In the case of 5e, i think it's the direct harm and not the indirect harm.
@Manner Basically, I'd try and treat it like it is. It's an insect that all of a sudden gained intelligence. IT's now a very smart and very large scorpion that won't target the caster and is more amenable to interacting with that caster.
But it's friends...maybe not. ANd it's still an insect, just an intelligent one.
I don't have proper stats (I couldn't fit it into my probability calculator, so I had to brute-force it with random numbers), but essentially, using that variant increases the DPR of Chaos Bolt by about 5-15%, depending on how frequently you get critical hits.
The big thing is that critical hits end up having a >50% chance of chaining to a new target.
Whereas normally they simply have the normal 12.5% chance.
Also, the odds of the normal result on a crit are 41.02%, one chain is 49.22%, one chain with auto-crit is 5.47%, two chains is 4.10%, two auto-critting chains is 0.20%.
(1680/4096, 2016/4096, 224/4096, 168/4096, and 8/4096, respectively)
I was a little shocked by that: I ballparked the odds by glancing at poker odds, and expected the 3-of-a-kind to be rarer.
Turns out it's slightly more common than the two-pair, in this case.
Also, in general, all uses of Chaos Bolt have a flat ~2.3% increase in their chance of chaining. That's important against high-AC targets, where the odds go from ~5% to ~7.3%.
@Rubiksmoose I think the big difference is that each card of a number makes the next card less likely to be that number, whereas die rolls are independent.
i.e. rolling one 1 doesn't make the next 1 less likely, but drawing a card with a 2 on it makes all cards with a 2 less likely.
@Xirema In poker you have 5 slots for 13 numbers, for improved chaos bolt you have 4 slots for 8 numbers. Almost half the amount of possibilities, for only 4/5s the slots. Makes sense that 3 of a kind is more likely.
@Rubiksmoose Books. And musical instruments. Sitting at my desk I can see an entire couch and coffee table unusable because they're holding about 400 books, and a half-dozen instruments. Those I'd hoard. And maybe one pillow so I could lie on my hoard of books and either read or play an instrument.
We've been getting a lot of near-miss typhoons, which means weeks in feeder bands, which means the weather's playing dry/wet/dry/wet/dry/wet multiple times a day.
user15026
@BESW And here I thought a couple of days of "pouring rain turning into snow and back again" was frustrating.
I've been skimming some of my answers, and al to of the better (more highly voted) all rely on that "fun for everyone". It seems to be a foundation of what makes a good gaming environment
A vast number of the questions on RPG.SE boil down to someone needing to be reminded "Remember that you're playing a game with friends, and the friends are more important than the game. Never use the game as a justification for being a jerk to your friends."
@Ben Yeah, it puzzled me that a long experienced veteran of many kinds of RPGs would be at a loss.... maybe it was a "ya know, someone else probably has this problem ..." deal. The answers are looking good.
@KorvinStarmast Yeah actually, I read through it all and it is a really good question, with some great answers.
I suppose it might be a point to clarify if the person in question has perhaps ADD or something like that. Not to be ignorant (I personally have never had any experience with anyone that has ADD), but it might be something to address
@Ben one does not need to have add, adhd, or any formal disorder to be a spotlight hog. As seven describes, it can be a side effect of raw enthusiasm. I've seen that too. Heck, I've probably been that guy now and again.
Release the Wombat of Discourse!
This is my default strategy for the first time a group starts talking over each other so much it hinders play: I bring a stuffed animal to the session, and name it The [Animal] of Discourse. The GM may speak at any time, but only the player with the Animal can ta...
@BESW Seven seems to want to not revert to his usual DM/GM role in the text of the question. (I am on vacation! is his words) He's looking for a peer to peer tool, solution.