TRPG General Chat

12:00 AM

But my point is that this also affects DMing. Learning the maths of DC calculations, dice averages, CR, etc.

So I can write an adventure plot - come up with interactions, fights, traps, etc. But I don't know the math for what the difficulties should be.

I do understand there are tables for all that - but the math still escapes me lol

Mike Q

Unfortunately CR is inexact - correlating CR to actual difficulty is more art than science

Ben

Mrrr...

Sidenote: Apologies for the wall of text haha. Unintended

Mike Q

12:15 AM

The DMG may have advice on setting trap/check/challenge DCs

Ben

@MikeQ I do suppose there is also dice probability that creates that "range"

Mike Q

Another approach is to estimate (or calculate) the party's chances of succeeding a DC over a range of DC values

Ben

@MikeQ ?

Mike Q

For each type of check, for each DC (within a range), calculate the party's chance of succeeding it

Ben

@MikeQ So, for example, make a DC of 10-15, the party has ~+4 to a check

Mike Q

12:24 AM

With a +4 and DC 10, that's a success on rolling a 6 through 20, aka 75% of possible rolls

With DC 11, that's success on a 7 through 20, aka 70% of possible rolls

etc

Ben

Oh ok

Mike Q

The % is higher for characters with >+4 for that check, and lower for characters with <+4

doppelgreener

@Ben it's a wisdom thing. of course you can shout at someone until they're healed. that's how things work. someone's trying to argue shouting can't heal? what?? what's the logic behind that? obviously it can, you just did it.

and of course you can run up a wall and just keep running and not fall off, see, you'll do it right now just to show someone

it's not obliviousness it's just, like, look, watch me do it, see :D

Ben

@doppelgreener Logical

@BESW I took a note from your book hehe

@doppelgreener "Obviousness" rather than "Obliviousness" haha

"Magic is about making rabbits appear out of hats and money appear from your ears. It doesn't make ice bolts and shadow monsters"

This is my new favourite gif

Mike Q

12:39 AM

@Ben Yeah, D&D magic is much less immersive and realistic than real-world magic

Ben

Never watched Law and Order, but I've seen him in Wet Hot American Summer and Happy. And he is brilliant

@MikeQ Oh, slightly unrelated, did I tell you about the game of Dark Heresy where the whole party were Psykers?

As you might imagine, it did not go well.

Mike Q

Maybe, but either way I want to hear it now

Ben

It did not last even 2 sessions. Haha. To their credit, it was the first time playing/running for the whole party, so they had no idea what they were in for.

The surmise was that the Emperor was dead (red flag, I know lol) so everything was on the way out. The game started at that point - "The Emperor has died; Meanwhile, in the depths of space..."

The DM was not knew to running a game, fortunately, so he planned the game the same way he would for a group of Wizards from D&D, but they did not account for the Perils table.

Or rather, tables.

In the end, one effectively exploded, another teleported himself (as well as 4 other grunts) outside the ship, and before they had finished writing their new characters, of the last remaining 3, one had actually managed to turn into a Demon Prince.

Mike Q

Another regular day in Psykerland

Ben

As a DM, I do enjoy his games. He is very experienced, and he always makes an encounter push us just to the edge of death. At first I thought he was one of those guys that thrives on PC death - but it turns out he just likes to create encounters that push us to our character's limits, then makes it so the encounter gets pulled up there, as if it was planned that way all along.

I would like to see a DH/RT game run by him, but unfortunately he says he doesn't like the theme of the game. Which I can understand. Not everyone is into the "Dark Dystopia" thing

Mike Q

12:53 AM

Shadowrun is dark dystopia

DH/RT is dark comedy

Ben

Actually, I would agree. Lol.

My Techpriest was originally an Explorator. He made a Servitor Skull from the skull of a dead Psyker, then decided to see what he could do with the implants. He put a Voxcaster on him, and he started floating around spouting verses from the Imperial Scriptures

It was a very sad day when Eli died :'(

The skull, not the actual PC. Lol.

