG Questions

4:24 AM

2

Q: Does the light crossbow have the "light" property?

This question may seem strange or self-explanatory, but I noticed that the light crossbow, despite its name, doesn't have the "light" property listed in its "properties" section. Can it be inferred, from the light crossbow's name, that it has the “light” property? The reason I ask this is because...

dnd-5e weapons

Bardic Wizard

5:35 AM

@BESW those are pretty cool!

Thanks; I really enjoy those

In related news, anyone remember the last time I went on a journey through the world of (mostly Victorian) floriography? The “wear a mask or I hope you die” bouquet?

I’m making the (mostly hypothetical but also not) “HoCo proposal but, you know, platonically” bouquet now and I’m fascinated with the fact that I can actually express this sentiment in flowers

So far it’s wisteria (cherished friendship), periwinkle (fidelity in friendship), pink camellia (admiration), poppy (gratitude), hawthorn (hope), white chrysanthemum (truth), oak (courage and strength)

In case anyone else wants a creative HoCo/promposal thing: sub in red roses, red tulips, and/or red chrysanthemum for the wisteria and periwinkle if you want to represent romantic love instead of platonic

Adeptus

6:42 AM

@BESW I just googled "Global South". Australia & NZ aren't in the Global South, even though they're in the south of the globe... 🤷‍♂️

@BESW Old textiles often have threads. Just don't pull on them or the whole thing will fall apart...

BESW

7:11 AM

Yeah, it's hard to find a pithy way to say "the parts of the world that colonizing powers exploit but don't claim."

trogdor

I haven't even ever heard of the "Global South" before

BESW

It's been around since the late 60s but really started getting traction less than ten years ago.

The idea is that it's non-pejorative, compared to terms like "developing nations" and "third world" which imply a hierarchy with nations like the USA and UK at the top.

BESW

7:30 AM

@BardicWizard Thanks for telling me! I'm happy to bring a bit of joy. Also, that floriography composition is fascinating and I learned the abbreviation HoCo today.

trogdor

7:48 AM

so I would assume Guam would be put by most people into this "Global South" then

:/

BESW

Nah, we're claimed by the USA.

trogdor

8:09 AM

ah

doesn't really make it better that that is the reason

AncientSwordRage

@BardicWizard that's exciting and makes me want to make puzzles about it

Feeds

1:59 PM

Needles & Nilbogs: A few pictures, and two free edging patterns!

posted on October 07, 2021 by Bardic Wizard

Hi. I really haven’t written much the last few weeks, haven’t I? I’ve been a bit busy, and usually only get a post out by writing it Thursday morning between things I have to do. This isn’t much better, but I have pictures of a bunch of things I’ve been doing, including some vaguely rpg-related things and some yarn things. And I have a pattern — actually, two! I did some very pretty crocheted e…

AncientSwordRage

@Feeds A wild blog appears

KorvinStarmast

3:40 PM

Sneaky DM idea. Party has been attacked twice by a death cult who are trying to recover an artifact from them (which one party member has attuned to, but he doesn't know it's an artifact. He think it's a magical amulet with two powers that he has used: Advantage on Death saves, and casts "speak with dead" once per day)
Third attempt (Scaled up for their level) is going to include some big brutish sorts who will try to grapple him and then get pulled up into a rope trick that is cast by the leader.

Their job is to then remove that item from him (They don't care if he dies or not, they just want the darned thing) and then drop out of the rope trick space with it. TP away, leader and brutes, if they are able to keep the rest of the party from overwhelming the leader.

What are the holes in my plan (attempt) besides when the one guy begins to cast rope trick the Bard counterspells it. (Which is a plausible future, the bard likes to use counterspell but This Enemy Does Not Know That). Party has various martials, one cleric, one bard, one sorcerer.

Encounters do date have been deadly to 1.5 deadly. In each case the cult's agents have attacked from ambush (well, attempted ambush; the cleric's passive perception score scotched the second ambush attempt due to the low stealth roll). D&D 5e.

@NautArch @ThomasMarkov @MikeQ @V2Blast @nitsua60 part of my brainstorming here is that with 8 players, it's getting a little unwieldy sometimes ... 👀 But we are a group of friends who've known each other for a long while, so trimming party size isn't a viable option.

Thomas Markov

@V2Blast I just got a desktop notification for that edit, saying it was from you.

V2Blast

@Lando As that site rehosts (paid) official D&D content for free elsewhere on the site, I've replaced your link in that chat message with a link to the Sage background on DDB.

@ThomasMarkov hi

You mean the one on your 1-inch gap answer?

Thomas Markov

@V2Blast No, you edited a chat message from Lando

That was a reply to one of my messages

V2Blast

Ah, ok

Joel Harmon

4:24 PM

@Lando An actual session zero is odd to introduce into a currently running game. I'd recommend trying to sit in and watch a session before actually joining, to see how it usually goes, and at some point before or after that session you can get all of your session zero concerns talked out with the DM.

