TRPG General Chat

nitsua60

02:01

@DavidCoffron You can do that--keep a list of things you want to bounty somewhere and when you sense rep-cap coming, give out a bounty =)

(It's a risky game if you're shooting for epic status, though. Or even legendary.)

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 how do you quote text that's been altered by an errata document?

because normally, if there's a typo or thinko in something you're quoting, you do the whole (sic) thing in line, but do you incorporate the change from the published errata instead when an erratum has been issued to correct the typo/thinko?

nitsua60

@Shalvenay me, personally, or what's "the rule"?

(Because I can answer one, but not the other.)

(And now that I think of it, I believe @Anaphory brought this up a year or two ago: they were going to present something at a conference and needed to cite the incorrect version of something.... Am I crazy?)

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 I was hoping to know what "the rule" is although this is only for a Stack post :)

nitsua60

Nope, I'm misremembering:

Oct 22 '16 at 15:35, by Anaphory

Is there an accepted way to denote in a quote that a specific place does not contain a specific word?

Oct 22 '16 at 15:37, by Anaphory

I have a quote where someone, without giving the original, changes a definition from “A language is a system of arbitrary sound symbols” to “system of arbitrary symbols”, and I think my audience doesn't know the original definition, is there a convention to mark the difference?

So it's close, but not quite.

@Shalvenay For me it's going to depend on why I'm quoting that passage. If I'm trying to get the current ruling I'll incorporate the erratum into the quotation and cite it (PHB p.1, erratum applied) or something like that. On the other hand, if it's the fact that there was an incorrect version of it that matters, it's the "bad" text quoted and cited as (PHB p.1, before errata).

Whatever takes the least space and honestly directs the reader's eyes to what you're looking at, basically.

David Coffron

02:18

@nitsua60 That doesn't work, I did that yesterday (incidentally) and it just took the 200 away and still prevented me from getting new rep for the rest of the day

nitsua60

@DavidCoffron You should have still gotten rep from upvotes, but you won't get notifications until the rep-after-bounty-subtracted "fills the hole," so to say.

Check your /reputation list?

Hi @JodySimon, and welcome to the RPG lair =)

David Coffron

@nitsua60 It says: > "-- 2018-04-26 rep 0 = 11383 " but I got to the cap issued bounty and then would've reached 200 again from upvotes

HellSaint

How is the God Wizard question not too broad?

nitsua60

@DavidCoffron do you mind copying in the whole day's bit of the list?

@HellSaint link?

HellSaint

6

Q: Optimizing a Wizard that does no direct damage in D&D 5e

I've thought of building a wizard who emphasizes supporting the team instead of just picking all the spells that do damage. And I want to take that a step further: no direct damage. Flavor-wise, he is an elderly character that loathes hurt and suffering. He leaves combat for the young-uns and un...

you are on the comments @nitsua60 :P

nitsua60

02:22

@HellSaint I read a lot, write too much, and remember little =)

David Coffron

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HellSaint

I mean the question is literally asking for an extensive list of spells, with explanations on why each one is good

nitsua60

@DavidCoffron So I see 200, a bunch of "lost" rep, the 15 for an accept, more "lost" rep... but no bounty award? A rep-event for a bounty would have an 8 in the first column (I believe), the post ID in the second column, and (-100) or whatever in the third.

David Coffron

@nitsua60 Is this different for some reason?

nitsua60

@DavidCoffron Maybe? I think that reputation tab in the profile is known to have some little gaps and creases around how it groups things, responds to undeletion, maybe a few other unusual interactions? But I'm getting beyond my depth--this may be worth poking around meta.SE to see some of the documentation on how the various presentations of rep are handled.

@HellSaint Oh, geez... from over a year ago =P

HellSaint

02:31

Yeap

But @KorvinStarmast editted it and ress'd it

nitsua60

Okay, it was closed as too broad over a year ago, and reopened 7 hours ago by 5 users.

HellSaint

Honestly, I don't see how he could get any better than Treatmonk's guide.

nitsua60

Might be worth taking to meta....

