TRPG General Chat

goodguy5

16:07

@KorvinStarmast yes, I couldn't think of the name

KorvinStarmast

I don't have phb with me, but I am not sure if there is a BM feat that offers a second attack, but I still think that rapier + sneak attack + (something) only triggers sneak attack once per turn ...

Rubiksmoose

@goodguy5 :)

kviiri

I dislike those "max the damage" questions because they tend to be horribly poorly specified

goodguy5

@KorvinStarmast two weapon fighting

kviiri

And I have a hard time figuring out what one would actually do with an answer.

Rubiksmoose

16:13

@kviiri It is a major problem with them.

goodguy5

@kviiri Well, this particular instance is basically "I want to do the most damage in my party at level 1 so I can feel like a cool guy. What do I do?"

Yuuki

@goodguy5 "Buy the DM a pizza."

kviiri

@goodguy5 Except it's phrased in a manner that would admit something like "cast guiding bolt, roll a crit and all sixes on the damage dice" (which would improve over both of the existing answers).

Yuuki

> "What's that Wes Anderson movie with all the puppers?"
> "Isle of Dogs."
> "I love dogs too, but what's the name of the movie?"

kviiri

I'd submit that as an answer but I... don't really feel like it's the answer the querent needs.

goodguy5

16:16

@kviiri Technically not better than my sword attack

also, inflict wounds is better than guiding bolt.

kviiri

@goodguy5 Good catch

And yeah, I missed the second target bit.

goodguy5

Inflict wounds was my first thought.

against 6 targets in a tight cone, I think burning hands is the winner.

oh, wait, no. thunder... uh... clap?

wave

doppelgreener

@KorvinStarmast there might be a mod flag, but I'm not sure. What's the error message?

You shouldn't get blocked from editing a post unless it's been removed or locked

goodguy5

surrounded by 8 enemies. thunderwave for 2d8

doppelgreener

Or if someone substantially edited it since you started editing

goodguy5

16:19

or caching. sometimes SE gets weird and I need to reload the page

kviiri

@goodguy5 Wait, it gets even better: bordering a 15 × 15 × 15 cube containing 27 enemies.

AND

goodguy5

XD

kviiri

you cast the spell as a reaction with the trigger being an additional enemy passing through the cube.

Rubiksmoose

@kviiri Can you do that but push them out of the cube such that all those enemies get AoO?

kviiri

@Rubiksmoose Forced movement doesn't trigger opportunity attacks.

Rubiksmoose

16:22

@kviiri doh! I knew that too!

kviiri

The single enemy moving inside the cube of its friends is as far as I know the rules are with me, but I guess depending on the interpretation we could, uh... have an arbitrarily large number of enemies teleport in or something on a similar trigger?

KorvinStarmast

@doppelgreener This has happened to me a few times in the past, and I've rarely been able to isolate the cause. Sometimes, if I switch browsers all of the problems go away. Today is not one such case.

goodguy5

average con save is like +2.
so 55% to "hit"
27*(.55*2d8 + .45*.5*2d8)
188 damage

kviiri

Tonight's meal: fruity soy and rice stew. I have literally no expectations.

KorvinStarmast

I am also finding this problem in Aviation.SE in posting an answer at all.

Maybe I need to clear the cookies or something.

kviiri

16:24

This is a leftover from my army rations.

KorvinStarmast

Hmm, now I can't even reach aviation.se. Weird.

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast maybe you are slowly getting deleted by the matrix?

doppelgreener

If you're getting an error from stack exchange it should come up in a red dialog or be a full page stack exchange error.

kviiri

@Rubiksmoose Who are you talking to?

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose could be, nice knowing you all. Best wishes in all things ... 8^D

Rubiksmoose

16:27

@kviiri I was talking to Korvin lol

KorvinStarmast

@doppelgreener A red tag just says 'error' and gives no further info

kviiri

@Rubiksmoose Doesn't sound familiar to me. Must be already deleted.

KorvinStarmast

@doppelgreener No worries I'll try again later. None of this is critical to flying safety or reducing the reliance on fossil fuels ....

