TRPG General Chat

David Coffron

00:05

@goodguy5 nothing. I keep checking for questions to answer now that I'm free to catch that rep and there are none

BESW

@goodguy5 Escalating nerves about running Lady Blackbird at a con this weekend.

goodguy5

dafuq's that besw?

BESW

"Con" is short for "convention," in this case a local convention for anime and game hobby enthusiasts.

goodguy5

>.>

what is Lady Blackbird

trogdor

the best RPG ever (not really but it's still great)

Mike Q

00:10

It's not possible to give some bounty to a specific answer to one of my questions, is it?

BESW

Lady Blackbird is a free pre-made system/setting/adventure using a custom game engine to push improvisational character-driven adventures in a swashbuckling crime-and-romance vein, in a dieselpunk Victorian space opera setting.

@MikeQ Yes, it is!

Mike Q

Ok, I have to wait 24 hours though

BESW

Right, because part of the point of any bounty is to call attention to the post.

Mike Q

Guess I'm using it wrong. I wanted to give some extra cred to a good answer that was I didn't accept, and was posted by a user with less reputation

BESW

That's totally one of the expected uses for a bounty.

There's just a delay so everybody else gets to see it too.

Mike Q

00:18

Ah ok. Was trying to answer some of my still-open questions.

goodguy5

@BESW what rules is it like?

BESW

It draws heavily on the Solar System ruleset.

goodguy5

Ah, d8 based

(that's a joke about there being 8 planets....)

BESW

Well, it uses d6s.

It takes the traits/tags dice pool concept from Solar System, which is a brilliant way to do character-building through skill-like mechanics.

goodguy5

interdasting

BESW

00:24

But you can read it in the link above; all the rules are able to fit on the bottom half of each character sheet.

goodguy5

oh okay.

BESW

That's one of the reasons I'm using it for the con game.

It's one of the best compromises between no-prep, no-study pick-up-and-play, and satisfying character drama out of the box.

goodguy5

so it's kind of like fate meets dungeon world?

BESW

Sort of? It's not easily comparable to any well-known game, I think.

The dice pool mechanic is more like a constrained Wushu.

And the GM style makes Fate's collaborative play look didactic and overbearing.

goodguy5

00:52

eh, that's entirely dependant on the GM

BESW

Not really.

In Lady Blackbird the GM's style is clearly and explicitly described on page 9, "Running the Game."

The idea that a GMing style is completely independent of the ruleset is... not a universal concept in RPGs. Many systems (like Apocalypse/Dungeon World) explain how a particular set of practices are expected and the game is designed to work under those circumstances.

6

LB expects GMs to "Listen & Ask Questions, Don’t Plan," and "Say Yes, Look For the Obstacles."

KorvinStarmast

@Ben Were you perhaps wearing anti gravitas boots previously?

Ben

@KorvinStarmast Badum-tss

Lol

KorvinStarmast

@Ben Don't forget to tip your waitress. :)

arrgh, RL summons. Be well, all.

Ben

@KorvinStarmast Less eyeliner... This is a family dining establishment

Shalvenay

02:22

hey there @CatWizard, welcome to the RPG.SE lair :)

Cat Wizard

Hello there again. It's been a while.

Shalvenay

how're things going?

Cat Wizard

Things are going ok.

How are things here?

Shalvenay

alright, in a little PF game over here

Cat Wizard

PF?

Ben

02:31

Pathfinder

Cat Wizard

Ah yes.

SmokeDetector

05:18

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] URL in title, blacklisted website in body, blacklisted website in title, pattern-matching website in body, pattern-matching website in title, +2 more: www.bluesupplement.com/keto-fit/ by user45581 on rpg.SE

trogdor

06:36

@SmokeDetector I got nothing this time, sorry bud XD

Derpy

08:44

@kviiri In the end, I sent a mail directly to the staff to inform them about this whole mess. I feel the issue is far greater than whatever my moderation (trad: flagging) powers allow me to handle.

Will let you know if I get any answer.

Derpy

10:52

@Shalvenay "Cat Wizard"... reminds me this shirt I saw two days ago at an anime con.

doppelgreener

cute. :D

new material for Morts and The Secret Lives of Cats

Derpy

to be fair, I just found out they also have CATcaptor Sakura and Sailor MEOW ones, but those are probably more suited for Anime fans than Rpg ones.

doppelgreener

wow XD

Derpy

@doppelgreener see the Not a bar room

trogdor

11:31

Lol

kviiri

12:02

@Derpy Yea, I think that's something that needs attention

Derpy

@kviiri it is not the actual post that disturbs me. That could be flagged and removed without the need to call for Staff Intervention.

