TRPG General Chat

BESW

00:40

@Pixie [wave] Heyo!

Pixie

@BESW Hi!

BESW

What's new?

trogdor

oh wow

long time no see

Pixie

@BESW Not too much. I'm not sure if I mentioned moving into a full time position at work when I was here last..? I got promoted recently since someone retired early. Other than that, fandoms ate me. How have you been?

@trogdor Heh, true.

trogdor

hey, real life happens XD

and also consuming media

like Wizardry 8 has consumed most of my free time

XD

Pixie

00:45

Working a day job means falling asleep a lot in the evening, too. Yesterday I came home like, "It's the weekend! I'm going to respond to all the messages people sent me and play some video games!" Then I fell asleep at 7 PM or so and woke up at 4:30 AM like "..." xD

I've mostly been playing Danganronpa, and I'm practicing in King of Fighters 2002 UM and Skullgirls while I wait for the new KoF next month.

Shalvenay

hey there @Pixie!

Pixie

@Shalvenay Hey!

trogdor

ah fighting games

I don't have my brother here to play those with me anymore, so I kinda have not done that in years XD

Shalvenay

@Pixie just came back from my first con xD

trogdor

@Shalvenay oooh how was that?

and which one?

Shalvenay

00:49

@trogdor it's the main local convention around here, and it went pretty well

trogdor

cool

Pixie

@Shalvenay Nice! Did you enjoy it?

Oh wait, I just saw trogdor asked more or less the same. xD

Shalvenay

@Pixie saw some pretty sweet costume work -- hopefully I'll be able to get a cosplay ready for next year's event xD

Pixie

@trogdor I haven't really done it in years myself, so I'm reeeeally out of practice. Relearning KoF is a bit frustrating. xD

@Shalvenay Nice! I'm thinking about what I want to do for my next one, in October. If nothing else, I'll probably throw together a Lorelei from Pokemon, and I'll likely do Shuu from Hatoful at least one day again, but I could also try to do something more adventurous.

trogdor

I used to be ok at like, Tekken 4 and Soul Calibur all-of-the-ones-I-had

Pixie

00:53

I was pretty decent at Soul Calibur. They were my sister's favorite, so we played together a lot.

And I was much better at KoF and Bloody Roar than I am now. xD

Shalvenay

@Pixie yeah -- me cosplaying my EVE main I think will be a hoot -- I could see some real sparks flying (tip: don't dismissively handwave someone whose civilization is higher on the Kardashev scale than yours)

BESW

@Pixie I'm going to start running a Bubblegumshoe game!

Pixie

@BESW Ooh, nice.

I don't have much happening on the RP front, but Exalted is starting up again soon (maybe tomorrow? or next week).

Shalvenay

@Pixie cool. I'm going through a drought myself actually

but I have Traveller starting up-ish tomorrow with nitsua60

and also one of my D&D DMs is close to being ready to run a custom world of his

Pixie

Ooh.

I am excited about one of the projects my friend is working on, but it won't be ready til some indeterminate point in the future, so I must wait. =w= He wants to do a queer tabletop podcast. I don't have many details yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

BESW

01:18

@Pixie Ooer. Speaking of, did you see this relephant question about queer-friendly online gaming spaces?

Pixie

@BESW I didn't! I'll check it out. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can help, since I've done most of my gaming through friends and friends of friends for a long time now.

In fact, I would be pretty interested in good answers to this question. xD

Pixie

01:52

Hmm. Might eventually be able to work up an answer that meets my own standards, but it's going to take some reflection. It just gets a whole lot harder once you step outside people you already know. I'll have to think about what I've done to minimize the issues while seeking and running games. It's also probably about time I look around again, 'cause I need more games. :P

What I've done in the past also gets a little more complicated since I spent probably more than half of my RP career not realizing/questioning my sexuality, which sometimes made it harder to pinpoint and deal with things that made me uncomfortable. I didn't quite realize I needed queer-friendly spaces, although I really, really did. xD So I wasn't able to be as up-front about it as I would be now.

BESW

Makes sense.

Pixie

Thanks for bringing it to my attention, though.

On an entirely different note, Kirby + tabletop.

