TRPG General Chat - 2017-02-11

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trogdor

00:00

lol

hey, if the Oracle wants to fight I will fight

I have some issues with the Oracle sometimes myself

BESW

"Fractals of Context" would be a good name for a TV show about ethical science.

nitsua60

Jan 13 '16 at 4:21, by nitsua60

"BESW" would be a good name for someone who's job was naming things =)

Miniman

00:38

I'm occasionally deeply saddened by the fact that our platform has no good way to give joke answers.

The answer to this question is obviously that the rogue times their roll correctly so that the explosion hits during their i-frames.

4

"What, you didn't know that rolling makes you temporarily invincible? Try it next time you're fighting a bear or something."

trogdor

lol

trogdor

01:28

@doppelgreener I think I was asleep when you said this, and the ticker only just now told me you had pinged me, so reading the answer now

personally I don't have an issue with you using ideas like that in a question or answer

Baskakov_Dmitriy

02:22

I think, I have a new question for the Perfect Question award now, after that case with erotic roleplay question.

Let's say, I want to gather my friends for a party and want to play a tabletop game. Which one should I have chosen if I was a software engineer? I want it to have reaslistic rules about sexual relationships. Please, no house rule suggestions -- I put RAW tag to support it. My fingerbox is a 4-hole one, if it's important. [tag:system-agnostic] [tag:rules-as-written] [tag:game-recommendation] [tag:alignment] [tag:FATAL]

mxyzplk

03:02

@doppelgreener Thanks to dopplegreener, enjoy your Extra SeXXXy RPG.SE Weekend!

2

BlueMoon93

ar the top questions in the newsletter hand picked?

or is it an automated algorithm?

nvm, i realize what went wrong

nitsua60

03:28

@Baskakov_Dmitriy I think after this comment that I now have a better handle on your ERP question. Is it, succintly stated: "I am going to set up this type of server, I have seen these undesirable things happen, how do I set up the server to discourage the negative things?"

Baskakov_Dmitriy

04:10

@nitsua60 Isn't it the way it is formulated right now?

BESW

04:57

Since so many people have seemed confused by it, and someone just now saw the need to ask if they're right about concluding that's what it's about... it'd be safe to say that no, the question is in some way failing to communicate its intended content.

LegendaryDude

05:37

So many sexuality questions being bumped

@doppelgreener :P

1 hour later…

Raven Dreamer

06:52

👀

2 hours later…

Urist McDorf

08:36

@Baskakov_Dmitriy Not too familiar with the Russian servers (a friend of mine is), only ever played /tg/ and just a bit of Baystation. It's not a "hell" as you say IMO (ere I wouldn't be one of the lead (admin/coder/designer/moderator)s on /tg/ for like a year and a half and I wouldn't love it like someone would love a misshapen pet who should be put out of its misery and I wouldn't want to make a game inspired by it currently) but it's definitely a problematic game.

doppelgreener

09:09

@mxyzplk ;D

Truly this was my plan all along

Baskakov_Dmitriy

09:37

@BESW How could it be possibly fixed?

3 hours later…

doppelgreener

12:54

@LegendaryDude Yeah, turns out we have a few. I figure since it's such a difficult topic to broach or ask about in Western culture, having a readily accessible knowledge base around handling it -- as well as some lessons about what not to do ever -- is pretty valuable.

nitsua60

13:47

Chatizens--I've made an edit to BD's ERP question that I think makes it a little clearer there's a real problem to be solved, not some hypothetical. I hope it's worth a second look.

@doppelgreener lots of +1 flowing back in as "covert rolls" answers are being deleted =)

RollingFeles

hey @nitsua60!

nitsua60

Hiya =)

RollingFeles

How're things?

nitsua60

I had a fun session last night. How 'bout you?

But now I go to work in six minutes =(

RollingFeles

Prepping second session for my second group =)

First one is on hold for some time.

nitsua60

13:54

Cool--system?

RollingFeles

Looking forward to that, because first session was great.

DW =)

nitsua60

Ahh... How're fronts coming along?

(I must admit: I still find the presentation of fronts, impending dooms, dangers, &c. a little wonky. Maybe it's just that I need a better fronts-sheet?)