Rubiksmoose

@kviiri well...at least it can't really be worse than you expect at least.

@KorvinStarmast pour one out for our good friend Korvin.

kviiri

@Rubiksmoose It turned out to be pretty good, actually. Much better than the bolognese I also hoarded.

Turns out that after coming to the reserves, that stuff tastes like I imagine kerosene tasting like.

Rubiksmoose

16:33

@kviiri kerosene is basically in the lowest tier flavor-wise I'd say

Yuuki

I need crisis counseling, is this a good time?

kviiri

Anytime's a good time if you really need it

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki oh dear..

Yuuki

So I'm having a crisis of identity regarding the paladin I'm playing in my current campaign.

Namely, that he doesn't have an identity.

I'm going to be multi-classing to warlock soon and I figure this is a good opportunity to make up for lost character development.

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki this actually sounds incredibly like my current bard (now bard-cleric)

I was recently told that they often forget that I am a bard :'(

Yuuki

16:41

I think I need some help coming up with some basic personality constraints because I just don't know who my character is right now.

kviiri

What is your party doing and who are your party mates?

Yuuki

Okay, the setting of the campaign is that our party are all travelers to this new frontierland.

The places we come from are low-magic and the frontier is high-magic.

I am a paladin and my party consists of a wizard, sorcerer, rogue, and barbarian.

I'm currently an Oath of the Crown paladin, but I'm not sure I want to stay with the whole knight aesthetic.

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki (oh dear are you the primary healer?)

Yuuki

@Rubiksmoose haaaaa

On several occasions, I've considered throwing my character at the nearest big monster and re-rolling a cleric or druid.

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki I mean this entirely non-sarcastically btw- why didn't you?

Yuuki

16:48

@Rubiksmoose For one, lack of opportunity. For two, a couple of the players are first-timers and I worry about setting preconceived notions. For three, we're a pretty spread-out group and so sometimes we have scheduling issues. If the barbarian isn't there, then we literally don't have a frontline if I'm not a paladin.

kviiri

@Yuuki Are you more concerned about mechanical or role-playing identity?

Yuuki

@kviiri Really, I'm most concerned with role-playing identity right now since I just haven't doing much RP because I don't know what I want out of my character.

doppelgreener

0

Q: How High Do You Need to be to Kill Someone by Dropping a Folding Boat?

So I recently ran across this question about Catapult being cast on a Folding Boat. While this deals with the act of using a spell to propel the Folding Boat to hilariously lethal speeds, I was wondering about dropping the thing as a sneak attack as a way to easily deal with a bandit camp or som...

this is a fun case of title ambiguity

Rubiksmoose

Personally, I would have to be very high to kill someone with a boat. — Rubiksmoose 1 min ago

I agree lol

Yuuki

@Rubiksmoose Of course you agree, you wrote that comment.

kviiri

16:51

@Yuuki Does your character have bonds with other characters? That's, by my experience, a simple way to create personality.

Yuuki

@kviiri The setting hasn't really allowed for it.

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki (I meant I agreed with Dopple) providing the comment as evidence

kviiri

So you're effectively strangers by mandate?

Yuuki

@kviiri Kinda sorta.

In hindsight, I probably should've taken the DM helm and ran one of the published adventures given that a number of the players are newbies.

But I kinda chickened out.

kviiri

Hm, that's a tough one then.

Yuuki

16:54

Right now, I'm working with my DM to see if we can build a proper character out of the basically empty shell I currently have.

kviiri

We made a lot of progress with our personality deficiency issues by creating characters as a team, making up backstories about how they know each other and what stuff have they done together before

Yuuki

I think a good place to start is the warlock multi-class.

kviiri

What's your patron going to be?

Yuuki

Since that's basically the impetus of this (re)-write.

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose but what does Rubiksmoose think?

Yuuki

16:55

@kviiri I'm going to be a Hexblade.

(woo, xanathar's finally came out)

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch I'll have to ask him next time I see him.

