TRPG General Chat

BESW

00:00

141

Q: How does a player correct a GM mistake without being a rules lawyer or pushover?

You are playing in a game. The GM says that you need to roll a given roll. The rules clearly state something different. I realize one solution is to go along to get along, then tell the GM after game, but that means you are rolling to intimidate when your character wants to punch a guy in comb...

14

Q: What should a player do if the DM doesn't know the rules?

One of the players in the Pathfinder campaign that I GM started DMing a D&D 5e campaign, and he invited me to play. I started reading the 5e rules the moment he asked. After two session, I realize he's not familiar with the rules. He's read only parts. I don't know how to handle this. He's the D...

dnd-5e problem-gm

Mike Q

@BESW I saw those, and they're close to my issue. I'm asking more about GM errors of omission. For example, another player will misinterpret the rules, and give their character abilities that they shouldn't have, and the GM doesn't realize the error.

Ben

@BESW isn't just good at jeff

BESW

24

Q: What to do when you notice another player's mistake?

I happened to notice a mistake that one of the other players has been making a mistake that causes their character to be much more powerful than the rules dictate that they should be. I'm sure that this was an honest misunderstanding and not malicious on the part of the other player. That being s...

dnd-5e system-agnostic social players

Mike Q

@BESW Oh. Well. There you go.

jeff to the rescue

trogdor

Cool

I don't know how if it happened already, but I feel like the Jeff meme in this chat will go too far at some point

BESW

00:05

For the record, I didn't find that just by searching. It was in the "linked" sidebar on the first question I linked.

Ben

@BESW The search-fu is strong in you

Best Pirate I've Ever Seen Compilation [Pirates of the Caribbean] (De Beste Piraat Ooit Compilatie)

►

I need to watch this movie again

BESW

The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by Captain Tractor

►

Ben

@BESW I need a tip in the art of search-fu

1. Where can I find my user-id, because I've tried several but never been able to figure out which one it was
2. Can I narrow it down to imgur posts (pics)

BESW

In chat?

Ben

Yeah

BESW

00:13

User ID: click your icon in chat, and click "user profile" (not "user profile on gaming.stackexchange.com").

That's your chat profile, and the address is chat.stackexchange.com/users/[user-id]/[user-name]

Ben

so "/users/126332/ben"

BESW

Yup!

Ben

meaning 126332?

AWESOME

BESW

Exactly.

Ben

Whoops

I am not that excited to figure that out haha

trogdor

00:15

Ok,... That actually explains a lot

I definitely think I was also doing that wrong

@Ben lol, the accidental all caps

I know that one

BESW

Yeah, your chat user ID is different from your user ID for RPG.SE, and each other Stack has assigned you a unique user ID there as well.

To search for stuff on chat you need to use the chat ID.

trogdor

Cool

BESW

Now, for imgur... that's a little trickier.

Ben

Ok. So I know how to refine the search to me. If I leave the keywords empty it's not going to find anything right?

Wildcards don't work?

BESW

Right on both counts.

trogdor

00:18

Again, explains a lot about weird results with "not me" in them XD

BESW

To find pictures uploaded to chat using the "upload" button, search "i.stack.imgur.com"

trogdor

As you can tell, I am very self centered and search myself a lot

BESW

If you search "imgur.com" it won't bring back any of the i.stack. results.

Ben

@BESW Is there a difference between posting an image link (eg from google)?

BESW

Yes, those are still hotlinked from the original site.

Ben

00:20

Because I've seen it translate to imgur anyway

BESW

If you use the "upload" button, then yes.

But if you just put the http address into the comment box that's a hotlink, not an upload.

Ben

Right.

+1 Search-Fu!

BESW

So if you're looking for an image you uploaded with the chat's "upload" button, it'll be i.stack.imgur regardless of whether you uploaded it from your machine or via a link.

Ben

@BESW Ok nice

BESW

You can also search for image extensions, like .jpg or .jpeg or .png or what-have-you.

