TRPG General Chat

BESW

00:00

Taxxons, however, don't let anything go to waste.

Ben

00:12

Useless legendarium item #34

> Schrodinger's box: This is a simple box, that both does, and does not contain a cat. This item can only be used once. When you open the box, roll a d20. On a 1-10, there is no cat. On an 11-20 there is a cat.

Medix2

And if you roll and the die breaks you were never meant to know the answer

BESW

> Stockton's door: This item can be carried like a portable hole. When used against a vertical surface, it creates a door. When the door is opened, roll 1d20. On a 1-10, there is a woman behind the door. On 11-20, there is a tiger behind the door.

V2Blast

My title: "Can you end up with less than 3 talents at License Level 1?"
StackExchange:

> The question you're asking appears subjective and is likely to be closed

:thinking:

Medix2

00:27

As far as I've found, it does that a lot with "Can" and "Should" questions and just a lot of questions which aren't likely to be closed on those grounds

V2Blast

lol. I figured that was what it was. seems a little overzealous :P

BESW

I don't think it's even got a site-specific learning algorithm.

V2Blast

Yeah, I'd doubt they do

Hot RPG Questions

5

Q: Which occurs first? (late ToA spoilers)

Okay, so, real quick, I will place this here at the very start, if you don't want Tomb Of Annihilation spoilers, please do not read any further. That being said, I'm deep into my blind run of ToA. We just entered the Tomb Of The Nine Gods last session. Now, as per the Immolation spell descri...

Medix2

00:45

I've just learned you can lose privileges by opening bounties, interesting

BESW

Yeah, the tools get a bit... fuzzy... in implementation.

Medix2

Wait that mean you can lose the ability to set bounties by setting a bounty....

V2Blast

00:59

lol

finished asking my question :)

Medix2

What are the major differences between the free and non-free versions of the rules? Or rather, are significant things missing that may be relevant to your question?

Youjay

I need some DM advice for a particular (potentially spoilery) part of Curse of Strahd. Can I ask here or is there a spoiler-room I should go to?

Ben

@Youjay Wait, he was a vampire the whole time!?

Youjay

I'll take that as a "It's okay"...

Spoilers below
...
...
...
...
...
We've had one session and already the PC's are taking Irena to Vallaki, considering the length of the journey, the spy's and scrying spells, It'd be damn near impossible for Strahd not to find out about this.
How would Strahd react to this? I don't want him to eviscerate 4 lvl 3 adventures, but I also think he would confront them about this or at least do something to get Irena, possibly with Irena in the party.
How do I make Strhad seem all-knowing an all-present, powerful and terrifying without immediately kidnapping Irena or causing a TPK?

Ben

Lol I've never actually played CoS

If I spoiled something, I do greatly apologise haha

Youjay

01:13

you know i feel like there's a way to hide text unless you click on it but idk how

Rubiksmoose

@Youjay Alas, there's not a real way to do it in chat.

Youjay

well that's that then, if anyone can answer it (now that it's out) that would be great.

Rubiksmoose

I wish I could help, but I've never played or DMed the module!

MikeQ

Ah, the classic problem of "How do I put a powerful enemy in front of the players for Plot Reasons, while not prompting a combat encounter, despite being in a combat-centric game and a story supposedly driven by player choice"

Youjay

damn straight Mike

MikeQ

01:25

Generally speaking there are two solutions:
1. Hope that your players do exactly what you want them to do.
2. Change the premise of the situation.

Ben

Or secret option 3: Drop super heavy hints. [Wink wink, nudge nudge, get what I'm meaning yeah?]

MikeQ

That's the same as option 1.

Although this particular question is a bit different, because it's not asking about what the players see, but rather how to maintain internal consistency

Ben

Secret amendment 1a. Lol

MikeQ

Folks have asked about these Strahd situations a lot because, yes, as written, the adventure sorta dangles the BBEG in front of the adventurers from early on. Which may seem unusual if you expect all villains to be Saturday Morning cartoon enemies.

Ben

Oh wait, so I legit hit the nail on the head there?

MikeQ

01:36

So if you're working with a rhythm where the DM introduces a monster and the PCs are supposed to react aggressively, and you don't want them to react aggressively this time, then don't introduce a monster.

There are ways to establish an antagonist without having them draw from the Deck of Many Villain Cliches. Especially if you want that antagonist to seem smart.

V2Blast

@Youjay If specific spoilers are involved, this discussion could be better for the Not A Bar room so people aren't inadvertently spoiled. :)

Hot RPG Questions

5

Q: Would I still be able to cast conjure barrage if I was also using flame arrow?

Conjure barrage specifies that the ammunition used to cast it must be non magical but I can't find anywhere if an arrow under the effect of flame arrow is considered magical or not. What I mean by that is, is the arrow in and of itself magical or does flame arrow just set it on fire as it's laun...

dnd-5e spells ranged-attack spellcasting

Ben

Rule 1: Laughter to Chaos ratio. If the character laughs at everything, then they've obviously got a screw loose. If they laughs at everything and you legitimately don't want to walk through that door, you've got yourself a scary dude.