Yuuki

((several months ago, but yeah))

kviiri

@Yuuki Okay, who's your patron going to be?

Yuuki

Well, the Hexblade is the patron, but I've never been particularly clear on who the actual patron is for the sub-class: the weapon/artifact or the being who made the weapon/artifact?

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki Yeah I know exactly what you mean and are going through. Honestly, taking cleric basically gave me the chance to finally create a character for mine, but mainly through interaction with other characters/players. It is still a major issue for me in general.

Yuuki

17:04

One thing I'm considering is an intelligent-ish weapon (no mechanical differences from a warlock's pact weapon other than it can talk) to function as a quasi-bond with a party member.

Something I can riff off of to build character development.

But then I'm worried that I've saddled myself with another character to manage when I'm clearly already failing at one or the DM with an extra burden to make up for my lack of RP skill.

kviiri

You're right on both counts: it might be a good idea, but the risk is real.

Yuuki

I guess the thing I need to start with is "why am I here?", but I'm not sure I have a good answer.

kviiri

My suggestions are very much in the "Your Mileage May Vary" category, but the way I see it is as follows: your character's personality shines through the most through their interaction with the other players. Backstories, personal gimmicks, all that is cool and all, but it's only going to be relevant when you, and only, got the spotlight. Hence I think it's easier to build character by defining it through relationships with other characters, in a way.

That might be tricky if you're barred from doing that by fiat, but it's never too late to try.

Yuuki

@kviiri It's not so much fiat as it is that we never really did it during character creation and it feels weird to be imposing my character on other people now that we're 6 levels into the game.

kviiri

@Yuuki It's something you discuss with their players, of course.

Yuuki

17:11

I also have a sneaking suspicion that the party is all various facets of MCU levels of snarkiness.

We do tend to make a lot of jokes and I feel like a lot of it is my fault.

I tend to make off-the-cuff references and aside comments that I worry has been hurting everyone else's RP potential.

kviiri

I would guess it's not your fault. That stuff stems from many things.

Yuuki

I also need to nail down what kind of personality I want. Do I want to be a stereotypically dour and proper knight paladin, do I want a joker, or do I want something else?

kviiri

Depends on the foils

(or the other party members :P)

Sorry, I'm a bit single-minded with my advice.

Rubiksmoose

One thing I've tried is picking a fictional character that seems fun and modeling it after them

NautArch

17:36

@Yuuki which system?

Yuuki

@NautArch 5e.

Which of course brings up, do I just re-skin my character as something else because 5e paladins are not previous edition paladins.

NautArch

@Yuuki that's kind of where I was about to go. What oath were you planning on?

Yuuki

Well, I'm currently Oath of the Crown.

Hmm... I think I have a kernel of an idea for the character.

I'm thinking of a character that aspires to be a storybook hero and set on this journey to find a magical sword since all heroes have magical swords.

NautArch

@Yuuki naive?

Yuuki

This character has a very clear picture of what a hero should be, given all the stories they grew up with. But they are also emphatically not very good at the physical parts of hero-ing, having grown up on stories and village life rather than training to become an adventurer.

@NautArch Sorta? I mean, given that we're part of the way through a campaign, it's clear that this backstory means that my character has basically been lying to the party this entire time about who they are.

I'm thinking the reveal will come when the magical sword (woo, Hexblade multi-class incoming) appears.

SPavel

17:45

Good afternoon

NautArch

@Yuuki I like it! The character is progressing from the hero they think they should be into the hero they are.

@SPavel howdy howdy

SPavel

@Yuuki Most people lie to others (and themselves) about who they are

The fun fact is that our identity as we see it doesn't exist, except in our heads. Only others' perception of us is "real" in the world.

GreySage

@SPavel I reject that other people's perspective of my identity is somehow more valid than my own perspective of my identity

SPavel

@GreySage It's not more valid inherently, it just exists within the social fabric, and thus has social consequences

Your own identity exists only within your own mind

Yuuki

@NautArch I'm having a bit of trouble picturing the "hero they are" part, but I guess that'll come with more playtime.

