TRPG General Chat

Miniman

00:38

@kviiri Especially since their implementation of the Favored Soul is one if the laziest, most fluff-has-nothing-to-do-with-mechanics, imbalanced classes they've come up with.

Uh...let's give the sorcerer access to the cleric spell list and call it done, yeah? Yeah, sounds good.

BESW

Flavored Soul is when you get Cheeto dust in the little bit of facial hair under your lip, right?

Miniman

Gross.

Not the Cheeto dust, obviously.

David Coffron

00:57

Is there a way to filter out certain tags?

BESW

Yes! It's in your profile settings. Let me get some screenshots.

In your profile, there's an "edit" section:

Scroll down to "Preferences" and click on that.

And that's where you can control your favorite (highlighted) and ignored (faded or hidden) tags:

(As you can see, asterisks work as wildcards.)

David Coffron

01:32

@BESW Thanks so much!

BESW

Hope it helps!

David Coffron

Unfortunately it doesn't work when searching, but you can just do -[tag] so I figured it out

Mike Q

01:48

Hypothetical scenario: New user comes along, asks "What version of dnd am I playing" and lists some features that seem to narrow down the options. They're unable to add a game version tag, because they don't know. How do we respond?

nitsua60

02:00

@MikeQ When you say features, you mean from gameplay? Like "I wrote down the Cooper nonweapon profiiency" or "everyone's weapon did d6 damage"?

Mike Q

Could be from gameplay, could be from stuff they see on their character sheets

But for this example, assume it's enough detail that you could use deduce which version they're playing

BESW

If the question is "what game am I playing?" that's a product-identification question.

Miniman

@MikeQ It's a very specific question that has a single answer. It's 100% on-topic.

BESW

So they tag it like that, and the answers tell them what game they're playing.

No need for a system tag because it's not that kind of question.

Mike Q

Okay, bad example then... I guess I'm trying to poke out our tagging policy in case of scenarios where the asker doesn't know what version they're playing

For a lot of new players, D&D 5e is simply presented as "Dungeons and Dragons" and they're not really aware of prior versions

Miniman

02:07

I've yet to see a case where an asker was unable to figure out the version they were playing, once they were asked the question.

SirTechSpec

Hey gang, what's up?

Mike Q

Up (2009 film)

Up is a 2009 American 3D computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Pete Docter, the film centers on an elderly widower named Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) and an earnest boy named Russell (Jordan Nagai). By tying thousands of balloons to his house, Carl sets out to fulfill his dream to see the wilds of South America and complete a promise made to his late wife, Ellie. The film was co-directed by Bob Peterson, with music composed by Michael Giacchino. Docter began working on the story in 2004, which was based...

Shalvenay

hey there @SirTechSpec, how're things going?

SirTechSpec

@MikeQ Thanks, much appreciated.

BESW

@MikeQ What Mini said. Cross that bridge when we come to it; depending on the specific circumstance we can help them in comments or they can post a separate product ID question, or something else which makes sense in context.

But most of the time they just go "Oh, I'll ask my GM," and bam it's sorted.

I remember one case where they commented with a picture of their PHB cover, which worked nicely.

Mike Q

02:15

I realize there's nothing really harmful about closing questions that lack a version tag (because it promotes good tagging practice), but I thought it was only necessary if the community can't determine it from the question context

BESW

No, the community should not guess about versions.

22

Q: What to do when an edit guesses the system being used rather than waiting for the querent to clarify?

When the question does not specify a system, but an educated guess can be made, other users often edit the tags themselves without waiting for the querent to confirm the system they are interested in. Is this appropriate? If not then is it OK to roll-back the edit and comment? At what point is ...

SirTechSpec

@Shalvenay Better than they have in a long time (coming off a pretty catastrophic bout with depression), but a long way from nominal status yet.

Mike Q

@BESW Alright, if the policy considers any attempt to determine the system as an educated guess, then so be it. I'll stop poking the issue.

Shalvenay

@SirTechSpec ah, keep at it man, that stuff's rough. hopefully we'll see more of you in the not-so-distant future? and I'm doing fine here

BESW

@MikeQ I feel like you've got a specific situation that you're trying to find a general rule for, but it works the other way around.

Shalvenay

02:18

@MikeQ yeah, it's possible to get cross-version mashups in D&D (we had one particularly infamous question that was tagged for 3.0 and 3.5 not because the querent couldn't figure it out, but because the question originated in a game that was running on a mix of 3.0 and 3.5 rules, which does happen)

Mike Q

@BESW There have been multiple occasions where someone will VTC a question for not having a version tag, I'll post a comment like "It has to be 5e because they mentioned X, Y, and Z", and then someone responds with a link to a meta question

SirTechSpec

@Shalvenay Thanks. Yeah, hoping to be contributing more - RPGSE used to be one of my main activities, and I'm hoping that hanging out here will get me more inspired to work on the campaign I'm running, which has definitely flagged of late.