HellSaint

Also, if you take away every spell that does damage, you barely have anything to "Optimize", so it becomes more like a question of listing every spell that doesn't do damage and saying which one is better than others and why, which is... a guide

nitsua60

(crafting now)

nitsua60

02:45

(done)

The Oracle

0

Q: Wizard God: too broad?

Consider Optimizing a Wizard that does no direct damage in D&D 5e: asked thirteen months ago, closed as "too broad" that day by 5 users, some commentary prompted OP to specify criteria, still on the same day, reopened by five different users after those ^^ edits, closed two hours later by a dia...

discussion closed-questions

DuckTapeAl

05:58

I am SO EXCITED about this: stackoverflow.blog/2018/04/26/…

I've been banging that drum for years, and I'm really happy that some people up the chain are devoting resources to figure out how to solve it.

BESW

06:31

@DuckTapeAl Agreed! Though I hope they know they need to do more than what they've outlined.

DuckTapeAl

Yeah.

BESW

23 hours ago, by BESW

I don't get the impression any of them are very familiar with the ethics of programming, and they don't have experience with the struggles of the people they're now trying to support. The solution to both of these problems is that they need to bring in experts with training and experience in those areas.

DuckTapeAl

Yes, exactly.

I'm a little worried by the line in the article where they're apparently only putting existing SE employees on the problem, which doesn't seem like it's going to be terribly effective.

But I have some hope that they're also bringing on some outside voices, at least in a consulting basis.

BESW

I'm concerned that they think a Google Doc survey is sufficient.

DuckTapeAl

...isn't the survey just to set up a longer chat?

Am I reading that wrong?

BESW

06:42

I hope that's the case.

SmokeDetector

07:16

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad NS for domain in title, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, blacklisted website in title: womenshealthclaimed.com/vita-x-forskolin/ by sanaashaymakhouri on rpg.SE

BESW

Hey, all you people streaming/recording/podcasting your MotW games! I'd like to put a page up pointing people at your sites... please DM me if you'd like to be included (and tell me where to link to). Thanks!

Tweeted by MotW_rpg on April 28, 2018 at 12:34 AM

Inspired by @ActionEconomy, I hosted a chat with @CommutingCrow in which we go back to the very early design ideas for Blades in the Dark and discuss the dead-ends and struggles that lead to the final form of the game. https://youtu.be/DlGyUKlXVbY

Tweeted by john_harper on April 27, 2018 at 9:17 PM

Here's more info on my #dungeonsanddoggies project! #DnD dogs for any campaign, as intelligent animals (NON anthropomorphic). Minis! Rules! Items! Adventure! Dog Charity Donations! Collaboration with @April_Prime and @dndoggos ! More info, dogs and release schedule soon!

Tweeted by russ_charles on April 27, 2018 at 11:23 AM in reply to russ_charles

SmokeDetector

10:43

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad NS for domain in title, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, blacklisted website in title: healthpurelives.com/vita-x-forskolin/ by malihamaysanshalhoub on rpg.SE

Shalvenay

14:25

hey there @SimonH.

Simon H.

hello, @shalvenay

chick is exposed in eagle cam

nitsua60

get it some clothes!

(he he he)

Simon H.

it's quite the adorable little raptor

Simon H.

14:43

local eagle yells at cloud (circa 2018)

WAIT WHAT WAS THAT

something furry just climbed over the camera!!

oh wait it's just the dad, false alarm

nitsua60

Today in unusual governmental practices: "the president out-girths the vice president by more than seven feet."

That's all I'm giving you. If that's not a successful tease, I've got to retire my linking habits.

kviiri

Wow

nitsua60

It is a nice seed of an idea for a druidic conclave, though =)

Rubiksmoose

15:45

@nitsua60 was 100% not expecting that context at all lol.

PhiNotPi

I have a D&D session tonight and am trying to brainstorm some stuff. Plot summary of all the relevant details: Party is attempting to locate powerful artifacts. There was an "evil cult" which was also seeking these artifacts in an attempt to overthrow a country's government. Party defeated cult except for one cult member who was in a different country trying to locate an artifact. Party is about to arrive in that other country. Party also knows that this cult member has been reported dead.

