TRPG General Chat

SPavel

00:08

Wait, what happened to wax eagle?

BESW

@SPavel "Unfortunately, other commitments have caused @waxeagle to not spend much time with us."

SPavel

SevenSidedDie

00:25

@SPavel He just got really busy in real life.

SPavel

What system is that setting for?

doppelgreener

00:48

@SPavel It's a system-and-setting combo.

SPavel

Can we port it to a different ruleset

doppelgreener

It's got an enormous amount of lore & lots of locations to play in & you can even variously consider it a simulation game or gamism or etc.

@SPavel I'm not sure. People've tried applying different rulesets to Real Life in the past but they didn't seem to work out.

Though different regions have found different useful ways of using the rules that seem to work.

Shalvenay

01:15

@SPavel the joke is he got kidnapped by a dragon :P (since we had just started on Rise of Tiamat when he poofed) but yeah, he's apparently busy with RL matters

SPavel

I didn't know wax eagle was a princess

Shalvenay

@SPavel pahaha, as if dragons only kidnap princesses :P

trogdor

dragons don't always kidnap anyone

some of us would, believe it or not, rather be left alone, including by princesses

Shalvenay

01:32

hey there @NautArch -- how's the smoked yardbird turning out?

NautArch

01:45

@Shalvenay twas delicious!

Shalvenay

@NautArch awesome :D

had dinner out which was nice

what's not-so-nice though is that all my other plans for the night are falling down a hole :P

SPavel

02:20

Disregard plans, acquire beers

Shalvenay

:P

jpw

err...how're things going btw @SPavel?

nitsua60

@SevenSidedDie point of contention: I've always called it "box-text." Though in standard US English enunciation, I'm not sure anyone can hear the difference. =)

SPavel

I tried to make a new recipe for dinner, and it disappointed me

So now, beers

Shalvenay

hey there @nitsua60

SPavel

Or more accurately, this one beer

nitsua60

02:23

@SPavel Reverse the order. You might still not get a good meal, but you won't mind as much.

@Shalvenay Hey.

SPavel

I am trying to make my peace with IPAs

Though it seems that the hipsterati has moved on to sour/wild ales, which I like even less

nitsua60

Forgive my ignorance, but what do the hipsterati have to do with what you consume? Are you overrun, such that they dictate stocking at local stores?

Shalvenay

is there something wrong with being Mr. Malt @SPavel?

SPavel

Only the fear of missing out

Though the latest malty beers have mostly been of the "if we barrel-age it, who cares if it's terrible" school of thought

So everything is ruined forever

Shalvenay

say @nitsua60 -- why'd my access to the Little Adventures gdoc get pulled?

nitsua60

02:28

@Shalvenay Everyone's. I had word from eimyr that the original author was incommunicado now, but that they'd expressed some preference a while back in not having it get out. Now I can't actually tell at this point what parts are them and which are me, but the idea's definitely all them. So I unshared it.

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 :<

SPavel

Isn't the idea just, an RPG for tiny childrens

That's not really copyrightable

Shalvenay

no...it's more of a moral/ethical thing than a legal one @SPavel

nitsua60

The target audience isn't copyrightable, no. But the character creation system is 100% theirs, and the resolution mechanic is a good 70% theirs, and there's not much else. (The whole thing fits on a page.) So while there's probably not any legal issue, there would certainly be plagiarism (since I can't dig up the author's name to credit), and I've got no desire to go against some stranger's wishes in the matter of the thing they were so nice as to share with me.
Yeah.
Anyway, back to RL... stuff.

SPavel

02:43

Beer just got gooooood

beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/252/779

I had some salmon jerky earlier, wish I'd saved it to pair with this

BlueMoon93

10:40

Mornin'

Can any creature in D&D 5e be killed by a Polimorph /Power Word: Kill combo?

Asside from maybe shapechangers (immune to polimorph), how can any creature (or boss) survive this?