NautArch

17:51

@Yuuki the good news is you can develop that in real time as you play. They're discovering themselves, too.

Yuuki

Now I'm wondering if I want a "be who you are" storyline or a "fake it 'til you make it" storyline.

SPavel

@Yuuki Why not both? Fake it til you make it, realize that the only thing you "made" was a mess

NautArch

@Yuuki Based on your initial description, the former seems more natural. But as @SPavel said, you can do both. It's also potentially a slow transition from one to the other.

SPavel

The nice thing about being a fantasy hero is that the aspirations of a typical fantasy hero are pretty basic

Yuuki

I dunno, I feel like the "be who you are" storyline is overdone these days and occasionally sends a poor message. Sometimes, people want to change because they don't like who they are.

I could definitely see a sort of synthesis between the two though.

NautArch

17:55

who knew this was a thing

SPavel

@Yuuki "be who you are" is usually "be who you want to be" though

Unless you are Ayn Rand

Yuuki

Like the kind of aside comments and jokes I've been making in the campaign so far are mostly pragmatic and/or somewhat self-centered. Definitely not "storybook hero" material.

SPavel

@NautArch The next time I need to call someone a ****head, but nicely, I will definitely call them a groom of the stool

@Yuuki Depends on the book. Have you read Sir Apropos of Nothing?

Yuuki

So I could see my character arriving at some sort of synthesis/mid-way between overly pragmatic and goody two-shoes.

SPavel

@Yuuki Greater Good at any cost?

Yuuki

17:58

@SPavel No, but I think I've encountered the trope.

SPavel

Yuuki

@SPavel Twist: The HOA worships an elder god with a particular affinity for Parmesan.

It desires the Grater, Good.

NautArch

19:55

oooh, nick offerman to join the cast of Good Omens

SPavel

@NautArch Sadly only guest star, I think

NautArch

@SPavel father of the antichrist

Rubiksmoose

1

Q: I'm having trouble keeping my group's barbarian from attacking the bard

I'm having trouble keeping my group's barbarian from attacking the bard I'm the DM of a game consisting of a bunch of guys from school and a couple girls. I have some serious problems with this and among them is the fact that the Dragonborn barbarian keeps attacking and bullying the bard. A coup...

dnd-5e combat group-dynamics character

I feel like this question is too broad as asked and will get poor answers

SPavel

It's not even phrased as a question

Maiko Chikyu

I think he needs to write down the reasons but other thasn that i don't think it is too broad

Rubiksmoose

19:58

"I would like to hear ideas from you guys that might change my mind." is never a good phrasing to see in a question.

NautArch

I"m never sure about these types of questions, but I feel we've answered similar ones.

Maiko Chikyu

I already tried answering it

NautArch

@MaikoChikyu I would recommend restructuring your answer to lead with the optimal choice (your third option) and then present the others.

Rubiksmoose

right now he is literally not asking a question, just stating a story and asking for thoughts.

I feel like there are definitely valid questions that could be asked, but none there as of now.

SPavel

Seems like in Stack format he could either
a) Ask "how can I stop the barbarian from attacking the bard" and post a self-answer with his own solution, which can get workshopped
b) Ask "how can I write and enforce an effective No PvP rule"

GreySage

20:02

@SPavel You should probably tell him

SPavel

@GreySage that sounds hard

can't you do it, and then I will take the credit

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch I have a very hard time with them as well. But I really feel that this one needs some tweaking.

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose Definitely not disagreeing.

The topic title isn't even a question.

I probably shouldn't have written an answer

Rubiksmoose

20:19

@NautArch Well I did the risky and drastic thing of editing it myself considering all the attention it is and is likely to receive.

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose I think I'd suggest rolling that back and working on a more generic issue of expectations.

As Guildsbounty said, it's also about bullying. But overall, it's about game expectations.

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch that seems solution-forward question and not in keeping with what OP was actually asking. It is what he should be asking about though.