2

trogdor

02:18

oh god

who allowed him in there

Pixie

@trogdor He just got in. They couldn't stop him. He's mad with power.

trogdor

he is impossible at parties

he eats all the food immediately and then spits it at everyone

Pixie

@trogdor This made me laugh really hard because I didn't understand where you were going with it, but it just seemed like an excellent follow up to "he's mad with power."

trogdor

well he has to be

he can literally steal other peoples powers by eating them

that kinda isn't going to leave you well adjusted

Pixie

Yes. "All the food" includes "all the guests."

trogdor

02:34

I wasn't even thinking of that one when I said it XD

BESW

I think we've got a new song in the style of They Might Be Giants.

> He just got in
They couldn't stop him
He's mad with power
He is impossible at parties

trogdor

I am all for that XD

if only they would make that song

(if it weren't for like, copyright issues)

Pixie

> He's eating all the food
He's eating all the guests
No one knows what to say
He's bad at small talk

Joel Harmon

03:32

interestingly, copyright just showed up in another chat I'm in; I replied with this

doppelgreener

12:43

needs one more VTC, no system specified: rpg.stackexchange.com/q/83881/1204

nitsua60

@Pixie Good to see you. Just yesterday I was (for reasons unknown) re-reading the "jerk" thread on meta and thought "gee, where's Pixie been these last couple months?" Glad to hear it's good things keeping you busy.

Pixie

15:02

@nitsua60 [waves]

Shalvenay

@Pixie hey again

Zachiel

15:19

@Pixie You do mean it is possible to learn fighting games from scratch?

Pixie

@Zachiel Everybody starts somewhere. :P Though in my case, I actually started when I was 9 years old. I've just managed to forget everything I used to know. =w=

Zachiel

15:33

On a different kind of game: I had some more internet disconnections yesterday and I ended up trying to play the Witcher 2, easy mode. Every mission I try to do, I get killed. Selling all my potion recipes because "f-word consumables!" was a bad idea.

Shalvenay

@Pixie speaking of games -- have you ever looked into Ex Anima?

Pixie

@Zachiel Eek. Best of luck with it. My internet's been dicey as well lately. No fun.

Zachiel

Since I already asked something really similar in the past and got 0 answers in main chat - I'm going to turn a D&D timed adventure (end in 3 hours or fail) into a play by forum. Of course combats can now be measured in round and so can general interactions with the scenery, but searching for traps and secrets looks like something that could take the same time in-game whatever the starting point and an inane amount of rounds if someone started from the wrong tile.

Pixie

@Shalvenay I haven't heard of it, I don't think.

Shalvenay

@Pixie ah -- it's a rather different beast and I though you might appreciate it

Zachiel

15:36

@Pixie I have no idea if you know hearthstone, but there are "you must lose as few games as possible" modes. And disconnections count as a loss.

Ok I re-read that and it makes no sense. I mean the same amount of time at a table and a very different number of rounds in a play by forum where time is rounds-based

Shalvenay

@Zachiel unconditionally? is it not possible in Hearthstone to deduce who is in a winning state at the time of the connection failure? what if some router pukes and drops both players in the bitbucket?

Pixie

@Shalvenay It does look interesting. Not the kind of thing I normally play, but I might give it a shot sometime.

@Zachiel I've thought of trying Hearthstone, but I haven't yet. That is unfortunate, though. P:

@Zachiel So to clarify... you mean you're measuring the 3 hours in round times, IRL or online, but you think it would take less rounds IRL?

Or is it that you're measuring actual time IRL?

Zachiel

@Shalvenay It sometimes happened that I won games after a disconnection, Maybe the opponent had no chances to win, or he had disconnection problems as well, but what usually happens is that if you disconnect, you lose. So that one doesn0t disconnect on puropse, and to discourage disconnecting, you know.

doppelgreener

VTC opinion based, 1 vote left: rpg.stackexchange.com/q/83883/1204

Zachiel

Usually the games askyou to use a three-hours timer and the players need to act fast in order to end the dungeon before time is off. This won't work in a play by forum: how do you measure it? Number of posts? The closest thing I can use is number of rounds.
At the table, saying "we search the whole wall" takes almost no time. It would be fine if it took the same number of rounds in the play by forum, but it's going to change wildly as players decide to searche all the wrong walls before checking the right one. It is an unfair loss of precious, scarce "time"

@doppelgreener VTCed, for different reasons

Pixie

16:08

@Zachiel Yeah. I'm not sure how easily you're going to be able to adapt this because "x number of real-time hours" and "x number of in-game rounds" are measures of two different things. Number of posts isn't analogous either, I don't think.

