TRPG General Chat

doppelspooker

00:01

> With their penchant for injury, the objectionable things they'll eat, and their having far more joints on their limbs than most normal people, children remain one of the greatest vectors for terror ever known.

Lyndon White

00:15

Anyone actually used the SamePage tool?

trogdor

@BESW @doppelspooker you guys are too much sometimes XD

nitsua60

@LyndonWhite Once. Why?

Lyndon White

can you tell me about it?
What system, had you played with the group before.
Did it help?

Why have you only used it once?

I always think it looks cool, but never have I tryed it.

nitsua60

I was ~recruited~ to take over as GM for a group whose GM had left.

(I.e. a worker at my FLGS said "hey, I know you run games, there's a group who's short a GM, you interested?")

I think it helped by dint of being something I could step through during a session zero which was also a "I'm taking a leading role in your coherent friend-group I'm just meeting."

Lyndon White

00:30

Fair,
but not so much in its actual purpose?

nitsua60

No other group have I felt the need to use that document. I do a session zero, and I have notes on what I'm going to want to talk about, but there's also lots of discussion and e-mail chains and background experience before start that we can lean on.

BESW

I've used the SPT as inspiration for more open-form discussions, but never the Tool itself.

nitsua60

That one group... we harmonized pretty well. (Except for the travel time it ended up consuming. One pair of players moved a little farther away which pushed me over the 1:1 drive:play time ratio. And I have so many opportunities to play/run closer that it was hard to justify that waste of three hours driving. To run for a group of (nice) strangers.) So I'm not sure we really needed the SPT for its declared purpose.

doppelspooker

@trogdor :D!

nitsua60

@BESW This. I go go back and look to make sure I don't forget something important, but my generic start-of-campaign notes have it pretty well covered.

doppelspooker

00:33

@BESW @trogdor i'm off to bed, will see you in the morning for some inspectring. (inspectre-ing? inspecting? whatever it is, spookiness will be had.)

nitsua60

@LyndonWhite Are you starting something new soon?

Lyndon White

No.

BESW

InSpectration?

nitsua60

Not just "InSpection"?

doppelspooker

i wonder if there are policetergeists

nitsua60

00:34

(My 5yo just walked up to me with five M:tG cards splayed in her hand. One each of RGBWK. "I win. A rainbow." "Yes. Yes you do.")

(Too political.)

doppelspooker

@nitsua60 awww XD

BESW

@doppelspooker One of the great things about InSpectres is that the players get even more explicit control over "what's really happening" than most Fate iterations.

So... I don't know if there are policetergeists! You can tell us if you roll well enough.

Lyndon White

I used it (and Microscopes beginning of game stuff) as inspiration for my XP system for my system.
There is a list of about 25 "triggers", ranging from "Someone brought food for the group to share", to "A character or NPC died during the session." to "The party was split for >1/3 of the playtime.".

At the start of the game the group together decides on 7 of these as "positive triggers", which if they occur the group gains an XP.

Then individually, each player chooses one as a negative trigger (everyone writes and reveals together).
Everytime one of these occurs it cancels out the occurrence of a positive trigger.

The idea is that in setting up these XP triggers/counter triggers during the chargen phase the group will know exactly what they want out of the game.

nitsua60

Is there any mutability in triggers?

Lyndon White

You mean can you change them?
My current ruling is that you can change up to one per session (positive or negative) by unanimous agreement

if you feel they are not working out for you

nitsua60

00:42

Got it.

trogdor

@doppelspooker ok them XD

Zachiel

00:53

@nitsua60 WURBG, you mean. (Awww)

nitsua60

@Zachiel If, in the 20 years since my last M:tG game, I hadn't forgotten the standard abbreviations... yes. That's what I meant =)

Shalvenay

hey again @NautArch

NautArch

howdy howdy @Shalvenay

Shalvenay

@NautArch ready to start?

NautArch

sure, anyone else able to join or am i doublefisting characters again?

Shalvenay

01:03

@NautArch looks like you'll be doublefisting again

NautArch

okeedokee

Shalvenay

01:26

hello there @Tano

BESW

I have no idea where this story is going, but the enchanted sword just shouted "I will not be wielded by a man with clammy hands!"

Tweeted by UrsulaV on October 26, 2017 at 9:35 PM

Lyndon White

04:09

@BESW recall last week (or week before) I was talking about how my character sheet needs to be actual art.
I've taken my first shot at it. I don't think it is great. But It will do for playtesting.

Shalvenay

hey there @LyndonWhite

Lyndon White

hi

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Lyndon White

Background is a cut from "The Knife Grinder or Principle of Glittering", by Kazimir Malevich. Which is now in public domain due to age.