Miniman

You can't polymorph a shapechanger.

Oops, ninjaed.

BlueMoon93

:P

Miniman

That aside, this is exactly what Legendary Resistance is for.

Also, saving throws in general, really.

BlueMoon93

That is kept even during polimorph?

Miniman

No, but it's used to prevent polymorph from affecting you in the first place.

BlueMoon93

10:44

I see

Im having a hard time imagining how big boss battles go against lvl-20 players

with a couple of casters spamming banishments and polimorphs and w/e

I guess bosses will always need teams with them

a 1vX is just too easy for high-lvl PCs

Miniman

I mean, for something to fight a party of level 20 PCs, it has to be a boss.

Yeah, they have potential instakills, but it should, too.

BlueMoon93

hmm him having instakills will depend on the party imo

mine has no healers, no nothing

if someone goes under during a fight

they dont even have healing pots to bring him

so I avoid goig for instakills on hard boss fights

so that they can strategize and protect a PC in danger

but, hey, just my playstyle, right? :P

Miniman

You can't really complain about bosses not being challenging when you're deliberately avoiding making them challenging.

4

@BlueMoon93 There's nothing wrong with not wanting to kill a PC, but it's going to make it hard for you to challenge them.

BlueMoon93

I follow you

maybe ill have to change my approach then

see what my players think

ty for the input

Miniman

Well, if you don't want to boost its offensive capabilities, you can shore up its defenses.

Give it immunity to spells that require a mental saving throw, for example.

That covers most of the instawin spells.

BlueMoon93

10:53

mental st? that's WIS, INT and CHA STs?

Miniman

That's just an example of the kind of stuff you could do.

BlueMoon93

hmhmm

Miniman

But yeah, this is the problem Legendary Resistance was introduced to prevent.

Remember, it only has to burn a use once it's already failed the saving throw.

BlueMoon93

yeah, it can still try to succeed

my players are fighting their first ancient dragon

so I dug up a lot to made sure i made him justice

atm they polimorphed him to get some time

and prepare traps / short rest

they dont have any insta kill spells right now

so its no issue

but in the future, I gotta know how to handle those

Miniman

I was trying to come up with an example of a monster designed to be a boss for a party at level 20.

But there aren't any.

No published adventure goes that high.

I mean, once 9th level spells are an option, why is Power Word Kill being considered? Why not just Wish it out of existence?

Also, with the fur hat, is your username an Advance Wars reference?

@BlueMoon93 Tbh, once he's been polymorphed, his odds of survival aren't great. "We throw him in a volcano!" or "We teleport him into space!".

It's not quite an instakill spell in itself, but it's pretty close.

BESW

12:38

13 Tweets about monster creation. 1: When an artist has an imbalance between beauty and tragedy, or rage, in his/her sense of self-

Tweeted by RealGDT on April 16, 2017 at 11:59 AM

BESW

13:45

Your semi-regular reminder that Your Fantasy World Isn't Colorful Enough.

Rainbow Sediment stratum, Oued Metlili Ghardaia, Algeria It's Outcrop of sedimentary rocks of the Albian "Early Cre… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/853209182094413826

Tweeted by GeologyTime on April 15, 2017 at 11:31 AM

Shalvenay

20:11

hey there @DuckTapeAl

DuckTapeAl

Hey, @Shalvenay.

Shalvenay

how're things going?

DuckTapeAl

Pretty good. I start my new job on Tuesday.

Shalvenay

nice, whatcha going to be doing?

DuckTapeAl

QA on a mobile game.

Shalvenay

20:16

ah. bughunting is always fun \o/ (well...almost always ;)

things have been actually kinda slow this weekend, haha

DuckTapeAl

Yeah?

Shalvenay

was able to get a game in Friday night with Papayaman but last night's game with nitsua had to be called off because the DM had a RL emergency

hopefully tonight's PF game is a go, though

hey there @Yuuki

Yuuki

'ello

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Yuuki

Pretty good.