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose True, but lookint at each of their issues, that's the sum total. If you want to make it more specific, then it's about treating bullying. PvP is an aspect of bullying.

The closest my table gets to PvP is gambling in game. And no one plays with my bard or near my bard :(

SPavel

@NautArch Isn't cheat a bard spell?

KorvinStarmast

@SPavel It is in 5e, for sure.

Yuuki

20:28

@NautArch "Son, I don't give a damn if you're the End Of The World As We Know It or you have light shining out of your every orifice, you're going to learn how to make a proper chair."

KorvinStarmast

:) Magical Secrets is such a nice feature ...

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast playing my bard tonight :)

SPavel

@Yuuki IIRC the Antichrist was never taught about his evil powers

NautArch

don't think i'll likely get a chance to level him efore we finish up, but he's a Warlock 2, Bard 14

SPavel

He was also like 8, so too young for carpentry

Yuuki

20:36

@SPavel When Ron Swanson was 9, he was already working full-time at the lumber mill.

SPavel

@Yuuki Right, exactly. Until the age of 10 you learn to mill the lumber, then once you've got that down, you move on to using it.

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch yaaay!

@KorvinStarmast I can't wait for mine to get to level 10 :3

@NautArch Well I did as much as I am willing to. Others can edit if they want. The mods/community/OP can weigh in and revert or tweak it further. At least now there is a question in the question lol.

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose Is this the question about the bullies and the bard?

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose how close are you?

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch ~2,000 xp from character level 10, but my dip into cleric means I have to wait one more lol

NautArch

20:42

@KorvinStarmast My own personal experience is that bad gaming is preferable to no gaming. At least in my particular current case.

or maybe it's just definition of bad. And while there are parts I don't enjoy, the gaming is still good.

@Rubiksmoose oh yah. My 2 level dip to warlock is starting to get frustrating.

but that on-demand EB + CHA damage and mage armor for AC 17 are pretty nice.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch If it's good then it isn't bad, I think. puzzled look

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast true. I just complain a lot :)

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch I got medium armor that puts me at 19/21 with my +2 armor and shield XD

@NautArch but darn if that EB doesn't sound nice.

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose dayum. My character design was to play an instrument constantly, so no physical weapons. And not needing to wear armor has been a bonus and I haven't encountered an antimagic field yet.

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch to be fair it's only because of that sweet sweet +2

Yuuki

20:47

> play an instrument constantly, so no physical weapons

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose 19 AC still pretty darn good. How did you get that? Ring/cloak of protection?

Yuuki

As someone who plays Monster Hunter, this does not compute.

NautArch

@Yuuki wut?

Yuuki

Monster Hunter has a variety of weapon classes you can use, one of which is the Hunting Horn.

It’s a giant two-handed hammer that doubles as a woodwind instrument.

Rubiksmoose

I think it is a breastplate which is 17 +2 (armor enhancement) and then +2 (shield)

NautArch

20:49

@Yuuki that'as awesome.

@Rubiksmoose ah, was wondering where they +2 came in.

I'm not that squishy with 136 HP, either. Fun to conjure up Bigby's Hand for another 136 hp creature to help out: )

Yuuki

MHWorld | Nergigante solo (Hunting Horn) - 3'55

►

Attacks play notes and you combo attacks to play melodies that grant buffs.

NautArch

@Yuuki when does this come out for PC?!

Yuuki

Unfortunately, not until the end of this year.

NautArch

@Yuuki bah. well, i'll wait for a few years until it's on sale on Steam anyway :P

Yuuki

@NautArch Knowing it's Capcom severely tempts to pick up a PS4 for it.

They haven't had the greatest track record on PC ports.

NautArch

20:59

@Yuuki i'll keep an eye on it. I generally trust rock, paper, shotgun on reviews (although I haven't really been reading that as much)

Yuuki

@NautArch I mean, Monster Hunter is a fantastic series. I love it and it's probably singlehandedly kept Capcom afloat all these years, but this will be the first time that the main series is heading to PC.

And PC development is notoriously bad in Japan. They have a lot of outdated practices.