Ben

00:28

separate keywords? so like, "i.stack.imgur.com, .jpg"?

or no comma

BESW

Alas, no. I know of no way to search for both at once.

Ben

Ah.

Second question - where does one find the rules to play as a creature in 5e?

Is that in the DMG?

BESW

7

A: How can I create a playable monster in DnD 5e?

There are two options here: Create a template (or use one of the templates provided by the monster manual). For Vampires it's outlined on pg 295, for Lycanthropes it's outlined on pg 207, half dragon is outlined on pg 180. Use the custom race construction rules on dmg pg 285-287. These provid...

Monster Manual, in the creature's section.

Or do you mean generic rules for converting any monster into a PC?

Ben

I think the goal is for a goblin.

BESW

Volo’s Guide To Monsters

Ben

00:38

I think they're going to use Volo's

Yeah

So I think this will be the first time I've played a PC made (technically) outside of the standard rules. Should be fun :)

So we have a Tiefling Cleric; a Minotaur Storm Barb, a Dark-elf Wild Magic Sorcerer, a Goblin Druid (though he might as well be a witch-doctor), and a Human Warlock

Shalvenay

hey there @tzxAzrael

BESW

00:53

[wave]

tzxAzrael

hi

Ben

[holds hand up for a high 5]

tzxAzrael

runs away and hides

Ben

Sorry guys. Didn't mean to scare 'em away...

tzxAzrael

lol, i'm just a troll. :D

Ben

00:56

Haha. How are you?

trogdor

Lol

tzxAzrael

i'm good.

Mike Q

neutral good? or are you lawfully/chaotically aligned?

tzxAzrael

i was thinking about rewriting rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/121081/inclusive-disability ... but i'm wondering if it'd still be a shopping/opinions question anyway

lol. definitely chaotic, in that respect, and not necessarily good either.

like.. if i reword the title to something like "How can a disability be represented in a game without it being a flaw or punishment?"

and then adjust the end of the question to be like ... Is there a mechanical method to represent disabilities that doesn't penalize a character for having them?

.... is that still just mainly opinions?

and i have an answer i could throw at it too... "it's either a Flaw (penalties, bla bla bla), or a Feature (entirely descriptive bla bla)."

Ben

@tzxAzrael Well, firstly in that case you'd need to narrow it down to a system. Creating a rule within a system definitely specifies the intent. Leaving it open like that would be too broad.

Shalvenay

01:04

@tzxAzrael -- the querent was able to get some good advice from Greener in here anyway, so I think leaving it closed is fine

tzxAzrael

oh ok, cool

Ben

Coming up with a mechanical method is good, but again, probably too opinionated, so you'd have to come up with your own "system" for it and aim more towards a "is this balanced" question.

tzxAzrael

i just feel like the answer could be system agnostic as well.
my answer isn't really the mechanics... just explaining why they exist.

Ben

But at that point the question is completely different from the previous edit, so it'd likely be reverted

tzxAzrael

yea, that's fair

this is why i'm here instead of editing lol

Ben

01:10

I don't see a problem with asking it as a new question?

trogdor

Same

If you feel like the question you wanted to edit that one into should exist, you could actually just ask a new one

Ben

Then you can link it in the comments as a relevant thing?

trogdor

Also sounds reasonable

Ben

Here's a shopping question for you though

Which feat should a human warlock take

5e

Miniman

Spell Sniper.

Ben

01:22

Actually, as an errata, just assume any question I ask is 5e. Lol. If it isn't then I'll specify :P

Mike Q

Actor is fun

Ben

@Miniman That was incredibly fast

@MikeQ Warlocks use Cha as their spellcasting stat right?

Miniman

@Ben Because Spell Sniper is amazing for Warlocks. Depending on build, there are other feats, but Spell Sniper is the only generally applicable one.

What kind of Warlock are you making?

Ben

@Miniman I just read it... Hell yeh that is epic!

