TRPG General Chat

Akira_Kurusu

00:01

Hey, I'm the DM for the game @Himitsu_no_Yami mentioned. So essentially, all of the players began at level 6 and were awarded a custom feat based on their backstory. The game is gritty and combat is very challenging, and therefore the feat is meant to be stronger than other traditional feats.

For example, an acolyte fighter PC took the magic initiate feat and knows the cleric spell bless. I made his background feat allow him to cast a stronger Bane once per short rest, and he gets a buff when a baned creature dies.

Someone_Evil

If the feat is meant to be more powerful than normal, isn't the question asked on the stack invalid?

Akira_Kurusu

Yes, that question is worded kind of strangely. It is intentionally supposed to be imbalanced.

Himitsu_no_Yami

Perhaps if you edited in the context it'd help then since you're better suited for explaining it than me

Akira_Kurusu

Well if the question is no longer "Is it balanced," then what is it?

Someone_Evil

@Himitsu_no_Yami Can I ask why you are asking it in the first place? You have the answer already straight from the horse's mouth (or owl's beak going by the profile picture)

Himitsu_no_Yami

00:09

@Akira_Kurusu I guess it'd be "is it balanced in the context of this campaign" which now that I think of it may perhaps be too broad.

@Someone_Evil Mainly out of curiosity based on an outsider's POV

NautArch

@Himitsu_no_Yami if you and @Akira_Kurusu want a comparison against the other feats, we can definitely do that.

But we'd need to know the other feats and the characters that got them.

MikeQ

Not necessarily. Given the info here, it sounds like you want a feat that's stronger than most, but not strong enough to break the game. Which is what the existing answer says.

NautArch

Synergies can be important

Akira_Kurusu

Well, you'd need quite a lot of context of campaign mechanics and enemies. Since I'm modifying and creating enemies, items, etc., it's kind of difficult to compare it to anything. The game is largely homebrew, which is why I asked the question about my custom class the other day.

MikeQ

Hm. Yes. Probably don't need to know all the other homebrew material, just whatever may specifically interact with this particular feat.

Again, asking for "balanced" is super broad and makes these questions so tricky. More specific criteria could help, like whether there's some loophole or possible unwanted interaction with other mechanics.

V2Blast

00:13

yeah. I think too often people ask about balance without really knowing what that means to them

Akira_Kurusu

I personally don't really have any questions about it, we've done a bit of playtesting and it works pretty well. Was there something you wanted to know @Himitsu_no_Yami

Himitsu_no_Yami

I guess there's nothing super specific I wanted to know. I mainly just wanted to get an outsider's POV on it but without factoring in a lot of the homebrew stuff I don't guess there's much to ask

MikeQ

An outsider's opinion on what exactly?

Hot RPG Questions

4

Q: Can Prestidigitation create medical gloves?

The spell Prestidigitation can: You can create a non magical trinket...that can fit in your hand and that last until the end of your next turn. Some plastic medical gloves "could" fit into your hand and don't require any magical properties to work. So could this be done within the confine...

Himitsu_no_Yami

I keep wanting to say balance but we've established it wasn't meant to be "balanced" per se. This is why we need mind reading technology already

Akira_Kurusu

00:19

An outsider's opinion on whether or not Prestidigitation can create medical gloves, obviously.

@Himitsu_no_Yami Are you basically just asking if they like it?

MikeQ

"Balanced" is a very fuzzy criteria. Usually "balanced" implies that some thing is comparable to others of its kind (e.g. feat vs another feat). But that sort of symmetry isn't always necessary, since things vary in function and context. So review questions other than "does this do what it's intended to do, and are there unintended side effects" are going to attract opinions, and in this case, downvotes.

Himitsu_no_Yami

@Akira_Kurusu That's not what I'm trying to ask (although I do want to know). I can't put into words what I'm trying to ask any better than I have.

I'm bad with words, sorry.

