PSE RPG Chatroom - 2021-01-07 (page 2 of 5)

Graylocke

05:00

How tall is Astrid?

bobble

I'm double-checking some stuff and dwarves don't have speed penalties for heavy armor!

4ft

Graylocke

Well I can't be 0'4" so there goes that pattern ;p

I'll be 6'4" then, I think.

bobble

You could try mirroring Johnny - I don't think his height is decided

Graylocke

How old should I be... hmm

bobble

I'm 45, and 50 is an adult

Almost there!

Mithical

05:03

@PrinceNorthLæraðr probably archery

bobble

> Tends to run into things headfirst, and has faith it will all work out in the end. Doesn't subscribe to this whole planning thing.

one of the things I wrote down for Astrid :D

Graylocke

hahaha - oh dear

bobble

Thing is, it can be difficult to get her going - but once she's in, she's in

Graylocke

I also imagine a long complicated discussion about the difference between being a cleric of a fey deity and being a warlock of a fey immortal with Astrid asking lots of questions and Ink being unable to answer satisfactorily.

@Mithical I wasn't sure which I feared more - the tiny person who can hurt me from far away, or the prospect of being attacked by a tiny ball of blades...

Mithical

REEPICHEEP

I just suspect that getting close to people while fighting offers more chances for me to be squashed

bobble

05:09

> Halfling Nimbleness: You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.

you're nimble

Mithical

I know

Oh, and BTW, I DMed Mick some backstory for my character that the rest of the party may not be aware of

Graylocke

Ooh :D

bobble

fair fair

I assume that the stuff about how I converted to Pan and the priest would come out during regular conversation; you all know it

Graylocke

Yeah - I think the "from far away" and Warlock of a faerie dragon are known. Details about past are probably not. :)

Oh @Mithical:
https://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/56666149#56666149

Anything to object to, given you get some choice here? :)

Since Kith and Astrid and Lae are together at the time they meet Ink, I guess?

bobble

Mith, North, and 'borg should be receiving Kith and Astrid now

Graylocke

05:18

(How would I send 'borg, or anyone, the sheet? >.>;)

bobble

email

'borg has their email in their profile, I can OTS you my email

Graylocke

Is that one okay to use?

bobble

for Sciborg? yeah, just don't spam them

Graylocke

Of course not >.>;

I am only slightly annoying <.<;

Mithical

@Graylocke it looks good but I'm probably very interested in your book

bobble

05:21

the email I'd OTS you is a Puzzling-specific email, so no personal information from me

Graylocke

@Mithical It is quite an odd book that is always on their person ;p

Mithical

@bobble received, thanks

Graylocke

@bobble No worries. That is totally understandable. Mine is largely full of junk because I have had it for such a long time. It is my tag here at gmail so... it isn't hard to find. :)

bobble

Mith, do you like chubby Astrid?

Mithical

chubby Astrid is great

bobble

05:30

are you going to be able to draw Kith?

Mithical

I have no artistic skills. My creative abilities start and end with stringing words together

bobble

I can attempt a sketch of Kith, with your blessing, if you so desire

Graylocke

Or cheat like I did! :D

Mithical

I don't particularly require a picture, but if you want to it'd certainly be appreciated :D

bobble

any extra description beyond what's on the character sheet?

Mithical

05:35

Hmmm

I didn't really have anything else in mind

Except for wearing a backpack :P

bobble

any equipment that you want Kith to be carrying, besides the backpack?

I drew Astrid with her bracelet and book because those are important to her identity

Mithical

Kith likes to keep most stuff in the pack, for practicality. Probably sheathed swords though

bobble

I'll see if I can give them a scabbard

Kith isn't chubby like Astrid, right? More skinny and lithe.

Mithical

Yeah

bobble

I shall attempt what will likely be a terrible drawing tomorrow during my morning time

Mithical

05:47

:D

Graylocke

A bow!

bobble

06:00

'night, all. I'll ping Mith once the drawing is uploaded

Graylocke

Night bobble :) Sleep well, dream nice!

Mithical

07:15

So - have we all finished creating characters? Or does @msh210 still need to flesh stuff out?

Graylocke

I don't know if msh210 is done or not :) I am ready to play... I could tinker with characters forever...

@Mithical You are a writer?

Mithical

I like to think so

Graylocke

:D awesome... I have tried but I am not great at the wordsmithing. This is why I run RPGs instead ^^;

Urf... I firmly believe that the internet was one of those "inventions we didn't realise had a bad side"...

