TRPG General Chat

12:00 AM

Yeah. Grafts replace, they aren't free bonus limbs.

@Shalvenay I don't actually know. RPGs provide enough ways to place immovable rocks before irresistible forces that some kind of "reality excursion event" struck me as an amusing consequence of some of these "but how does RAW?" issues.

Shalvenay

strange campaign scenes: my CG cleric (of Corellon Larethian) is about to go park her rump next to a mostly-CN demon (Sanguinus or h/e it's spelled) for a friendly chat, I feel...

@SevenSidedDie xDDD -- yeah, "reality excursion event" is a good way to describe it, although you don't need magic to cause that: 1.2GT of TNT is quite the reality excursion for most folks.

SevenSidedDie

@Shalvenay Is this 5e or some other Xe?

The lesser geas, that is. I think that's 3.5e, right?

Shalvenay

@SevenSidedDie -- the cleric scene? 3.5e

I was also using 3.5e as a reference for (Lesser) Geas

(let me check my 2e PHB tho -- I think the spell is fairly well-conserved between editions)

SevenSidedDie

@Shalvenay Actually, I think it does what it says on the tin: cumulative -2 per day of being unable to act on conflicting geases, and the spell will expire due to being unable to pursue via their own actions.

Shalvenay

12:08 AM

@SevenSidedDie -- interesting

the 2e Geas doesn't have that rule, though -- instead, it punts to rule 0

SevenSidedDie

What I'm not sure is whether it's -2 per geas. It might not be, as stacking from the same source doesn't happen.

@Shalvenay Yeah. Geas is more of a plot device, at least in historical "why is it in D&D" terms.

Shalvenay

aaaaah. I suspect the 2e Geas actually cannot be stacked at all by RAW

"The creature must be intelligent, conscious, under its own volition, and able to understand the caster"

(emphasis mine)

SevenSidedDie

@Shalvenay Yeah, that might be. Since that's just English words though, in practice it will be context-sensitive and therefore DM judgment.

After all geas doesn't remove all volition.

Shalvenay

true

I'd interpret it to lock out the spell against being stacked though

otherwise, you get into extremely confusing territory, both OOC and IC

SevenSidedDie

@Shalvenay I suspect it's more about avoiding placing geas on targets that simply cannot act on the geas.

Shalvenay

12:14 AM

I suspect so as well

SevenSidedDie

Two conflicting geases may be out of the question, but two non-interacting ones may be fine.

Shalvenay

come to think of it, that'd make sense as well

Miniman

@Pureferret Well, it's Paladin only, so you either need enough Paladin levels to get 2nd level spells (can't remember how many that is), or 6 levels of Bard.

@Pureferret You should be able to wish for find steed, yeah

SevenSidedDie

12:39 AM

@Shalvenay I was thinking more that reality itself is experiencing the excursion, in analogy to a criticality excursion event. Still traumatic for any squishy lifeforms nearby I bet, though.

Maybe that's how a sphere of annihilation is created.

Tritium21

1:08 AM

So the GM baton has been passed in my group, and we are playing a superhero game in which there are occasional dc-esq retcons

BESW

Setting pressure: Superboy is throwing a tantrum.

Tritium21

its...interesting

the neat thing about it is, reality changes, but everyone is aware that it has changed

no apparent cause, but its many many sessions between an event

and they are well thought out changes

BESW

Cool.

My campaign is edging up to a magic-saturation event.

Pixie

We're doing a superhero game now too, at least as a oneshot. I'm trying to figure out what I want to play since everything is on the table. Heroes being pulled from other dimensions.

David Wilkins

1:49 AM

Good evening!

Shalvenay

2:26 AM

o/ @Pixie

Pixie

Hello.

Shalvenay

2:37 AM

@Pixie how're things going?

Pixie

@Shalvenay Alright. Just relaxing. How are you?

Shalvenay

playing 3.5e -- with a Truenamer in our party :p

also, dealing with some IC drama llamas

Pixie

@Shalvenay I hadn't known what that was as I never encountered it in my 3.5 days. Looked it up. Oh dear.

Shalvenay

it is the one 3.5e class that is quite literally broken

(as in: the RAW does not function anywhere near how it was intended)

Pixie

Yeah, I gathered that from what I found.

Shalvenay

2:44 AM

(parts of the RAW for Truenamers simply don't work at all)

also, basking in the glow of a 59 and 0 answer on a V: tR question -- when I don't know one whit about the system or its setting

Shalvenay

3:44 AM

so our DM has started failing search checks for creatures now...