Having a crawfish boil today.

Shalvenay

20:24

nice. things are alright here albeit somewhat slow. maybe you can help me with a "does this thing exist?" question for PF, though?

Yuuki

I can give it a try.

Speaking of PF, I left my Beginner Box out on the living room table to maybe entice some visiting family friends for a one-shot or something.

Shalvenay

is there a way to add some sort of elemental aspect (such as damage) to all of one's summons?

(I'd expect it to be a feat -- this is for a Kossuthite Druid, btw, because what's scarier than a treant? A flaming treant, that's what!)

Yuuki

Hmm... that sounds familiar...

Okay, I have something that might work. Depends on whether Summon Monster counts as targeting an area.

But it does require more than one feat.

And if you're doing this, you might as well try to rules lawyer the DM into letting you use the Locate City Bomb/Nuke.

The problem is that there are little to no metamagic feats that let you add damage to a spell.

There's plenty that'll let you change damage for a spell, but very few that add.

Shalvenay

@Yuuki that's something...I'd rather not do to a new DM :P

Yuuki

@Shalvenay Yeah, the Locate City Nuke is the only way I can think of to add elemental damage to a non-damaging spell.

:(

And that involves convincing your DM to let you use 3.5e splatbooks.

Shalvenay

20:38

yeah -- it was just a wild hair of flavor, really :P

(although, I will say the idea of a cork-wrapped Changestaff turning into a flaming treant definitely falls under Rule of Cool, as well as meshing with why cork is a thing IRL ;)

DuckTapeAl

This almost does what you want: d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/evolved-summoned-monster

But Energy Attacks is a 2-point evolution.

Maybe this: d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/versatile-summon-monster

Shalvenay

yeah -- part of the problem is those require Summon Monster as a prereq

DuckTapeAl

How important is RAW to your DM? Because I'd personnaly allow a Nature's Ally variant for Evolved, at least.

Versatile less so, since Nature's Ally doesn't have templates.

If you have touch spells that would work well with your summons, there's this: d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/proxy-summoning

Shalvenay

@DuckTapeAl I'm not sure if they'd be able to answer that for themselves -- it's their first time around in the DM rode

the last one isn't a particularly nice option for a druid I feel -- their blasts tend to be ranged, not touch

DuckTapeAl

Oh. That actually makes it easier. In my experience, first-time DMs are generally much more willing to bend the rules a little bit for their player's enjoyment.

Yuuki

20:57

Is there any way to increase thrown shield damage (5e)?

DuckTapeAl

...are there rules for throwing shields in 5e?

Other than the normal improvised weapon rules?

Just did a quick look through the PHB, and I couldn't find anything related to throwing shields.

Yuuki

Yeah, I think it just works like improvised weapons.

1d4 + STR bludgeoning is fine for this character build, but I'd like to see if I can improve it.

DuckTapeAl

And no magic items that turn a shield into a throwing weapon that I can find.

I have to ask: why are you throwing your shield?

Yuuki

Yeah, I was going to play Eldritch Knight and then bond a weapon + shield. That way, I can throw the shield and recall as a bonus action.

@DuckTapeAl Making 5e builds of some video game characters because I'm bored.

DuckTapeAl

Aha.

Yuuki

21:06

Starting with this one.

DuckTapeAl

^That's who I thought you were talking about. :P

Erik

Is that Poppy?

Yuuki

Yes.

Erik

Heh, she's awesome. And rarely ever seen.

Yuuki

Since there's no way to one-hand a two-handed weapon, I'll just flavor the warhammer as really f--kin' big.

@Erik I've been thinking about picking her up for jungling.

Erik

21:12

I haven't played League for a long time, but I remember playing Poppy as my main Fighter type.

Judging from the Wiki, she has been completely rebuilt, so I have no idea what she does anymore :D

Yuuki

Her passive lets her get a ranged attack every couple of seconds.

