TRPG General Chat

Shalvenay

00:00

whew! that took some work to write up

doppelgreener

The ticker brought up an enworld article: Was Gandalf just a 5th level magic user?. I feel like a hipster that we've already been there and done that and effectively solved the issue.

@Shalvenay i left comments and updooted.

Shalvenay

@doppelgreener thx, good points both, edited in

BESW

Tim Urban's TED talk on procrastination.

"The Patron Pigeonhole" is a hit single by Nomenclature Trap.

Shalvenay

00:15

@BESW :P

nitsua60

@Shalvenay I suspect the warlock class is subject to the same pressures the drow race is under. It's great for your setting to have a despicable group like that, but every one that a player gets their hands on then has to be a misunderstood loner defying stereotypes, trying to do good in the face of a world that assumes the worst of them.

Miniman

@Shalvenay You mention in your answer that "a warlock is required to serve their patron" - does the book really say that? I'm AFB atm, but I really don't remember reading anything like that.

doppelgreener

00:32

@Miniman you don't have your books!? you'll be defenseless against loose rulings and wandering interpretations like that! quick, get in here under some shelter!

BESW

AFBATM: Absolutely Fabulous But Alas Tragically Manual-less.

doppelgreener

@BESW found engraved on many an adventurer's tombstone, alas they could've known better

Adeptus

@doppelgreener If you follow the link, they've reposted an article from Dragon magazine from 1977...

BESW

Armed For Battle Any Time, Monsters.

doppelgreener

@Adeptus yarp

I think redistributing it is fine because of today's lucky ten thousand but I am dismayed that the article doesn't seem to do much more than say "hey, I found this thing and gave it some arbitrary thought, what do y'all think?" but maybe I shouldn't be expecting more from them?

Miniman

00:42

@BESW Could also be phrased as "At Work Right Now".

Adeptus

@doppelgreener The introductory text is basically "There's an official LOTR-for-5e coming out, so here's a related article you probably haven't seen"

doppelgreener

@Adeptus but surely it could do with critically summarising various discussions and so on. be educational! teach me new things as you share this thing with me! tell me about the history surrounding it!

nitsua60

@Miniman "More often, though... at the cost of occasional services performed on the patron's behalf.... Furthermore, the demands of their patrons drive warlocks toward adventure." PHB5e pp.105-106. Those are the most-concrete statements made about the patron->warlock compulsion.

Then, of course, there's lots of equivocation about how the patron might be good, you might get along well, there might only be small favors, &c.

Shalvenay

01:16

@nitsua60 yeah -- as I said, the warlock patron is a quest giver of sorts

BESW

04:06

@doppelgreener That is not the sort of material I associate with enworld.

Mostly I see content shared from other sources, and off-the-cuff opinions.

Miniman

@BESW Personally, I use it purely as a news service. I've read a few of their more editorial pieces, and the quality is a little inconsistent.

BESW

Yeah.

doppelgreener

04:44

@Miniman well... so far it seems to be a news service as in news scoop more than thorough journalism.

[edits enworld feed so as to downvote on grounds of unimpressiveness]

Miniman

@doppelgreener Perhaps I should've said "a single collection point for official announcements from a variety of sources".

(With a much better UI than many of those sources.)

doppelgreener

hmmm.

[simply withdraws votes for now]

Miniman

Hey, I wasn't trying to suggest that you shouldn't downvote it. Just explaining what I use it for. It tends to pick up most announcements pretty much instantly, especially where D&D is concerned.

doppelgreener

Yeah, I'm just withdrawing my vote so as to consider whether I want to vote it either up or down.

Miniman

And the official D&D site ~~is a masterpiece of bad design~~ makes heavy use of Javascript that means it takes longer than it really needs to to load.

doppelgreener

04:56

Well here's my thoughts: I've never seen anything on Enworld that's relevant to me. The announcements that I've clicked have rarely been more than "Wow! Here's a d20 system thing! Check it out." So I withdrew my upvote. I downvoted because it's lackluster compared to what it could be, but I've just withdrawn my vote altogether for now because... well... hey, it isn't bad to have a d20 announcement source in the ticker.