BESW

@MikeQ Read the meta? It talks about the benefits of having new users learn to specify and tag properly early, with some hand-holding, rather than teaching them that other people will do all that work for them.

(And also mentions the edge cases where what's obviously true turns out to not be, because RPGs in the wild are weird.)

SirTechSpec

@MikeQ That used to bug me too, but recently I've been thinking of it as a quick test of engagement. If you ask what game someone's playing and they don't respond by either tagging or asking for more help finding it, they're not going to help workshop their own question in other ways either.

BESW

We get enough problems from users who answer lady-blackbird questions with D&D assumptions already.

Mike Q

02:25

I guess I was under the impression that editing is foremost the community's job, rather than the individual's job... although I guess you're right, we don't want to encourage bad quality either (and yes I have read the meta discussions, I just don't necessarily agree with all of them)

SirTechSpec

Speaking of games that aren't DND... Any advice for a first-time FATE player? I've done a little bit of story-type RPGs (Microscope, Everyone is John, etc.), but I suspect I'll be bringing a lot of GURPS and DND baggage with me.

BESW

Free and open conversation between participants is crucial.

Fate only works if everybody's on the same page, because it's designed to support a shared understanding of the setting and the kind of story you're telling.

If there's significant confusion over what kind of story you're telling, or what the setting is like, Fate can't help.

nitsua60

@BESW Remember that DitV question that got answered with d20 maths, like, nine times? I do =\

BESW

@nitsua60 And the lovecraftesque question that got answered by people who thought it was a genre tag, not a system tag?

nitsua60

That's, at least, understandable: "lovecraftesque" is a genre-signifying word out in the world, though a term of art here. "Dogs in the Vineyard" isn't a classic D&D campaign style I know about =)

Mike Q

02:44

@Shalvenay So how goes the game you're running?

SirTechSpec

@BESW Thanks. We definitely have a shared understanding of the setting (Weird West), but I'm not quite as confident re: the type of game (Mystery? Horror? Adventure?) and it might change as we switch GMs from week to week :/

BESW

Ah, yes. So that'd be something to make explicit, then.

Shalvenay

@MikeQ stalled, completely :/

Mike Q

03:00

@Shalvenay Scheduling conflicts and such?

Shalvenay

@MikeQ unavailability of other players, yeah

Mike Q

@Shalvenay Same here. On the bright side, it means more time to prepare content!

BESW

06:14

> The classic spy twist. Once per adventure you can reveal something about the situation is completely different from how it's appeared up until that point.

Magician

> Jumping the shark. Once per adventure you can declare something ridiculous happens. This "super invoke" doesn't work unless at least one player at the table laughs and/or facepalms.

BESW

> Ripping off the beard. Once per adventure you can reveal a relationship to be a partnership of convenience.

Duck

06:33

So I was just reading a question that several people have talked about being too broad, and the asker reworded it some but I still find the question to be incredibly broad. Should I just leave it be and let the people who were talking about it 4 days ago worry about it, or should I flag it for still being too broad?

BESW

If you think it needs a flag, flag it.

Duck

ok

KorvinStarmast

12:34

rpg.stackexchange.com/q/122457/22566 could use a reopen vote

KorvinStarmast

12:47

@doppelgreener good morning, I hope your Mother's Day is going well. (Not sure if where you live that's today ...) I took my daughter to airport at 0500 local here, leaving mom to sleep. :) On the way home I got fresh flowers. so at least it's starting well.

doppelgreener

it's not where i live here, but it is where my mother lives :)

that sounds lovely. :D

trogdor

@doppelgreener oh man, didn't even think of that

separate time zones are weird once again

doppelgreener

they are!

it's may 13th in australia, but march 31st in the UK

trogdor

wait what?

that is way more than just timezone isn't it? it's a separated calendar

doppelgreener

yeah, it's a matter of different nations picking a different date for these things

they are arbitrary

KorvinStarmast

13:01

@doppelgreener I think I found the homebrew in question.

doppelgreener

@KorvinStarmast Cool! Let's check with them if that's the one.

I've edited your comment to link to that page. :)

oh, you posted a new one :P

KorvinStarmast

Heh, I am hoping I guessed correctly, but I also point out that there are some other homebrews, so we need that to be clarified.

And I added the homebrew tag.

doppelgreener

Right, it's also vaguely possible they're using another version of that homebrew.

trogdor

@doppelgreener that is fair

KorvinStarmast

I keyed on "ethereal" and the spell and those are the two most promising. I need to stop, and wait for a reply to the comment.

At this point, I am tending toward the "beast between" but I am not sure.

My answer works either way.

And now I clean up kitchen before the Missus awakens. Be well, all.

doppelgreener

13:19

@KorvinStarmast ttfn!

