TRPG General Chat

Shalvenay

12:00 AM

hey there @Yuuki

Yuuki

Hi.

Shalvenay

3:42 AM

hey there @nitsua60

nitsua60

4:11 AM

@Shalvenay hiya

BESW

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Tweeted by openculture on December 10, 2017 at 4:01 AM

The Patreon Fiasco: Jack Conte Has Been Talking With Creators

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 how're things going?

nitsua60

@Shalvenay Long day. Ten-plus hours to the city and back, so that my kids could participate in a bell-ringing competition.

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 ah, not a good time for us to talk I take it?

BESW

@nitsua60 Cool!

nitsua60

4:24 AM

@Shalvenay Heading off to bed, sorry.

@BESW Yes, it was. We were not too good, but not horrible. And they were the only high-school group in the competition. Most other ringers had been ringing longer than my kids have been alive. (Many longer than I've been alive!)

BESW

Nice.

trogdor

4:50 AM

@BESW XD the high priestess is the best XD

Shalvenay

5:31 AM

hey there @MikeQ

Mike Q

Good [INSERT TIME OF DAY HERE] to you!

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Mike Q

Hmm, hard to say. I haven't GMed anything in a while and don't know when I will again. And I'm only in one active game that isn't too stellar.

I've been preparing content for a while now, and I expect to start in like... a month. The to-be players keep either asking me when we start, or giving me reasons why they're unavailable for a reliable schedule. So maybe something will happen.

Shalvenay

dealing with the holiday hiatus over here

Mike Q

5:52 AM

Those I can understand. I'm dealing more with an indefinite hiatus, trying to organize around stuff like "Mike I'd love to be in your game. I'm only available for 1 split second every full moon. When is the next game?"

Too many mixed messages all around. And I originally wanted to start closer to this June.

Shalvenay

@MikeQ ugh. I have the opposite problem. I want to be in more games and have quite a bit of time to play, but most other folks don't have as much time

Mike Q

What about the thing with your minotaur maze? The one with all the earthy smells?

Actually, let me back up a bit @Shalvenay. In terms of your personal preferences, how would you order these:
A. GMing a dungeon crawl
B. GMing a plot-driven adventure
C. Playing in a dungeon crawl
D. Playing in a plot-driven adventure

kviiri

9:58 AM

Morning!

...it's actually 11:58 AM here so I guess "good day" would be more accurate in all respects.

Mike Q

Halloo @kviiri good morning/day to you too

kviiri

What's up?

Mike Q

Very little. All quiet here.

I haven't studied Finnish. Is there a meaningful difference between "Haloo" and "Halloo"?

kviiri

10:17 AM

"Halloo" is a bit more casual

It mimics the Savo dialect which is often thought to be more playful than standard Finnish

kviiri

12:30 PM

Any Fate people around?

BESW

Kinda sorta. What's up?

kviiri

Hiya

I'm showing FAE rules to a friend

One approach is defined as follows:

> Quick: A Quick action requires that you move quickly and with dexterity. Dodging an arrow. Getting in the first punch. Disarming a bomb as it ticks 3… 2… 1…

the last bit, about the bomb, made me thing: how would one treat the bomb exploding in Fate?

BESW

As always, figure out the narrative first and find the rules to fit it.

kviiri

12:46 PM

Well, I'd expect either the character disarming the bomb to get flown across the room and get really roughed up, or upon failure to disarm the bomb realizing it just in the nick of time and getting out without too serious damage... to themselves

Would having the bomb attack the character be out of the question?

BESW

Modeling the explosion as an attack would be totally reasonable in most situations, yes.

Remember, in Fate everything can get represented by some combination and complexity of character mechanics.

So....

kviiri

So we could treat defusing the bomb as a conflict between the defuser and the bomb?

BESW

Yup.

> TICKING TIME BOMB
Purpose: To explode at the proper time
Flaw: Motion-sensitive
Skills: BOOM +4 (wpn:4); Tamper-resistant +2

kviiri

Excellent, thanks!

