TRPG General Chat

@Ben I know a lot of people who feel the same way. It's always seemed very weird to me - like, I hate tomatoes (like any rational human being), and many other things too, but, like, individually. The idea of hating an entire category of food, I just can't understand.

trogdor

That is too bad, seafood is pretty great

Ben

I had a bad experience with a seafood salad which pretty much set the whole thing off. Unfortunate, because my parents saw it as a real delicacy. it even had little tentacles in it.

trogdor

@Miniman another person who hates tomatoes, who would have thought

Miniman

@trogdor I know a few other people. Although, to clarify, it's not just that I dislike the taste - they actually make me physically ill.

Ben

12:44 AM

@Miniman That reaction is often linked to the texture of the food you dislike

Miniman

@Ben I know some people who are very sensitive to texture, but I didn't know it could lead to actual vomiting.

Hmmm...what's something with a similar texture to tomatoes?

Ben

There's a question, is it raw tomatoes? Like, can you eat sundried/roasted tomatoes?

Or Tomato soup?

Miniman

It's much stronger if they're raw - like, cooked tomato mixed with other stuff I can generally get down.

Ben

@Miniman Ok. So it likely is more of a texture thing

THiebert

My wife has a minor tomato allergy

And I hate shrimp

nitsua60

12:50 AM

@Papayaman1000 =D

Ben

summertomato.com/…

If you can get past the nasty imagery...

trogdor

@Miniman I really hate the way tomato tastes by itself though it has never made me sick

Tomato sauce on a pizza or in spaghetti or something isn't a big deal

nitsua60

@Miniman Yeah, at a certain point getting rep for answers that're basically just "here's the rule you're looking for. Nope, nothing else to see here." seems a little silly.

trogdor

But chunks of the stuff or a slice of one in any sandwich is horrid

@THiebert that is too bad, shrimp is one of my favorites

As for the texture thing, that is not usually my complaint about any food

Usually

Sometimes it is, but taste is the biggest issue for me personally

Ben

1:06 AM

SO

new encounter: A church full of zombies. Incredibly weak (so no Undead Constitution), and all villagers that were in the church at the time (so no weapons), and the Preacher is randomly pulling down parts of the ceiling on the party (akin to "Divine Smite")

THiebert

1:28 AM

sounds like it'd fit in CoS prtty well

Ben

CoS?

THiebert

Curse of Strahd

Ben

Ah

On a slightly related note - is there a "generic" DM screen?

I'm looking but most appear to be linked to one campaign or another

Or is that just aesthetic?

trogdor

I don't think all gm screens are at all tied to specific campaigns

Maybe some of em are but I would be surprised even then if it was anything other than aesthetic

Ben

dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/…

vs...

dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/…

for example

trogdor

1:42 AM

But like.

It's still just a question of different art on it right?

I don't see why you would need one with art for the one specific campaign you are running

BESW

Tyranno-murmuration! Incredible #starling displays at @WWTMartinMere this week 😲http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/entries/ca9b1607-4577-4781-994e-ca7e237ee806

Tweeted by WWTworldwide on November 11, 2017 at 5:06 PM

nitsua60

@trogdor No, most of the ones GF9 has been producing along with the 5e hardcover campaigns have some campaign-specific bits on the GM-facing side. Like roll-a-name for NPCs in the campaign's setting, wilderness exploration rules-reminders on the ToA one, &c. I think....

trogdor

Ah OK then

Ben

@trogdor Yeah, the description does mention that there are "tables to assist the DM"

trogdor

So one would find it useful to have less setting specific screens

I did not know this

Ben

1:49 AM

Indeed

The second screen I linked does not (at first) appear to be linked to any specific campaign, but it does go on to describe a particular dragon and dragon-killing arrow... so that does sound fairly specific

So I suppose the most useful DM screen would only have information pertaining to determining DC, exp and treasure... as well as a few other useful yet generic assistance

Ben

2:06 AM

New DM goal: simulate a dumb boss-fight exploit like the Fishing Rod in the Ganon fight

Miniman

@Ben The information on it is campaign-neutral.

