TRPG General Chat

Jin Long

00:00

Because a non-zero portion of the population would choose to be discontent

vicky_molokh

@JinLong Impossible? Or is the definition used perhaps inherently incoherent, essentially an unfairly set goal?

If the place is good but people are unsatisfiable, should this be held against the place?

I think not.

Jin Long

Well, the idea of eutopia is that everyone is happy and satisfied, I think.

vicky_molokh

In that case your definition of an eutopia basically requires wireheading.

And so I'm not sure if that's a useful definition.

Jin Long

That there exists a set of conditions that would make everyone satisfied.

vicky_molokh

But maybe it is in a way and I'm just not seeing it.

Jin Long

00:03

Well, my point is that any focus on external conditions is misguided.

So someone in the mythical "stone age" can be perfectly satisfied.

While someone else in a futuristic society with Minds taking care of all their needs and 0 scarcity will not be happy.

Hot RPG Questions

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Q: How to determine CR of a group of enemies?

I have played some games of D&D and when it comes to groups of enemies, I'm always asking myself "Does this encounter have a good CR for my group? Is it too strong/weak?". I might have missed the point in the DMG or the MM where the formula to calculate the CR of a group of enemies is given, but...

vicky_molokh

I think when discussing external conditions (the place), one can't just discard said external conditions as if they're something tangential/misguided/etc.

user15026

@BESW I actually haven't read it yet. Still working up the courage.

BESW

Ooh, thanks for the correction.

vicky_molokh

But anyway, I need to undergo my scheduled 7 hours of nonexistence . . . starting one hour ago.

Jin Long

00:06

I hope you will find your rest... satisfying ;)

user15026

@BESW yesss all of these.

user15026

@BESW its on my ereader, I just haven't had the headspace yet.

Jin Long

@vicky_molokh the interesting stone to dig under is the very concept of "satisfaction" :)

that's a theme in the Matrix btw.

but of course, it all comes back to Rick and Morty :D

Shalvenay

00:27

hey there @nitsua60, how're things going?

Ben

00:42

Merry Christmas Eve (from the future!)

BESW

01:19

A Nice and Nested New Year Bundle by Nested Games. Get "A Long Night In The Mech Bay" and "Dubious Pursuits" for $4.

2

Ben

@Miniman I still don't have a handle on DST. Are you more in the future than I am?

Miniman

01:32

@Ben Same here, but apparently I'm an hour ahead of you.

MikeQ

Happy new year (from even further in the future)

Ben

Good things come to those who wait, but Christmas comes sooner to those on DST.

Lol

So unfortunately my Christmas themed D&D adventure will have to wait until next time... But I had the concept plotted out.

Evil Druids had kidnapped Santa because he was (in their eyes) a symbol that was destroying the idea of the Winter Solstice. However, their concept was focused purely on paying homage to the power of nature, and Santa was draining the planet of its power since less people were paying homage to this ritual. So the Sacrifice of Santa would restore the natural order.

Shalvenay

@Ben oh gosh. what of the elves, though?!

Ben

01:47

Had a couple of concepts for PCs too. One of Santa's elves had escaped (to find others to assist in stopping this event). They would have the abilities to create toys as tools/weapons.

Shalvenay

lulz

Ben

A druid that believed it was not what you celebrated, but whom you celebrated it with

And Grug Grug. Everyone's favourite Orc

Shalvenay

eheheh

Ben

Grug Grug was actually one of the first PCs created in my first family D&D adventure, and my Grandma really brought him to life.

Shalvenay

@Ben XD I've been debating trying a D&D adventure with the family here, but I'm not sure if they'd be up for it or not

Ben

01:51

My advice: Keep it simple. A one-off. And big dice. You can get stress-ball-like dice. Big squishy ones.

alibaba.com/product-detail/…

Shalvenay

@Ben yeah, I'd definitely do a one-shot. don't have any big, squishy dice though, just regular ones

Ben

I bought some specifically for these occasions haha

BESW

Ben

The first time I did it my mother would (almost) literally throw the dice across the table. Lol

@BESW ohh maybe the druid is Rudolph! His preferred shape is a reindeer

He goes by Rudie in public though... You know how the paparazzi can be

trogdor

@BESW XD

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V2Blast

04:30

@JinLong To answer some of your questions: All but one of my D&D games have been online (the only IRL D&D game I'm playing in is with the IRL friend group I DMed the D&D 5e Starter Set for). Lots of people use Discord for voice chat, and often a virtual tabletop (VTT) - Roll20's popular because it's free for everyone to use its basic functionality, but there are many others. You can also have text-based games, e.g. in Discord using the Avrae bot or another dice bot, or on forums or wherever.

@Medix2 Why am I being presented now? :P

@BESW Google tells me from The Librarians season 1 episode 4, "And Santa's Midnight Run"

(I was curious :P )

Adeptus

05:06

@Ben Stop your messing around

@V2Blast That's a fun series. The Librarian movies that it was a spinoff from are fun too.

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07:56

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09:59

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David Coffron

14:29

Wait, why did I get buche de noel hat on the 24th?

goodguy5

the hwwat

Found and applied

David Coffron

winterbash2019.stackexchange.com/b%C3%BBche-de-no%C3%ABl

goodguy5

What's the latest time zone? 14 hours ahead of EST?

David Coffron

But it's only the 25th in one time zone which is not Stack.Exchange's default for rep capping and stuff, nor is it my time zone. Maybe it was just easier form them to implement this way shrug

goodguy5

besw is in that timezone, right?