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki unfortunately true :( But I'll be watching this one with a lot of interest)

BESW

@kviiri In some calendars, like the Bahá'í and Hebrew and Florentine ones, the day begins at sunset.

doppelgreener

21:34

@BESW !!?!?!?!!!!?!?!!!

What's the thought process behind that?

Safe to say that is really surprising to me!

NautArch

@doppelgreener a pretty poor explanation for the Jewish calendar

but ultimately (based on the linked page): This is based on the story of creation in Genesis, where at the end of each day it says, "And it was evening, and it was morning; day one", "And it was evening, and it was morning; the second day" etc. By mentioning evening before morning, the Torah defines a day as beginning with the evening, followed by the morning.

BESW

I'm not exactly sure; it's the same in the Judaic and Islamic calendars, and sometimes that's reason enough, but there's usually some symbolic or practical reason as well for continuing the tradition.

doppelgreener

@NautArch that makes sense

Rubiksmoose

@doppelgreener fyi, I edited this question to actually include a question (because it was clear that it wasn't getting the votes to close it and it was attracting lots of responses). I'd appreciate it if you or someone would look it over when you get a chance to make sure what I did was appropriate.

Yuuki

@doppelgreener It also makes it more socially acceptable to sleep in the middle of the day.

BESW

21:40

I've seen some speculation that it's an optimistic symbolism of beginning in darkness and living toward light, possibly representative of the close of the Prophetic Cycle and the beginning of the Cycle of Fulfillment, but that's not directly based on any particular Texts. [rummages around for reasoning behind Florentine calendar]

doppelgreener

@Rubiksmoose looks fine, thank you for doing that. when someone's presenting an obvious problem that's usually enough for us to work on, or enough to add a question like that if we feel one's needed.

you made a good judgment call in revising that the way you did

@Yuuki haha yes perfect

BESW

I'm finding some references to an ancient Greek tradition of using sunset as the demarcation.

doppelgreener

@BESW interesting

Rubiksmoose

@doppelgreener oh good. thanks :)

Yuuki

> I called work this morning and whispered, "Sorry boss, I can't come in today. I have a wee cough."
> He exclaimed, "You have a wee cough!?"
> To which I replied, "All right thanks, see next Tuesday."

BESW

21:46

14th century Florence liked hosting pilgrims to Rome, but insisted they return to the city before sunset.

doppelgreener

> and that's how I got laid off!

BESW

Aaand now I'm finding references to a Celtic calendar that changes at sunset.

NautArch

@doppelgreener I read that without the off. and was very confused.

doppelgreener

@NautArch that's a story for another time

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch hahahaha

@KorvinStarmast sorry I missed this comment earlier. In case you were still wondering: it was.

BESW

21:55

Also, for many religions, important things happen at the transition between days. It's easier for people to observe those events if the transition between days is also literally observable.

eg, unless I'm in the polar regions I don't need a clock to know when to start and stop my fasting.

doppelgreener

that is true

it did come to mind that sunset would be the night/day transition people were actually awake to see

BESW

Aye.

Rubiksmoose

But then everyone's fasting gets all messed up when the sun has to be adjusted for clocklight savings time.

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose nope, fasting is always based on sunset/sunrise (at least for judaism...and i think islam). Never times.

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch It was a poor attempt at a joke. I found it humorous to think in some alternate universe the sun gets adjusted and the clocks stay the same (for daylight savings time)

doppelgreener

22:02

TIL Jeff has nuclear weapons.

NautArch

@Rubiksmoose ohmy. i'm sorry. been a long day.

@doppelgreener that's why the other stacks don't mess with us.

Rubiksmoose

@NautArch it wasn't you I promise. Now you know the kind of humor the people around me have to deal with all the time.

doppelgreener

@NautArch it's a plausible contributor

Rubiksmoose

but also screw daylight savings time

in any/every universe

BESW

@NautArch The Bahá'í Fast uses actual horizon-line sunrise/sunset, except in extreme latitudes where that is impractical and then it's clock-based.