It's the fact that it is accepted, upvoted, edited to remove the violence threats and then reverted back and no one is doing anything about it.

kviiri

I'm also largely bothered at how well the feigned innocence of it seems to be received.

Derpy

12:18

I know. Let's hope the staff will know what to do.

In the meantime I suppose it is at least nice to know there are others thinking that post needs to be looked into.

Trish

12:54

ok pals, let me propose a question here... something that cropped up in my mind after reading a little comment. The comment was:
In addition to Mike Q's suggested question about following the rules in those exact circumstances, you could also ask whether or what D&D's rules say about the social contract around the table. Not all games are the same. For example, Great Ork Gods expects multiple player deaths per session, and Paranoia characters come with a six pack of clones. However, as noted, asking whether it was right or wrong isn't verifiable, so it's opinion based and doesn't work well …

Does a question looking for the first social contract proposed in game rules make sense?

Shalvenay

hey there @Flo, welcome to the RPG.SE lair :)

doppelgreener

13:11

@Trish in some sense, social contracts are defined as good by whether they help run the game they're for: My Life With Master is a game which is not designed to be fun (in fact, the GM is instructed to crush mercilessly all avenues players find to have fun) and so its social contract would not work for any other game.

And who enforces it gets defined by the social contract... but usually everyone has to work together on it, and ideally everyone should enforce it.

Trish

well, let me rephrase: the really bugging question is: social contracts often are the implicit rules of the game. like "don't punch your opponent" in chess or "Don't touch your opponents minis" in Wargames. When did such implicit behavior rules first get mentioned in an RPG?

doppelgreener

That's askable.

I mean, if you're interested in asking about it on mainsite.

Trish

yep, working on that

doppelgreener

I advise steering clear though of "what makes a good social contract?" because that will get closed fast.

Trish

13:25

have it here, @doppelgreener , even quoted you! rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/125642/…

doppelgreener

@BESW did I characterise My Life With Master correctly here?

19 mins ago, by doppelgreener

@Trish in some sense, social contracts are defined as good by whether they help run the game they're for: My Life With Master is a game which is not designed to be fun (in fact, the GM is instructed to crush mercilessly all avenues players find to have fun) and so its social contract would not work for any other game.

trogdor

@doppelgreener this? yeah mostly

doppelgreener

Oh you're here! Hi! :D

you're up late

trogdor

yeah

I am indeed

the storm and the dog are both keeping me up a bit

doppelgreener

ooh, rihgt

is the doggo afraid of it?

Derpy

13:33

I was explaining him my view of the Binding of Isaac plot just a little ago.

He knows that sleeping now means dreaming himself in a nice chest.

trogdor

@doppelgreener she is just a barking kinda dog apparently

She insists on being outside right now so being scared of the storm doesn't seem like a thing

(also just to be clear I am house sitting, I don't have a dog myself, just one I am taking care of until the week is over)

Also this storm isn't all that bad, at least on this side of the island

Mostly more wind than normal and more or less normal amounts of rain

doppelgreener

ooh

that makes a lot of sense

William Mariager

Afternoon everyone

trogdor

It does make just enough racket on occasion to still be keeping me up currently though

A Very Large Bear

@WilliamMariager howdy howdy

trogdor

13:38

@doppelgreener yeah I had dogs as a kid,I do not currently

Whoops sorry

Pinged wrong person for a moment

I blame the phone and being tired

William Mariager

Is the phone tired?

trogdor

@WilliamMariager sure why not? XD

Sorry bout that

William Mariager

Don't worry about it. :P

Anyone know why I can't see item prices on DnD Beyond?

Currently just trying to figure out what a Potion of Resistance would cost me

Sir Cinnamon

@WilliamMariager Probably because magic items just use a standard price table?

A Very Large Bear

@WilliamMariager I can't help you with your actual problem, but are you familiar with the Sane magic item prices list

William Mariager

13:44

@SirCinnamon I'm all new to 5e, just using DnD Beyond to roll up a character.

So there are no fixed prices?

