also, got 99% of a way to an answer on my deity-for-witch-hunters question, and my law-building question over on WB is turning out reasonably nicely as well
@KorvinStarmast cool. running a halforc in my hopefully-resuming-this-upcoming-weekend punchspace game (this one is Ftr1/to become Clr many aka "palahack", and she's already a bit of a hoot :D)
(it's a modded Sunless Citadel, btw, so s/b fun, even if we don't quite get the town RP times you'd normally get in that adventure -- our DM plopped it off on the Astral Plane and then gave us a magic item that includes "Amazon Prime for adventurers" as one of its services, although it was made by UDers apparently so that service is based out of the UD OFC)
> In addition, players were responsible for coming up with the details of why and how they succeed. The GM referees the world and reveals its secrets so players can proceed through the investigation. For example, rather than pixel-bitching over equipping our characters, we used flashbacks to explain how we brought the right tools for the job once gameplay quickly brought us into a situation.
(c) Johnn Four
Sounds like amazing idea.
This should speed up preparations and also let players to come up with something they need right now, but haven't thought about it in advance.
In InSpectres, there's a one-player-per-scene mechanic to do a reality TV show style "confessional" moment where the player turns to the "camera" and describes, in character, something about the scene which is useful or dramatic.
"Luckily, Robert's moth phobia meant he had a whole bag of camphor balls in his backpack. Unluckily, I'm allergic to camphor."
(Prior to that, we didn't know that Robert had a moth phobia OR that the narrating character was allergic to camphor.)
If Robert's character doesn't like the moth phobia, it's something the other character got wrong and there's a different reason he had a bunch of mothballs. If he likes it, he roleplays the phobia and the group gets some metagame currency for the awesome improv.
In 13th Age, instead of skills every character has a handful of phrases describing something about their background or history. If you want to roll the modifier associated with a background that doesn't make obvious sense for what you're trying to accomplish in the scene, the GM will ask you to tell a story about your past which explains how that background fits with your current action.
"The monastery where I trained kept bees. So it totally makes sense for me to roll my *Former Brother of Silent Contemplation +4* to calm down that rampaging bear." "Noope, I'm not seeing it. Tell me a story." "Okay, um... One winter night a starving bear broke into the hives looking for honey. I woke up Brother Jeremy and had him bang pots and pans to distract the bear while I laid a honey trail back out the main gate. While the bear followed the honey, I declaimed lines of soothing scripture to keep it calm, then slammed the gates on its terrifying furry butt."
I've only read the 13th age rules, never played it, but it seems like a very good game for DnD-4e style game built around a moderately crunchy tactical combat system (which is something I've been missing)
DnD is well-known for being a game where two hours of socializing takes a minute and a minute of combat takes two hours. It makes some sense, though - DnD has firm roots in tactical combat games.
@BESW Interesting question. Hard to say, actually. It was first full rp experience and it was pleasant. I'm really not sure whether I like system or experience that I had with it.
@RollingFeles As an AW GM, I never learned how to get DW combats to flow well. Combat progresses a lot faster in AW where a single good hit is deadly to most NPCs.
@RollingFeles Well, when you think about D&D what specific moment or experience gives you the warm fuzzies to remember?
Did you like making the character?
Did you enjoy adding up dice? Talking with the innkeeper? Seeing a d20 come up 20? Adding together damage bonuses? Remembering a specific rule during a scene where it was important?
@kviiri well, I had same cases in DW. Where player with fighter could cut someone before they knew it. I had a couple of beatiful fights and scenes with this flow. But I still doesn't have a feeling that I know how do it well. (TBH, I ran 4-6 sessions for DW).
@BESW yes, but mostly due to process of creating character background. I have a 6 page word file with background story for character I never played. But this story was tied deeply with culture of our DnD world and DM liked it. But this is not the DnD specific moment.
@BESW talking with innkeeper! I loved it! My character had a special relationship with local innkeeper and he helped us a lot. And I rewareded him accordingly.
Adding damage and feeling like you're gonna squash someone is great too.