V2Blast

That said, what you've already said so far doesn't seem like a major spoiler to me... It's basically the first plot hook players get :P

lol

MikeQ

@Ben My rule 1 for intelligent villains is that they're aware of villain tropes. If your opening move is to irritate the adventurers, or kill their families or burn down their villages or whatever, then that creates Heroes with Revenge Arcs. Which is bad, because eventually either they kill you, or you kill a potentially competent henchperson.

Medix2

01:48

As I see it, a strong villain has very few reasons to allow their adversaries to live. One option is for fun, to test themselves, or something similar, another is to eventually recruit the adversaries to join the "villain" team

Ben

> Classic case of mistaken identity: The heroes make it to the foreboding castle, after crossing barren plains and fields of the undead. Congratulations, you just pissed off the guy that really has done nothing wrong, and was actually doing something decent by keeping the undead contained, staying out of the way, and reading books in his castle library. [Cue Slow Clap]

MikeQ

I dunno. If a villain wants to seem powerful enough that they shouldn't be messed with, then it may be wise to avoid forcing people into situations where they need to fight back.

Example: Instead of immediately attacking and kidnapping, use implied threats. Send a letter. One of those mob-boss-esque "we can do this the easy way or the hard way" things.

Ben

Cease and desist order.

Lol

MikeQ

Heroes exist in these settings, and even if you're confident you can defeat them, they're still a nuisance.

V2Blast

02:23

@Ben hahaha

Medix2

@V2Blast Given your recent question: Say you have a rank 3 talent and a rank 1 talent, reallocating the rank 3 talent's points to the rank 1 talent would do... something. I don't think it's covered in the rules

V2Blast

@Medix2 lol. yeah. might be worth another question? :P

Medix2

@V2Blast And since I've now read the rulebook I'm gonna look at your other question. Honestly, thank you for informing me this RPG exists because it is very interesting to me

V2Blast

@Medix2 my plan worked perfectly

:D

Ben

@KorvinStarmast so D4 update: Blizzard has thrown everything out of whack. Either intentionally because they have been rather terrible at continuity or simply to throw people off the trail.

V2Blast

02:36

Just a heads-up to others that know Curse of Strahd that Youjay did indeed ask their question in Not A Bar:

Not a bar, but plays one on TV

I'm not a place to unwind after work, but I play one on TV.

Anyone with advice, feel free to help them out there :)

Shalvenay

hey there @Ben, how're things going?

Ben

Decent. Battling with situational productivity. Haha

I often have the desire to do things, like work on my games or writing, but never really have the motivation to do it unless I'm sitting at a desk. Usually I just lie in bed and binge netlfix haha

Hot RPG Questions

3

Q: What happens when an outsider changes alignment

In the SRD's bestiary, most outsiders have an alignment listed and in 5e celestials and devils are locked into their alignment if they change they become something else that made me curious about what happens to an outsider who changes alignment in pathfinder. The result doesn't necessarily have ...

pathfinder-1e monsters alignment

Medix2

@V2Blast Combat Drill (page 155) critical hit is... something I don't have an answer to

Ben

Dead Space TTPRG

Medix2

02:46

@Ben Are you limited to only three "saves"?

Ben

Only if you want to be. It's entirely optional, and if you do get it, you get a badge.

V2Blast

03:02

@Medix2 That's actually something that prompted my question about Overkill: reddit.com/r/LancerRPG/comments/e02k14/…

Ben

03:48

Question: How to force a choice on "the wrong person"?

MikeQ

@Ben What do you mean?

Ben

I'm thinking that kind of question might be off-topic for main site... but it's about setting a scene for an intended recipient, when the content of the set up, is for a different person.

So like, PC ends up in a location, a recording says "Darren, you are the chosen one, take this"

Meanwhile, the PC's name is actually Marie

They have no choice but to do what the recording says, (because plot), setting up a "wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time" trope

MikeQ

04:05

If it's a choice, can they choose to not take the thing?

Ben

No, cos that's the set up for the story.

MikeQ

So it's less of a choice, more of a "Press A to continue" sort of deal

Ben

You are the wrong person, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, but you got no choice. Deal with it.

Yeah

MikeQ

Ok, and what's the question? How to ensure that the PC takes the object?

Joel Harmon

It's hard to force a choice like that on a player, because Marie could just say "oh, this isn't for me; I'll just put the thing down and walk away". Out of game, the player may well confuse it for world building.

Ben

04:12

@MikeQ Pretty much, without saying OoG "this is plot central, pick it up"

Joel Harmon

As with many things, this may be a Session Zero problem.

MikeQ

Yeah this seems a bit inorganic and I'd maybe question the premise. Otherwise you're gambling on player actions. The PC could refuse it. Or they take it, and drop it later.

It may make more sense if you give the PC a motive to accept the item and also keep it. Maybe the item gives some benefit. Maybe the PC is told elsewhere about the item's importance.

