TRPG General Chat

Mage in the Barrel

12:26 AM

does anyone here know of a good ninja/shibobi type rouge homebrew

MikeQ

In what sense? What kinds of ninja/shinobi abilities are you looking for?

Mage in the Barrel

kinda like a movie shinobi which doesn't have that chakra bs. Super mobile, runs up walls, jumps long distances, call fall safely, uses hidden weapons and poisons

you know ninja stuff

not nessarily all of those but that kind of idea

MikeQ

Er... not sure what you mean by "chakra bs", but even the PHB rogue archetypes are ninja-ish. Thief can instantly climb walls, Assassin can make disguises, Arcane Trickster can turn invisible

Mage in the Barrel

you ever watched naruto?

that

MikeQ

Not much, but I'm familiar with the style.

They have all sorts of powers, so it's gonna be tricky to cover all bases with a single archetype. Is there a particular character or ability you had in mind?

Mage in the Barrel

12:42 AM

again not like naruto

MikeQ

So... not like Naruto? Ok, well if you want a ninja that's roughly historically accurate (to the extent that anything in D&D can be historically accurate), then the Assassin archetype's features are spot-on.

Mage in the Barrel

if you don't mind spoilers for the first episide of naruto watch this

Naruto uses Shadow Clone first Time

►

even the thumbnail shows how bs that ability is

and trust me it get's much much worse

assassin doesn't really get much in the way of mbility

Shalvenay

@MageintheBarrel do you want them to be a functional skillmonkey atop being a mobile, stealthy assailant?

MikeQ

@Shalvenay Isn't that what rogues already do?

Mage in the Barrel

just a mobile stealthy assailant

Shalvenay

12:49 AM

@MikeQ many rogues, yes :) but not all

as I'm kind of wondering if a Monk/Rogue multiclass is a good option here

Mage in the Barrel

like an assassin but can get around

Someone_Evil

Have you checked out the scout from XGtE?

Mage in the Barrel

i don't have xgte so no

MikeQ

Scout rogues are very mobile. They can use their reaction to retreat from opponents, they get extra movement speed, and at high levels they can make 2 sneak attacks per turn

Someone_Evil

The D&D representation of shadow clone (in a sense) sounds like the mirror image spell (2nd level illusion) which would be available to a 7th level Arcane Trickster. You might want to look at that subclass and talk with your DM about reflavouring the spellcasting as "Ninja Techniques"

Shalvenay

12:55 AM

@Someone_Evil I think he doesn't want the arcane trickery stuff going on

Mage in the Barrel

again i don't want ninjitsu

Someone_Evil

Arguably "Ninja" is just as much covered by Monk as by Rogue, have you looked at the Shadow tradition in particular?

Mage in the Barrel

I wanted to play a scout then I heard how they don't really fit my definition of a scout

Shalvenay

@MageintheBarrel what is your def. of a scout?

Mage in the Barrel

someone who goes ahead to gather information and relay it

scouts feel like a speedy assassin

this homebrewed version of a scout fo example zerohitpoints.com/Guides/DnD-5-Class-Scout

Someone_Evil

1:00 AM

Because if all a PC actually did was scout ahead they would be doing so much less than the rest of the party, which wouldn't be fun for them.

Shalvenay

@Someone_Evil yeah, not being able to contribute to combat meaningfully wouldn't be very fun for them due to the way D&D manages the spotlight

MikeQ

High elf rogue (scout). Choose to start with the Message cantrip. Now they can relay information to allies within 120 ft.

Shalvenay

you also have restrictions on communications etc

Someone_Evil

Scouting ahead can be done with reasonable efficiency by a familiar. And if your character is replaceable by 10 gp and a 1st level spell (ignoring the ritual tag), that feels bad

Mage in the Barrel

look over the page i linked based on the description above I am 99.9% sure that they are not the same

would that be replacable with a familiar

Someone_Evil

1:03 AM

The Scout Archetype is written so that they can fill the scouting role, but still have other, cool (combat) features

Shalvenay

@MageintheBarrel this is a bit of a digression though. have you looked at say Shadow Monk MCed with either Assassin or Scout Rogue, if you really need something that can't be filled by a single class+archetype?