20 on d20 is always a special occasion. According to 5e rules, 20 on skill check roll doesn't do anything, but our DM honored critical roll and always tried to work out something special.
And specific rules are good, but it always was great to tie in some small detail that was revealed in a session few weeks ago in order to understand bigger picture. DM made a lot of effort to create interesting world with interesting situations.
I had a Dwarf who liked to drink and liked to eat. And although he loved gold very much, he never mind to part with a little extra for a good innkeeper.
Yeah, then I would guess 13th Age is not the best match.
If you're willing to drop the fantasy setting, I recommend Apocalypse World. In my experience it flows even better than DW, although I guess one's mileage may vary by previous experience.
I'm not a fan of post-apocalypse settings. But thanks for advice! Actually, I'm willing to try many things. AW maybe a bit down in the list, but that's because it's core mechanics was inherited by DW and I think it won't be something completly new to me.
For now I need to restore my party :) Can't run game without players.
@BESW for now I'm struggling to fully understand that system. Rules are simple, but I try to "feel" them. I had first DW session when I "understood", but didn't "feel" the rules. And it was horrible.
In DnD you think about the mooks in tactical sense. And you miss the narrative point. Their "lifes". And when you act in the same way in narrative game, then you have empty and stupid mooks.
@RollingFeles So, in Fate, I make mooks whose generic description is their only aspect, and then instead of skills or traditional approaches I give them mini-aspects with skill ratings.
Compare that to the Apocalypse World move "seize by force", which (along with its variants "Assault a secure position", "Defend something" etc) which allows the player succeeding in the roll to choose options from a list of possible effects. These include +1 harm dealt, -1 harm taken a bit like Hack and Slash, but also more narratively relevant ones: "You take definite hold of [whatever you were seizing]" and "You impress, dismay, or terrify your enemy".
@RollingFeles Yes, but the point being Hack and Slash in particular. It's only numerical, without any cues there should be a mechanical effect. It's left for up to the GM to figure where AW makes it clear to both the players and the GM that it's not all about damage :)
> Prince Qi, Goa’uld Minor Lord - Arrogance +5 - Hand Device +3 (wpn:2 if psychic attack, extra push with overcome, can defend against energy & high-speed wpns) - Goa’uld +2
@RollingFeles I personally think PbtA is very light on the GM because it's very restrictive (in a good way!) and the main challenge is improvising for unplanned outcomes, which I'm pretty good at.
But most of the time, you can just rely on what reads in the move slip. It says something happens, something happens.
@BESW noob question, but I encountered in several places (posts, forums, reddit) some controversy about stunts in Fate. Some wasn't sure that they're good and some shoved off them from discussion, because they complicated things. I have positive impression about them, at least in FAE. Although, in FAE they're lightweight version of Core's stunts. What can you tell me about them? Is it just my superficial impression or does stunts have issues which I should consider?
One of the things that might confuse people about stunts is that they aren't obvious how to balance.
Different versions of Fate give them different amounts of oomph, but you can also ignore the usual balance guidelines if, for example, a stunt is designed to really reinforce a particular kind of playstyle: you want to encourage that!
But for starting out, I think the FAE templates are quite fine.
I used those Doctor Who PCs with people who were brand new to the system.
They're inspired by the Aeon Wave character creation model.
Aeon Wave is a free Fate Core adventure/setting module set in a cyberpunk future.
Hmm. You might also check out Lady Blackbird. It's not a whole lot like Fate or 13th Age or Apocalypse World, but it might scratch some of your particular play experience itches. And it's free, too.
Very character-driven, very loose with exactly what a mechanical action is in the narrative, but you get to roll a LOT of dice, the advancement mechanics are directly tied to a character's story progression, and the GM and players are very collaborative.
@kviiri I assume Roll's saying that their spoken English isn't as good as their written English. Which is definitely a thing I see a lot on the Internet.
Reading is almost great. I think I read in English more, than in Russian lately.
@kviiri that's ok. My writing takes time, so chat-based will be a bit of challenge too. But I alredy tried to give it a shot, but we couldn't gather with Shalv.