Miniman

@doppelgreener OH! You're talking about the chat feed ticker. Right. I mean, I already said "vote how you want", but seriously, vote how you want. The chat feed ticker doesn't affect me in the slightest.

doppelgreener

[scrolls enworld front news page, left to right top to bottom] Pathfinder, D&D 5e LOTR, D&D 5e, D&D 5e, Pathfinder, D&D 5e LOTR, Conan RPG, D&DD, D&D 5e, FLGS, 7th Sea, Green Ronan with WOTC and Paizo, Runequest(?), D&D 5e, Cypher, ENWorld itslef, D&D, D&D, Pathfinder.

That's 3 posts about non-d20 systems: Conan, 7th Sea, and Runequest. The Runequest one is just talking about how it's connected to D&D though.

so it's not very satisfying for me in particular :P

Adeptus

@doppelgreener I believe Cypher is non-d20 (I mean, it might use d20s, but it's not d20 system). So, that's 4?

doppelgreener

@Adeptus Whoops, yep. Four.

Adeptus

But yeah, they are quite D&D-centric

BESW

06:38

So, at some point in the near-ish future I'm going to be facilitating a game of Dog Eat Dog for a group of college professors who are brand-new to RP.

trogdor

ooooh

doppelgreener

08:37

@BESW Fun!

BESW

@doppelgreener I'm not sure how I feel about it.

It's a game I've never played before, and the players will be people with PhDs in the subject matter.

eimyr

09:46

@BESW Wow. Well done?

Maybe you should start with some other RP, just to get them into the practice without necessarily going into the subject.

BESW

10:11

I'm not sure if they'll be able to set aside that much time, but maybe.

eimyr

I would say an hour or two for a scene or two of dungeoncrawling might give them a good idea of how stuff works

classic "You're in a tavern and..."

BESW

Mmm. I don't really see any need to bring in dungeoncrawling tropes for a game designed to lead up to Dog Eat Dog.

eimyr

It can be anything really. I would assume everyone is familiar with Lord of the Rings.

You're training GMs, not players, so they would need double the knowledge.

BESW

Well, Dog Eat Dog is GMless.

And I won't really know what skills I need to focus on until I've read the book.

eimyr

10:27

fair point

BESW

10:49

It sounds more like My Life With Master filtered through A Penny For My Thoughts.

eimyr

11:00

@BESW On another note I think I'll be running Great Ork Gods as a oneshot (duh) soon-ish

BESW

Cool!

(Actually GOG has rules for extended campaigns, but I'm not sure I've ever heard of one in the wild.)

eimyr

We have this thing in our club called 4by4 and it is four GMs, taking turns at one-shots over a period of 4 weeks, acting as players when it's not their turn.

(It does and I think the first rule is "Why would you do it? It's not what the game is about.")

BESW

> Orks gain Oog based on the following criteria: Survival, Killing, Goals and GM fiat. Points of Oog should be awarded as soon as they are earned. Survival is only there as an overall goal. It is not expected that players will take Orks on to another session.

@eimyr That's pretty shiny.

eimyr

It is!

Great taster.

Unfortunately I'm not there for the first two weeks, but I'll still catch the two last ones.

BESW

Let me know what systems they run, eh.

eimyr

11:05

I will.

actually, can you click quickly now?

@BESW ?

BESW

Sure.

eimyr

ready

set

BESW

Yup.

eimyr

happy browsing

BESW

(I can see edit history, even deleted posts, in rooms I own, so the timing isn't actually necessary.)

eimyr

11:07

oh

I can see it too, but I assume others can't

BESW

I'm not sure if it's an ownership thing or a rep thing or what.

Oooh, a DRYH.

trogdor

I would think if you both can see it it would be a rep thing

BESW

Lots of third-party Fate stuff...

Dracula Dossier!

eimyr

@trogdor BESW owns the room, I posted the msg. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't rep-based. I'm low rep anyway.

trogdor

ah

perhaps it is that he is the owner and that you posted it

eimyr

11:10

@BESW Lots. the games run in 12 week cycles, then 2 weeks of boardgames, 4-week cycle, 2w boardgames, rinse, repeat

trogdor

I can at least say that all I see in the area I think you are talking about is (removed)

eimyr

that's why we have long and short games

trogdor

expect it's grey instead of normal text color

eimyr

The board is essentially public but I don't want it hanging around for EVERYONE

trogdor

mm

eimyr

11:12

it hasn't been publicised outside of friends and family

trogdor

I can understand that

eimyr

@trogdor did you get it?

trogdor

yeah

eimyr

Also, there's my mug too.