@Miniman Not sure. He's sticking to the original PHB though, so no Hexblade unfortunately.

Miniman

@Ben I struggle to accept that as unfortunate.

Ben

01:28

I've only read the UA. The concept seems cool :)

But my only thought is that it does suffer the "Ranger" archetype structure a bit.

Miniman

I dislike the concept of "blade pact doesn't really work, let's add a wildly imbalanced subclass that makes it work".

Throw in the nonsensical fluff and you've got a package I really can't stand.

Ben

I purely liked it because it wasn't based around EB haha

tzxAzrael

I like hexblade, in Xan's (or was it volo?)

Ben

Again; not that there's anything wrong with EB. Just there doesn't seem to be much option for a warlock that isn't based around that spell

@tzxAzrael That's in Xan's.

Miniman

Oh, I like Blade Pact a lot - I'm just not a fan of using Hexblade to buff it.

Powerdork

01:32

@Ben It's... the signature ability from prior editions?

Ben

Ok... so I have the Errata 1.1 PHB

tzxAzrael

yea, that's pretty much what i liked too. makes the 'lock do something that isn't just "spam EB till fight is over"

Ben

"PACT OF THE TOME
Your patron gives you a grimoire called a Book of
Shadows. When you gain this feature, choose three
cantrips from any class's spelllist."

The errata notes that "three cantrips from any class's spell list - The cantrips are considered warlock spells for you, and they needn’t be from the same spell list."

I'm not sure what that means

Shalvenay

what makes Pact of the Blade (as it is in the stock PHB) not work?

Ben

@Powerdork Yeah, I understand that. What I'm meaning is that building most classes, there is some room for variation. A dex-based Barb. A bow-wielding fighter. The wizard has 3 very different sub-classes.

Bu the Warlock is all about the EB, and making EB better,

Powerdork

01:36

Think about it this way: How isn't a barbarian about making the concept of an attack roll better?

Ben

@Shalvenay Pact of the Blade is fine. The UA released a Sub-Class called "Hexblade" to buff it wildly.

Shalvenay

@Ben oh :P

Ben

@Powerdork I suppose it's a skin-deep view of it (the warlock that is). Each class has their "thing". It's just more obvious as the warlock, in my eyes.

"Ok, choosing a warlock. Step 1: add EB to cantrip list. Step 2, stats..."

Again, I have no problem with the balance, power, or capability of the class.

tzxAzrael

Ben: the errata means... choose 1 cantrip from any spell list. repeat 2 more times.

trogdor

One more thing i liked about 4e

It made EB "that thing you use when you don't want to use cooler moves"

Ben

01:42

@tzxAzrael oh wait... right.

tzxAzrael

as in, each cantrip you choose can be from different spell lists. a wizard cantrip, a cleric cantrip, a druid cantrip (mmmm, goodberry).

Ben

So it's basically saying that if you choose from the druid list, you don't have to pick the other two from the druid list

tzxAzrael

exactly.

Ben

Gotcha

tzxAzrael

speaking of Goodberry... Life Cleric with some way to add Goodberry to the list.

4hp per Berry anyone? yikes.

trogdor

01:44

I mean,.. technically you could still build a full on EB warlock in 4e, but that was possibly the most boring warlock build you could make

Ben

@tzxAzrael Spell sniper.

Lol

Miniman

@Shalvenay The problems with it are that a) with a bit of investment, it's almost as good as using Eldritch Blast, which means that even warlocks specialised in it are still better off just using Eldritch Blast, and b) warlocks aren't really built to survive in melee.

But fixing those within Pact of the Blade would make it vastly more powerful than the other pacts.

tzxAzrael

i mean yea, Spell Sniper is amazing, for offensive casters. But Life Cleric is probably not leaning in that direction, and Goodberry doesn't take an attack roll.