She throws her shield and can pick it up to get some shield HP.

Her E is the same, dash at an enemy and stun if she hits a wall.

Q does a small AoE of damage and then leaves a field that erupts shortly afterwards.

Shalvenay

hey there @Papayaman1000

Yuuki

Her bread-and-butter is her W though, which puts up a field that blocks all enemy dashes.

Erik

Blocking dashes doesn't sound very exciting, tbh

Nice to see she still has the wall-slam. That one was fun.

Papayaman1000

21:28

So, new spell idea: Arcane barrier that absorbs spells that hit it (giving their 'mana' to the caster), while expunging 'mana' to block physical damage. It shatters and dissipates the moment the caster stops sustaining it (meaning a sufficiently strong physical attack on a barrier will smash it to pieces, empty the caster's 'mana' pool, and still hit anything behind it at full force).

And, of course, as this is a component for my spellcrafting system, you could hook it up to a continuous AoE spell to damage anything trying to break it.

How OP?

Erik

Sounds very complex for a component in a spellcrafting system

Sounds like it could/should be 3 different components

Papayaman1000

How do you think it should be divided up, then?

Erik

The parts seem to be "absorb spells", "block physical damage with mana"

I'm not sure why I thought 3 parts before. Maybe if you'd split "block spells" and "absorb their energy" but that might not be neccesary

Papayaman1000

The idea is that being able to just absorb spells with an ethereal barrier with no upkeep to it besides concentration just seems a bit OP. The idea is that a bunch of gobbo warlocks should at least be able to run over and stab it away, rather than just making everything in x range immune to spells indefinitely.

Yuuki

@Erik It's her big thing though because now she can prevent initiations on her team.

(It can block Malphite's ult)

Erik

21:34

Oh I'm sure it's effective, just not exciting. I played more for the exciting powers than the good ones

You mean to use the "blocks physical damage with mana" to be a downside of the barrier? I thought it was one of the good features.

DuckTapeAl

@Papayaman1000 Have you ever played Magicka?

Papayaman1000

@Erik It's a blessing and a curse. A double-edged blade, if you will. Yes, the caster can block spells, and arrows, too! But it keeps those under ward caged in, and a group of determined monsters can make it too expensive to hold, magic be damned.

Yes. Excessively. I've explicitly said I've modeled the "beam" delivery off of its systems :P

[Yes I'm taking inspiration from the raw shield castings]

Erik

You can apply the same curse to the spell-absorb part and make the barrier detonate when it absorbs too much of whatever the barrier is set to absorb

Papayaman1000

An interesting side-effect is that it lets other casters transfer 'mana' to their cleric by casting simple spells at the barrier.

Erik

Then you might even link the amount of absorb to what you're blocking. A barrier that blocks fire can absorb far more than one that absorbs "all magic" before it detonates, but it's not as effective unless your enemy is a dragon.

DuckTapeAl

21:41

"The idea is that being able to just absorb spells with an ethereal barrier with no upkeep to it besides concentration just seems a bit OP." If you have a barrier that doesn't block physical attacks, couldn't an enemy just shoot physical things past it?

Or run into the area and blast inside?

Papayaman1000

@DuckTapeAl Yeah, sure, but running towards the party with a crappy dagger isn't a very good replacement strategy. Especially when that Legolas wannabe snipes you in the face on your way.

@Erik There's an idea. I might have to make an entire barrier subsystem now.

DuckTapeAl

Are you familiar with GURPS?

Papayaman1000

@DuckTapeAl Not on a deep mechanical level. I've never actually played a game with it.

DuckTapeAl

A lot of what you're describing makes me think of GURPS things.

Combining base effects with modifiers, that sort of thing.

Erik

It made me think of Mutants&Masterminds :)

DuckTapeAl

21:47

Mutants and Masterminds is basically GURPS for people who like to actually play games.

