TRPG General Chat

12:14 AM

7

Q: How can I most clearly write a homebrew item that affects the ground below its radius after the initial explosion it creates?

This item, in essence, releases a burning chemical that deals fire damage to and ignites creatures and objects within its initial sphere radius everything beneath the explosion of the bomb It then ignites the ground beneath its explosion, in the same area as the explosion. It's basically an ...

KDodge

12:29 AM

Hey I got a question, if you multiclass with Barb if your total level surpasses 13/17 even if you dont have that many levels in Barbarian does your Brutal Critical improve?

BESW

Anybody know of good road trip RPGs?

Rubiksmoose

12:53 AM

@BESW I don't have an answer either way, but are you looking for RPGs about road tripping or RPGs to be played while road tripping?

(I'm guessing the latter?)

Miniman

@BESW There's one my family used to play where everyone pretends they don't like each other and have no musical preferences in common.

(I'm kidding. Mostly.)

trogdor

Lol

Rubiksmoose

@Miniman Oh I know that one! I think it's called "I'm not touching you" right?

BESW

@Rubiksmoose The former, but I know of one that's both!

Miniman

@Rubiksmoose I was thinking of "Are We There Yet", but yours is better.

@KDodge No - multiclassing is the exception, not the rule, so things that improve with total character level rather than class level are specifically called out as such.

Except cantrips, because...well, probably just because high elves ruined it for everyone.

KDodge

12:58 AM

So since the ability specifically doesn't say Barbarian levels, it is total levels?

linksassin

2 mins ago, by Miniman

@KDodge No - multiclassing is the exception, not the rule, so things that improve with total character level rather than class level are specifically called out as such.

Rubiksmoose

@KDodge anything under the class section depends only on class levels.

I can't think of any exceptions to that

Miniman

Cantrips...

Rubiksmoose

Ugh. Good call.

You even just mentioned it above lol

Hot RPG Questions

1:14 AM

5

Q: What makes an item an artifact?

In the Tomb of Annihilation advemnture, I've encountered a specific instance where the term "Artifact" is used meaningfully (on p. 134): Compare this to a different trap found in the module (on p. 138): Comparing the two traps, it seems clear to me that the former trap destroys all but art...

dnd-5e magic-items artifacts

Rubiksmoose

Though arguably cantrips aren't actually defined in the class section right?

Regardless, your are correct.

Miniman

@Rubiksmoose Yeah, they're a little weird, because they're usually given by a class feature but aren't actually defined as one.

It's exactly the problem that spell slot scaling resolves.

But yeah, I'm pretty sure this is all the high elf's fault. Without racial cantrips in play, they could have just said "cantrips scale with class level" and even Eldritch Blast wouldn't be an issue.

Of course, they could have just said "you cast it as an X of your character level" in the appropriate spots, and everything would've been fine, but...they didn't.

Rubiksmoose

1:30 AM

Ah yeah. You're right. I never thought of that being the possible reason they had to write it like that. Or well, part of the reason. I have no idea why they didn't write it as you suggested last.

Miniman

I vaguely remember it being a point of contention way back in the playtest. I'm guessing they just figured it didn't matter, and it'd be simpler to make them all scale consistently.

V2Blast

confirmed, cantrips are weird

:P

Miniman

Yeah, I didn't mean to go off on a whole rant.

linksassin

1:48 AM

@Miniman I think it was more that not scaling with character level makes them useless. Multclassed spellcasting builds would be basically useless as their damage is completely ineffectual compared to their level.

Miniman

@linksassin They fixed that problem with spell slot scaling, though. In practice, spellcasters don't actually spend that much time casting cantrips in combat.

linksassin

@Miniman Until they run out of slots. The game in theory has more encounters per day than most people actually play. Cantrips are intended to be more important I think.

Shalvenay

@Miniman unless you're a warlock XD

(although Rrau relies on them a fair bit as a cleric, because he has no ranged weapon to speak of)

Miniman

@linksassin That's fair. Although I maybe should have said casters don't spend much time casting cantrips in combat that matters. Encounters that aren't actually dangerous, clean-up phases, and so on.

linksassin

@Miniman True. But if cantrips didn't scale they wouldn't even be useful then. 1d10 doesn't mean much at 14 level.

Miniman

2:03 AM

@linksassin I mean, yeah. But a 14th level spellcaster has a lot of spell slots. Also, yes, you can use multiclassing to create a relatively useless character. But you can make far uselesser characters multiclassing mundanes than you can with spellcasters.

(Even with non-scaling cantrips.)

linksassin

@Miniman Scaling cantrips also enables classes like arcane trickster, eldritch knight and the magic initiate feat.

Ben

Afternoon all

linksassin

@Ben Afternoon, how's it going?

Miniman

39 mins ago, by Miniman

Of course, they could have just said "you cast it as an X of your character level" in the appropriate spots, and everything would've been fine, but...they didn't.

