TRPG General Chat

Mage in the Barrel

5:20 PM

I'm trying to come up with a character that's cursed by a god what would you have to do to merit a divine curse?

DucksGoMooful

Blaspheme a temple?

GcL

@MageintheBarrel Wrong place at the wrong time can be funny. E.g. got cursed through no fault of their own for being somewhere during a rare event.

DucksGoMooful

@MageintheBarrel

MikeQ

Maybe they're cursed since birth, for unknown reasons. What's the curse and why do you want it?

GcL

@MageintheBarrel Maybe walking by a place that was the actual target of some divine smiting curse, and just caught the edge of it by virtue of being in the area.

Xirema

5:25 PM

@MageintheBarrel Seduced the God's mortal son and didn't call afterwards. He was heartbroken.

Mage in the Barrel

that was a serious question btw

DucksGoMooful

lots of serious answers too :P

MikeQ

It's also a really broad question. What kind of curse? What kind of deity? What purpose would it serve within the game? If you provide more information, then perhaps you can get better answers.

user15026

I assume it's dependent on what god is doing the cursing

Xirema

@MageintheBarrel My knowledge of mythology tells me that my answer was the most legitimate. =P

(Although usually it's one of the Gods—usually Zeus—who hooks up with people and then refuses to call afterwards....)

Mark Wells

5:28 PM

@Xirema Seemed legitimate to me. Lots of Greek gods would curse you for that

DucksGoMooful

Dude thinking he's hot stuff on the lyre gets cursed by the god of music or something

Mage in the Barrel

the idea is the pc is cursed to never age beyond a certain point. Trying to think of a justification for it 5e

Xirema

Someday, Zeus will return to me.... T_T

DucksGoMooful

Guy cursed by Dionysus to be forever 1 day younger than the legal drinking age :P

3

GcL

@MageintheBarrel Seems pretty system agnostic to me. You're way into DM fiat and homebrew for 5e.

Mark Wells

5:30 PM

@MageintheBarrel If this is part of your backstory then it's creating a relationship between you and the deity, and some history of what you must have done. What do you want that history to look like?

GcL

@DucksGoMooful That's entertaining... What did he do to incur that one?

Xirema

@MageintheBarrel I mean, you don't even need divine magic in 5e... just be a Wild Magic Sorcerer that keeps botching their Wild Magic rolls.

MikeQ

Is this for backstory purposes or mechanical purposes? Would this make the character immune to magical aging effects (if any)?

DucksGoMooful

@GcL Went wild at a satyr rave, perhaps. Dionysus looks down on under-age drinking cause that's wack

Mage in the Barrel

yeah but I can't controll the roll I get

GcL

5:31 PM

@MikeQ Not immune... but the deity keeps hitting ctrl-z if one happens.

MikeQ

Also do you need a justification from the deity's perspective? Perhaps the deity was feeling malicious, and arbitrarily decided to curse someone.

Mage in the Barrel

backstory and rp mostly being immune to magical aging would just be for constentency

yeah the diety needs a reason to curse you

DucksGoMooful

If it's a lovecraftian-type god, then you don't even need justification. It might have just done it for the lols. See: The Endless (movie)

MikeQ

Maybe they were cursed by the god of arbitrary curses, who curses people without justification.

GcL

@MageintheBarrel Do they have a proficiency it making things? cartography or painting or anything that could make something. Perhaps they made a mockery of the deity in some age related way.

Mark Wells

5:33 PM

@DucksGoMooful You could, but that's wasting a perfectly good plot hook

Mage in the Barrel

thought about having a botched spell damage the gods holy ground

that's piss them off

GcL

@MageintheBarrel Sounds good. Damaged holy property.

DucksGoMooful

A better question, perhaps, is: why would that be the curse?

Mage in the Barrel

thats one of the points i'm stuck on

DucksGoMooful

Coming up with reasons to give someone a curse is easy, but fitting a reason to a specific curse gives you a more interesting backstory, imo

David Coffron

5:35 PM

@MageintheBarrel Does it matter which deity?

GcL

@DucksGoMooful Peed into the fountain of youth.

Mage in the Barrel

maybe the pc was screwing with time based magic and damaged holy property and the god decided to mess with the pcs time as a result

David Coffron

Perhaps the character openly mocked the goddess of fertility, so she cursed her to never age (and thereby never reach child-bearing age)

Mage in the Barrel

i like that

MikeQ

Again, this is really going to depend on setting-specific factors, which the DM would know. Plus, the DM may have objections about a player character that lives forever.

David Coffron

5:36 PM

(although a curse of infertility might make more sense if that was the goal)

Mark Wells

@MageintheBarrel Again, why are you doing this?

DucksGoMooful

Any god probably has some sort of alarm sensor or something to let them know when a mortal is messing around with time or aging or their holy ground

Mage in the Barrel

cause there was a manga character i liked that had a similar curse

they could never age or take physical damage but would still take mental damage and feel pain

DucksGoMooful

What manga, out of curiosity?

