@Yuuki I don't think so.

Obviously not directly.

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.

@Maximillian 0/ I may get a chance to paint some minis over Christmas break. (Or not) I still have the advice you gave me saved in a word file.

@Rubiksmoose I'm pretty certain, but not ready to put an answer together, that bardic inspiration die aren't doubled on a crit.

@NautArch I'm split on it.

@Rubiksmoose yeah, i'm less sure

It is legit adding damage to the attack. And you roll for the damage. I'm trying to find why it wouldn't be honestly.

Either way the answer that is there defintiely needs to support that assumption.

yeah, i think you do double them. but then it's a great question for how to add the AC.

you've got two bardic inspiration dice being used now

oh I see. I was misreading.

Yeah I'm like >75% sure you don't add two dice to the AC.

@Rubiksmoose then which die do you add?

@NautArch the first I guess?

It does say: "The damage equals the number you roll on the Bardic Inspiration die"

right, but that's assuming you didn't crit

crawford was asked, but no answer

@NautArch Correct. Here's the real question though. I would argue that the second die you roll is no longer a BI die it is a crit damage die.

@Rubiksmoose Hmm. I dunno if I agree with that. I don't think your dice change to something else on ac rit. You're just rolling them twice.

Divine smite dice are still divine smite dice on the crit.

@NautArch The first one doesn't change for sure. As the answer points out "you get to roll extra dice for the attack’s damage against the target"

I guess it probably doesn't change. It was a thought though lol

Regardless I think it is pretty clear: the crit only affects the attack's damage.

My most recent D&D 5E spreadsheet.

dropbox.com/sh/x0qf10vn29i74sb/AADxL6no8gPeuyjFDXFwDIqCa?dl=0

@Rubiksmoose yeah, but i'd say the bardic die becomes part of the attack damage just like the superiority die does for a fighter.

Unfortunately, I don't have a central location for people to post mistakes are ask questions about that file.

So I did a whole lot of statistical analysis on that Chaos Bolt variant I suggested yesterday.

Oh yea?

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.

@Xirema double damage + high chance of chaining sounds fun.

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%.

@Xirema That is surprising.

@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 Not true. I've been rolling 1's all night so I'm definitely due for a bunch of 20's really soon. /s

@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.

Two of a kind is 1/8th*7/8th*7/8th

Toak is 1/64th*7/8th

Two pair is.... The same as toak, I think

I have the exact odds.

  0: 1680 ( 41.0156%) Odds to Pass: 100.0000%
 +1: 2016 ( 49.2188%) Odds to Pass:  58.9844%
 +2:  224 (  5.4688%) Odds to Pass:   9.7656%
+1*:  168 (  4.1016%) Odds to Pass:   4.2969%
+2*:    8 (  0.1953%) Odds to Pass:   0.1953%
====
Total Possible Rolls: 4096.0 (4096)

Is your two pair excluding 4oak?

@goodguy5 Yeah.

And similarly with 3oak and a pair?

And yea. That makes sense

I feel like the question "How to roleplay better" is a dupe

It's too broad in any event

I suppose that I ought to know the top three books out there on "how to role play" but I am drawing a blank.

Indeed

There was a hot second where I thought korvin had asked that question and I was quite confused

@goodguy5 Actually I was the same haha. I saw the title, then the name, and thought "hang on.."

IN other news, how goes the day?

@goodguy5 @Ben Wonder if you were as puzzled by that, thinking I had asked it, as I was a bit ago when I read seven's question.

We're dealing with a heat wave, a lack of rain, and it's the beginning of the cyclone season, up here in tropical North Queensland

@Ben would you call that a perfect storm?

@KorvinStarmast A perfect storm is the one I can sleep through haha

Aye: Hurricane Harvey was not a perfect storm. It was an imperfect mess.

@KorvinStarmast the spotlight hog one?

I actually have a similar issue, and I was going to ask, but could never really get my head around how/what to ask

@goodguy5 (o)f (a) (k)ind! Finally got it.

Haha

@Ben Its been raining for 2 days straight here, you can have some of ours.

@GreySage Gladly! Haha.

People have been raving about rain like it's a certainty for the past week, but I've been missing that... I dunno. that feeling.

Maybe it's due to my Vit D deficiency - I can feel all my bones, and the lack of feeling in my bones about the weather is tipping me off haha

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.

All this talk of rain is making me jealous haha

@Ash Some years it feels like the Pacific Ocean is playing horseshoes with typhoons and Guam's the stake.

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

In my mind

@BESW lol, very good description of that

it does currently feel a little like that honestly

@BESW I was initially confused by the link to the search. Lol.

Or, to use a hyperbaton, the people we're playing games with are more important than the games we're playing with those people.

...or is that an antanaclasis? Bah.

I agree. words... Mhm. Yup.

@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

But the "Mum Voice" answer is great :)

No, I don't advocate trying to armchair diagnose people based on secondhand description

@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.

I haven't read the question all the way through yet; would a Giraffe of Discourse answer be useful?

@BESW Sort of like passing around the stuffed animal when it is one's turn to speak?

Or is that too much a GM tool and not something the player would feel comfortable introducing?

@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.

Yes I understand that. @MikeQ that is a very good point. I should bite my tongue

I believe that someone has suggested that as an option as well