HELP -- which book is the Bloodveld found in?!

(D&D 3.5 or Pathfinder)

doppelgreener

4:13 AM

Is it just me or are we getting an awful lot of idea requests just in the past couple of months?

Also, we have a question and answer all about that Truenamer and its problems!

10

Q: What is wrong with the Truenamer?

I have seen a lot of people say that the Truenamer does not work (such as this answer placing Truenamer at the bottom tier) or that it's terrible. As far as I can read and see, though, it seems to be very strong as a caster type. At low levels it doesn't much more or less then a low level wizard...

Shalvenay

aye -- I've read the Truenamer optimization guides

Miniman

@doppelgreener The site seems to go through phases - right now it's a bit of a crappy open-ended question phase.

My favourite is the "trivial rules question" phase, it's where I got most of my rep.

Shalvenay

@doppelgreener: me: "They need to rewrite the Truenamer handbook" DM: "This is the rewrite to the Truenamer handbook"

doppelgreener

@Miniman I'm interested in what we'll see when we move past all the "wait a minute, what's the RAW for this thing in D&D 5e?" "there isn't any, work it out yourself" questions.

SevenSidedDie

@Miniman That phase was somewhat maddening, because they're awful questions but not actually off-topic. Lots of discipline required there to just let them be.

At least these "help me think of stuff" questions can be closed promptly.

doppelgreener

4:24 AM

@Shalvenay oh god xD

Miniman

4:49 AM

Do we really need a tag for orcs?

Magician

5:15 AM

@Miniman Prooobably not, considering there's one question with this tag, made by the guy who wrote up the tag.

Miniman

5:31 AM

Yeah, I went and looked at the elf, dwarf, half-elf, and halfling tags, and they don't seem particularly meaningful either.

doppelgreener

6:33 AM

@Miniman the answer is probably what mxyzplk would provide: swinging by with a cry of "folksonomy!" on a rope, and disappearing as quickly as he came.

it's not an awful tag, necessarily, and someone felt it was worthwhile having it

@SevenSidedDie that was a gripping short story

Pureferret

6:50 AM

Yo ho

Tritium21

7:58 AM

Thats a first... I just rejected a suggested edit on one of my answers that...looks like vandalism to me. It was just nonsensical ramblings

Dorian

8:14 AM

Anyone in here know where to find the 3.x critical hit/fumble charts?

I can't seem to find em

Or is that only a Pathfinder rule?

(not counting older editions stuff, though I did find where the older edition ones would be)

Tritium21

8:37 AM

If there is a mod on, I flagged some comments on an answer for deletion (based on the discussion in them making it clear there needs to be clarification from the querent). I did not realize at the time that another poster asked for the clarification from the querent by linking to those comments... so if someone could decline that flag...

Dorian

9:14 AM

Hrm... I need a Tier 3 designed D&D3.5 game that I can fiddle with my Versatile Warlock idea...

All the games I'm currently in or pending entering are high powered games (and they're PF anyways) so I can't experiment with the build...

Phil

@Tritium21 it happens from time to time. Thankfully its quite rare though

doppelgreener

@Tritium21 i think what they were trying to say was, cryptically: "don't get suckered into people saying otherwise: no matter what position you have at the table, just play with it, see where it goes. it could actually work out! just have fun and kick butt together and work it out along the way.

but yeah that happens sometimes, like Phil said

@Dorian i don't think there are any official ones; the DMG recommends against them and provides no table in the very same section where it presents the idea

Joshua Aslan Smith

12:09 PM

the sidebar is missing for me in chat
anyone know how to fixt that?

Miniman

you haven't got the mobile version by accident?

Joshua Aslan Smith

12:24 PM

Main chat room for tabletop role-playing games. Anyone can ask...

6

Thats the url Im at

Miniman

The URL for the mobile version is the same, I don't know how it differentiates

doppelgreener

do you have a little [menu] button to the lower left of your input box?

Miniman

Anyways, that's my best guess

doppelgreener

if so, click it, then [full site] in the top right.

Joshua Aslan Smith

@doppelgreener that did it

Miniman

12:34 PM

Holy crap, I correctly diagnosed the problem?

(I mean, doppel solved it, but still)

Aaron

Miniman

@Aaron Well played.

Aaron

I need to use reaction gifs more.

