TRPG General Chat

user61230

9:00 AM

That could be the issue. I had that issue for a long while.

BESW

@MarcDingena ...Roll For Shoes. Lady Blackbird. Great Ork Gods.

Nyoze

Roll for Shoes is always fun :)

BESW

Lasers & Feelings. Cthulhu Dark.

user61230

Wait, what is this magnificence called Lasers & Feelings?

user61230

With a name like that, it can't be bad.

Nyoze

9:02 AM

I've heard of this Lasers and Feelings before... Please explain?

eimyr

Good morning

user61230

G'morning, @eimyr!

user61230

@BESW oh my gods, that mechanic is amazing

BESW

Lasers & Feelings. A (free) one-page RPG inspired by the song of the same name.

user61230

@Nyoze "Choose your number, from 2 to 5. A high number means you’re better at lasers (technology; science; cold rationality; calm, precise action). A low number means you’re better at feelings (intuition; diplomacy; seduction; wild, passionate action)."

BESW

9:04 AM

Mechanically, Lasers & Feelings is, like, the midway point between Roll For Shoes and Cthulhu Dark.

eimyr

@Adeptus I have absolutely no idea what you're referring to.

BESW

But what absolutely floors me is how beautifully it sums up a thematic ethos in a single mechanic.

user61230

(I have come to the conclusion that I have more things in my life than I have time to enjoy.)

Nyoze

That... Sounds brilliant :)

eimyr

@Emrakul That's how you know you're an adult.

BESW

9:05 AM

@Emrakul I've still not gotten to play L&F. It took me a year to get to play GOG.

I've got an SG-1 campaign that's been on hold for ten years.

Nyoze

I have to try this GOG as well one day.

BESW

I'm developing a nigh obsession-level interest in RPGs that use a small, elegant mechanic to embody a high concept.

eimyr

@BESW My Pitiful Pile of Painfully Postponed Projects is full of beautifully crafted characters that have never seen the light of day since I AM THE GM.

BESW

@eimyr Been that guy.

Last year Trogdor and Greener GMed our campaign for six weeks, and I showed up with at least three PCs.

eimyr

Some of them I've already repurposed as NPCs because it's better to use them than to delude myself that I have any chance of actually playing them. Did you do anything different?

BESW

9:12 AM

Occasionally.

Back in my D&D days I took a PC that everyone knew I'd really liked playing in someone else's campaign, and made him an NPC mentor for the party.

...made it extra surprising for them when he was killed by the villain, because they'd been kinda sheltering under the assumption my favourite character would be awesome and invulnerable to plot.

But generally I just channelled that sort of energy into making awesome NPCs for the players to mess with.

There's a lot of freedom in knowing that the character you're designing has, as his main purpose for existing, "Have everything he plans and desires be messed up by the PCs."

"Dream big, little man! It shall all come to naught and the PCs may not even notice."

I once had a paladin NPC recover his faith and then lose it again at the hands of the PCs, and they didn't notice until he tried to recruit them to assassinate his boss and make himself the head of his order.

Pixie

9:29 AM

Heh. I'm lucky in that the "I have a character I really want to play!" problem has often been solved by my boyfriend, who has similar issues. Harder these days, though. We're not able to play that much anymore.

trogdor

@BESW I have a slightly different mentality in NPC creation, mainly, I want my biggest NPC's to be there specifically to spice things up for the PC's

that doesn't exactly involve said NPC's getting everything, or even sometimes anything, they want

but it certainly doesn't involve auto failure in that area either

I do agree that most if not all NPC's shouldn't just get everything they want all the time, this really includes PC's too, but for me that isn't like, their whole point

eimyr

When I design the NPCs I usually think of the contribution that the NPC brings to the world. Not to the plot - as the plot depends heavily on the PCs, but the world. Unless the NPC is a foil or an antagonist, every one needs to have their own motivation, resources and actionable goals. This creates problems in the long run, when I need to track what each of them accomplishes (or not) but it also gives a good impression of a living world and emphasizes passage of time.

So, with every minor PC quest, my NPCs get a "tick", a single action that gives them direction and stir the status quo a bit, and with every major quest, a "tock", where the NPC resolve one of their goals successfully (or not). With that, the players know that they only get one shot at doing something before the situation irreversibly changes.