Ben

@linksassin it's cold enough in NQ for me to be wearing a jacket at midday. Winter has finally arrived

I also had a very weird dream involving chat, an odd superhero character concept, and a Cease and Desist order from the FBI

linksassin

2:09 AM

@Miniman I think part of the point of 5e was to get away from the tricky math of 1/2 you class level and the caster level/class level/character level rubbish of earlier editions. If overpowered cantrips are the side effect of that I don't mind.

@Ben Did the superhero involve an elephant army? Because that happened...

Shalvenay

@linksassin I vastly prefer the way 5e cantrips work to their near-uselessness in prior editions

Ben

Oddly enough no. More along the lines of meatballs and dogs. It ended up causing masses of people throwing meatballs and dogs in to the ocean

Miniman

@linksassin That's fair, too. I'm just really fed up with the whole sorlock thing.

I was tolerating it fine, and then they went and dumped the Hexblade on top of it.

Shalvenay

@Miniman yeah, I'm really not sure what to make of Hexblade -- Bladelocks seemed fine enough without it?

Miniman

@Shalvenay I mean, they had their problems. But

linksassin

2:15 AM

@Shalvenay Bladelock was a bit underwhelming. They weren't really good enough fighters to ever actually use their weapon in combat. But Hexblade went too far.

@Miniman It is a bit busted I agree.

Shalvenay

@linksassin yeah, my experience probably got skewed by me not having played a pure bladelock much -- the char I was building out for that was my Palalock build, but I haven't gotten to use her in her bladelock form all that much either

(the precise build was intended to be a Pal12/War8 Ancients Paladin/Fey Bladelock -- think "eldritch powered fey-court knight" :)

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

and hey as well @nitsua60

nitsua60

2:31 AM

@BESW Like to literally play in the car?

BESW

@nitsua60 No, RPGs about road trips. Especially as metaphors for personal journeys.

nitsua60

Or one that's somehow set in or themed like a road trip?

Ah. No, then. But I do have a favorite "play in the car" RPG =)

@Shalvenay hiya

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 how're things going?

(also, enjoy the baaaaad sheep in Discord :)

nitsua60

@Shalvenay Not too shabby. Made a bunch of good plays at our annual staff softball game today, which is kinda a first for me. (I've been working here eleven years. I believe this is the eleventh stick-and-ball game I've played in my life.)

You?

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 rather slowly here

Glazius

2:39 AM

Still looking out for some possible interest in Fellowship, (playbooks: tinyurl.com/FellowshipPlaybooks) a PbtA game about communities and the people they send to fight the overlord. I'm EST and looking to run a demo over voice and chat.

Shalvenay

working on RL Rogue skills ;) (still at the "figuring out a Master Lock #3" level though, so don't expect me to become the next LockPickingLawyer or BosnianBill any time soon!)

Ben

Stranger Dreams

For anyone with FB access

nitsua60

@BESW Although, it seems like all RPGs fit that bill?

Miniman

@BESW I've heard good things about Ryuutama, but I have no personal experience to back it up.

Ben

@Shalvenay speaking of Rogue skills, I vaguely remember a conversation along the lines of "lockpicking skills" being on a scale of "knowing I can hit it hard enough to pop the mechanism" and "actually knowing how to use lockpicking tools to break in without a trace"

Was that with you?

Shalvenay

2:49 AM

@Ben heheh, yeah, probably

Ben

Lol

MikeQ

3:06 AM

@Shalvenay If you want rogue skills, you can try standing behind a tree and practicing your sneak attacks. You could even bring a friend along, for the flanking bonuses.

Shalvenay

@MikeQ LOL. naw, I'm working on the thieves' tools proficiency here ;) more interesting to me IRL

Ben

@MikeQ We had one instance where our rogue stumbled upon the bad guys planning an ambush, but unfortunately alerted them that someone was listening. He bailed, and as he was running, attempted to hide. Rolled miserably (like a 5 or something), and we RP'd it like he just picked up a small fern leaf, held it infront of his face and stood still for a few seconds before realising that was a terrible plan. Haha

Shalvenay

@Ben lulz

linksassin

@Shalvenay Master Lock #3? Isn't that the one you can blow on to open?

Shalvenay

@linksassin yeah, mine are just a trifle bit more stubborn XD managed to get the one I've been working on raked open, like 4 times in a row, but haven't been able to get back there after I broke my Bogota trying to go back the other way

(I also haven't quite been able to figure out how to shim it)

linksassin

3:20 AM

@Shalvenay Whoops.

Shalvenay

@linksassin yeah, broken picks are a fact of life XD (I think Bill's lost count of how many he's snapped in twain, given all the crazy bitting/keyways/... he runs into on challenge locks)

linksassin

@Shalvenay So you're saying that thieves tools should always break on a Nat 1?

Shalvenay

@linksassin maybe not always...:P

(besides, there are uses for broken lockpicks -- they're good for single-pin picking tubular locks if you don't have a tubular lock impressioning tool handy, for instance)

@linksassin part of the deal is that the lock is also often not what someone attacking a door will be attacking

@linksassin have you seen Deviant Ollam's presentation on the topic of attacks on doors?

linksassin

@Shalvenay Is that the one where he uses an aerosol to defeat a proximity sensor?