Zachiel

@Pixie My idea was to find a time measurement that was applicable to all (virtual) tables just as real time is applicable to all (tabletop) tables

I do not care if the two do not perfectly align.

Pixie

@Zachiel Ahh, so is the goal not to adapt a specific adventure, but figure out a method to have timed adventures?

Aether

@Zachiel Real-time days/weeks?

Anaphory

Number of posts? Assuming the forum has a cap on post length etc?

Although that is likely to go in the opposite direction, towards very careful weighting of options as opposed to frantic scrambling for actions, so actually not an option.

Zachiel

@Pixie well, in this case it is about adapting specific, existing adventures. I know very well that it would be easy to just remove search rolls from an adventure to eradicate the problem, but I want to keep the adventure as similar as possible to the original. But maybe, searching a wall only takes one round no matter the lenght in my forum game.

@Aether Too varied across groups based on the schedule of people

@Anaphory I tought about this too. But you know, this makes it hard to discuss back and forth about options, or has players suddenly declare lots of actions in a single post hoping to twist the timer, plus what you said already.

Pixie

16:23

@Zachiel In that case, the first thing I would do is step away from the time and rely more directly on number of rounds. It might take some trial and error to figure out a round number that would make things challenging but doable, so you may want to test it out a couple times before you do an "official" run. I'd also do as you suggested and boil some actions down.

Anaphory

@Zachiel But the discussing back and forth is precisely that costs time at a real table as well, isn't it?

Zachiel

One thing that has to be said is that the original timer is meant to introduce some tension in the game, while the play by post timer would only be used as a measure of success.

Pixie

Say, when someone is searching a wall in a room, they're automatically searching all walls, and it takes some-predetermined-number of rounds.

Or not part of a wall, but the whole wall.

Zachiel

@Pixie This is a good idea. Searching the wrong place is no more a problem, because everyone who tries it spends the same amount of time. I do agree on the trial and error, but that's why I'm trying to run a test game

@Anaphory another good point.

Pixie

@Zachiel A test game is definitely a good idea. That way, you can see what places people get hung up on/take much longer than they do IRL, and figure out if you need to condense those actions.

Zachiel

16:36

I guess I will divide the rounds spent in rounds of combat, exploration and interaction and keep a table ready to see which values fluctuate the most among groups.

Anaphory

16:51

@Zachiel Whatever you try, a real-time timer leads to an entirely different type of tension than some other conceivable ways of putting pressure on the players. So I would start thinking about what kind of pressure or tension I consider the most important, and then wonder how I can model that in a forum.

Zachiel

@Anaphory As I said, I'm not sure I want to apply some pressure other than succeed/fail

Anaphory

That answer does not fit what I meant with my comment, so what do you mean? I'll try to put what I meant in other words, as well.

Or I should reread your comment and try to understand it differently! That works as well!

Zachiel

@Anaphory Is that what you did? Did it work?

Anaphory

I think so.

Now I need to think what that means for possible suggestions.

I first read your “measure of success” as “I want the pressure not to come from a frantic scrambling towards the end, but from different runs of the game competing with each other, succeeding better or worse, and I want a measure reflecting this better or worse”.

Zachiel

Well, not entirely.

Anaphory

16:58

I got that now.

But in the original play style, when the timer is up and you have not succeeded, you have failed, as well, haven't you? So what's the difference between the pressure in the real vs. the pressure in the virtual game?

Zachiel

I mean, I want a timer to be there and I need to compare several adventures to figure out what this timer might be and how long it should be allowed to run before shouting "time is out!", but I do not aim to replicate the same "quick, quick! Make bad choinces and risk because there's no time to think" of the original game, because play by forum is slow and it kills this kind of thrill, or worse it spreads over a long time making people worry between posts.