Erik

I've never played GURPS either, but I like the idea of that statement :P

DuckTapeAl

Both have that same sort of character building, but GURPS is expressly attempting to be as simulationist as possible, where M&M is trying to be a good game.

Papayaman1000

Maybe. The idea is a massive system where a mage can craft nearly any combination of effects and load them onto a single spell. Also keep in mind that I make an effort to make everything free-form (something I've heard GURPS does well): You can take any levels in any skill you want, so the only thing restricting you from also being good with a warhammer is that you have to invest in that in the stead of magics.

DuckTapeAl

And weirdly, despite having way more in the way of rules and exceptions, GURPS has a lot more holes than M&M.

Shalvenay

hey there @Zachiel

DuckTapeAl

21:50

@Papayaman1000 That's pretty much exactly how GURPS works. Spells are either Skills or Advantages, and the game doesn't stop you from spending your build points however you'd like.

Papayaman1000

This is basically me trying to cherry-pick the best parts of FATE, D&D 5e, Magicka, and The Elder Scrolls, all in one big pen&paper system.

Maybe I'll read up on GURPS a bit more.

Erik

Sounds like a cool project

Papayaman1000

@Erik I hope so, I've been working on it on and off for over a year now.

I plan on deploying it for my group in a sprawling open world with a bunch of neat little things tucked in every nook and cranny.

"You find a small cave. In the back, you see a man staring at you devilishly; he has a strong muscular build and gleaming red eyes. He takes a single step forward, and speaks. 'I am DIO BRANDO, and I shall strike you down!' Roll for initiative. Dio screams 'WRYYYYYYYY' and gets +20. His first attack is throwing a steamroller at you."

[Reward for that fight: "Power Word: Summon Steamroller"]

DuckTapeAl

...what?

Papayaman1000

"Is that a JoJo reference?" - You, probably
"Yes, yes it is." - Me

DuckTapeAl

21:58

JoJo?

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about.

Zachiel

@Shalvenay hey

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Zachiel

@Papayaman1000 Za Warudo!

@DuckTapeAl JoJo's bizarre adventure - a series of related manga by the same author that at some point invented this magic system where people have some sort of spiritual ally called a Stand that has superpowers, and only Stand users can see other Stands.

@Shalvenay busy day.

nitsua60

Jan 20 at 17:03, by nitsua60

I feel like the linked answer would make a good template: "This was solved pretty comprehensively for GURPS ________. It comes with an Excel spreadsheet, which is pretty necessary given the calculations required. It isn't specifically for ________, but you should be able to join it up to your game."

Papayaman1000

@Zachiel I'm trying to post a message but it keeps timing out so now I'm trying to find the Za Warudo scene to sum it up nicely

Shalvenay

22:06

are there any 3.x/PF feats that grant a template to summons made using Summon Nature's Ally? I recall something like that existing in 3.5e, but can't remember what it is or quite how it worked

Papayaman1000

@DuckTapeAl Here's it summed up in two minutes.

Zachiel

@Shalvenay Rashemi Elemental Summoning from ... East (FR setting) and Verdant summoning or something like that from Lost Empires of Faerun IIRC

Shalvenay

are you looking for Greenbound Summoning?

DuckTapeAl

@nitsua60 Oh, god. I've heard GURPS described as a scripting language for world building, but the idea of GURPS as a Lua-like literal scripting language where you can pass data out to your GURPS module, work on it there, and then pass it back in units your original system can understand is just too funny to me.

Zachiel

@Shalvenay That one!

Papayaman1000

22:09

@DuckTapeAl And thus we have the exact reason I don't use GURPS

Shalvenay

@Zachiel yeah -- hacking Greenbound Summoning to use the Firey template from PF would probably be acceptable (and better balanced than the original too -- the Greenbound template is nuts!)

Zachiel

@Papayaman1000 Honestly, that video explains nothing about what's happening.

