@jgn Apologize if my comments earlier came across poorly, I just know that I at least avoid answering questions before they have enough information and find early answers unhelpful for the site. I usually just copy my answer into a text document to paste it when the questions reopens
This is a duplicate of this question, but for a different gaming system; Pathfinder v1 vs DnD 5e. Also relevant, but slightly different is this question about intersection.
So the gist is, a wizard is sitting in the middle of an empty 50'x50' room. They have cast Antimagic Field on themselves (1...
@Medix2 You are free to do what you want, I think I had enough information to explain a simpler solution. You certainly were insistent but that's just the way the site works, I understand. The apology is unnecessary but I appreciate the sentiment.
@jgn It's the Caves of Chaos from Keep on the Borderlands; two dozen players will be the kobold and goblin tribes fending off invaders (read: typical PC party) trying to kill them and take their stuff.
About three times a year my school and two others get their groups together for a shared epic event. It's pretty excellent.
@jgn Not usually. We've done a big many-party dungeon simul-crawl, we did a bunch of irregulars trying to harry and stall an approaching army while the regulars formed up, we did a 'try to get as many civilians out of the city under attack from undead horde as you can', ... I'm probably forgetting one.
There was definitely a roll of '00' on a wand of wonder to petrify an ancient black dragon that ended one of them.
Nightwalker has feature “Life Eater”. It says
A creature reduced to 0 hit points from damage dealt by the nightwalker dies and can't be revived by any means short of a wish spell.
Juiblex has feature “Regeneration”. It says
Juiblex regains 20 hit points at the start of its turn. If it t...
I like them in general (more focus on improving the question over gatekeeping), but also that missing system (tag) falls better under 'needs detail' than it did under 'unclear'
@KorvinStarmast I guess I meant perceived as gatekeeping: closed as being too "bad" (for some meaning of bad) to be on the site, as opposed to 'you would get better help if you clarified it'.
Something being closed (or put on hold) for being 'unclear' can be seen as dismissive. ("Go away, you aren't using the right words we like"). New close reasons have a bit more of a call to action, which I think is more useful
I'm not sure it will actually make a (noticable) difference, but I like the attempt if nothing else
@Someone_Evil Can you define what gatekeeping means in your own words? I understand what you are saying, but that term means something special, it seems, and I am realizing that I don't quite grok it.
And not just as it applies to this site, but as it has begun to be used for about the last decade in internet discussions.
@KorvinStarmast As a general term, and trying at a rigorous definition: Controlling, or attempting to control, the access to something
Often used about trying to control the "access" to a fandom or discussion within a fandom
I'm not sure everyone will be using the term in the same meaning, but that's how I've understood it (and find it useful)
Hi, Cat Army, (@user60385). There's a conversation way back here which you might want to read (RE: that question of yours). Unfortunately there's a 20 rep barrier to chat, but a good answer somewhere will quickly get you over that.
@vicky_molokh From what I've experienced of Genesys from one actual play podcast of FFG's Star Wars game and I actually quite like it from what I heard. Let us know what you think! I love the dice rolling in particular.
Based on theoretical acquaintance only: - The dice seem like even more tricky than WoD/ST's system. - There seems to be a big push to always max out attributes and ignore skills at chargen due to the way the system is built. Those two bit I don't quite like already. But I'm open to trying it out to see if first impressions are misleading.
@vicky_molokh You've certainly looked into it more than I have, and it's worth noting that the AP I listened to was very narrative and tended to eschew rules a lot of the time.
I'm definitely interested in hearing how you think it is.
@Rubiksmoose I'm not sure how ignorable those bits are. Attributes cost about 2× that of skills, but cannot be raised after chargen. Conversely, skills cannot exceed 2 in chargen. That probably has a big impact and shapes progression and lack thereof heavily.
(Skills and attributes don't add directly. Instead, the dice pool is based on the higher of the two, but the lower of the two upgrades some of the dice in your pool into better ones.)
@vicky_molokh Well, I guess I should say more accurately that the podcast (Campaign for anybody curious) didn't highlight any of those aspects. There was a ton of RP and a lot of hand waving. So it didn't give me any idea at all into those aspects of the system.
The two things that stood out to me were the multi-axis success rolling system and the use of "force points", both of which I really liked.
The idea that you could roll a failure but also a bunch of advantages and/or a critical is a very cool way to help things fail forward IMO.
@Gwideon That sounds fair. I've never even cracked open a book on this so... Out of curiosity, how were the social aspects of the game handles mechanically? Better than 5e?