Sir Cinnamon

@WilliamMariager Ah, well you'll likely have to talk to your DM, there aren't specific universal prices

William Mariager

Okay

That's peculiar, but I'll work with it.

Sir Cinnamon

Just price ranges based on rarity and availability

(and those are technically an optional rule I think)

William Mariager

Hm

I'd need a price for crafting though.

I guess I'll ask my DM about it.

Just toying with a silly idea ... probably not worth it. :P

Trish

I feel astonished that Chess is (to my knowledge) the only game that has rules regarding what to do when you touch pieces on the game and when that is allowed ad all... and cover ALL instances of legal touches (touch your own, touch enemy, touch in this or that order, touch rook first or king first in casteling (only king first is legal!)...

William Mariager

13:49

There's a Goliath barbarian in the group. I'm a Gnome bard. I was considering fashioning a harness and let him carry me around in combat, while I blast spells from his back.

And one of the cantrips deals 1d6 thunder damage in a 3x3 area centered on me.

And I wanted to see if I could spare him some of the damage.

I have the option of casting the spell that gives him advantage on CON rolls, which should give him a decent chance of resisting it completely.

Trish

@WilliamMariager depends on what it is, we might come up with the rules you need and the price to propose to the GM

William Mariager

As far as I understand, crafting generally costs half of what the item costs. So if a potion costs 200, crafting it would cost 100.

Trish

yes, that would be the general rule in most DnD games as far as I know.

potions though might - if they contain high level spells - be more justly priced after the spell that goes into them at times.

kviiri

I've only played in tables where crafting an item costs as much as to buy it

William Mariager

That's kinda lame ...

Depends on the game I guess. It sure discourages crafting as a character option.

kviiri

13:57

Yeah, well... I don't really see the point of it as a character option in the first place.

Well okay, maybe depending on the parameters, but then there's people who'd want to spend all their character's time just making and selling magic items for profit when there's actual adventuring to do :P

William Mariager

I mean, if that's what the players like doing? :P

I'm a pretty adaptive game master. That's one thing I've learned in my 15+ years of running games. There are all sorts of players.

kviiri

Then it needs proper mechanics

William Mariager

More like, they need to pick a different game.

kviiri

Yep.

William Mariager

I wonder if I would count as equipment if I was in a harness on the Goliath ...

I'd basically be his backpack

Sdjz

14:02

7

Q: Can a gnome/halfling ride another player as a mount?

Same gnome druid as my other question, who does not have legs. There are places that my gnome's mount cannot go, like up cliffs. In these scenarios, could my gnome ride in another player's backpack/on their shoulders? Question also applies to halflings.

kviiri

@WilliamMariager But regarding this, there are players who have a hard time resisting the temptation of risk-free increase of numbers, eg. through grinding or crafting loops. I think it's a part of the GM's duty to minimize the draw of such unappealing yet gameplay-wise strong options.

William Mariager

@Sdjz Nice ...

Sdjz

@WilliamMariager I might have missed it but this is 5e you were talking about, right?

William Mariager

Yessir

So him being a Goliath makes it even easier. Increased carrying capacity

Szega

@WilliamMariager Which spell are you talking about here? Heads up: enhance ability does not help with saving throws.

William Mariager

14:06

@Szega Oh, I missed that I guess. That was the specific spell I had in mind.

Well, he's a barbarian ... he can probably make a few CON saving throws.

Szega

And yes, 5e has no proper rules for crafting magic items. Any such activities are up to discussion with the DM

William Mariager

I remember a reshape metamagic feat in 3.5. Would be handy for doing this.

Might not be reshape.

But there was one where you could exclude a target or targets from an AoE spell.

Sir Cinnamon

@WilliamMariager It's called Careful Spell now, its a sorcerer metamagic ability

Sdjz

@WilliamMariager Sorcerers have this with metamagic. Evocation wizards too

William Mariager

Oh

Sir Cinnamon

14:15

Right, evo wizards have spell sculpting, same thing

Derpy

@trogdor given up any hope of sleeping? Join us in the magic World of Insomnia

trogdor

Gruh grah opnngkle

Derpy

after a while, you don't even notice it anymore.

Szega

@SirCinnamon Actually, the wizard version is much more powerful

Derpy

All so blurry, with flying cupcakes and colorful balloons

Sir Cinnamon

14:22

@Szega Oh youre right - autosave vs autosave with no damage

plus the obvious cost difference

Anaphory

@Derpy just Don't Rest Your Head!

trogdor

Ugh

William Mariager

14:52

Okay

So looking into it, I'd just need to dip two levels into Wizard to get Sculpt Spell.