The DM ate the character sheet a few minutes after he suffocated in space. That certainly distracted us from the devastation of that event a little. Lol

How is your DH game going @Miniman?

NautArch

1:20 AM

@Ben top o the morn!

Ben

@NautArch What time is it there?

NautArch

@Ben evening, but last time I talked you were going to bed, so I figured it was morning for you

Ben

@NautArch Tis. By 40 minutes haha (11.20 am)

So I had a think, and a thot, and I figured switching the CoP for the CotMR was easier, and keep the Ring of Prot, to save changing my AC each time I switched the cloak.

It is the more expensive option, but I'm lazy haha

Miniman

@Ben On hiatus atm - the GM's laptop died.

Ben

@Miniman D:

Ruhroh

I know a guy that works in IT, if that helps. Lol

goodguy5

1:29 AM

I stayed at a holiday inn express

If that helps

Ben

@goodguy5 [waiting for the joke to click...] Lol

NautArch

@Ben oh, didn't thank about that! That's the right call, and if you're ever in water, that cloak is the bees knees. My Paladin has one and we did a short water arc that i sailed through.

goodguy5

@Ben lmgtfy.com/?q=no+but+I+did+stay+at+a+holiday+in+express

It's not meant to be snarky, that's just the best way I know to explain it.

I always feel like lmgtfy links are high in vitamin snark

Ben

@NautArch I immediately pictured a fully-armored (Half-Orc, for some reason... blame the 5e PHB) Paladin, riding the cloak like a surfboard, wielding sword and shield dramatically

@goodguy5 Yeah, I get that. I took it on good faith though :)

Honestly never saw that ad before hahaha

goodguy5

Just a dumb viral commercial series

Some dramatic event would happen and some person would come in and fix it.

"Are you a {Doctor, pilot, commando, etc}?"
"No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express."

Ben

1:36 AM

@goodguy5 Hahn beer ads

NautArch

@Ben Try Full plate human coursing through the water with a glaive.

Ben

@NautArch [Humming Ride of the Valkyries underwater]

goodguy5

@Ben delightful

Ben

@Nautarch I'm also thinking that I might swap Elhonna's Quiver with a BoH, just as a catch-all. Bit redundant having 2 special carry cases to do the same thing

NautArch

@Ben yeah, not a bad call there. Quiver is cooler, but bag is more useful.

nitsua60

1:40 AM

@Ben I'd particularly enjoy this if you made the character decision to only stow ranged weapons/ammunition, a la Elhonna, in the bag =)

Ben

@goodguy5 Australian Beer Ads are usually along that tack haha. Just "fun"

goodguy5

Well, it's worth noting that one should NOT stow sharp things, such as arrows, in a Bag of Holding, lest it rupture

Ben

How would a BoH/QoE work in an anti-magic field?

Because that's a consideration I need to make lol

goodguy5

I have an answer all locked and loaded as soon as that strange guy confirms he's trying to summon water out of the ocean.

Ben

...where else would it come from?

goodguy5

1:45 AM

Well, he's trying to do it with teleportation circle

Which there are several problems with.

NautArch

@Ben interesting question. The quiver i'd consider everything is sticking out of it. But whether or not you could pull what's in out I think is up to the DM. I could see a case for not being able to retrieve from either.

Ben

@goodguy5 For someone fluent in sarcastic humour, I always forget that it doesn't translate through text lol. I was going in the direction of Seawater > sewage water

[Cue tumbleweed in place of laugh track] :P

goodguy5

I'm also bad at sarcasm

So, you were trying to relay a language you're fluent in, over a tin can, to someone that has google translate

Ben

@goodguy5 You are not a native English speaker? (I did do some snooping - I don't remember what brought me to look, but I checked your location on your profile)

In which case apologies for assuming

goodguy5

haha, no. I mean..

In this example, sarcasm is a language I'm not fluent in

Ben

1:51 AM

Oh

Lol

goodguy5

and text is additionally a bad medium for it.