BESW

But I'd probably frame it as a challenge: as a group, lay out all the different things that have to be done to defuse the bomb.

Assign each task a difficulty, and have the player roll against them.

Once you've seen all the successes and failures, figure out what the scene looks like and what the outcome is.

kviiri

12:58 PM

So it's also reasonable to escalate it to an attack when the challenge is failed, I guess

BESW

Yeah. You don't need to be in a conflict to use the attack mechanics.

kviiri

Okay, that clarifies it

BESW

Remember the rules of Fate.

There's almost never only one way to apply the mechanics to the narrative, so don't worry too much about "getting it right." Do what makes sense at the time.

Maiko Chikyu

2:12 PM

Guys one of my questions just got a vote to close it but i have no idea why. If i ask the question here can you guys tell me where i need to clarify?

kviiri

@BESW Have you got thoughts on these suggested replacements for the Defend action? ramblingsofjacobanddelos.com/2014/09/10/…

@MaikoChikyu The one about being intelligent item in a dungeon?

Maiko Chikyu

Yeah.

kviiri

It's a bit unclear to me, to be honest. You're asking us whether you can do something, without any indication of what sort of reasons you'd except that to not work.

Also, is playing an intelligent item an actual thing in DnD or homebrew?

Maiko Chikyu

It's an actual thing.

They get 11 feats while progressing to level 20 rather than 7 of them but in return they have to get a feat to actually be able to move and another one to be able to attack.

Shalvenay

2:29 PM

@MikeQ I started another run of it but that's suspended due to player availability as well

Maiko Chikyu

Also i don't have a reason to think it won't work. I am just making sure as that is my end goal.

Shalvenay

@MikeQ I'd rather play in something more open-ended than railroad-y re: adventures, same with GMing although I have not tried my hand at sustaining a long-form campaign for a long time now

kviiri

Well, in the absence of rules for or against such, it's quite heavily on "ask your GM" territory.

nitsua60

2:47 PM

@MaikoChikyu can you link it?

Maiko Chikyu

3:00 PM

The question?Sure

1

Q: Does an intelligent item used as a stronghold core retain its personality?

In a previous question I asked if it was possible to build a sentient dungeon and I learned that it was possible using an intelligent item under the Stronghold Builder's Guide rules. I recently started playing an intelligent staff as a character and as my final goal i was thinking of building a ...

nitsua60

@MaikoChikyu Thanks--that should help get some more eyes on it. (Sorry I don't know anything about 3.5!)

doppelgreener

3:45 PM

2

Q: Can a gargoyle embrace animals?

One of my players is playing a gargoyle. He says that his character can embrace animals, but I can't confirm his claim. I've looked for these rules in Vampire: Dark Ages, 20th Aniversary Edition and Vampire: The Masquerade, 20th Aniversary Edition, but I've not found anything. According to this ...

world-of-darkness vampire-the-masquerade vampire-the-dark-ages

I don't know the mechanics or narrative involved so I have the image of my head of a confused and frustrated player studying intensely to figure out whether their gargoyle can cuddle a dog because these are IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Shalvenay

4:23 PM

hey there @MaikoChikyu

Maiko Chikyu

Hey @Shalvenay

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Maiko Chikyu

They are okay. On the minus side i have midterms. On the plus side i have a game tonight where i play a living staff

Shalvenay

heheheh

things are pretty slow over here

I am wondering if there's a way to summon a Treant or Treantlike creature (vs. transmuting a tree or staff into one) in D&D 3.5e tho

Maiko Chikyu

There should be

Shalvenay

4:31 PM

@MaikoChikyu yeah, probably floating off in some splatbook somewhere :P

Maiko Chikyu

I know for a fact that you are able to have them as animal companions

Asked it

Shalvenay

yeah. the reason why I ask re: summoning is because that gives my char the option to get a fire-subtype version of the creature (I took Beckon the Frozen and flipped the elemental types around to make a Beckon the Flaming feat)

Maiko Chikyu

4:51 PM

@Shalvenay I got answer

Liveoak (Druid 6):

Liveoak must be cast on a healthy, Huge oak. A triggering phrase of up to one word per caster level is placed on the targeted oak. The liveoak spell triggers the tree into animating as a treant.