Things are fine.

Shalvenay

alright here

Lyndon White

04:14

(Have we interacted before?)

Shalvenay

probably not much

Lyndon White

(I am going AFK now, bye)

Erics

06:59

Approximately how good is darkvision? Equivalent to full moon?

Miniman

"You can see in dim light as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light"

Except no colour.

Erics

07:47

As a DM, what are your fave 1st or 2nd level spells (dnd various e) for encouraging tactical play from the player party? e.g. Taunt, with the fighters etc lined as a gauntlet ready to dish out attacks of opportunity to all rushing past.

BESW

08:29

My favorite tactical D&D situations always come from D&D 4e, which doesn't do "levels of spells."

Auras and creatively triggered reactions were a ton of fun to play with.

One monster: whenever an enemy starts it turn within 10 squares, it takes a very small amount of psychic damage.
Other monster: whenever an enemy within 15 squares takes psychic damage, it can use its opportunity action to teleport to a square adjacent to that enemy.

Kobolds in 4e can use their opportunity actions to shift 1 square instead of the usual opportunity attack.

Environmental features, like a rune circle that can let you teleport your move speed as a move action, can turn ordinary combat into a battle for terrain control.

But most important for tactical play is to give players goals other than "kill the others before they kill you."

3

Erics

09:50

Guess who? 750 words into a blog post title on the topic of making combat faster .. "I pride myself on not wasting people’s time." ... and there's another 450 words before he gets to an actual useful point.

@BESW Even with "kill them first" being the goal there can be tactical play.

Miniman

10:28

@Erics Someone of a pugnacious disposition?

Erics

10:51

@Miniman A =)

BESW

11:40

@Miniman query: answers by [user] on questions asked by [other user]

Miniman

@BESW I think I've written this one before, but I can't find it. Give me a sec.

BESW

Trogdor called it.

Miniman

@BESW data.stackexchange.com/rpg/query/…

BESW

Thanks!

Miniman

@BESW You're welcome! Pretty low-effort, really. Also, trogdor called what?

BESW

11:52

That you'd probably already written that query.

Miniman

Ah, right.

I did find it eventually, but it was aggregate.

nitsua60

@Erics I will say: if it's the "dolphin" post you're reading, it's worth it. I use that one every session, every system. Not just for combat, either.

Erics

12:07

@nitsua60 Yep. The info is good, but a 1,200 word preamble?Blech

Anaphory

Eyup!

doppelspooker

12:34

Evil Hat is releasing some new fate dice, and they're releasing them in packs of 4 rather than 12 (which is helpful!):

A little Friday surprise for you: We're releasing new sets of Fate dice in a smaller, more affordable 4-pack! https://twitter.com/chrishanrahan/status/924006029796319232

Tweeted by EvilHatOfficial on October 27, 2017 at 8:15 PM

Ok, I am just posting these. I am just too excited about the whole deal not to make some work for my marketing team. #fate @EvilHatOfficial

Tweeted by chrishanrahan on October 27, 2017 at 8:12 PM

Anaphory

@doppelspooker Relatively or absolutely more affordable?

doppelspooker

@Anaphory Both? :D A player only needs 4 to play, so having the option to buy just 4 instead of batches of 12 is helpful.

Anaphory

But in case you need 12 for three players anyway, should you buy 3 4-packs or one 12-pack (assuming there is one 12-pack you can decide on)?

ACuriousMind

12:50

If they looked more...fancy I'd consider buying them but something in me revolts at the idea of buying reskinned d6s if I have so many d6 already lying around :P

doppelspooker

@Anaphory Probably if you had three players you'd buy a 12-pack, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that's still the cheaper option per die.

@ACuriousMind Personally it feels better to have the pluses and minuses, and it skips a mental step. Four pluses looks more awesome than an assortment of 5's and 6's, I think? But also you can take a marker to some d6's to make your own fudge dice:

ACuriousMind

@doppelspooker I'm already used to the mental steps from counting successes/failures on d6 in Shadowrun, so it's nothing I have to get used to anymore

doppelspooker

Orrite!

Shalvenay

13:06

hey there @Anaphory

hey as well @NautArch

BESW

Tonight we played InSpectres, which was fun.

We used a heavily-annotated D&D manual and some equipment borrowed from a local priest to exorcise and destroy the imps who were moving around the wax statues in the Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not Odditorium.

doppelspooker

13:23

@BESW It was so fun.