Ben

Indeed hahaha

@goodguy5 @Nautarch in the case of the BoH, from memory the opening is like a portable hole, no? In which case in a magic void, that "portal" would cut off, and thus just become an empty bag, right?

nitsua60

@goodguy5 I assume this is the answer you're thinking of: what-if.xkcd.com/53

KorvinStarmast

@Ben Ben, I have gotten to a place where I can review your minotaur's char sheet. I got nuthin'

Ben

@KorvinStarmast Mobile or Laptop/PC?

KorvinStarmast

1:54 AM

Laptop

Ben

Hrmm

nitsua60

Or maybe this one, for brevity:

KorvinStarmast

@Ben What I mean is, I looked at it and I have no further advice

nitsua60

If you fire a Portal gun through the door of the wardrobe, space and time knot together, which leads to a frustrated Aslan trying to impart Christian morality to the Space sphere.

Ben

@KorvinStarmast Oh right

Yeah, at this point I'm just looking at swapping around my magic items. The initial build is sound, @NautArch did an awesome job with that :D

NautArch

1:58 AM

@Ben it's only a good build if it's fun for you to play

2

Ben

@NautArch Yeah :) He's built the way I wanted, and I had a lot of fun with him in our first session.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch We need to sell that t-shirt at the conventions. Make our next million, or our first.

it's only a good build if it's fun for you to play

Ben

@NautArch My catch phrase: "Angry Mooing"

KorvinStarmast

@Ben Your theme song is Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm A-mazed

Paul McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed

►

Ben

We have another Barbarian (Half-Orc), we spent a lot of time doing the "bro-psych out" in the background while our companions did investigations/looting haha

We also have a Cleric, A Rogue/Warlock, a monk and another Warlock. Our next session we'll be joined by a Paladin too

KorvinStarmast

2:03 AM

@Ben The Mooooer the Merrier

Ben

@KorvinStarmast YES.

NautArch

@Ben hahaha, love it!

Ben

Slow motion captures and slideshow transitions of a Minotaur going full-beef, with this playing in the background XD

KorvinStarmast

I imagine the rogue asking you "What's your beef?" and getting quite the eloquent answer

Ben

@KorvinStarmast I'm bringing this to my next session haha

KorvinStarmast

2:07 AM

:)

eh, momma summons. Laterz

Ben

o/

Ok, so @NautArch I can switch the CoP for the CotMR for free, as they're both uncommon. That fits into my 6 items. I get rid of my ring of jump/feather falling, and gloves, and that gives me 6500 gold back

NautArch

@Ben what level item does that get you?

Ben

@NautArch reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/3dzvsq/…

Using this pdf. It doesn't go by rarity - it's by the item.

Miniman

@Ben Nah, corrupted hard drive.

NautArch

@Ben okay, i probably should have looked at this before. For that price, stocking up potions ain't a bad idea.

goodguy5

2:17 AM

I'm just not quite satisfied with the answers I have on that witchbolt question. Though, I do think that the answer given is correct.

I need more words.

Ben

E.g. the QoE and BoH are both uncommon, but the BoH is more expensive

@Miniman Urk >.<

@goodguy5 "To be perfectly candid" (B99 reference)

goodguy5

I love that show

Ben

@goodguy5 It is my go-to rewatch show haha. I've watched it through on Netflix so many times haha

goodguy5

I have so much trouble rewatching the same shows.

My wife can tear through The Office like it's her job, though. phew

Ben

@goodguy5 I can't re-watch serious shows. They're only really good once. After that they lose their edge. Shows like B99 though are more relaxed. You don't have to pay attention, and the jokes can still be funny :)

goodguy5

2:26 AM

Especially with all the new content out there, it's so hard for me to devote time to rewatching something.

and, at the risk of /r/iamverysmart material...

I have a really easy time remembering stuff on shows.

Man, the Community D&D episodes, though? woo, doggy.

Ben

I'm actually the opposite. I find it hard to get into new shows. Unless I'm forced to sit in front of it and watch it, I'll likely just let it sit in my list, until I decide to get rid of it

@goodguy5 Somehow, that was the only show that I could enjoy Chevy Chase in

And I do say that very loosely

goodguy5

Yea. Chase is garbage.