Anaphory

That makes sense.

Zachiel

I've had my share of time where I was worried about what would happen next in D&D and it monopolized my mind, and I think it's bad for one's health.

Anaphory

17:15

I'm spending far too much time these days trying to get some copies of a LARP prop done to contradict you there. Even without worrying or anxiety, I should have slept more some nights.

eimyr

anyone missed me?

Zachiel

@eimyr Me. My aim is really bad.

Anaphory

As a matter of fact, yes, I wondered about pinging you earlier.

eimyr

Hail Hydra.

that or holidays.

Hail Holidays.

My guinea pigs couldn't care less though.

So what's the chat been up to?

Anaphory

17:33

Since about when?

Also, I should invent something that I might have for dinner, so I'll be afk for a bit.

eimyr

last week

@Anaphory do you take suggestions?

Anaphory

@eimyr So far, I'm boiling potatoes and have a few bits of broccoli that I decided will go in there. Anything from there, yes!

(Subject to availability of ingredients, unfortunately.)

eimyr

Into the taters?

You're mad.

What else do you have?

I mean, if I had tats and broccoli, I'd steam broccoli to crispness

Anaphory

Sweet peppers, sour cream, old beetroot, chickpeas, brroad beans, cheese,

eimyr

this screams falafel

though if you already have broccoli...

Anaphory

17:39

Falafel are on for tomorrow.

eimyr

shame you've already started boiling potatoes.

I'd suggest en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_pancake

Anaphory

Could stick them in the fridge and fry them up at another time.

eimyr

are you vegetarian?

Anaphory

Yes, outside Christmas and LARP, essentially.

eimyr

Hmmm

how does that sound to you?

Silesian dumplings

Silesian dumplings (Polish: kluski śląskie, Silesian: gumiklyjzy, Silesian German: schläsche Kließla, Klöße, Polish: kluski śląskie) are potato dumplings with a small depression in the center. They are very popular in Silesia and in neighboring regions. Also called białe kluski ("white dumplings/noodles"). == Preparation == The dough for white dumplings is made of boiled and then mashed potatoes (moderately cooled, but still warm), potato flour and a little bit of salt. The ratio of potatoes and flour is about 3:1 or 4:1. In some recipes, a whole egg may be added to the dough (this helps shaping...

Anaphory

17:42

What do you eat them with?

eimyr

they are usually eaten as starchy side to some sort of goulash or other sauce-rich meat side

Anaphory

Don't have any mushrooms, tofu, veg meat, aubergine, courgette or anything I would use for that thing.

eimyr

If you're vegetarian I'd grab mushrooms, onions and whatever non-starchy veg you can spare, boil them to... right.

Anaphory

But it's good to have another member of the gnocchi/Schupfnudel/potato dumpling family in mind.

eimyr

It's much like gnocchi but more soft and chewy

sticky texture goes well with sauces, but they are a bit dry on their own

Anaphory

17:45

Oh, from the last week, I think Conan the Librarian, the youtube link pinned on the right, is the most relevant chat result.

@eimyr That's what I thought.

eimyr

peppers, tomatoes (lots of both), onions, perhaps fresh cucumber sounds like a good beginning of a en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecs%C3%B3

It's actually my favourite summer dish, though I add kielbasa as main meaty ingredient for smoky, rich flavour.

Anaphory

That sounds like something very much to keep in mind! And next time I should ask you before I start cooking.

eimyr

haha\

I'm just inspired at this moment. I'm not usually this imaginative.

It's BESW who keeps a log of his dishes on RPG.SE

Anaphory

My cooking in general is strongly governed by what my weekly organic veg bag contains, but I love trying to cook new things.

@eimyr When I was thinking about food earlier, I was thinking about pinging him, but then I thought that my available ingredients are of the type where I should just look at them, start cooking some, and then think what else to add.

Zachiel

@eimyr I think I've eaten something like that when in.... was it in Prague or in Budapest? Too starchy for my tastes. Bread and pasta being what we usually eat here in Italy (and gnocchi, but gnocchi are somewhat different in texture and taste)

Anaphory

17:54

Normally when I go shopping I get what I think I need plus a random thing that keeps well which I have no idea yet what I'll use it for.

eimyr

@Zachiel My bet's with Prague.