I hope it's not one of those bands that are nice working music as long as you don't understand the lyrics... :)
When programming or especially when writing prose, I tend to listen to instrumental music like classical or video game soundtracks, but languages I don't comprehend work equally well.
DM, which I mentioned earlier, is a professional interpreter. I don't understand how, but he managed to work on article translation and listening Critical Roll videos on a background.
I'm not sure how much thought process required for a translation like this for a professional like this, but I can't write code or design systems while listening to some meaningful content.
@BESW I'm not really that keen on Monty Python myself. The films are pretty good but the Flying Circus is too bloated with British memes for me to even understand :)
The one music genre I'm not really into that much is metal, which is rather ironic because I live in the promised land of metal music. OTOH, I guess a lot of music I like does have some metal influences.
This one band I like started as a spin-off from a metal band. They have interesting lyrics, mostly slightly surreal fables about various animals like seagulls and sperm whales. And they're a bit weird.
Anyone know of a resource for generating landscape landmarks? Not full on terrain generators or fantasy world-map generators, but textual descriptions of mostly mundane features of a landscape which are notable enough to be recognisable to a return traveller as a possible landmark.
"So, you are travelling through the Darkwells Forest .. as you turn a corner in the path you see [something]". That [something], being maybe "a huge oak tree, split by lightning" or "a stone dolmen, common to the region, marked with the runes ᚦᚳᚸ"
This is mostly for the purpose of fluff and flavour, but also for navigation landmarks. "Oh, that's the Dolmen of Giants, the wizards tower is about a mile east of here"
@BESW Ah, the "Landmarks for the Lost" is closer to what I want, but perhaps swings a bit far towards the mundane. If those were the landmarks you were relying on, then yeh, you're lost and you're gonna stay lost. "So, travel east to an open meadow, go past that until you see .. (rolls dice) a lifeless tree, then go south about 3 miles and you should find .. (rolls dice) a thick mass of vines."
To have a sense of ancientness either the world needs to have an ancient history to call on, or you'll need strategies to give the impression of one. Pulsehead's answer provides one way to create a history, but many worldbuilders never design so thoroughly and it doesn't stop them at all. Either ...
http://www.mithrilandmages.com/utilities/FeatureNames.php Along the right lines, at least with the descriptions of the different types of features .. maybe not the actual generated names though.
Wikipedia is being helpful ... A maar is a circular body of water in a mostly flat plain, the result of magma mixing with water melted from permafrost. A doline is a funnel shaped depression in a karst region (think limestone geology).
@Erics I once ran a campaign with a broad, wide plain dotted with doline-like depressions. The entire plain was nothing but wind-swept grass, except each depression was home to a little rainforest jungle and had an eternal stormcloud sitting above it.
It was a thousand-mile limestone reef lifted up by tectonic action, with cave systems carved out by rainwater flowing at the limestone/bedrock barrier. The caves were heated by magma and/or a portal to hell (possibly both, unclear), so each doline marked a significant temperature/pressure/humidity change compared to the above-ground environment--hence the storm activity at each opening.
That was part of my last "I will design an entire new world before I begin the campaign!" games.
The title basically sums the question up, but let me elaborate: If you have a question that you don't actually need an answer to, but that you think would benefit the site and users looking for answers in future, can (and should) you ask it?
We had a few rules discussions that might be interesting questions for this site in our last 5e session, but I'm having a hard time forcing myself to post them because I don't think they're really interesting questions or ones needing any more expertise than "know where to look in the rules".
@Adam Well, they're both pretty trivial in my opinion, but okay.
They're closely related, actually.
1) A character is under the effect of a positive spell, eg. haste, cast by another character. They lose consciousness. Does the spell end? (My opinion: not said in the rules, so no)
2a) A character has an unused bardic inspiration die. They lose consciousness. Do they still have the die? (My opinion: yes, since the bardic inspiration doesn't specify the die is lost upon losing consciousness)
2b) Same, except it is the bard who loses consciousness. (My opinion: the die is still kept, same reason as above)
They get to keep the dice. There's nothing that says the bard needs to concentrate on it, or that anybody loses it when they lose consciousness. In fact, it doesn't even say they need to be conscious to use it.