Shalvenay

@linksassin yes, the canned-air attack on a PIR sensor is included in that video

linksassin

3:27 AM

Then yes I have seen it. It's brilliant. Need to get me a set of those keys that open everything

Shalvenay

@linksassin probably better off getting a Carolina Roller, really :)

(also, if anyone tells me that rogues can't be lawful...)

linksassin

@Shalvenay LPL is the ultimate LG rogue.

Shalvenay

@linksassin and it is indeed awesome, I personally would call it recommended viewing for anyone who wants to know how to realistically RP the skillmonkey side of a rogue

@linksassin XD yes!

linksassin

@Shalvenay That said many of those exploits wouldn't work in a fantasy setting.

Shalvenay

@linksassin yeah, it depends on how you build your doors XD

linksassin

3:36 AM

@Shalvenay Fantasy doors (at least in castle and dungeons) are assumed to be designed to resist forceful invasion by an attacking force.

Shalvenay

@linksassin yeah, brute force resistance doesn't translate to subtle exploit resistance though

you can have a slab of solid hardened steel for a door, but leave the deadlatch off

or use an oversized strike in the frame

and whoops! your door becomes a giant paperweight as the attacker pulls out a suitable tool and slips the latch

linksassin

@Shalvenay true, but I suppose most of them would actually be barred or not have a lock.

I should actually look into period accurate lock designs to discuss this properly.

Shalvenay

@linksassin yeah, much of it depends on the ability of folks in-universe to make decent small parts

linksassin

@Shalvenay Of course. In a world with magic it is entirely possible that locks and other engineering was never invented since magic could do it for them.

nitsua60

4:03 AM

@linksassin I'd say take this answer and substitute wizard for cleric, lock for cure =)

linksassin

@nitsua60 True, and a valid point. I suppose it entirely depends on how prevalent and available magic is in the setting.

nitsua60

@linksassin Right. (Which is just-about the first question I like to pose to a group when we're pre-planning a homebrew campaign. How lousy with magic is this world?)

linksassin

@nitsua60 The other side of that though is that even if magic is not common, it exists. That will influence the development and design of other sciences.

For instance if engineering developments typically happened at places of learning there is a decent chance magic was nearby. That would have an effect on how it was designed.

nitsua60

Sure. It's very different trying to convince the university to fund your steam project when it's fairly easy to bind a fire elemental =)

linksassin

@nitsua60 Exactly! Medicine would have developed as trying to replicate the effects of magic without divine influence. Rather than refining our use of herbs.

nitsua60

4:09 AM

Though, depending on your headcanon on the development of magic, maybe it would be other way 'round, sometimes. Gramma was out of herbs that one time, but somehow managed to heal Grampa anyway. Just by wiggling her finger so and saying the right words!

linksassin

@nitsua60 True. Entirely depends on different spellcasters as well. For sorcerers it might work one way but wizards are totally different.

nitsua60

Burning Hands is discovered/invented when a proto-sorcerer child spends hours practicing in the mirror what they say the charlatan do in town. But without the flash-powders secreted away =)

linksassin

In my campaign wizards are relatively new. ~300 years but magic has been around forever. No one had ever really bother to study it before though

Rubiksmoose

@linksassin Obviously. Studying is for nerds.

;)

linksassin

I've seen campaigns were the PCs are literally the first magic users the world has ever seen, and others where everyone could cast at least a basic cantrip or two.

MikeQ

4:13 AM

It's not necessarily the case that a high-magic (or even moderate magic) world would result in a society of Arthur Weasleys, who 100% depend on magic and never bothered to further science. It's more likely that certain sciences would advance, and others wouldn't.

linksassin

@Rubiksmoose It's actually the basis for the campaign. Sorcerers aren't happy about the Wizards "stealing" their magic.

Rubiksmoose

@linksassin Despite my joking tone, I really like it a whole lot. And in fact all of these ideas.

linksassin

@MikeQ I agree that some areas would advance. But they would certainly advance differently.

MikeQ

Yup. And perhaps for different reasons. Maybe evolutionary theory started when druids began asking why certain creatures were beasts while other creatures weren't.

linksassin

@Rubiksmoose I'm planning my next campaign as a prequel to this one. So all Intelligence based casters will be banned since it hasn't been discovered yet.

Rubiksmoose

4:16 AM

@linksassin That's really cool!

I don't think I've ever played in a campaign that played with or expanded that premise at all.

linksassin

@MikeQ I like the way the Shannara books handle this. Unlike most fantasy they are actually set far in the future, post nuclear fallout. We only kept a very small amount of our scientific knowledge. When trying to re-learn it we found magic instead.

nitsua60

@MikeQ Thermo. Everyone would take any shortcut out of a thermo class if they could. =)

linksassin

@Rubiksmoose Thankyou. I hope I can pull it off the way I want too.