I wonder if there is a correlation between the people who click on advertising links and those kinds of people...

(You do have a very good way of explaining things...)

Mithical

07:31

:)

msh210

@Mithical @Graylocke I have only this:

7 hours ago, by msh210

Graylocke

Lookin good :)

@msh210 Looks like you just need some personality traits... and possibly spell list?

Mithical

@msh210 cool, so looks like just personality and background stuff left

Graylocke

:D

snap

msh210

@Graylocke no idea

probably also ideals, bonds, and flaws, no?

Graylocke

07:35

Yes those :)

I was wrapping them up as "personality traits" but yes :)

msh210

and whatever CP, SP, EP, GP, and PP are

Mithical

Those are the personality things

Graylocke

Oh those are $

Mithical

Oh, and Proficiency Bonus

Graylocke

second P for "piece", first letter for the metal (copper, silver, electrum, gold and platinum)

msh210

07:36

ah

and initiative

if relevant. I've no idea what it is

and pages 2-3

Mithical

Probably easiest to start with ideals

Graylocke

So first things first - your proficiency bonus is in the bard table -> +2 at level 1

That doesn't need any thought at all

Then I agree ... personality things :) Ideals!

(For reference: roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Bard#content is where I got the proficiency bonus from. There is an equivalent table in the PDF somewhere or other)

msh210

what is aproficiency bonus though?

Mithical

It gives you an advantage in the skills you are Proficient in

msh210

oh okay

Graylocke

07:41

It is... the bonus you get for being what level you are. It is applied to all proficient skills and saves, as well as combat things.

I should let @Mithical explain things... much less wordy and confusing than me ;p

Mithical

Much less experienced though

msh210

roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Bard#content also says "Features: Spellcasting, Bardic Inspiration (d6)". What's that?

Graylocke

So Bards get to cast spells - we can get to that bit :)

Also they get a special ability called Bardic Inspiration that means you can take an action to give another player a boost on a roll. It's just a special ability Bards get. :)

msh210

what's a "boost"?

Mithical

increases their chances of succeeding

Graylocke

07:44

"bonus" if you prefer. In this case it is a random bonus that comes from rolling a dice.

msh210

oh okay

I thought it was a term of art

Graylocke

So say Kith had to make a difficult shot with a bow and arrow, you could say something encouraging and Mith would get to roll the normal dice and add that, and also add an extra d6 in order to hit the target.

msh210

got it

Graylocke

Extremely handy for those moments where we really need a specific outcome and we don't want to rely too much on chance!

You could put "Bardic Inspiration (1d6)" in that big panel in the bottom right of pg 1 :)

msh210

As I recall (not sure now where I saw it), the personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws can be chosen either by me or by chance. So I guess we should wait for our DM to decide which I should do?

Or did they already say for the rest of you? then I'll just do the same.

Mithical

07:54

We all just made everything up ourselves

msh210

but picking from the official list?

(the one that the dice pick from if you use dice)

Mithical

You're thinking of the main stats - Strength, Dexterity, etc

The flaws, traits, etc. are the personality you create for yourself

msh210

no...

one sec

Graylocke

There is a way of using your background to pick personality traits

They are a way of guiding your choices to things that are related to your background... but if you have a strong idea of how you want your character to be, then you don't have to be bound to that list.

msh210

right! that's where I saw it

5e.tools/backgrounds.html#athlete_mot

Graylocke

07:59

Sure - You can use one from each list if you like... or if one of them gives you a cool idea you can change it some.. Or you can think of anything that fits the character you imagine.

msh210

... which also says "Feature: Echoes of Victory", should I put that in my "features & traits" box?

@Graylocke okay cool

Graylocke

Oh yes, sure :)

I forgot that I had one of those and left it off hmm... Eh I think it was "People think you are weird"

Mithical

"people think I am cute because I am tiny and I do not like that"

Graylocke

Ink is perfectly on board with "do not judge me for how I look" :)

msh210

perl -E"say 1+int rand 8"

"Favored Event While many athletes practice various games and events, most excel at a single form of competition. Roll or choose from the options in the Favored Event table to determine the athletic event in which you excel." Where do I list this?

Graylocke

08:04

I think it counts as a proficiency :)

msh210

okay, I've got my personality et al.

Graylocke

So Athlete also starts you with 10GP I notice... so that also answers that question :)

msh210

yeah it's already on my list

point buy is only at the start of the game?