Changestaff (Druid 7):

You change a specially prepared quarterstaff into a Huge treantlike creature, about 24 feet tall. When you plant the end of the staff in the ground and speak a special command to conclude the casting of the spell, your staff turns into a creature that looks and fights just like a treant.

These two spells create treants

Shalvenay

5:03 PM

but not by summoning them

Maiko Chikyu

Changestaff summons them

Shalvenay

@MaikoChikyu are you sure about that?

Maiko Chikyu

Yep. You make a staff and then speak the command word and the staff becomes a 24 feet tall treant

Shalvenay

@MaikoChikyu right, but it's not a summon -- its Transmutation school, for one

Maiko Chikyu

Why does it matter that much?

Shalvenay

5:12 PM

I mentioned why -- it needs to be a summon to invoke Beckon the Flaming (or the original Beckon the Frozen feat for that matter)

Maiko Chikyu

Okay edited the question

nitsua60

6:10 PM

@MaikoChikyu If you're trying to make the question match Shalv's needs, the title still needs to drop "create." And I'd suggest a sentence or two in the body that reference why summoning is specifically necessary. (It may be the case that there's some workaround that Shalv isn't aware of, but an answerer who knows the full situation could provide.) EDIT: see @shalv three lines down--you should probably disregard this suggestion =)

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 should I edit it?

nitsua60

I dunno. It's in a weird place. There are answers to the originally-stated question that might be undercut by an edit? (Or not? I don't know 3.5 at all.)

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 I believe that they would be undercut by an edit, yes

nitsua60

If you're really looking for a helpful answer, I'd just post your own question. (And because of the similarity, it might be worth a link to the existing one say ing "this isn't that, because summoning.) Or whatever.

Shalvenay

@MaikoChikyu -- would you rather I edited your question, or would you rather delete it and I ask one that's a better fit to what I was actually trying to get at?

Maiko Chikyu

6:14 PM

Ask your own. I'll just accept an answer that fits the previous question.

Shalvenay

@MaikoChikyu OK

Shalvenay

6:54 PM

hey there @Erics

Shalvenay

8:30 PM

hey there @ACuriousMind

ACuriousMind

ahoi @Shalvenay

Shalvenay

how're things going?

ACuriousMind

Pretty good, drafting some NPCs currently

Shalvenay

ah. maybe I could bounce something off of you re: folks new to RP then?

ACuriousMind

Sure, go ahead

I've done a few successful newbie rounds in the past years ;)

Shalvenay

8:37 PM

how much should I stray from the fantasy tropes re: races, monsters, and the like when introducing new players to the hobby?

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay It depends on what you want to do - tropes can be powerful to get the players into the right mindset.

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind want me to lay out what I had planned?

ACuriousMind

It also depends on the system you're using. For example, when I play Dungeon World, I draw pretty closely from all the fantasy tropes and encourage the players to do likewise. When I play Roll for Shoes, I usually encourage them to be more zany and do whatever comes to mind. Other systems lend themselves to different approaches

@Shalvenay Sure, I'm ears

BESW

@kviiri I have some similar objections to Defend, but I don't think "counter" is the solution I'd use; I think the problems with Defend are symptomatic of a bigger problem with conflicts, so I'd look at Fate games like Unwritten which have removed both Defend and Attack, and subverted the conflict mode entirely.

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind I'm thinking D&D 5e, but if you think that's unquestionably a bad place to start someone, I'm willing to listen

ACuriousMind

8:42 PM

@Shalvenay Since I have no first-hand experience with D&D, I could not possibly tell ;)

BESW

(Also I don't think you need a whole fancy new two-pronged action to do what he's describing. You can just say that instead of Defending, you can oppose an Attack action with Attack, Overcome, or Create Advantage, and if you succeed then your action is resolved as normal.)

