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12:33 AM
@BardicWizard just hover
 
How do you hover on mobile?
 
You apparently don't?
Switch to desktop version?
Woof
 
@MikeQ I normally like crunchy, but after chatting to @vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica I've had to re-evaluate what I think is crunchy
 
@ThomasMarkov decided to delete the answer. Wrote it in frustration because I think it's way too broad. Bad reason.
 
(that one AnyDice function)
 
12:38 AM
@NautArch That’s why I initially VTCd it. Though my comment presents a path to a good answer if you’re willing to do some homework :P (it’s a bad question, so I’m not putting the work in).
 
Yeah, that's why I put the obvious answer up. If folks wanted it open, that's the answer.
But it's not helpful
And. I'd be very surprised if there was a rubric for it
 
@NautArch valor bard with a hand crossbow does he get two attacks with it as a standard? (No CE feat?)
(we are in the middle of a battle and it is getting contentious ...
 
Yes, but no modifier on second
And he needs a free hand to load
Has he gotten extra attack?
If not, then no
 
Yeah, not without extra attack.
Or CE.
Or haste.
Or a level of fighter.
Or Tenser’s transformation
Or swift quiver
 
1:10 AM
@BardicWizard I hadn't seen any of the Ocean's series until Ocean's 8, which I really liked. Tried watching 11 after that, and... it was a struggle to get through. We watched about 15 minutes of 12 before giving up on it.
 
I've heard good things about the Leverage RPG, which uses Cortex Plus I think?
 
@NautArch Valor Bards get extra attack at level 6, he is level 7, thanks
 
But Forged in the Dark is built as an engine for dramatic messy heistery.
 
@KorvinStarmast pew pew!
 
1:38 AM
@KorvinStarmast Extra Attack won't do it... if you don't have CE, you need something to give you another Action. "Loading. Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of ammunition from it when you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make."
 
@Adeptus Thanks! Will discuss with the group. :)
 
All the things the Alexandrian likes(Twitter Thread) about RotFM and all the things he dislikes.(Twitter Thread)
 
1:54 AM
3
Q: Best wild shape for my Druid

YayI am planning on making a Druid as part of a 3 person party in an upcoming game, the other two people are a life based cleric as our tank/healer, and a champion fighter as a dual wielder/archer. I am going to be a Circle of the Moon Druid who focuses on casting spells but can still be good at mel...

 
@AncientSwordRage Thanks for link, will comment tomorrow, we are fighting Int Devourers .. arrgh
 
@KorvinStarmast np. It goes some way to link both positive and negative points to their blog
Brain Floof
 
[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Offensive answer detected, potentially bad keyword in answer, toxic answer detected (159): Does an intelligence boost retroactively give skill points? by sjotmonkey on rpg.SE (@Rubiksmoose)
 
Ben
Morn--- wtf @AncientSwordRage XD
 
2:09 AM
@SmokeDetector power word downvote
@Ben #ProperDnDMonsterNames
 
Sep 1 '16 at 3:12, by Miniman
yesterday, by Magician
Semi-annual reminder that ID Odds is there for all your intellect devourer-related needs, wants and desires.
 
@Miniman very cool
@Ben how's it going today?
 
Ben
2:26 AM
Much better today. I've had back problems for a week now, and after my last physio appointment, I did some acupuncture, and my back is (while not 100%) is already feeling so much better
I had a trapped nerve in my hip, and it was not fun
 
@Ben ouchies
 
2:44 AM
6
Q: When playing on a grid, can I pour a flask of oil on any adjacent square or just on the one I am standing on?

João GrandoThe description of a flask of oil says: You can also pour a flask of oil on the ground to cover a 5-foot-square area, provided that the surface is level. When playing on a grid, can I pour a flask of oil on any adjacent square or just on the one I am standing on?

 
@Adeptus meh, I didn’t love it. We watched the remake (2001 maybe???) so I don’t know how the original went
 
Alright, friends. Starting a new D&D5e game tomorrow night. (As a player!)
One text from the GM answering my question was just "yup, yup Buttercup."
So I'm clearly playing Buttercup, now. Question is: Buttercup the eponymous Princess Bride, or Buttercup the unicorn of Robert Asprin's? Arguments for and against, if you please.
 
