@KorvinStarmast I knew that asking about frog souls would either be tumbleweed or go straight to HNQ, though I wasn't sure which way it would be. Does seem that it became popular. Glad I could amuse some people.
3.5, 5.0, 4.0, PF, SF, DH, SW, and even the occasional LLKoM
That is to say, that's if you have something in regards to talk about in regards to any of that. Currently we're deciding whether or not Australia is actually just a colony of sapient cephalopods.
(But I might be wrong on either count. For a while a couple years back recipes/"what I'm making for dinner tonight" probably edged out dd5e for top slot.)
In other news, I came across an interesting conundrum recently.
I have somewhat of a "subdermal scar"
A while ago I noticed a ring on my arm, just while at work, as if I'd leant on something for a period of time. The weird thing was nothing quite matched the location or shape that made any sense.
It eventually disappeared again, until I recently noticed it again. The same ring, in the same location.
That's when I realised it was actually from a bite one of my friends gave me a few years ago when we were playing around.
That is where she bit me, really quite hard, and looking at it, it does match the shape.
It's been well-established that Polymorph is broken. However, I often see the claim that "WotC gave up on fixing Polymorph". Is there some sort of history to this? From what I've gathered, it seems like they must have gone through multiple errata for it before giving up completely, but I don't th...
@Amaranthine Welcome! Lurk away. There are plenty of D&D 5e players, but also those with experience with previous editions of D&D, and with plenty of other RPGs as well! (Obviously D&D 5e tends to get a little more active discussion than older editions of D&D simply because it's the current edition.)
@nitsua60 Someone find the relevant chat message about the least on-topic thing here :)
@V2Blast Not yet, it hasn't caused any issues. It's simply been a case of "wait... where did that come from?" only for it to disappear a few days later.
Of all the things I should get looked at, this is really probably the least urgent haha. Nothing has come of it, I've had it for years, it doesn't cause pain or affect any ability. It's mostly just odd. Lol
> Fandom has acquired the Cortex roleplaying game rules system from Margaret Weis Productions. [...] Additionally, Fandom has brought Cam Banks, lead designer and developer of recent versions of the system, on board to guide the future of Cortex. > An updated version of the system—called Cortex Prime—was successfully funded on Kickstarter in 2017. Fandom will fulfill all the commitments of the Kickstarter, plus integrate full digital support—like we have done for Dungeons & Dragons with D&D Beyond—to enhance the experience. Cortex Prime will become the first time digital tools are built-in …
I'm going to write up a little "experiential learning" booklet for the #SafetyJam, and if anybody who's played a game with me in any capacity has thoughts they'd like to share about how those games succeeded or failed at creating welcoming communities where people felt like they would be treated with respect and their concerns or suggestions taken seriously, I'd really appreciate having those conversations.
@Carcer Back before I was more explicitly collaborative, I really enjoyed making my players feel smart for having figured things out, by listening to their speculation and thinking "Well that's better than anything I would've done, we'll do that instead."
Back in those days, I'd carefully develop characters and factions with motives and agendas of their own, and plans for achieving them, and backup plans.
@PierreCathé Are your players the ones who want a fair mystery with the expectations of rewards in accordance to their ability to figure stuff out, the sort who like surprises no matter the fairness, the sort who like to feel clever regardless of anything, or some of the other possible sorts?
Then I'd let the players loose into these carefully constructed webs of influences and plans, and watch them careen around making a mess of everything, and each character/faction would respond in character according to their goals and motives and whatever contingencies they might (or might not) have for what's going wrong.
The PCs are the story.
The thing about creating characters with agendas they're pursuing, rather than plot points I'm trying to hit, is that I don't have to worry about contradicting anything that hasn't hit the table yet. All that's true is what everyone knows, and what the table hasn't seen is not yet true, only possible.
@PierreCathé You may be interested in reading through the rules for Dungeon World (or the other Powered by the Apocalypse rule sets, though I'm not very familiar with those). The motto is "play to find out what happens", and there are fairly structured rules around what BESW is talking about regarding factions with goals, rather than predefined outcomes that you try to force.
I know about those rule sets, but I'm no fan. Also "factions with goals, rather than predefined outcomes that you try to force" that's a false dichotomy. My npcs have their own motivations and act according to those. I don't force outcomes either, I create situations and the outcome is determined by how the players react.
What I meant is that if I have a plan of e.g. how a villain will act and a players says "Gee I bet they'll act in that other way !", even if it sound good right now I won't necessarily make the change because it might have unforeseen negative consequences on the coherence of the world (for example maybe it wouldn't align with the villain's end goal, which the players don't always know)
@BESW "characters with agendas they're pursuing, rather than plot points I'm trying to hit" that's also a false dichotomy, you can have characters with agendas and use those to build plot points
"I'm going to eat a sandwich rather than a pizza." "That's a false dichotomy, because you could eat both!" See?