Rubiksmoose

@linksassin I hope so too! I sounds awesome!

nitsua60

@linksassin I had a lot of fun with a group once where they wanted it set "prehistoric" in terms of magic. So only barbarians, druids, rangers, rogues (thieves), and sorcerers were allowed. Because everything else was too "advanced."

MikeQ

4:20 AM

@nitsua60 Intelligence hadn't been invented yet?

nitsua60

@MikeQ Correct. =)

Nor had martial weapons! (Or heavy armor, IIRC. Not that it matters with that list.)

MikeQ

One could also reason that these worlds are particularly dangerous, with monsters and demons everywhere. So folks would need to invent technology options, as a backup for when the cleric or wizard gets eaten by a dragon.

linksassin

@nitsua60 That sounds great. No clerics though? Organized religion didn't exist? What about Shamans?

MikeQ

Or that the mortal civilizations developed technology before they gained access to magic.

nitsua60

@linksassin They hadn't "discovered" the gods yet!

MikeQ

4:25 AM

@nitsua60 No creation myths?

linksassin

@MikeQ That's the premise for Shadowrun. 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar brings about the return of magic. 50 years in the future you have a weird mix of tech and magic.

nitsua60

@MikeQ Didn't get that far. (In the worldbuilding.)

Ben

@nitsua60 "They believe that the universe was sneezed out of the nose of a cosmic being called The Great Green Arkleseizure"

MikeQ

@Ben The universe was rolled into existence by the Many Sided Stone. And when the Stone stops rolling, the world ends.

Ben

@MikeQ Omg yes.

Miniman

4:40 AM

@MikeQ ...did you just say that d7 is God?

MikeQ

@Miniman No, I was going to say "Twenty Sided", but I didn't want to assume system, or whether most people of this society could count that high

linksassin

@MikeQ There is a particularly devout group who believe that people must continuously travel east or they will slow down the objects rotation. Those that die west of their birthplace are an abomination.

Ben

The creatures of high society live in a place called "Crit-ee-cal Sooxus", and each kingdom steadily degrades in quality, all the way down to the lowest of the low, truly a place of torment on the mortal plane - "Crud-ee-cal Fahliuhr"

MikeQ

AFAIK a pre-literate society would develop their mythology based on things that they're familiar with, like animals and weather and tools/weapons. The concept of multiple planes and kingdoms could be too advanced.

Ben

@MikeQ Well, world building could involve that. The game could take place entirely within the...

d20

Dice Service

4:48 AM

7

Ben

7th Kingdom

Lol

The 7th Kingdom truly has a terrifying, aggressive reputation, as it forced the 8th Kingdom to support it's war against the 9th Kingdom. The people of the 6th Kingdom live in fear of the 7th.

Tales of cannibalism and blood-drinkers keep them submissive

trogdor

5:16 AM

I feel as though a pun reached out, and was unnecessarily lengthened

Mutated into something less pure

XD

Ben

5:50 AM

Potentially. Lol

kviiri

6:35 AM

> Six was throwing a party. Seven, Eight and Nine were invited, but Seven blocked the door and didn't let Nine in.
> "Sorry. No squares," said Seven.
> Nine left. Seven was mean.

Ben

19 and 20 challenged each other to an arm wrestle. 21.

kviiri

I just noticed IPS is back on HNQ

Ben

Irritable Pun Syndrome?

kviiri

Interpersonal Skills

BESW

That's gonna end well, yes.

'cause all the problems with HNQ that made it a bad idea are tooootally fixed.

Ben

6:42 AM

@BESW [searches IPS for "identifying sarcasm"]

:P

trogdor

lol

Ben

7:30 AM

Don't spell "part" backwards.

vicky_molokh

@kviiri Too little too late?

linksassin

34

Q: Let's go back to HNQ!

Like discussed, IPS would like to return to HNQ. Support for a return to HNQ was overwhelming, so here's a feature request: Bring IPS back on HNQ! We've had the discussion about when and what to remove, and that seems quite settled. As far as the number of questions goes, most answers to How ma...

feature-request status-completed hot-network-questions

BESW

7:51 AM

@linksassin 🎶 Let's do the Time Warp again!

Hot RPG Questions

9:44 AM

2

Q: How different in size is a keelboat and a longship?

In Ghosts of Saltmarsh, stats for Longships and Keelboats show that they are close to the same size if you measure length and width (70ft x 20ft and 60ft x 20ft, respectively), but are very different in terms of capacity. A keelboat can carry a total of 7 creatures and .5 tons of cargo, while the...

dnd-5e vehicles

BESW

10:13 AM

The TTRPG Safety Toolkit (Google Drive folder link) by Kienna Shaw and Lauren Bryant-Monk. It contains the TTRPG Quick Reference Guide v.2.0 (now called the TTRPG Safety Toolkit Guide), copies and links to other safety resources, and printable XNO cards.

6

linksassin

@BESW Cannot star hard enough. What an amazing effort to draw together a bunch of good techniques and present them without judgement.

BESW

I'm so happy it exists.

It's now much easier for people to quickly see that safety tools are a common thing for a broad variety of circumstances and needs.