Ben

Also side-note, if you're interested @Miniman I was thinking of balancing the Storm Barb between the UA and Xanathar's. There are some parts of Xanathar's that were actually nerfed appropriately

trogdor

@Miniman so I other words, lots of investment for an attack which you probably only want to use when someone else closes in on you and you still want to attack without provoking OA

Ben

01:47

@tzxAzrael True

Miniman

Which brings us to the fundamental problem: anything you do to make gishing in melee a viable warlock choice is going to overshadow other warlock options. Hence why Hexblade is so wildly imbalanced.

tzxAzrael

lmfao.. well, the way my cleric describes it (Literally ramming a fistful of berries right down the dragonborn's throat....) haha maybe i -could- get away with it xD

Ben

@tzxAzrael Oh! Magic Initiate!

tzxAzrael

yep, that would definitely work.

Ben

2 cantrips, and 1 1st level spell

Miniman

01:49

@Ben I'll be interested to see what you come up with.

tzxAzrael

personally, i just spent my first level on druid, and 2nd level on cleric... and now at 13th level, it's still a viable between combat major healing spell

Ben

@tzxAzrael EAT IT! IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!

tzxAzrael

lmfao! yes exactly

cleric's an elf, so no human 1st level feat, sadly.

Ben

[Dragonborn cries, but feels better at the same time]

tzxAzrael

hang on wait

i just noticed the "birds apparently" tag

somebody needs to show me where to get these birds

Ben

01:51

I thinks that is in regards to this

Apr 16 at 12:35, by trogdor

Morning birds

nitsua60

@Ben nope

Apr 6 at 15:57, by kviiri

Follow this link to watch a beautiful live feed of a nesting couple of white-tailed eagles in Estonia. (Only available during Estonian daytime.)

tzxAzrael

...i am rather disappointed.

nitsua60

all stems from that one

tzxAzrael

hm, that is actually available 24/7 it appears.

Ben

@nitsua60 I was going to link that one... but this was also funny... and easily accessible haha

@tzxAzrael 'tis

tzxAzrael

01:52

however, at Estonian night time, black on black with black highlights and black shadows... doesn't make a very -useful- pic.

nitsua60

@tzxAzrael The feed shuts off during Estonian night for about seven hours or so.

'Round 'bout now you're looking at Estonian sunrise.

tzxAzrael

oh lol.

Ben

@tzxAzrael Morning time is around an hour away, I believe

nitsua60

(rather, pre-dawn light)

trogdor

@Ben yeah I only said that because of the bird stream

tzxAzrael

01:54

well i haven't got time for that!!! hasn't anyone got some parrots for me? ;-;

trogdor

It isn't the progenitor phrase

Ben

@trogdor Yis. I can't remember who it was that took 24 hours to realise the joke, but it was because of them that I also realised the pun

trogdor

Good guy I believe

Ben

Sounds about right :)

trogdor

I also have to admit, I now do wish me saying morning birds had spawned a tag

Ben

01:56

Haha

trogdor

It would be hilarious

XD

Ben

life-goals-achieved

trogdor

That being said, it's silly enough that I got 5 stars from it

Ben

I feel it would be a fair comparison to my "Apatite" joke

trogdor

Did that get an inordinate number of stars it shouldn't have as well? XD

Ben

02:00

Sadly no, because it was told to a friend over text haha

There is a special type of Twisties (a brand of chips/crisps here in Aus), that has a special gimmick. It turns your tongue blue when eaten.

trogdor

Oh XD

Ben

After a bit of conversation, I asked if they had tried them yet. Their response was "No, I haven't had the apatite".

My immediate response was "I didn't realise you needed any special minerals, but I suppose that explains the colour"

trogdor

@Ben oh Twisties, we have those but we don't call them anything special

Ben

trogdor

@Ben lol

@Ben yeah, it might have been you, but someone here showede that mineral before

Ben

02:04

Their response was big enough to at least equate to 3 stars haha

Probably

Miniman

@Ben Btw, are you also going to look at the Zealot? A big part of my beef with the Xanathar version of Storm Herald is that dichotomy of "relatively balanced -> nerf it into the ground" vs "overpowered -> buff it some more".