Mage in the Barrel

I generally like utility support roles rather than combat or healing roles

Shalvenay

@MageintheBarrel Scout Rogue sounds like a good plan then? you have the Rogue skillmonkey utility, good mobility from the sounds of things, and can make your influence felt in combat if the situation demands....

hey there @user56159, welcome to the RPG.SE lair :)

MikeQ

Or just use the homebrew archetype you linked, choose a background with disguise kit proficiency, call it a ninja, and there you have it

Shalvenay

@MikeQ one thing I find interesting is that D&D has two very different styles of stealth within it

Mage in the Barrel

1:14 AM

i'm already using a custom race I based off the changling and got dm approval

being disguised isn't really an issue

Mage in the Barrel

1:27 AM

btw does this look op to you? dnd-5e-homebrew.tumblr.com/post/145205896090/…

it's very ninja but not naruto ninja

i am forever inflicted with what i call "shiny and new syndrom"

MikeQ

1:44 AM

@MageintheBarrel It seems underpowered, actually. Most of its features are complicated and are too expensive to be useful.

Mage in the Barrel

if I new more about the game i'd probably make one that uses specialized tools and gadgets

Emrys Ternal

Hey guys. Anyone here really familiar with 3.5e?

Mage in the Barrel

like caltrops, smoke bombs, poison darts, grenades

Emrys Ternal

I'd like to get some feedback on a tweak I made to the incarnum rules.

Shalvenay

ah just ask ...not sure if there are any 3.5e experts on atm

MikeQ

1:52 AM

@MageintheBarrel It's great that you're enthusiastic about TTRPGs. And it would definitely help you to learn and play the system a bit more, before trying to write and balance your own homebrew content.

Miniman

@EmrysTernal Reasonably.

@EmrysTernal I'm...not great on incarnum though.

Mage in the Barrel

btw what part of homebrew i linked was expensive

Emrys Ternal

The primary thing I did was made it so that, first, level-based essentia capacity is raised by 1 for each level that raises it (including the first). The 2nd and much bigger change is that "meldshaping is different" (a meldshaping version of "psionics is different"). This effectively means that meldshaping is neither magic OR psionics, but something else entirely unless the effect specifically calls out meldshaping (such as a suppress magic effect).

Miniman

@EmrysTernal So incarnum classes have more essentia capacity, but not more essentia?

That'll make incarnum races and feats much more desirable.

Hmmm...it also makes builds like the manticore belt totemist (that basically want to sink all their essentia into one meld) much more powerful.

Emrys Ternal

That means that
* spell resistance doesn't defend against soulmelds,
* dispel magic doesn't dispel soulmelds,
* detect magic doesn't detect soulmelds,
* dead magic areas and antimagic effects do nothing to soulmelds,
* item creation feats don't work for crafting meldshaping-related items without a one-feat feat-tax (or taking a single level in a meldshaping class),
* you can still invest essentia in magic/psionic items as-normal,
* you can still bind chakras to magic/psionic items as-normal

And yes, increased essentia capacity, but not increased essentia

Oh, also relevant, I also use the PF progression for ECL-given feats, so you get feat slots faster.

To be clear, by "level-based essentia capacity is raised by 1 for each level that raises it (including the first)" I'm referring to that table at the start of the book that raises essentia capacity based on ECL, and is not referring to any specific class benefit.

So....
Character Level ---- Essentia Capacity
1st–5th ---- 2
6th–11th ---- 3
12th–17th ---- 4
18th–20th ---- 5

Miniman

2:04 AM

Hmmm.

I don't have the book in front of me, but the incarnum classes all get faster progressions, right?

Emrys Ternal

"Faster progressions" in what sense?

Miniman

They gain essentia capacity faster than that table, I mean.

Emrys Ternal

That *is* the new table.
The original table in the book is one less essentia capacity at each row.

All I did was replace the table

Essentially, everyone gets a free Improved Essentia Capacity feat without it being a feat on their sheet.

Miniman

Ah, found it. They use the same table but get bonuses at certain levels.

Just the incarnate, actually.

Emrys Ternal

Anyway, I was trying to make meldshaping not just attractive to play but have its own flavor. A beholder's antimagic cone can't do shit to lock down a meldshaper now.

Miniman

2:14 AM

Yeah, I think the not counting as magic is definitely a good change.

Emrys Ternal

So I'm trying to think of what could be done to horribly horribly break the game open with this change.