...and for determining the New Year, it uses sunset in Tehran rather than locally, because that'd just be confusing.

(The New Year is determined as the day in which the vernal equinox occurs, which is often around sunset, so it'd be different days in different places if you're measuring from local sunset.)

Rubiksmoose

22:33

@BESW does that make the years variable lengths?

or does the time from one equinox to the other never change?

BESW

@Rubiksmoose Aye. It's functionally like leap year.

Rubiksmoose

@BESW neat

BESW

When there's an extra day, we stick it onto our four-day celebration of hospitality and charity that comes just before the month of fasting, followed by the New Year.

We've got 19 months of 19 days each, leaving four intercalary days left over--sometimes five.

Rubiksmoose

@BESW certainly makes remembering how many days each month has easier! I can never ever remember

BESW

I know, right.

Though, here's a trick for the Gregorian calendar: if you can remember it's all 30 and 31 except Feb, which is 28 or 29, you can count it on your knuckles.

Rubiksmoose

22:38

That is so cool though. Like it is technically a minor thing, but it is fascinating that something that is as routine as time and day counting can be completely different in different cultures. And it is not something that people in a monocultural environment ever have to think about.

BESW

Make two fists and put them together thumb-to-thumb so the knuckles line up, then count off the months from one little finger knuckle across toward the other: up-knuckle is 31 days, the valley between knuckles is 30 days (or 28/29 when you hit Feb).

The space between your hands isn't a valley, so you get July/August as both 31, which is where the pattern skips.

Rubiksmoose

oooo! I'm totally using this forever.

(and good thing you said that because I had literally just begun to figure out if it was)

BESW

@Rubiksmoose I know, right. It gets even better: the Bahá'í calendar is solar, but it has two lunar Holy Days, carried over from the Islamic calendar.

So there's two Holy Days that bump back and forth inside the solar calendar depending on phase of the moon.

Rubiksmoose

@BESW huh super cool :)

Yuuki

Another tip for the Gregorian calendar is to invent a time machine, go back to 1582, smack Gregory XIII upside the head, and come up with a more common sense calendar.

trogdor

22:41

@doppelgreener oh what the hell?

what a strange story that is

BESW

If you calculate the Birthdays of the two most important Figures in the Bahá'í Faith using the Gregorian calendar, they're about a month apart. But if you use the Islamic calendar They were born into, the Birthdays fall on consecutive days. And that's just too cool to throw away.

So we celebrate them as the first and second day after the eighth new moon after the New Year.

Rubiksmoose

@trogdor right?!

BESW

@Yuuki I'm pretty sure that's what the French Republicans tried to do, but they were 200 years late and far too obsessed with Celebrating The Agricultural System And Also Decimalization and kinda had a hard time recognizing that the two weren't always compatible.

Yuuki

Yeah, agriculture depends a lot on sunrise and sunset and if you're basing a calendar and clock cycle off of those, you're going to have a lot of problems.

I wish we reach a point in time where we just do away with timezones and use a single coordinated time standard (maybe based on atomic radiation?) and hopefully we do it before establishing colonies on other planets/moons.

BESW

Reading the French Republican Calendar, one gets the impression that the authors had read a lot about agriculture but talked to very few farmers.

Yuuki

22:52

Because good lord, there's enough difficulty in handling timezones on Earth where everyone has the same planetary rotation mechanics, but it's going to be even more of a nightmare on Mars. Which has different revolution and rotation mechanics.

BESW

And that's why Mars is revolting.

Joel Harmon

@Yuuki I like to think you mean the laws of physics operate differently there.

BESW

Well, yeah, that's why the Martians can shapeshift and control their body density.

GreySage

@Yuuki The biggest issue with that is that it removes the universality of reference from time. If I tell you "I got up at 4am today", you know that means I got up really early no matter what timezone I'm in. If I say the same thing and we use UTC as a reference, you may think I got up early, or later, or normal.

user15026

@Yuuki didn't UTC try to solve this?