And somebody leave a "welcome to RPGSE and how is this an answer?" comment for this new user, please? It's awkward to do that when they're trying to answer my own question.

linksassin

@BESW Happy to do it, though I don't understand the system at all to explain why it isn't an answer. Though I can see that it doesn't seem to address the question

@BESW Also, I may be misunderstanding but isn't that a designer reasons question? Or are you questioning the rule itself?

BESW

10:28 AM

I'm asking what effect it has on the game. Why is it bad?

Like, if you get disadvantage on a roll in D&D 5e, you know why that's a handicap.

This LOOKS more like if a D&D 5e rule said "when you are blinded, you have advantage on all attacks." I'd want to know why.

Sdjz

Not why the rule was made that way but how is having advantage on all attacks a bad thing, right?

linksassin

@BESW Ah, so it is what I thought but you're questioning an inconsistency in the rules. That's a valid question.

BESW

Yeah.

Sdjz

Also, is my comment ok? Anything else you want to add or change?

BESW

Looks fine, thanks.

If I were going to leave a comment, I'd piece together some of my pre-made bits:

Welcome to rpg.se! Please take a look at the [tour], it's a useful introduction to the site.
I'm not sure how this is an answer to the question being asked.
Stack Exchange is a Q&A site, not a traditional discussion forum.
The Stack needs answers which connect all the dots, without leaving anything as an exercise for the reader.
Please [edit] in sources for your information.

You said basically the same things.

@linksassin I don't know if it's a bad rule, or a rule I don't understand, or a series of strange typos, or what.

linksassin

10:35 AM

@BESW Yep that's totally fine. This is why I have learned to steer clear of systems I don't understand.

BESW

@Sdjz Pretty much the only thing I'd've done differently is specify (with the [edit] quicklink) that they should add the info to their answer and not in a comment underneath it.

@linksassin I mean... this is Ki Khanga. Look at the other questions with that tag.

linksassin

@BESW True, so it's a system that no one understands. :P

BESW

I'm the only person who's ever asked a question about it, and I've got no proper attempt to answer any of them in more than a year.

But yeah, you don't need to know the system to be able to tell when an answer is that tangential to the problem.

Sdjz

I think the answer is somehow talking about the deck of many things from D&D though this is just a guess

BESW

It's not like Lady Blackbird where it might be reasonable to assume the system has spells with damage ratings. But then again, it's also not like Lady Blackbird where the game is freely available online and takes ten minutes to read all the rules twice.

@Sdjz Hmmm I hadn't even thought of that.

I think you're right!

That's a deep cut, nice spot.

I didn't realize that the 5e Deck summons something actually called the Avatar of Death.

[flags as not an answer]

Sdjz

10:47 AM

this also seems to be assuming D&D again (unless daerns instant fortress is also in anima beyond fantasy)

BESW

Oh dear, maybe someone needs to tell that user to slow down before they get an answer suspension.

[sigh] There's gotta be a better way for a site to deal with enthusiastic new users.

linksassin

Ok so a user just posted these two question: Highest AC at level 1 and Highest Permanent AC at level 1. I can only assume that they were inspired by this on hold question from earlier today. What should we do?

Sdjz

@linksassin What is the issue exactly?

linksassin

@Sdjz To me they are all basically the same question.

Sdjz

@linksassin Well the 2 posted new ones are for temporary AC or permanent AC, the first closed one by another user is simply unclear

linksassin

10:57 AM

Also the on hold question was posted by a new user and is only 8 hours old. Its not a great look for another users to repost the question but better before the OP has a chance to fix up the question.

I don't think any site policy has been broken it's just not a great look.

BESW

Strictly by Stack guidelines as I understand them, you figure out which is most likely to get good answers and close-as-dupe the others if they're really dupes, and edit any not-dupes to be more obviously not dupes.

With the understanding that dupe-closing is not bad, so you upvote 'em as thanks for creating a broader landing zone for people to enter the site.

linksassin

@BESW I know that is the correct answer. But it does feel unfair to the new user who will now have no chance of getting their question reopened.

BESW

10 mins ago, by BESW

[sigh] There's gotta be a better way for a site to deal with enthusiastic new users.

Someone_Evil

@linksassin On the other hand they arguably stand a better chance getting their question (if not post) answered, which is kinda the point

BESW

Yup. Pearls, not sand.

Sdjz

11:06 AM

@BESW Another one

linksassin

Should we flag a mod to give speedstriker enough rep to join us here so we can explain?

BESW

I know the Stack policies and guidelines quite well and I can parrot the apologetics along with the best of them--I used to believe a lot of it, and I still think some of them are genuinely the best practices given the underlying assumptions about the nature of knowledge and living information systems.

No.

They've been pushed to the tour at least three times and haven't read it, why would we reward them with a personal chat?

If they show good-faith efforts to improve, then it's very reasonable and laudable to go out of the way to assist them if they're still struggling.

As it is, they aren't availing themselves of the existing tools at their disposal when we know they're aware of them

linksassin

@BESW Ok that's fair. I just thought it might be easier than chasing down their posts and flagging/comments.