I really don't know what you're trying to argue against. It sounds like you're assuming that everybody except you is doing the absolute most extreme possible version of whatever we're talking about--for example you seem to think if I'm using players' ideas that must mean I'm disregarding the internal coherency of the setting.
"I wouldn't do it before really thinking things through and seeing how it changes the rest of the story." That's nuanced too, all I'm saying there is that it carries risks
And now you're explaining to me that characters with agendas aren't mutually exclusive to pre-determined plot points, which again--seems kinda weird to feel the need to point out when nobody said otherwise.
And you pinged me personally to say both those things.
I'm not saying your points lack nuance. I'm saying your points only make sense to add to the conversation if you think you're the only one capable of nuance, because these are all pretty basic concepts that nobody's been arguing against.
So I'm really confused and trying to find a more generous interpretation of your contributions than that you think we're kinda oblivious.
I’m about to start a sci-fi campaign using Ultramodern5 (a modification of D&D 5e for non-fantasy settings). I’ve been working with players to help build their characters, and one player character has me a bit worried. The player wants his character to be homophobic, as the character is Russian a...
@goodguy5 There's all sorts of imperfect PCs - killing, stealing, racist, lying, so of course this is just another example of a flaw that would come up sooner or later as a topic.
@Nyakouai Star Wars is an odd one when it comes to such things. It's a setting with a grand opposition of good and evil, and dealing with some grim things like WMDs . . . but its evil in the films appears . . . sanitised most of the time.
Sometimes people like sanitised; sometimes they want to explore a phenomenon in all of its no-nonsense warts-and-all 'glory'.
I don't understand why "evil" should necessary be "Gross tentacular horror that want to rape both your soul, skull and possibly body just because it's trash"
I don't recall the films exploring the Empire's ideology almost at all. It had the usual trappings of a dictatorship that are the same across different ideologies, but that was about it.
Moderate disturbingness. Sexual fetishes from what would be considered by most of the society as "batshit crazy/revulsingly puky (and frankly unhygienic)" stuff... Not my jam
Of course, it's just my bias ;)
But since I was DMing, it was vetoed before coming into play
@Nyakouai I do see RPGs (and gaming in general) as a useful tool for getting rid of one's biases. There was a girl who got over her thing against spiders after playing a priestess of a spider deity. I got much more comfortable with the concept of metal bodies by way of a combination of SOMA and Eclipse Phase. I'm sure there are many other such stories, even if they're not often talked about (as people often don't want to admit such things, whether past or present).
@Nyakouai The official Stack Exchange policy is to only support English Language questions; and although there are a few grandfathered in foreign language stacks, the policy is to not open new ones. I strongly disagree with that policy, because I think users benefit more from being able to ask questions in their native tongue and receive answers from users also in their native tongue, but I guess SE aren't interested in accommodating that.
@Carcer On one hand, moderation is a totally understandable concern. On the other, forbidding people to use their native language in certain places leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.
@vicky_molokh in public? Sure. In a moderated discussion space? I don't have any qualms with saying "sorry, you need to speak English here, because we've got the responsibility of moderating what you say and if I can't understand you I cannot ensure you're keeping to the rules"
@Carcer In what way? Anyone without an account can search a Stack and read it. IIRC there are even ways for people to either edit or post without an account.
stack exchange is a private owned and moderated forum
everyone is welcome to come in, sure
what I'm saying is it is obviously and definitely wrong to tell people conversing in the street what language they ought to use as it's none of your business, but when they are conversing in your office, where you've got a responsibility to ensure everyone is being polite to each other and nobody is expressing horribly foul views or whatever, they have to converse in a language you can actually understand
I'm honestly torn in many ways on the policy. You can't just create a mixed language question pool, because then you'll have users who will visit the front page and see nothing they can respond to. But if you tag everything with its associated language and show pools based on the user's language, you're segregating the userbase.
@Carcer It's private in terms of money, but it's public in practice and usage. A public establishment like a pub would be looked at unfavourably, to say the least, for discriminating based on sex or religion even if there are logistical benefits to doing so. A private club would be given more of a pass. But the Stacks are lean more towards a public establishment than a closed private club.
if you go into a pub and you start shouting about something such that everyone in the pub can clearly hear you - which is effectively what happens when you post a forum because whatever you're saying isn't just limited to the people you're immediately conversing with - you'd probably find different rules start apply
I mean, whatever language you're shouting in a pub would probably kick you out for being disruptive
but the point is that for conversations held in a pub vs conversations held on an internet forum the proprietors have different levels of responsibility for moderating whatever is being said
@Carcer It's interesting that the pub (which was brought up just as an example of a public place) largely flipped some of the public/private nuances. But that seems to be going into the woods of specific examples, rather than the ethical considerations of forbidding people to use a language as such (which really reminds me of some horror stories from Imperial and/or Soviet times).