And it affects evocation spells, specifically. Which includes my Bard class offensive spells.

So 1 level in Bard to get the full starting features of the class. Next 2 levels in Wizard to get sculpting options, and then just bard from there.

Might not be worth it :P I don't know how bad multiclassing is penalized in 5e.

As far as I can tell, the biggest hit is being behind on spell selection. But on the other hand, I'm pretty versatile and most spells scale with character level not with class level.

Well by most spells, I was thinking specifically the cantrips that auto scale.

Other spells would be less potent since I can't cast with higher spell slots.

Sdjz

You can cast with higher slots

You just don't learn high level spells so soon

William Mariager

Yeah, but I wouldn't have many higher spell slots if I multi class.

Sdjz

In terms of spell slots I think you would have the same

William Mariager

At level 3, I'd still only have cantrips and level 1 spells as far as I understand.

I'll put it into the online character editor, see what it does.

Sdjz

@WilliamMariager True but you would be able to cast those lvl 1 spells using lvl 2 slots too

William Mariager

14:58

Hmm

That's not too bad.

And in either case, I like the concept of it. A character that goes out of his way to protect anyone caught in his blasts.

Sdjz

Since you are getting a spellbook I suggest getting a bunch of lvl 1 wizard rituals which remain useful

William Mariager

Good idea.

This gives me a ton of cantrips too. 3 from Wizard, 2 from Bard.

Talk about versatility.

I guess the Wizard can learn all cantrips if he wants? Given enough money.

Sdjz

Unfortunately, no. You can only copy lvl 1 spells with this build

William Mariager

Ah

Well, still, 5 cantrips is nice.

Sdjz

@WilliamMariager Yes, and since you probably won't have much INT but higher CHA, you can take wizard spells that don't depend on an attack roll or saving throw

William Mariager

15:05

Yeah, so full utility on the Wizard parts, and then some offensive on the Bard.

You were right about the spell slots.

I have 2nd level slots, which I can use to boost my 1st level spells.

Anaphory

15:21

At what level are you creating the character?

William Mariager

Level 3

It does look like it doesn't matter if I use INT or CHA. At least not to the online character editor.

Could be a bug or me overlooking something.

Sdjz

Spells you obtain from wizard will use INT and spells known as bard will use CHA

William Mariager

Not on the DnD Beyond character sheet.

Oh wait

Sdjz

I'm not familiar with that one

William Mariager

Lemme test something.

It comes to +4 for both classes, which makes it impossible to tell the difference

Sdjz

15:28

do you happen to have the same modifier in INT and CHA?

William Mariager

Yeah, I did, that was the issue. I tried changing my int, and it now shows two values.

ddb.ac/characters/3765655/mAcBLr

You can see the character there.

I might swap out the fire bolt, but on the other hand, it could carry me a little in the current levels.

I had to have at least 13 in INT to multiclass into the Wizard, which is why INT is at 14. 12 + 2 from racial.

Sdjz

ah I see

I think you are missing a few wizard spells

you should have a total of 8 lvl 1 wizard spells

William Mariager

Hmm, I have 3 cantrips, 4 level 1.

Might be because my first level wasn't Wizard? So I don't get any initial spells?

Sdjz

I don't think that is how it works, you should get the normal 6 lvl 1 spells in your spellbook at 1st wizard level regardless of multiclassing

Might be remembering something wrong though

William Mariager

I don't have a spellbook in my equipment either.

Szega

15:37

@WilliamMariager You should. First level influences only saving throw, armor and weapon proficiencies.

(tool profs too in some cases)

William Mariager

> You determine what spells you know and can prepare for each class individually, as if you were a single-classed member of that class.

Seems to suggest I should get the 6 spells yeah

Sdjz

Ah the 4 spells you are seeing may be the prepared spells

William Mariager

It only let me pick 4 spells as well. It might've skipped the initial 6 by mistake.

I can just add the spells though.

Okay, so the 5e Wizard still prepares spells. But the prepared spells can be cast however you want with the number of spell slots?