David Coffron

If it were the Forgotten Realms, I could see Kas cursing some powerful wizard seeking lichdom through Vecna to remain in youth for all time (never reach the age of wisdom)

Mage in the Barrel

5:38 PM

trying to remember the same

name*

David Coffron

Any reason it has to be a curse and not a blessing?

Perhaps a Peter Pan-esque blessing to never be forced to become an adult

MikeQ

@DavidCoffron As a curse, it gives +1 to edginess

3

Mage in the Barrel

UQ holder

a manga about a bunch of imortal characters with different types of imortality

there's even a character has imortaility via time jumps re:zero style

GcL

@DavidCoffron Wasn't Peter Pan the angel of death? Took kids away to a place where they never grow old?

Mage in the Barrel

which module does the godess of fertility belong to?

David Coffron

5:43 PM

@MageintheBarrel hm? there are goddesses of fertility in many settings, and in many real world faiths

MikeQ

I don't think the Forgotten Realms has one specific fertility deity

David Coffron

@MikeQ Not in Faerun, but Maztica has Kiltzi

MikeQ

@DavidCoffron I mean, I don't think there is a "the" fertility deity. There may be multiple that have some governance over fertility and/or aging.

David Coffron

@MikeQ Ah, yeah. It is one of the aspects of the Love Domain and/or Nature Domain

MikeQ

@MageintheBarrel Anyhow, it's probably wisest to discuss this idea with your DM. It's possible that the DM may 1. reject the idea or 2. ignore it in gameplay.

Mage in the Barrel

5:48 PM

I'm still working on finding a game currently trying to get my ideas into a tangible system before I do my spiel. Any tips for finding games online

David Coffron

What starting level @MageintheBarrel? You could get close by having a character with a long maturity time that starts as a level 10 warlock (Undying). Then they could stay in adolescence for centuries.

**Undying Nature**
[...]

In addition, you age at a slower rate. For every 10 years that pass, your body ages only 1 year, and you are immune to being magically aged.

Mage in the Barrel

I heard someone mention the warforged

David Coffron

Warforged say:

> A typical warforged is between two and thirty years old. The maximum lifespan of the warforged remains a mystery; so far, warforged have shown no signs of deterioration due to age.

MikeQ

Warforged aren't a PHB race. So again, this character's viability will vary by DM.

David Coffron

And as @MikeQ says, it shows up in Wayfinder's Gudie to Eberron, so whether they are permitted in your game is up to the GM.

Mage in the Barrel

5:51 PM

also a curse to be a child forever is way harsher than a curse of infertility because not only will you be infertile you'll also have a hard time in daily life.

rather than just the night life

David Coffron

> Warforged are formed from a blend of organic and inorganic materials.

GcL

@MageintheBarrel Is the character an adolescent? You might want to check with the other players that they're cool with that.

Mage in the Barrel

true

David Coffron

While the Warforged of Eberron have specific appearances, you could say that your character just as mechanical internals and organic externals in such a way that they look mostly human-like, but don't age (with GM buy-in of course)

GcL

@DavidCoffron That was a Robin Williams movie? Millennium Man?

Or AI was the one with the boy that was actually a robot?

MikeQ

5:55 PM

@DavidCoffron That's a hard sell. I can imagine the DM refusing because they don't want the player arguing that their character should be immune to most hazards.

Mage in the Barrel

warforged don't age visibly do they

David Coffron

@MikeQ I mean... You would just be using the warforged stats:

> - You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
- You are immune to disease.
- You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
- You don’t need to sleep and don’t suffer the effects of exhaustion due to lack of rest, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Mage in the Barrel

that sounds op

very op

GcL

@DavidCoffron And some characters in the setting think you're property not a person.... so watch out for those.

MikeQ

@DavidCoffron Ah, I misunderstood. I thought you meant they'd be human, but with free robotic features because it's in the backstory.

David Coffron

5:58 PM

@MageintheBarrel Not many people disagree with you. Wait til you hear about their AC

Mage in the Barrel

yeah I read that

does warforged coount as setting specific

Q: Are any races excluded from character creation?

A: All setting specific races (Vedalken, Simic, etc.)

in the one I was looking at this was listed

MikeQ

@MageintheBarrel They could be. Within the lore, warforged are from Eberron.

Mage in the Barrel

guess i'll have to ask

MikeQ

But I've heard of games with "off-brand" warforged, who the DM said were just robot-things created within the setting.

David Coffron

@MageintheBarrel Yeah, no limits appear in the base rules for character creation. It's up to the GM

GcL

6:00 PM

@DavidCoffron Yeah, the 3.5 ed they had real drawbacks especially with regard to healing and damage susceptibilities to rust and construct specific spells.

G. Moylan

I'm getting ready to do a one-shot that explains "sentient golems" that will eventually be warfoged in teh setting

GcL

My 5e campaigns the problems of being a warforged are more built into the world than into the character, but I don't use the wayfinder's guide.

David Coffron

@MikeQ I played a Warforged in a Ravnica game (we considered it a liberated Transguild Courier, but a medium sized one)

Mage in the Barrel

well i gotta catch my bus cya

David Coffron

@MageintheBarrel Cheers

Mage in the Barrel

6:03 PM

thanks for all the advice

David Coffron

So, I'm bored out of my mind at work today (no customers). I need something to keep my mind busy.