Erik

That video is pretty much just ... weird

Papayaman1000

@Zachiel It's a good demonstration of just how bizarre the series is. That's all you ever truly need to know about JoJo.

DuckTapeAl

@Papayaman1000 I have no idea what's going on there, other than a fight between two muscledudes.

Zachiel

22:11

@Shalvenay The Greenbound Summoning feat ws intended to be a metamagic (+2 slots) feat (the author said it when asked) but for unknown reasons it got edited out.

@Papayaman1000 rero rero rero

Shalvenay

@Zachiel yeah, it's still pretty crazy even as a double metamagic feat

Erik

Also talking about Lua remembers me I need to put more time into my 5e encounter simulator.

DuckTapeAl

...was there a Fred Flintstone clip in that video? Was that from the episode, or was that edited in?

Papayaman1000

DuckTapeAl

That didn't seem bizarre to me, it seemed nonsensical.

Shalvenay

22:13

and with the way the PF druid was actually toned down some compared to their 3.5e counterpart....

Papayaman1000

@DuckTapeAl EXACTLY.

DuckTapeAl

Okay, so I should never watch it then. Sounds like a plan.

Papayaman1000

I've made a terrible mistake

but I want to watch JoJo now so I don't feel like sticking around to fix it

[ - New SE User 2017]

Zachiel

22:33

well, not exactly nonsensical, but you lack the context for that fight. The blond guy is Dio Brando (the BBEG of the third serie), whose Stand, The World (Za Warudo in japanese romanization), can stop time for around ten seconds, during which he can attack still enemies. Jotaro (the other guy) has a stand called Star Platinum. Very powerful, he likes to punch people and other stands at fast speed.
So, Dio just realized that Star Platinum can move inside still time for a while so he tries to attack with something that can shield him - the steamroller.

RedRiderX

@Papayaman1000 Whenever I see that gif I can't help but think of the voice over in that scene...

Zachiel

I can't remember what the cherry scene was about. Was he trying to unnerve someone or just being weird like sometimes the anime is (more than the manga, at least)?

trogdor

23:23

@Zachiel I was just going to ask that

looks to me like he was really trying to make someone annoyed or something, but I know nothing about this show soooo

he could just be being a silly weirdo

it certainly isn't the first thing I want to look at XD

Yuuki

@Papayaman1000 leeeeeeewd

@Papayaman1000 I mean, it is called Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

trogdor

@Yuuki one word for it yeah

others are "annoying" "weird" and "disgusting"

Yuuki

So Eldritch Knight is probably the easiest way for a martial class to have early access to a returning weapon, right?

trogdor

I wouldn't assume this is the kind of specific thing always happening in the show, but if it were I know one show that I can cross off the list

Shalvenay

@Yuuki I think so yeah

(don't have my PHB available to check though)

nitsua60

23:40

@Yuuki 5e?

Yuuki

@nitsua60 Yeah.

nitsua60

I guess it depends on how you feel about a warlock's pact weapon, that'd also be L3. (It's not quite a "returning weapon," but perhaps it also does all the things you wanted form the returning weapon.)

Yuuki

Well, the Eldritch Knight's pact weapon does roughly the same thing so I guess I would count both as "returning weapon". I think the fighter would be more at home on the frontline than the warlock though.

Shalvenay

I dunno

Yuuki

Judging from hit die alone.

Shalvenay

23:43

Bladelocks are pretty capable fighters, but a bit more flank than tank

nitsua60

Yeah, it goes either way. Either EK or pact of the blade are both explicitly built to be front-line melee attackers and casters.

Yuuki

Found a Tuesday group and they need an archer. I'm thinking Rogue (Assassin) X/Fighter (Arcane Archer) 3.

Thoughts? My thinking is that I can use a Seeking Arrow to deliver massive spike damage with sneak attack and etc.

Or maybe a Piercing Arrow.

nitsua60

Sharpshooting?

=)

Shalvenay

hey there @Icyfire

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