XD

Not sure if that would be frowned on here though.

Maybe make sure the images are small like that one is.

Joshua Aslan Smith

lol

Aaron

1

Q: Problems between Gm and a Player, along with problems of investment in characters

I have been playing in a specific group for some time now. I now am in a position where I am going to be the gm once more. However I have a recurring problem with one of the players. When we started out playing in the group, I tended to have some trouble with the player in terms of explaining how...

pathfinder roleplaying social social-contract

doppelgreener

12:39 PM

they've generally been fine, but yes, small ones please :)

Aaron

Shall we give the usual answer to these questions? Talk to them.

David Reeve

12:52 PM

rpg.se should just have a big banner at the top that says "have you tried talking to the problem player?"

19

Joshua Aslan Smith

2:13 PM

Question could use a rewrite

Anaphory

3:19 PM

Hi folks

Joshua Aslan Smith

@waxeagle no game tonight correct.

@Anaphory herro

Herro Ml. Asran!

Hey

How's life?

3:39 PM

@JoshuaAslanSmith yes.

Pureferret

7:10 PM

@DavidReeve It could be a pop up that's keyed in a similar way to the pop ups on SO

But then it's handy when people come and they see the answer is 'Talk to them'

Aaron

0

Q: List of all core Bard spells in an excel format

Is there a list of Bard spells in an excel format somewhere? A Google search pulls up lists like this one but if I copy and paste them they paste into a single column with name and description on the same column.

dnd-3.5e bard

DuckTapeAl

7:23 PM

Hey @Aaron, do you need it specifically in excel, or just in an easily-searchable format?

Aaron

@DuckTapeAl I plan on putting it into a google spreadsheet and make it order-able by what book it is from, spell level, ect. So Excel format is highly preferred.

DuckTapeAl

I actually just found a database that has that exact functionality.

However, it's on a site that RPG.SE takes a dim view towards.

Aaron

Um

skype?

DuckTapeAl

Sure. 1 sec.

Aaron

... I need this to be in pathfinder.

a werewolf ent?

An ent wolf?

Either way it looks bad ass.

JohnP

7:32 PM

Forest guardian of some sort. Lots of prey around that are not alarmed at all.

Agreed, it looks bad ass.

Aaron

Looking at the comments of Imgur it seems it is literally a wolf in a suit of living tree armor from some comic.

Going to have to look for this comic

JohnP

@Aaron Google image search only comes up with desktop backgrounds.

Aaron

MoreVirginThanOliveOil 43 points : 3 replies : 4 hours ago reply

It's a wolf wearing a suit made of trees. It's a whole thing from the Gunnerkrigg Court webcomic.

Aaron

7:52 PM

I am going to look it up when I get home cause I don't know if it is nsfw or not

DuckTapeAl

Looks like it's SFW.

Based on a quick perusal of the archive and the wikipedia article.

Aaron

8:10 PM

Good lord.

There are 51 chapters already and it is updated three times a week

GamerJosh

9:40 PM

Gunnerkrigg Court is definitely SFW (and a good read, too!)

JohnP

9:56 PM

what a load of hooey. Can't believe we don't have a SE site for micro$oft office.

Miniman

@JohnP Because there are no experts when it comes to MS Office - only fellow victims.

10

JohnP

Grr.

I want to create a plug and play template, with a spot for an image, and then accompanying descriptions/text.

Iron Heart

10:53 PM

@Dorian 3.5 fumble charts are in the DMG, last I checked, with a warning about what it does to the game.

JohnP

Adding to the banner that @DavidReeve postulated, we should also have a disclaimer.

"If your question starts with 'What do you think of' or 'How does this sound'", don't. Just don't.

Miniman

Or ends with "Any ideas?"

Iron Heart

Well, that's a specific phrasing that can be used in a good SE question, Miniman.

Miniman

Not really. When it appears in a good SE question it's generally as a sort of footnote at the end that doesn't add anything to the question.

DuckTapeAl

11:19 PM

Is anyone familiar with DW on?

SevenSidedDie

I sometimes forget how far GMing techniques have come, and then something like this thuds onto the site:

0

A: Problems with Party Formation: "You're the DM, you can figure it out."

That sounds like a pack of munchkins. Warn them if that if they don't want to take the RP part of RPG seriously, then that's the game they get -- brutal, nasty and short. My suggestion is that you play it somewhat like Paranoia, that great old game where you should be done in a few hours, ever...