Ben

(At the beginning of the game)
DM: "You find a fishing rod."
P: "Umm... ok... might be worth a coin or two"
DM: "You also find a note. it reads. *'The rod is the key to defeating him...'*"
(At the end of the game)
DM: "The BBEG seems distracted somehow"
P: "Uhh... I'll try the fishing rod?"
(Casts the lure)
DM: It is completely distracted by the lure, leaving himself wide open for attack."

@Miniman Awesome

So it's just a matter of picking the one I think looks coolest?

Miniman

2:26 AM

@Ben I specifically meant that the information on the second one you linked is campaign neutral.

I don't know about any others.

Ben

Ah

Well that still works :)

nitsua60

@Miniman speaking of rep I don't feel like fetching... rpg.stackexchange.com/q/109866/23970

Miniman

@nitsua60 There's a tweet that could be linked, but I feel like for the answer "something is a spell if it says it is" we've gotta have a dupe somewhere.

Ben

2:55 AM

@Miniman In that case it'd be "unless it doesn't say, in which case it isn't"

nitsua60

3:21 AM

@Miniman I feel like if we did it'd be in the context of another magical class effect not being a spell. Like ki-spending actions or channel divinity... any others off the top of your head?

XGtE conspicuous absences: Artificer and Mystic. Any others?

Miniman

@nitsua60 A lot of people are complaining about the Revised Ranger not being in it.

(I'm not one of them)

Shalvenay

hey there @nitsua60 and @Erics

nitsua60

@Shalvenay hiya

Miniman

@nitsua60 Wild Shape, those weird individual abilities cleric domains provide that aren't channel divinity, EKs teleporting their weapons, Wild Magic surges, certain Warlock invocations, those weird individual abilities wizard schools provide.

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 how're things going?

nitsua60

3:34 AM

Well, my Patty-pants are shellacking the Broncos, so that's nice =)

Shalvenay

attended a table-mate's birthday party, so that was cool

(plenty of folks in costume, also got to watch some cool demos, and the chance to go at my DM with a foam sword xD)

Miniman

@nitsua60 Your pants are coating horses with shellac?

nitsua60

@Shalvenay nice.

@Miniman It's one way to keep their coats glossy...?

Miniman

@nitsua60 Well, I can't argue with that.

Shalvenay

hey there @Ben

Ben

3:43 AM

@Shalvenay Hey Shalv

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Ben

I was thinking - I've played a couple of your dungeons now, and while we haven't got very far into either of them, I've noticed that you tend to build them as more intellectually challenging, more than anything. Would you agree?

Shalvenay

@Ben yeah, definitely -- even if I'm doing combat-heavier, I don't think pure-bred hack-n-slash is a particularly good thing to feature

hey there @JoelHarmon

Joel Harmon

hey there @Shalvenay

how are things?

Ben

@Shalvenay Oh sure. There definitely needs to be a balance.

Shalvenay

3:48 AM

@JoelHarmon alright here, as for you?

Ben

But the reason I ask is that I really am more of a combat-oriented player. I don't have too much say in much puzzle solving or anything like that, even on a good day haha

Joel Harmon

@Shalvenay Pretty good. Didn't get enough sleep this weekend, for all the best reasons.

Shalvenay

@Ben ah. the dungeon you're starting into will have a fair bit of combat in it, don't you worry :)

Ben

Not that I don't enjoy it, just most days after a certain point, my brain just shuts down.

Miniman

@Ben With some groups, I've been in the opposite position - it's no good solving the puzzles, because then you have to wait while everyone else is working through them.

(It's hard to be a participant in that process when you already know the answer.)

Ben

3:52 AM

@Miniman I'm fine with that. I've often just zoned out for 20 mins at a time then all of a sudden I hear "Initiative"

Like I said, most days my brain is just switched off haha

Miniman

I get that - there are definitely times when I'm happy to play, but don't really want to think too much.