Obviously, where I want to go with this plot, is that the bad guy they are after was killed by an even bigger badder guy. But I need to work out the details of who/what that would be.

Party is five level-7 characters.

David Coffron

16:29

@PhiNotPi first of all, I agree phi is way better than pi.

As for your story question, there are a number of ways you can take this. How much magic is in your setting? What races are prevalent (who are the big bad races)? What are the specifics of the cult?

Mike Q

@PhiNotPi @PhiNotPi Why does there need to be a bigger bad?

If I was writing this, I'd consider turning the last remaining cult member into the new campaign antagonist

They want revenge against the party for killing their fellow cult-mates. So they've faked their own death, and they're going to make a new cult.

PhiNotPi

As for the style of this campaign, there is supposed to be a rapid and continuous escalation of the stakes. It's a super-fast-leveling campaign. The party started out small (fighting normal crime) but are eventually going to fighting in an epic war LOTR-style.

It doesn't really matter whether this other cult member is dead or alive, but in the end he simply isn't the biggest baddest guy.

David Coffron

Or the corrupt church wiped out the cult leader but isn't much better than the cult (inquisition style) so your party needs to get the artifacts from the heads of a powerul church

Mike Q

From experience as both DM and player, I suggest the whole "There's actually a bigger villain" twist should be used sparingly

David Coffron

Then a demon has been controlling the heads of the chirch (your next big bad)

And you can go from there

PhiNotPi

16:42

The party already knows the identity of the biggest villain, they just aren't powerful enough to fight him directly right now. They are collecting these artifacts to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, and there's lots of wrong hands out there.

David Coffron

@MikeQ you don't have to play it off that way every time. Having a new threat that happens to be bigger isn't the same as a secret bigger villain

Mike Q

@DavidCoffron Right. If the bigger bad has already been established, then it's not a silly twist. It will seem organic.

@PhiNotPi Is there any reason that the biggest villain can't be responsible (either directly or indirectly) for killing the remaining cultist?

PhiNotPi

@MikeQ No. I think my options are (1) cult member killed by someone serving the biggest guy, or (2) cult member was serving the biggest guy (probably a little indirectly) and faked his own death.

Mike Q

I vote #2

It is entirely possible (and arguably more efficient) to have massive stakes without a massive number of named characters

PhiNotPi

I'm tempted to go with option 2 because I think it flows better... the biggest guy would initially support the cult because collecting artifacts / overthrowing cities is also what he wants, but in the end he would abandon the cult in order to get hold of those artifacts himself / take over the city himself.

Mike Q

16:54

@PhiNotPi That could work. Big bad effectively hires the cult to gather the artifacts. Once they've done that, he doesn't need the cultists anymore.

PhiNotPi

Hmm... now I would to figure out how exactly I would guide the party into getting that artifact (referring to the one this particular cult member was seeking, the party has already collected a couple). If said cultist had died, then it would have been that the body was recovered and they can somehow track down where he had been mortally wounded, and then defeat the monsters successfully and get the artifact.

Mike Q

17:09

Right. Big bad sent his agents/monsters to kill the cultist and get their artifact. Now the players have to intercept the agents before they reach the big bad. Makes sense.

And if the cultist faked their death, then... maybe the cultist expects the players to come after his "corpse", and the players are walking into a trap?

PhiNotPi

Hmm... there's one problem, which is that this cultist left to go find the artifact before the players defeated the cult (otherwise, the party would've already killed him in the process of killing all the others). So there's no way this cultist would know about the party ahead of time. Unless there was some kind of other person/mechanism capable of alerting him, but that would seem like a weird twist.

Mike Q

What about magic?

PhiNotPi

(If I haven't mentioned, this is D&D 5e). There could've been sending stones or something. Maybe the players would be able to figure that this character was supposed to have a sending stone so then would be able to anticipate that he could've known about the demise of his fellow cult members. Basically making an ambush at least reasonable and not a totally out-of-the-blue thing with no justification.