BESW

Oh, sure. It's not the primary reason for me to make an NPC, but it's very freeing to not be invested in the NPC's personal success when I'm designing him.

trogdor

true

like Adrian, he definitely didn't get what he wanted

not in a way I expected,.... but still

that is a nice thing

eimyr

Oh, yeah, sure. But that's what I wanted to say - my approach to creating NPCs is very different to one that I take for PCs.

And in fact I prefer to make PCs over NPCs, exactly because of that reason.

doppelgreener

9:52 AM

Facebook: "Dear doppelgreener, you became friends with {person} 7 years ago today. Want to look back on your memories together?" It shows a photo of me on his birthday, and his birthday cake. I click see more. I'm given one video, one webcomic link, one share to my page that isn't even related. -1/5 would not use this feature again.

Nyoze

@doppelgreener What webcomic link?

doppelgreener

@Nyoze This thing

Nyoze

That's mildly amusing actually.

user61230

reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/3kvz1d/…

doppelgreener

There is also subsequently a great customer service story.

user61230

9:57 AM

This'll be interesting. Not sure it'll work out well. (Posted a comment to that effect.)

BESW

@Emrakul ...I'll pass, thanks.

user61230

Yeah.

user61230

Hmm. I'm wondering now about an RPG where the stated purpose is character self-discovery in a Fate-like way.

user61230

Using a Fatelike system to reward you for discovering things about your character by allowing you to exert story influence.

eimyr

@Emrakul so, the Matrix?

BESW

10:04 AM

@Emrakul ...there's a Fate hack for that.

user61230

I'm not surprised, @BESW. What's it called?

user61230

@eimyr ?

BESW

I'll have to check it later. Dinner's almost done.

It's in one of the first two Worlds books

user61230

Huh. If it's in Worlds on Fire, I can check it out.

eimyr

@Emrakul PCs are playing the characters who discover that the reality is tangible, a bit like a lucid dream. The more complicated their life becomes, the more influence over the world they have. Once one of them achieves omnipotence, he never comes back to the game. Twist - they are all in a coma dream and to understand is to wake up.

user61230

10:11 AM

That makes sense... hm.

user61230

I'm thinking more along the lines of A Penny For My Thoughts, but instead of being a group therapy session, it's built around an actual campaign.

eimyr

I don't know this one. I'm allergic to free one pagers. Even though I admire their innovation, I can never bring myself to play one.

user61230

evilhat.com/home/a-penny-for-my-thoughts

BESW

APFYT isn't free, nor is it a one-pager.

user61230

While it's small, it's about the size of Fiasco.

user61230

10:15 AM

And yeah, it's written by Evil Hat and unfortunately isn't free.

user61230

...well, fortunately because they need money to keep making awesome games, but you get my point.

user61230

@BESW How good is Designers & Dragons?

BESW

@Emrakul I'm not sure I know that one.

Link?

user61230

kickstarter.com/projects/evilhat/designers-and-dragons

user61230

They're a series on the design and cultural history of role-playing games.

user61230

10:18 AM

Considering reading them.

BESW

...oh. That.

I don't know anything about 'em, but I'm very wary.

user61230

Mm. That was my reaction.

BESW

@Emrakul Fate Worlds volume two, page 129: No Exit.

Players are people who had lives before they came to live quietly in the Complex, but they can't really remember them except through the handful of mementos they brought with them. And remembering your life is the key to ever leaving the Complex... which it doesn't think is a good idea.

Pixie

10:33 AM

The concept reminds me of a manga called After School Nightmare. In order to graduate from their school, students have to enter a dream world where they become their "true selves" and compete with others to find a key. Once someone graduates, everyone else forgets them.

BESW

Tonight's dinner is potatoes and onions baked with local string beans and served on a bed of quinoa. Spices are just salt, pepper, and fresh garlic.

eimyr

Haibane no Renmei

Tritium21

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is essentially a "trivia" question. The coloration and/or aesthetic choices of D&D products is not, strictly speaking, about role-playing games within the scope defined in the help center. — Dyndrilliac 2 hours ago

I replied that they should take it to meta...