trogdor

I see you apparently have the same avatar/picture there XD

makes a certain amount of sense

eimyr

11:13

yep

I use that nick everywhere

trogdor

again, makes a certain amount of sense

if you want people to easily recognize that you are the same person they see in such and such other site/sites

eimyr

Yeah

unfortunately Twitter's @eimyr was taken by some tween

trogdor

ah

that always sucks

eimyr

I don't use twitter anyway

trogdor

I would almost regret taking this handle,.... but this is the only place I ever planned to use it XD

eimyr

11:17

and having "realEimyr" puts me in line with the best

@BESW You might be interested in the Dog Eat Dog card

BESW

Ah, yes.

Guiding Light

BESW

My professor friend wants to use it because his students have a hard time getting past purely intellectual understanding of their own position in Guam's colonial heritage.

Guiding Light

What can I add to this question? Where should I mention that the only piece of information I've found so far is a line that may or may not apply?

eimyr

@BESW Can I qoute you on that?

BESW

11:21

@GuidingLight Sharing your research is always good.

@eimyr Sure.

eimyr

thanks

BESW

He's actually hoping that it might be possible to hack the game into a modern experience.

trogdor

does it need to be hacked for that?

BESW

I won't know for sure until I read it.

trogdor

I suppose it is probably made more for a specific era in which most colonizing happened

eimyr

11:28

From what I've read I think it's fairly easy to portray any era - only that today the coloniser would need to be less direct in his approaches.

BESW

That's my impression, too.

trogdor

because the whole world would be watching you mean?

I guess that would be an issue XD

eimyr

That's one and second - law still applies wherever you are.

trogdor

yeah,... but I did kind of think that was at least implied

then again

that would not have been the case back when, say, Spain colonized Guam

or at least not in the same way anyway

eimyr

Have you taken a look perhaps (oh! vanity) at my propositions?

BESW

11:34

@eimyr His doctoral disseration (which I helped format) was Negotiating Manhood: Chamorro Masculinities and US Military Colonialism in Guam, 1898-1941. He'd previously studied the displacement of an entire village by the military prior to WWII.

@eimyr I'm still trying to remember how to navigate in Trello.

eimyr

@BESW I use clicking and scrolling. You can't break anything, it's view-only

BESW

I went to your profile and am browsing just your cards.

Guiding Light

And the question is asked.

BESW

@GuidingLight As foretold by the prophecy!

eimyr

@BESW there's a lot of them, I guess.

BESW

11:39

Is Fear Itself a pre-made?

eimyr

premade?

BESW

Let me re-phrase. What is Fear Itself?

eimyr

No idea.

this is all I know: Using the GUMSHOE system, Fear Itself is a game of modern-day investigative horror. This scenario uses a modified version of the Trail of Cthulhu iteration of the rules.

BESW

Okay then.

eimyr

@BESW Note that going onto my profile only shows games that I want to play. The ones I want to run are under GM profile.

Miniman

11:46

@eimyr Others can't, it's not a rep thing.

eimyr

@Miniman Thanks!

BESW

12:00

Gratuitous redundancy of the day: "cute baby sloth."

BESW

12:18

So, I'm seeing a number of people having trouble getting copies of Dog Eat Dog.

It's only available through the author's not-updated-for-three-years website, and you basically just PayPal him $10 and then wait for him to email you.

[is waiting]

nitsua60

12:31

Monday night I showed up at my FLGS to run my standing (3.5 year-long) game and found they'd re-branded Monday nights as "learn to play" nights; four people expected to join the table having never played RPGs.

That, combined with RPG chat, led to the strangest dream I can recall in a while:

It's a new player night at my FLGS, Vin Deisel shows up, and I decide to run Dog Eat Dog solely based on the understanding I've assembled eavesdropping on these conversations.

BESW

Lovely.

I think Vin would appreciate the themes.

Also by the Dog Eat Dog guy: BIG CHIEFS, a game about Native Americans and the white people who love them.

It's got gems like "Your character has the same name as you, unless your name is obviously ethnic, in which case you should find a nearby white person and use their name. (Don't worry, there's a lot of them around.)"

nitsua60

12:53

@BESW Wow. Just wow. =)

BESW

> Choose a skill associated with the tribe you've joined. This is your Talent. You've watched the various members of the tribe practicing this still, and even though your attempts are essentially crude mimickry, they're more effective than people who have been practicing for years.