Or what about Buttercup the Powerpuff Girl
 
3:02 AM
@BardicWizard I haven't seen the original either. Honestly, try Ocean's 8, I think it's 100x better.
@nitsua60 Princess Bride x Powerpuff Girl, with a goal of owning/befriending a unicorn
 
@nitsua60 Do you want other players at the table to know what you're referencing?
Also, playable unicorn is pretty difficult within the rules.
 
@Miniman They will in either case. We're all nerds of a certain age.
@Miniman I'm wondering about some re-skin/hack of GGR's centaur with some kenku parts bolted on?
Or Aasimar.
But this is just me spitballing.
 
It's tempting to suggest Quigley, with Buttercup as a goal.
(Greater Steed, probably.)
(Trigger the growing realisation that pretty much everyone in the Myth series is some variety of bard.)
 
3:19 AM
Lewis Pessano "Buttercup" Dickerson (October 11, 1858 – July 23, 1920) was a 19th-century Major League Baseball outfielder. Born in Tyaskin, Maryland, he played a total of seven seasons in the majors, splitting time between eight teams in three different leagues. He is credited by the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame as the first Italian-American to play in the majors, but conversations with family members have called into question whether the family has any Italian ancestry. == Early life == Dickerson was born in 1858. He is sometimes thought to be of Italian ancestry, but at least...
 
 
2 hours later…
4:57 AM
@AncientSwordRage Thanks!
 
5:35 AM
I want to, sometime in the future (within the school year but not like next week), run a play-by-post game, but I’m not experienced with running one, only being in one total as a player and 0 as a GM. I want to ask a couple of questions about PbP, and I’m not sure whether they’re main site appropriate.
1, what forums/websites are free, easy to use, and common for PbP; 2, how often should players post to keep it going; 3, where should I look for players (found an answer for this one); and 4, how do I change an existing system (probably D&D5e but in general) to work better for PbP?
 
@BESW I saw that, but couldn’t find anything on 1, 2, and 4
Are any of these main site appropriate? Are they better answered elsewhere?
 
There's also been conversations in the chat history worth searching.
In short though:
1. that'd be a shopping question. unfit for mainsite.
2. depends on the players. opinion-based, unfit for mainsite.
3. don't we all want to know? unfit for mainsite.
4. some systems (such as D&D) really don't work with PBP pacing. possibly ok for mainsite but it could get closed as too broad.
 
Welp never mind then
 
2 can be answered with experience-based support: suitable for the site but REALLY annoying to curate because nobody actually answers like that without a lot of prodding with sharp sticks.
 
5:45 AM
#2 could be workshopped into something stackable. As with most "should" questions, it would need more narrow scope and criteria, and more details about the desired game experience.
 
4, you'd need to be really specific about what your PbP needs are.
 
@BardicWizard See this conversation. There may be some useful tips and resources for organizing a PBP game. I haven't tried it myself though.
 
This sounds more complicated than I thought so I’m gonna probably put it on the back burner until I’m done with the current RL issues arising from having an unhealthily busy schedule, so maybe I’ll come back to these questions when I have something more than “hey this could be cool”
 
Random thought. I have characters I want to play in D&D 5e. I have characters I want to play in [whatever system the group chooses]. I have builds I want to play in D&D 3.5.
 
I can't find the exact conversation. But basically, out-of-the-box D&D (and other D&D-like systems) tends to fail in PBP because of the asynchronous playstyle and delays in passing information between participants. Turn-based combat, attack & damage rolls, making perception checks to describe a room, etc... none of it quite works when an unknown number of hours could pass between the prompt, dice roll, and result.
 
5:55 AM
@BardicWizard I've got some spaces where people do a lot of PbP, so when you have a clearer sense of your questions I could ask them there if you want.
 
Hypothetically there may have been successful attempts at hacking D&D into a functional PBP game, but that means working against the tools, rather than working with them. It would be wiser to use a different system that doesn't ask the players to reinvent the wheel. Something that allows players to transmit large amounts of information sporadically and asynchronously, rather than something that requires them to transmit small amounts of information frequently (such as d20 rolls).
 
6:14 AM
Also, and not mutually exclusively, D&D is a good base because it's a familiar touchstone for people entering an otherwise new and intimidating kind of gamespace.
 
6:52 AM
4
Q: Does a Split Party Gain XP Evenly?

One EyeI'm running a campaign with six player characters. Since it's a larger group, they occasionally split up. During these times, individual groups have gotten into encounters and been awarded XP. My question is, does this XP get split evenly among the group present at the encounter or does the entir...