MikeQ

If you dislike the feat, or are concerned that it's not as good as what the other players got, then that's a conversation for the two of you

Himitsu_no_Yami

That's definitely not it. (matter of fact I really love the feat)

ima just go nuke my question real quick

well I was gonna nuke it

but it won't let me cus it's been answered

at least I don't lose rep from the downvotes since there's upvotes

NautArch

00:35

@Himitsu_no_Yami the system works :)

Himitsu_no_Yami

Always found that a little weird

NautArch

okay. silly question before i ask on mainsite. If a module says something happens every X minutes...is that in-game? Because i'm usually not tracking time like that out of combat :(

Himitsu_no_Yami

pretty sure se is the only site I've used where upvotes are more heavily weighted than downvotes. And I'm 99% sure they mean in game time

MikeQ

It obviously includes out of game time that occurs in between sessions

Himitsu_no_Yami

^ Just because the players stopped doesn't mean time did

MikeQ

00:39

Session start: Everyone make 30,000 wisdom saves

5

Himitsu_no_Yami

I passed them all

Hot RPG Questions

01:15

8

Q: Is Matt Mercer's homebrew setting now considered an official setting?

Now that Explorer's Guide to Wildemount is out, I'm curious to know how much of Matt Mercer's homebrew content is now considered "official". Since this is a first-party WotC official D&D sourcebook, does this mean that his homebrew setting and its associated lore is now to be considered an offici...

dnd-5e campaign-settings critical-role-show

BESW

01:39

WuDe - The Five Powers - Bundle. A sale hosted by WuDeRPG. Get 五德 (WuDe) - The Five Powers and our MidAutumn inspired partner game 歸妹 - Returning Maiden for 33% off.

Ben

Morning all.

Quick question, has anyone seen a "Box Set" for a kid's "D&D-like" game?

It's my Gf's kid's bdays next month and thought it would be a good idea, but I don't think there is really anything that WotC would have

Yuuki

01:57

Ben

@MikeQ So, I got a bit bored, tried figuring this out in anydice, and learned 2 things:

1. Anydice is not built to calculate such high volumes.
2. Basing it off an average of +3, and allowing for ~1/3 of adv and disadv respectively, your average is actually going to be around 17...

anydice.com/program/1a7da

BESW

02:16

@Ben Ooh, ooh. [rummages]

@Ben No Thank You, Evil!

No Thank You, Evil! Unboxing Video

►

Ben

@BESW I like it!

V2Blast

03:14

@Ben How old is the kid? Also I've heard good things about Hero Kids but know basically nothing about the system

Ben

There's 2; 5 and 8 years

Well, 6 and 9 since it's their bdays haha

V2Blast

different days of the month, I assume?

Ben

Yeah, both in April at the beginning and the end

BESW

There's also Epyllion (dragons having friendship adventures) and Power Outage (super heroes for kids).

Ben

@BESW Ohh... Well I already bought No Thankyou Evil, but I'll keep an eye on those

BESW

03:18

I think No Thank You, Evil! is probably the better choice for a "box set" concept that'll work for multiple ages.

Ben

04:05

Awesome :D

In the meantime I think I'll just get them a folder to hold their Pokemon cards in. Teach them how to properly care for their cards (as best as an excitable 5 and 8 year old can) haha

James

04:22

Ok I have a homebrew idea for whips: On a successful hit, you may choosebto attempt to pull the enemy closer instead of rolling damage (strength contest). In my last session, the bard used that to pull an enemy down the stairs haha

BESW

4e did that, i think.

Hot RPG Questions

4

Q: Are the Doors open or closed in room 14 when found in White Plume Mountain?

Room 14 in White Plume Mountain from Tales of the Yawning Portal includes three doors, but it doesn't say if they are open or closed when the adventurers find them. Given how they work, it seems important to know this.

dnd-5e published-adventures tales-from-the-yawning-portal

trogdor

05:53

@BESW they might have, I know flails could slide

which means you could choose to pull or push

XD

I wouldn't be at all surprised if whips could pull

there was probably a feat for it

BESW

Yeah, I think it was in the proficiency feat chain.