Carcer

14:33

guam is GMT+10, so it would have just gone midnight there yeah

David Coffron

There are a few other pacific islands in +11 and +12, so there are a few places there

Carcer

the earliest timezone in use anywhere is apparently GMT+14

specifically because Kiribati was split down the middle by the date line and it being different days on different sides of the country was horribly awkward, so they moved the eastern half a day ahead to fix it

and Samoa is also in GMT+13/14, as of 2011

KorvinStarmast

14:51

@JinLong Tunnels and Trolls does that just fine. battle starts, roll a ton of d6, and see who won.

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Medix2

15:44

The international date line is very much not a line, it's kinda funny

Carcer

I mean it is a line, it's just not a straight one

Medix2

It's not even a curved one though, it's piecewise at best

Thinking about making some sort of stance-based thing for 5e-dnd (where you change between offensive, defensive, and other stuff), not sure what class to use though, or if it's just a bad idea for 5e

Carcer

depends how complicated you want that mechanic to be, I guess.

Someone_Evil

@Medix2 Have you looked at the samurai?

goodguy5

16:07

@Medix2 like a cunning action style thing?

Medix2

@Someone_Evil Yeah but I'm looking for something with more like... +2AC mode, +2 Attack Roll mode, +5 Damage Mode, etc...

And probably you can change stances every short/long rest

Jin Long

@KorvinStarmast the nice thing about freeform is that battles can be as detailed as desired.

I can do one roll for the entire battle, for example if it's a banal encounter with a far inferior force.

I can also do a blow-by-blow narration with a separate roll for every single action.

If it's an interesting battle, e.g. a climatic battle against a major antagonist.

@V2Blast thanks! what's a good way to find an online voice-based game that isn't really focused on maps-and-miniatures but more on plot and roleplaying?

goodguy5

16:28

so tired!

MikeQ

There's 2 things to unpack here:
1. Which games can focus on plot and RP without visual maps
2. How to find those games online

goodguy5

oof to two

MikeQ

For #1, there are plenty of TTRPGs that can be played "theatre of the mind" style. Some systems have built-in spatial stuff (like D&D) and can be played that way, but that will vary depending on player preferences.

goodguy5

Monster Hearts comes to mind

MikeQ

Yeah, most systems that use the Powered by the Apocalypse engine aren't spatially dependent, so they tend to be a better fit for the no-maps format

@JinLong As for how to find those games, I suggest looking in sites & forums where you can find social groups, both for TTRPGs in general and for the specific systems you'd consider playing

goodguy5

16:36

The only Monster Hearts game I've played, I remember that one of us (if not all of us) worked in a mall, and the Orange Julius was a major plot point

Jin Long

16:55

@MikeQ thanks, I got the response about meetups and reddit, I'm more asking about online places to find games.

MikeQ

17:05

Those are online places. Did you have something else in mind?

Jin Long

I meant, to play online.

MikeQ

If you're just looking for a chat/text game with no map visuals, then any chat/text platform will do. Discord, Teamspeak, Skype, Google chat, etc

Jin Long

Sure, but how do I find people who are up to play over voice chat?

goodguy5

Facebook groups

Or whatever your social media equivalent is

I mean, according to the memes I've seen, that is a very friendly community

Someone_Evil

17:22

It's three dashes for strikethrough, btw

goodguy5

There's a solid chance you'd find something there

Jin Long

~~great way to bond~~

I'm surprised there are no dedicates websites for finding online games.

goodguy5

Certainly gives a whole new meaning to the roleplaying tag

Himitsu_no_Yami

Is this a good place to ask for help with roll20 macros?

MikeQ

@Himitsu_no_Yami Sure. What's the issue? (You could also ask on the mainsite for more visibility)

goodguy5

17:26

It's a good place to ask, but I can't guarantee anyone knows the answer.

A lot of the smarter people are online while at work, and are off for the Holiday.

Himitsu_no_Yami

trying to make a saves macro (dnd 5e) that asks once for what type of save and then rolls it and specifies what save it is and I've got most of it but right now the problem is that I can't do it without asking for the type twice

goodguy5

@JinLong maybe this list https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-roleplay-websites-or-apps

I can't vouch for any of it, but there look to be some good ideas

Himitsu_no_Yami

goodguy5

but when I was doing the most online rping, it was through a facebook group

Himitsu_no_Yami

that was the output and I like the formatting like that but I want to get it down to one prompt

MikeQ

17:30

It should prompt once for each unique parameter. So if both saves use the same parameter, then it should only have one prompt.

Himitsu_no_Yami

I tried that but then instead of "a strength" it was "5" (my STR save mod)

I can paste the macro if it helps

MikeQ

Hmm.. Maybe ask on the mainsite and include your macro code, as well as how you intend the macro to behave

(I dunno how well chat will handle roll20 macro formatting)

Jin Long

17:46

@goodguy5 ~~interesting how the top comment is about erotic RP~~

goodguy5

I also noticed that lol

Medix2

19:22

I'm honestly very much looking forward to this whole Bard comparison question going anywhere helpful...

Medix2

19:46

I'm just going to pull myself away from it, I think I've expended my resources and further attempts only seem to result in the same null-results. Apologies for bringing this up in here

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nitsua60

21:26

@Medix2 No need to apologize! You've been making good points and staying patient and friendly even as you (apparently) are getting frustrated. Whether or not that user ever takes away any wisdom from what guidance you (and others) have been offering, you-all have left excellent signposts for many future readers.

Medix2

21:42

@nitsua60 Thanks, I appreciate that. Just realizing I've still got a bit to learn about the great variety the userbase here has. Which, honestly, I've been exceptionally happy with the vast majority

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