Ben

I suppose that's why I liked the Dark Heresy games we played. It was always a situation of "How do we solve this one? - By shooting it with bullets and lazers"

Shalvenay

yeah, whereas I'm of the mindset that even combat shouldn't be a mindless affair

Ben

Then the Techpriest (oddly enough - me) would scan the wreckage of the device, figure out how it used to work, then just shortcut it to find the trigger :P

Shalvenay

@Ben :P I'm talking more in figuring out what's going on, who the bad guys are, etal

Ben

3:59 AM

...while in combat? Or beforehand?

Erics

Hmm .. in a PBM my last turn was "Brand spends his time in the Oak & Thistle or some other seedy tavern. Listens and learns the tales of other travellers and adventurers, joins in on any rousing shanties. Prefers to not get caught out on a moonless night and will shack up in whichever dive he’s in at the time."

GM responds with "There are no 'dives' in Acorn Meadow; there are two places and both are clean and good. The 'Saltshear Tavern' is a big, happy place where everyone in town drinks and it's a wonderful place. The Guild bar is for Guild members only and basic but good natured. Some people have personal spots but Brand would have to seek them out."

I'm gonna be generous and suggest the GM is laying the groundwork for a long-play where this happy-happy-shiny utopia is something more sinister.

Ben

@Erics "DETECT GOOD AND EVIL"

Shalvenay

@Ben before and during...and this isn't about good and evil

Erics

Can you see the parallels with the quiet English village of Sandford, Gloucestershire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Fuzz#Plot

"Sandford is a crime-free idyll, a regular winner of "Village of the Year" awards, watched over by the Neighbourhood Watch Alliance ("

nitsua60

@JoelHarmon dare I ask?

Ben

4:09 AM

@Erics The greater good

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 Mostly staying up way too late with some friends from college. I discovered that Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball is a real game.

trogdor

@nitsua60 apparently you do :P

Ben

@nitsua60 I mean... you just did. That in itself is it's own trap.

Who suggested "Elf vs Orc"?

I think it was @BESW

Whoops...

Fixed it

trogdor

What is elf vs orc in this context?

Shalvenay

@trogdor I think Ben's referring to the short story by that title?

trogdor

4:23 AM

OK it's just that the term could have easily refer to some RPG session where an elf and orc fought

And those must be rather plentiful

Yeah a Google search reveals a story by that name from Ursula Vernon so odds are here that means @BESW was indeed the person to suggest it

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 anything good on your end recently?

nitsua60

@JoelHarmon Get to spend the afternoon/dinnertime with the boy (one-on-one) tomorrow--looking forward to it.

Joel Harmon

Sounds like time well spent to me.

Ben

@Shalvenay I am yes

There is a description of how the orc induces rage. "A sea of red, flowing over a rock"

Ben

5:13 AM

'Twas quite poetic, I thought

Erics

In another PBM, just received this submission: "Chohn continues to be vexed by the inane chatter of others. He’s interested in the odd markings and runes inscribed on his fancy new armour (red samurai splint). He petitions Loithi Frostguard for some time alone in Kenobi’s Library."

Considering my options on how to respond. Thoughts?

Erics

5:39 AM

"Ambulance" in ..
Albanian: ambulancë
Basque: anbulantzia
Danish: ambulance
Dutch: ambulance
French: ambulance
Italian: ambulanza
German: krankenwagen

Rufen Sie einen Krankenwagen!

trogdor

Lol

Officially my favorite word for ambulance in that list

I guess it helps how relatively similar the others there are to each other in comparison

Ben

5:56 AM

@trogdor Did you get a JOP to sign off on that?

Ben

6:10 AM

Time needs to hurry up

trogdor

@Ben no one gets to sign off on that decision but me

so no :P

Ben

Well that's what makes it official doesn't it?

trogdor

I made an executive decision

and no one has veto power

Ben

You wrote the by-laws too I presume? Always a good practice :P

Writing the by-laws, that is... not presuming things. Presuming things is a terrible habit

Ben

7:09 AM

Ok: Skelly King update

Make his "Minions" a swarm

That way it feels more like a horde of monsters they can wade through

BESW

If you've got enough minions, they stop being a swarm and start being an environmental effect that you can suppress locally for one round with a successful attack.