Shalvenay

14:32

hey there @KorvinStarmast

KorvinStarmast

@Shalvenay hullo. how are you?

Shalvenay

doing fine here, as for you?

KorvinStarmast

@Shalvenay Taking it slow, mothers day, and we had a big day yesterday. Son grad from college.

I am also messing about with macros on a roll20 sheet, seeing what I want it to do.

Shalvenay

ah

KorvinStarmast

Had a game on thur with brother and friends, and my life cleric got to level 3. So I have to choose lvl 2 spells and consider which to have prepared as standard ... in case anyone else plays my char

David Coffron

14:47

@KorvinStarmast Spiritual Weapon is amazing (but I think aalways prepared for Life Clerics?)

KorvinStarmast

@DavidCoffron Yes, it allows some great tactical choices, and does damage to critters that are immune to mundane ...

David Coffron

What kind of cleric are you playing? Support or blaster?

Also, is it mostly a combat campaign? Because cleric gets some really good utility spells (augury, enhance ability) if there are other types of challenges

KorvinStarmast

@DavidCoffron We have had very little combat so far. As much solving problems and puzzles as anything else

brother is not up for XGTE spells, so I restrict to PHB

David Coffron

There are no level 2 cleric spells in XGtE anyway xD

KorvinStarmast

yeah, but there is a new level 1 spell, and new cantrips

David Coffron

14:55

New level 1 spell?

KorvinStarmast

ceremony

David Coffron

You prepare 3 + WIS spells of any level. I suggest 2 or 3 level 2 and 3 or 4 level 1 spells

KorvinStarmast

As I am the only spellcaster, I will probably keep det magic prepared (it's a ritual) ... still pondering.

afk

David Coffron

If it were me, I'd do Hold Person, Augury, Guiding Bolt, Sanctuary, Detect Magic, and Enhance Ability. There are some other very useful spells (Zone of Truth/Find Traps/Protection from Evil and Good/Calm Emotions) that I would prepare instead of Enhance Ability or Sanctuary if the scenario warranted.

Oh and locate object. That one is another situational

[If it's a very tough campaign, take Gentle Repose over Augury maybe]

KorvinStarmast

15:27

@DavidCoffron Augury I won't be taking; the divination spells are wonky and quirky. Enhance probably will take as it helps an ally.

The down side is that it's concentration, and bless is such a good spell that is for me (Life) always prepared.

David Coffron

16:05

@KorvinStarmast True. Augury was REALLY good in my campaign because I hada DM that did it well. They can be hit and miss

KorvinStarmast

@DavidCoffron Then again, we are doing a lot of exploring, finding out about the world, it might be worth using sometimes. I like Aid a lot. But that's based on " we expect to fight."

David Coffron

I always found aid mediocre at early levels. 10 HP is only about 1 extra attack survival. Usually doesn't make the difference in an encounter

And once 1 character falls the encounter balance swings a lot

Szega

16:21

Aid has a range over touch and can get multiple allies back to consciousness.

Can save your bacon after a nasty AoE

Yannick MG

With the limited spellcasting of low levels it feels to me like you're almost better off letting your teammates go down and getting them back up, rather than trying to prevent from going down in the first place.

KorvinStarmast

@YannickMG Depends on the situation. If they don't go down, they keep attacking so fight ends sooner. There is no "one sized fits all" way to approach this, and everything is a bit swingy at low levels.

Yannick MG

@KorvinStarmast For sure. I suppose even initiative order has a lot to do with the decision in any given encounter. If the healer plays after the monsters but before the fighter stopping the fighter from going down isn't as important.

Zachiel

17:27

Hahahaha you know about how I was in anguish for an in-character tournament? Well, chance is that I won't take part in it because I forgot to tell the organizers I wanted to be in. LoL.

Shalvenay

18:12

hey there @Anaphory and @Powerdork

Anaphory

Hi from Denmark!

nwp

22:53

vaugelyanime.tumblr.com/post/173869489442

Ben

23:18

Hello all!

Been a long week :)

Mike Q

It sure has been. What's new in your universe?

Ben

I've been to Sydney and back, lost my laptop in Central Station, and by the good graces of the gods, the kindest soul handed it back in to lost and found, and I was reunited with it the next day.

I also won a Unicorn in the claw machine, won the jackpot on several arcade machines

Saw Avengers

And pretty much decided that I need to move to Sydney

Oh, and I also learned that if you want to rob some place, rob a Tobacconist, not a liquor store

Mike Q

I'll keep that in mind

Ben

23:35

Lol

My gf is a store manager at a tobacconist, and she's shown me the figures.

$$$$$

Lol

What about yourself? Busy week?

Mike Q

23:51

Yes, I'm usually quite busy

Ben

Better to be busy than bored :)

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