BESW

I eagerly await the Oracle's bringing it to us.

Tritium21

Well, it was a comment from an hour ago

I am not going to take it to meta, i voted to leave it open

BESW

10:47 AM

6

Q: Is trivia on-topic?

We have an old question about trivia questions that we wrestled with, without a real consensus emerging: How do 'Trivia' Questions meet the requirements for posting? I went searching out that question due to recent wrangling over various questions, but it's too out-of-date to be a good resour...

Tritium21

thanks for finding that

and i agree.... trivia questions usually suck for reasons other than they are trivia questions

BESW

@Tritium21 The meta question you linked in that comment is the predecessor of the one I linked, and should probably be considered only historically useful.

Tritium21

good point

BESW

Naptime before I go on call to take care of my dad for the night. ttfn

Tritium21

nini

Pixie

11:05 AM

Ooh. Some appealing Bundle of Holdings right now... full of things I've been putting off buying. :P Going to have to get over the threshold for both the Apocalypse Engine and the Super Asian Blast.

Tritium21

I am... See, i want the Apocalypse Engine stuff, because its AE, but i think i have all the products in it that i actually want

Pixie

Heh. I haven't bought any yet, and I've had my eye on Monster of the Week for a while now.

... but Paypal keeps giving me an error now that I try to purchase it. Rude.

SPArchaeologist

I know the pain. Nisa store has some mayor problems recognizing Visa card correctly.

Tritium21

I own monsterhearts, but never played it

... eventhoughiwasinagamethatcouldhaveandprobablyshouldhaveusedit

SPArchaeologist

I had to forego the Disgaea5 collector edition and go for the limited thru Amazon.

Pixie

11:15 AM

It worked 5 minutes ago when I bought the Super Asian Blast one. But now I'm going to have to wait half an hour or so to make sure it didn't actually go through, as Paypal's error notification warned me.

user61230

11:34 AM

grrrrr spiders

user61230

Posted a question that reminds me of the old riddle about the chicken in the glass bottle.

user61230

Chicken raised in a glass bottle; how do you get it out without harming the chicken or breaking the bottle?

Zachiel

@Shalvenay That's why players I know in real life don't get familiars.

SPArchaeologist

@Emrakul I remember something similar in a Kōan. Will double check later.

user61230

Mm, I'd be curious.

user61230

11:46 AM

Its answer makes me think it likely originated with a Kōan, or at least is derived from one.

user61230

Yep, it's from a Kōan. Huh, cool. Finally figured out where it came from.

Aaron

12:22 PM

Good morning

SPArchaeologist

@Emrakul Yep, "The goose in the bottle"

SPArchaeologist

1:40 PM

@Emrakul anyway, if I may ask, I was curious about the original answer you had in mind.

The Oracle

4:10 PM

0

Q: I have a helpful answer to someone's question, but the question is held

I have a helpful answer to someone's question, but someone else has put the question on hold. Is there a good way for me to communicate my answer to them without breaking SE rules? For example, one option would be to post my answer in a comment. In this case I would be hoping that the questione...

discussion feature-request

DuckTapeAl

4:47 PM

I don't know why, but I thought that 5e would encourage enough people to stop doing high-end optimization that the playstyle would die off. I think I might still be terribly naive.

Wibbs

:)

A lot of people (not me) enjoy that playstyle - I just let them get on with it

Tashio

It does not stop high end optimization but it's nowhere near the level of 3.5/PF

DuckTapeAl

The reason I bring this up is because I just got a downvote for advising the use of a spell that is suboptimal in many cases.

Wibbs

ah

Tashio

But yea does prevent a lot of the twinky min/maxing ideals

Wibbs

4:49 PM

yeah, I can see why that would be annoying

Tashio

nothing wrong with recommending suboptimal, as long as it fits the question posed

DuckTapeAl

@Tashio No where near what 3.x has, for sure, but it's still weird to me to try and scrape out every iota of damage that you can in a system that's so rules-loose.

Like, 4e made a lot of strides to preventing high-end systems abuse, but it was still a system designed with encouraging optimization in mind.

