TRPG General Chat

12:06 AM

@Ben How about an existential crisis bot?

(Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have a very large seed database.)

It's a good start. Better than the one I had at least. For some reason the discovery that "Existentialism is a mathematical philosophy" threw me off quite a bit lol

"The thought processes I would ponder in a moment of separation from reality is actually a carefully constructed formulae??"

BESW

One of my favorite things about math is that if you poke it with a stick it collapses into philosophy, but I suspect a lot of classical existentialists would have Strong Feelings about classifying their philosophy as mathematical.

Ben

Two very different sides of the same coin XD

BESW

"One must imagine Sisyphus logical."

trogdor

math is not philosophy, and 8+8=0

:P

Ben

12:13 AM

@trogdor I don't know if that helps or makes it worse

I'm so confused

trogdor

lol

BESW

12:27 AM

(BTW, I love that Hades imagined Sisyphus happy without making him an absurdist caricature.)

Ben

@BESW Hades the game?

BESW

Aye.

Ben

Nice. Haven't played it yet though

BESW

It's the second roguesplat I've ever enjoyed in any capacity, and I like it very much indeed.

Thomas Markov

@BESW I think it’s just showing the rarest ones you have.

BESW

12:35 AM

The gameplay is smooth and compelling with a ton of replay value, the art and voice acting is fantastic, the story and script are smart and funny. They've cracked the puzzle of how to make the die-and-try-again loop engaging at every stage, because dying doesn't just mean incremental advancement from knowledge and metacurrency, it also unlocks more story and character moments. In fact, if you're really good at the combat part of the game, you miss out on a lot of great dialogue.

@ThomasMarkov That's what I said.

And while Hades' accessibility features aren't very comprehensive, they've got solid scaling difficulty choices: the "God Mode" option is a togglable damage reduction effect that increases every time you die, to a maximum of 80% damage reduction, so that the game's twitch-reflex elements are much more forgiving of failure; and on the other hand you unlock a "choose how things are harder" mechanic that rewards increased difficulty choices.

And if you want a challenge from the start, you can make a savefile that gates out God Mode entirely and instead starts you with the advanced-difficulty choices unlocked and five of them permanently enabled from the beginning.

AncientSwordRage

Community VP Questions: What's the best of Stack?

2

BESW

(Oh, and while they've made the story and setting very approachable for people completely unfamiliar with Greek religion, the more you know the more you'll appreciate their familiarity with the source material and all the little bits they're smashing together in interesting and funny ways.)

AncientSwordRage

@BESW I see no stripes

BESW

@AncientSwordRage If you can see the stripes, you're too close to the badger.

Ben

[Is thrown off by the mathematical origin of "existentialism]

AncientSwordRage

12:49 AM

@bobble what is sleep?

@Ben career to explain/grunt while pointing me to a resource

Ben

[Stabilizes the philosophical existentialist in me by watching Neon Genesis theories on youtube]

AncientSwordRage

@BESW I'm far too choose then

bobble

@AncientSwordRage when you have nightmares as opposed to daymares

Ben

@AncientSwordRage Google results for "Existential Statement"

AncientSwordRage

@bobble quit horsing around

@Ben oh right

BESW

12:52 AM

AncientSwordRage

@Ben "there is an X, such that...x

@BESW I'm drawing a blank except that this is clearly from Hades

If anybody wants an absolute trip, I recommend eXistenZ

Existenz

Existenz (stylized as eXistenZ) is a 1999 science fiction horror film written, produced and directed by Canadian director David Cronenberg. The plot of the film follows a game designer named Allegra Geller, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, who finds herself targeted by assassins while playing a virtual reality game of her own creation. An international co-production between Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, it also stars Jude Law, Ian Holm, Don McKellar, Callum Keith Rennie, Sarah Polley, Christopher Eccleston, Willem Dafoe, and Robert A. Silverman. The film received mostly positive reviews...

Ben

Wait... does that mean the "The Number 23" is a movie about Existentialism??

BESW

@AncientSwordRage Hypnos, Sleep Incarnate.

(He's wearing a quilted comforter as a cape, and has a sleep mask pushed up on his forehead.)

AncientSwordRage

@BESW that's very clever

BESW

In Hades, he's the greeter to the House of Hades for all who arrive by the River Styx. Which in practice means that the records of the dead are in a shambles 'cause he keeps nodding off on the job, and every time you die and come back to the House he has an adorable "Ah! you startled me awake!" animation.