So that I can adjust the rules so that that can't happen.

or is at least, not cost-effective

In my game's world, antimagic fields and null psionics fields are commonly used as riot control, but the strongest anti-meldshaping effect in the game (from what I can tell) can only suppress one soulmeld at a time.

Miniman

So you don't use magic-psionics transparency either?

Emrys Ternal

I don't. Psionics is also different from magic, meaning any effect that merges or shifts energies between the two doesn't work, and the STP Erudite is banned.

There are edge cases between all three that does allow for some overlap, but they're specifically written to do that.

Joshua

2:29 AM

Ah; I see your world hasn't seen the counter-strategy to anti-magic yet.

Emrys Ternal

Huh?

Joshua

True polymorph a horde of high-level monsters one at a time into marbles.

Anybody using anti-magic field gets one thrown at him.

If you're trying to use it for crowd control, somebody's probably gonna try it.

Emrys Ternal

That's in 5e, this is 3.5e. The Polymorph Any Object spell is banned for unrelated reasons.

Joshua

3.5 has disjunction though

Emrys Ternal

Mage’s disjunction was also banned because of-course it was.

hyperion-voyages.obsidianportal.com/wikis/banned-stuff

Joshua

2:44 AM

Nailed to the sky not banned though. That's gonna make star travel a lot easier.

Emrys Ternal

Nailed to the Sky is an epic spell seed

it's hardly broken

BESW

2:59 AM

Oh yeah, I remember groups that tried to "fix" 3.5 with ban lists.

Is this an online group?

Emrys Ternal

3:28 AM

no

I made a whole wiki for one group's game

in real life

Thing is, I'm not trying to "fix" 3.5e with a ban list

I did a massive overhaul of many of its core functions, most notably how spells, alignment, and shopping all work.

BESW

Ah. I ask because it's been my experience that ban lists are best used as methods of last resort--usually in groups that are too big and disjointed to use softer, more social methods, and those are large online games or FLGS walk-in games.

Emrys Ternal

The bans are more "this would break my setting wide open more so than this would break the game "

Even the ones that are more for the sake of the game are things that very very obviously should be banned, like the mindrape spell.

Or kender, dvati, etc

Everything that's more fringe is still doable, just heavily heavily restricted (such as wish requiring a ritual procedure unique to the details of the wish)

Shalvenay

hey there @JohnP

Emrys Ternal

In my setting's case, a "ring of three wishes" only lets you "charge up the incantation for" a wish, where each specific wish has a unique ritual you have to acquire first, and takes a significant amount of time to cast.

So without the wish "incantation" ritual for what you're trying to do, the ring is essentially useless except as a macguffin

(and IMHO that's what a ring of three wishes should be anyway)

Imagine a ring of three wishes being acquired at level 1, and it's being sought after by The Big Bad because they do have a wish incantation ritual for a specific thing they want to do.

(Insert obvious Tolkien plot here)

V2Blast

3:58 AM

@Someone_Evil Scout seems cool. I was playing a tabaxi rogue in a Serpent Isle campaign and planned to go Scout but the campaign got put on indefinite hold due to DM availability before we hit level 3... it's weird that to avoid a proficiency being wasted, you have to be mediocre in Nature and Survival at level 1 and then suddenly become great at level 3.

MikeQ

@V2Blast It's just a +2 to each at that point, right? Assuming they don't multiclass?

V2Blast

@MikeQ You avoid picking Nature and Survival as skill proficiencies because Scout rogues get expertise (technically, you add double your proficiency bonus but it's not called "expertise" there) in those two skills at level 3 anyway. Thus, your skill mod is just the ability score mod (Int and Wis respectively) for levels 1 and 2; at level 3, your expertise increases the two skill mods by +4 (since your prof. bonus is +2)

MikeQ

Ah, ok. Missed the bit about x2 proficiency.

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V2Blast

6:18 AM

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kviiri

7:31 AM

Morning!