I'm not sure if I was too nice, or if I was savagely cutting in that comment.

@DuckTapeAl *raises hand*

DuckTapeAl

So, I'm reading the Dungeon World SRD, trying to figure out if I want to try and run a DW game, and there are some things that are confusing me.

Like, what do weapon tags do?

And is there any kind of initiative system?

SevenSidedDie

@DuckTapeAl Have you gone through the GM section yet? The book is almost backwards: the "headspace" of the game is all explained in the GM section, and it's vital to making sense of the rest of the system.

DuckTapeAl

I have, but I guess I'm just not understanding it well enough.

SevenSidedDie

Weapons tags are descriptive, so they tell you what can and can't be said about a weapon in the conversation. Like, if it has reach, you can't say that you use it while wrestling. Or well, you can, but at that point the GM's job is to say, "Really? How are you doing that?"

DuckTapeAl

11:23 PM

The reach thing makes sense, but what about precise, or messy?

SevenSidedDie

@DuckTapeAl Initiative in combat works the same as initiative out of combat: there's none, and the game flow according to the conversation, sometimes taking left turns due to what a move tells you to do, or when the GM makes a move that yanks the fiction in a new direction.

Miniman

@SevenSidedDie The thing I don't understand about that question is players threatening to not play with a GM (as opposed to the other way round). It's been my experience that people wanting to play RPGs outnumber people willing to run RPGs by an order of magnitude.

Polisurgist

@SevenSidedDie Poor Ruut. I totally sympathize

DuckTapeAl

@SevenSidedDie So, if you have a player who doesn't talk much and generally fades into the background in conversations, what do you do? Do they just act less than the less laconic players?

SevenSidedDie

@DuckTapeAl Oh yeah, you mean the ones that aren't obvious. Skip back to the beginning of the equipment section: they do what they say there. Specific application depends on the in-game circumstances.

@Miniman That's why I'm pretty sure they're bluffing. Or outright not worth playing with.

DuckTapeAl

11:25 PM

Aha. So, nothing on the SRD directly links to the equipment page.

Miniman

@SevenSidedDie Yeah, it's just such a weird thing for them to say in that situation.

SevenSidedDie

@DuckTapeAl They would, except the GM rules give you lots of ways to throw the spotlight on them.

DuckTapeAl

So unless you search for it, there's no way to know it exists.

SevenSidedDie

@DuckTapeAl Generally the "SRD" is crap for formatting. They just threw the CC-licensed text into a website and said "good enough". I prefer the DW Gazetteer because it's at least maintained by someone who cares to fix errors, and doesn't mislabel the text as an "SRD" for a game that doesn't have one.

No extra inter-linking there though. Just a slight tick more quality.

@Miniman I've seen enough of players acting entitled that it doesn't surprise me. All it takes is the GM being the more-enthusiastic one, and the players exploiting this eagerness to get away with being kinda jerky.

Miniman

@SevenSidedDie Mmmm...jerky.

SevenSidedDie

11:30 PM

@DuckTapeAl Generally, the game won't fully make sense until you read the GM section. Unlike most RPGs where the player-facing rules are 90% of the game, the player-facing rules in DW are only 10% of the game engine and the real game engine magic happens where the players don't see it, in the GM rules.

DuckTapeAl

I've read through most of the GM section, it just feels super weird.

I don't really get how you're supposed to play.

SevenSidedDie

There's also the Dungeon World Guide which is a must-read for anyone the game isn't 'clicking' for. Actually, for anyone running it, for that matter, whether it clicks or not.

The Guide has a play example that might help.

@DuckTapeAl Skip back to the part about "the conversation". It's like that: you talk about what's happening, and you don't touch the rules until the rules say to. And when they say to use them, you always do, not just if it seems useful. It's quite different from a normal rules system that way. But the end effect is not that different, in what you're actually doing around the table with words and talking, than most RPGs.

"The rules help shape the conversation of play. While the GM and the players are talking, the rules and the fiction are talking, too. Every rule has an explicit fictional trigger that tells you when it is meant to come into the conversation."

It's deceptively simple, enough to be missed when you're more used to how other RPGs work.

Tritium21

Holy crap, was not expecting that many upvotes...

SevenSidedDie

@Tritium21 Lots of people agree with you! Functional gaming, and the avoidance of dysfunctional gaming, is super-popular here. :)

TRPG General Chat

Transcript for

TRPG General Chat