BESW

I'm gonna keep flagging, won't leave any more comments. Get the answers deleted and they'll stop being a problem because that many answers that fast without learning gets you an answer suspension.

Sdjz

@nitsua60 is also here now so you might want to take a look at this user (though I agree this user likely is getting an automatic answer suspension soon)

kviiri

11:19 AM

Heh, I'm used to seeing that for Dungeon World

BESW

Yeah, seeing it for Ki Khanga was a trip.

kviiri

How's your Ki Khanga experience been? Did you give up hacking it?

BESW

It's dropped to the bottom of the heap in priorities.

I've got three games of my own in dev right now.

Well, technically four or five but only three have currently pitched tents at the front of my brain.

kviiri

That's totally reasonable and understandable :)

linksassin

@kviiri DW looks so similar in the themes and such that I can see how people make that mistake. Still annoying though.

kviiri

11:21 AM

Heck, I'm having a hard time finding the energy to play RPGs.

@linksassin Agreed. Its vocabulary consciously evokes DnD so it's remarkably easy to make that mistake.

BESW

LLKM needs a new beta pass with some aggressive text re-writes, and Greener evilly suggested a completely mechanical system that I can't just dismiss.

Where Are We Going? needs tweaking but I don't know how.

And then an old idea reared its head a few days ago and presented me with an actual theme rather than just the clever concept it had previous been.

It's now a game about how RPGs keep us from killing our friends.

kviiri

Oh my!

BESW

Derived from this:

Setting Seed: Holodeck Breakdown

Jul 10 '14 at 6:35, 17 minutes total – 16 messages, 4 users, 0 stars

Bookmarked Jul 10 '14 at 9:52 by BESW

kviiri

@BESW We played Lord Scurlock last Sunday

BESW

BTW, @linksassin, this is a cruel way to frame the concept but it's an important part of the Stack policy ethos: The Help Vampire problem

kviiri

11:26 AM

I fancied the setting idea quite a lot, although I feel our GM might've lacked a bit of vision on how to make it work.

BESW

I'm not familiar with the setting!

kviiri

@BESW It's Ilysium from Lady Blackbird! Specifically, the Scurlock manor. The synopsis is that the eponymous Lord is dead, and the players are his three children (one of which is an automaton!) and faithful servant of his house. The Lord was an occultist, and implied to have been involved in unsavory stuff --- but the main plot hook is that there are lots of debtors hovering around the mansion to collect their dues from the Estate.

The estate has nowhere near enough money to pay them all.

BESW

Cool!

[tosses to a new acquaintance who's trying to wrap their head around RPGs that have intimate stakes]

nitsua60

@Sdjz What's up?

BESW

Omigosh how did I miss the updated Lady Blackbird sheets?

Sdjz

11:42 AM

@nitsua60 New enthusiastic user posting a lot of answers on unanswered questions but assuming they are all about D&D. I don't think it's much of an issue since the aumatic systems will likely trigger here but I still thought you might want to have a look

In case you want to intervene in some other manner, maybe a mod super message or something

nitsua60

@Sdjz Thanks--have they been flagged for the VLQ queue?

BESW

Yes, three answers already got deleted as VLQ/NAA.

They've been pointed toward the tour at least three times, still don't have the Informed badger.

kviiri

@BESW My character, Tertius, was basically interested in the money --- not inheriting the title, nor any prestige. Some really interesting interactions followed when a character was trying to extract "hush money" from the estate to cover up Lord Scurlock's dark legacy and Tertius essentially told them that "Y'know, I don't really mind. It's probably good for my rep."

Eventually, we wound up in a mafia war

BESW

Also one closed question in negative votes and no attempt to edit it while they went on the answering spree.

@kviiri [snerk]

nitsua60

Okay--sounds like the system's working so far =)

BESW

11:47 AM

Three downvoted and deleted answers in an hour probably kicked in the "no longer accepting answers from this account" wall.

nitsua60

Prolly--I'm not sure the exact formula's public, and I definitely don't know it off the top of my head =)

BESW

It's not public, specifically to avoid people gaming it.

> To avoid bypassing the filter its internal rules are a secret, but it is partly based on downvotes cast by other members of the communities. If the other members of the site consistently give your posts a low ranking, you should try to identify the reason(s) for this. (source)

kviiri

@BESW Tertius is a professional criminal, so it checks out :)

goodguy5

12:15 PM

@vicky_molokh I think it was mentioned by moose. I've got the tab open on drivethru

@BESW Aw! what a cute recommendation! I'll probably back-pocket that, but thanks!

BESW

@goodguy5 It's Troggy's favorite RPG ever, I think. And it's certainly in my top [mumble].

He's been running it for Ash and myself, and we're having a ton of fun with me playing an ebullient dog henge and Ash playing a cat henge that's very worried about whether we're following the rules.

Last weekend we helped a boy go back into school to get his homework, because it was scary at night, and then we found a puppy and gave it to him.

goodguy5

awwwww

I know the guy I'm orchestrating this for likes combat.