Or whatever time of the day you're having

V2Blast

3:30 am here

kviiri

Late night with V2Blast O'Brien then

MikeQ

[insert laugh track]

kviiri

[that video clip from Mac 'n' Me]

vicky_molokh

https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80865/is-saying-your-pc-wouldnt-do-that-to-a-player-denying-their-agency

Damn. A system-agnostic question whose top answer is extremely system-gnostic (and whose reasoning breaks down catastrophically if applied in a system-agnostic question).

kviiri

7:45 AM

Good catch

vicky_molokh

Can anything be done about that, other than leaving a hopeless comment? (I suspect not.)

kviiri

Although it seems like it's been revised to change the tags a few times

Seems like it was originally tagged dnd-5e AND system-agnostic, then went through iterations of both tags alone.

vicky_molokh

It was tagged SA by the author from day 1.

kviiri

@vicky_molokh ...and dnd-5e

V2Blast

@vicky_molokh yeah, part of the issue is that the previous question is specifically about a situation in D&D 5e, and then this question asks about the exact same situation but tags it as system-agnostic. (And as kviiri points out, it originally had both tags.) Not sure how best to proceed there.

kviiri

7:48 AM

But it's a tricky situation, maybe start a meta about that

BESW

> The question has been edited. Please check if you feel any edits to your answer are merited in response.

Akixkisu

10:02 AM

@kviiri "they'll lose their spellcasting for 24 hours (as the rules state)" is edition specific - specifically there are no adverse effects specified in 5e, it just says they "will not" - hence the question that stemmed from the linked 5e question. – Dale M Jun 2 '16 at 23:56 Followed by "Ah, yes, this question here was tagged "system-agnostic" and so I forgot for a moment. – Lokathor Jun 2 '16 at 23:57"

Miniman

10:36 AM

@kviiri It's not really tricky. The question isn't a system-agnostic one, regardless of what tags the querent chose to put on it.

kviiri

@Miniman Dunno, seems to me it might as well just be a sys-ag question that stems from a rule in 5e.

Not a very good one given how different systems treat player agency differently, but still

Miniman

I mean, we can make any question more complicated by ignoring things we know about it.

kviiri

Well from the most recent meta guidance I know of here:

Miniman

But if we have the context (we do), and ignoring it will make things more difficult for everyone (it will), why ignore it?

kviiri

> If you are deliberately asking for cross-system techniques, put system-agnostic on it to shortcut people having to ask.

vicky_molokh

10:41 AM

@Miniman I would say that the asker has a better idea about the scope of the question the asker wants answered, than someone who came around and made indirect conclusions based on a reading.

kviiri

Do we have any reason to assume it's not deliberate?

vicky_molokh

It's an interesting case of a wider question stemming from a narrow initial situation.

Miniman

@kviiri Well, it's obviously deliberate.

> You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face. Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the usefulness of our site and push other questions off the front page.

Choosing to ignore the context, even if you are the querent, isn't asking about actual problems you face.

kviiri

I agree, but I don't think choosing to limit that question to DnD 5e makes it any less open-ended.

Miniman

Besides, the querent gave the context of the question in the question, gave a system-specific answer, and accepted a system-specific answer.

kviiri

10:46 AM

(I mean, as long as we're talking about "Your character wouldn't do that" in general, not the druid-specific case)

Miniman

@vicky_molokh Or, to put it differently, the querent chose to accept this answer.

@vicky_molokh So you should perhaps take your own advice.

vicky_molokh

@Miniman I consider it a possibility that the reasoning of the answer may have turned out to be misleading the asker, but you do make a good point and I should review my line of thinking.

Miniman

@vicky_molokh I mean, I may well have constructed a false dichotomy, but in my mind, if it's ultimately up to the querent to determine the scope of their question, well, they did.

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Ben

11:01 AM

Hey @Shalvenay sorry I've been missing your messages. Currently been moving this weekend

nitsua60

11:59 AM

I'm going to jump on an old soapbox, feel free to tell me to shove off:

It seems to me an actual sys-ag question along DaleM's lines would be "I say 'your character wouldn't do that' all the time in sys1, sys2, sys3, sys4, .... It never causes any of the problems that I naturally associate with removing player agency. [those problems are... here's how I know they're not appearing... here are things I've done that have caused those problems...] Is saying 'your character wouldn't do that' actually denying their agency?"

Or "I've said 'your character wouldn't do that' and had it cause problems in sys1, sys2, but never in sys3, sys4. I can't understand if in some systems it denies agency and others it doesn't, or if in some systems agency denial is okay and not in others, what's going on?"