I usually shop for specific dishes.

Anaphory

But I haven't lived in this place long enough yet to have done that often enough to look into my cupboard and think “Oh, these two things look fancy, what do I do with that?”

@eimyr I very rarely do.

eimyr

@nitsua60 @Anaphory RPG.SE General Chat Vegetarian Dinner Ideas Handbook

2

Anaphory

The chickpeas are such a random buy. The broad beans are from my veg box. So, tomorrow I'll do some specific shopping and get the rest of stuff I need for falafel, like fresh parsley and mint and stuff.

eimyr

@Anaphory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_pancake

Anaphory

17:58

Yes, you said. Haven't made them for some time, and never with cooked potatoes, so I'm strongly considering it!

eimyr

Take a look at the placki ziemniaczane with cottage cheese and sour cream with chives, herbs and summer veg relish

the idea is to peel and shred raw taters, add an egg and some cornflour (salt, pepper) and fry them in deep-ish oil on a pancake.

Anaphory

I do know my Reibekuchen and Rösti, that's very similar.

eimyr

For the cottage cheese relish I'd strongly recommend sharp-tasting veg, like horseradish, bell pepper, cucumber (the small, gnarly kind)

Cool.

@Anaphory what are your thoughts on cabbage?

Anaphory

Cabbage is nice! Decided that I'm getting very hungry, so potatos, broccoli and a pepper go into a pan to be (re-)fried and eaten with a bunch of oil, herbs and spices.

eimyr

I'll make a Pole out of you.

Anaphory

18:10

… vegetarian.

eimyr

Are you ready to deal with Grandma?

Because that's what it takes to be a vegetarian Pole.

Anaphory

Can I visit Babcia only on christmas? As mentioned, that's when I'm not vegetarianing that hard.

eimyr

Major mistake.

As a matter of fact, Wigilia is strictly vegetarian.

So that would not be an issue, as Babcia's feeding frenzy will be soothed by then.

It is the other times, such as Every Sunday that she might object.

Anaphory

We can swap those, it's not a matter of principle that it's christmas, it's just that that's the time when I'm home and fancy food is cooked and as a matter of principle, I value the cook's pride more than moping about food choices.

@eimyr … with mushrooms, mushroom gravy and red cabbage. How do you make red cabbage? Cut finely, soak for a day, cook with apple, cloves, vinegar?

eimyr

depends on your angle...

you can also do it with a bit of vinegar and well-soaked raisins instead

but your recipe sounds good

HOWEVER! You must beware whether the red cabbage in question is to be fresh or preserved

or perhaps SOURED

Anaphory

18:26

Sure.

I generally cook from fresh.

Leczo with potato pancakes an option?

eimyr

don't

you'll spoil both

Anaphory

'kay.

eimyr

leczo is best with a fresh baguette or some other fluffy white bread

placki wouldn't suffer, as you can't really spoil them, but they already hold the smokey frying flavour, you don't need anymore

Anaphory

So for them, the “cottage cheese relish: sharp-tasting veg, like horseradish, bell pepper, cornichons” which is an interesting thing I haven't tried even remotely?

eimyr

absolutely

the proportions I would recommend is for every 300g of cottage cheese 3-4 horseradish, half a pepper and half a cucumber is probably enough\

alternatively placki are great with the same cottage cheese but without veg and with jam or honey instead, blackcurrant or other tangy jam would be best

Anaphory

18:39

I know horseradish in large roots or as prepared glasses. Neither would I want to take 3 or 4 of to a mid-sized pack of cottage cheese.

eimyr

oh, and not cornichons or pickles - the sour taste might not interact best with (truth be told) quite bitter cottage cheese. just fresh ones are fine

Anaphory

Ah! That's a very important comment.

eimyr

oh shit

no wait

that's not horseradish

my English betrayed me

while you could use horseradish (I recommend) as a condiment on top, I was thinking of regular radish

Anaphory

THEY ARE EVEN BIGGER

eimyr

Radish

The radish (Raphanus sativus) is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family that was domesticated in Europe in pre-Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, being mostly eaten raw as a crunchy salad vegetable. They have numerous varieties, varying in size, flavor, color, and length of time they take to mature. Radishes owe their sharp flavor to the various chemical compounds produced by the plants, including glucosinolate, myrosinase, and isothiocyanate. They are sometimes grown as companion plants and suffer from few pests and diseases. They germinate quickly...

the red bits

Anaphory

18:41

Ah, those.