Joel Harmon

It could be either amusing or frustrating if that item is (semi-)sentient and has teleportation; it may refuse to be discarded.

Ben

@JoelHarmon It is cyberpunk that I'm thinking for this - so that's a good reason for it to stick around

@MikeQ I was thinking potentially being chased into here by some kind of overpowering force, then "hey, this will help solve my immediate issue, lets deal with that whole plot thing later"

KorvinStarmast

04:46

@Ben How so, Ben? out of whack?

MikeQ

@Ben I've tried doing the thing where the PCs get a macguffin, but don't realize it yet... Did not work very well. Instead I'd suggest that whoever gives them the macguffin should indicate its importance somehow

Ben

@KorvinStarmast "leak"/data mining has confirmed Rathma in D4

@MikeQ Yeah. I was thinking of presenting it like "Here's the Macguffin", but the premise is that it was clearly intended for someone else.

@KorvinStarmast Rathma is the "grey Jedi" of the Diablo lore, so his behaviour in the clip doesn't match up to his intended lore. So something is clearly wrong. Either the info given in the clip (meta data), or they have retconned his rile in everything.

Or, the are really setting up some massive plot twist.

So all in all, do people think this could be a worthwhile mainsite Q, if asked correctly?

emphsis on "correctly" lol

MikeQ

Unsure. Seems like a brainstorming question.

Ben

Yeah

Ben

05:14

I think I'll give it a shot. If it gets closed, then fine, if it can be reworked, great, and if it can be answered; boom.

kviiri

05:28

Hah. Seems like I accidentally made my answer a CW yesterday

Ben

On the flip side, I think I got some nasty remarks about not making one of my answers a CW once. Don't remember when or what answer, but the comment was basically like "this should obviously be a CW >:("

jgn

05:59

Why were they mad? Because rep? :/

Ben

Probably.

jgn

@Ben They probably just forgot their lore :)))

Ben

Wouldn't be surprised

To be fair though, I think the level of detail they go into is usually as much detail as they want to, and it's just the rest of us that complain cos it doesn't make sense lol

jgn

They usually go with "actually its more big brained than you think" then leave people to make conspiracy theories until they forget about the problems :P

Ben

D1 for example. They made the plot for that game, then kinda just left it.

then D2 came out, they made connections and ppl were all like "But hang on... none of that makes sense!"

Blizzard: [shrug]

jgn

06:07

"it don't have to, its demons (and magic)!"

Miniman

@Ben Wait, the guy in the trailer was meant to be Rathma?

Ben

@Miniman Apparently.

Miniman

Well, that sucks.

Ben

I'm still not 100% convinced though

False lead, change of direction, something like that

@jgn Even the timeline doubles back on itself, for little reason.

Miniman

I suppose it's technically possible that Lillith is going to help humanity out.

Ben

06:18

Sanctuary is discovered by heaven and hell, due to demon summoning, which leads to war between heaven, hell, and primitive nephalem, then they remove heaven and hell from sanctuary's history, agree not to go there until the "end times", then demon summoning is rediscovered, so heaven and hell say "f*** it."

Miniman

@Ben Incidentally, as someone whose entry point was D2, I'd be curious to hear about what didn't work in the transition from D1 -> D2.

Ben

@Miniman That is one potential plot thread. Rathma is summoning here to "restore balance"

Miniman

(I've since beaten D1, but it's not the same thing.)

Ben

@Miniman D1 was self contained. The OC was anonymous, having little/no connection to tristram. Just another adventurer to help clear out the cathedral.

Aside from Ogden "Thanks goodness you've returned", no one acknowledges you as someone familiar.

Miniman

Ah, gotcha.

So it's not so much about the broader (Sanctuary) lore as the local (Tristram) lore.

Ben

06:26

Then in D2, it turns out that the Summoner was the Sorcerer from D1 (Jazreth), which, fair, since he came from Lut Gholein. Blood Raven was the rogue (Moreina) from a neighboring town, and the Warrior was the Dark Warrion, Aidan, son of Leoric and brother of Albrecht.

Yeah, D1 was self contained to tristram, with little connection to the rest of the world

PC*, Wanderer*

Lol

Miniman

I mean, within canon, there was no P, only Cs XD

One of whom was dumb enough to shove a rock containing a demon into his forehead.

Ben

Which I'm using my "Influence system" to explain :P

Miniman

Ooooh, you should totally have called it "willingness to shove rocks containing demons into own forehead".

Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, I'll admit.

Ben

Scale of "hell no" to "I would totally Rock this in my forehead"

jgn

06:43

what better way to control a demon than to seal it within yourself :)

Ben

Worked for Tal Rasha

cough

jgn

Is there a legit better way (besides the hellforge which Im not sure even worked either)?

Ben

So far the black soulstone was the best method, it was just built for the wrong purpose.