GcL

@DavidCoffron You could figure out what the minimum level is to be able to cast all the spells.

MikeQ

@DavidCoffron Have you tried building a calculator, using only paper clips and rubber bands

David Coffron

@GcL I think I've done that...

39

Q: How many characters using PHB rules does it take to be able to have access to any PHB spell at the start of an adventuring day?

I originally read this related question as wanting to find out how to have a party with access to every spell during an adventuring day with as few members as possible. It turned out that the linked question was asking something different, but I am also curious about my original interpretation. ...

Yuuki

@DavidCoffron Speculate wildly over the BotW 2 trailer.

David Coffron

6:12 PM

@MikeQ Umm? I don't follow.

MikeQ

@DavidCoffron Using only paper clips and rubber bands, construct a functioning device that performs mathematical computations

David Coffron

You can use tension to store information (for gates to do math in binary). But you'd have to manually reset it each time

MikeQ

Nobody said the device needs to be efficient

David Coffron

I could probably design one, but I don't have much space to build one...

MikeQ

@DavidCoffron You can create more space by increasing your font size

DucksGoMooful

6:17 PM

does "The DM has the creature's statistics" imply that the DM chooses the thing that's summoned, with regards to spells such as Conjure Woodland Beings or Conjure Minor Elementals?

David Coffron

9

Q: Does Conjure Minor Elementals let the caster choose which elemental to summon?

Does conjure minor elementals, with respect to the restriction on its CR, let the caster choose which elemental to summon? If no, is it determined randomly?

dnd-5e spells summoning

and...

16

Q: How do you determine which beast appears during the Conjure Animals spell?

According to the spell "Conjure Animals" on P. 225 of the PHB, the description states: Choose one of the following options for what appears [...] Besides selecting one or more beasts based on the challenge rating, how do you determine exactly which beast appears? Is this a random roll by t...

dnd-5e spells summoning

GcL

@DucksGoMooful yeah, but you still get a bunch of allies out of the spells. So that's nice.

David Coffron

@DucksGoMooful I think that line is just to say that the GM is the one who typically has access to monster stat blocks (as a new player who has only read the Player's Handbook may have no idea that a Monster Manual even exists)

MikeQ

Alternatively, you can sate your boredom by brainstorming about cool settings and plot ideas for tabletop campaigns that will never happen

DucksGoMooful

Interesting

Just from the reading, I wouldn't have taken it that way, but the Sage Advice confirms it I guess

nitsua60

6:44 PM

@Rubiksmoose since I see you're already commenting on the post about conjure minor elemental, I won't jump in. (I also think that between you and all the other commenters on the two posts, you-all have hit the major issues.)

Personally, I think your advice to focus on the problem rather than the question is spot-on. Right now the post is all a muddle about player vs. character, and possibly designer.

I've also gone ahead and re-closed the first as an exact dupe of the second--it sure seems to me that OP is grappling with the same disquiet in both posts, as they struggle with how to explicate it.

Rubiksmoose

Personally, I think they had a better question with the first rather than the second, but that is really their choice.

Sounds and looks good to me! I'm not sure there if there is too much in either version that is really stackable.

nitsua60

Yeah--I'm not too worried about the stackability. It looks like plenty of people are jumping in to try to help. I just wanted to help that process happen in a unified way, rather than spread across the two posts.

Mage in the Barrel

7:35 PM

in the ddnd beyond page for wartorn it says wartorn are typically 2-30 years old that's not apparent age right?

Rubiksmoose

@MageintheBarrel Warforged you mean?

Mage in the Barrel

yeah

goodguy5

Though, a motion to refer to warforged veterans as "Wartorn"

Carcer

yeah, that's actual chronological age

warforged are made, not born

goodguy5

But I don't think there's much of a cap on how old they CAN be.

just that they're usually 2-30

Mage in the Barrel

7:39 PM

when were warforged invented would the be any extreemly old units still active?

Carcer

in the Eberron setting, which is where warforged are specifically from, the first warforged were invented in 965 YK, and the present year as of most recent material is 998 YK I believe

so the oldest warforged in that setting, barring any kind of weird time shenanigans, is early 30s

Rubiksmoose

To fight in the Last War no?

goodguy5

eberron.fandom.com/wiki/Eberron_Timeline

Mage in the Barrel

so it's not just that they generally don't last long due to breaking in battle

goodguy5

I mean, it might be, but we don't know yet

CTWind

7:41 PM

Yeah, they didn't even exist 40 years ago.

Carcer

yeah, in the last war

Mage in the Barrel

I just like the idea of an extreemly old mechanical creation that someone found in a ruin and reactivated.

I get a lot of my ideas from anime manga and video games

Carcer

I mean, if I were your DM I'd be happy to work that out with you as a character concept, assuming it was plausible in my setting

Mage in the Barrel

that one was eve from elsword

loosely

G. Moylan

@MageintheBarrel I did that and flavored it as a gnomic invention

@G.Moylan up to the DM, of course

Mage in the Barrel

7:45 PM

something like it is very similar in physiology to warforged and was made by a gnomic inventor 100s of years ago to be a caretaker for his lab

G. Moylan

The character was a gnomic invention to defend their settlement from a local orc tribe. His name was Bulwark, for he was their shield.