@Someone_Evil You might say there were a bunch more words in there lol
@Gwideon If this is about Genesys, I'd be curious about the gist of what the handling is like. (I am unfamiliar with 5e D&D if that's what is being referred to.)
@Gwideon It's been years since I painted minis, but a few years ago in this chat Maximilian had some great advice. I'll try and find you some info, and if you search this site's Q's and A's I think you'll find a few good answers on that.
@goodguy5 I will be trying to convince my brother to allow that feat if I can also show that it is balanced, in either January or February, when my cleric retires and my recently created Celestial warlock is introduced.
This is my go-to brand and this specific kit has given me everything I need for years: https://www.amazon.com/Vallejo-Game-Color-Basic-Paint/dp/B009LH0YTA
It also got me thinking about what if someone uses the same logic in multiple answers that someone else disagrees with. It's serial, but it's serial because the answers are serial. /shrug.
I have seen what happens to a serial downvoter, but I have some "follow on" questions:
I saw my top 3 answers downvoted yesterday, and the system decided that this was "serial downvoting" - reputation restored today. Now I am wondering: will the downvoter get back his 3 points as well? Or are t...
Inspired by this answer, and to avoid lengthy back and forth comments, I decided to make this a question in itself.
You can put on your helmet for +1 AC and disadvantage on perception checks. In combat, this'll likely mean -5 to your passive perception.
I believe that this is a pretty amazing ...
@Gwideon I"ll respect that, but I really think meta isn't a healthy place for you. It seems to really impact you. Letting folks re-engage you and drag you back down isn't doing you any favors.
You're not going to be able to do that. The way to prevent misinterpretation is not to engage at all. There will always be someone looking to read it in a way you didn't mean.
I know it feels like you're letting them win or what have you but honestly, there's no way to engage safely or productively, and knowing when to go "okay, yep, this is not healthy" is important. :)
@Gwideon I won't say too much (trying to stay on the right side of Be Nice), but I'd severely discount the comment about victim-blaming based on its author. I don't recommend trolling through their "contributions" to meta discussion; I'll say they've given me a very bad impression of a bad faith user trying to poke/annoy/incense people.
I've definitely told my players (for a one shot): "You can play your characters however you want, but you're on the same team and the story available is the only story available. So, find a way to work together and care about the plot"
@Ludoss but if that's the case, then that's fine and it's not a black spot on your record. It's just a thing. Maybe one of them would like to try GMing
Imagine this: The picturesque kingdom of... Earthendale is suddenly caught up in a... heat wave. People are passing out in the streets from dehydration and trade has slowed to a halt. This all began on the night of the coronation of Princess... Emmsa, who has since mysteriously disappeared.
@Ludoss I mean, not if you haven't got any ideas of things to tailor with. You can also modify and tailor published adventurers as much as you like, with the bonus that you aren't forced to come up with ideas on you own
@goodguy5 I am getting the kind of thoughtful answers I was hoping for on that feat question. Maybe I need to drop the +1 Charisma ... we'll see what else crops up.
@Ludoss Prewritten adventures aren't necessarily bad quality-wise. The issue is moreso that they aren't written for your group (or any particular group) of players.
Like, the PCs are sent out of Safeton because some necromancers are going nuts in the graveyard, but the lizardfolk in the swamp next door would really like to loot the place for artifacts and delve too greedily and too deep once the PCs take care of the necromancers.
So you pull a few threads from that into your adventure, have the PCs meet a scouting party that isn't interested in a straight fight. And if they engage them then the adventure gets longer because now they're dealing with lizardfolk too, and if they kill them or let them go, something else threatens Safeton later and the adventure gets longer.
It's logistically very difficult to pre-plan every session of a campaign from the beginning
Stuff happens in-game that slows down the PCs, and stuff happens out-of-game that interferes with human schedules
Unless the entire thing is 100% on-rails and you can foresee the future with absolute certainty. Otherwise it's sensible to estimate a campaign's length as a number of sessions, like 2-4 or 6-10 or similar
Yeah, I planned to spend about 4 months running LMoP (short, 1+½ hour sessions, one a week) and right now we're entering the 6th month and finally reaching towards the end. Between scheduling issues and unexpected narrative changes, quite a lot padded out the campaign.
@Ludoss don't forget about the characters, either. Ideally, it's not your story but theirs too. Setting up circumstances where your players can engage with NPCs to create their own personal storylines is a good thing.
A 3-5 session adventure can be fun. And if the group is still together, you can follow up with another 3-5 adventure afterward. By the end you could have a 6-10 session campaign.
status-declined
Rationale for status:
One thing that needs to be called out here: there are now three different descriptions for each close reason.