Ben

@Miniman Not for my purposes just yet.

But I am well aware of that haha.

I also need to find the usb I have my PDF's on.

Moved recently, so everything is in odd places

I unfortunately also have 3 usb's that I stole from work (so all of the same type) that have 3 completely separate uses - work, D&D, and the other is for my playstation haha

tzxAzrael

02:19

@Ben

oops

"stickers"

not only are they pretty, but also functional.

Ben

Oh yeah lol

tzxAzrael

... unless you're just a special case, and decide to use the same sticker on each of the usb's.

Ben

Nah no stickers haha

tzxAzrael

lol. a quick mark with a sharpie or whatever would also work

Ben

I am technically stealing office supplies haha

tzxAzrael

02:21

hahaha

well just make sure the business goes under then, so you can buy it all at a discount :D

Ben

So I usually just pocket it when noone's looking >.>

Hahaha

tzxAzrael

yes, this is definitely the appropriate response... bankruptcy.

trogdor

Bankruptcy is always the appropriate response

Except for most things

Ben

We're freaking out in the nest...

Over in Estonia

Never mind... false alarm it seems

tzxAzrael

20% of the time it works every time.

Ben

02:35

So... following that math... I just need to steal 25 usb's... that way the business goes into bankruptcy 5 times... meaning I can but it all for a dollar once!

Noice

trogdor

Somehow I think that reduces your chances for some Reason, can't imagine why

Ben

02:49

Oh daaaaayyyyum

Wild Magic Surge is... kinda epic

> A surge can happen once per turn. If a surge effect is a spell, it’s too wild to be affected by Metamagic. If it normally requires concentration, it doesn’t require concentration in this case; the spell lasts for its full duration.

(Errata)

tzxAzrael

yep. it can be really amazing, like making your sorcerer turn blue for a while

or it can be really amazing... in other ways... like making your sorcerer drop a full-scale fireball on himself, and probably catching the rest of the party in it as well.

Ben

@tzxAzrael I have a friend (whom is also going to be running the first few games in our new group) that absolutely LOVES the Perils of the Warp table in Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader.

So having a Wild Magic Sorcerer should be fun for him

tzxAzrael

lmao

i can see that.

Ben

Fortunately in D&D the Wild Magic surge isn't quite so lethal

In our Dark Heresy game, the Psyker would continuously surge, causing massive EMPs. And who was always standing within 3 feet of her, every single time??

The Techpriest.

(I was the Techpriest) lol

Miniman

@Ben It's an archetype a lot of people get excited about, but they generally find the 5e implementation...disappointing.

trogdor

03:04

Lol

Ben

@Miniman In what way?

I just like that chaos of it all

trogdor

@Ben (it's ok, it happens to all of us sometimes)

XD

Miniman

@Ben That's the problem. It's entirely up to the DM how often surges happen, and even if they opt for "as often as possible" they're still pretty rare. And the actual things that can happen as a result of a surge just don't have much impact on play outside of a few specific ones.

And fireballing your own party is TPK at low levels, meaningless at higher levels.

D&D doesn't really do "interesting randomness" well.

Ben

Ahh right

BESW

Hmm. I wonder if 13th Age has some mechanics that'd be easy to port in.

Ben

03:12

Just re-read it. I thought it was just "whenever you rolled a 1 when casting a spell"

Still pretty rare though

That is the point though

You don't want it to be all the time

BESW

...The Chaos Mage is definitely overkill.

But I kinda like the sorcerer's "chaotic benefit" feature.

trogdor

@BESW I feel like people could just play 13th Age

XD

Miniman

@Ben Problem is, people want to be Questor Thews, not a standard sorcerer who occasionally turns blue/speaks in bubbles/etc.

BESW

The Sorcerer in 13th Age has the option to spend a standard action gathering power, which can be used to maximize the damage dealt by the spell they cast the next turn.