The issue is that angels and demons don't die. Ever. They just respawn at last save point after (period of time)

Which is why the soulstone were made. The idea is if you can't kill 'em, cage 'em.

I think the soulstones were even actually diablos idea anyway?

jgn

07:15

I just saw your question @Ben. I think it would be good to have more info. A classic way to get the party mixed up is for them to already know that Dave can't finish the job, and have them know the job is important/they will be rewarded. Is something like that possible in your plot?

Miniman

@jgn Well, the Hellforge doesn't do anything to demons as such. It can be used to destroy soulstones, though, which prevents demons from using them as a respawn mechanic and forces them to fall back on their default respawn.

With no soulstones in play, you've basically got the D&D situation where killing a demon banishes it for an arbitrary amount of time.

Well, except that they're banished from hell as well as from the Material Plane/Sanctuary.

jgn

I thought in d2 smashing the stones meant they can't return to sanctuary?

BESW

@Ben Community wiki is almost never the right tool, especially for answers.

Hot RPG Questions

5

Q: How good is Dust Devil?

One of my players took Dust Devil as a spell, but in practice, it did not perform as expected. STR save: good, it is a rare save 1d8 bludgeoning damage + 1d8 per spell-slot above 2nd: below average, strictly worse than Cloud of Daggers, at some point better than Flaming Sphere 1m duration, conc...

dnd-5e spells

jgn

07:33

Beyond posting controversial or partial answers there isn't much point. A bit sad but it be that way.

Miniman

08:02

@jgn Yeah, but only because we killed them first.

V2Blast

08:37

https://ddb.ac/characters/15820250/kaB46X
My black dragonborn Oath of Vengeance paladin just hit level 5. Any suggestions on a good list of spells to prepare? He has a Cha mod of +3, so he can prepare 5 spells (not counting oath spells).

Pierre Cathé

Morning

V2Blast

@PierreCathé ola

tentatively dropped Heroism and Command and replaced them with Find Steed and Aid

Carcer

11:13

gotta get you a steed

Hot RPG Questions

11:34

10

Q: When does an Artillerist's Cannon have disadvantage?

The new Artillerist subclass for the Artificer has a feature that creates an Eldritch Cannon with one option for the cannon being to create a Force Ballista that can fire at enemies by making ranged spell attacks. Under what circumstances would the ranged attacks be made at disadvantage? For exa...

dnd-5e ranged-attack artificer

NautArch

13:02

@V2Blast aid never really seemed worth it with the spell slots for me. Better for the cleric to cast or someone else that can afford it. I always liked Command :)

Bless and protection from good and evil were my common concentration

NautArch

13:42

I like your spell choices, though. Some smites are situationally good, but generally not the best use of your slots.

Rubiksmoose

14:14

Morning everyone.

Pierre Cathé

Hi there

Rubiksmoose

How's it going?

Pierre Cathé

Pretty stressful at work, the lead dev is on holiday and there's a major bug just before a demo

Also didn't sleep much this night

But I beat my buddy at civ 5 so... worth it !

What about you ?

Rubiksmoose

@PierreCathé oof. That all sounds rough, but congrats on Civ 5! lol

I'm doing ok. Had a long holiday break so my batteries are pretty recharged.

Gwideon

14:30

hello

Pierre Cathé

Nice, what did you do during the holiday ?

Rubiksmoose

Went to a couple family things, cooked a bunch, slept in a bunch, played board games.

@Gwideon hi!

Gwideon

how are you

Hot RPG Questions

6

Q: How to set up a "Forced choice" for players in a game?

I have come up with a plot twist to create a "wrong person, wrong place, wrong time" situation. That part is important, and I don't want to change it. However this obviously causes a potential conflict with the players deciding "this obviously isn't for us", or "I don't want to get tied up in som...

system-agnostic railroading plot-hooks

Pierre Cathé

@Rubiksmoose Oh yeah I cooked too ! Made cakes with my girlfriend.

@Gwideon Heya

Rubiksmoose

14:42

@PierreCathé Nice! how'd they turn out?

Gwideon

sorry if i'm a bit slow. I didn't sleep very well and I'm feeling really anxious right now. not quite sure why.

Pierre Cathé

@Rubiksmoose The vegan almond cake was not too great as it didn't rise at all :/ However the bûche crème au beurre was our best yet !

The buttercream especially was really light and with just the right praliné flavor

@Gwideon Did you play civ 5 all night too ?

Rubiksmoose

@PierreCathé Sounds like the latter was an awesome success!

Carcer

@Gwideon good old generalised anxiety.

Pierre Cathé

@Rubiksmoose It really was !

Gwideon

14:48

@PierreCathé no. had wisdom teeth removed during the week. mouths been bothering me. makes it hard to sleep

Pierre Cathé

@Gwideon Ah yeah, that's a real pain. When I had that done I couldn't sleep without an ice pack

Here's hoping it doesn't last too long

Gwideon

yeah

so anyways what's going on

so has anyone played any interesting rpgs lately.

