TRPG General Chat

12:01 AM

I was implying that for sure

@MikeQ I'm doing that thing again where I fill all my free times with D&D/TTRPGs. Whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen.

@PeterCooperJr. Haven't read it in much depth, but I think SCAG details some of the differences between the human ethnicities in Faerun

Joshua

We had some fun with an industrial strength bag of holding. We filled it full of lead.

V2Blast

@PeterCooperJr. Might also be worth checking out the subreddit for that particular campaign and/or asking there: reddit.com/r/WaterdeepDragonHeist

Joshua

Good for defending walls or a decent passive trap.

Black Spike

12:23 AM

hi

I can't do accents at all. I give my NPCs character-traits. Kinda 'stereotypes'. Hooks. In our last game they were literally known, in-game, by their archetype! (The Goth, The Geek, The Artist). Along with a Picture, and some interaction, soon the players knew who they were :)

Shalvenay

@Joshua Supersack of Holding? XD

(more formally, FIBC of Holding, where FIBC = Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container)

BESW

Also there's a lot more to voice than accent.

Aside from obvious things like lisps and stammers and hesitation markers, vocabulary and syntax choices are massive in defining character and distinguishing individuals.

Black Spike

@BESW Very true. I do try to vary NPCs by -how- they say things

BESW

That's part of why I use actors as models--especially actors who either have a consistent style across their work, or who inhabit one particularly memorable role I can draw on.

Using a performance as a touchstone gives me a lot of different cues--body language, vocabulary choice, hesitation markers, etc.

Black Spike

The Geek was obsequiously polite, and fawning (and gathering as much blackmail info as possible!). The Artist referred everything to The Great Masters: "Oh, how very Monet, but I feel a more Caravagian approach would work here" (planning a heist!)

I do try to model things around Movie Scenes nowadays ... sometimes the trick is to figure -which- movie it is! :) often that's the dice rolls. :)

It helps that we play in our lounge, with a Big TV to chromecast pictures to. "That's the imagery for this Scene" ... "That's -this-NPC-" ...

BESW

12:40 AM

in Fate chat and game room, Nov 16 '14 at 6:08, by BESW

@doppelgreener One of my dreams is to have a rec room with a big white wall and a big table, with a swing-mounted projector on the ceiling that can point at the wall or down at the table.

Black Spike

<looks over previous posts .. oh, Bechedel Test!> Yeah, it's not the be-all and end-all. It's not meant to be

Shalvenay

@BESW no doubt

Peter Cooper Jr.

@V2Blast Yeah, I should probably borrow SCAG from my brother again, or actually go ahead and buy my own copy. Thanks for the tip.

Joshua

1:17 AM

@Shalvenay: made of a more durable material

Hot RPG Questions

8

Q: What magic extends life or grants immortality

Are there any magic items or spells that extend the natural life of a creature (meaning the age of the creature, and not preventing death from a wound or injury) or that grants immortality in the 5e books published by Wizards of the Coast. I'm looking only for options available to PCs through ch...

dnd-5e

V2Blast

1:33 AM

@PeterCooperJr. Seems there's only about a paragraph or two for each ethnicity (plus some example names), from p. 110-112 or here on DDB: dndbeyond.com/sources/scag/races-of-the-realms#Humans

though there is a short sidebar listing each human ethnicity/nation's languages

JohnP

2:30 AM

@V2Blast - Did you get a chance to look through those postings?

V2Blast

2:50 AM

@JohnP Honeywell, right? Haven't had a chance yet

V2Blast

3:29 AM

About to stream our D&D 5e actual-play podcast in about 30 minutes: https://www.twitch.tv/events/oGzGrCoxSbS1S1Zg61gSqg

In a universe adjacent to our own lies a world known as Runia. This world, once peaceful and idyllic, is now threatened by a monstrous being from its prehistory. A group of adventurers known as Whiskey Company have risen up to do what they can to fight this entity known only as Nagat. They have trekked far across the mortal realms in search of the shards of Barrinoth, the Titan of Justice, in hopes of returning him to his full power.

Joel Harmon

@V2Blast If I recall correctly, didn't Crawford's twitter account get un-official-ized, and only the stuff that actually made it into an official correction still counts?

V2Blast

@JoelHarmon You recall correctly.

Joel Harmon

I'm working through Seven's wall of text still, so maybe there's a still-official reference in there that I'm missing. Or maybe I'm just being ornery.

Well, at least this gives rise to one other way to interrupt a long rest - ask a mildly controversial question about a niche hobby on the internet. This will probably keep me up tonight.

V2Blast

@JoelHarmon Nah, it's just some mildly ambiguous rules phrasing and an unofficial clarification of that phrasing by Crawford. Crawford's explanation is how I interpreted it to begin with. It'd seem weird to me to throw in a duration intended only for one activity in a sentence listing several such activities.

@JoelHarmon Hahahaha.

:D

Joel Harmon

3:49 AM

@V2Blast Well, I've taken a crack at an update to my answer. Please let me know if I should make further changes.