Ben

He didn't ruin the show. Let's put it that way. Lol

goodguy5

The Vacation movies were good, because I think his head hadn't swollen yet.

After that, he fancied himself the second coming

Ben

Yeah

@NautArch Potion of Giant Strength!!

That could potentially be used in place of the belt in the anti-magic field...

@goodguy5 in all honesty, I think he kinda fit that role in the D&D episodes actually. Yeah, he was an ass, but that was the role.

goodguy5

2:35 AM

yea. they cast him perfectly

I'm not even sure he knew how on the nose it was

Ben

Hahaha

goodguy5

They would literally say things to him like
"we emailed you the script updates" and he'd respond "Well, my email is on my home computer. Can't you just give me a copy?"

Ben

For some reason it is kinda funny knowing how oblivious he is to the truth. "There will always be haters in this job - you can't impress everyone, and they only 'hate' you because they're jealous anyway"

@NautArch never mind haha. Just asked the DM and his response was "Most potions - probs not"

goodguy5

Me thinking "out loud"..... sorry

Ben

@goodguy5 that's cool :) I'm doing the same lol

Making remarks on a guy it's fun to hate is better than political discussions (As an example). That's always dangerous ground haha

Pathfinder - missing a hand could you make a "Construct" prosthetic?

Potentially not RAW, since it would follow the creator's instruction, no?

[Mintoaur wearing a Cloak of the Manta Ray]
[Child overlooking the water] "Look mummy! A manta ray, how pretty!"
[Manta Ray moos angrily]

Joshua

2:53 AM

Wish backfire: beekeeper wished his bees were inheritably more intelligent bees, got bees with INT and WIS of 3, and most of the bees managed to get two levels of druid. Now if anybody opens up a hive, bears come boiling out

Ben

@Joshua trying my hardest not to laugh out loud hahahaha

goodguy5

okay, so if it's accepted that chromatic orb and inflict wounds are balanced spells.
expected damage on-hit (edoh) is about 15, with the chance to crit for a first level spell.

Eldritch bolt thereafter gives edoh of 6 (or 6+cha)

Witch Bolt has an edoh of 7, with some number of persistent damage.

So, it's costing a spell slot for a higher risk against one target, with no real payout. Especially in a "system" where alpha damage is king. And as-is, puts us about 10 damage behind spells of it's class.

oh, good. it did shorten that

Also, this system has too many darned bolts

firebolt, witch bolt, edlritch bolt, chaos bolt, hussein

Ben

@goodguy5 But you're missing the point that it's cool.

Haha

Building a warlock?
Step 1: Take Eldritch Blast.
Step 2: Make it better.

goodguy5

Witch Bolt isn't cool enough to justify the spell slot.

Ben

Aesthetically, I mean. A massive arc of electricity blasts forth from your hands, arcing between you and your target. You watch as they shudder and jolt under the force, as you strain to keep it focussed

Whereas Eldritch blast is just "Pew Pew" in deeper tones as you level it up

Joshua

3:05 AM

I'll see your eldrich blast and raise you one bear swarm.

Mike Q

@Joshua What do you mean by backfire?

I think a hive full of bears is the best outcome

They can make their own honey

goodguy5

Compared to Chromatic Orb? You extract the shimmering diamond you've hidden for just this purpose. As you utter the ancient incantation. A ray of sun catches the diamond and begins to glow with <insert color here of element> light before an arcane orb flies at the target, engulfing them briefly in <insert element> energies

Joshua

Not if you wanted any honey for yourself.

Ben

@goodguy5 In all honesty, at least as a warlock, you'll be hard pressed to find something that compares to EB, numbers wise, so anything else you take is just for flavour

@Joshua With a wisdom of 3, I'm sure they could learn/understand trade

goodguy5

ogres?

as in, trade them ogres, for honey.

Ben

3:14 AM

@goodguy5 Protective ogres?