Sdjz

As a lvl 2 wizard with 4 INT you should have a total of 8 lvl 1 spells known but you can only prepare 4 of them at a time

Yes, in 5e you don't have to prepare the spells for specific slots, you just choose them as a list then you can cast any of those with any slot

well any slot of the spell's level or higher

William Mariager

Alright, that's fixed then. 8 known spells on top of the 3 cantrips right? Or is it 5 known and 3 cantrips?

Oh, you said total 8 LVL 1 spells

So 11 spells in total.

Sdjz

15:54

Looks good for wizard spells, then you also get the usual lvl 1 Bard spells: 2 cantrips and 4 lvl 1

William Mariager

Yeah

Lots of choices.

And from the wording of the scultiping feature, it doesn't seem to require it to be a wizard spell, just an evocation spell.

"When you cast an evocation spell that affects other creatures that you can see, you can choose a number of them equal to 1 + the spell’s level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save."

Sdjz

yep, just says evocation so it doesn't care about class

William Mariager

Which means I could cast a 2nd level Thunderwave and exclude 3 friends from the area.

If I understand correctly. 1+2 friends.

Sdjz

seems correct

Sir Cinnamon

Thunderwave is both an Evocation and a wizard spell, but yeah

William Mariager

16:00

It's also a Bard spell

Sir Cinnamon

I can't off the top of my head think of any evocation bard spells that are not also wizard spells

William Mariager

I doubt there are any.

Evocation sits snugly in Wizard territory.

Sdjz

but if you learn it as a Bard it doesn't count as a wizard spell

(sculpt spell still works anyway)

Sir Cinnamon

@Sdjz Is that true? I would have thought otherwise

William Mariager

> You can use a musical instrument as a spellcasting focus.

Does this mean I don't have to?

Same wording for Wizards, but with arcane implement.

Sdjz

16:02

@SirCinnamon I do think so, if you learn it as a Bard you can't cast it using your wizard DC for example.

William Mariager

Just trying to understand the practicality of it. So if I'm casting a bard spell, I can keep my lute in my hands. If I want to cast a wizard spell, I would technically have to drop the Lute to do it.

Because I can't use a musical instrument as spell casting focus.

Sdjz

Ah your best bet would probably be a component pouch that you can use for everything

William Mariager

I might ask the GM to house rule it. Let me use the Lute for my wizard spells, but if I get a magic Lute or whatever, any bonuses only apply to the bard spells.

I would like to keep the lute in hands as much as possible.

Sdjz

also, a focus is only useful for spells with material components

William Mariager

Ah

So a component pouch on my belt and a Lute in hand and I should be golden?

Why do I keep capitalizing Lute?

Sdjz

16:07

if you have a free hand sure

won't you be using a weapon?

William Mariager

Well, a lute can be held in one hand, so that seems fine. I could get a strap as well I guess.

I was planning on relying purely on my spells. I only have the longsword as part of my initial equipment package.

Should I use a weapon too?

Might make sense since I also have the absorb element spell.

Szega

@WilliamMariager On low levels a (cross)bow will outperform cantrips. I wouldn't choose to go into melee, but having the option is good.

William Mariager

My initial plan was to go with Fire Bolt and Thunderclap as my primary spells. And since I'm sculpting, I can exclude any nearby friends from the Thunderclap.

Szega

assuming decent Dex

William Mariager

Thunderclap would basically be melee I guess.

Sir Cinnamon

16:11

@Sdjz Right... hmmmm interesting

William Mariager

How much damage is the crossbow? I would have the same modifiers as my Fire Bolt as far as I can tell, and the Fire Bolt is 1d10 damage.

Szega

@WilliamMariager FB is 1d10, light crossbow is 1d8+dex

William Mariager

Ah, better average then.

Szega

more reliable, and better in average if dex>=2

William Mariager

So the only advantage of the Fire Bolt would be it's elemental damage in some cases? Seems peculiar to have a spell fall behind a basic weapon like that.

Sdjz

16:16

Well the fire bolt does scale with character level

William Mariager

Oh right

Because it's a cantrip. So at 5 it'll be better.

Sdjz

at 5 doing 2d10 is usually better than 1d8+DEX

William Mariager

Yeah, that would be an average of 11, compared to an average of 6.5 to maybe 7.5.

At least, for my character. I guess others could have much better DEX.

GreySage

Your spellcasting mod is probably better than your dex for hitting purposes too

William Mariager

But even with a 5 modifier, you're still at 9.5 average.

It's the same at my current level actually.

But I see your point.

kviiri

16:29

@Szega >= 1, even!