(Anything less than that and you don't have enough minions.)

@trogdor More for the IRL Dragon pile:

When you think you need to tone your animation down and then see this... https://twitter.com/cnn/status/821326304385662977

Tweeted by sydneypadua on November 12, 2017 at 9:28 PM

@Ben He's Trogdor. He burninated the bylaws and replaced them with fire.

Ben

7:43 AM

@BESW this is true

@BESW yeah I don't want it to get that far. Lol

Erics

8:00 AM

@Ben Continuing the mystery - there's an Adventurer's Guild, all adventurers must join (or become NPCs). If PC dies on an assigned mission, all their gear is sold by the Guild and revenues sent to their loved ones (cannot be PCs). Other PCs can buy these items from the Guild.

Yay?

Erics

8:25 AM

In 2e (or later), can spells be copied from spell books, and thus there exists two copies: the original in the spell book, and copy in the other spell book? This being different from transcribing spells from scrolls, where the action of "copying" wipes the spell from the scroll?

Sorta like spell books have the source code, but scrolls have the compiled code which requires a process of reverse-engineering/decompiling and thus wipes the magic from the scroll

BESW

Yes, this is a thing in 3.5 at least.

trogdor

@BESW what a casual stroller this guy is

@BESW fantastic answer

I will steal it

Erics

@BESW is a thing that one cannot copy from Spell Books, only Cut & Paste?

Which would be different from 2e, "The second way to acquire new spells is to copy them from the spell books of other wizards. A character can copy from other player characters (if they will allow it), pay NPC wizards for the privilege (see Chapter 12 : NPCs), or take them from captured spell books. When copying spells, a character must roll to see if the character can learn the spell."

BESW

> Spells Copied from Another’s Spellbook or a Scroll
A wizard can also add a spell to her book whenever she encounters one on a magic scroll or in another wizard’s spellbook. No matter what the spell’s source, the wizard must first decipher the magical writing (see Arcane Magical Writings, above). Next, she must spend a day studying the spell. At the end of the day, she must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell’s level). A wizard who has specialized in a school of spells gains a +2 bonus on the Spellcraft check if the new spell is from her specialty school. She cannot, however, learn any …

(source)

3

A: Question regarding spellcraft: Learn a spell

Arcane Magical Writing To decipher an arcane magical writing (such as a single spell in written form in another’s spellbook or on a scroll), a character must make a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + the spell’s level). If the skill check fails, the character cannot attempt to read that particular spe...

9

Q: From what items can a wizard learn his spells?

I'm now wondering after googling for a while, what are the different sources a Wizard can learn his spells from? Is it only limited to scrolls and tomes, or can a Wizard learn spells from other magic items? The following quotes are from the PHB, page 114 Your spellbook You might find other ...

Erics

@BESW Thanks. In 2e there's no mention either way of what happens to the original spell book, and in 3.5e it explicitly states "leaves a spellbook that was copied from unharmed".

Trish

8:37 AM

@Erics For a spellbook I would assume no damage in any way... it is more interesting what happens to a scroll if the wizar learns from it: does he activate it "accidently"?

Erics

So, definitely a new house rule from our GM. Yay.

BESW

Erics

@BESW Yup.

Has interesting implications on the spell book economy. Basically means that the number of spells written into spell books can only increase slowly, as they get transcribed from scrolls. Copying a spell from one book to another is a nett zero sum.

And then spellbooks get lost or destroyed and so forth, further reducing the number of spell writings in circulation.

BESW

8:53 AM

Women crochet sweaters to shield rescued elephants from cold, Elephant Conservation Care Center, India, 2017 #womensart #WorldKindnessDay

Tweeted by womensart1 on November 13, 2017 at 7:31 AM

Trish

9:14 AM

Elephant Conservation.... Why did I think of pickled and canned elephant?!

@Erics There could be monastic orders of wizards creating scrolls en masse

is there anything in the rules dictating you can't use the scroll format for your spellbook? I mean like in the ancient wold, books took the shape of scrolls...

trogdor

@BESW nice

BESW

9:30 AM

@Trish Ah, yes, elephant preserves.