Graylocke

Yes - though I am not sure what you are referring to specifically

msh210

dunno, I was told to buy strength, dexterity, et al with points, up to 27 as I recall

that's once per game at the start?

Graylocke

08:15

Yes :)

msh210

what's "inspiration" (top of page 1 of the character sheet)?

Graylocke

Did you not do that to get your attributes?

msh210

@Graylocke point buy? I did. I was just wondering if it's a one-time thing.

Graylocke

Yes :) You have good stats :)

Okay - so you have spells and a background story left?

msh210

nope

oh sorry, I missed the word "left"

or maybe it wasn't there

Graylocke

08:19

@msh210 Oh I missed this question - it is a temporary award that Mick can give us for doing something heroic

msh210

oh so I leave that blank, I assume

Graylocke

yeah :)

msh210

"attacks and spellcasting" is also blank for me

and "experience points"

Graylocke

Well you have your physical attacks listed... those are probably okay until you work out your spell list

msh210

and basically all of pages 2-3

Graylocke

08:20

experience points will be 0 to begin with :)

Page 2 is likely to be reasonably empty.

msh210

I see I get to pick a couple of spells to start with, but I don't have time now to look through them and pick

Graylocke

All good - you can filter the spell list on the website you were looking at :)

Page 2's important thing is some backstory that you think sounds like it would begin a hero's journey :)

msh210

hm

How are bards magical?

Sorry --

I don't mean in what way are they magical, but how is it that they happen to be magical?

How do they become so?

magical = I mean, able to cast spells, to provide bardic inspiration, etc

(or is the inspiration purely moral, not magical?)

Graylocke

So the general idea is that there is a hidden magic in music and words that can be discovered. Oftentimes bards who have a talent for accessing it are trained... so having a mentor in your backstory is a good plan?

If that is kind of what you mean?

msh210

ahhhh I see

okay yes thank you, that's what I meant

Graylocke

08:32

So... is multi-coloured fire, fey enough? >.>;

msh210

@Graylocke @Sciborg @anyone Does this make sense?:

Not having inherited his parents' extreme interest in reading (both are bards of poetry and fiction), João found his niche in footraces from a young age. He won almost every race he ran and won acclaim across a wide area. He suddenly quit competition, though, for reasons he refuses to discuss, though rumors abound. Now he's frequently seen running hard and long, but never in competition. And he seems to have learned something at his parents' knees too, as he is self-training to be a bard as well.

Graylocke

Oooh - a mystery :) I like it.

msh210

(Perhaps you can tell I'm not a big fantasy person. :-) )

Graylocke

No - this is good :)

msh210

okay

Graylocke

08:40

I like that there is a perhaps unresolved issue that might come up :)

msh210

it is related to:

Graylocke

Perfect :)

Your first trait may lead you directly to a spell ;p

msh210

I figure the banter and gibes and general good humor can be a cover for the emotional pain that he doesn't let himself feel.

Graylocke

5e.tools/spells.html#vicious%20mockery_phb

... for when you target that pain at an enemy with the force of your magic ;p

msh210

@Graylocke hm, maybe

Graylocke

08:48

Urf colouring takes forever >.>;

msh210

Wouldn't know. I've never tried coloring urfs. :-)

Mithical

@msh210 how did you fall in with the party?

msh210

@Mithical Where's the story of how people got together? I know it's ^ up there somewhere but do you know a good transcript-search term to use?

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your bard spells. Your magic comes from the heart and soul you pour into the performance of your music or oration. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a bard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

^ form the description of Bard. Can someone translate that into English for me please?

Mithical

09:05

12 hours ago, by Prince North Læraðr

So, Astrid and Kithri meet Fen, Fen attaches to both Astrid (dunno why) and Kithri because they're good with animals

msh210

I mean, what does it mean to sat that I "use my Charisma"? I use it up? I have a more powerful spell if my Charisma points are higher? Both? Something else?

Graylocke

https://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/56665602#56665602 is Kith arriving,
https://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/56666149#56666149 is Ink arriving...

msh210

thanks, I'll check 'em out

Mithical

@msh210 your Charisma score is what decides the effectiveness of your spells if I understand correctly

msh210

Also, what does "a spell refers to your spellcasting ability" mean? Some spells themselves refer to the ability of the caster? Seems strange.

Graylocke

09:08

Er what it means is that different classes use different attributes to cast spells. Yours are based on Charisma (like mine).

So the higher your Charisma the easier it is to hit things with magic, or the harder it is for enemies to resist it

Some spells will change slightly depending on a roll, and those rolls use your spell casting attribute to determine success.