Joshua

Race: Bee. Languages known: Waggle dance. We haven't decided if speak with animals can even be used here.

goodguy5

@Ben yea. protection from hunger

Ben

@Joshua As a druid - they know druidic

goodguy5

who the heck is out here teaching bees druidic?

how do bees factor into the AD&D system of there are only a certain number of druids of 'x' level pyramid (a la disc world)?

Ben

[magic.gif]

goodguy5

3:17 AM

Is my 15th level druid going to have to go kill... er.... retire.... 1000 bees-druids before he can get to level 16?

Ben

And to be fair, this is Wish we're talking about.

goodguy5

mjyoung.net/dungeon/char/clas010.html btw, if you wanted to look at how druids used to work

> There are only nine druids of level twelve; each has three assistants. These assistants are the same level for each druid, but each druid has higher level assistants according to the relationship between their current experience. Thus, the twelfth-level Druid with the least experience (in points) is served by three level-one druids, and the one with the most experience is served by three ninth-level druids. The single thirteenth-level Archdruid is served by three initiates of the eighth circle, and the fourteenth-level Great Druid is served by nine initiates of the ninth circle. These…

Ben

@goodguy5 Neat!

goodguy5

it was a weirder time

not that I lived it, mind you.

Ben

I remember VHS...

Joshua

3:25 AM

Hmmm. This text suggests they might actually know druidic without anybody to teach it to them. "can't decipher it [written druidic] without magic"

Ben

@Joshua The ~plot~ honey pot thickens!

Joshua

lol

That does it, if I ever DM a campaign I'm going to find a way for these guys to appear in it.

Ben

@Joshua Golden Honey Bears

Emperor Honey Bears... that's what I was thinking of lol

goodguy5

oh man... what was the thing I thought of today

Joshua

There's only one problem. You get quite the lag trying to handle 2000 bears on the map. Not that it's going to matter as retreat is impossible without some kind of magic.

goodguy5

3:32 AM

oh, actually, not that interesting.

In my campaign world, There's a ..... Well, it's basically Stranglethorn vale from WoW. Weird tough(ish) monsters. It's called... generically enough, the badlands.

Race of people with rhino hide

serves as mercs, enforcers, etc

Ben

@Joshua Wisdom would dictate that 3 bears would be more than enough at any given time - and backup is there if necessary.

Additionally, swarm numbers provide visual impairment

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 Not hatin' on ya, just to be clear. Was hoping to poke at the question to see if it might be a better one, as others have done for me. Apologies if that come off wrongly.

goodguy5

@KorvinStarmast yea. I know. I was trying to word my reply so that it didn't seem too annoyed.

Ben

It's funny how lack of emotion in text often defaults to annoyed/upset, unless you add a smiley or a "Thanks!"

Joshua

It's not the lack of emotion, it's the expectation of don't speak unless you have something to say.

goodguy5

3:38 AM

what a great point! :D Thanks!

3

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 Ok, all is well, I have some ideas on what was the original purpose of that spell, but as I was not in the play test, those ideas are hazy at best. there is a reason, I think, that it is one of the spells recommended in the quick builds

goodguy5

such as? humor me?

it's torture, isn't it?

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 That's one of the ideas, but the other ... is about design things

Under the weird idea that "you don't need magic weapons to play the game from start to finish" this is a spell that would help in early levels with immune and resistant creatures for the party. The martial's grapple them, and the warlock slowly kills them. Were rats, were wolves, etc.

I still think that your idea, that it should be scalable at higher levels, is a rational expectation given how many other spells do.

goodguy5

I know that not every spell is going to be good in an upcast scenario, but I don't like when spells are immediately claimed by the rubbish bin after two levels

KorvinStarmast

For a warlock, in particular, it seems to be a spell to replace with another as she goes up in level

goodguy5

3:42 AM

9th level magic missile? not perfect, but there's no arguing with ..... 11?d4+9. period

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 Indeed.

Joshua

@goodguy5: I wouldn't worry about low-level spells going obsolete. The highest-level spell in the star travel sequence is only spell level 6, and a level 1 spell fills a critical position that would render the whole sequence pointless otherwise.

goodguy5

o.O

what?