Someone_Evil

15:09

I got to play an artificer in 5e and had a lot of fun with that, if that counts

Gwideon

i've heard artificer is pretty fun. I might have to play one soon but um i was kinda thinking about stuff other than 5e.

Pierre Cathé

@Gwideon My last 3 sessions have gotten canceled, and this weekend's will probably be too :/

Gwideon

@PierreCathé Oof. do you still want to run something

Pierre Cathé

Oh yeah I'll just wait next week ;) those vampires won't stake themselves after all !

Gwideon

I'm still having trouble finding a fate star wars campaign to join

it's frustrating because I really want to play that kind of game but um yeah

Someone_Evil

15:25

@Gwideon I'm pretty sure that applies to every chatizen (and quite a few others)

Gwideon

true

Gwideon

15:43

Ttrpg looking for group stuff is dominated by dnd

Pierre Cathé

Consider yourself lucky ! Here looking for group stuff is dominated by nothing

Because there aren't any

Gwideon

oof

KorvinStarmast

@V2Blast You don't need Lesser Restoration if you are willing to use lay on hands for stuff like that, and I was always partial to find steed, but Hold Person is very hard to pass up.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast @V2Blast Lay on Hands doesn't undo everything lesser restoration, I usually kept LR prepared as well. Once I got 3rd level spells, I also had Revivify.

@KorvinStarmast But yeah, with Hold Person, it's situational and you often won't use it, but when you do...whoooooboy.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch True, but it does get rid of poison, which seems to be a pretty common thing for monsters to have

NautArch

15:48

@KorvinStarmast Yeah, was thinking more of the blinded/paralyzed

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch also commone enough to consider that spell if there is no cleric in the house. and no druid.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast Yup, or DPS focused druids/clerics in the party :P

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch DPS focused druids/clerics in the party can still keep a LR around since this is a team game. HD can't undo paralysis. LR can. 8^D Heck, what I like about Moon Druid is that they can mix it up in combat and full caster. Neat combo platter.

NautArch

Tell that to the early career of our Light Cleric :)

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch If the player group doesn't feel as I do about team play, all is well.

NautArch

15:58

@KorvinStarmast Oh, we did. He didn't :P

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Aah, I take it this was in your Paladin campaign? The feat meister?

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast That's the one :)

KorvinStarmast

I am envious that you got to play all the way to 20, our campaigns can't get that kind of staying power. And we have had a lot of DM burnout.

Gwideon

most campaigns don't last till 20

MikeQ

The trick is to start at level 20

NautArch

16:01

@KorvinStarmast Yeah, that's one of the good things about our group. We're generally not going anywhere. if anything, we've created a problem of splintering where some players are now DMing other groups and time is becoming an issue. But our 'main' group generally still takes priority (which is good, because I can't play in more than one because of time)

nitsua60

@MikeQ this (20's a different game, anyway. Why not play it that way?)

NautArch

I'm kinda wary to get my mini made because it seems liked character death is more likely in my current campaign. We've got hobbled characters with the ability roll system, but the DM is creating encounters as if we were more heroic.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch was is 3d6 in order?

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast yeah

KorvinStarmast

That makes no sense to me for 5e; the default is 4d6d1 and assign. (shrug). I guess you make the best of it.

NautArch

16:07

yup, is what it is!

but still having fun, and that's the most important hting

very excited to try out the battlemaster

KorvinStarmast

Back in original D&D, very few rolls of 4 or 5 had a mechanical conesequence. AD&D changed that

NautArch

but my monk gets to come back for a session in the other group!

Medix2

Random thing/question, I've been told (and have said several times) that it's often a good idea to wait before accepting an answer as it leaves your question more "open" and more likely to get newer answers which may point out differences/flaws in current ones; it also allows those in other time zones to see and potentially answer the question.

Does this seem like a good piece of advice? I have found this meta stack question with two quite different well-upvoted answers and am unsure whether my above conclusion makes sense.

NautArch

@Medix2 I personally think it does, and in the past I've linked to the meta when I've suggested waiting (because it also suggests you don't have to.) But overall, I think it's generally good to give folks time to produce answers.

Xirema

@Medix2 I usually wait weeks before accepting an answer, if I even do. The only real exceptions are if it's a "where in the rules does it explain how to X" because there's usually not a ton of ways to wait & get a better answer on those.

Rubiksmoose

16:17

@Medix2 FWIW, we have a discussion on that here as well:

22

Q: Should we encourage users to wait 24 hours before accepting an answer?

There are those here who encourage users not to accept answers before waiting at least 24 hours. Most of the time it is presented as something that "we" recommend or encourage. Some even refer to it as our policy. Yet I can find no record of any such consensus (in fact I have found record only of...

discussion policy accepted-answer

Medix2

Thank you all, and thanks for that on-site question as well!

Rubiksmoose

In the end, I don't think we have the data to show whether or not it has any effect, but especially for users like us who are going to be back later to check on things, I usually err on the side of waiting because the only thing that might happen is I forget about it.