AncientSwordRage

12:58 AM

@Ben never seen it

@BESW If Hades want already on the top of my Must Play games, that would have seriously boosted up the list

BESW

Some spoilers, but his dialogue for when you die to various things is just too good:

Hades - Zag dies to things & Hypnos gives good advice

►

jeffreyjeffrawr shared on twitter My newest microlarp, Friendly Little Ghost.

Hot RPG Questions

1:26 AM

4

Q: I can see 60 ft. An object affected by Darkness is 25 ft away from me. Can I see a torch 50 ft away?

Consider a corridor. At one end of the corridor, I stand and can see a torch 50 ft away at the other end. My (completely mundane) vision extends 60 ft. Suddenly, an object affected by Darkness is placed 25 ft away from me, such that there is 5ft between me and the edge of shadowy illumination and...

BESW

"One Villainous Scene | Harley Quinn's Elevator Fight" youtube video essay by Jill Bearup. (Not directly TRPG related but the way she talks about fight choreography as an expression of characterization and story is very translatable.)

Ben

1:54 AM

@AncientSwordRage Jim Carrey movie where he becomes obsessed with the number 23.

The Number 23 - Original Theatrical Trailer

►

trogdor

@BESW someone talking about the best character in a certain game over here?

XD

Adeptus

I think itch.io just got blocked by my work's filters as a "gaming" site. Which... is technically correct, but possibly not in the sense they mean.

BESW

Hah

Hot RPG Questions

2:15 AM

8

Q: I'm on fire and I'm invisible. Can I be seen?

The invisibility rules claim that "An invisible burning torch still gives off light". Does this mean that if I'm invisible and on fire, my position can easily be found by sight alone?

dnd-3.5e vision-and-light

V2Blast

@Adeptus Do you mean they're referring to gambling (e.g. online poker) when they say "gaming"?

Adeptus

@V2Blast That's what I assume, yes.

V2Blast

@Adeptus Ah ok, just checking. I figure some workplace's firewalls might intentionally block sites for browser-based games (e.g. Flash/HTML5-type games) and the like too

Adeptus

...and now it looks like it's been unblocked...

BESW

4:31 AM

So, given the runaway success of the Avatar Kickstarter, mainsite should brace for PbtA questions.

First step, I expect, will be teaching existing users trying to curate the new questions, that PbtA is not a system.

V2Blast

@AncientSwordRage No, this is chat ~~rick~~.

@BESW I've never really seen anyone make that "argument" that isn't basically arguing in bad faith, to be honest. (Maybe it's just my perception that they must be arguing in bad faith if they're making that argument, but it seems generally true.)

BESW

4:57 AM

I've encountered variations of the argument that seem to be made in good faith, mostly revolving around confusing diegetic justification with absolution.

It's related to Thermian logic, I suspect.

And certainly I've met people who genuinely believe Thermian logic is sound.

ANYWAY.

Anybody got some links to good character references for non-space-suited Hearthians that aren't early-game concept art which later changed dramatically?

I want to add them to my goblin aesthetic reference files.

V2Blast

@Someone_Evil To my knowledge, it's "part of making an attack" in the sense that a free object interaction is done as part of movement or an action. So by RAW, I think throwing a second weapon (when you have no weapons drawn to start with) requires something like Dual Wielder, which explicitly says: "You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one."

The Thrown Weapon Fighting fighting style from TCoE says: "You can draw a weapon that has the thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon." Which I guess is meant to let you do it for free even if you don't have a second object interaction.

@BESW ...Hearthians?

trogdor

the people from the game "The Outer Wilds"

not the only people I guess but the ones that your character in the game comes from

BESW

Aye

V2Blast

Ah, okay. I haven't played it. (Though I know it's called just Outer Wilds - I know this because it gets understandably confused with a different video game called The Outer Worlds.)

:P

BESW

It's a great game, on many levels, and the character designs aren't the least of them.

Hearthians are, like, spacecamp goblins.

Early concept art

I especially like that the final models in the game have a lot of variety in shape.

V2Blast

5:14 AM

Ooooh

trogdor

@V2Blast ah fair enough, I often add the onto things because,... they get put on a lot of things XD

BESW

5:34 AM

"Ridding Your Monsters of Ableism," essay by Fay Onyx on Mythcreants. Monsters often reflect society's fears of disability.

3

Glazius

5:54 AM

@BESW Is there a generally accepted term for the subset of PbtA games that uses roll +stat to do story-scoped resolution, in the way that BOB/NDNM exist for the Dream Apart/Askew style PbtA games?

BESW

7:33 AM

@Glazius Not that I'm aware of, but I'm not very active in that corner of the hobby.