No punches pulled here.

nitsua60

(this is from the perspective of the white person?)

BESW

Yeah. PCs are white people who have been welcomed into a native tribe and risen to high status by virtue of their awesome superiority.

> It's not really your tribe, because you're really just an outsider who decided to join them after some dramatic event in your life. Oh, sure, they didn't trust you at first, but after you proved yourself, they were happy enough to allow you into their homes, and you've become an invaluable asset -- a leader, even, when dealing with the hated outsiders trying to drive them away.
It's up to you (and any other Caucasians who might have accidentally joined the tribe) to lead the braves to victory against their blue-coated nemeses.

eimyr

It bothers me that a bugbear has nothing to do with bugs or bears, but owlbear does.

BESW

They're etymologically (and entomologically) distinct.

"Bugbear" dates back at least to the 1500s, when "bug" meant something like "goblin" and it was a name for a mythological kidnapper of children.

"Owlbear" dates back to... the 1970s and Greyhawk.

(Also, I'm reasonably sure owlbears don't have much to do with bugs.)

[ducks]

eimyr

13:10

Ducks?

They probably like them crispy.

unless you mean in the plural, if so, @Polyducks

StuperUser

13:22

Hello. Has there been a discussion as to whether the larp cannon question is on-topic? Doesn't seem specific enough to RPGs at first blush.

Although, I guess falling under props, which is an active enough tag, is on-topic.

eimyr

@StuperUser I don't think there has been, certainly not here or on the Meta.

StuperUser

@eimyr Cool. I don't want to pee on his chips or anything. My gut reaction was to flag as off-topic, so it could end up somewhere on SE that is was on-topic, but looking that it had been around overnight, seems like no-one took issue with it immediately. There were some decent answers, so it's probably fine.

eimyr

@BESW On one hand I might accept a white dude advising Samurai how to tackle western invaders, on the other it is probably the most racist thing ever.

Miniman

@StuperUser I almost answered that one - a friend has an air cannon and puts flour into the barrel to simulate gun smoke. But then I read the range and decided that it probably didn't fit the safety requirements.

eimyr

@StuperUser I've had a knee-jerk reaction to point him to DIY or something, but on the other hand people here demonstrated they deal with this stuff frequently enough to help.

Polyducks

14:28

Who dares to summon me from the pits of my lurking?

I smell an @Eimyr.

Guys, have you seen this evolution game?

I recall there being one

Doomed Mind

what do you mean by "this evolution game"?

can you get more specific?

Polyducks

14:45

@DoomedMind Sorry, figure of speech. It's a game where you evolve creatures. I think cards are involved.

"Do you know about any games that are based around evolution?" would be a more complete question

Doomed Mind

I see

What platform/format are you interested in then?

mhh, I realize you probably mean actual cards, but I ask anyway :P

Polyducks

15:05

haha :) Yeah, it might be a boardgame

I can't remember if we cover that here at RPG

probably not

eimyr

nope, boardgames are off-topic. try

@Polyducks I think they have product identification equivalent

Polyducks

Cool! Or, you know, I could just google

was just makin' conversation

It was legit called 'Evolution'

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155703/evolution

Doomed Mind

15:21

lol

In your experience, how much calculus is feasible in a dice system? I mean, its just simple arithmetics with sums and divisions, but I try to do this using multiple d6's

eimyr

lol

bgg top 1k, not too bad

@DoomedMind NEVER do divisions.

D&D has 1/2 division and the section on rounding is the most read part of the bloody book

Doomed Mind

@eimyr aren't percentile-based systems like wh40k effectively doing that too?

eimyr

Not sure?

percentile means you roll a k100, I don't know if there is any true division in WH family

Doomed Mind

its based on d100, but you get "hits" for each 10 or 20 points you reach

with weapons that is

eimyr

I think it's OK to quantify a percentile roll into 10s or 20s but performing 4d6/2 calculation is a bit too much

Doomed Mind

15:27

I don't quite get though what's so difficult with rounding that, i mean you're summing it up anyway, division by 2 is even easier than adding up before...

eimyr

rpg.stackexchange.com/search?q=[game-design]+math

Ok, I rolled 17, I do half damage. What is my damage?

Doomed Mind

8 if rounded down, 9 if rounded normally

eimyr

Now if I had a penny every time a player asked which one it is...