Joshua

feather fall

goodguy5

but what are we talking about?

Joshua

3:44 AM

whether or not spells go obsolete

KorvinStarmast

Feather fall ... never goes obsolete?

Ben

Just to poke in here - would this dungeon be too big to cover in just one character level?

goodguy5

@Ben what is that level?

if it's one, then yes

Joshua

Uh Ben you linked to the generator rather than to the level

goodguy5

well.... I suppose it depends on how many oogieboogies there are

KorvinStarmast

3:47 AM

Why is room 1 not at the bottom of the stairs from up above?

goodguy5

oh wait, does it generate a different room for everyone?

KorvinStarmast

@Ben temple of Valaro map?

goodguy5

oh lmao yea. I had catacombs of vile death

that's funny

Ben

Yeah I just realised that @Joshua. The generator still does what I was trying though, so the map it generates is still fine.

KorvinStarmast

@Ben maybe drop the one you had in mind into a google docs so we can take a peak?

Ben

3:48 AM

Basically the size of it is what I'm asking

goodguy5

but we can't see what you see.

KorvinStarmast

How many PCs in the party? Three or four?

Ben

@KorvinStarmast 3-5

goodguy5

How many of them have witchbolt?

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 Snigger

donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/dungeon/lib/…

Ben

3:50 AM

As opposed to perhaps this size

KorvinStarmast

OK, that one I can work with

donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/dungeon/lib/…

goodguy5

still just a random dungeon

@KorvinStarmast yea, the stairs down were secret.

Joshua

I think it depends on the contents a lot more than the size. Empty rooms go really quickly.

Ben

Yeah - I'm not worried about the particulars of the dungeon - I'm comparing the sizes

goodguy5

"find door or stop dungeon"

or was it the stairs up? whichever

Ben

3:51 AM

@Korvin you can generate each one - sizeably different haha

Joshua

I can haz wand of digging?

KorvinStarmast

@Ben I think the second one gives you more room to work ... so I'd recommend the second one.

goodguy5

anyway. I think I'm going to bed.

and I have no idea how you guys are sharing these dungeons

KorvinStarmast

You put the right number of beasties in it, and you can get the level and XP about where you want them.

Ben

This is in response to @MikeQ - his advice was to add "more rooms" and "alternate routes".

KorvinStarmast

3:53 AM

@Ben I agree with him

@goodguy5 I am right clicking, and then saving image address, and the posting it. I think that's working, ,maybe not

Ben

Yeah. So it's just a matter of the overall size.

goodguy5

@KorvinStarmast yes yours is working, but ben's is not

Ben

That's the second one

KorvinStarmast

@Ben I think (this is personal taste) that the party needs to be able to choose "which hallway now?" be it for exploration or "Let's GTFO!"

Ben

as opposed to

goodguy5

3:54 AM

that is way too big for a party in one level

christ

Yeah. Lol

I don't like dungeons quite so full; I'd rather 50% solid

KorvinStarmast

@Ben That second one reminds me of the first dungeon I ever tried to build. To much stuff on level 1.

"But I have all of this graph paper left over!"

goodguy5

3:56 AM

haha

My most recent party got to level 3 on 7 rooms (and two corridors)

eh... I suppose there was one outside encounter with some goblins, so let's say 8 rooms

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 I see. Chock full of goodies, baddies, and XP.

Reminds self to hit goodguy5's house at halloweeen. More goodies per square foot ....

goodguy5

I'll see if I can track it down, but it was some free module I found. Really I should chip the creator a buck or two because it was awesome

@KorvinStarmast really, though. Please do. I only got 25 treaters this year. By the end, I was giving out handfuls of candy

KorvinStarmast

Aah, yeah, it's hit and miss in these parts as well.

goodguy5

dmsguild.com/product/212892/…

Ben

It is meant to be a "megadungeon", though only one level per one player level.

goodguy5

3:58 AM

oh, good it is a dollar. I'm glad I paid for it

Mike Q

That dungeon is quite crammed

Ben

I.e. Level 1 = Party Level 1.
Level 2 = Party Level 2.