Hot RPG Questions

7:57 AM

2

Q: Do the Rules as written elaborate on artifact use if the person it's attuned to becomes possessed by it?

In the campaign I'm running one of the villains is a cursed artifact that could (and did) take control of its user. For an easier time on explaining my problem with those mechanics, I'll simply use the eye of Vecna here since it has very similar properties. So according to the rules on the eye of...

dnd-5e curses artifacts intelligent-magic-items possession

BESW

8:25 AM

Orion D Black asks on twitter "Who is being slept on right now? Actors, games, producers, illustrators, all of it. TTRPG."

AncientSwordRage

11:24 AM

@V2Blast Hi this is ~~dog~~ ferret

Someone_Evil

1:06 PM

@ThomasMarkov Wait, do you get a spam/rude notice on that post?

Thomas Markov

Affirmative

Someone_Evil

But the post isn't otherwise obfuscated in any way?

Thomas Markov

No, its got the usual "not shown" message

> This question was marked as spam or rude or abusive and is therefore not shown - you can see the revision history for details.

Someone_Evil

Why would it apply that mask when the flag wasn't part of it being deleted?

Thomas Markov

@Someone_Evil shrug emoji

Come on, youre the moderator, youre supposed to know everything :P

BESW

1:14 PM

[falls out of chair laughing] Volunteers getting comprehensive training on the tools they're expected to use? What kind of boring utopia would that be.

Someone_Evil

Ok, the tools around red flags and deletion are just not sensible at all

Thomas Markov

I cant find anything on meta.se cuz i dont really know how to search for it without turning up a great multitude of complaints about stuff getting deleted.

G. Moylan

how do you do strikethrough in answers?

it's not in the help guide

oh, it is, just didn't look hard enough

nm

Thomas Markov

some sort of html markup methinks

BESW

Yeah, go figure that the site has two different strikethroughs depending on where the text is being used.

Thomas Markov

1:26 PM

I guess my best bet is to just ask on meta.se and it will either be answered or someone will find the dupe.

G. Moylan

I found it in the HTML portion of the help. it's <strike></strike>

bobble

1:42 PM

> If a post with pending red flags is deleted for any reason, even if not automatically by the system in response to six red flags or one from a moderator, the red flags will be automatically marked helpful. This will trigger this mask when viewing the post, but this doesn't necessarily mean it was deleted for that reason.

From the FAQ: meta.stackexchange.com/a/58035/1017231

Thomas Markov

There's bobble with the links.

Someone_Evil

The flag was marked as helpful before deletion, but it would still appear to apply the mask

Which is annoying, because diamond mods don't see that mask, nor any indication of it

G. Moylan

how do I put linked tags in my profile description? I see @linksassin has done that and I quite like it

Someone_Evil

[tag:tagname]

G. Moylan

will that automatically link back to this site if I set that as my global description?

bobble

1:51 PM

Clicking on the rendered tag will like you to its page, yes

Someone_Evil

No, it'll try to link to the tag on the current site

BESW

Here's my profile on rpg.se and on literature.se. I'm lazy and don't care so I just have the rpg.se text propagate to all my accounts.

If you click on the rpg tags in the lit.se profile, it'll look for Goblin Court or Masters of Umdaar on lit.se.

(I don't know how to feel about more than 25% of the games I've played lacking rpg.se system tags entirely.)

bobble

@ThomasMarkov it comes from having spent/wasted so much time reading stuff there that I know where the information is, and what keywords to use to find it

G. Moylan

2:07 PM

apparently my recent profile changes weren't saved :( now I have to fix it all again

Thomas Markov

I posted an answer on the new community VP's "Best of Stack" question.

Feeds

Needles & Nilbogs: Car trips and siblings and games, oh my!

posted on August 05, 2021 by Bardic Wizard

I've been on a road trip for the last two weeks, and because I still don't drive, I'm crammed in the back seat along with other family members. One of those family members is my brother, aged seven and a half, who really likes imaginative play. I've tried to teach him how to play various rpgs before (sometimes with success), but I think the things he's done that taught me the most about r…

G. Moylan

2:25 PM

@ThomasMarkov nice pick!

Thomas Markov

2:35 PM

ahahhaha someone just went through and downvoted most of the answers on that thread.

G. Moylan

@ThomasMarkov what a turd

bobble

@ThomasMarkov they did that to the already-existing answers a while back, maybe they're doing it to every new answer too

G. Moylan

grumpy people gonna grump

"hey guys lets have a little fun and celebrate cool stuff on the site" "no, FU, everyone gets downvotes"

why do people gotta be like that

BESW

Riverhouse Games announced on twitter an experiment with "basing the number of available Community Copies on the number of ratings a game has rather than the number of units sold" on their itch.io store.