Mage in the Barrel

maybe i'll reflavor the warforged

that'll be fun

Rubiksmoose

@G.Moylan I did something very similar for my warforged artificer

(in custom setting)

Actually the setting was very much based around Discworld so Warforged essentially substituted for golems in Disc lore.

kinda sorta

MikeQ

@Rubiksmoose Is this the one with the robomunculus familiar, so you're just 2 robots

G. Moylan

I'm working on a setting now where warforged are advanced forms of sentient golems. The technology having been developed from a long-dead mage's experiments in golemancy

Rubiksmoose

7:49 PM

@MikeQ Yeah I played as an Alchemist who had a robomunculus :)

G. Moylan

I'm running a one-shot this weekend where the Emperor at the time was originally trying to "collect" said mage's lost research. We're going to dupe some adventurers into trying to further his designs

Carcer

@MikeQ "you're just 2 robots in a trenchcoat!"

G. Moylan

Vincent Robot-man

MikeQ

@Carcer [angry beeping noises]

Carcer

@MageintheBarrel if you're designing a character you mean to actually play in a game you're signed up to participate in I strongly suggest you discuss the concept with the DM before you get too attached to anything

Mage in the Barrel

7:52 PM

i'm not signed up for anything yet

MikeQ

@Carcer This was discussed; apparently they don't have a game or DM yet

Mage in the Barrel

trying to find a game that allows weird things like this

the only group in my town is AL and i'm mainly interested in rp over combat so that won't work

I couldn't get there either way

MikeQ

@MageintheBarrel If you're prioritizing RP versus combat, have you considered trying a different system other than 5E? Generally 5E is very combat-focused.

Carcer

Sure. Then further advice: still don't get super attached to the concept, because you may still have an uphill struggle convincing a DM to allow something that's relatively far off the beaten path

especially if it's a DM that you don't personally know already and have a good relationship with.

Mage in the Barrel

whats a good module for rp focus?

or whatever you call it

Carcer

7:55 PM

Be willing to do something a bit more traditional if it gets you a group to play with... once you have a gaming group and you've got a good rapport it gets easier to get people to buy in to more outlandish concepts

MikeQ

D&D 5E doesn't really have anything special for roleplay stuff. RP is allowed, but backstory choices and character motives usually aren't impactful in gameplay, unless the character is antagonistic, which is not advisable.

Mage in the Barrel

any fantasy settings that a rp focused?

MikeQ

For example, if the 5E adventure is all about clearing some dwarves out of a kobold mine, then it's likely that a character's intricate backstory won't come into play

Carcer

this is not to say that all 5e games are nothing but constant combat and nobody ever bothers with that roleplay business, but it's got a strong mechanical focus on combat and there is expected to be a lot of that

whether or not your group roleplays a lot around that depends on the group.

MikeQ

There are definitely systems where backstory and RP is applied more meaningfully. 13th age, Fate, Dungeon World (maybe?),... probably others too

Carcer

8:00 PM

There are many other roleplaying games out there which often have emphasis on different things so may be more supportive of the kind of play you're imagining...

Rubiksmoose

@MikeQ PbtA

Carcer

but of course with the caveat that D&D and D&D-derivates absolutely dominate the RPG market and so finding a group that wants to play one of those other games off the bat is a far from guaranteed proposition.

DW is PbtA, isn't it?

Yuuki

Also, combat-RP is neither a dichotomy not a strict one.

Rubiksmoose

@Carcer oh. Indeed it is!

Mage in the Barrel

What's DW and PbtA?

Carcer

8:02 PM

@Yuuki very true! There isn't a strict demarcation. Roleplaying in combat is certainly a thing

DucksGoMooful

@MageintheBarrel dungeon world, powered by the apocalypse

Yuuki

@MageintheBarrel ~~Dung Wiggler and Pattycake by the Aeropostale.~~

Rubiksmoose

Dungeon World (which is a specific system like D&D but based off PbtA) and Powered by the Apocalypse which is the name given to a basic set of mechanics that many games adapt into their own thing (like DW)

Carcer

@MageintheBarrel Dungeon World (as mentioned by Mike), and PbtA means Powered by the Apocalypse, which refers to games which use a specific mechanical system which was first used in Apocalypse World

MikeQ

Again, to clarify: D&D (5E) has non-combat stuff, and you can certainly roleplay as your character. But it doesn't give much weight (in terms of game mechanics) to your choice of character backstory. So you can show up with a creative and detailed backstory, and the DM might say "That's nice. Go fight some monsters."

Yuuki

8:03 PM

@Carcer And also, there's stuff that's neither RP nor combat like puzzle rooms.

GcL

@MageintheBarrel Ars Magica. Troupe style storytelling. It's fun.

V2Blast

@kviiri I know some Indians appreciated that there was some "Indian representation" on the show back when he first appeared... But I (as an Indian American) could never really appreciate it, especially the fact that his portrayal didn't improve at all (and the white dudes behind the show, including the one who voiced him, kept insisting there wasn't a problem). And then when the show actually did address it, it was just to say "oh well, nothing can be done"...

