TRPG General Chat

Shalvenay

03:38

hey there @KorvinStarmast and @inthemanual

inthemanual

hi

Shalvenay

how're things going?

inthemanual

sick

KorvinStarmast

03:59

@Shalvenay Hi Shal, hope all is well with you. Am off to play some more Hearthstone. Best wishes to you. :)

Shalvenay

@KorvinStarmast good seeing you around :) how goes rebuilding btw?

@inthemanual awww :/

BESW

04:21

Ernst Haeckel’s (1889) drawings helped influence science and art nouveau http://bit.ly/2j1gA2H via @openculture

Tweeted by DelthiaRicks on December 29, 2017 at 1:09 AM

KorvinStarmast

06:04

@Shalvenay TWIA is about to make me very upset in re roof repairs, but we are mostly doing OK.

BESW

06:20

Better late than never: new detective.

inthemanual

should do Osmosis Jones

BESW

06:42

Ooh, good one.

kviiri

08:48

> Chatizen's Creature Catalogue presents: Uglion. These vaguely feline predators lack the speed of true lions, but make up for it in cunning. They frequently attack unwary travelers who stop to laugh at their bizarre appearance, using the element of surprise to land a deadly blow.

kviiri

09:08

Uglions are really dangerous because most animals don't see the humor in that face, so their preferred targets are sapient humanoids. Scary thought!

BESW

09:26

> EPICUREALION: Ascetic aesthete lion
Simple things are the best
Disgust +3
Superiority +2
Non-involvement +1
- Nobody cares. You get +1 on rolls nobody spends invokes for.
- That's, like, your opinion. You can use Disgust instead of Non-involvement when defending against passionate actions.

Erics

hey all

kviiri

@Erics Hi!

BESW

> - Savage. When attacking with Superiority and spending at least one invoke on the target's aspect(s), you also get weapon:2.

@Erics [wave]

Erics

@BESW Add Auto-correct to that list of ways. Deadly.

BESW

@Erics That doesn't, weirdly, seem to be one of our problems! Mostly it's human error/confusion and efficiency policies that weren't designed with our situation in mind.

Erics

09:35

Did a quick play-test of 2e combat with full suite of combat actions (and no stupid fumble rules). Players loved it. The puny bard, with a STR 7, charged forward, did a Called Shot, and did the ol' Zorro mark on the orc's chest. Next turn he withdrew/disengaged, making sure his movement went past the hulking great barbarian.

BESW

Nice.

Erics

The outraged and insulted orc captain followed, and suffered an AoO from the barbarian. The bard had successfully converted his puny attack action (d6 dmg, -1 to hit) into a devastating 2d8+4 dmg with +4 to hit (magic + strength). High fives all round

BESW

Excellent.

Erics

There was also discussion about what weapon a giant might use on a battlefield.

The usual were trotted out: giant hammers, giant spears, giant clubs.
Interesting ideas were added: iron-bound boots with shields strapped to ankles

A brief diversion as we imagined a giant, stomping about the battlefield, with no weapon in hand ... but a giant lute instead. He's a bard. He's big in Cleveland. Big everywhere actually.

BESW

[snerk]

Erics

09:45

Then I won with: a scythe. A mutha-heckin giant scythe. Snicker-snak there goes a dozen heads, swish a platoon are now footloose and fancy free (and screaming on the ground).

A scythe isn't usually used as a weapon, because (a) it leaves your arms/torse exposed as very difficult to parry etc, and (b) opponents can usually move about as much as you could reach, so at best an awkward area-denial.

Giants don't need to worry about someone poking them in the chest/head/arms because, y'know, tall.

kviiri

A scythe isn't a very good weapon, but then again peasants don't really have the same luxury of choosing their weapons as adventurers do.

Erics

Lousy weapon, man-sized vs man-sized. Stupid clumsy polearm, or suicidal ankle-slasher.

kviiri

I guess turning the blade to be perpendicular to the staff so it's more like a shabby glaive would improve it though.

Erics

No no, think of the grass cutting action ... imgur.com/gallery/hibRdPY

kviiri

Yes?

Turning the blade perpendicular to the staff would be an improvement over doing that in combat. The shabbiness would be that while one has a passable blade on a stick, the blade is curved in the wrong direction, but it's still more workable than having the blade point away from targets.