The first one was, like, a penalty to hit for the target. And then there was a pull or slide feat, an opportunity attack-at-range feat, and something else.

Or maybe it was pull or prone? Something like that.

V2Blast

07:30

Now I have the Electric Slide song stuck in my head, for some reason

Akixkisu

08:19

@V2Blast could you check whether the voting reversal, affecting my reputation, from the 14th and today's were caused by the same person? It feels like they are testing with how much downvoting they can get away - slowly changing the quantity of votes.

The Oracle

08:53

0

Q: Discussion on assertions in questions

I wanted to ask a question that goes against something that some (many? a lot? most?) DMs believe. I thought it would be best to be clear and thorough in explaining why I came to the conclusion I did, then asked the question as "is there something wrong with this?" Here is the question in questi...

discussion questions

AncientSwordRage

10:00

Was this edit necessary?

rpg.stackexchange.com/review/suggested-edits/65535

On the pro, I done goofed affect/effect

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@AncientSwordRage Uhh, why are there spacebars before m? In school I was taught that SI abbreviations are written with no spacebar after the number.

AncientSwordRage

on the other hand, I don't think all those numbers and units need to practice social distancing

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

Are SI formatting conventions nonstandard across the world?

AncientSwordRage

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica I forget what I was taught, but I looks wrong

kviiri

I think it depends on the language. Here I think the correct for is to have a space while most people don't put one in.

AncientSwordRage

10:02

@kviiri where's here to you?

kviiri

@AncientSwordRage Finland

"We also put the comma outside the quotes", he said.

:-)

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@kviiri Comma outside the quotes makes more sense, unless it's preceded by an escape character. ^_^

kviiri

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica I would personally have it that way in English too.

AncientSwordRage

Space (punctuation)

In writing, a space ( ) is a blank area that separates words, sentences, syllables (in syllabification) and other written or printed glyphs (characters). Conventions for spacing vary among languages, and in some languages the spacing rules are complex.Typesetting uses spaces of varying length for specific purposes. The typewriter, on the other hand, can accommodate only a limited number of keys. Most typewriters have only one width of space, obtained by pressing the space bar. Following widespread acceptance of the typewriter, some spacing and other typewriter conventions, which were based on the...

kviiri

But to be frank: those spaces were probably added as a way to get the minimum character count high enough.

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

10:04

@AncientSwordRage Huh, appears I was taught wrong.

AncientSwordRage

@kviiri which is chesty

> # Unit symbols and numbers
> The International System of Units (SI) prescribes inserting a space between a number and a unit of measurement (being regarded as a multiplication sign) but never between a prefix and a base unit; a space (or a centered dot) should also be used between units in compound units.

kviiri

I think fixing spelling and typing errors, especially in titles, is valid though.

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

Now: such anger at my school physicist!

@kviiri I think it constitutes a Trivial Edit, which according to some recent guidelines on MSE should only done when absolutely necessary, and not otherwise.

AncientSwordRage

@kviiri yes but it's mixed in with an invalid edit...

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica there's a 'reject and improve' option

Also I think you can edit titles without needing to get 6 characters in the body... But I don't know if it's rep limited

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@AncientSwordRage In this case, too late, and the history is already 'contaminated' with a trivial edit. Reverting it would be an edit skirmish and would further muddy the history.

That's actually something that always felt so inelegant about the SE system. Things get messy fast and even when someone makes things messier, there are incentives to avoid righting what's wrong.

AncientSwordRage

10:09

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica I could always re-edit to fix those SI units...

Still it gets messy regardless

The Oracle

0

Q: Can we get a new question close reason for this new policy?

Based on the most highly upvoted answer to Re-revisiting the "don't guess the system" policy, it's pretty clear that this policy is here to stay. One of the things I hate about how the policy works in practice is closing the question as "unclear" (I know they've changed the wording for half the ...

feature-request tags policy game-systems close-reasons

kviiri

@AncientSwordRage Fix? I mean, isnt it correct based on the prescribed usage?