 
 
1 hour later…
7:55 AM
@AncientSwordRage Would you be willing to elaborate? I'm looking at the immediate context and trying to connect it to earlier discussions of crunchiness we both were in, and am failing to find the right connection.
 
8:54 AM
@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica I remember something about the mechanics being very unweildy
in truth I'd probably give the game go if given the chance
 
Keep in mind that my familiarity with SR is largely based on having a lot of discussions with a friend/colleague who played and GMed it, but I haven't actually played.
 
People still seem to like SR often.
Personally I GM my heists in GURPS and FATE.
 
9:03 AM
They seem like good systems
 
9:21 AM
@AncientSwordRage They certainly have major upsides I enjoy. I wish I could combine the upsides though. But that is probably impossible without just making a new system from scratch, since the upsides are, to a large extent, tied to some fundamentals of the way the game engines were written.
 
@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica they also seem to be at odds with each other at times
 
In some ways, not in others.
 
interest intensifies
 
OK, I'll try to elaborate.
They're both 'generic universal' systems, in that they can be flexed to support different kinds of settings.
And genres (with some caveats).
They do it in different ways though.
 
9:27 AM
GURPS is a system which has, as a major component, the function of helping the GM figure out what makes sense in a given setting/genre/situation/&c., but requires some explicit inputs, and often specific optional modules for that.
It has a reputation of being realism-oriented, and to a degree that is true, in that a lot of approximations that the system is meant to provide are based on looking up real-world phenomena and translating them into a gameable format.
(I'll be back.)
 
@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica me too
@nitsua60 where does the kenku part come in?
 
9:49 AM
Now, I used the word approximations because of course no game system models anything perfectly.
 
I'm back
 
People sometimes take the expectations of realism to ridiculous levels. I will tell outright: even the optional, very-high-detail Last Gasp rules don't properly model the differences between running a sprint, a mid-distance run, and a marathon.
But in general, you can expect some sort of approximate-order-of-magnitude reasonableness for many (but of course not all) phenomena, where by knowing the input parameters you can often get at least a general idea of reasonable-ish outcomes.
Those can, of course, be adjusted by adjusting the rules if one wants to emulate certain genres. Like mild chanbara allowing combat jumps to effectively be double the normal distance (for a simplistic example).
All of the above of course comes with a predisposition towards the system having a lot of moving parts.
They're usually well-defined, but there's lots of them.
Well, well-defined by RPG comparisons.
And when I write 'lots', I do mean lots. Like over a hundred skills, most of which are only needed for certain character concepts. Or many dozens of traits, each with special optional modifiers that adjust how they work.
This can be a boon and a drawback.
It's a boon in the sense of 'I have an idea, and the system already has something to help me flesh it out, often with implicit or explicit worked examples'.
But it's a drawback because it can be hard to grasp everything right away. And while some traits' synergies make sense, others are mere side effects of the design process, essentially bugs.
And there's also the fact that adjusting things like trait costs for a specific campaign can result in cascade effects due to the sheer number of possible interactions.
(By traits I mean everything - attribute, secondary characteristics, dis/advantages, skills, techniques.)
--
On the other hand we have the FATE family of games, which don't focus on the above sorts of input-system-output pipes. They also have fewer moving parts.
You have no functions that you can use to figure out an outcome or reasonable range of outcomes either for a genreless or a given-genre situation.
You, GM/table, have to do it all in your head, and assign difficulties based on that.
Or assign meanings of success/failure/tie/complication.
Another consideration is that FATE-family games tend to have a very loosely defined 'pool of possible traits'.
There's the Default Skill List (which is pretty cool as far as skill lists go in universal game systems!) which you can mostly keep as-is, but Aspects are very freeform, and Stunts are meant to often be customised or also freeform-invented a lot.
This can be a boon and a drawback.
 
10:22 AM
that's a very interesting breakdown
 
As a GM, I find the need to eyeball sensible outcomes for everything straining. The need to make up most of the traits like Stunts from scratch was initially straining, but by now I found some useful heuristics that help with that. But on the bright side, whatever I and players make up doesn't have as many cascading effects, thanks to a lower count of 'moving parts'.
So when it comes to wanting the best of both worlds, I want GURPS' 'plugability' where I can take real world parameters, character traits, and plug them into a system function, and get an output that gives me a sensible answer about whatever relevant phenomenon.
But I also want FATE's lower count of moving parts.
Or at least want to keep the character complexity scaleable/optional.
EABA seemed like it tried to fulfil some sort of mixture of those two objectives, but needed more polish.
 