Ben

@Miniman Yeah true. Might be more fun to use the Dark Heresy Perils table then haha

BESW

03:17

But because it's boring and sad to not have anything happen for a whole turn, gathering power also creates a random minor effect like a bonus to a defense or dealing a little damage to nearby enemies.

Sorcerers also get stuff like spells with the chain keyword: attack one target, and if your d20 was even for the attack, attack a second target. Repeat until you get an odd roll or run out of targets.

trogdor

@BESW stop making me want to play more 13th Age

:P

BESW

I've still got Learned Theon sitting around cackling madly and gathering dust.

Ben

Would the Perils table from DH be too much?

BESW

Draco/Hermione is certainly the most perilous of 'ships.

trogdor

Lol

Ben

03:22

@BESW Took me a second haha

trogdor

I'm actually not surprised that ship exits, but I don't know how popular it is

Ben

exists*

Don't worry, I got ya :P

Perils of the Warp

Some of them would have to be swapped out, cos obviously there is no such thing as "insanity" in 5e

trogdor

@Ben lol I didn't even notice

Ben

Cos technically there was nothing wrong haha

I rue the day when Auto-correct gains grammar powers

"Did you mean 'whom'?"

BESW

For anybody trying to understand Learned Alexander Theon, the Occultist is a high-bookkeeping class where you use your standard action to gain focus (just stand there looking bored), and most of your spells require you to expend that focus--but they're spells that happen on other peoples' turns, triggered by some particular thing happening.

Ben

03:28

@BESW You lost me at "bookkeeping"

BESW

So you stand around cleaning your nails in the middle of the fight, but your friends' attacks are hitting more accurately and enemies are tripping and falling over nothing.

Ben

"Helping!"

That does sound hilarious

BESW

@Ben Yeah, I realized he was waaay too much for my first time playing the system, so I made Fen Lorn the Free and played him instead.

Paladins are much easier. They use basic attacks, and have a handful of "I do a thing!" riders they can add to the attacks, or can use in response to stuff happening.

Ben

@BESW Nice

I am liking this Perils of the warp/Wild Magic mash-up.

Good and bad... any time you roll a 1 on an action that could cause a wild-surge...

Makes it a bit more often... and a bit more chaos

Or Chaos, I should say

BESW

I think there's a 13th Age bard thing where something is triggered if your unmodified d20 attack roll is even or odd when the escalation die is also the same quality.

Ben

03:36

Question

BESW

Answer.

Ben

What CR is the Wild magic surges levelled?

BESW

I want a game of D&D&D. Dungeons and Dragons and Dogs.

Tweeted by kateikab00m on April 22, 2018 at 8:00 PM

Ben

Eg. the "fireball your whole party" surge is a bit high for 1st level

BESW

I suspect that's part of the point? D&D has a history of considering "It's random, you could get something weak" to be good balance against "It's random, you could all just die."

Does 5e have randomized scroll tables?

Ben

03:39

@BESW Not sure.

BESW

'cause that's what I used in 3.5 for more balanced chaos effects: Roll on the scroll loot-drop tables for a spell of the appropriate level and have that be the effect.

Ben

I'm just trying to get a scope of the CR because I'm getting to this mash-up. The problem is that for example, there is one Peril that deals d10+5 damage to the Caster. At level 1, a Sorc has 6+con Hit Points

d10+5 would destroy them.

BESW

If you can't handle the chaos, get out of the... contract?