Erics

@Trish In 2e there is explicit mention that the physical format is variable from "book" to "book".

"In medieval Europe, this page would most likely have been 10 or more hand-lettered sheets of parchment, perhaps embellished with illuminations and painted scenes. In ancient China, this page would have been several hand-printed pages on colored paper and bound with red lacings."

"The Egyptians would have used a rolled scroll of papyrus, with several required to make a book. Even more cumbersome, the ancient Babylonians would have used clay tables marked in cuneiform and dried. American Indians would have written it on leaves of birch bark or painted it on a cured buffalo hide."

"A spell book may be a heavy tome, bound in leather with crisp parchment pages. It may be a collection of papyrus scrolls tied with red silk strings. It might be a pile of clay tables marked in cuneiform, or a cheap-looking folio printed on linen rag paper. It even could be thin sheets of embossed gold between covers made from the hide of a naga."

BESW

One of my friends once played a wizard who prepared his spells every morning by imbuing each one into a single arrow, which had to be fired at its target in order to cast the spell.

I've also seen a wizard whose "spell book" was a bag of polished stones, each one engraved with runes for a particular spell.

Erics

Cool

doppelspooker

@BESW You know that friend of yours who has trouble with dice luck and even dice towers? Have they tried a dice catapult?

BESW

@Erics Patterns of beadwork, blocks of wood carved in abstract patterns, carefully memorized song-and-dance routines...

@doppelspooker @trogdor Pass this on to your brother.

trogdor

9:45 AM

hehehehe

Erics

another landscape flavour-item for my campaign... ...
> Colossus of Colmorgan
> A monolithic ancient structure from the first age of men. It stands on the plains of the Battle Moors, massive, magnificent, alone. About its base are carved scenes depicting the victories of an ancient tribal king. The carvings are long-faded and indistinct.

Trish

Hmmm, I remember I wrote once about books and shapes that are not "folio"... I can't find it anymore. I did mention leporello...

Erics

Neat

Trish

a neat Leporello... which is nothing else but a folded up scroll.

made a little lost robot reference and a starship troopers reference in the same post! Hand me the SciFi Sonic Screwdriver!

doppelspooker

> comparatively, the nearby, earlier statues from the first age of women have withstood weathering a bit more robustly and people agree they're a bit more impressive. plus, they thought to make more than one of them.

Trish

10:00 AM

@Erics I like the metal variant... If I ever make a dwarven wizard, his spellbook will be solid silver and gold pages engraved with tiny dwarven runes... 0.2-0.5 mm thick pages. One could print with it :P

Erics

My Bard will be writing his spells onto small pieces of thick parchment, small enough to fit in the hand, and with dimensions approximate to the golden ratio. These would be collected together into bundles, with small bundles grasped by a iron clasp, and larger bundles encircled by a continuous ribbon of an organic based polymer.

@doppelspooker Heh heh =)

Trish

You mean... you don't have the bard use something like...

Erics

For convenience, each slab of parchment will come pre-inscribed with lines of blue ink.

doppelspooker

@Erics so... he's writing spell cue cards? :D

Erics

3"x5" index cards.

Trish

10:03 AM

or marching band music index cards...

Erics

At the table, I'll have a limited fidelity mockup.

Trish

10:23 AM

At least it is not my WoD group. I established in the very first meeting some things about my character. Like he has odd things in his pockets: screwdrivers, wrenches and the odd Glock 18 are all in there just as likely as a key or something. (yea, matter mage with correspondence), but I always get asked what I do put into my pockets when leaving home. I answer with "The usual stuff. My keys and my miniature space folding portemoinnai.

BESW

11:12 AM

@trogdor Does this count as an IRL dragon?

Basilosaurus was a 20-metre-long whale & apex predator that hunted fish, sharks & other whales! (Credit: TheDragonofDoom)

Tweeted by Extinct_AnimaIs on November 12, 2017 at 6:15 PM

trogdor

I think a lot of things can count as dragons

this thing looks like it could make a case

BESW

I think at a certain point, a thing is a dragon if it wants to be; you don't argue with it.