The End All Be All game system, commonly known as EABA and pronounced "ee-buh", is a role-playing game system from Blacksburg Tactical Research Center (BTRC). It is a generic gaming systems designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming environment. It was created by Greg Porter in 2003. The game cites the Hero System, GURPS and Call of Cthulhu as influences in its development.The game books and related materials are available only in a PDF format download, or printed on demand. == History == === Prior RPG History === Role-playing games (RPGs) of the 1970s and early 1980s were environment specific,...
 
interesting
 
 
1 hour later…
11:44 AM
EABA kind of misses the point that games are built to simulate and evoke specific things. If you're not consciously aiming to simulate or evoke any specific thing, that doesn't mean your game won't do that, it just means you don't have any control over what it will wind up simulating or evoking. Even your choice of how you define and divide up character attributes contributes to this.
 
Well, some games are built to evoke specific things. It's typical for a narrow/specialist/genre game, but universal/generalist/genreless games tend to go for a lower level of specifisity, and it's not a bug, but a feature.
Things like division of traits do have an effect, though.
 
@AncientSwordRage That's a good question. Looking back, I can't think of what in particular made me say it. (I was thinking of tabaxi, kenku, tritons, minotaurs... as a pattern for giving "animalistic" traits to a playable race.)
 
> All mythological creatures have a real-world root. Dryads are trees + humans + magic. Mermaids are fish + humans + magic, or maybe porpoises + magic. Unicorns are deer or horses + magic, maybe with a bit of narwhal glued on. Dragons are reptiles + magic, or maybe dinosaur bones + magic – paleontology.
http://nkjemisin.com/2013/02/from-the-mailbag-the-unbearable-baggage-of-orcing/
 
12:00 PM
@BESW Unicorn = Narwhal - Water
 
@ThomasMarkov Well now I want the Internet to provide me with an illustration of a monohorned pakicetus.
 
Because I didnt put magic in my equation, you need to see an intermediate form? :P
 
@doppelgreener Yeah. I valued genericness a lot in my early TRPG days, and it led to a great deal of frustration because I conflated setting ambivalence with other kinds of ambivalence.
@ThomasMarkov Nah, I'm just thinking whale - water = pakicetus.
And a pakicetus unicorn sounds like a terribly amusing deviation from the norm.
 
pakicetus on it's own seems like an amusing deviation from the norm
 
Yeah, but I'm talking about normcore normcorns.
Heh. I have a history with unicorns, and not a lot of patience with them unless the depiction is doing something surprising and interesting.
"Bog Unicorn" by Ursula Vernon. Check out the flavor text.
> sure, [common unicorns] look all pretty and sleek, but so do pigeons
 
12:16 PM
I recently learnt that there was a branch of rodents with horns as well
 
Horned gophers!
 
Essentially yes, I'm guessing you saw the same video?
 
Oh yeah, I think I saw a video about them recently too.
 
12:31 PM
@BESW Right, like, end all be all is ... not actually that. It's fundamentally incapable of simulating, frankly, most of the games we've ever played.
@BESW What's BOLT? I might have missed this one.
 
Sep 5 at 22:34, by BESW
Kickstarter: The BOLT RPG Engine by Ajey Pandey. The lightning-fast RPG system! Fast and tense action, setting-agnostic rules, and flexible hacking tools.
Sep 5 at 22:48, by BESW
BOLT RPG Hack Bundle! A bundle hosted by Lexi the Fae. We're offering a bundle of our own hacks, supplements, and settings for the BOLT Engine!
Ajey has written a twitter thread... which I don't see to have linked here, so I may never find it again... about mindful violence in BOLT.
May 5 at 22:33, by BESW
The BOLT RPG Engine (v0.2.1) by Ajey Pandey is a modding-focused role-playing game engine designed to port across multiple settings. It’s a d10+d4 skill-based system, with fast and lethal combat, an XP system that prioritizes roleplaying, and a core resolution mechanic that incentivizes risk-taking and inducing chaos.
@doppelgreener I recently talked with someone about the importance of drawing practice because it teaches us to gain control of the brain's role in interpreting the communication between eye and hand: no representation, no matter how "accurate" or "realistic," is without subjective interpretation. Recognizing and controlling that interpretation in our work is where the craft comes into art.
 