Yuuki

22:58

@GreySage Well, you could say "I got up early".

Kinda saves a few words.

BESW

@GreySage Aye. I think we'll wind up with a local time and an auxiliary time.

Yuuki

@BESW yay timezones

augh

GreySage

@Yuuki "I got up early, at 4, which is x hours earlier than normal"

Joel Harmon

@Yuuki I believe the second is already defined by vibrations of a cesium atom.

Yuuki

@GreySage Look, I just don't want to deal with timezones ever again.

GreySage

22:59

@Yuuki I agree, but it's not simple to remove them.

Joel Harmon

What really gets me are the time zones that are off by 15 minutes from their neighbors.

GreySage

Just like the moronic daylight savings system

Yuuki

@GreySage How about we just remove them and let everyone else deal with the chaos while we bask in the afterglow of never having to deal with timezones again?

I'm okay with passing the buck.

@GreySage Not just DST but places that change DST on different schedules.

And then there's Arizona, the DST Russian nesting doll.

GreySage

And you have places that use DST and places next door that don't. My in-laws sometimes share the same time as us, and sometimes don't.

Yuuki

@GreySage Arizona does not observe DST. But there's a Native American reservation inside Arizona that does observe DST. And there's a region inside said reservation that does not observe DST. And a region inside that region that does observe DST.

BESW

23:09

And inside that region is a rez dog that doesn't observe DST.

...although to be fair all rez dogs are on their own time table anyway.

Shalvenay

23:22

hey there @KorvinStarmast

trogdor

@Rubiksmoose exactly

@BESW I feel like I need the "universal reference" of being able to say I got up at 4 and have people actually know what I mean regardless of where they are or where I am

Though I certainly don't hate the idea of a globally/spatially applicable time either

In other words I want two cakes, I guess

Shalvenay

well, there's what EVE players do -- ingame time there is simply UTC XD

trogdor

Whatever works

Rafael Santos

hello folks! o/

Shalvenay

hey there @RafaelSantos

GreySage

23:32

@trogdor I think I could get used to not having that universality if I got global consistent time, but it would require a shift in language and culture.

trogdor

@GreySage fair enough

I think I cling a lot to things I am used to though

It would probably be hard to adjust

BESW

At the very least, a local/aux overlap would probably persist for at least a generation in transition.

trogdor

Yeah that would work pretty well

GreySage

@BESW As long as it's not like the US "shift" from imperial to metric

Rubiksmoose

@Yuuki that is an amazing description.

@GreySage you mean use metric grudgingly when we absolutely have to and ignore it at all other times?

*for everyone not in the sciences and probably other fields

GreySage

23:45

Exactly

trogdor

I do wish I was taught a non-ridiculous measurement system

Metric is so much cleaner

Shalvenay

@Rubiksmoose well, there are a few things where metric's in the vernacular :P

but yeah, I agree, metric is far cleaner, and while I know my way around SI units fairly well, I don't quite have the ability to intuit in SI units all the way yet

trogdor

I resent not being taught metric first

Shalvenay

@Rubiksmoose blame Reagan for that :P

he's the one who aborted it

trogdor

It's made it a lot harder to do stuff requiring it

@Shalvenay curse you Reagan! XD

nitsua60

23:51

@Yuuki My (boarding) school used to make the DST change at a different time than the rest of the world. So for a few weeks each fall there was "school time" and "town time."

Rafael Santos

hey @BESW, how do you handle spellcasting effects of monsters in DW?
I got the notion that i could call the player got mind controlled on a 7-9 or 6-, and he can resist with willpower and maybe roll "defy danger" to get rid of the effect...
But how about, paralyses, petrification and other things alike??

Shalvenay

hey there @WheatWizard

Wheat Wizard

Hello!

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Wheat Wizard

All's good here. How are things for you?

trogdor

23:54

@nitsua60 lol that is the exact kind of disparity I am afraid of

GreySage

@trogdor We need an international time enforcement bureau

trogdor

I will call them the time police

Just cause

Shalvenay

@WheatWizard alright, quiet though

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