Tashio

Yup

I love the direction 5 has taken

DuckTapeAl

Trying to get an extra 1 DPR had a point in 4e. Not so much in 5.

Tashio

I think at lower levels it's actually fairly easy to hit stuff, whereas players ac tends to be higher than monsters so they don't get hit quite as much, puts less pressure on players to ensure that every hit that does hit does optimal damage

DuckTapeAl

5:04 PM

There's also the fact that they spend so much time emphasizing that the DM should be making a ton of rulings. If I can get a bunch of extra DPS by taking advantage of my environment, or if I need to solve lots of problems that don't care about my DPS, then I'll be less incentivized to min/max like that.

Tashio

Yup, advantage/disadvantage rules help there + if you play your char well and the DM is paying attention, inspiration for those important rerolls

plus not requiring maxed out skill points in spot etc

ah drat the trap question got closed for too broad, was kinda hoping to get some suggestions out of that one

DuckTapeAl

Trap question?

Tashio

0

Q: Example complex traps

I am running a straight up dungeon crawl where I am starting the characters at 5th level. I found the description of Complex Traps in the DMG (p. 121) and want to use something like this in the dungeon, but I can not find any examples or resources that I can use. Does anyoneone have any examples ...

dnd-5e traps

The Oracle

5:56 PM

0

Q: I want to ask for recommendations, but that's off topic. Is there any way to ask my question?

Recommendation questions have been off-topic since August 2015. If I need a recommendation, how can I get help now?

support game-recommendation

The Oracle

7:05 PM

0

Q: Is this question about the dice mechanic really too broad?

Obviously, this is not a particularly well written question. However, I'm not sure if it's actually too broad. I'm not overly familiar with Pathfinder, but DnD 4E's Player's Handbook contains a section entitled "The Core Mechanic" (page 11) which explains how dice rolls work in a few paragraphs....

discussion

user61230

7:50 PM

@SPArchaeologist You feed the goose and keep it healthy until it dies naturally, then set the bottle on the ground and let nature claim it back.

Novian

i need some help with a 3.5 D&D isse(Little late to be having one of those since 5e is out.) but i have a difficult player not listening to me

Says the spell telekinesis can only push a target 5 feet because the caster cannot follow.

Novian

8:08 PM

he wont listen to any explanation short of RAW that i give.

so that fancy 5th level spell is now useless

BESW

9:52 PM

....The range entry doesn't help?

doppelgreener

I don't actually see a distance specified for the violent thrust option of telekinesis

BESW

> You can hurl one object or creature per caster level (maximum 15) that are within range and all within 10 feet of each other toward any target within 10 feet per level of all the objects.

(I think the player in question is interpreting it as a bull rush.)

@Digi Hi!

Digi

10:07 PM

Hello

Iron Heart

So basically draw a circle 10 feet across, and your violent thrust happens entirely in there, right?

Digi

I'm new to these chats so just exploring and seeing what takes place in here

BESW

@IronHeart Draw a circle 10 feet across and you can grab everything in that circle. Then draw a line 10 feet per level from the far end of the circle to what you want to hit with everything you grabbed.

@Digi You're welcome to participate or just hang out. We tend to be pretty far-ranging and loose in terms of topic here.

Iron Heart

@BESW Oh, I see. And should not interpret rules text while sleepy.

BESW

@IronHeart It's a weird phrasing.

doppelgreener

10:10 PM

... my first parsing of that rules text earlier was "and all within 10 feet of each other toward any target within [10 feet per level of all the objects.]"

BESW

It needs to be broken into two separate sentences, really. Like how I did.

doppelgreener

It definitely could do with being two or three short sentences.

Digi

I'm sorry, I'm trying to image this. Is it a 10 feet radius, or 10 feet diameter?

BESW

The stuff you can grab all has to be within ten feet of each other--that means diameter.

But then you can throw that stuff at any single target within [ten feet per level]. That's a radius of viable targets, but a line of action.

(I've run both PCs and NPCs that used telekinesis as a primary interaction mode; I studied this spell very carefully. Granted that was... seven years ago. But I think I remember it accurately.)

BESW

10:38 PM