Ben

@BESW Well, in that case depending on how strong you are now either a Daemon Prince, under full control of the Chaos Gods, or a pile of exploded gore

Lol

trogdor

It's hard for me to understand how the WH40k universe isn't just empty space filled with smoking rubble and horrible demon monsters

Ben

03:49

The other confusing detail is that D&D has 50 effects, and DH only has 20

@trogdor That is what it is. Lol

trogdor

@Ben except everyone isn't dead yet

BESW

@trogdor I assume because the Orks don't believe in that.

trogdor

For inexplicable reasons

@BESW XD

Ben

@trogdor Well, when your soldiers have 3 of every organ, spit acid and drink blood to regenerate...

trogdor

Honestly the Orks are the least scary horrible things in it

And yes I am aware they can do some pretty weird stuff

Shalvenay

03:52

hands @Ben an Ork plushie

trogdor

@Ben ok XD

I think that helps

Shalvenay

@Ben save for triple-redundant organs, that sounds a little like Nadarr XD

Ben

@Shalvenay Oh no the extra organs are back up

BESW

Shalvenay

@Ben that's what the "triple redundant" means :D

Ben

03:53

Took a round of bullets? Dang they got my lung, heart, and stomach. Don't worry though! I still have spares! CHAAARGE

@Shalvenay Ah yes. Touche. I was thinking you meant from the other direction haha

Shalvenay

(Nadarr, btw, is Trog's acid-spitting Dragonborn paladin from the Stackizen ToA game :)

trogdor

@Ben "barfes out extra organs as backup troops"

Ben

@trogdor [Lung picks up a chainsword, leads the charge]

trogdor

Exactly

Ben

04:14

So maybe if I make all damage deal the same as the sorc's hit die x spell slot level? Eg, the surge deals 2d6 damage to the sorc, after casting a spell at 2nd level?

BESW

04:26

To what end?

Ben

Ok, so my overall idea was to create a wild surge table that is a little more chaotic, and edgy that "Your Sorcerer is now blue and talks in bubbles".

The Perils of the Warp table definitely provides that functionality, causing damage, status effects, and other such things to random targets, including the caster

However, the damage is pretty extreme, since the HP system for Dark Heresy is very different.

They use "Wounds" instead of HP.

The way wounds work is that if you take enough damage to surpass your armour values, you lose a wound. regardless of how high that damage is (I believe, don't quote me on that). So d10+5, might not even cause any damage.

In D&D however, that's a different story/

Ben

04:43

I have also been told that there are themed ones available

Ben

06:32

[Investigating printer issue]

[Intermittently breaking randomly]

[Investigate spooler, network connection, drivers... no issue]

[Check updates - turned off on server...]

[Run a check... 143 important updates]

I might have found the issue...

BESW

Your printer gets updates? Fancy.

Ben

Well... something weird is going on. I daresay it's because I have it connected via Ethernet cable, and then shared over the network... that'd likely be causing some funny issues

Magician

@Ben A networked printer misbehaving? In my expert opinion, it's best to torch it and start over.

BESW

My printer is 13 years old, and only talks to my computer because I'm using an off-label driver.

Ben

@Magician Funny, that's what the other guy said

Magician

06:40

Probably also an expert, then.

Ben

How to fix the thing:
Step 1 - delete all standard issue software.
Step 2 - Download this software that actually works

Magician

Universal troubleshooting guide:
1 - Turn it off and on again.
2 - clean install everything.
3 - dynamite

2

BESW

It still freaks out if there's a paper jam or it runs out of paper mid-job, with about a 20% chance of forgetting the old job until a week later and then finishing printing it when I start up the machine to print something new.

Ben

I saw a Pie chart once, of how to fix a pc issue. about 80% of it was "Turn it off and on again", 15% was "Weird IT voodoo", and 5% was "A quick google search"

BESW

Ben

06:46

I would have to disagree.
90% of all issues are resolved by the IT tech simply observing you reproduce the error.

BESW

07:02

I suspect it was from the POV of the IT tech.

From the POV of the end user, it's all Weird IT voodoo.

trogdor

07:36

@Magician best troubleshoot guide yep

BESW

> Making an entrance. You've got a compulsive flair for the dramatic and are incapable of making a quiet entrance. Every time you enter a room, you get the boost All eyes on me.

Magician

> Third time's the dynamite charm. If you've attempted something and failed twice already, you get +2 to further attempts as long as they would leave it a smoldering ruin afterwards.

Tiggerous