Medix2

Yeah I guess the "thing to show" would be that already-accepted questions either get less traffic or less further answers

Someone_Evil

@Medix2 I think the most important term from that meta is 'lifecycle'. Different questions have different lifecycles. Rules clarifications are (usually) pretty quick, problems-at-the-table questions a fair bit longer, optimization questions really long, to pick a few examples

Rubiksmoose

@Medix2 Yeah and that seems to me like a tricky thing to prove using SEDE or other methods.

Though admittedly I am very very bad at SEDE.

MikeQ

16:28

@Medix2 I think it depends on the question's complexity, and how soon you need an answer. If there's no hurry, and the question involves research and room for interpretation, I usually wait at least a week before accepting an answer.

Medix2

@MikeQ Just to clarify, are you saying that if you need an answer soon then you should or shouldn't accept one?

Hot RPG Questions

7

Q: Does a Deva's Change Shape Effectively Heal It?

If a CR10 Deva uses Change Shape at half health to assume the form of a Stone Golem, do they become a full health Stone Golem? Is there anything preventing this same Deva from changing back into it's natural form when the Stone Golem is about to die, and making its last stand with that (I presume...

dnd-5e monsters healing shapeshifter

MikeQ

Hm... Now that I think about it, maybe the hurry factor doesn't matter so much. Even if the asker needs an answer within the day, that makes no difference to the answerers.

Gwideon

16:44

anyone else use music to provide some atmosphere for their sessions

Medix2

@Gwideon Yes, quite often. I end up using a lot of video game music (mostly because I know it best)

Pierre Cathé

@Gwideon I used to, but I find it annoying to have everyone speak louder because of it

NautArch

@Gwideon always

Gwideon

@PierreCathé I use discord so we have a discord bot that everyone has set to a fairly low volume so we don't have to do that

Medix2

I mostly use it during parts where I'm narrating or battles occur and edit the sound files if certain parts of the song are far louder than others

Gwideon

16:49

yeah

I usually have a general dungeon theme for most of my dungeons and then I have themes for big fights.

Medix2

I was in a campaign where every time the GM narrated a somewhat longer part they had written a full multi-instrument musical score to go with it. (The music was a BIG part of the campaign itself and had clues/hints to the story, it was so well done and something I'll never see again)

Gwideon

oh that sounds cool. I'm making a list of music to use from youtube so yeah

MikeQ

There's always the option of hiring a mariachi band to provide session music

Gwideon

hahahaha

NautArch

@MikeQ for when you need to get serious.

Gwideon

17:01

Lol

vicky_molokh

I have been GMing with music for the last 2-3 years, changing tracks to fit the scene or NPC (or, rarely, a PC taking a big spotlight).

(I've been using music less consistently since my very first campaign, almost 2 decades ago, but didn't have a full coverage of the session time.)

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ I just noticed something in the SRD. If I multiclass into Fighter in D&D 5e, I do not get heavy armor proficiency. Likewise with Paladin. Only if I start as Fighter or Paladin do I get Heavy Armor Proficiency. Is that the same as the PHB or did they switch something?

I ask because I am working out The Dilletente character and am trying to figure out where to start him. (He takes one level in almost all classes except Monk).

Gwideon

Hey um i need some music suggestions for old white death. the first dragon in Rise of tiamat.

vicky_molokh

@Gwideon Two Steps From Hell?

KorvinStarmast

@Gwideon Led Zepplin, the Immigrant Song. (It's a great D&D song in general, but it opens up with "In the land of the ice and snow ...)

vicky_molokh

17:09

Those have epic stuff fit for fantasy.

Nox Arcana's draconic album might fit, or not. Not sure.

KorvinStarmast

@Gwideon Also, Jethro Tull "On a Cold Wind to Valhalla"

(Those songs are both on my D&D mix tape (yes, cassette tape that still has not yet broken!)

vicky_molokh

Something by Therion might fit. Like the live version of Wings of a Hydra from the Atlantic album.

KorvinStarmast

@vicky_molokh I need to check that out, looks like something I need to add to the mix

MikeQ

@KorvinStarmast I don't have a PHB in front of me, but I thought multiclassing into Fighter gave heavy armor proficiency

Gwideon

@vicky_molokh I'm looking through some two steps from hell stuff. It'll work for an actual battle but I also kinda want to do a social encounter with old white death (it's something I do with most of my bosses. I give them a chance to have a pre-fight talk with my players)

KorvinStarmast

17:12

Hmmm, maybe the SRD did a boo boo? It says this: *Light armor, medium
armor, shields, simple weapons, martial weapons*

NautArch

@MikeQ @KorvinStarmast Nope, PHB confirms. No heavy armor proficiency is granted when multiclassing.

BY any class.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Thanks Naut! What I need is fighting style and second wind, mostly. I will get the Con save from Sorcerer, I think. @Mike@ True.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast NP. DIdn't realize it, either. If you want it, you've got to start with a class or take a feat.