RollingFeles

I was watching Darkest Dungeon trailer in steam and idea of powerhunger demon summoning strucked me.

Now, I want my players to help some cult without knowing it.

nitsua60

All while somehow being their fan?

=D

RollingFeles

I run only 3 session. And it's second time I'm trying to work with fronts

Yeah. Actually, they don't like guys who gave them the job.

nitsua60

13:57

Actually do have to run now--class starts in 2 min. Good luck!

RollingFeles

They lost first encounter because they left VIP they had to protect without cover and enemy leader took him as hostage and forced them to work with him in the end.

Good luck! =)

Shalvenay

hey there @RollingFeles

RollingFeles

Dear chatizens! Can you recommend me some tool for keeping game notes with formatting features? For now I use VS code because you can just open it in a folder and it will work with it as with project directory. Which is very convinient. But I still wasn't able to find vs code extension for formatting(bold, headings, etc.).

@Shalvenay hi! =)

Shalvenay

how're things going?

RollingFeles

Good! Looking forward to run game tommorow. Also, few days ago, my company rewarded me among others most hardworking employees of 2016.

Shalvenay

14:07

nice

RollingFeles

How're yours?

Shalvenay

still trying to get that online 5e game straightened out schedule-wise, although the AD&D game is going OK

RollingFeles

Any more shenanigans from your gnoll? :)

Shalvenay

hoping the party has change for a ---$20---gold piece or three -- if they do, then it's time for an improv silvering of my char's quarterstaff so that she can deal with lycanthropes

not yet :)

on a different note, I've been watching a bunch of bosnianbill's videos on youtube

it's been making part of me want to get a few junker padlocks, a few picks, and a tension wrench and give it a whirl IRL

RollingFeles

=)

what

I just googled him and spen several minutes for his video

bam, and I forgot what was my plan prior your message.

2 hours later…

BlackVegetable

16:46

Just opened up my magical weapons list for Dungeon World to the general public: docs.google.com/document/d/…

6

RollingFeles

@BlackVegetable thanks! =)

LegendaryDude

17:01

@RollingFeles Microsoft OneNote

RollingFeles

@LegendaryDude thanks for suggestion! Never thought about that.

LegendaryDude

Its the ideal application IMHO

for campaign tracking and planning

@RollingFeles cryrid.com/dnd/?page_id=153 Cryrid has a great blog about using OneNote for GMing. He runs D&D 5e but the concepts can be taken to any system.

RollingFeles

Thanks! I'll take a look at that.

2 hours later…

BlackVegetable

19:13

I'll probably add to the magical weapons list over time for a long time. Eventually I'll need to decide on an ordering. Alphabetical is one option. Any other suggestions?

BlackVegetable

19:24

(going mostly AFK. Got a Dungeon World game to GM!!)

1 hour later…

Anaphory

20:48

@BlackVegetable Yay! (For GMing DW, not for you being AFK)

Grubermensch

21:19

@RollingFeles I predominantly use Google Drive for campaign info, since it's easier to share content (like setting info or artifact statblocks) with my players. I don't really take digital notes while running the game though, if I need to I'll usually jot notes down on paper and type them up afterward.

Shalvenay

hey there @Grubermensch

Grubermensch

hello

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Grubermensch

in and out right now, doing weekend chores

Shalvenay

hey there as well @Axoren

Axoren

21:22

@Shalvenay Yo.

Shalvenay

what's up?

Axoren

I dropped by because I had a question. Has anyone seen the X card used in a non-intrusive way that allows games to continue in a safe and comfortable way rather than halt altogether?

Shalvenay

@Axoren personally, if a game is diverging that badly, I'd rather see it stopped until the participants can all get on the same page once again. state divergence occurs very quickly once it starts, and can make a hash of any player's best intentions. (think of it like a "stop the line" in some sort of safety-sensitive work environment)

Axoren

Recently, there's been issues with a previous campaign because some players didn't like the overall dark tones of a campaign that was advertized from the get-go to be a harsh and gritty story.

But it was more of a matter of the difference in player expectations within the whole group.