And he also likes a certain amount of crunch in his game. But since we're not doing chargen, I suppose I can handwave an amount of the crunch.

kviiri

Observing your badge count made me realize I have 13 gold ones already. They just keep coming

BESW

Masters of Umdaar can do Thundercats style stuff no problem.

goodguy5

12:32 PM

@kviiri showoff

Glazius

@BESW Ribbon Drive is worth looking at. buriedwithoutceremony.com/ribbon-drive

kviiri

@goodguy5 Guilty as charged

BESW

@kviiri ....I only have nine.

nitsua60

@kviiri Populist x4 is pretty impressive.

kviiri

@nitsua60 Yeah, I think I had a phase where I had a knack for posting the things that the community loves even if individual querents disagreed

BESW

12:38 PM

@kviiri You have a reversal!

goodguy5

@nitsua60 I was hoping to luck my way into another populist badge on that dragonsbreath question. Querent chose (better) formatting.

kviiri

@BESW Yeah, looking back I don't think the question I answered was particularly bad --- I just think many DnD fans reacted bad to "round up as you usually do" part :)

nitsua60

Although the stat I think is currently blowing my mind is @V2Blast, in 2 years, out-editing doppelgreener's career. At this rate SSD might not stay on that perch for too much longer!

doppelgreener

Oh wow. I've been dethroned from second place!

About time, lol

trogdor

lol

oh no! my spot in 5000th place!

doppelgreener

12:47 PM

Alas! You've become 5001st place

Although that was probably a good while ago

trogdor

probably

at least there is a first in there now

Carcer

IIRC I've got three populists and a reversal

as long as we're congratulating ourselves on our gold badges

@kviiri no, it was bad. It basically says "hey, I can't be bothered to read the rules, how does this work?" and your response is "well, the rules clearly say..."

kviiri

@Carcer I don't think it's that bad. "Round down unless told otherwise" is a pretty core rule, yes, but it's nowhere near the multiclassing rules and contradicts the usual protocols of rounding, so I think a person might be excused for not knowing it.

On the other hand, I wonder why this issue wasn't settled with their GM.

Carcer

@kviiri but as you also state the multiclassing rules themselves explicitly tell you to round down

you don't have to refer to any general rules for that

G. Moylan

1:02 PM

if my question isn't a duplicate why does it keep getting marked as one

Rubiksmoose

@nitsua60 wow! And I'm not even close in 3rd.

kviiri

@Carcer Oh. Haha!

You're right! I didn't read my own answer carefully enough :D

Carcer

I can see why it got the downvotes it did, it's a good example of showing very little research effort and even explicitly identifies, in the question, the research the user could have easily done to solve their problem

@G.Moylan not everyone gets the memo and goldtags can flag dupes unilaterally

Rubiksmoose

@G.Moylan it just means that people disagree if it is or not. If it's the one from yesterday, it's understandable because it's a bit of a fine line. Though IMO not a dupe.

G. Moylan

he agreed with me it wasn't a dupe but still marked it a dupe......?

wait

that's not right

Rubiksmoose

1:06 PM

(shuffles off to look)

G. Moylan

Andras marked it as dupe not Someone

I thought Someone had done that but he linked the meta thread

Someone_Evil

@G.Moylan I was about to point that out to you :p

Rubiksmoose

Can you link the question? I'm on mobile

Someone_Evil

11

Q: Using a found spellbook as a Sorcerer-Wizard multiclass

I have a Divine Soul Sorcerer 6 (with INT 13) playing in a published adventure. I just found a spellbook with 11 spells in it of varying levels. All are wizard spells, and some of the spells are also on the sorcerer and cleric spell lists, to which I have access. The specific spellbook can be ...

dnd-5e wizard multi-classing sorcerer spellcasting

Rubiksmoose

Thanks!

G. Moylan

1:08 PM

@Someone_Evil I was getting ready to be all incensed. My apologies

Someone_Evil

No worries

Rubiksmoose

Is there anything you can add to your question that would make it clearer that these aren't dupes? The fact that this had happened a few times now Nana that people aren't getting it and that's the job of the question

kviiri

@Carcer Yeah, I agree on re-read

Also, I think that matter should've been cleared by them and their GM (but that might as well be the GM's fault)

G. Moylan

I'll add a clarification at the bottom

Rubiksmoose

I can undupe it but I'd want you to help fix the underlying problem first so it doesn't keep churning up disagreement

G. Moylan

1:11 PM

what do we think would be sufficient?

just adding: Clarification: I am asking HOW/IF I can use this spellbook at all.

?

goodguy5

I've finally got an answer for that Crossbow Expert charop question, but I know the reward to effort ratio is going to be bad.

Rubiksmoose

@goodguy5 reward to effort for OP?

goodguy5

no, for me to type up an answer.

I'll be lucky to get 50 rep from it.

Rubiksmoose

@goodguy5 ah yeah.

goodguy5

charop answers aren't typically revered

G. Moylan

1:15 PM

charop?