MikeQ

Although you can still gain heavy armor proficiency by taking 1 level of cleric, depending on domain

NautArch

@MikeQ ah, true. if a subclass grants it.

Xirema

17:15

Yeah. Only way to get Heavy Armor proficiency from multiclassing is if the subclass grants access to it, like half the Cleric Domains.

KorvinStarmast

heh, and so my decision is made: Tempest Cleric. :) Or Life Cleric

Xirema

Forge, Life, Order, Tempest, and War.

vicky_molokh

@Gwideon The Invincible? I actually have no idea what exactly you're aiming for. I'm not familiar with the flavours of dragons in the setting/campaign.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast Tempest kicks some serious butt. And you can annoy any paladins you have in your party by getting Destructive Wave before them.

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch yes, you can, but I am taking on level is a bunch of classes.

What I am trying for is having massive cantrip flexibilty since we have a five person party and I am able to fill about any role.

Right now, I suspect my progression will be Shadow Sorc 1, Rogue, Paladin, Cleric, Fighter. But if I take Fighter first, I get better HP at level 1 ... and don't have to worry about proficiency in armor or weapons ever.

MikeQ

17:18

Is the goal to take 1+ level in each class?

KorvinStarmast

Yes, I will have one level in about 8 classes and I don't expect the campaign to go past 12.

No Monk, though. Makes no sense thematically.

And I may not go Paladin until after level 5, and add in Druid before then to get access to second level spells.

Gwideon

@vicky_molokh i'm using basic dnd dragons. basically ancient creatures that can be utterly terrifying. I'm kinda wanting a lot of tension when it comes to the dungeon in general. I want Old white death to be this kinda terrifying creature stalking the players as they make their way through his lair.

KorvinStarmast

Sorc, Warlock, Cleric, Druid, Fighter .... but not sure what order to take them in.

MikeQ

@Gwideon Then maybe instead of a song, look for spooky environmental background noise? Cavern ambiance and such?

Gwideon

okay

KorvinStarmast

17:22

@Mike@ I may have to ask a question on main for the optimal route to level 10. But I need trim down the class list, as a few of them will Not happen. No Ranger (I have fighter already) and no Monk. Yes Barbarian, but perhaps late in the progression. And if I go Barb, I need to be in no more than medium armor by then.

The Original Plan was to go Sorc 1, Warlock 1, Fighter 1, Cleric 1, since they all front load some crucial class features into first level.

But if I go Fighter 1, Sorc 1, Warlock 1, Cleric 1, and then Wizard 1 (for rituals) ... that might work out very well also. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Warlock for EB and GOO features.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast I'm assuming you've browsed the questions here about most cantrips?

Gwideon

I need to go. see y'all

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Yes, those inform my idea, but I am not trying to max out cantrips, but to be utterly flexible. The name of this character is The Dilletante and he has the Noble Background: "a disinherited scoundrel with a disproportionate sense of entitlement"

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast I'm disappointed.

I was really hoping for some sort of cow joke.

KorvinStarmast

Why?

NautArch

17:30

"utterly"

"udderly"

KorvinStarmast

Oops, my bad, missed opportunity! :)

@NautArch I have scratched off Ranger and Monk as just not fitting the background, at all. And I can't take Barbarian until after level six or seven, something about once he sees how bloody and savage the world really is, he channels his inner barbarian ... something like that.

And the answers to these questions are ... *are you so far down the line of inheritance that no one cares what you do, as long as you don’t embarrass the family* ? Yes *How does the head of your family feel about your adventuring career* ? it's a way to avoid me embarassing the family *Are you in your family’s good graces, or shunned
by the rest of your family* well, somewhere between good graces and shunned ...

Tolerated but sometimes have my allowance cut off ...

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast very fun concept!

MikeQ

What about a build to maximize the number of followers? Find Familiar, Find Steed, Find Greater Steed, Animate Dead, Create Undead, beast companion, alchemical homunculus, iron defender, and 8 summoned creatures... Are there more?

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ Great idea, to be sure, but with our group getting a lot of pets onto the board is likely to get me glares of impatience.

MikeQ

Oh this is purely an academic question. I'd never advise such a build. It's too annoying to play in a real game.

Mage in the Barrel

17:46

Assuming there's no limit on strength and the pcs body is sturdy enough how much strength would be required to punch through solid concrete?

i guess brick would make the most sense in high fantasy

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ And with the 3rd level spells, might take too long to get on track. But I think Lore Bard 6 can do it with Magical Secrets and the Magic Initiate feat for find familiar.

@MageintheBarrel with or without rebar?

Mage in the Barrel

without

KorvinStarmast

With or without injuring the hand? Are they wearing an iron glove / gauntlet?

Mage in the Barrel

i'm just curious cause i'm working on a build with superhuman strength and thought a pretty good way to intimidate someone would be to smash the floor

KorvinStarmast

I'd make it a DC 15 or DC 17 Athletics check

Uh, a brick wall and the Floor are two different issues here ...