@vicky_molokh but it's public in practice and usage with the difference being that you can be banned or removed from the space, so the "it's public" argument is only half supportable.
I don't exactly feel great about it, but I would and have (in previous roles with moderation responsibility) told people to please use English because the moderators can't understand you otherwise
forbidding people to use a language Your framing of that using those terms is (in my view) somewhat disingenuous. The practical limitations of a text based communication systsm isn't a matter of "forbiddance" - it's a matter of scope and utility to the customer base.
but at the same time, yes, it's worrying because for all that one can say you're perfectly welcome to use whatever languages you like in public or in your own home, but there's no discussion space where you can actually use your language, that still has a stifling effect
It’s amusing that my most upvoted question (can you milk an ivory goat) didn’t even benefit me, as the character I wanted it on, Miracle Hwip, ended up going with lots of Alchemy Jugs instead. (Due to S9 rules, he’s now reduced to only 10 jugs)
All the questions about nets also were for the benefit of Miracle Hwip, as he is a Valor Bard net thrower.
Action Cast, Bonus Net !!
As were all the questions on donkeys and true polymorph and simulacrum, because his simulacrum is true polymorphed into an ancient brass dragon then change shaped into a donkey... to transport his 10 alchemy jugs because beast of burden. The donkey is named Shrek.
The donkey actually has 3x more health than Hwip, which is nonsensically hilarious.
@Gwideon I'm glad you talked to your player! Just so you know, I'd highly highly recommend introducing a Safety tool into your game to help deal with this and any other issues that can and will occur.
@GaelL hahaha! I love it.
There were a few months here that any time I would see "whip" or "net" in the title I knew exactly who was asking :) (and that's not a bad thing at all).
@GaelL XD That's a lot of jugs and a great name for a donkey.
But we have at least a few users that can help you out implementing a way to run the game safely and in a fun way if you wanted. Just give me a ping any time (I don't consider myself a safety tools expert but I can certainly can help you get started and understand things and/or point you to others who know much more than I).
Ah yes, the whip questions are also for Miracle Hwip, who has acquired a mutated tail that acts as a nonmagical whip, and has learned the Thorn Whip cantrip.
I go full tilt on thematics whenever I create a character. Hwip even has the Discovery background feature (Hermit) to have found a Secret Mayo recipe.
He’s got one level of law divine soul sorcerer because it has law in the name (another strong theme of the character, who is lawful neutral, an ex officer of the law).
@GaelL I'd love to be able to do that. There's something in me that just...doesn't work on that level. I get too distracted by the mechanics and trappings. sigh
Though it helps when I move away from D&D-like systems.
@Gwideon Excellent! I honestly try to incorporate some sort of safety tool in every game that I run now. It just makes things so much more pleasant. The purpose of them generally is to provide ways for people to prevent players from being in situations where they are uncomfortable and/or finding ways to help people after and to find ways to move forward.
With a flawed character like you are allowing into the game, I think these will especially be able to help.
Also took Enlarge/Resuce as a bard secret so that, as a valor bard, provided there’s a net on the ground, I enlarge it, pick it up, then bonus throw it at a huge creature (with the DM’s approval). I netted an Adult Blue Dracolich in an AL epic, which resulted in a hilarious scene for the table ! Not powerful, but very satisfying.
I’ll stop talking about Hwip now, I wouldn’t want to spam this chat too much.
I especially recommend Script Change or Lines/Veils. The latter I've used more of personally and is a bit "simpler" in terms of learning the functional parts of it IMO. but SC is a very powerful tool and overall I like it better.
I find the theme and mechanics very natural and easy to explain and understand. Eg a player just needs to indicate they want a "rewind" for something that happened that needs to be undone.
Please feel free to read through whatever you want and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
I agree it does seem very natural. I think I'm gonna implement this in this game as it's probably gonna end up tackling a more mature subject matter and this'll be useful to make sure no one ends up feeling uncomfortable
@Gwideon I honestly find Lines/Veils to be very good at preventative stuff as a DM and it helps me to get a handle on what my players want and don't want to see which helps a lot with campaign planning. Not to mention that it allows me to better steer away from areas where I might see problems arising.
@Gwideon Hm. I've never had an experience where a player has done that. There's some trust between the players and the DM that needs to happen.
Especially since a player should never need to explain themselves to use the tools.
On the other hand I always try to over encourage the use of the tools. I've never had a case where they have been over-used. Never. In fact, always it has been the opposite.