ACuriousMind

12:33 PM

@nitsua60 I'm not sure there really is a way to ask this question so generically - it's not even the system, it's the specific reason for the belief that "your character wouldn't do that that can influence whether or not this "takes away agency":

Consider: 1. Player is about to do something stupid (from the in-universe perspective) because the player lacks the full character's knowledge and expects an unreasonable outcome. "Your character wouldn't do that, because they would know that..." 2. Player is about to do something contrary to the speaker's understanding of their character "Your character wouldn't do that, according to my mental model of what your characters emotions and goals are..."

3. Player is about to act contrary to a code of conduct that is imposed on their character by the rules (the Druid example). "Your character wouldn't do that, because the rules say they wouldn't."

In each of these three situations, you can come to very different conclusions whether this is taking away the player's agency, but these can conceivably all happen in the same system (though not in every system)

Shalvenay

1:16 PM

@Ben np

@Ben maybe catch you tomorrow?

Mage in the Barrel

2:04 PM

i'm trying to write a size comparison what would be a good comparison to the size of a basket ball?

in 5e

vicky_molokh

@nitsua60 @ACuriousMind
It's essentially a question about What is Agency in RPGs in disguise, which *is* a system-agnostic one. There's no *fundamental* difference between 'druids have a vow against metal armour; I decided to play a druid' and 'I decided to take play a PC with a code of honour (as a distinct disadvantage) against metal armour'. It's just a difference of the packaging.

It's possible to argue either that
1) All systems with mental disadvantages (such as vows or classes with vows) deny agency because one chosen, the player is restricted from some courses of action
OR
2) That such systems do not deny agency because it's the player who decided to play such a PC or class.

There are probably other ways to view the matter too, not just these two.

Akixkisu

That sounds prima fascia, as the content, answer choosen as correct and comments on answers by the author are all system specific.

It could be system agnostic, but the content is not phrased system agnostic.

I currently read it as "I have problem x which is system specific but I also welcome and am curious about system agnostic solutions to my concrete system specific problem."

Or to strawman the author: "I have no problem, but let us discuss a topic, dear forum members, which I have come across in system x which intrigued me, and I want to talk about it outside of the scope of that system."

vicky_molokh

2:20 PM

Interestingly, the author's own answer (third by votes) is much less system-specific than the top-voted one.

Akixkisu

@vicky_molokh Love this line: "if they persist in their obstinancy you are quite within sensible bounds to rule that no matter how hard they try, they "

At its core the answer is still system specific, while wider than most other answers.

Terminology like "class", "DM" (instead of GM), "RAW", defined rulesets (incongruent with freeform etc.), direct answering of the concrete dnd-5e problem, etc. are all system specific - but there are wider terms that represent system agnostic "out of character", "mechanical limitation" but then in conflicht with the rules as raw dnd language.

vicky_molokh

The broader, agnostic angle is 'does this thing that some systems do (like e.g. ABC) count as taking away agency', and for this angle, the use of those specific terms and examples doesn't detract from examining the broader philosophical question.

Akixkisu

2:35 PM

I would tag it dnd-5e (the problem, and answers), and system-agnostic (techniques).

vicky_molokh

It started out double-tagged like that, representing the origin of the question and its scope, but got one of the tags removed.

Akixkisu

Yes, which by my account is an error - and if one tag had to be removed, I would remove the system-agnostic tag.

Which is what greener did back then with good reasoning, which then was overwritten by a "fixed tags" edit.

Compare rev. hist. 2 and 4.

"I provided a helpful answer, but apparently this site would rather remove helpful answers because of some minor technicalities than actually fulfil its stated purpose of helping users. And, of course, no room was left to discuss said removal. This is absurd. "Don't guess the system" is fine advice in theory but an answer relying on a fairly good guess is better than no answer at all, regardless of what some beurocrat might have decided."

There is a meta that answers this (and th search is fruitless so far). Does anyone have it at hand?

Shalvenay

3:10 PM

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

Ryan

morning ladies, gentlemen, and anything in between

Kuerten

Hello, @Shalvenay! Hello, everyone =)

Shalvenay

btw @Glazius @ACuriousMind -- I was initially under the impression we had a game today, but now that I think about it, I'm thinking we may have cancelled for this week (I need to do a better job of keeping track of such things XD)

Glazius

Yeah, sorry. Out for Father's Day.

Shalvenay

@Glazius no worries :)

@Glazius and Happy Father's Day by the way, too

Ryan

3:13 PM

happy Fathers Day

Shalvenay

@Akixkisu I left a link to our meta about guessing system tags on edits, that should be a good starting point for the user in question

Mark Wells

@Shalvenay Oh, yeah, I'm sure that's what he wants to read right now, our explanation on why we're right and he's wrong.