Someone_Evil

2:51 PM

@G.Moylan Gentle reminder to Be Nice. Can't say I understand the downvotes either, but they are allowed to cast them as they see fit (assuming it's a single voter)

GcL

@Someone_Evil When a mouse and a down arrow find themselves in a very close position, sometimes they click. And that's how downvotes happen.

2

Thomas Markov

3:39 PM

Questions that make me nervous for 400, Alex

BESW

I suggest people read that user's profile before engaging.

Thomas Markov

@BESW I am only more confused, so thanks for that.

G. Moylan

I felt like I was having a stroke reading that

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov I am also confused

BESW

If a user is new to rpg.se but not new to the Stack, but seems to be struggling with Stacking nonetheless, I sometimes look at their network profile and see how many site accounts are at 1 rep.

G. Moylan

3:48 PM

my GUESS is perhaps they were asking whether people can roleplay characters with different real-world perspectives/experiences and challenges than themselves without being problematic, but there wasn't enough detail there to really explain that

BESW

Clicking through to those one-rep user pages can be enlightening.

NautArch

Let's all also remember to stay nice here.

G. Moylan

I don't think we aren't?

goodguy5

I could start if you'd like

AncientSwordRage

@G.Moylan I have stopped saying things similar to "I felt like I was having a stroke reading that" because to me it felt like I was being mean

G. Moylan

3:54 PM

@BESW Does getting a suspension set the rep to 1? I thought the lowest you could have was 101 (for additional sites) unless ofc you got downvoted a lot or gave a bounty

@AncientSwordRage Fair. It was genuinely a disorienting experience for me reading that, but I suppose there are nicer and more sensitive ways to express that

AncientSwordRage

@G.Moylan agreed

goodguy5

@AncientSwordRage I think I agree; mostly because there's a reasonable alternate saying. "My brain stopped working when I read that"

Someone_Evil

@G.Moylan A suspended account is set to 1 while the suspension lasts, yes

goodguy5

Though as someone with a family member that had a stroke, I can tell you that I am not personally offended

fwiw

BESW

59

A: My account has been temporarily suspended; what does that mean?

When an account is suspended The account will receive a private moderator message, explaining the exact details of the suspension and a box to contact moderators.1 The account will be locked at 1 reputation. The user page will have a visual reminder that the account is in timed suspension. It ...

G. Moylan

3:56 PM

@goodguy5 Thinking about it, it seems like one of those things that, while probably not overtly offensive to most folks, it's likely borderline enough that it should probably be avoided

AncientSwordRage

@G.Moylan yeah it's borderline enough

goodguy5

I think that I am only really annoyed at (excuse the phrase) politically correcting language when there's not a good alternative.

BESW

[shrug] Isn't the onus on us as compassionate people to make good alternatives happen?

6

goodguy5

Like, if calling someone a zombie became offensive somehow, then like... what do we say instead?

"oh, somebody's a real lifeless automaton today"

@BESW I only ever claimed to be good, and a guy and maybe the 5th one of those; not to be compassionate.

G. Moylan

@BESW doesn't mean it'll stick, though. You can try to suggest something but sometimes we don't know enough ourselves to be truly helpful, even if we mean well

AncientSwordRage

4:01 PM

When I first started posting things on the interwebs, I was mistaken for a non-native speaker while I struggled with my dyslexia. They were, to my knowledge, trying to be helpful, but I was still quite upset

G. Moylan

It's recognizing when we don't know enough that's the hard part

BESW

@goodguy5 Generally, I find that being more specific and less euphemistic is a good tactic. "They seem distracted today," or "on autopilot."

goodguy5

(joke's aside yes, we should strive to fix, adapt, and (when needed) develop language to create a more inclusive manner of speaking

AncientSwordRage

now imagine how upset I'd have been if they had said "I felt like I was having a stroke reading that"

(I would have been much more upset about it)

goodguy5

@BESW I don't need to get into a whole conversation on the merits of calling someone (maybe myself) a zombie today, but I see your point.

BESW

4:02 PM

It can take a bit more creativity to overcome the inertia of using familiar idiom, but it often improves our communication as well.

goodguy5

Also, how the hell has everyone been in here? I've been fairly absent.

BESW

It's 2am and Affinity Photo is almost finished downloading its update.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW YAY

I have to dash off!

ciao for niao

BESW

ttfn

(Affinity updates are actually quite quick and easy compared to when I was using Adobe Cloud, and they let you postpone updates until a good time and you can still use the program meanwhile, but I made Poor Choices about trying to update all three apps at the same time and my bandwidth went hkkkr.)