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ It's AL.

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast It's not actually AL though.

(though that was the framing for the question)

Liam Morris

8:20 PM

@MikeQ There are ways you can give a bit more weight to a backstory, a lot of DM’s will give feats based on a character’s backstory (or they might have players include explanations for why they have certain feats in their backstory). It really depends on how the DM views the game.

MikeQ

@LiamMorris In 5E? Players can't just give their character a free feat because of backstory reasons.

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose I got to the question early, and then I realized that I was being unproductive, and deleted the start of an answer. I guess I need to go back and see what has changed in the question.

MikeQ

@LiamMorris If a DM allows that, then it's an exception and not the rule. Which is not guaranteed in organized play like Adventurers League.

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast It was a small edit that happened late in the question, OP doesn't have any game right now. They were just using AL as a baseline for balance, not necessarily actually intending to play in it.

Carcer

getting stuck in to that modwork posthaste eh rubiks

Liam Morris

8:25 PM

@MikeQ Thats what i was saying, its not a rule but my point was there are ways you can give backstories more purpose than just being words on a sheet that might as well not be there in terms of the game mechanics. You’re right, its not guaranteed in AL, but some DM’s do allow for it.

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose yeah, my decision to abandon that answer was a good one, and brainstorming in chat is the best help for @MageintheBarrel

MikeQ

Yes, if the player discusses the character concept with the DM in advance, then it's more likely the DM can weave the character's backstory and motives into the game's story

KorvinStarmast

I am going to jump on the bandwagon of "are you sure you are interested in the right game system to play an immortal manga character?" (Though @MikeQ has a good point there)

Yuuki

> a lot of DM’s will give feats

Carcer

@KorvinStarmast when you put it like that it does sound very exalted, doesn't it?

MikeQ

8:27 PM

@Yuuki Show me documentation or some rules basis regarding "a lot".

KorvinStarmast

@Carcer As a character concept, there could be some great fun to be had with that in the right system.

Yuuki

@MikeQ That wasn't your point of contention though.

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast yeah it seems to have been productive in chat :)

MikeQ

@Yuuki Fair enough. Players can't just expect for the DM to give their character a free feat because of backstory reasons. Better?

Yuuki

I agree that DMs granting feats for backstory is a rarity, but you said that players can't give their characters free feats for backstory reasons when that wasn't what was said.

(Also, DMs shouldn't grant feats for backstory)

KorvinStarmast

8:30 PM

Feats don't fail me now ... I just had to say that

Yuuki

With how D&D functions, that turns backstory into part of charop unless you work with a good group.

KorvinStarmast

@yuuki I tend to view Background in 5e as a potential source of charop ... with tools, skills, languages, and features ... I give it a lot of weight/thought.

Yuuki

You'd suddenly have a lot of fighters who used to be legionnaires so they can get free Sentinel feats.

KorvinStarmast

@Yuuki Or they'd have a disease or immunity to one ...

Liam Morris

@Yuuki If the fighter would have taken that feat anyway though, what difference does it make where it comes from?

Rubiksmoose

8:33 PM

@Carcer Jumping in here to avoid cluttering the comments.

Carcer

aye aye

MikeQ

@LiamMorris I'm sure there's some "balance" argument against granting free feats

Rubiksmoose

@Carcer I think I agree, sorry for misreading that. I assumed you were trying to make a point about the current state of the question. My bad.

Carcer

@Rubiksmoose it's cool

Yuuki

@LiamMorris Because now you can take an ASI where you'd otherwise get the feat.

Carcer

8:36 PM

but yeah, my view on it is that the question as originally asked was valid and it effectively got answered in comments by DuckTapeAl, which prompted the OP to ask a new, related question by editing this one

Liam Morris

@Yuuki ASI?

nitsua60

@Carcer this. Even in 5e the groups I run average more roleplay encounters than combat ones.

Zachiel

HEY! HEY! Slow down with the upvotes ç_ç

Yuuki

Ability Score Improvement. In 5e, every 4 levels, you can choose one of three options: (1) Improve one ability score by +2, (2) Improve two ability scores by +1 each, (3) Acquire one feat.

MikeQ

@nitsua60 But backstory doesn't really play a significant factor. At least, it hasn't yet.

Liam Morris

8:37 PM

@Yuuki ah of course

Zachiel

And some feats improve one ability score by +1 as part of the benefit

Rubiksmoose

@Carcer Yeah I think it is interesting how the community seems to have a bit of fogginess when it comes to questions where the answer is "up to the DM" sometimes they get closed as POB, other times not. There seems to be some sort of continuum there that I don't understand.

KorvinStarmast

@nitsua60 That reminds me to write up some more detail on the first performance of the FUPS in Port Nyanzaru. "Band on the Run!"

Yuuki

@Zachiel Ostensibly because their benefits aren't as good as a +2.