Trish

I can point you to living dragons... they lack wings...

Dragons have long, forked tongues that they use to help smell and taste.

there... THAT pic works...

eimyr

Hi folks, I'm looking for one person for an online game of Mage: the Ascension. Wednesday evenings UK time, games held fortnightly. Since Storyteller system sucks we will use a Fate conversion, which preserves the original way magic works. Anyone interested?

4

BESW

I'd like to be a fly on that wall.

eimyr

11:23 AM

unpack the idiom please...

you'd like to observe the game, but not participate?

BESW

I'd like to be an unobtrusive observer of that private event.

eimyr

that's a shame - but I'm happy to do that, as long as others are cool with it

can you make the time?

BESW

Probably not. "I'd like to be a fly on that wall" is also usually associated with wishful thinking, an acknowledgement of futility.

But that'd be my Wednesday morning... depending on specifics it's not entirely impossible.

eimyr

@BESW that was the bit I had trouble unpacking

It is not, and I'm happy to give you access to the conversion itself, if you're interested

BESW

11:42 AM

That'd be cool to see, thanks!

eimyr

You might object to it, as I'm converting it myself.

And for the group it's more important to be truthful to the way magick worked in the original than to keep that part of the game "fatey"

BESW

Well, it's more important that Fate be something the group collectively understands, than that it follow Evil Hat's vision of the system.

eimyr

I suppose, but it will require a certain amount of mode-switching between Roll-for-Shoes Magic rules and Fatey everything else

BESW

I did play a session of MtA about eleven years ago!

... technically two sessions.

eimyr

I'm super tempted to exclaim "there is no such thing as MtA"

but I recollect you mentioning you did

BESW

11:54 AM

Based on what I've seen around here, I suspect my ST may have been taking extreme liberties with the text as regards magic.

But I mostly just remember being confused.

eimyr

Confusion is normal

2

The text itself is riddled with inconsistencies and straight contradictions, therefore some liberties have to be taken

inconsistencies also tend to vary from one edition to another

BESW

He had some website he was referring to, that looked like DanDWiki as a goth Geocities page.

eimyr

lol... that's also normal...

Anyway, it is entirely up to the GM to make sure the way magick works is consistent and to handwave parts of the system that don't feel right for the given campaign

otherwise it's barely playable

BESW

The western parotia is a beautiful bird-of-paradise from Indonesia. Males have iridescent breast shields & elongated black plumes.

Tweeted by Strange_Animals on November 13, 2017 at 10:30 AM

trogdor

@BESW a large part of my thinking on that derives from this

Trish

12:16 PM

/me peers at points... "5k... halftime to seeing deleted smut, right?"

ok, I can't decide: @BESW which answer you think is better here? My self answer, or the Smartybartfast one?

6

Q: Who were the holders of the Shadowrun license through 2017?

I was looking at my RPG books yesterday and wondered at how much Shadowrun sits there: almost all the fourth edition German material (from FanPro GmbH and Pegasus Press), the fifth edition core rules (from Pegasus Press), and even the somewhat rare German second edition core book (from FASA and F...

history-of-gaming shadowrun

BESW

....how would I know? I think "sustained release" before I think of "Shadowrun" when I see SR.

Trish

ou were availabe... And I asked which you find better.

BESW

12:48 PM

Yours has better formatting, but I think the sectioning of the other makes more sense as a reference document.

Also I don't like unqualified requests for value assessments, they're reductive and not very useful without context or criteria for the evaluation.

BESW

1:17 PM

I feel like this question could benefit from some outside-the-box thinking about popcorn initiative.

Or completely revising the nature of mind control; I thought it was a lot more fun and dramatic for mind control to let the caster spend their own actions on their own turns to control the enemy, and let the enemy remain in control of themselves on their own turn--though perhaps with a limited selection of actions available.