The general public gets a very "firm" reason: "this question is opinion based".
The close voter gets a very nuanced description...
This is especially important because on many network sites (if maybe not SO), some degree of "opinion-based" is the norm. Each site needs to draw a line for what's *too*/primarily opinion-based, but closing a question just for being partially opinion-based wouldn't make sense on Philosophy or Literature or Interpersonal Skills. — Rand al'ThorOct 29 at 12:46
Declined: Being more definitive is a deliberate decision here. We want the post author to have clear direction, and for close voters to offer clear and decisive direction. — Yaakov Ellis ♦Oct 29 at 18:02
Games to Help You Remember 2019: A sale hosted by Dee Pennyway. This sale, applying to all of the games and stories in the Mnemonic series written to-date, is here to help you remember—your own past, or the past of your imagined, projected self in the world of memories.
@Ludoss I consider the things my friends like (themes, settings, plots, creatures, etc) based on what I know about their gaming history and their media preferences. Then I think about what their current characters' values and goals are. Where those lists can intersect, I find the best adventures.
And, always, the adventure has to be something I'm invested in, or my disinterest will communicate itself and sabotage even the best design.
I'm creating a Mind-map of the lore of warhammer (in french) in order to be accurate when I create stories for my home-made scenarios. It allow players to meet real character of the lore, sometimes very important, and make the story "real". It also allow me to create complex plot with politicals ...
@Ludoss Then you can rely on their media preferences, at first. Or, do what I do and arrange for spaces where I can listen to them talk together about their interests, including previous games (like eating together before game time).
@Ludoss How where you planning on tailoring the campaign to your players? Some of the answers you've given here suggests you don't really know your players that well (I could easily be misreading this).
A Spark in Fate Core is an expansion of the Fate Core setting/campaign creation process. It has players talk about media they want to inspire the campaign, and distill out specific elements of those pieces of media for the group to mash together into a unique inspired-but-not-derivative campaign which doesn't require people to all be familiar with the same media.
Communication is probably the #1 most important skill for a GM, so it's usually important to talk to your players and learn what games they like and dislike
Yeah, I find that it's super helpful for everything about a campaign, to establish a pattern of making space for out-of-game social time before each session, and for reflecting and re-calibrating after each session.
Another approach is to reserve the first 10-20 minutes of the session for that sort of discussion. That's useful if you have an ensemble group rather than recurring players, such as a "Western Marches" vs continuous campaign. But it does require that the GM adjust very quickly before diving into the game proper.
@Ludoss BTW, you can edit your own messages (useful for misspellings etc.) by hovering over the message, clicking the downarrow that appears on the left, and then clicking 'edit'
@Ludoss Even if you know them, you should still have a session zero (in some form) where you establish what kind of game you want. And if you don't know what direction to start the campaign in, spend some time together on that.
This and this are starting points on the stack (D&D 5e focus on the latter one)
Setting expectations explicitly is really important. A tool like Script Change can help give structure to the conversation; Script Change does it by using the allegory of movie media.
(I like Script Change because it applies that allegory as an overlay to every part of the entire campaign, including mid-session control/consent tools and post-session decompression structures.)
For long-form campaigns I also want to start using Microscope's pallet tools even when we don't use Microscope.
Microscope has each player list things which wouldn't normally be in the sort of story we're telling, but they want to see them in this game; and the sorts of things which WOULD normally be in that kind of story, but they don't want to see.
And after each segment of play, one element from that segment gets added to a list of "things we want to revisit again later." At the beginning of each segment, one thing from that list is chosen to be the focus of that new segment.
Can you use Shapechange again after dropping to 0 HP?
This might sound strange, but I belive that, according to RAW, you can keep using Shapechange even after getting dropped out of the previous form due to taking damage.
Specifically, the sequence of events I am thinking about goes like this:
...
@Carcer I had roommates who used a countertop Foreman Grill every day, but only their girlfriends ever cleaned anything in the kitchen. I quickly learned to just keep all my own stuff in my bedroom.
It was a big shock after the previous year's roommates, one of whom not only kept everything spotless, he ironed his clothes before class every morning.
the main problem we had was the friend who would get very drunk and stay up into the small hours of the morning livestreaming himself reading Dominic Deegan and ranting about how awful it was
I also had The Cool Bros, who did everything together including only ever setting the thermostat as high or as low as possible, depending on the season.
(I cracked open the thermostat and taped the temp-sensing mercury vial so it couldn't tip to extremes no matter how far they pushed the lever on the outside. They never noticed.)