Thomas Markov

4:24 PM

@BESW thats wheere i have seen them before.

G. Moylan

5:20 PM

Hey folks, I've updated this answer to remove Crawford tweets and to restructure a bit. If you feel I missed the mark, please let me know and I'll work to fix it up

NautArch

@G.Moylan Take my updoot, please.

Although whenever a question like that comes up I want to ask "Er, why are you asking?"

G. Moylan

@NautArch I think in this case it's just theoretical, but yeah usually these get at lease one question mark from me, too

@NautArch thanks much!

NautArch

@G.Moylan But it's those details that matter :) "Oh, yeah, that's fine. Wait. You want to do what? No."

G. Moylan

@NautArch that's a good point. sometimes folks extend the logic a little too far

Hot RPG Questions

5:46 PM

4

Q: Do I need to convert spell points in sorcery points to apply metamagic, if so how does it work exactly?

I need help for the spell points variants with a sorcerer using metamagic: Variant: Spell Points I had all my sorcery points and spell slots in spell points, but I just turned lvl 3 wich opens the way for metamagic options. Can spell points be used directly for metamagic or do I have to convert t...

dnd-5e spells sorcerer metamagic optional-rules

KorvinStarmast

6:22 PM

@NautArch does Greater Restoration replicate Remove Curse in D&D 5e? I may have a redundant spell on my list ... am a warlock 9, so they are all cast at level 5 ...

G. Moylan

@KorvinStarmast seems redundant

that was inaccurate. It seems wholly redundant

KorvinStarmast

@G.Moylan yeah, I removed the curse of lycanthropy on a bunch of folks a few sessions ago, using remove curse, which I've had since level 5, but as I read through Greater Restoration, it seems to do the same thing and a whole lot more.

G. Moylan

one might even say it's greater

KorvinStarmast

giggle

ACuriousMind

6:39 PM

@KorvinStarmast note that GR has a 100 gp material component, while RC hasn't.

so if you're strapped for cash you perhaps don't want to trade in RC for GR

Someone_Evil

RC also takes all curses, while GR only takes one, though I'm not sure how often multiple curses comes up

ACuriousMind

if you're regularly getting cursed with multiple curses, you might want to re-evaluate your approach to adventuring :P

Someone_Evil

Hey! How was I supposed to know that both of the chests in that crypt were cursed?

NautArch

@Someone_Evil Maybe the signs that said "Do not open. Cursed."

Someone_Evil

@NautArch People just put those up to scare people. You don't do the sign and actually curse things, that's just inefficient

Thomas Markov

6:49 PM

@NautArch Let us think dispel magic would break a curse, then let us get cursed on purpose thinking we could take care of it.

Then the NPC guide fixed it, but still. Not cool bro.

:P

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov Hey you know your spells and what they do!

Graverobbers.

Thomas Markov

I still feel bad about Visaris' button of necromancy.

Someone_Evil

Did it get pushed?

Thomas Markov

@G.Moylan gets another bounty.

G. Moylan

@ThomasMarkov woohoo!

@ThomasMarkov lol "fickle and capricious developer twitter accounts"

NautArch

7:01 PM

@ThomasMarkov You should. Get that wild magic under control, hoss.

Actually, you can blame @nitsua60 :P

Thomas Markov

@NautArch I did not choose to be the way that I am.

@NautArch This is basically blaming a random outcome on my guy syndrome.

KorvinStarmast

7:18 PM

@ACuriousMind yeah, I think I'll keep them both separately

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov When that guy is Nits :P

BUt no, I don't really blame you. And I don't think Visarys does either.

I had expected more in and out of towns as well. THe pin isn't that necessary at this point in the campaign.

Anyways, I thought you were leaning into the wild magic pop-offs so that you could switch classes?

Thomas Markov

7:47 PM

Yeah, I'm having a great time

V2Blast

10:23 PM

@NautArch when in doubt, blame the sheep

bobble

10:42 PM

in The Sphinx's Lair, 17 mins ago, by bobble

If you see profile-page changes, don't panic: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/368285/some-changes-to-the-profile-while-we-make-it-responsive

Thomas Markov

close as dupe

AncientSwordRage

@bobble they're mostly harmless

Thomas Markov

10:57 PM

@AncientSwordRage except for the part where they’re terrible

Someone_Evil

@ThomasMarkov Is that in reference to the profiles or is this a deep cut?

Thomas Markov

@Someone_Evil the profile changes.

Someone_Evil

It works as an extension of the bit, FWIW

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