@KorvinStarmast Define "martials". <evil grin>

You'll have trouble narratively using forced movement to move the player up a rope like that, or even just up if the trick is only 5' above the ground.

KorvinStarmast

@JoelHarmon Paladin, Rogue, Barbarian, Champion Fighter and Monk (In this case)

@JoelHarmon How so? I have never used rope trick during combat, so I don't have any intuitive sense for the pitfalls ... but in a text-based game one of our casters is doing it and the idea appeals to me

Joel Harmon

5:31 PM

@KorvinStarmast I don't know of any rules for forced vertical movement. Since the opening is at the top of a rope no more than 60' long, you could presumably do it with something like a 6' length of rope to be just over most people's heads. How, then, do you get a presumably unwilling character up there? You could friends, but removing PC agency is often considered harmful.

Hmm. I guess if you had someone lay down in the target's square, they could Eldritch Blast up, with the right invocation, of course.

Surely that would be entirely safe and nothing could go wrong.

AncientSwordRage

16

A: Can you Climb with only one hand free?

Going by the RAW, there does not seem to be a rule stating that you need both hands free. According to the PHB climbing rules: While climbing or swimming, each foot of movement costs 1 extra foot (2 extra feet in difficult terrain), unless a creature has a climbing or swimming speed. At the GM’s...

Seems relevant

Joel Harmon

5:48 PM

Four to six tall thugs could just bodily lift someone up over their heads, depending on the target's weight. But if they already have that much control, why not just all bear hug the guy then one person steals the amulet?

KorvinStarmast

8:53 PM

@JoelHarmon The idea is to grapple him, and then climb the rope with him grappled. That's what the big brutes are there for. This is NPCs versus PCs', something like Ogres or such in employ of the raid leader ... Friends was used on me Monday night, by a party member. (Yeah, WTF?) I do not accept this whinge, though: You could friends, but removing PC agency is often considered harmful Our table doesn't whinge like that. They know that Hold Person is a spell, and fails to save against it stink

Friends isn't even as powerful as Suggestion, which Might be The Better Idea! Yes, not Friends, Suggestion! :)

It can be countered. It can be saved against. Suggestion is in play. Thanks for the brain storm/workshop, @JoelHarmon *Bravo!

@JoelHarmon Yeah, that's another option, but the party will be interfering with them, and perhaps severely, such that it interrupts their attempt to sleight of hand or grapple/grap the amulet off of him.

(Of course, if he has Misty Step, he can lead them a merry chase!) 😂

Joel Harmon

@KorvinStarmast No whinge intended. It's simply a fact that some players may react very badly to "ok, now your character is going to decide to do this thing". It's by no means universal, though, hence the qualifiers.

@KorvinStarmast And of course it's much easier to get an amulet off somebody's neck if there's no pesky head in the way.

And you're quite welcome for any aid or inspiration I may have provided.

Oh, and if your groups are anything like mine, be prepared for another PC to get the bright idea of climbing that rope as well.

KorvinStarmast

@JoelHarmon The way I look at the player agency line is as follows: the spell's in the game (but Friends is a persuasion check, so if it's being tried in combat it's gonna have an up hill battle to start with!) so it's something you may need to save against. The argument (Yes, not yours, but that line coming up is something I've seen at GiTP discussions) of "but player agency, don't use that spell!" generally get the "nope" from me.

@JoelHarmon Oh heck yeah! The Monk and the Barbarian would be all over that like a cheap suit!

Joel Harmon

@KorvinStarmast I consider that line of argument broached and resolved. If it's not an issue for your group, then it's not worth continuing to discuss.

KorvinStarmast

@JoelHarmon Amen, sorry to beat that into glue.

Joel Harmon

So now, to pick things apart, how is the Suggestion "up" more logical than just "give"?

KorvinStarmast

9:07 PM

Reasonableness of request being an issue with Suggestion ...

... but that is another way to try and peel the onion.

@JoelHarmon Are you, by any chance, J-H from GiTP? I love that campaign log...

Joel Harmon

No, I'm not. Not even familiar with that one; I just read the comic and occasionally end up viewing the forums.

KorvinStarmast

@JoelHarmon Cool, just wanted to heap praise if it was you. 😊

Joel Harmon

You're welcome to heap praise regardless :P

KorvinStarmast

arrghhhh, spousal summons, must be off with a misty step! Will find other ways to heap praise, anon!

Hot RPG Questions

9:39 PM

6

Q: Where was the computer skill split up into operation, programming and hacking?

I just joined a Mechwarrior group that uses the old 3rd edition books. I was handed a PreGen from the core book (The Federated Suns Technician)1, which lists the "Computer" skill. However, during play, I was told that in some later book (still in the 3rd edition) that skill had been split up into "...

content-identification mechwarrior-3e

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