KorvinStarmast

Back to dungeons and graph paper, i went to college and discovered the french curve ... back when engineering drawing required pencils, triangles, compases, dividers, and white rubber erasers.

goodguy5

I cannot highly enough recommend that link for Call of the Shadow Prince.

make sure you read through it. There's 1-2 hangups. but very good

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy will keep in mind. Thanks for the tip.

goodguy5

3:59 AM

If anyone actually looks into it, let me know and I'll share my thoughts. There's one aspect that I changed because it rubbed me the wrong way

one of the best dollars I've ever spent

Ben

@goodguy5 What is?

Pre-written adventure?

goodguy5

pre written starter adventure. level 1-3

for uh.... 4-5? adventurers.

Ben

@goodguy5 Ah cool. Shall investigate.

Uhh… +2

d20

Dice Service

16

Ben

:P

goodguy5

4:02 AM

great content. Solid plot hook if you want to continue. And a couple of starter locations for you to bake in, if you desire.

Ben

goodguy5

I wasn't sure how the group was going to play together, so I didn't want to write my own material.

Ben

I think that's "big" enough.

goodguy5

@Ben Much better. I like the main "hall" thing. Thought You're still going to have a bit of a slog.

Ben

Potentially remove one or two rooms, and move the downwards staircase/add another

goodguy5

4:04 AM

I love having the two staircases next to each other.

and if it were me, I'd remove basically the whole top (or left) third.

Ben

I was thinking that. In this situation, it can still work, only to find that the next floor is a touch too difficult. Lol

goodguy5

but I can tell that you and I have fundamentally different tastes in how dungeons should be laid out.

@Ben Exactly. Throw in some flowery words about smell and sound. maybe a touch of henflesh.

Ben

Symmetry is my thing haha

Shalvenay

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

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 Got it, thanks. Can I sub in cultists for goblins? What do you think?

goodguy5

4:08 AM

@KorvinStarmast You certainly could. It would require just a touch of work to shoehorn in, but not much. Especially if you have specific future plans.

let me pull you to the back room for a second

KorvinStarmast

@goodguy5 back room it is

Ben

Ok, so I either paid $2, or ~$1.20

goodguy5

I guarantee it's worth either

I mean, I have no way to back up that guarantee, but still.

Ben

Oh, yeah, I'll take your word for it. That's why I offered $2. Haha. But exchange rates had a part in it lol, so not sure what happened :P

goodguy5

where's your money coming from? au?

Ben

4:13 AM

Yeh

The delivery system gets ~40c tip on each dollar delivered XD

goodguy5

gross

anyway. bed for real now

Ben

o/

SmokeDetector

4:25 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Manually reported answer (batch report: post 2 out of 3) (94): How can I make a spell very hard to dispel? by Kris Leith on rpg.SE

Ben

@SmokeDetector ...going about getting help the wrong way...

Joshua

I'm not even going to downvote those. They call for direct delete.

Ben

5:27 AM

Challenge: Nerf a Vampire down to CR 5. Lol

Mike Q

Step 1. Find a CR 5 creature
Step 2. Describe it as a vampire
Step 3. Profit?

Ben

Oh! Vampire spawn are CR 5 already, lol

Mike Q

You're welcome

My job here is done

Ben

Couldn't have done it without you hahaha

Tonight's goal: write up an intro to my campaign!

kviiri

5:47 AM

We had an interesting run-in with a Vampire Spawn once. We didn't have anything to bypass its resistances and regeneration with but brute force, and we almost got it until it started fleeing

I could keep up with it and land blows, with the hopes of critting it to death. It could've continued for quite a while if I wasn't so bored

Ben

Egh.

Never fun

kviiri

It's weird how 5e doesn't have rules for retreating or chases, given how common the "you should run away from some battles" paradigm seems to be

Or rather, it does, in the DMG where no one'll ever find them.