I'm glad you and @trogdor got the reference I was making with the priest & the blind lawyer. :)

InSpectres is a pretty great system, looks like. It's got fun narrative control mechanics, nice character sheet details, and we got to have a whole lot go just hilariously badly and move forward anyway -- so it's a system where there's no pressure to keep things going smoothly.

There's some mechanics where we build up a business, and the business gives us more ability to succeed and correspondingly more challenging jobs, which is nice. It means I'm actually feeling encouraged to spend the business's resources so that we can maintain the business's size and status as not too big.

It definitely has some mechanics to yoink for nurturing a thing (a town, business, guild, etc).

The franchise mechanics in InSpectres are more about the franchise bolstering the stats of individual characters. For a system about nurturing a common business or whatever for this friend of ours, I'd add some meat to them so the common business/town/guild/etc is also its own thing, and the characters can be about bolstering the that thing as well.

NautArch

13:47

@Shalvenay howdy! Had another thought. The final boss seemed a little weak, multiple yeths with pact tactics and some stronger combat casting from their leader would have upped the ante. Or maybe the mibitaur under a threat to add tension to end the battle quickly.

(slow time in the conference Hall)

Shalvenay

@NautArch yeah, I didn't want to push too hard on the final boss -- the encounter's already capable of taking a decent chunk off you as-is, and if some of the rolls go the NPCs' way...

NautArch

14:09

Play the game, takes the risks!

Lit braziers could provide healing as an option

trogdor

@doppelspooker yeah I watched Daredevil so I got that pretty fast

doppelspooker

@trogdor \o/

trogdor

@Miniman I called you a cad and a villain :P yeah I just figured odds were you wrote the thing already

@doppelspooker personally I would prefer they made the character sheets less,.... busy would be the word

I was confused at first by all the stuff they covered over with the actual important information

still a great game overall though

doppelspooker

@trogdor yeah the character sheet designs are a bit over the top compared to ... just ... writing stuff down in a google doc

trogdor

yeah

doppelspooker

14:19

@BESW (or @trogdor if you want to ask it) remember to post that question about that stress result of 1 that you rolled that emptied your skills or whatever it was, but did nothing to your Current Stress, iirc

trogdor

I am not a fan of including uneeded info and then covering some of it with the stuff you actually need

it sends a false flag to my brain that I am missing important stuff

doppelspooker

@trogdor yeah there's some bits that get overlapped because they're just fluff additions to the sheet, and bits that get overlapped but they're actually still options (like being a "home office").

trogdor

yeah, that is what I am talking about

I was not a huge fan of that

but it was only a minor blot on an otherwise really neat game

doppelspooker

like, here's all the important bits that actually matter, highlighted.

trogdor

yeah I understand that now

doppelspooker

14:29

oh, no, i mean, i'm just highlighting this because look at what a mess it is

trogdor

I am just sorta filing this occurance away for future reference next time

@doppelspooker fair enough

doppelspooker

and then there's stress: everything on there is a numeric score you keep track of, but stress is not, but it's recorded with the same type of field, suggesting it's the same kind of thing. but i think instead you actually write down the number of your recent stress roll?

trogdor

it is a real mess

@doppelspooker uh, I dunno

cause it seeeeeems like stress is literally just how many dice you are missing

doppelspooker

nah that's the part above, where you say you now only have 2 / 4 academics dice

.... maybe ??

when my character scored stress i just wrote "annoyed (-1 dice to next roll)"

trogdor

no I know that, but why would you record your latest stress roll if you already know the result?

@doppelspooker ooooooh ok

that makes sense yeah

but sometimes you don't need that, which is still confusing

doppelspooker

14:32

looks like annoyed (result 4) is actually the only result that has any ongoing impact

trogdor

(IE, sometimes you have a more permanent marker of what the roll means already)

doppelspooker

all the results are "do this thing, ok that's done, now forget about this and keep going" -- except 4, which is "remember, on your next roll you skip a die"

trogdor

@doppelspooker it's actually more temporary though

but it is the only one that requires tracking and doesn't have it anywhere else

doppelspooker

yeah

trogdor

@doppelspooker oh, if you mean it that way yeah

doppelspooker

14:33

all the other results get recorded elsewhere. results of 1-3 say reduce your skill scores above, result of 6 says add some cool.

result of 4 is the only thing that has an effect which has nowhere else you can write it down.

you could just get rid of the "current stress" field and just have a checkbox that says "[ ] annoyed"

unless you're meant to ongoingly roleplay that you're frazzled

trogdor

14:54

mmm

it's a pretty messy sheet

again though, not the worst thing, it was still fun

doppelspooker