V2Blast

@JoelHarmon Will have to take a look later, due to the podcast being about to start :P

V2Blast

5:05 AM

A writing.SE thread relevant to our interests:

37

Q: Avoiding racist tropes in fantasy

I'm interested in starting a pleasure project: a fantasy story, along the lines of a witch delivering a prophecy to a king about a dangerous and deceitful foe who will overthrow him, and the king enlists three other witches to seek out and destroy this foe. I want to draw on traditional, argua...

creative-writing fiction characters fantasy

Hot RPG Questions

7:03 AM

6

Q: What is the difference between true neutral and unaligned?

Something I’ve never gotten is that true neutral and unaligned seem to be the same in the long run. The only difference is that unaligned is for wild animals, and true neutral is for intelligent creatures - pne being driven by instinct and the other by choice. Similarities Neither leans toward...

dnd-5e alignment

Nyakouai

7:15 AM

Morning all

Pierre Cathé

Morning

Nyakouai

7:37 AM

@MikeQ In some campaign our GM mastered, there is a whole trap that just spring an AOE disjunction all around

I was supposed to be the "arcane expert" around, but the GM decided to be a dick and chrono the time before the next dispelling blast while he was explaining me what I could piece from examination

Took the full brunt of it, and had to do a Will save for every magic item on me

(And somehow passed them all, but we never hang in this room ever again)

The Oracle

1

Q: How does the bot choose Q&A to publish on Twitter?

I already saw some of my questions being tweeted on the RPG Stack Exchange Twitter account. At first, I though Q&A were put on Twitter when someone, like a moderator, find it good and interesting. When I started to read other's question's edit, I also saw these "tweeted notification" and someti...

discussion

Nyakouai

So yeah, there is no spell too low for a GM that doesn't pull punches

Pierre Cathé

I just had an idea to cheat death in dnd-5e

Use magic jar and keep possessing younger bodies

but as everyone knows the catch is that if someone smashes the jar and your body's gone, you die

So you cast Imprisonment on your catatonic body and put it in a gem

Nyakouai

Don't you have any means to preserve a body in 5e?

Pierre Cathé

And you set the spell to end when your magic jar is broken

And you carry the gem everywhere you go

Nyakouai

7:48 AM

(there it is)

Pierre Cathé

@Nyakouai Yeah but I never thought about it before

Nyakouai

So you basically created a phylactery, but involving more steps and less suicide :P

Pierre Cathé

The only potentially contentious point is whether your soulless catatonic body counts as a creature for imprisonment

Nyakouai

(Which is good, just fun in comparison)

Pierre Cathé

@Nyakouai yup, and less dark magic

You could even found a cult around yourself and find willing people for reincarnation purposes

Nyakouai

7:50 AM

I'd advise against carrying the gem at all time

Imagine you fall in lava, or another situation where you don't want to pop on the very spot you died

Pierre Cathé

@Nyakouai Then you also cast contingency to somehow protect yourself ?

@Nyakouai The problem is that if your jar is smashed, and you're more than 100 ft from the jar, you die

Nyakouai

@PierreCathé Ah. Yes, that's a problem.

Pierre Cathé

Also you should carry the jar/phylactery, just in case the host body is killed, for the same reason

So it might be cumbersome, but it's less risky/evil than suicide-lichification

Nyakouai

Okay, so not as good as a phylactery, but still pretty decent as back-up

I think it has a very Palpatine vibe to it

MikeQ

@Nyakouai Yep, this was the Runelords campaign. I remember the trap you're talking about. It was annoying.

Nyakouai

7:54 AM

@MikeQ (Didn't want to spoil the AP :P )

MikeQ

The BBEG shouldn't have that spell anyway (I checked afterward), but I suppose this is a heads-up if you also have a vindictive GM

Nyakouai

He cloned himself and could transfer his consciousness to a new, younger body. (And now that I think about it, it's the clone spell...)

@MikeQ Wait, your story happened in RotR?

Pierre Cathé

I love how the target in Magic Jar is allowed one saving throw, and that's it

MikeQ

@Nyakouai Yes. I think it's a very problematic AP, but nobody was running anything else.

Pierre Cathé

"Toss a coin to see whether you're fine, or you lose your body forever"

Nyakouai

7:59 AM

@MikeQ Ok, so we're not the only group thinking it's tedious as hell... Good, good...

@PierreCathé Is the DC hard to pass, or...?

MikeQ

@Nyakouai Gosh no. It really favors certain classes over others, the dungeons are grindy, the NPCs are boring, and the plot jumps around. Combine that with a GM who communicates poorly and won't improvise, and you get a mess.

Hot RPG Questions

2

Q: Can a PC's alignment be forcibly changed?

Can a PC's alignment be forcibly changed? I've been skimming through the classes on PFSRD, and noticed a lot of them have alignment restrictions. Many state that if their alignment changes, they lose X, Y, and Z, or just stop gaining class levels, period. Since that's the case and a number of c...

pathfinder-1e alignment

Pierre Cathé

@Nyakouai "The target must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failure, your soul moves into the target's body"

MikeQ

@Nyakouai There were annoying moments where it's like "Did you miss this obscure clue from 10+ sessions ago? That'll cost you a TPK."