In 4e, I think the hack was something like "the caster can use their standard action to make the enemy take any at-will action it could normally take, and the enemy can only take a standard action on their own turn."

The creeping thymes really like being walked on, and will crawl and crawl, spreading gradually into rivulets and pools of green like water slowly trickling, increasing in volume as it goes until they have filled up all the cracks and crevices.

Tweeted by thegardenvsw on November 13, 2017 at 10:44 AM

"The Creeping Times" would be a good name for a Mythos-style antagonist. Or an episode of Sapphire & Steel.

Erics

1:37 PM

In which version of D&D did combat rounds go from 1 minute to 6 seconds?

Adam

1:59 PM

@Erics Based on what I can find doing some google searching, 3e. Though the terms round and turn may not have quite meant the same things in the previous versions.

Erics

2:27 PM

In AD&D1.0 (IIRC from 1982-86 when I played) 10 segments = 1 round, 10 rounds = 1 turn. 6 seconds, 1 minute, 10 minutes. Segments mostly didn't matter, except when considering spell casting durations (when casting, effectively just add the duration in segments to your initiative roll). Looks to be the same in 2e.

Although I might have high vs low being good vs bad confused.

I see 5e described with 1 combat round = 6 seconds, which sounds really weird to me.

Adam

2:42 PM

@Erics I started with 5e, so I don't find it weird since it's what I started out with. But my Dad picked up 5e after stopping for several years after 2e, and he had a similar weird feeling about it.

Erics

I see in 2e that initiative is now rolled on a d10, while in 1e it was a d6.

nitsua60

4:45 PM

@JoelHarmon have a poll out to the fb group for AL DMs on your "how long should RoT take" question. Will let you know in a day or two what sort of answers come along.

Trish

5:41 PM

is there a stationary item SE?

Because I need to know what type of replacement cartridge belongs into my most liked heavy pen...

over all it is 110 mm long, 5mm diameter, in the front it has 8mm tip sitting in 9mm cylinder of 2mm, widening to 4mm on the next 5mm...

GNA! taking that to a stationary shop...

nitsua60

6:58 PM

@DForck42 \o/ !!!

Yuuki

"station airy" = train stop has plenty of windows

"state shun aerie" = local government prevent construction of bird sanctuary

"stay shawn ere e" = a command for an unruly boy to remain in place for his mathematics until the lesson on logarithms

Okay, I think I'm done.

doppelspooker

7:17 PM

@nitsua60 i remember it as e = equipment, a = action.

(isn't it lovely it didn't wind up the other way around?)

doppelspooker

8:35 PM

@DForck42 Made more chilli, worked out great, going to add an actual chilli to the next one. I just now finally got grated cheese, and added ... a bit too much, and I also got tortilla chips (as opposed to tortilla bread) and added a bit too much of that as well. Now I have a bowl of nachos. This is the opposite of a problem.

KorvinStarmast

@nitsua60 Off Topic. Do I need to email you a proposed ToA character for possible start up, or wait until a notification? (Or shall we roll them up?)

@Yuuki I like the last one best. groaned, I did. stay shawn ere e = a command for an unruly boy to remain in place for his mathematics until the lesson on logarithms Well played

BESW

8:57 PM

@Trish Maaaaybe Arts & Crafts?

Trish

@BESW I will go to the stationery shop t'morrow... can grab the right refil and write with it then...

doppelspooker

10:18 PM

Today in Why Is Your Fantasy World's Engineering So Boring, have a vase that located earthquakes:

~2,000 years ago polymath Zhang Heng invented one of history's most beautiful scientific instruments (these = replicas). Seismic waves trigger the internal mechanism, which drops an orb from one of the dragons to the corresponding toad to indicate the direction of an earthquake

Tweeted by ferrisjabr on November 13, 2017 at 7:45 PM

BESW

Oh, man, dragon seismoscopes are awesome.

eimyr

Best thing: this seismoscope ALSO measures the strength of the earthquake, since more than one ball can drop

doppelspooker

On that count I should ping @trogdor

BESW

Also Zhang Heng is credited with a LOT of other cool stuff.

trogdor

@doppelspooker oh wow

news to me that these even existed

doppelspooker

10:23 PM

@trogdor same. also dragons.

trogdor

yes

BESW

Worth noting: scholars are still unsure exactly how the mechanism avoided also dropping balls on the opposite side when the quake waves rebounded; Zhang Heng believed earthquakes were caused by imbalances in the wind; the seismoscope was used for disaster relief because while it couldn't tell you distance or severity (a strong distant earthquake registered the same as a near small one) you could send your disaster relief squad in the right direction until you found the damage.