Akixkisu

@KorvinStarmast have you run Murder in Baldur's Gate by now? Then you could answer your question from last year rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/125305/… :)

Mark Wells

It's basically a bureaucratic hazing ritual at this point. You want to get into our treehouse, you have to learn the password.

Ryan

3:34 PM

I kinda want to make like 3 more Wizards now

I want to make a Transmutation Wizard that carries random materials around on Tensers Floating Disc at all times. Just like a barrel of dirt, a bucket of water, some random rocks

V2Blast

4:08 PM

@Ryan one million wizards

SmokeDetector

4:38 PM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword with email in body, potentially bad keyword in body (158): true-story of my life by Robert casandra on rpg.SE (@doppelgreener)

KorvinStarmast

4:56 PM

@Akixkisu The group decided that they didn't want to play in the sword coast/FR setting, so I am going to have to wait for another group at another time. :( Oh well.

V2Blast

@KorvinStarmast dang

KorvinStarmast

@V2Blast It's fine, we are in the World of Greyhawk and they are interested in doing the Saltmarsh campaign. Wheeeeeeeeee!

V2Blast

@KorvinStarmast Saltmarsh you say

KorvinStarmast

Someday, I want to run that adventure, it's a neat one for a low level group

@V2Blast Yep. And my son joined us

V2Blast

nice

IRL group I assume?

KorvinStarmast

5:05 PM

I am doing a run tomorrow night before we take a few week's hiatus ... he is a dwarf barbarian, roll20 group, son in San Antone and I am not.

Ryan

im starting Saltmarsh today but reskinned to Al-Qadim setting

KorvinStarmast

I wish it was IRL, I can run a game a lot faster without all the clunky computer interface stuff.

Ryan

bringing my new tiefling wizard, not sure how that will go

KorvinStarmast

@Ryan Saltmarsh is (as laid out) IMO a decent mix of combat and investigation and problem solving ... but that's how I ran it in 1e ages ago, so maybe I am bringing assumptions with me.

Ryan

nice! thats what im hoping for! though this is Adventures League and supposed to only take 3 sessions

KorvinStarmast

5:06 PM

What I like about the 5e edition is that they spread it out for about levels 1-11 or so.

Ryan

well this part of it is 3 sessions i guess. not really sure

KorvinStarmast

Yeah, the first adventure should be pretty tight that way ... remember your 1e habits and paranoia! tee hee

Ryan

but he said we might want to roll a monster race for it

Emrys Ternal

Are there any 3.5e experts in here?

Ryan

@KorvinStarmast oooh that makes me really want to roll an old school rogue. I hate how mundane dungeons and traps have gotten

kviiri

5:18 PM

@EmrysTernal I'm not, but it might be best just to ask and see :)

Ryan

in my last session I was only one who had a 10ft pole and mirror with him. So I gave it to our Rogue, who admittedly was a new player, but he had no idea what to do with it.

kviiri

Actually I must be going now, so even if I was I wouldn't be of much use

Emrys Ternal

5:38 PM

@kviiri I want to determine the most broken implications of this change to the 3.5e rules: hyperion-voyages.obsidianportal.com/wikis/…

ok

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dnd-5e class-feature warlock equipment

ACuriousMind

@Shalvenay Yeah, we skip this week because of what your country thinks is Father's Day ;)

KorvinStarmast

@Ryan It depends on the DM, but I agree with you, that facet seems to be less emphasized for the current generation. (I blame 30 years of CRPG and video game experience for that ...)

I have always found that traps, when I designed a dungeon or cavern complex, needed to make sense. "This trap is here to protect .. what?"

Shalvenay

@KorvinStarmast yeah, I think you're about on point there

I personally don't have quite the head for mechanical things needed to do a lot of the clever-but-traditional trap-based gameplay well

kviiri

It has been my experience that for many players, traps are a largely ritual thing that's there because "there's supposed to be traps", without enough consideration for how they affect gameplay. As a result, I've mostly encountered pretty bad traps in the games I've played, usually amounting to little more than an extra attack roll or something for not rolling well enough or not declaring we check for traps every five minutes or so.