Sdjz

@G.Moylan 1d4chan.org/wiki/CharOp

or optimization questions

Rubiksmoose

@G.Moylan Yeah it is really hard to phrase it without assuming the answer in your question.

Maybe something like "This question [link to question] is not a duplicate because it is only talking about copying spells into another wizard's book. I'm looking for all options available to me to use the book and not assuming copying has to happen."

G. Moylan

oo that's way better than what I put

Someone_Evil

@Rubiksmoose I think that would be marked as a dupe of another question which has (arguably incorrectly) been marked as a dupe of that same question (as all the others)

Specifically this one

Rubiksmoose

@Someone_Evil ugh, the dupes are such a mess.

Someone_Evil

1:20 PM

Which is why I posted a link to that meta discussion of yours. It clearly need some more attention.

Rubiksmoose

@Someone_Evil So here's the way I'd sort this out I think. Undupe the question you just linked and make it a dupe of this question instead. And undupe this question from the other wizard question.

G. Moylan

yeah that Walter/Sam question doesn't directly ask the same thing I did but the scenario is similar enough. Whether I've "found" the book or been handed the book the result is the same

Rubiksmoose

The reason for duping the older question to the newer question is that the newer question seems clearer and has better answers. The answers on the older question never get around to actually addressing the issue (presumably before being closed as a dup and abandoned)

G. Moylan

ALTHOUGH the walter/sam question assumes they have to copy. they are looking for a way around that

my question did not assume I had to copy anything, but that's nitpicky I guess

yeah the top answer to that one is really unsatisfying

*only

Rubiksmoose

Yeah the specific issue here is that this question is a "false assumption" or "missing a rule" type question. We know the answer so it looks like a dupe, but OP (you) is still confused by the dupe because they don't know what they don't know and the answers to other questions don't connect the dots that everyone else is seeing.

G. Moylan

1:29 PM

yeah it's weird. and my perspective on it is skewed now too because now I DO know the rule, and I'm trying to remember that I was unaware of it at the time

Rubiksmoose

(obviously you know the answer now because of chat and because Naut was able to get you one before it was closed, but that doesn't always happen of course)

@G.Moylan It's hard sometimes for people who know the rules very well to look at a question from the perspective of someone who does not know the rule(s).

G. Moylan

I hear that. Same with IT. I've worked in IT for years and it surprises me sometimes when people don't know certain computer things

anything we're familiar with, really

Rubiksmoose

Like, for me, that dupe would be enough to answer the question if I had it, but only because I knew the rule and thus could connect the dots myself. However, we should not be leaving any dots for a question poster to connect. If a question isn't asking the same thing and doesn't provide an answer, then something needs to change.

G. Moylan

yeah the way my question was phrased (and the missing information), the other question actually answers it in the body, since it mentions copying

but I feel like that's not a dupe because I should be referring to the answers, and the answers to that question don't directly answer mine

Rubiksmoose

@G.Moylan I'd say if you put something like my suggestion we can undupe it.

G. Moylan

1:34 PM

ok I'll do that give me a few

Rubiksmoose

(it's not changing the question I just want to make it clear so there's no more churn)

The older dupes aren't going anywhere, so I think a meta would be good to address them.

G. Moylan

ok I think I've got it. I also linked to some closely related questions

Mark Wells

So, this: rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/149274/…

G. Moylan

the original question asks almost the same thing and the answers seem to answer the new question

Mark Wells

Can someone explain, since I seem not to get it, why this question about which game mechanics to apply to a situation is being called "opinion-based"?

G. Moylan

1:43 PM

because some people might call for a roll and some might not

they're disguised in a crowded room and the target is distracted. Some people might not think that requires a stealth roll. It's a DM discretion thing and therefore opinion

Mark Wells

@G.Moylan Surely those people can answer based on their experience, then?

Rubiksmoose

@MarkWells I don't know why. It's not primarily opinion-based.

G. Moylan

they should be able to, I would think. I'm just saying why I think someone would mark that as opinion.

I think there are answers to it that are based in rules and DM experience.

Rubiksmoose

@MarkWells Sure, who calls for what rolls can differ table to table, but you are absolutely correct, a good answer can support with experience and with plenty of rules support. There aren't really that many options even.

G. Moylan

That said, the linked question seems to pretty well answer this new one

Mark Wells

1:47 PM

@G.Moylan Oh, well so long as we found some reason to close it.

Rubiksmoose

@G.Moylan If we hear back from OP it might not be a dupe. Hopefully it can be clarified and reopened if the questions aren't the same.

G. Moylan

yes. I sympathize. Our boats are similar

@Rubiksmoose do you find that SOX messes with your pageload times in a significant way? or is it really that noticeable?

Rubiksmoose

@G.Moylan It's hard to say because my day computer is so darned slow to begin with and my home computer is so fast :-/ But yeah I do think it has an effect on load times.

G. Moylan

@Rubiksmoose I'm still messing with it and turning features on/off as I see them crop up. It seems neat though. I like it so far

Setting Seed: Holodeck Breakdown

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