THiebert

@doppelspooker was your name different before?

doppelspooker

@THiebert it was doppelgreener, and i was green, and then halloween happened

BESW

You'll always be green to me.

doppelspooker

10:38 PM

@BESW aww. :D

THiebert

@doppelspooker halloween is over. Also why green?

doppelspooker

@THiebert gotta wait out the 30 days before i can change my name again :U

green because i have always had green avatars on here

IT'S A PUN

IT'S WORDPLAY ON DOPPELGANGER

:D

THiebert

I didn't even know you could change your name. can it be done specifically to a certain stack?

BESW

doppelspooker

@BESW XD

THiebert

10:41 PM

gangrene?

doppelspooker

@THiebert head to your profile --> click "edit profiles & settings" in the upper left: rpg.stackexchange.com/users/edit/current

(er, upper left, not upper right)

you can just type in a new name for yourself there. you can change it once every 30 days at most.

THiebert

did that work?

doppelspooker

@inthemanual chat usually takes ... a while (maybe a few hours) to catch up with mainsite changes. i'll push the button that speeds it up for you. :D

inthemanual

yay

I signed up here with this name, tried to merge it with my SO account, and got the SO name here. never knew I could fix it :P

doppelspooker

\o/ pleased to be of assistance!

trogdor

11:15 PM

if I made a new account, and merged it with this one, what exactly would happen?

would that be like I had never made a new account at all?

or would it just signal to the stack that the two accounts are the same person?

DForck42

@doppelspooker hah! sounds good! i made a big pot of chili for a family that came into town for the wedding. it didn't last as long as i thought it would, lol

doppelspooker

@DForck42 that's a fantastic kind of problem to experience

DForck42

@doppelspooker yup, lol

so, i'm now a married man :-D

doppelspooker

11:37 PM

!!!!!!

your wedding!

@DForck42 Congratulations!!!

eimyr

@DForck42 Congratulations!

Yuuki

@doppelspooker Speaking of cool Chinese things, China built massive treasure ships in the 1400s.

IIRC, they were 300+ feet long although those may or may not be exaggerated accounts.

doppelspooker

@Yuuki oh goodness, i came across these just a while back

Shalvenay

hey there @Yuuki and @eimyr

eimyr

hi

Shalvenay

11:44 PM

how're things going?

Joel Harmon

@nitsua60 That sounds like a great basis for an answer. I green checked "this is what I did" over "this is what I'm doing, with some extrapolation". "This is what 10 people did" would be some excellent brinkmanship

doppelspooker

background: one of Zheng He's treasure ships. fore: one of Columbus's primary ships.

Today in Why Is Your Fantasy World's Navy So Boring: ships so huge you gotta wonder what kind of magic is holding them together, and then you find out those aren't even the ones that have magic holding them together.

Joel Harmon

@DForck42 Congrats!

eimyr

@Shalvenay Same-ish...

@Shalvenay Shalv, I'm suer you think I'm a total jerk, but I swear, whenever you come to chat and cheerfully ping me, it's well past my bedtime and my brain is in the process of shutting down for the day.

doppelspooker

FYI:

Shalvenay

11:56 PM

@eimyr ah, it's not a worry :)

eimyr

So, um, yeah: goonight, chat.

doppelspooker

> As of November 13th 2017, all Website fields and links in the "About Me" profile sections are unlinked on stackexchange.com. We can thank the increasing spam activity on the network (a.k.a. The Great Super User Spam Invasion of 2017). --- meta.stackexchange.com/a/238975/152515

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