Using tools has a small hurdle to it no matter how small we try to make it. So I never try to erect any barriers at all for their use. I'd rather take the risk of abuse any day over the risk of hurting someone
@Gwideon Also, looking through Script Change there do appear to be sections that touch on people misusing the tools. To be clear, I'm not super experienced with this, I just like the way it has been explained to me and used in games I've been at in the past.
I should really give it another thorough read through.
If you want it to take place entirely in the Destiny universe, you might even have to place it before the Golden Age, which would make it entirely unrecognizable.
I think a likelier plan would be to alter the Destiny universe somewhat.
I find the ruleset that I mentioned to be really intriguing but I also find reading through the public release material really frustrating as it's incomplete and not very well organized in my opinion
@Gwideon (Please feel free to not engage further if you don't want to, I just feel a bit chatty today and am not trying to challenge or compel you to talk more than you want to)
But I feel that if guns are a "thing" in a standard D&D setting then the setting itself is a lot harder to justify. Much like in the real world, the advent of reliable gun technology radically changed warfare, defensive design, and lots of other things
D&D settings as we typically see them simply don't fit with that
I'm 100% cool with players having and using guns, but the condition is that they are almost impossibly rare. Gunpowder, at a minimum, can't be widely known about, manufactured, or available for use. If it were, it's very difficult to explain ranks of sword-and-shield soldiers
They can still be fun and thematic, but I personally feel that they tend to destroy my ability to improvise plausibly in the setting
yeah no it's fine. I was just mentioning that I kinda agree with you that it can be very difficult to do guns in a typical dnd setting
I do think it's interesting to discuss this. like I mentioned I do think critical role handled this well in both campaigns as the invention of guns has influenced the world
@Upper_Case Well, that's because with guns you can fairly easily take someone out of a fight. If people were more durable, like say a D&D adventurer, guns might be less game changing.
@Yuuki I agree; for mutual combat between groups of bullet-resistant people, probably. Adventurers in D&D are superhumanly durable to anything that might harm them (like swords and magical exploding fireballs) anyways, but the overall setting is still loosely plausible for "ordinary" folk
The palace guards' swords aren't going to be as effective against a PC party as against a "typical" danger, and that can translate to guns just fine. But if guns were readily available, there's a nearly 0% chance that the guards would be using swords and chainmail
Causally slides into your DMs with a homebrew for Guns where their weapon damage is 3d12, but if any damage die rolls a 1-9 the damage of that die is instead truncated to 0
also that's not true. Guns were Expensive especially when they were first invented. they were also slow. this is why a lot of nations didn't instantly adopt guns.
Whether or not they're expensive is a less operative factor for the groups in question (like organized militaries and nations) than whether or not the weapons might be brought to bear against them
Even early guns could get "effective" soldiers on the field with less training than needed for most other weapons, and even relatively small numbers of them can change the tactical picture for a defender.
Think of Portuguese guns coming to Japan just ahead of the Meiji restoration-- the old military strategies didn't work as they had before, and never really would again
If guns are new and rare, the setting isn't really perturbed. If guns are at all common, that changes
@Yuuki I was thinking more along the lines of "spend time, money, and effort getting essentially random people to be strong enough to wield a weapon reliably, then arrange them to crash into similar people on foot or horseback"
But even still, bombarding by cannon might make ruining those temples easier. I've been on the fence for a while about doing a more in-depth look at what a gun (modern or early) would bring to a fight vs. what a wizard has to offer
Seems like a lot of effort for something I've nowhere to publish, though
As a divinitation wizard, I love the portent mechanic. There is little better than pointing at an ally about to unleash their biggest attack on the BBEG and telling them, 'you just rolled a 20' (or whatever number I have that's high enough for them to hit). It makes me feel like a proper diviniat...
@BlackSpike I liked Star Traders OK, and haven't tried Frontier yet either. I'm kind of picky though, and I've been hurt so many times by games promising to be the next MoO II...
But either way, I'm headed out for the evening. Happy gaming!
The new Baldur's Gate - Descent into Avernus hardcover features a brand new mechanic: Infernal War Machines! A few things caught my eye - first off, that they have a stat block:
An infernal war machine's statistics function like those for creatures
Then, that their opportunity attack mechan...
I’ve made a D&D Monopoly game, and one player only plays 5.0. Any tips on how to combine 5.0 with 3.5 and keep the kid alive? He can hit without a problem, thanks to the +2 everybody gets for nearly everything, but he is so squishy a 3.5 cat is likely to kill him.
The new Baldur's Gate - Descent into Avernus hardcover features a brand new mechanic: Infernal War Machines! A few things caught my eye - first off, that they have a stat block:
An infernal war machine's statistics function like those for creatures
Then, that their opportunity attack mechan...