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose depends on who shows up that day, and who has read the meta discussion on POB ... I don't think there is a continuum

Carcer

8:39 PM

@Rubiksmoose I would say we have developed a kind of obsession with mangling questions into certain formats to make them "stackable" based on prior knowledge about the subject

nitsua60

@MikeQ True.

KorvinStarmast

@Carcer This... So much this. Though "we" is a small subset of the larger community.

Liam Morris

Perhaps i’ve not explained myself properly, i’m not saying that free feats should be granted just for having a backstory that says you do, i’m more saying that, in place of where players would just pick feats to add them onto their character, they’d instead work those feats (or in world explanations of why they have those feats) into their backstory, is that clearer?

MikeQ

@LiamMorris Ah, that is clearer. And it's true. Although it's up to that player.

Nevertheless, the feats themselves are what have impact on the gameplay, regardless of whether or not the player explains them via backstory.

nitsua60

@KorvinStarmast I also need to get back to Hal's sponsor. (Now that you're around Port a little bit.) I have an idea I've been mulling and making notes on, but I've not found that magical combination of an hour and energy to sit and really sort through things.

Rubiksmoose

8:41 PM

Speaking of stackable, anybody have any idea what this question is asking?

KorvinStarmast

@nitsua60 If and when you can, that would be cool.

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast I guess it's like pretty much every other close reason in that respect.

KorvinStarmast

@nitsua60 I have been sort of holdin back form the party my affiliation with Lord's Alliance due to training/spy/low charisma not wanting to be too obvious.

nitsua60

@KorvinStarmast Well, it'll happen before Saturday, because you-all hit the docks at dawn to head out for the east coast next thing, and I want to drop something in Hal's lap before then. But as for nitsua, it may be Saturday afternoon before I can make it happen =\

KorvinStarmast

So I mentioned it briefly last session ... and let that go

Liam Morris

8:43 PM

@MikeQ True, the feats are providing the mechanics, but it is one way to make a backstory have more purpose which was my original point (or at least what i intended to point out)

KorvinStarmast

@nitsua60 That's fine.

Carcer

@Rubiksmoose I think the OP is asking if the Half-Orc's Relentless Endurance racial trait and the Shadow Sorcerer's Strength of the Grave class feature work in combination with each other (e.g. if Relentless Endurance fails, can the character try to avoid death with Strength of the Grave next?)

oop

slight misparse

KorvinStarmast

Yes, that is a perfectly valid question, but it may be a dupe?

I could swear I've seen that one before.

Carcer

if SotG fails, can they just use RE?

I understand what it means

I can edit it

KorvinStarmast

My answer is yes, but I am not near books

Rubiksmoose

8:44 PM

@Carcer ahhh ok. That makes sense. I think that would be helpful.

DucksGoMooful

@Rubiksmoose I think it's asking if you can use the Strength of the Grave check first, then if it fails use the Relentless Endurance, rather than having to choose only one or the other

Liam Morris

@DucksGoMooful That is what i got from that too

KorvinStarmast

@Glazius What's the final answer on this, and / or is there a chat room to follow up?

Rubiksmoose

Cool :) Well I'm glad everyone else is on the same page. I think my issue was I was only vaguely familiar with what SotG did.

DucksGoMooful

I had to look it up first :)

KorvinStarmast

8:47 PM

@Rubiksmoose I forgot to use it with my shadow sorcerer and ended up with a lingering wound. (Silly me, not even a half orc)

G. Moylan

oh I just commented on that post, did I interfere with the scheming?

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast Arg. Isn't forgetting an ability and realizing it later one of the worst things?

KorvinStarmast

@Rubiksmoose Yeah, I blamed my advanced age, but maybe it was the rye whiskey?

MikeQ

@LiamMorris Possibly. This is all kind of a tangent though. My original intent was to help manage expectations, when someone invests in their character backstory and then brings it to an existing D&D game. Because that may end in disappointment, or player friction due to clashing playstyles.

Carcer

I had to look up what SotG did too, but that was speedy and quick thanks to DND BEYOND

at which point it seemed pretty obvious yeah

Rubiksmoose

8:53 PM

@Carcer Are we sponsored by DnDB now? ;)

Carcer

@Rubiksmoose [putting on a tiger suit]

G. Moylan

@Rubiksmoose BOY HOWDY ISN'T THIS THE GREATEST PRODUCT FOR ALL YOUR DIGITAL 5th-EDITION NEEDS!? LEGENDARY BUNDLE AVAILABLE NOW!!

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ Bingo! My current player who is doing the UA artificer, and I, have been working together on his back story. (And he's a fire genasi) Without the collaboration, I can only say it would have been a mess

Rubiksmoose

@G.Moylan [Turns down ad volume] I mean you are a sentient AI after all, it makes sense that you would be ad-sponsored.

G. Moylan

@Rubiksmoose RAID SHADOW LEGENDS AVAILABLE NOW

KorvinStarmast

8:55 PM

As it is I like what we have come up with by kicking ideas back and forth. He's got some cool in character goals ...

G. Moylan

@Rubiksmoose I prefer "interactive marketing"

Carcer

my brother-in-law recently got super into D&D (through watching critical role etc.) and decided that the best way to approach that was to start homebrewing his own race and character class to represent this really cool character he'd been imagining for ages who is a kind of half-dragon guy who is blessed by the gods and destined to fight in the apocalypse and has a super magic sword and...