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind basically, they are sent to fetch an artifact and find themselves in a race to get it against some thieves (if they beat the thieves to it, well and good, if they don't, they can get it back from the thieves by hook or by crook ;)

Anaphory

Heyho

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay A clear and "simple" goal they are supposed to achieve is a good start, yeah

Shalvenay

but on their way back, they find themselves running into some Orcs...and it turns out the artifact was Orcish to begin with, and was simply mislaid a long time ago. the Orcs wind up carrying him into town as a celebrated hero, the artifact stays with the Orcs, and the folks who originally sent him for it get a good laugh out of the unexpected hero's entrance

hey there @Anaphory, how're things going?

Anaphory

8:50 PM

Significantly better today, in particular in comparison with yesterday. I haven't had much fever today, I've been able to eat and read and draw, none of which I could do yesterday, and even compared with one of the last better days it felt decent, although my appetite has not recovered yet.

Shalvenay

@Anaphory glad you're on the mend :)

Anaphory

Yes, it finally feels like it!

How are you?

Shalvenay

alright here, figuring out some new-player-intro-stuff re: race/monster tropes

@ACuriousMind you got the rest of that, right?

Anaphory

@Shalvenay I find that description confusing, not least due to the use of singular and plural

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay I've read it thrice now and I'm not quite sure about the dynamic here - the townsfolk sent them to fetch the artifact, but have nothing against orcs stampeding into town with the heroes and then leaving with the artifact?

Shalvenay

8:58 PM

@ACuriousMind the townsfolk who sent them weren't really aware of the full story. it was just found in a field a while ago and clearly, it was something of religious significance, so the town priest hung onto it until it got misplaced again, hence the fetch quest :)

would it be better if I tried to rephrase?

ACuriousMind

Perhaps - what exactly is the relation between the orcs and the townsfolk?

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind not hostile per se, but a bit wary probably -- Orcs still are not known for being the most even-keeled folks out there

ACuriousMind

Which I why I'd expect them carrying the heroes into town would trigger a rather tense situation?

That is, a conflict the heroes can decide to resolve either socially or violently

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind that could be a good secondary conflict, yes

ACuriousMind

That's a reasonable plot for a first adventure then, I'd say

There should be a few memorable NPCs for the players to interact with, and then you're set to watch them mess everything up ;)

Shalvenay

9:09 PM

@ACuriousMind yeah, the concern that folks have raised is that the party might be expecting the orcs to be hostile based on preconceived notions, and it might be better to play along with that instead of challenging their preconceptions while trying to introduce them to a new medium

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay I think it's good to shake up their expectations a bit - show them it's a game where they can do more than kill the obvious baddies.

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind yeah, I personally agree with that

ACuriousMind

One of the best surprise moments a group of mine had was when they killed a group of lizardfolk who they thought were entirely hostile and then found out they carried drafts for a truce agreement...

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind "Oh bleep!"

ACuriousMind

The reactions to that were very nice establishing character moments

Shalvenay

9:13 PM

the perils of targeting by appearance

@ACuriousMind what system was that btw?

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay A rules-lite/modified version of The Dark Eye

I'm pretty sure my version of the rules and the world would be blasphemy to true fans ;P

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind how so? :P

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay Ah, the frequency and efficiency of magic is tuned up compared to the standard level, social class is not quite as strict and important, and I'm sure I've made a hopeless mess of the rather complicated political and geographical relations...

Shalvenay

hey there @Asteria

Asteria

hay hay @Shalvenay

Shalvenay

9:24 PM

@ACuriousMind heheheheh

@Asteria how're things going?