NautArch

17:49

@MageintheBarrel what game?

Mage in the Barrel

walls would be a different hardness

pathfinder

were doing a scifi campain roughly based on a cyperpunk world

my dm is weird

KorvinStarmast

DC 17, that's my back of the Napkin estimate, and on a failure a broken hand/dislocated elbow ... something like that.

Mage in the Barrel

can't karate masters break bricks with a chop?

or is that just in the movies

KorvinStarmast

@MageintheBarrel yes, IRL, and they can also break their hands. Seen both.

I broke boards, never tried bricks

NautArch

Darn, JohnP isn't pingable right now.

Mage in the Barrel

17:52

with a perfect roll and the right bloodline i cold get 33 strength before level up

or racials

MikeQ

The floor is made of brick?

Mage in the Barrel

it would probably be made of concrete

Someone_Evil

@MikeQ Makes more sense that a brick made of floor

Mage in the Barrel

not sure if it'd be reinforced

MikeQ

This seems like a really roundabout way to intimidate check. Why break the floor?

Mage in the Barrel

17:54

becuase it's cool why else?

that was mainly curiosisty rather than actually gunna try it

MikeQ

18:08

I think there's a feat or feat chain that lets unarmed attacks bypass hardness

There are also illusion spells to make it look and sound like your character is breaking the floor

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ Yeah, I think that's the way to go

MikeQ

@MageInTheBarrel There's also a barbarian rage power that lets you damage the floor (regardless of Strength score), and a feat that gives you an intimidation bonus when you break environmental stuff, so maybe they can be used together.

Mage in the Barrel

18:24

will they work with that feat that allows natural attacks to work with improved unarmed strike feats?

d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/feral-combat-training-combat

feral combat training

MikeQ

I think so, although this is a very specialized build, and I'd only suggest it if you want to commit to a character who repeatedly breaks floors as an intimidation tactic

Mage in the Barrel

my character is supposed to bec the short fused and straightforward type

MikeQ

Sure, so are plenty of other adventurers

Mage in the Barrel

think "hulk smash" and you'll get the idea

who needs doors when you can make one yourself

MikeQ

Ah, see, this particular build would only give the benefit from breaking floors, not walls or other furniture

Mage in the Barrel

18:32

the"if it's in the way smash it" type do you think abyssal bloodrager would be good?

the size increase would probably help and it's strength bonus is higher than the jotunkin barbarian

MikeQ

For a more effective Strength-based intimidate build, I'd suggest the following feats:
- Intimidating Prowess (add STR to intimidate checks)
- Cornugon Smash (free intimidate check on a power attack)
- Skill Focus (intimidate)
- Weapon Focus + Dazzling Display (full round action to intimidate enemies in a 30 ft radius)

I had this on an Eidolon with 33 Strength, but it would also work on a barbarian, bloodrager, bard, skald, battle oracle, or fighter

Mage in the Barrel

oh i forgot to mention by character is a custom magical beast with the abilities life drain superhuman strength and possession my dm approved of that but said we'd have to work on the detials when he's done moving

vicky_molokh

@Gwideon For spooky stalking ambient, I can offer Ager Sonus, ProtoU, Atrium Carceri , and other Cryochamber stuff like Dronny Darko or Apocryphos or... list goes on.

Mage in the Barrel

4 legged no arms so spells with somatic components and weapons are out of the picture

MikeQ

Oh right, your GM allows all homebrew. Forgot about that. In that case just, I dunno, give yourself +30 intimidate as a racial bonus

Mage in the Barrel

18:39

he would not let me get away with that

all homebrew but i have to let him do the balancing as a caveate

MikeQ

Highball it. Ask for +30, and when they refuse, then you offer to settle for +20 instead

Mage in the Barrel

he let's me use any homebrew as a starting point but he get's to fix it to his idea of balance which i'll probably never figure out

i could probably make it to 20 from a bunch of dfferent sources some of which would be situational

i ran a seduction build that had like +20 seduction got a great roll and somehow manged to seduce a kraken

MikeQ

What rules are you using for intimidation? Core Rulebook? Unchained? Something homebrew?

Mage in the Barrel

there's more than 1 ruleset i'll have to ask him

MikeQ

CRB intimidate just imposes the Shaken condition (-2 to most d20 rolls) for a few rounds. The Unchained rules let you impose more severe conditions, like frightened and panicked, depending on the number of ranks in the intimidate skill.

Mage in the Barrel

18:48

he genarlly goes the realism route so it might be close to the unchained ruleset but that's just a guess

MikeQ

Anyway, as far as we know, your GM uses homebrew rules for determining the hardness of concrete floors. So only they'd know how much Strength your character needs in order to break floors as you described. Ask them.

NautArch

I'm not sure I could handle being at a table where I don't know the rules of the game.

Mage in the Barrel

when we do checks things get more severe depending on how badly you failed the roll

i kinda like those kinds of games

Not a bar, but plays one on TV

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