But I wonder if there's another way to do this...

David Coffron

17:29

@PhiNotPi scrying?

PhiNotPi

17:53

Slightly different question: would it be feasible/believable for this cultist to be some sort of entity capable of possessing people? Envisioning a twist in that "faking death" = "possessed body died"

David Coffron

@PhiNotPi have you seen the spell magic jar?

Mike Q

@PhiNotPi Sure? From what you've said so far, that seems possible.

PhiNotPi

@DavidCoffron That was what I was thinking of.

Rubiksmoose

Man, it feels so futile to edit bad (logic-wise) and illegible answers into legible forms. But I can't not do it.

David Coffron

@Rubiksmoose Sorry about my missed parenthesis :P

Rubiksmoose

18:01

@DavidCoffron missed parenths?! I can't read this garbage. :P

fwiw I was talking about this answer rpg.stackexchange.com/a/121524/28591

It still needs a lot of work, but at least it is readable now. If anyone is really bored and wants to fix it up the rest of the way, be my guest.

David Coffron

Oh my

PhiNotPi

@MikeQ Not sure if it's a twist worth adding... I do like ramping up the magic, and it could set the stage for some shenanigans later on (there's some things I think would be funny if they were actually magic jars). Pretty sure I told the party that the body had been found, so the "normal" solution is that he just disguised some other body, but the "cool" solution involves possession. Doesn't actually matter.

BESW

20:23

@PhiNotPi The cultist himself got leveled up by the artifact or whatever was protecting it (mutated/possessed?), and his newfound power has let him gather a new cult of minions to help whatever dastardly deed he's decided is his new goal.

The rumors that he's dead say he was killed by... himself, because his new form isn't immediately recognizable as him.

PhiNotPi

20:34

Thanks people for your suggestions... it's nice to hear other people's ideas, although it can be kinda hard since I can't really explain the full plot without taking up too much space/time.

My overarching plot is probably gonna be that of a "good" god of death (one representing order, progress, innovation, etc.) vs. an evil god of death (tyranny and suffering, etc.). By "god of death" I mean they deal mainly with necromancy and are capable of creating liches/etc. to further their goals.

Players are serving the good god, who created the artifacts and is guiding them to collect them. Biggest bad guy is serving evil god.

Shalvenay

20:53

hey there @PhiNotPi

PhiNotPi

hi

Shalvenay

how're things going?

PhiNotPi

I'm alive

Shalvenay

OK here

PhiNotPi

My school semester is almost over... have finals Thursday and Friday

Shalvenay

22:06

hey there @Zachiel

Zachiel

Hey

PhiNotPi

Right now I'm writing some epic poems for my campaign. I find that having some solid quotes/inscriptions really bumps up the quality of the story. Find an ancient relic? Better have something nice written on it.

Shalvenay

22:22

@Zachiel how're things going? how goes the PC quest for that matter?

DuckTapeAl

23:31

@Shalvenay Hey! How's it going?

Shalvenay

@DuckTapeAl alright here, as for you? sure has been a while since we've seen you around these parts

DuckTapeAl

Yeah, it's been a while. I've been busy, and I've changed jobs a few times in the recent past, which makes me less likely to hang out in chat.

I'm working for a company now that makes an app that lets you notarize documents online.

Shalvenay

ah, interesting. how've things been otherwise? I've been alright myself

DuckTapeAl

Mostly okay. I'm trying to start up a new game at my current work, but it's been going slowly.

I'm looking now to try and find a good system for a Mass Effect game.

What have you been playing lately?

Shalvenay

on and off in the two 5e games, otherwise nothing else, scheduling has been a real :/

(said 5e games would be Nits' Tomb of Annihilation game and the RL game I'm in)

DuckTapeAl

23:47

Cool.

I hear that about scheduling.

My Elder Scrolls game ended much sooner than I wanted it to because we just couldn't get together often enough, and I was starting a job that would make getting to the game much harder.

It was an every-two-weeks game, and by the end we had played 2 games in the last 3 months.

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