Mithical

@msh210 no, it means whenever it's talking about "spellcastibg ability" in the context of spells, your spellcasting ability is your Charisma

msh210

okay thanks

Graylocke

So say you use a spell to charm me, I would try to resist, but the target difficulty for me to resist your spell is related to your Charisma.

As an example.

msh210

Can the spell's effectiveness be dependent on a die roll even in absence of your resisting? E.g. can I try to cast a certain spell, but it takes effect only if my d20+8>12 or something?

Graylocke

Yes :) So it will depend on the kind of spell.

msh210

09:19

Okay. What's "DC"?

Graylocke

Difficulty Class, basically the target you need to roll

msh210

hm.... I should read each character's background before I read how they got together

Graylocke

All rolls to do something, pretty much work the same way. A d20 is rolled, some bonuses are added based on how good the person doing the action is... and then that is compared to a target number.

msh210

makes sense

Graylocke

If it is an attack roll, there are specific numbers on any individual (eg Armour Class) that give that targer.

In some cases there is no roll to make it happen, just a roll to try to prevent it... that's mostly what saving throws are for.

And in some cases there is an opposed roll... both sides get to make a roll and the higher total wins, basically.

And example of the last one is say... I try to hide from you using my Stealth skill, and you try to find me using your Perception... we both roll our skills and whichever is higher wins.

They all make sense in context. :)

msh210

09:25

okay, yeah makes sense

Graylocke

You don't have to have a handle on every rule in order to play... I have run a game in which none of the players knew the rules in the beginning and they played characters I made for them (through conversation).

You can pick up most things as the game happens... :)

msh210

sounds good

Mithical

Yeah, I've basically ignored the encounter rules for now until it actually becomes relevant, figure I'll just learn as we go

And there's a limit to how much I can actually read the handbook

Graylocke

Hehe - yes... it's pretty... dense.

Graylocke

10:03

My effort for the day... but I think I am going to sleep now T.T

msh210

12:59

@all d'you think you could paste here your character sheets (or send them to me) please?

Meanwhile I'm supposed to pick two cantrips and four level-one spells to be able to do, so I'll check 5e.tools/spells.html

Cantrips... message sounds very useful.

Blade ward too, I guess.

Also true strike, depending on what "advantage" means. Anyone know? I guess I should ping @Sciborg for that

Oh, I see:

18 hours ago, by Sciborg

@bobble Inspiration is something the DM gives you when you did something really cool. You can spend Inspiration to get an advantage on a roll (meaning you roll twice and choose the higher number.)

Or vicious mockery as already mentioned. So hard to choose.

And for spells, dissonant whispers sounds just my speed.

Healing word sounds very useful, and maybe longstrider also.

Sleep and earth tremor also affect my traveling companions, so seem not so useful.

Right?

Also spells that require me to use salt or soot or a feather or tarts (tarts!!) seem not as useful.

Whadday'all think?

Mithical

14:00

Healing does sound very useful

Prince North Læraðr

14:40

@Graylocke I can also be scout!

I do have 35 base walking speed, so I'm faster than all y'all anyways :P

Mithical

If I ride on Lae's shoulders can I move faster 👀

Prince North Læraðr

14:56

Hey, I'm no mount! :p

Double archers

@Graylocke C'mon guys, take out the healers!

@bobble Did you send me your character sheet

Ah, received

msh210

@bobble @Graylocke @Mithical @PrinceNorthLæraðr :

2 hours ago, by msh210

@all d'you think you could paste here your character sheets (or send them to me) please?

Prince North Læraðr

15:11

@Mithical So probably you're going to be a tanky sniper?

@msh210 Ah, yup

msh210

I assume it'd be valuable for us all to see each others'. Specifically, I'd like to see all your back stories & traits. I've pasted what I have so far, in bits and pieces, and will gladly the paste the entire thing (what I've got so far) if anyone wants.

Prince North Læraðr

Mithical

Gimme an hour or so to get home, out of uniform etc

msh210

no, sorry, you have to do it right now

Mithical

:'(

(typed after I finished crossing the street)

Prince North Læraðr

15:17

@msh210 Do you have an email I can send it to?

msh210

gmail.com is the domain; msh210 is the mailbox

Prince North Læraðr

Okay, perfect. I think it'll be much easier to read

msh210

thanks

bobble

Astrid's first page

Kith's first page

11 hours ago, by bobble

> When out to recover after getting overwhelmed, Astrid found a small religous book that spoke of Pan. A tiny scroll for Druidcraft was tucked in the pages. They converted and immediately loved making things bloom. Family didn't approve - what proper hill dwarft spends all their time in meadows? - so she left to find some others who loved nature as much as she.