AncientSwordRage

@kviiri double checks

kviiri

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica I haven't been following Meta very actively but I think common sense'd dictate that titles should be well-groomed

AncientSwordRage

Oh poopers... Yeah it's fine. I give my blessings to this edit.

I was wrong puts hands up

This edit can marry my first child, as an apology for mistaking it as wrong or trivial

kviiri

10:13

I mean I'm fine with considering it trivial :P

kviiri

10:28

In good news, my SO has announced that she's actually fine with having 13th Age ran for her instead of 4e

NautArch

11:13

@Akixkisu that's awful :(

Akixkisu

11:35

@NautArch maybe, but it also as easily could be a misconception thus the inquiry :)

NautArch

@Akixkisu very true, and let's stay positive! :P

AncientSwordRage

Is there a way to filter spells on dndbeyond by range?

KorvinStarmast

12:09

@kviiri Hooray!

NautArch

12:35

@AncientSwordRage it doesn't look like you can filter, but you can sort

@V2Blast If I create new campaigns, do you want to join them so folks get your complete access? Totally understand if the answer is no.

AncientSwordRage

13:17

@NautArch thanks for the tip

NautArch

@AncientSwordRage best I could do :(

GcL

@Powerdork Seems like not every detail spelled out is the case for every setting.

Someone_Evil

If you spell out everything, you're not leaving much room for mystery or creativity

GcL

13:36

I would imagine the number of pages would be rather unmanageable as well.

I am still perplexed on the what was meant by "deep lore" in reference to Eberron not having it.

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch it worked perfectly though

Someone_Evil

@GcL Not having any stone altars on which to sacrifice metaphoric lions on it?

GcL

Sheared or unshorn lions?

I'm trying to think of the other settings I've played over the years and deciding how I would rank them by my definition of depth of lore. I started with Greyhawk, Savage Coast, and Darksun.... those were pretty shallow when it came to lore.

NautArch

African or European?

kviiri

Settings are interesting fictional objects, esp. for video games where there can be essentially multiple equally-canon ways for things to resolve

Maybe RPG settings too, haven't studied any in enough depth to see if they make "if X, then Y" style chains into the future.

GcL

13:52

In your opinion, what aspects of a setting's lore would lead you to characterize it as "deep"?

NautArch

@GcL Oceans, Caverns, maybe Forests?

Someone_Evil

It's interesting, the best way to establish "depth of world" I know of is by including details of things that are old, but the details of which are forgotten and hard to discern

MikeQ

Depth implies that there is more content than is initially apparent at surface level

Such as an established history that demonstrates changes in factions, beliefs, and practices. Or secrets and hidden motives.

Featuring diverse terrains gives the setting some variety, but not depth per se

kviiri

I think it was a pun based on "deep"

MikeQ

Ah well in that case, all you need are elves and orcs, then you can have Helms Deep

kviiri

14:05

Helm's Dieppe

(Dieppe is some place in England and it has a funny-sounding name)

Akixkisu

@GcL lore that illustrates an ongoing realm/world which considers continuity containing economic-, taxonomic- and ecological systems that are internally consistent.

GcL

14:42

What settings would you say have a "deep lore"?

Akixkisu

@GcL in D&D?

KorvinStarmast

@kviiri France I think. There was an infamous raid in 1942 by Canadian and UK forces that taught the Allies a bit about amphibious operations.

GcL

@KorvinStarmast and the importance of beach surveys.

KorvinStarmast

15:05

@GcL That's a sub element of amphibious operations, but yeah, kind of important.

NautArch

15:26

very quiet today

kviiri

@KorvinStarmast Clearly a part of my brain hasn't abandoked Edward III's claim yet :-)

nitsua60

NautArch

@nitsua60 Done a lot prep for White Plume. I think it's going to be fun.

i'm still figuring out the mechanics of one of the rooms

Akira_Kurusu

16:36

Heyo

NautArch

o/

kviiri

Sup

Akira_Kurusu

How you guys doing?