Doomed Mind

well, if its not stated otherwise, it should be 9...

eimyr

No, it is stated somewhere in the rulebook.

Somewhere.

Let me check...

Doomed Mind

15:30

though I only ever played d&d based games on pc, so I really dont know

eimyr

Hey, Brian, can you grab me a soda while I'm at it?

God, I hate D&D mechanics with a passion

I like the game, but not the rolling part

Doomed Mind

yeah well, as a german, I grew up with the dark eye

eimyr

the only worse one I know is unpatched full combat in Exalted

diiiiiceeeee pooooooools

1 kudo for you.

Doomed Mind

i gotta look that one up for reference.

eimyr

2nd edition WoD was also disastrous

Doomed Mind

15:32

dark eye is somewhat more complex with the dice mechanics...

eimyr

notice how New Wave systems reduce mechanics

simple, beautiful designs, delivering consistent success curve, using one, repeatable rolling mechanisms and/or inline roll explanation

I admire Fate and Apocalypse World for their mechanics design

@DoomedMind are you designing your own system?

Doomed Mind

yes

eimyr

Have you considered using a free, tested, well-known mechanic?

Doomed Mind

yeah, i've looked into URPS recently

eimyr

I wouldn't design my own mechanics unless a) I was writing a microgame or b) I had 5+ years design experience

@DoomedMind try Fate and Apocalypse World. It might positively surprise you.

Doomed Mind

15:37

I probably will :)

eimyr

What's your game? Care to share?

Doomed Mind

I'm building a Sci-Fi Universe from grounds up, goes somewhat in the direction of transhumanism

I've been thinking about those things for 10 years now but never got around to do something with it

eimyr

Nice.

It's good to hear someone is digging up their old ideas.

Is that mostly for yourself or do you plan to do anything with it?

Doomed Mind

Well, I might build a franchise around it. Though I dont currently aim for it to be commercially viable

I have some designs for a board game in that universe lying around at home

Nothing remotely complete though

eimyr

How about you @ tag me when you report any progress?

I'm keen on seeing people's efforts in this area.

Doomed Mind

15:43

Yeah, will do

eimyr

Apart from folks who are published game writers, there is a good deal of cerebral activity in and around RPG.se. I'm always keen to see what else people manage to brew.

Doomed Mind

I have been desinging games and partly worlds since I was 7, for different purposes, mostly smaller forum-based rpgs and play-by-mail type strategy games - I like building worlds

though most of those never really matured

eimyr

You know what they say.

Ideas are dime a dozen.

Doomed Mind

true

eimyr

It's the work that makes them bloom and be crash-tested against real life games is what matters most.

I myself, like lost of folks, have long-standing ideas, and they are best ever. But I never do anything with them, so they suck.

Doomed Mind

15:50

It's also very hard doing it alone

eimyr

well, you're here now

badger people and you'll get lots back

Doomed Mind

well, yeah.

eimyr

So, what are you doing to your game atm?

nitsua60

@eimyr @DoomedMind PHBp.7 there's a section header: "Round Down".

Doomed Mind

@nitsua60 thx :) figures.

nitsua60

15:53

The erratum regarding HD regained on a long rest at level 1 is the only exception I know of.

@DoomedMind Nobody ever accused Gary/TSR/Wizards of laying out a corebook well....

Doomed Mind

@eimyr currently its either thinking about the core ruleset or writing lore

eimyr

@nitsua60 is that 5e?

nitsua60

@eimyr sorry, yeah.

eimyr

@nitsua60 I won't remember it in 40 minutes... and that's pretty much my point

Doomed Mind

@eimyr Mostly the most influential planets and corporations that founded them in the first place, creating a bigger context for the world.

@nitsua60 haha, I'll probably remember forever now xD

mostly because of this discussion though.

nitsua60

15:57

@eimyr Of course not: it's a completely arbitrary decision made by a designer, with no sort of context to hang it on.

@DoomedMind for me it's the erratum on HD regain that helps me remember that it was originally rounded down, as are all things....

Polyducks

Hey guys (pftt...haha) guys (haha) if you are using google chrome (hahaha) and you search exclusively for Mario bosses (haha) is it a...Bowser Browser?