@BESW Am forwarding this recipe idea to my wife. She's trying to upgrade our diet to more heart healthy, and that looks like a fantastic idea. (How did it work out for you, flavor wise?) Salmon hummus burgers...
@kviiri I'm a bit miffed DnD doesn't have a mechanic for trusted allies In the first few versions, henchmen and hirelings were a thing, one might even say an important thing, in any campaign. While that reduced somewhat in 2e, it really took a hit in 3e. Charisma was your ability to incite loyalty in others ... and it really played into the whole henchman/hireling thing.
@Yuuki No comment, as I guess that you are referring to a 3e? @nitsua60. yeah, those are good tables. I'd like to see something like that considered for 5e the whole henchman/hireling thing, but maybe they'll UA it for a while first if at all.
Then raise the CR/difficulty of a given encounter. 8^D I see nothing wrong with getting your mooks to do stuff, but you have to have consequences if the mooks all perish. Reputation down the crapper, hard to hire/attract new ones ...
basically, you could get an NPC that was a few levels below you, and then a following of basically level 0 people. it's real difficulty was that it gave ONE person at the table 20+ people to figure out what they're doing
@KorvinStarmast yes, that is written in the feat. if a mook dies, your leadership score can go down
"Okay, I'll take a turn and then my sidekick takes a turn and then my other sidekick takes a turn and then their sidekicks take their turns and then my horde of 20 peasants take their turns..."
@DForck42 Wasn't a problem for me in 1e or EPT. We did that a lot. The player was the one obliged to have their crap together. You get too slow/don't know what you do, not all of your mooks act. There are other players to attend to ...
more enterprising characters, rather than using them in combat, would use them for toher things, like running messages or running an underground thieves guild, etc.
@Yuuki I do not allow anyone to hold the DM hostage to this "RAW" chimera at table. As a player, I have learned that I can help to curtail rules lawyering by calling out fellow players who are being one. It's called peer leadership. Something I learned a long time ago.
@DForck42 You could, and then people start stealing their wares once word gets out that someone is making free magic items. Hey, there's an adventure hook. :)
@Yuuki Rules as guidelines. If one finds a rule an obstacle to fun, I think you are right, boot it.
@Yuuki lol. yeah, someone on the subreddit pointed out the druid literally has the least amount of options
@KorvinStarmast but yeah, you end up either having to work around this feat in one of many different ways, or you can just ban it and not have to worry about it taking over your game. that's why a lot of tables just have it banned outright, or have very strict rules on how it works at their table. when i took it in a game, i tend to let my mooks go on autopilot, doing one, single thing that needed all or most of them
@DForck42 I see, feat versus skill, got it. (And another case of rules bloat as the bane of the game). @Yuuki Oh yeah, kender ... I'll stop, it's a trigger for me.
@Yuuki Never bring the minions into combat. Even with a high charisma, most of the followers' levels are a fraction of the player's level. A single empowered fireball (or a regular fireball plus some bad rolls) can take out a decent portion of the "army".
@Yuuki OK, took a look at the feat, and when I compare it to the loyalty and morale scores from OD&D and AD&D 1e, I can see what they are trying to do. But it also looks overly complicated.
It's not a fixed rule. It's whatever the GM considers "unfair" treatment of the NPC. Like turning them into a potion-making slave.
And if the players have pulled some shenanigans, like enslaving the NPC or forcing a captured enemy to work to stay alive, then the GM can say that the NPC loses morale and works less effectively.
Speaking of which, and I was planning on asking this on the meta site but hesitated due to risk of offending people: What's the deal with the usage of "This GM" on the site? I see a lot of answers where someone refers to their own personal ruling (e.g. "This GM would say...") in the 3rd person, when an objective, rule-based answer is expected.
@MikeQ Because a lot of [your system of choice, but 5e in particular] is up to DM/GM discretion. There could be an objective answer, but it might suck so people wouldn't use it even though it is 'correct'. A lot of stuff in 3.5/PF fell into this.