Ben

6:02 AM

@kviiri reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/8hlsco/retreat_rule_for_5e

Something like that?

It's actually good you brought it up... since I might need it

kviiri

@Ben Well, as the top comment points out, the rule does exist... in the DMG.

I don't really like the players having to make choices when to run from encounters, that just doesn't work well in my experience.

Ben

Hmm... ok

kviiri

Facing a Whatever that the GM doesn't name, one doesn't have enough information to decide. GMs like to pretend that their description of the thing's slashing claws and gripping appendages are enough to base the decision on, but then again the monsyer doesn't really sound any more dangerous than the Dungeon Boss the PCs are supposed to kill.

If the GM does name it, and it uses normal MM statblocks, it's just system mastery...

Ben

Perhaps dropping things like "Corridors easy to lose a quarry in"

kviiri

Add to that the fact that the group has to come to a consensus on what to do, with a significant likelihood of "but that's metagaming!" being yelled

Ben

6:13 AM

Or perhaps suggest that the creature seems to be confined to a certain space

@kviiri I like to just repeat "metaaaaaa… metaaaaaaaaaaa" in a low voice in the background haha

Miniman

6:55 AM

@kviiri The real problem is that, under combat rules, it's impossible to run away from anything, and the PCs don't get to flip the switch from combat rules to chase rules, so from their perspective it's impossible to run away from combats period.

kviiri

@Miniman How many players do even know that the chase rules exist?

They can't flip a switch if they don't know it's there

Miniman

8:01 AM

@kviiri Yeah, that too.

Also, on top of all these problems, the chase rules are dumb. "It's combat, but uh...no opportunity attacks. Oh, and, sure, let's throw in a weird exhaustion mechanic."

BESW

Ooh, an opportunity for a NEW entirely unnecessary subsystem, only ever used in a specific circumstance that barely ever comes up and replaces a perfectly servicable more generic subsystem?

Miniman

8:17 AM

@BESW Well, except for the part where you described the generic system as perfectly serviceable.

BESW

Okay, reasonably serviceable.

kviiri

9:07 AM

Which system is that?

Ben

@kviiri The 5e retreat "system"

BESW

And specifically inventing an "exhaustion" mechanic for chases when hit points are already sufficiently abstract for the task.

kviiri

11:05 AM

@BESW I don't see what you mean. One doesn't lose hitpoints running away unless there's a ranged attacker

BESW

@kviiri Hit points are sufficiently abstracted away from just "actual physical injury" that if you need to model exhaustion during a chase scene, they're an existing mechanic that will work just fine.

I'm saying there was no need to invent exhaustion because hit points can be used in that role, not because hit points are already used in that role.

I think 5e also has condition tags that'd be useful.

Ben

11:33 AM

You should be able to delete your old posts in chat haha

Ty - anonymous overlord and keeper of peaces

kviiri

@BESW Ah, now I see what you mean

doppelgreener

12:47 PM

The player's basic rules don't have an excerpt on hit points, but D&D editions typically say it's abstract and covers multiple things including health, will to keep going, and energy or fatigue and tiredness. So getting "hit" by a sword and losing HP doesn't necessarily represent getting stabbed, it could just represent the energy it took to get out of the way.

I imagine D&D 5e has a similar summary of hit points in the PHB.

BESW

Even when hit points aren't explicitly that abstract, most systems which use hit points turn out to abstract them in practice.

doppelgreener

Yes

nitsua60

1:26 PM

@Miniman You say that, and I can see it in the abstract. But in actual play every chase I've run with the rules I've heard from players was some of the most fun in an adventure. I dunno, man.

(But yes, I totally agree about "retreat isn't an option" being a huge problem in 5e.)

The Oracle

1:42 PM

2

Q: How to sort out situation where two questions ask about essentially the same thing, yet answers are opposite?

What Is The Difference, If Any, Between "Permanent", and "Until Dispelled"? Can a permanent teleportation circle be dispelled? Answers to first one says it can't be dispelled, answers to second one says it can. Questions are close to being duplicates. If I'll try to ask which one is right, I'll...

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