Doomed Mind

: |

@eimyr for now, thank you for your help, and the helpful link to the game design/math search (I didn't see that tag come up in the overview of tags) :)

nitsua60

@Polyducks When Mario boss shows up at the library looking for help finding a book, does the reference librarian wave toward the stacks and say "Browse 'er, Bowser."

eimyr

@DoomedMind second page, I think

Not a lot of those questions floating around.

@Polyducks When Mario goes to the club but can't get in it's a Bowser Bouncer.

nitsua60

16:13

@eimyr They strike me as difficult ones to formulate.

eimyr

@nitsua60 I would also say they are more suited to discussion/review format. Also, inexperienced designers might refrain from asking out of IP concerns or looking-like-an-idiot concerns.

Doomed Mind

yeah i noticed. I mean, for most people this is probably either irrelevant or crushingly boring.

eimyr

@DoomedMind I'm pretty sure no one here considers RPG design either of those.

nitsua60

hear, hear ^^

Doomed Mind

:)

eimyr

16:16

@Polyducks WHERE IS MY CHAT TALE?!

Malice Vidrine

So, question for the Fate-minded here; if you're modelling a cumulative, long-term detrimental effect that doesn't have any narrative consequences immediately (i.e. doesn't make sense to model with consequences), what does one use if one doesn't use a stress track? In answers about stress on Fate questions, there seems to be a rather resolute "stress goes away after a scene, so anything long term isn't stress" line, which I find puzzling.

Doomed Mind

well, see you around :)

eimyr

@MaliceVidrine Consequence slots are exactly what you could consider long-term stress.

Malice Vidrine

@eimyr: Consequences, though, have... well, consequences. They're aspects and subject to invocations and compels.

Which doesn't always make sense, IMO.

eimyr

So let me get this straight. You want to establish a thing about a character, a persistent and detrimental thing but you also don't want it to have any effect?

Can you give me an example?

Polyducks

16:24

@Eimyr I've actually grown a work ethic, so the chat tales are on hiatus

Malice Vidrine

Not an immediate effect, no.

eimyr

@Polyducks slow-clap

@Polyducks No, seriously, well done.

Malice Vidrine

Well, let's say I wanted magic where you could use it maybe a few times a week without consequences, but using it more than that would start to have tangible effects.

Polyducks

haha

eimyr

@MaliceVidrine Have magic (I assume it's paid-for by a stunt) do this magic "at cost". Then give, say, 1 level of Mental Stress every few first times, then upgrade this cost to a Consequence with no free invokes.

Track your costs in your mind, adjusting for the "size" of magic done on your own.

Malice Vidrine

16:29

Can you elaborate what you mean in the first half of that?

eimyr

Doing magic is something that not every character can do.

Therefore, it should be a stunt.

Depending on your setting, ofc.

Stunts can have a few forms. Most common is "When X circumstance, gain +2 to Y skill". You are looking for "When doing X you can break Y rule"

Stunts, apart from costing you 1 Refresh, can also have other costs per use: "spend a Fate point to do X" or "you can do X at a cost". This cost can be anything you like: a bit of stress, placing an aspect, giving enemy a boost, giving you a consequence or just having a bad turn of events.

Malice Vidrine

Everyone can in my game. But that's not a major issue, here, I don't think. It's the "Then give, say, 1 level of Mental Stress every few first times, then upgrade this cost to a Consequence ..." that I find unclear.

Ah, I think I see what you mean.

eimyr

OK

That "cost" is what I'm referring to.

Remember, Fate is about building interesting stories.

Malice Vidrine

But here's the thing: why keep track of when to "upgrade" in my head when I can just add a stress track for it and say it lasts longer than a scene?

Yes, I'm aware. That doesn't mean mechanics don't aid in telling those stories.

Polyducks

The carpet unfurled from the doorway - a roll of red that gradually diminished in size as it laid the path for the king of Fate. A great pair of golden shears were carried before him as @eimyr entered the consulting room. "That's not how Mental Stress works," he declared, and the crowd erupted in cheer. "But it could be, if you have a homebrew system..."

eimyr

16:34

Would it be interesting to keep that stress track?

@Polyducks King of Fate is someone else, but I do enjoy the attention of peasants.

@MaliceVidrine By "peasants" I'm not referring to you, but the imaginary cheerers.

Malice Vidrine

It would be interesting to have magic that works the way I described, and less annoying to have that stress track than to keep track of it all myself. I mean, I could avoid any of the stress tracks if I wanted to essentially keep track of something similar in my head or in my notes. But the stress tracks distribute the bookkeeping a bit.

eimyr

By all means, do it.