Asteria

@Shalvenay going well, whats up with chu

Shalvenay

not a whole lot, been working on some stuff to introduce a friend to RPing (D&D 5e, specifically)

also, @ACuriousMind -- I've been looking to get into a DW game sometime or the other, give the system another shot

Asteria

@Shalvenay ah yeah, I remember you mentining that last week

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay I highly recommend it, I've enjoyed every session I've played immensely and am trying to get one of my groups to play it more frequently - we usually only play it when one of the regulars for our TDE campaign is missing

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind aye. most of it is finding folks who are familiar with the system and match up schedule-wise

because I want to get some insight into what happens when it's run by someone who's run PbtA significantly

ACuriousMind

9:28 PM

@Shalvenay I'd say that only the DM needs to be familiar with the system, it's fine if the players see the character sheets for the first time in the first session

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind yeah, the DM is who I'm most concerned about.

ACuriousMind

If the GM hasn't run PtbA before you want someone generally comfortable with improvisation and who has understood that you don't bring a plot.

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind yeah...

I wonder if you could run a bounty-board campaign (a la West Marches) in DW?

ACuriousMind

Sure, if you get the players to buy in and create characters interested in doing that

BESW

On improvisation and planning in GMing, from a thread on the Fate Core community on Google+.

Tweeted by fredhicks on December 10, 2017 at 3:32 PM

Shalvenay

9:37 PM

@Asteria -- you about?

Asteria

@Shalvenay always lurking in the shadows, si

Shalvenay

@Asteria ah. would you be interested in a DW game sometime...? I was wondering if @ACuriousMind was interested in running a Stackizen DW game, for that matter...

Asteria

@Shalvenay Dw being Dungeon world, or something else that I may or may not be familiar with?

Shalvenay

@Asteria the former, yes :)

Asteria

@Shalvenay sure, I'd love too

ACuriousMind

9:42 PM

@Shalvenay Well...it would be an interesting experiment! I haven't run an entirely online game (at most two players "present" via video chat, rest at the table) nor one in English so far. I also expect scheduling to be a nightmare, but maybe that'll work out.

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind I'm pretty available -- Sunday afternoons US CST is about the only slot (other than my work schedule, which is a pretty standard office schedule) that I have reserved

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay Well, see, I'm in the UTC+1 timezone, so your office schedule is not my office schedule ;)

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind but I may have another slot getting reserved starting in the new year due to Nits' ToA game

@ACuriousMind aye. do you want to try to start scheduling things now, or would you rather wait until the new year starts?

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay Well, I'm rather flexible the rest of December because I'm between studying and starting work - by January I'll be bound by a regular work schedule.

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind ah.

@Asteria what's your schedule look like starting the new year for a regular game btw?

ACuriousMind

9:51 PM

So I guess we could try to schedule a one-shot soonish, and then look if we want to make it a recurring thing and if that's possible with our schedules

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind we could look into that, yeah. what do you think would work for the one-shot btw?

Asteria

@Shalvenay pretty goodish, every second week is basically free

Shalvenay

@Asteria oh wow -- are you talking about weekends, evenings, or the whole week?

nitsua60

help me out folks: is one of these a dupe of the other?

9

Q: Can you break up your Attack action for a bonus action?

You can do it to move: If you take an action that includes more than one weapon attack, you can break up your movement even further by moving between those attacks. For example, a fighter who can make two attacks with the Extra Attack feature and who has a speed of 25 feet could move 10 feet,...

dnd-5e actions

7

Q: Can you use a bonus action in the middle of an attack?

If I have a Fighter 5/Rogue 2 (so I have both Extra Attack and Cunning Action) am I able to shoot an enemy with a bow, move to cover, bonus action Hide from Cunning Action, and finally make my second attack from Extra Attack? Looking at the rules they state: You choose when to take a Bonus A...

dnd-5e rogue actions fighter

Shalvenay

I think so, yeah

Asteria

9:54 PM

@Shalvenay I can free up weekends and evenings for games on the weeks I don't have my step-daughter.

ATaco

Last night, playing Sunless Citidal for the first time, our party got to mourn the loss of Meepo.