Shalvenay

@Axoren there's also a difference between "dark" and "harsh/gritty" as well

Axoren

21:25

@Shalvenay While that is true, both were advertised in explicit detail at the beginning.

Shalvenay

@Axoren nods

Axoren

And the X card was not used in this campaign

No player has any trauma and we are otherwise a close-knit group with only a handful of outsiders

Who are also being slowly assimilated into the larger group

But I was wondering if including it in such a group for future attempts would be a good idea.

The X card concept, to me, looks like a way to divert or repaint an aspect of the campaign at a moment's notice for any reason

And it's not clear if that has a positive impact on the group story-telling aspect of the game.

Shalvenay

@Axoren I'm probably the wrong person to ask on that because I emphasize convergence of state over flow of the game rather strongly, myself

Axoren

For example, if one character's development would be halted from being directed away from an in-character traumatic experience because another player wasn't comfortable with the direction of the plot, how are those situations resolved in a fair way?

Convergence of state?

Shalvenay

@Axoren i.e. making sure that all the players have the same game-state (where characters are, what they're doing, etal) in their heads

Axoren

21:30

Well, the X card is designed to redirect the entire state, no just one person's interpretation of it, I thought

Shalvenay

@Axoren it is indeed.

Grubermensch

@Axoren The X card wins. Always. That's how it's supposed to work.

Axoren

@Grubermensch I understand that's the intention, but I'm not sure if it actually works.

As I haven't seen it or heard any personal experiences with it from people who aren't actively pushing the concept.

I was hoping to hear from someone who's used it but I'm skeptical of the people who advertize it.

It's an odd position to be in

Grubermensch

If you are finding yourself in the situation where some of your players are consistently having a conflict like this, then you need to talk about it with your group, and some of your players might be better off leaving the game.

Axoren

@Grubermensch That's the route we took this time.

Some players left. Some took a break while others have decided to stay out entirely.

I've heard of like one or two games, where an X card was in use and the player from those games had a lot of disdain for it, so I'm trying to avoid their bias and seek out other opinions.

Shalvenay

21:34

speaking of awkward playstyle problems -- how do you deal with other players attempting to drag you into tribal politics, basically, when you yourself can't turn off your policy wonk side very effectively at all?

Grubermensch

The purpose of the X-card (and similar mechanics like the Red Rule, which I'm familiar with) is to say "this is a place where everyone at the table has a right to be comfortable". Once you deny that in favor of another player's enjoyment, you've broken that contract with your players.

Axoren

@Grubermensch Then how does one redirect the game to a comfortable state for all players?

That is the issue I'm trying to resolve at this point.

Grubermensch

If this is a recurring thing, it's probably not possible. That why repeated clashes usually mean someone needs to leave the game.

Axoren

Is doing that possible in the general case without halting play entirely?

It seems like after invoking the X card, there would have to be a period of negotiation of what alternative consequences to effect upon the plot

And in many cases, there's no logical consequence but to rewind and pretend it never happened.

Grubermensch

I would always stop the flow of play if one of my players has gotten really upset as a result of what is happening in game. This doesn't necessarily happen every time, some people will just be like "X card, nope" and if you can roll with it quickly and they seem okay, then just continue playing. But if someone is not able to play, you should respect that and call a short break in the session so they can calm down.

The thing about having explicit conventions like the X-card, is that you will generally get stopped really early in the scenario, when there isn't much need for retcon.

Axoren

21:40

@Grubermensch So it looks like the difference in expectation is the assumption of physical discomfort, rather than just distaste.

The X card is designed for a much more supportive environment, than just story redirection

In the case of someone with actual trauma or issues with certain plot elements.

Grubermensch

It's about the intensity of it. You don't want to run a game while one of your players can't participate, especially if the game is the reason for it.

Axoren

So then it would probably be better within my group for us to just discuss plot direction regularly

Grubermensch

Yes. If a player is trying to use the X-card just to get out of situations that are inconvenient for their character, that cheapens the meaning of the rule and is something you should address out of game with them as soon as you notice it.