Nyakouai

@MikeQ Haven't finished it yet

I can guess a few, but still have a book and a half to crush

MikeQ

8:08 AM

The final chapter was the worst. No story, no loot, no chance to return to town. Only grind.

Nyakouai

(It was a subtle way to say: please no spoil :P )

MikeQ

Just a heads-up. In retrospect, I wish someone had told me. I'll say no more.

Nyakouai

Yeah, just warning before you go further :P

I can kinda guess what's gonna happen, but prefer to go in there as un(-meta-)knowingly as possible

Though, this isn't the worst move a GM pulled on us ever

There have been some royal scamming moments

Pierre Cathé

Not sure if this is worthy of a mainsite question : can you use the same item as spell component for two different spells ?

MikeQ

@Nyakouai Oh for sure. Getting TPK'd before the end of round 1 was insulting, but it's far from the worst thing I've experienced in a TTRPG.

@PierreCathé If you're asking 5e - Material components aren't consumed unless the spell says so.

Pierre Cathé

8:20 AM

@MikeQ Yeah 5e, and they aren't consumed but they serve as container for the magic jar

my idea is to cast magic jar using a gemstone

and then use the same gemstone to imprison your body

From Imrisonment : "The target shrinks to a height of 1 inch and is imprisoned inside a gemstone or similar object. Light can pass through the gemstone normally (allowing the target to see out and other creatures to see in), but nothing else can pass through, even by means of teleportation or planar travel. The gemstone can't be cut or broken while the spell remains in effect.

Makes an indestructible magic jar container

Nyakouai

@PierreCathé I doesn't slow passing of time, though?

So your body is still decaying?

Pierre Cathé

@Nyakouai Nope : "While affected by this spell, the creature doesn't need to breathe, eat, or drink, and it doesn't age."

Ultimate cheese ?

Nyakouai

Ok, so a very nice phylactery, as long as you don't die

Pierre Cathé

Yeah, if your new body dies, you have to pass a Cha save to be allowed to return to your body

MikeQ

Oh I see, so you'd use magic jar to put the soul into the gem, and then use imprisonment to put the body in and make the gem indestructible. Would that work?

Pierre Cathé

8:24 AM

otherwise you die

@MikeQ Exactly

Nyakouai

So +1 life, but on a Charisma save

MikeQ

You'd need to possess someone else in order to cast imprisonment, correct?

Nyakouai

Suppose if you can cast those spells, you could manage to have a decent bonus to said save

Pierre Cathé

@Nyakouai Yeah, but if you make it, you can just cast it all again

@MikeQ Yes

V2Blast

@PierreCathé I think it's worth asking a question about your specific example. A general question about all spells might be a bit too broad to be answerable

Pierre Cathé

8:26 AM

@MikeQ And when they are close to death, you possess someone else

@V2Blast So something like "Can a magic jar gem be used to cast imprisonment? " ?

V2Blast

Yep

MikeQ

@PierreCathé Possible complication with imprisonment: "nothing else can pass through, even by means of teleportation or Planar Travel." So maybe you can't return your soul to the gem.

You could magic jar your soul into the gem, then have someone else cast imprisonment on your body, but then your soul can't leave the gem.

Pierre Cathé

@MikeQ Then you set the end condition for Imprisonment to be "whenever my soul departs from this host"

And you cast it again after possessing a new body

It has the side effect of dumping your soulless catatonic body on the floor whenever you change host, but that's what you get for using a cheap phylactery

Nyakouai

Cheap phylactery that doesn't require you to slice your own throat and raise as an undead

Count that as a win in my book

Couldn't you rig more contingency spells on it?

Such as Teleport/Planar Shift to a safe location once your soul return your body?

I'm unfamiliar with high level magic, especially in D&D 5e

Pierre Cathé

Contingency only works with 5th-level spells or below

There I got my questions out

BESW

8:47 AM

> Cut-rate immortality. When you take this stunt, choose a location and also pick one: Lose your highest consequence slot, or add "and lose all your fate points" to this stunt's effect. When you die, you reappear at that location, naked and confused. You may change the location by spending the time between one significant milestone and the next in that place.

MikeQ

9:01 AM

There are much easier ways to become naked and confused

2

BESW

9:15 AM

Well, if easy is all you're interested in....

Nyakouai

Maybe everytime you wake up naked and confused is because you died the day before, and you just don't remember

Nyakouai

11:27 AM

Question: Any question regarding an homebrew's evaluation should include the "balancing" tag, no? Doesn't make much sense to evaluate an homebrew that is not meant to be balanced?

(In D&D5e, regarding rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/153952/… )

Someone_Evil

That doesn't and shouldn't exist as a rule. It is possible (if rare) for a homebrew review not to ask about balance (and still be on topic)

Nyakouai

Yeah, I guessed this was equivalent to the "Not guessing the system" rule. Since I wasn't sure, I asked first

Thanks for the answer

Someone_Evil

If one tag always needs a specific other tag, something is fishy with our tag definitions

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