MikeQ

@Carcer oh_no.jpg

Carcer

and he went and made a full custom class progression and everything.

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast hey don't blame that beautiful innocent whiskey. ;)

@Carcer noooo.

Carcer

8:57 PM

yeah we kind of held an intervention and tried to gently disabuse him of the notion that any D&D group ever would let him just rock up and play that

Rubiksmoose

@G.Moylan Well there's a term I want to target with a nuclear warhead until not even the remnants of it are left.

Zachiel

@KorvinStarmast send them to me, I want to feed upon their character goal generation capability.

G. Moylan

@Rubiksmoose HA I can get behind that

V2Blast

lol

KorvinStarmast

@Zachiel heh, i will choose to be selfish and keep him in our game. Our group has been together with me for 2 years, and before me for two years before that.

Glazius

9:07 PM

@KorvinStarmast A chat room would be nice. I'll make one when I get home from work.

Zachiel

@KorvinStarmast Ptf, as you wish.

KorvinStarmast

@Zachiel RL and scheduling is the bane of RPG/D&D group cohesion. I am lucky to have found this bunch.

nitsua60

Aug 13 '18 at 19:46, by Mike Q

@ColinGross The DC of scheduling a regular D&D game for 4 adults is "Impossible", +5 per additional adult

Zachiel

@KorvinStarmast Amen. My current Pathfinder group is made of one guy who left because he could almost never be there with us, two guys who are always available, one who's often available, a guy who works abroad and one guy who started working and having to wake up early on sunday mornings mid-campaign.

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword with email in answer, email in answer, pattern-matching email in answer, potentially bad keyword in answer (261): Can a bard cast Vicious Mockery without passersby thinking it's an attack? by laura peter on rpg.SE (@doppelgreener)

Zachiel

9:15 PM

Luckily we all agreed to play the same if we're at least 3+GM

G. Moylan

SmokeDetector is so cool

Xirema

> Report this post?

∙ This post is offensive.
∙ It is Spam.
█ I am in this post and I do not like it.

Zachiel

But I'd like a stable, complete group. Which my 4e group might be, but I don't think I want to play with them at a serious campaign, because their characters behave randomly and violently.

Liam Morris

@Rubiksmoose Time to declare exterminatus on that term? warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Exterminatus

Carcer

@LiamMorris that sounds expensive, why don't they just divert some asteroids to hit the planets?

G. Moylan

9:21 PM

@LiamMorris send the Gray Knights, nobody can know

Liam Morris

@Carcer shrugs Because people like blowing things up?

G. Moylan

@Carcer the Emprah likes sending a message

Liam Morris

@G.Moylan “unlimited poweeeer!”

MikeQ

@Zachiel The problem may be the continuous structure of Adventure Path campaigns

Zachiel

@MikeQ I'm talking about the 4e campaign (which might very well suffer of the same faults)

Carcer

9:29 PM

@LiamMorris SHIBBOLETH FAILED

Zachiel

Anyway I've got "I want to burn the world" characters and I'm getting tired of them

Carcer

@LiamMorris (wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Rocks_Are_Not_Free!)

Zachiel

Now one player wants to get another shot at Way of the Wicked, which he already tried under another DM (who is in my PF group)

But AFAIK it's a campaign for lawful evil characters and I can't imagine the guy playing anything lawful.

All of his character act defiantly in front of authourity, interrupting enemy speech to insult them and generally being overconfident in a "we killed everything in our path, what makes you think you are different from the others?" way

G. Moylan

@LiamMorris "the attack on my life has left me scarred and deformed"

MikeQ

@Zachiel So he tends to play murderhobo characters?

G. Moylan

9:34 PM

@Zachiel that's when you find out the "authority figures" are all actually an oblex, but THEN you find out, no, it isn't really an oblex at all, but a false hydra

Zachiel

@MikeQ well he's the guy who once killed an NPC because the NPC was tied to a sacrifice altar, so what was he supposed to do?

MikeQ

@Zachiel Seduce the altar, convince it to release the NPC, and then seduce the NPC

G. Moylan

@MikeQ then kill the altar

V2Blast

I see no flaw in this plan

Liam Morris

@Zachiel Reminds me of a quest in Skyrim :P elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Taste_of_Death

G. Moylan

9:35 PM

@LiamMorris EEEEEEEEEEEEAT

@G.Moylan or like 3 other quests. a lot of altars, it seems.

Zachiel

@MikeQ The altar was definitely at fault for having bloodletting channels going straight into an inactive portal behind which there were imprisoned citizens... but then it devolved into a "if he wants to save the guy then I'll kill him" PVP and... well, it does not strike me as anything but chaotic.

MikeQ

@Zachiel <insert Session 0 spiel here>

Liam Morris

@G.Moylan Yeah, Skyrim does have a lot of sacrificing people on altars, theres at least 7 or 8 quests where people are being sacrificed at the base of shrine or an altar. Probably even more than that, i’m thinking of even more by the minute.