Shalvenay

@kviiri yeah. trying to make meaningful trap/puzzlework is something I haven't really run into good sources for, at least at an in-depth level

kviiri

6:43 PM

I think there's many good kinds of traps too, they just require more effort and thinking from the GM than just "ok this square attacks you"

Shalvenay

7:08 PM

hey there @BlackSpike

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nitsua60

7:43 PM

@vicky_molokh To me the reasonable reads given by ACuriousMind, vicky, akixkisu, miniman, me, dale themself, &c. all point to the tag trying to to a lot of lifting: if the question had actually contained in it the system-agnosticism that the tag is supposed to describe (not proscribe), we'd all be on the same page. I think.

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Oops... looks like Shalv got there. Sorry for the errant ping.

Black Spike

Hey

Ryan

Anyone know what book or a website that would have more common items beyond the Players Handbook just for ideas?

15

Q: Are there any specific non-magical ways to create areas of heavily obscured vision?

Inspired by this comment which states that beholders can't use eye rays in heavily obscured areas I started thinking that things like fog cloud would be cleared by their anti-magic eye which would limit the benefit. So, is there any way that a similar effect to fog cloud can be created that will...

dnd-5e vision-and-light

says there's smoke grenades for example in the DMG but I'm not seeing them or any list really

Black Spike

Anything in Xanathar's Guide to Everything?

Ryan

ah well found smoke grenades but its under future tech

not that Im seeing in XGE

Black Spike

Burn a pile of damp leaves?

Someone_Evil

7:53 PM

XGtE introduces common magical items (beyond scrolls and potions), I assume you are talking about common mundane items?

Ryan

i decided to go School of Conjuration after a lot of thinking about what would be both fun to me as a player, make sense to the character, and be useful

looking for ideas for Minor Conjuration

Someone_Evil

Have you looked at the Trinket table in PHB?

Shalvenay

@BlackSpike how'd the candyland go? or is that yet to happen still?

Black Spike

Tomorrow night

Shalvenay

ah :)

Black Spike

7:56 PM

Got lots of ideas now, thanks!

Ryan

@Someone_Evil yeah not too many useful ideas and a lot are vials of things which I don't think is allowed

not really sure seems a downside to Minor Conjuration is how DM dependent it will be

Black Spike

Now I have to stat-up the "Vampire". He's high-level, with Vamp bonuses, so I might just give him a flat stat-line, and whatever skills seem appropriate, rather than fully build a"PC-like" character :D

Need a "thing" for him. He's "Toreador". Unrivalled stealth, Impressive Combat and Athletics. But what's his Edge? And what's his "theme"? Obviously he wears a long black trenchcoat (that swirls behind him as he moves), but he needs a bit more of a personality. he's got a Big Revenge thing against the PCs,

(It's not actually V:tM, I've just stolen the imagery :D we all played 1st ed, A LOT, so know all the tropes :D )

Carcer

8:13 PM

surely a katana

and the stock phrase "nothin' personnel, kid"

Black Spike

:)

Carcer

are all you need to make this a truly dastardly villain

Black Spike

heh. Although this is all VERY personal! The PCs just burned his gang, destroyed his turf, and have now invaded his Private Lair! (after a "rogue" from the PCs gang 'accidentally' did loads of blood-experiments on his gang ...)

(and tho this sounds like a Major Thing, it's actually all a side-plot! A bit of a distraction, to make the world feel Action-Filled, there are consequences ... not really the Main Plot. The player's were stalling, while they split lootz from the last raid, so I "Charlie" burned some of their turf, and ran off! Standard "nothing happening? BOOM! NINJA!"

V2Blast

8:30 PM

@Ryan generally speaking it can be anything mundane (nonmagical) that your character would know about/be able to have seen

> an inanimate object [...] This object can be no larger than 3 feet on a side and weigh no more than 10 pounds, and its form must be that of a nonmagical object that you have seen.

Akixkisu

8:55 PM

Does someone know on the fly the category differences of locked:0; locked:1; and locked:2?

nitsua60

@Akixkisu What's the context/where're you seeing it? I know in search locked:0 and locked:1 are "not locked" and "locked." Where'd you see "locked:2"?