@GreySage on the 5e FB group, someone posted a homebrewed towershield that was SUPER op. it granted +2 AC, and then 1/2 cover (so another +2 AC). then, you could give up half your move action to get 3/4 cover (so another +3 AC), so you could be at a total of +7 AC from the shield.
@DForck42 in 3.P it gave you full cover (as an action I think), so you just flat out couldn't be targeted or hit by most things. Only something that spreads like fireball could hit you.
@KorvinStarmast Personally, I'll hold on to my shield of invincibility and take 16 damage.
And if you're cheesy enough, you can take the shield off but brace it against the ground, holding the wooden part instead of the metal so you take no damage + you're still invincible.
@MikeQ I have this terrible addiction to regurgitating Monty Python sketches in the middle of a conversation -- oh, what a giveaway! I developed this habit over the years since I bought "tie and hankerchief" album and my younger brother and I nearly memorized the whole thing.
he and I still do this during phone conversations.
So, earlier today I was driving home, and as I turned the radio on, We Are the World was airing. I was there, driving, thinking about all those foreign artists... who might this voice be? What about this? No voice I heard was undoubtly recognizabl... wait! This one crying at the top of her tiny lungs like a desperate, she's Cindy Lauper, isn't it?
I never would have predicted that one day I would have been that happy because of Cindy Lauper. True story.
Hmm... some talk about Hexblade on the subreddit is making a lot of sense to me.
Essentially, the argument is that the Hexblade isn't a good subclass because it's basically a subclass made to fix/shore up a problematic class feature, that being the Pact of the Blade.
@KorvinStarmast The flavors mixed well! Next time I'd probably pan-fry the burgers and then bake them, but that's just because we like our fish very very well done.
They're saying that while the design for the subclass may be good on its own merits, it's problematic because it's made to serve a particular part of the pact class feature. Basically, if you want to be a bladelock, you're going to have to take the Hexblade patron because you won't be able to do bladelock except as a Hexblade.
And conversely, there's no point in picking the Hexblade patron if you plan taking the tome or chain pact.
I'm a little wary because Mearls said that a lot of his inspiration for the class came from things like Elric and Stormbringer and how "I [Mearls] like that kind of idea of it's not necessarily the warrior that makes the blade. It's the blade that makes the warrior".
Some of the stuff he's said regarding Hexblade sounds really problematic.
> Then any class that can kill someone and rip out their soul and make them a specter that serves them, that's always fun.
@Yuuki I'm going to drop a reply to this in the Not A Bar and say that anyone wishing to discuss sexual assault, harrassment, and abuse either in real-life or in-game should pop over there. Let's keep General Chat on the "general" side.
@Yuuki It's also not a good subclass because last time we saw it, the fluff was nonsensical. And then there's the Cha-based melee attacks, which...yikes.
@Miniman The interesting thing was the juxtaposition of CHA-based melee attacks only with a one-handed weapon while the best Hexblade invocations were restricted to two-handed weapons.
@BESW Thank you, I added your cooking recommendations to my notes. :)
@Ryan Elric of Melnibone, written by Michael Moorcock in the 60's, a non trivial influence on the early swords and sorcery genre and early D&D, particularly how law and chaos are shaped as existential things. I read the books/stories in the mid 1970's, since a friend of mine had five of the seven books. Originally a series of stories written for pulps, good stuff.
@nitsua60 yeah, good call on that paizo thing. Toxic subject.
@KorvinStarmast But important, I think, to make sure people here know we can talk about those things Nicely. We'll just do it in the place where one might not be so surprised to see it.
@nitsua60 I'll leave the rending of garments to those with the energy for it. I would rather enjoy my sojurns to our chat rooms, than get one more (censored)ing downer in a given day. I trip over enough downers on a daily basis to have any interest in hunting for more.
@Yuuki Well, if there's one thing Paladin of Redemption taught us, it's that the designers think they can balance overpowered features by making them not work together.
The title basically sums the question up, but let me elaborate: If you have a question that you don't actually need an answer to, but that you think would benefit the site and users looking for answers in future, can (and should) you ask it?