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay Around 17/18/19th Dec, maybe? Over the holidays I'm visiting family/friends and have no idea yet when I'm available

Shalvenay

10:08 PM

@ACuriousMind that sounds like a plan if it works for @Asteria

@ATaco ouch :/

what took him out btw?

Asteria

@Shalvenay Depending on what strange time-land you people from the past / future are in, should be good

Shalvenay

@Asteria I'm US CST (GMT-6), ACM's GMT+1 (CET?)

ACuriousMind

Yeah, it's CET

As I said, I'm not doing much currently, so I can probably accomodate unconventional times on these days

ATaco

Icy blasts from Calcirix.

Asteria

@Shalvenay @ACuriousMind according to a converter, 5pm my time is 1:00 A.M, same day for you guys

Shalvenay

10:13 PM

@Asteria what all do you have for times of day available?

ATaco

Dragon > Kobold.

Shalvenay

@ATaco oops.

ATaco

We didn't notice he was frozen at first, because we were concentrating on the dragon, and it looked like it had just fired off two icy blasts at myself, and being a barbarian it didn't really phase me.

After the second blast, the rogue noticed that Meepo hadn't done anything yet, and turned to look at him. They paniced and tried to unfreeze him, but it was too late.

Asteria

@Shalvenay during the week I'm free from 01:30 am your time to 06:30 am. On weekends anywhere from 4:00 P.M to 2:00 A.M. (Time zones are le ew, I'm only 90% sure these times are correct)

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind is Dec 17 workable for you?

@Asteria yeah, I think weekends would by far and away be our best bet

ACuriousMind

10:17 PM

@Asteria Wait, what zone are you in?

@Shalvenay I proposed it, so yeah, it should work

(I might be a tiiiiny bit hungover depending on the time of day ;P)

Asteria

@ACuriousMind Victoria Time GMT+10...I was comparing to @Shalvenay GMT-6 though, haven't looked at your GMT+1 yet

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind yeah, I was thinking 4PM my time/11PM your time?

ATaco

Now my Barbarian has two magical items that summon minions. I think these utilities can be better placed.

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay Soo...that would be 4pm your time, 11pm my time (that's okay, I'm a night owl), and 8am on a Monday @Asteria's time? Doesn't sound as if that could work :/

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind rats

@ACuriousMind is Saturday the 16th not workable for you?

ACuriousMind

10:23 PM

@Shalvenay No, I and my flatmate are throwing a party

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind rrats

Asteria

Australia. Ruining RPG's since just 5 minutes ago.

ACuriousMind

Heh

Well, Australian evening wouldn't be too bad for me, it's morning here, but it's the middle of the night for the Americans :P

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind yeah, and some of us are in no position to burn midnight oil on weeknights

ACuriousMind

Sure. Well, it would appear a true world-spanning RPG might be thwarted by timezones :/

Asteria

10:30 PM

@ACuriousMind Obviously, we just need to kill the batma cough not invite someone from upside down land

ATaco

As an Australian you learn to live with it and dnd at stupid hours

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind -- would you still want to do the one-shot then as a 1on1 or do you want me to try to find another player to join us?

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay I have a suspicion that DW runs poorly as a 1on1 - without a bit of diversity in the party I think options are too constrained

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind yeah, that's what I've heard before as well.

ACuriousMind

If there's one or two more interested people I'd definitely be willing to try it, though

BESW

10:45 PM

The Adams Mammoth ‒ discovered in 1799 ‒ was the first mammoth put on public display. The reconstruction in the St Petersburg Museum not only used the wrong tusks, but each was fitted on the wrong side and pointing the wrong way. They remained like this for almost a century.

Tweeted by Jamie_Woodward_ on December 10, 2017 at 10:52 AM

Shalvenay

hello there @PeterCooperJr.

BESW

11:55 PM

BTW, I did some more playtesting over the weekend and there's some new adjustments to LLKM.

Also I have some ideas for a character sheet.

nitsua60

@BESW ooh... I would definitely find one useful. Does it have space to track opponents' features as well?

Because I have found it difficult in the past to keep track of every monster.

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