NautArch

good, prepping white plume ^

Akira_Kurusu

Ah, nice!

I'm at work, oof

But there is absolutely nothing to do and I'm bored out of my skull to be honest

GcL

16:46

What was that D&D setting that was like Aladdin?

NautArch

have you done white plume @Akira_Kurusu?

Akira_Kurusu

Nope, I haven't

KorvinStarmast

@Akira_Kurusu o/

GcL

@Akira_Kurusu Have you considered preparing to run a one shot from Tales from the Yawning Portal? I hear that's a popular activity

NautArch

i'm trying to figure out the mechanics ofa room and it's still evading me

@GcL hehe

GcL

16:46

@NautArch Probably taking the dodge action every round.

KorvinStarmast

@GcL AD&D 1e was Al Qadim

GcL

@KorvinStarmast Thanks! It was on the tip of my freakin' brain.

Akira_Kurusu

@GcL I'm running a homebrew game for some coworkers, currently waiting for one to come back from lunch

GcL

@KorvinStarmast Was that 1e? I've gotta go dig out those books because I thought that was a 2e game a.k.a. Paladin riding a horse edition.

Akixkisu

@Akira_Kurusu I'm curious about why you opted for your farmer to have no tool proficiency.

KorvinStarmast

16:56

@GcL might have been in both. Greyhawk was on both, FR was in both ... OOPS, no, it came out in 92, so Second Edition AD&D

GcL

Good point. Probably was.

Akira_Kurusu

@Akixkisu I couldn't think of a reason to have any tool proficiencies. Their trade is farming, and there are no farmer's tools as far as I'm aware. Herbalism kit is the closest thing, but that's more for potion making. Do you have a specific suggestion?

KorvinStarmast

@GcL sorry, had a memory lapse there. Had to look that one up

Akixkisu

@Akira_Kurusu create a farmer's tool proficiency.

KorvinStarmast

@Akira_Kurusu carpenter's tools and brewers tools are a nice cross section, and miners tools or masons tools ....

Akixkisu

17:04

@Akira_Kurusu I'm probably not going to write an answer on that question, but one thing that I think irritates me flavour-wise is that the HP gain feels more akin to what a wraith or a classical grim reaper does (aside from the bountiful harvest feature which I think is awesome).

Akira_Kurusu

I could consider adding tool proficiencies I suppose. Maybe you can get tool proficiencies at the cost of a skill proficiency?

@Akixkisu Yeah I can see what you mean. I essentially wanted to reward criticals and kills with the "bountiful harvest" flavor since the farmer class is someone that was essentially touched by magic and blessed by the faye. Hence why the spirits exist, and the slightly magical abilities exist.

Fae** Oof

GcL

@KorvinStarmast Oriental adventures was one that was in both editions. Had the most interesting weapons.

KorvinStarmast

@GcL aaah, yeah, that's where my wires got crossed.

NautArch

17:30

ugh, also noticing that the grid squares on the providing map are 10', but ROll20 assumes 5. so i have to remember that when they're moving.

not even sure how that works in tokens and distance.

Someone_Evil

@NautArch Is there not an option for rescaling it?

GcL

@NautArch Are you working from a digital version?

NautArch

17:43

@Someone_Evil doesn't seem to be one

@GcL bought the add-on on roll20

Yuuki

17:59

GcL

@NautArch And it's in 10' squares... boo. Poor production quality.

Yuuki

wait, did I post that already?

NautArch

@GcL yeah, it's gonna be weird. And a little annoying. I mean, i really won't know if someone is in range or not.

V2Blast

@NautArch Fine by me :P

@NautArch Our DM had this issue with many maps for Princes of the Apocalypse, I believe

NautArch

@V2Blast how did they handle it?