MikeQ

Or at least try to encourage players to discuss and make decisions as a group

Zachiel

@MikeQ He will swear he'll be able to play whatever is necessary for me to agree running the game, then he will keep playing the only kind of character that he finds fun. Which is why I don't want to have him in the party, but I also don't want to leave him without any party.

Carcer

9:43 PM

@Zachiel navigating that kind of social context is a pain.

MikeQ

@Zachiel Have you given feedback and voiced these particular concerns to this player?

Hot RPG Questions

5

Q: Would a character with eternal youth be AL compliant?

I want to have my character be cursed with eternal youth from a backstory perspective. She'll still be "killable" she just can't age. Would that break AL rules? I know you can add to or change flavor for preexisting stuff as long as it doesn't change any mechanics, so I wanted to know if m...

dnd-5e dnd-adventurers-league

Zachiel

@MikeQ yes. He whines. Not in a bad way, more in a "but I really want to play that campaign" way.

I'm not sure if I can convince him that it's not the campaign he thinks it is.

MikeQ

Then be more strict, expressing it in terms your needs, and not as punishment

G. Moylan

You're a player, too. You also get a say in when you are or aren't having fun.

MikeQ

9:53 PM

e.g. "I don't want to run sessions where antagonistic PVP happens" or "I don't want to run campaigns where players behave at the expense of each other's fun"

Zachiel

@MikeQ you mean like last time, where one player didn't exclude another PC from the area of a fireball because the other player willingly hit the table in order to topple the "dice upon pencil rubber" tower that signified that the fireballing character was flying?

(which if possible makes it even more frustrating to DM for them because they can too easily survive both the opposition and their own bickering, despite having free resurrections available each day)

MikeQ

Yep. If folks can't play nice, then they don't play at the table.

Zachiel

But hey, they seem to have fun after all

All of them. They're basically goofing around and having all the fun that goofing around brings. I laugh as well.

MikeQ

If it doesn't bother you or any of the players, then it's less of a problem. Just remember that people don't always voice their grievances openly.

G. Moylan

@Zachiel again, you have a right to have fun, too.

Zachiel

10:00 PM

I find the whole thing funny (and a bit frustrating at times, but mostly funny). Yet I also want to play a more serious, more roleplayed game.

MikeQ

@Zachiel Then you need to preface the adventure with those expectations. Especially if the players have grown accustomed to the silly and reckless style of play.

G. Moylan

@MikeQ sings session zero song...

MikeQ

Also, @G.Moylan, you don't kill the altar. You convince the now-seduced altar to introduce you to its overlord, seduce them, and then forge an alliance with all altars in the region.

G. Moylan

@MikeQ "I Nat-20d my persuasion roll. This trickster god legally has to do what I say"

Zachiel

@G.Moylan I want to do more than a single session zero. I want to describe the world to the players, talk to them about the setting, flesh out their characters together and talk about the implications of their faith(s). If I can keep their attention up, that is.

G. Moylan

10:10 PM

@Zachiel then do it! :D Have a world-discovery session and talk about what works in your setting and why. then go off and work on character concepts. Meet again later to finish fleshing everything out and make sure the party will gel.

alright folks I'm out for the evening. o/

Shalvenay

hey there @NautArch, long time no see :) how're things going?

Hot RPG Questions

10:28 PM

4

Q: Does this Spirit Guardians + Thorn Whip combo work?

I'm a bit confused on the wording of Spirit Guardians' "when the creature enters the area for the first time on a turn" I know it works if the creature runs into the spell, but does not do damage directly if the cleric runs onto the enemy (or when the cleric casts it on top of the enemy.) I've re...

dnd-5e spells

Ryan

hmm, now i cant decide. Gnome Doctor that fights as barbarian because he has no formal training just a big ego and temper. Or someone obsessed with numbers and patterns, likely a warlock or wizard maybe a monk would work too though for that

V2Blast

@Ryan I like both ideas. The second feels like it fits either wizard or warlock, since both are often associated with wanting knowledge

Ryan

oh or Druid for second idea of moon like he sees patterns in the sky

but im thinkin warlock makes most sense cause numbers are crazy

Shalvenay

10:43 PM

@Ryan yeah, warlock makes most sense...great old one sounds right thematically for that sort of obsession, but I'm not sure what you want the char to be?

Ryan

@Shalvenay what do you mean, "want the char to be?"

Shalvenay

@Ryan err, want the char to do, sorry :)

Ryan

not sure i understand?

Shalvenay

@Ryan I mean, what capabilities you want them to have and whatnot

(it's hard telling from what you're saying if you want a generic blasterlock or something else)

Ryan

oh, i dont really worry about that. for some thats what they base characters on but for me i start with the profession and background and then go with whatever would make sense

my last character for example was a traveling salesman so it was a bard and whispers and all the spells were related to being a slick talking salesman even though it made me kinda weak in combat especially early on

Liam Morris

10:59 PM

@Ryan You could combine the ideas of the Gnome babarian doctor and someone who is intelligent and obsessed with patterns if you wanted to, ending up with something like Beast from the X-Men: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beast_(comics)

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