Ẃhat's the even bigger thing called then…

eimyr

ha, not like daikon, the european kind

Anaphory

@eimyr That may be a thing Polish workers took to the Ruhrpott. I know potatoe pancakes with twarog and sugar beet syrup was a favourite food of my dad's when he was little.

eimyr

for the cheese avoid the ones with added cream - you're looking for crumbly, dry-ish cheese that doesn't run. The veg juices will thin it sufficiently and if not, add some cream yourself. It's not a supposed to be a spread, but rather a mash-like texture.

I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

Anaphory

Quark or twarog, not whatever the British and Dutch think cottage or soft cheese should be like.

eimyr

cooktoria.com/recipe/creamy-cucumber-radish-salad - e.g. this one is overdone on veg and with a creamy cottage chees, not quark

don't forget the chives/spring onion

Anaphory

18:48

Duly noted.

eimyr

I'm pampered for attention here.

Anaphory

I like trying and combining (… what would one use instead of bechamel sauce in a leczo lasagna?…) new food things far too much to not pay attention.

eimyr

@Anaphory polishmeals.com/2013/03/leek-salad

Chilli sauce goes well with leczo

about the leek thing, I use different proportions. 2-3 leeks (depending on the size), 6 sour cucumbers (gherkins, not cornichons or pickles, the ones that are soured by fermentation not by being dipped in vinegar), 4 large eggs, standard size can of green peas, about 300-400g of cheese (emmental, edam, gouda or salami) and 150g of mayo. finely chop everything, season with salt and pepper, mix well (and now important) leave in the fridge overnight. Eat with fresh bread.

well-filling, long time supper/breakfast favourite, could be good for dinner as well.

Anaphory

Breakfast is the only thing where I tend to eat – and not mind – the same thing every day. Müesli with oats, raisins, seeds and some kind of fruit, yoghurt when I haven't forgotten to buy any.

Dunno how I manage to eat that every day, when for all other meals I find the idea to eat the same thing again the meal after abhorrent.

Zachiel

19:13

@eimyr You mean the one that starred in DragonBall, yes?

eimyr

haven't seen DB, can't comment

Zachiel

Some characters are called after vegetables. Radish is one of them.

Anaphory

Do they share any characteristics?

(I assume edibility isn't one?)

Zachiel

20:47

@Anaphory I have no idea. We have kaharot (carrot), radish, vegeta(ble), (vege)table, (as)paragus, broly (broccoli), several anagrams of japanese names of vegetables... and their evil boss is called Freezer. >_>

William Mariager

22:40

My digital battlegrid is taking form :)

BESW

22:58

Cool.

William Mariager

Doors!

Nyakouai

23:29

A door is always a good thing

Seems to be a nice software

nitsua60

@WilliamMariager what software?

Nyakouai

How do you quote a message? Since he said "My digital battlegrid is taking form :)" I assume he is coding it, and what you see is work in progress

Miniman

37 secs ago, by Nyakouai

How do you quote a message? Since he said "My digital battlegrid is taking form :)" I assume he is coding it, and what you see is work in progress

@Nyakouai Use the dropdown menu on the message to get a permalink. When a link to a chat message is the only content of a chat message, chat will onebox it for you.

> How do you quote a message? Since he said "My digital battlegrid is taking form :)" I assume he is coding it, and what you see is work in progress

@Nyakouai Alternatively, you can use the quote formatting from main: "> " (The space is important!)

Note that when quoting like this, the quote has to be the only content of the message.

BESW

23:48

Although the Writing With Color mods are talking about the kinds of diverse representation that'd get them excited about novels, I think it's good for RPG character/campaign/design ideas too.

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