V2Blast

18:04

wasn't too hard to fix, I think, though you you have to do it for each map it happens on

idk, will look up

GcL

@NautArch I know fantasy grounds had a map re-scaling tool. Was a pain to use because it relied on pixel perfect mouse control.

V2Blast

Looks like you should be able to change it from the Page Settings, accessible from the cog next to each map: wiki.roll20.net/Page_Settings

NautArch

@V2Blast stackizen 2

Someone_Evil

Seeing as it occurs for multiple maps, would it worth asking as a question on main?

V2Blast

It should be "Page Scale"; change 10 to 5

NautArch

18:05

@V2Blast stackizen 3

@Someone_Evil that's a great idea! Let others find/have the resource.

V2Blast

Relevant forum/reddit threads:
https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/2388256/how-to-deal-with-maps-grid-with-1-square-equals-10-feet
https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1503238/squares-with-different-scales
https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/84orgy/how_should_i_handle_adventure_maps_with_10ft_per/

nitsua60

@GcL Al Qadim.

Derp. Korvin got there an hour ago.

NautArch

@V2Blast hmm, i changed the scale to 5, but that didn't seem to do anything.

V2Blast

idk then

Hot RPG Questions

3

Q: Does a ranged casting distance include touch?

Can a ranged cast also count as a touch if done right next to it? Where this came up: My wizard player wants to have their owl familiar cast floating disk so the wizard can sit on the disk and have the owl fly along the ground with the disk following it 20 ft away like a magical floating sled. ...

dnd-5e spells familiars spellcasting

NautArch

18:28

It's just weird that WoTC provides maps in 10' scale when grids are generally 5', too.

GcL

That is peculiar. The rules are in 5" increments as well.

NautArch

Attention Stackizens: Access to dndbeyond first come, first serve. Click here for access.

8

goodguy5

thanks, but already got one ;)

NautArch

As a room owner, can I sticky that?

JohnP

@NautArch Yes, you click on the triangle that appears at the left when you hover on it, then "Pin this message".

And thank you for the invite, but I'm already in your chat ToA group.

NautArch

18:44

@JohnP ah, thanks!

JohnP

@NautArch No problem. You do the same to unpin. That's the admin menu for each post, so flag, flag for mod, etc.

V2Blast

@NautArch The original map is a 10-foot grid - Roll20's marketplace version just auto-adjusts it for you so and overlays its own 5-foot grid... without changing the map scale for some reason

NautArch

@V2Blast Yeah, it's definitely weird. FOr the most part I don't think it's a big deal for a small dungeon. In general, they'll be in melee range and I'll know when someone isn't with narrative.

@V2Blast Im pretty sure i'm an idiot, but it's working now :)

V2Blast

19:01

haha, I thought it should have

glad to hear it

might just require refreshing sometimes

MikeQ

V2 normally posts this but there are new free games on epic games store - Stanley Parable and Watchdogs

V2Blast

good call

The Stanley Parable and Watch_Dogs are free on the Epic Games Store for the next week, until March 26: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/free-games
(After that, the games Figment and Tormentor x Punisher will be free from March 26 to April 2nd.)

Akixkisu

19:18

@NautArch what kind of access?

NautArch

19:33

@Akixkisu access to pretty much all dndbeyond content

Akixkisu

@NautArch thanks, say hello to my glorious Triton Artificer, it is me but without a kiss.

NautArch

@Akixkisu courtesy of me and v2blast

Akixkisu

@V2Blast then thanks to you as well :)

V2Blast

:D

James

20:16

What program that I see people use in answers sometimes that analyzes that statistics of different dice rolls?

Someone_Evil

@James Anydice.com probably

James

Thanks!

nitsua60

23:10

Switched my Wednesday group to online last night. It was about a half-session, as we worked people through tech-details and catching up after last week off (per previously-scheduled vacationing). Found some new mysteries, managed to get bast a not-necessarily lethal encounter with only killing half the others, rather than killing them all =)

Transcript for