Szega

@kviiri avg(d10)=5.5, avg(d8)=4.5 with a +1, they only come out equal

kviiri

@Szega Hah, true... somehow I read that out as 1d9+dex and my brain missed its sanity checking round

kviiri

16:57

@WilliamMariager The valor bard is, equipment wise, one of the more annoying character builds, because they've got three different things to hold in various times and only two hands: their shield, their weapon and their instrument.

The common understanding of the lighter bit of equipment swapping rules in 5e seems to be that stowing or drawing most items (like weapons) is a free action once per round, so one could switch the content of one's non-shield hand once every other turn without wasting actions...

David Coffron

@kviiri Many useful bard spells don't require material components so you can cast one of them during the turn between sheathing your weapon and drawing your instrument/material components

FWIW

kviiri

@DavidCoffron I'd probably advice against using an instrument at all as a Valor Bard, and instead stick to the component pouch which doesn't require to be held.

David Coffron

@kviiri You still have to use your free object interaction to pull them from the pouch

kviiri

I've never heard anyone consider that an object interaction

before now, obviously :)

David Coffron

@kviiri Why wouldn't it be?

> Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your Movement and action:

> [...]

> - fish a few coins from your belt pouch

kviiri

17:04

Because it's an inseparable part of spellcasting. Although granted, it'd make sense.

David Coffron

So is pulling out a wand which requires your object interaction

kviiri

(do note though that the rules don't state you actually have to take anything from the pouch!)

David Coffron

> You can also interact with one object or feature of The Environment for free, during either your move or your action. For example, you could open a door during your move as you stride toward a foe, or you could draw your weapon as part of the same action you use to attack.

It is logical to me that pulling out your components is part of the Cast a Spell action in the same way that pulling out a weapon is part of the Attack action

kviiri

Well it is logical. But DnD isn't a very logical game at all times :)

David Coffron

> A component pouch is a small, watertight leather belt pouch that has compartments to hold all the material components and other special items you need to cast your spells

Can I just wrap my hand around the pouch? I don't get it

> A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus in place of the components specified for a spell

It doesn't say whether the character needs to hold the material components or what...

Only that you need a free hand

> A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components -- or to hold a spellcasting focus

So you are right I think

kviiri

17:09

That rule carries a rather important (and further logic-defying) meaning, by the way. A component pouch is used in place of the components, meaning that a component pouch can be used to cast spells whose components don't even exist.

David Coffron

"access" does not equate to "hold" and is seemingly deliberately separate since only the focus uses the verb "hold"

kviiri

@DavidCoffron I think your interpretation makes sense though. Pouch is OP compared to the more flavorful focuses.

David Coffron

@kviiri You could just always have a component pouch and therefore always have a free hand...