Erics

09:58

This is for a giant, with height & reach advantage etc.

kviiri

@Erics Yeah, that's of course different.

kviiri

10:35

Hmm

Boots trimmed with metal blades might also be nice weapons for a giant.

kviiri

10:46

17

Q: Can spells officially not mimic higher level spells?

In a recent question about prestidigitation, one of the answers mentioned the idea that, when interpreting the effects of a spell, you should assume that a spell can never be used in a way which would make it equal or better than a spell of higher level; in that case using the Prestidigitation ca...

Linked for attention - a very good question!

BESW

Tonight's dinner is falafel scramble, with cucumbers in spicy sesame soy sauce.

(soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, Tabasco, garlic powder, sesame oil.)

Oooh, Terinu came back online in 2014 and I didn't notice?

..oooh, Terinu hasn't updated since 2014.

That was a fast little rollercoaster.

eimyr

11:07

What's Terinu?

BESW

Terinu is a scifi adventure comic printed in Australia on and off since 1986, written and illustrated by Peta Hewitt.

Its online fandom forum community is probably the second I ever participated in.

It's very pulpy 80s scifi, about the last known survivor of a race of marsupials uplifted to sapience to serve as Powered By A Child batteries for a galaxy-spanning empire which collapsed shortly after it tried to conquer humanity, and the remains of the empire are still kinda shattered and trying to figure out what to do now.

eimyr

ok thanks

The Oracle

14:14

0

Q: Have we considered generated a chat for each comment section?

I had a thought last night that when people are leaving a comment on a question or an answer, they are trying to engage with the person who wrote that question or answer. Many times, there is hope that they will respond in the comments or adjust their post - but often times it falls on deaf ear...

discussion comments chat

Yuuki

16:30

> What do you call a svirfneblin urban ranger?
> A metro-gnome.

doppelgreener

16:44

@Yuuki haaa :D

nice one

nitsua60

17:02

Tips on running urban campaign/adventure? (DD5e if it matters.) I'm running a city-based adventure whose introduction both states "city-based adventures can be challenging to run" and provides almost no guidance on how to handle the challenge or, for that matter, what the typical challenges even are.

Yuuki

@nitsua60 Make sure traffic is a nightmare because traffic is always a nightmare.

nitsua60

Nice =)

Alex Mitan

@nitsua60 Collateral damage?

You're not in a cave chucking dynamite and fireballs to your heart's content

nitsua60

[starts taking notes]

Alex Mitan

how do people react to magic/murder? (you ARE playing D&D)

put yourself in the shoes of a 50 year-old citizen in the way of the heroes

cities, in a civilisation sort of sense, have safety as their main goal, safety and economic growth

you're letting a wrecking-ball of magical destruction roll through it

have you played Dishonored?

nitsua60

17:08

@AlexMitan no

GreySage

@Yuuki Make the primary mode of transportation Nightmares?

Alex Mitan

@nitsua60 Anyhow, you're dealing with how the city reacts to violence and the supernatural

I don't have a lot of time to be on

But the main problem is, cities are full of people and laws

Killing IS against the law and so might be use of violence at all

Szega

17:43

Anyone know how to calculate ability modifiers in 13th age? Same as dnd5e? Can't seem to find it in the SRD

nitsua60

18:09

0

Q: Can the action in a Ready Action be conditional?

The Ready Action is described as: First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it. Examples include “If the Cultist steps on the tr...

dnd-5e readied-action

I swear this ^^ is a duplicate, but I can't find the other one... =\

NautArch

@nitsua60 i thought so, too and didn't find anything

Adam

@Szega the combat rules for damage say "Calculate the ability modifier subtracting 10 from the ability score, halving the result, then rounding down."

Szega

@Adam Thanks, that doc is practically not edited at all. So it is the same, great.

Gael L

20:13

Hello !

This question has been marked as a duplicate, but I don't believe it is : rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/112516/…

What should I do about it ?

0

Q: Is it possible to willingly enter an encounter later than the other participants?