While travelling they met a priest of Pan, named Landon. He answered their many, many questions, gave them a bracelet with Pan's symbol, trained them as a priest, taught them a few more spells, and generally took care of them. Then …

Prince North Læraðr

@msh210 Sent

bobble

15:25

Astrid's backstory

Prince North Læraðr

Lucky seems broken

bobble

oh, didn't see the email thing. North, could you forward the Kith-Astrid email to msh?

msh210

I can read them above.

North's was harder because the back story is tiny in the screenshot

Prince North Læraðr

It wasn't a screenshot, it was just sent in the pdf form and didn't like adjust

msh210

oh

Stoneleaf and Tealeaf.

bobble

15:28

heh, didn't consider that

Also, in the backstory I switch between she/her and they/them for Astrid - she's fine with either.

msh210

@bobble oh! That was -- not clear. I thought "they" referred to her and her traveling companions referred to just before ("some others who loved nature as much as she").

Mithical

Copy paste dump from my text file on my phone:

Kithri Tealeaf. Chaotic Good. 19 years old, lightfooted halfling. Ranger class. Two and a half feet tall. Brown hair worn shoulder length, with hazel eyes. Two small circular scars on her right elbow, and a long jagged scar down her right leg.

Spent every minute possible in the outdoors, teaching herself everything - staying out for months at a time. Naturally curious and loves to explore. Her parents live in a town with other races.

Open and talkative to other people, but if asked about a SO she immediately clams up.

There is some backstory that is currently unknown to the rest of the party (and is only known by me and the DM).

bobble

When out to recover after getting overwhelmed, Astrid found a small religous book that spoke of Pan. A tiny scroll for Druidcraft was tucked in the pages. She converted and immediately loved making things bloom. Family didn't approve - what proper hill dwarft spends all her time in meadows? - so she left to find some others who loved nature as much as she.

While travelling she met a priest of Pan, named Landon. He answered her many, many questions, gave her a bracelet with Pan's symbol, trained her as a priest, taught her a few more spells, and generally took care of her. Then he went into…

version with all "they"s that refer to Astrid swapped for "she"s

Did you pick your spells yet, msh210?

msh210

heh, that's clearer, but it was enough to tell me (as you had above) that both pronouns refer to the same person. In general, I suspect any editor would correct switching pronouns for someone in the same text even if she's happy to use either.

bobble

I wrote it in pieces, and mostly the switches reflect each time I turned away to do something else and then went back.

msh210

15:37

@bobble no, I mentioned some above and sought feedback re what might be smartest to pick, especially from the seasoned players. But I'm pretty sure I'm picking dissonant whispers.

@bobble ah

bobble

It would probably be useful to have two characters who can heal, as I can only heal two people before needing a break.

Which was good in a 3-character party, and doesn't work as great in a 5-character one

msh210

okay, so healing word

bobble

dissonant whispers looks nice - it's basically a very good ranged attack that you can't use much

msh210

@bobble why not?

bobble

You have a limited number of spell slots - I have 2, not sure how much bards get. It takes one slot to cast a spell (I think), and once you've used all your slots you have to take a rest (I forget how long the rest is) before they replenish

That's why cantrips are nice. They don't use spell slots, so you can cast them as often as you want

Just checked, you have 2 slots at 1st level

msh210

15:48

should I list that fact on my sheet somewhere?

that I have 2 slots

matt

bobble

I have "2" in "Slots total" for "Spell level 1", because I have two slots for level 1 spells

Once you've picked your spells your sheet should look similar to this.

The stuff in parentheses aren't required, but I'm just putting notes to remind myself how the spells work

msh210

thanks

^ what do "classes" & "backgrounds" mean here? Can I use this only if I'm a bard from the Rakdos cultist background?

or only if I'm a bard of those subclasses?

bobble

Those are the kinds of players who have access to that spell

msh210

oh wait, those aren't bard subclasses

so it's an "or" thing: any bard has it, and any Rakdos cultist has it, etc?

bobble

15:55

yep

msh210

okay

So I should check that when picking my spells &cantrips -- make sure I can :-)

bobble

Yes, but if you filter for Bard you should be fine

Mith, would Kith be wearing clothes that cover her elbow scars?

or leg scars, for that matter

Transcript for

♦ PSE RPG Chatroom