But my interpretation has its own problems as if I cast a spell that doesn't consume a component, I have to put it away before I can pull out a different component

~~~

This actually might be worth stacking

kviiri

@DavidCoffron Ah, you mean like, you withdraw some Fairy Dust on turn 1 to cast something and have to put it back on the next turn to do something else?

David Coffron

@kviiri if you are required to hold the material components during casting, Now I'm not sure you have to.

Just be able to "access" them with your free hand (whatever that means)

kviiri

17:13

@DavidCoffron Yea, I never gave these much though because most of the time I just try to pretend material components don't exist. Outside the costly ones, that is.

David Coffron

@kviiri Likewise. To be honest I allow two object interactions (i.e. pull out your sword and open the door) most of the time. Just seems like an unnecessary hindrance to play. Only thing I enforce is you can only draw one weapon without the dual wielder feat.

kviiri

You know the thing about them being jokes... it sits badly with me.

David Coffron

@kviiri I made a spreadsheet a while ago with components that make sense rather than as jokes. That was back when I was playing AD&D 2e with my dad, but we had a similar thought

kviiri

I'm fine with the tactical implications of having to switch between modes, but I think it could be a bit smoother than it is.

7

Q: Can you banish a mindless creature?

Ok so I ran into this situation in a gaming session last week and didn't want to make a big deal of it at the time, but I am curious. Banishment's components are: V, S, M (an item distasteful to the target) (emphasis mine) Ok so we're trudging along through a swamp and come to an island ...

dnd-5e spells monsters spell-components

That's one of the reasons I hate joke components. They have no practical impact except in tables where the GM deliberately makes a point out of having to make use of them, and even in those cases they should be something more... thought out and flavorful.

David Coffron

@kviiri Agreed.

I wonder if I should make a "sensical components" ~~optional~~ variant rule for DMsGuild. It might be well receieved

kviiri

17:22

I try to play a lot of RPGs outside the traditional DnD and throw out a lot of magick powered by sulfur, salt and mercury, as a homage to alchemists of yore.

@DavidCoffron Are you trying to change how the components play out or just the flavor?

David Coffron

@kviiri The flavour. So that fire spells, mind control spells, movement spells, etc each have related components. Some of them do already (gunpowder is a good example), but many of them, as you mention, use jokes over sense.

117

A: What is the point of a spell component pouch?

It's a relic of earlier systems. From the "Dungeonomicon:" Material Components: A Joke Gone Way Out of Hand Material components are a joke. I'm not saying that they are metaphorically a joke in that they don't act as a consistent or adequate limiting factor to spellcasting, I mean that...

I was looking for this

kviiri

4e has rituals divided to a handful of categories (Arcana, Healing, Nature, Religion etc) and each has their own component type, plus one that works for all. They're all costly components though.

Sir Cinnamon

@DavidCoffron What about a component based on school and a component based on damage type?

David Coffron

@SirCinnamon That was part of my consideration when I made the spreadsheet for 2e

I also factored in amount of damage, secondary effects, and a variety of other factors for unique spells

Sir Cinnamon

I.E. an evocation spell that deals lightning damage requires a small metal wire (lightning damage) and a... small ruby or something

Necromancy requires blood, illusion requires incense, divination requires dice or rolling bones or something

fire damage requires a fuel, cold dmg requires.... water?

David Coffron

17:39

@doppelgreener @nitsua60 How fast was that first upvote (if I'm allowed to know)? It looked like it appeared once I posted the answer...

doppelgreener

@DavidCoffron We don't know details like that, but it was probably from someone already on the page who saw a new answer prompt while they were reading the question.

David Coffron

@doppelgreener Fair enough. I just clicked submit and when it loaded it already had an upvote. shrug

doppelgreener

Nice. :)

David Coffron

Might just be someone with a faster connection

doppelgreener

We just see a daily summary of how many votes have happened.

But I can tell you without a doubt it's received at least 2 upvotes today based on this data! :)

I bet you didn't know that.

David Coffron

17:44

@doppelgreener Haha. I'm glad you said at least, because there are definitely a few dozen unregistered users that upvoted but doesn't display :P

David Coffron

18:01

@kviiri Here is the stack question on material components, although I'm not sure any of the answers are satisfactory. I'm going to put up a bounty.

8

Q: Does a wizard need to hold a component pouch or focus in one hand in order for it to work?

One of my PCs is a (weird) wizard who is frequently switching quickly between items—one turn he's wielding a quarterstaff two-handed, the next he's got a component pouch and a dagger, and after that, he's going back to the two-handed quarterstaff to prepare for an attack of opportunity. We often...

dnd-5e equipment spell-components

kviiri

I don't like the answers, because I think the rules aren't exactly clear.

The saga of the 7th Sea campaign continues: one of the players has been extremely active with both helping me with the rules and coming up with content for their character and the entire party :)

I just hope the others will be this invested too

We agreed on their "how we met" story too.

They were in an Adjective Animal alehouse which was raided by the waisenritter, a group of Vaticine Eisen exile mercenaries currently contracting for the Castillian establishment (including the Inquisition). They, along with all the other customers in the establishment, were put in a makeshift jail in the harbor, waiting for proper officials to evaluate them for a variety of crimes including piracy, spreading heretical thought and smuggling.

And then the pirate player's comrades from the Brotherhood of the Coast busted everyone out. Including the other pirates jailed in the same sting - the establishment was indeed home to many dishonorable types.

Mike Q

18:26

Nice. Did this play out in game, or does this become the group's shared backstory?

kviiri

@MikeQ Shared backstory

The spy character's player declared their character had gotten imprisoned on purpose to get close to the waisenritter's leader, Colonel Totenkopf, and was rather frustrated at being dragged out of her cell :P

(the Brotherhood rescued as many as they could and then blew the place up to cover their tracks)

Totenkopf is a Villain whose goal is to make Eisen Vaticine again, but currently he's just building up his forces and support in the sympathetic country of Castille.

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