Akixkisu

It is a seacharble tag in the extension list that I'm using, might be dead though or it doesn't apply to rpg.se

@nitsua60 If combined with is:question it gives the exact number of rpg.se questions which lets me assume that it doesn't apply to rpg.se

nitsua60

I can't find anything on it in meta. I'll gladly ask in the mod/staff room, but a bit more context might be helpful. Like which extension, does it seem to modify any results, and I don't know what else might be helpful.

What about on SU or SO? They're big enough that if it's going to do anything, it probably does it there.

Akixkisu

@nitsua60 thx, but I guess it isn't really relevant. No results that deviate from is:question, but thanks for the offered help!

(I am assuming that locked:2 is used in this list because locked 0/1 exclude each other)

Akixkisu

9:30 PM

I think so far this is my favourite historical significant lock (195 views):(rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/58965/…

It is especially remarkable if compared to the historical lock of this question rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/267/…

Akixkisu

10:04 PM

This might be my favourite comment exchange so far (the answer was not edited): I'll... But I'm commuting to work – HufflepuffBR Feb 18 '16 at 8:07

It'll still be here when you have the time to answer it fully. – BESW Feb 18 '16 at 8:09
@BESW Forgot to say: FAE is good if you know what are you doing as a GM. If you're a newbie, maybe you should compliment it with some setting. Some of the bests IMHO for FAE are (in no specific order) Do - Fate of the Flying Temple, Young Centurions, Strays, Masters of Umdaar, Nitrate City and Good Neighbors – HufflepuffBR Jul 5 '17 at 19:36

Ben

10:16 PM

Morning all

Akixkisu

morning.

Ben

It has been very misty this morning, was quite a spectacle

Bucket list achievement: Get a post over 100 votes

V2Blast

@Ben congrats

Ben

10:31 PM

Haha no not yet. I've just put that on the list haha

My highest is 69 votes.

I do have a few questions and answers around there, 65-69 votes across different sites, and I may have received an answer on one question over 100 votes, so by association, I got there haha.

But it'd be nice to see one of my own posts with triple digits on it :D

V2Blast

ah, ok

my highest answer has 60

Ben

@V2Blast That site-wide?

V2Blast

10:46 PM

@Ben what do you mean?

Ben

Like, not just on RPG.se

My highest is on sf&f.se

V2Blast

I've only ever been particularly active on RPG.SE

my highest reputation on the network is on RPG.SE by 2 orders of magnitude: stackexchange.com/users/1597106/v2blast?tab=accounts

Ben

Ahh fair enough haha. I've been here and there a little bit. I started on Stack Overflow, moved to Arqade, then came to rpg. I've been around a little bit haha

Hullo @nitsua60 @BlackSpike

@V2Blast stackexchange.com/users/3690277/ben?tab=accounts

Black Spike

hi @Ben

#lurking

Ben

:50702139 Hehe yeah. The phrasing is ambiguous there :P

The Machine God is real

Black Spike

10:59 PM

:)

Ben

Guy is fixing the servers at work, get's everyone to start chanting. Boss walks in
>"Are you starting a cult?"
>Yes, Praise the Machine God
>"Ok, just checking."

I might also add "Get a post to be starred 10 times" to the list of things to achieve as well. I've got one post on 9 stars so far

MikeQ

@Ben Let us dedicate these bytes of text to the omnissiah

Ben

Toll the Great Bell Once!
Pull the Lever forward to engage the
Piston and Pump...
Toll the Great Bell Twice!
With push of Button fire the Engine
And spark Turbine into life...
Toll the Great Bell Thrice!
Sing Praise to the
God of All Machines

MikeQ

11:18 PM

And let us say, [Y/n]

Ben

@MikeQ Fanfic or binary response? Lol

MikeQ

Fanfic is heresy. I meant it in the Unix prompt sense of "by default, I agree".

Ben

@MikeQ Ahh

I knew it was of such inclination

Ben

11:49 PM

Just had a PC call in sick on a Monday morning

GcL

@Rubiksmoose have you been down to the London Chop House?

@Ben Have you tried turning it off and back on again?

Ben

@GcL The battery was holding a trickle charge and needed to be "flushed". Basically, remove everything them plug everything back in.

Unfortunately this particular laptop needed to be puled apart just to get the battery out

@GcL So, that's effectively what I did :P

MikeQ

Have you tried blessing it? Or installing more mechanical arms?

Ben

@MikeQ I actually did as I put it back together haha.

We ran out of mechadendrites recently, unfortunately

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