This is a follow-up to this question, specifically to that answer. I understand the concern of wreaking havoc on the duration of spells and other effects by delaying your turn at will in the initiative order, hence why it's not possible to "change your place" once you are engaged in an encounter...

dnd-5e initiative encounters

Shalvenay

@GaelL just wait and let the reopen votes roll in :)

Gael L

OK thanks !

nitsua60

I'd suggest going ahead and pinging @SevenSidedDie in this room. (But not really, because I just did.) After all, they're the gold-hammer-voter who closed it, but it looks from the comments like they now see the distinction you're drawing, but I don't know if your most recent edit captures all of that....

(Nvm--it's all done now.)

Gael L

I see that the title just got edited by @Shalvenay. I see no issue with the new title, just want to make sure that the question still has the same purpose.

Wait no, 'twas by SevenSidedDie.

I think it's all good now.

BESW

20:55

From a friend:

> Tautology Club. You get +1 on rolls that you get +1 on.

5

GreySage

@BESW Cool, net bonus +2 is nothing to sneeze at

BESW

> The Stunt that Never Ends. When a stunt gives you a bonus to a roll, you also get +1 to that roll.

nitsua60

> It Goes on and on, My Friends. When The Stunt that Never Ends gives you a bonus to a roll, you may also take +1 to the next roll you make. When you do, all allies take a -1 to their next roll.

BESW

> Some people started using it. When you use a stunt more than once in a scene, you get a boost each time after the first.

> They'll keep on singing it forever. When you inflict a consequence because of your singing, you can force the target to fill their second-lowest available consquence slot, instead of the lowest.

> Just because. Once per session, succeed with style on an action of your choice.

nitsua60

> Just Because. Take +1 to your next roll. Just because.

@BESW (I knew that "consequences" were a thing and wanted to work them in there, but I couldn't hack it together.)

Shalvenay

21:23

hey there @Zachiel

Zachiel

heya

Why is it so complicated to buy things nowadays?

Shalvenay

@Zachiel how so? and is this referring to the laptop, or smth else?

Zachiel

@Shalvenay a tablet

I don't have a credit card

Shalvenay

@Zachiel ah. yeah, that'd make things way harder....

the not having something that can be used over the CC network that is

Zachiel

I proudly said "no" to the bank person. Why should I need one? "But it's free for the first 6 months" - yeah yeah and then I'd forget.

Shalvenay

21:26

(I don't have an actual credit card either, but US debit cards happily will play credit card for the purposes of the transaction network)

Zachiel

I just want to walk into a shop and buy it, but of course they charge more

Shalvenay

(I take it your debit card is something like a Visa Electron that only works for PIN transactions?)

Zachiel

@Shalvenay [nods]

Shalvenay

@Zachiel yeah...I don't know why banks in Europe don't issue a signature debit product, as PIN-network-only cards are really rather useless for card-not-present transactions

Zachiel

Anyway, I'm still not sure what my budget should be, or if I need windows on my tablet, of if to buy a base with a keyboard.

@Shalvenay That must be a good question for some Stack.

BESW

21:30

One other thing about @UrsulaV 's CLOCKWORK BOYS worth considering is its treatment of paladins as a class. I'm going to write a thread about it, but first I have to walk the dog.

Tweeted by PeterCashwell on December 29, 2017 at 4:12 PM

I've drawn a lot of scary monsters and angry people the last few days so I wanted to draw the least scary least angry thing I could: hiker pug

Tweeted by my2k on December 29, 2017 at 10:39 AM

Shalvenay

21:41

hey there @Yuuki

Yuuki

Hello.

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Yuuki

Going all right, spent the week running Ethernet cable and whatnot.

Well, after work that is.

Shalvenay

things are going alright here

BESW

Dungeons and Doggos - #30 “Vicious Mockery” Those rats don't stand a chance against the bard's vicious mockery! Tonka is ruthless! What's your bard's favorite insult?

Tweeted by dndoggos on December 29, 2017 at 3:17 PM

Shalvenay

22:30

hey there @eimyr

eimyr

hi, @Shalvenay

Eimyr, never ungreeted.

what's up man, how's your lawsuit going?

Shalvenay

@eimyr backburnered still

been working on other stuff. got to pull my pastoralist Orcs out as part of an intro one-on-one I ran for a friend though :)

eimyr

> Department of Redundancy Department. Once per game, spend a Fate Point to gain a copy of an Aspect you already have with a free invoke, which is a copy of another Aspect. You can do it once per game and need to spend a Fate Point to do it.

@Shalvenay that's pretty cool

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