Fate is all about what works for you.

Polyducks

@Eimyr good save, fool of Fate

eimyr

@Polyducks that's more fitting

Malice Vidrine

Well, that's what I figured, which is why I always find it weird to see such a rigid response to questions about stress.

Personally, in my game I'm all for jumping straight to consequences :P

eimyr

16:39

@MaliceVidrine fate-srd.com/fate-system-toolkit/magic

Polyducks

@MaliceVidrine Your name sounds familiar. Have you been in chat before?

eimyr

you might find it useful if you want to look under Fate's hood

Malice Vidrine

@Polyducks - A couple times. I've also been around on math.stackexchange a fair bit.

eimyr

@Polyducks look at the starboard.

Polyducks

:> oh look @eimyr, there's your peasant comment

Malice Vidrine

16:40

@eimyr - I've got it in hard copy.

eimyr

@MaliceVidrine Do any of the solutions work to model your magic idea?

Malice Vidrine

None of the out-of-the-box ones, though a combination of Six Viziers and Voidcallers would be closest.

I've got a setup that I think will work, but I haven't had enough sessions to really test it in play yet.

Polyducks

so I made a discovery today. A -lot- of websites make recordings of anonymous people browsing their site

so they can work out how it works

it's mega creepy watching the videos though

Malice Vidrine

I like creepy videos! Where do I find them?

eimyr

@Polyducks recordings of on-screen activity or timed clicks or what?

nitsua60

16:51

@Polyducks like, "they've hijacked my built-in camera and are watching my eye-tracking?"

[mental note: slap some e-tape over my camera]

Malice Vidrine

I wonder if gaffer's tape would leave too much residue on my camera....

Probably I should just tape over the rest of my screen. That way even if they look through the camera there won't be anything for my eyes to track.

eimyr

@MaliceVidrine I think the doom points from Voidcallers might be pretty much what you need.

Malice Vidrine

@eimyr - Yeah, I think that's actually a nice way to handle that. Both for the "shifting of responsibility" it mentions, and because in my case I like the uncertainty for the player about when that trap will spring.

Polyducks

@eimyr it uses the inputs of the user and a snapshot of the website and combines them to make a pretty realistic video

@nitsua60 Nah, not the webcam.

haha @MaliceVidrine why worry about residue? Not like you'll need to remove it again

Malice Vidrine

@eimyr - On the other hand, I'm likely to just hand out consequences on the spot much of the time. Hell, maybe mixing both is even better. "Huh, that wasn't as bad a consequence as I was expecting from that. Did I get lucky, or will this bite me on the ass later?"

@Polyducks - What if I need the camera to make one of those annoying videos of a game played over Google Hangouts? I would be unable to contribute to that great art form!

nitsua60

19:00

@Polyducks Mario had a sniper along with him the whole time. "Any time you feel nervous, just look for the dot on Bowser's brow, sir."

[should I be worried that was my first thought, waking up from a nap? Nah....]

Malice Vidrine

For some reason this has me picturing Assassin's Creed re-skinned as a Mario game.

Which I would entirely play.

Zachiel

19:26

@MaliceVidrine I never played AC but that seems an interesting idea for sure.

eimyr

@MaliceVidrine I don't like handing out consequences. It feels like cheating. I do, however, have PCs roll opposition against a Create Advantage action, with the advantage being pretty much a consequence, but not taking up slots.

Malice Vidrine

@eimyr - Consequences make more sense here. The potential price of magic is warping one's own being in this setting.

Zachiel

19:53

I just described my last 4e match in chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/13830/the-statblock-forge if someone wants to read it.

BESW

20:08

@MaliceVidrine That sounds like a specialised Magic stress track that's hard to clear.

Re: LARP Cannon: LARP props have requirements and restrictions unique to them which DIY folks from other fields wouldn't have experience with.

Rob

22:13

The power of Greyskull is mine! BUHAHAHAHA!

Shalvenay

22:50

hey there @nitsua60

nitsua60

23:18

@Shalvenay hiya. whassup?

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 not a whole lot

nitsua60

Threw my son in jail last night. In-game, but still... things are awkward =)

BESW

23:56

Bullets Over Arkham: Lovecraft action shooting.

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