Axoren

Yeah, the disdainful friend of mine cited a player using the X card to avoid character player death

But from how he said it, the person was using the card as intended, not cheese

The way I worded that as "player death" felt off because it was like they used the X card to physically defend themselves, lol

Grubermensch

Yeah, I would not consider that a valid use. Though a similar example could be if you have a GM who is very in to describing the whole death scene, and a player X-cards that. In that case, the GM should just stop, immediately. Death happens, moving on.

Baskakov_Dmitriy

21:46

Continuing discussion of this question's right to live.

-7

Q: How to deal with unwanted erotic roleplay on a roleplaying-focused server of a sandbox video game?

I am going to start a Minecraft roleplaying community soon. In the past I have seen people be forced into ERP (erotic roleplay) on a server like this. This has made people leave the community, and I don't want that to happen on my server. The game is not constantly supervised by GM and is done...

play-by-chat sexuality videogame-role-playing

Grubermensch

^ oh dude, red rule right there

Shalvenay

hey @Axoren and @Grubermensch -- mind hopping over to the NAB for a bit? got a question about RPed politics that I want to throw by you folks

Grubermensch

k

@Axoren player character death is often a touchy subject, and so I recommend being clear with your players about how you want to approach it. If you really get invested in a character and then they just die from bad luck, that can be incredibly demoralizing.

CTWind

@Axoren Now I'm picturing a game that uses an X-card-like mechanic, except it functions as an improv 'Change!' call.

Grubermensch

One strategy can be to explicitly warn your players when they're walking into a situation "with the gloves off", that is, a situation that could easily end in character death

Axoren

21:52

@Grubermensch Generally, I welcome the blades of death upon my characters as I see it as a meaningful tier of character development. At that point, I leave it to my party to decide if they will accrue funds to raise my corpse.

Generally, it's been half and half with whether or not they res me.

I know some other players who depend on character death for emotional reasons

Where their characters are getting too close emotionally to the player themselves and the relation needs to be terminated in someway

Grubermensch

Sure, and that is totally fine, but it's important that the whole group is on the same page about this, because it can be very jarring to find yourself on a different page.

Axoren

Either by their character going off on a voyage, or dying like a warrior in battle

Thomas Ward

@Baskakov_Dmitriy ... should probably be in Meta.

Axoren

But some players, I've seen so attached to their characters that the fact of dying has the opposite effect.

Thomas Ward

just saying.

Axoren

21:54

Instead of closure, they get the reverse: they don't learn what their character's potential was

Thomas Ward

also, greetings to you all :)

Axoren

@ThomasWard Yo

Baskakov_Dmitriy

@ThomasWard Happened in comments, I suggested there to move it to chat.

Axoren

@CTWind I like the idea of those kinds of mechanics when intended and constrained

Thomas Ward

@Baskakov_Dmitriy I'd give it its own discussion room though, if it were me... Not my call though right now, I'm busy with other things

Baskakov_Dmitriy

21:56

Thanks.

Axoren

It would be nice for a game to have that as a risk-reward system

Players can change any unmentioned aspect about the game, but then the DM gets to twist it like a nasty little genie.

Thomas Ward

@Axoren (DM is god heh)

(basically)

Axoren

DM: "One of the bandit shouts UNLEASH THE HOUNDS!"
Player: "Improv! The hounds use the corgi entry from the bestiary instead of whatever they were supposed to be."
DM: "Twist, they also gain the advanced template and a legendary action."

@ThomasWard While I understand that the DM has executive authority over the game, I think DM responses to player actions should have some guidelines or set rules, to some extent

Thomas Ward

true, and agreed, but that wasn't the point of that statement, sorry for not being precise enough. :)

Axoren

I don't follow, then. Sorry.

Thomas Ward

22:00

> but then the DM gets to twist it like a nasty little genie.

^ read my message as follows: "as if the DM is god"

Axoren

Ah, I follow

Thomas Ward

in that following the player actions is a good thing, but the DM has to some extent the ability to tweak things in accordance to player actions for the good of the campaign

returns to silence :)

Axoren

Of course, otherwise everyone would be riding Lizard-Corgi Hybrids into battle with their Lightsabers, in 3.5e

Thomas Ward

:P

Axoren

You normally need to be an Artificer for that

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Feb '1711

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