1:38 PM
Please continue this in NAB, sorry folks.
 
1:50 PM
wassup
 
@kviiri howdy howdy!
 
I'm trying to figure out how to comment/annotate an old doc.
 
@BESW using which program?
 
Oh, Scrivener. It's not a technical question, it's a writing problem.
 
oh, ha!
 
1:53 PM
Morning, peoples of the Internet!
 
2:06 PM
DYK that there's an archaic work rike (cognate of the German "Reich", Latin "rex", Hindi "raj" etc etc) that means, roughly, a realm?
 
I did not know
 
If I ever make a game about mages managing their kingdoms, I'm going to involve a cantrip that forgoes the use of one's turn to grant a disproportionately minor advantage on the next turn
And call it Truest rike
 
<groan>
<golf clap>
 
:-)
 
Just so you know, when your toddler's three wheeled bike ends up with the spokes misaligned, you can cast Trues trike to sort that out
 
2:15 PM
@kviiri Oh no, not this again :p
 
mumble mumble Latin mumble party succession mumble mumble Eisenhower mumble Tru est R-Ike.
Sorry, friends... that's the best I can do today.
 
@RevenantBacon It's Friday, what else can I do
 
something something something Cantrip something something Can't Rip
 
I am somewhat dismayed at the questions coming up about homebrewing true strike without a whole lot of work done before hand.
But I also am clearly in a minority :)
 
Not that small of a minority, I am also mildly irked
 
2:21 PM
@RevenantBacon We used to joke about that quite often, since cantrips deal low damage and therefore often "Can't [make the enemy] RIP" (rest in peace/pieces)
 
My level of irk is minor at most, but it's there
 
I sympathetize with the present irk
 
@kviiri I was more referencing a discussion had that was earlier this week(or maybe late last week?) where we were just nonstop throwing out puns about the term Cantrip
 
@RevenantBacon Was that where I proposed can trip and can't trip which did stuff relating to prone and shove?
 
GcL
@NautArch Are, "can you homebrew this for me?" questions off topic here? or have people decided they're on topic?
 
2:25 PM
@GcL They are off topic.
As far as I know
11
Q: Close Reason for "Homebrew this for me" questions

inthemanualI've recently noticed a couple questions that seemed like "make me some suggestions for this homebrew idea I had". I voted to close both as an off-topic Shopping/Recommendation request, as to me they both seemed like asking for recommendations and idea generation, which is clearly off-topic here....

 
GcL
Nice try. I've had too nice a week to ruin it with a visit to meta.
 
hahaha
well, the title answers your question:P
i knew I should have spoilered it!
 
I think the question that presently irks you isnt a "homebrew this for me".
 
@ThomasMarkov It isn't. It's "here's an idea I haven't really looked into, is it balanced?"
There's zero effort and zero initial self-assessment.
People are disliking True Strike and throwing things against the wall to see if it sticks rather than doing any effort themselves initially.
 
But it is symptomatic, I think, of just how outstandingly underwhelming true strike is.
 
2:36 PM
@nitsua60 that I will not argue with :)
 
@ThomasMarkov Yes, that's the one
 
True Strike: Invocations you spend on your Careful Attacks grant a +3 bonus instead of +2.
 
2:52 PM
Is this homebrew variant of true strike balanced? True strike As part of the verbal components of this spell, you ask the target a question. Make an unarmed strike against the target. On a hit, the target must answer your question truthfully.
 
truth strike
a one-time zone of truth
 
GcL
@NautArch That counts as "homebrew this for me" to me. Vague idea + "is it balanced?" without metric, nor list of concerns, nor corner cases is essentially, "homebrew this for me" with a thin veneer of curiosity.
 
@GcL I'm not disagreeing :)
 
Blue Pike Lobs a blue fish at that guy over there
 
but given the upvotes and lack of close votes, i think this is both staying open and would reopen quickly if closed.
 
GcL
2:56 PM
@NautArch I'm concurring.
I'm waiting for the long winded well thought out answer that gets undercut by a post edit when the OP realizes they aren't concerned with the things the answer assumes are concerns.
 
3:16 PM
True Strike: the only cantrip to cause this many questions since 5e came out
 
tiny hut waves
 
I said cantrip not leveled spell
 
minor illusion waves
 
@NautArch You wanna check me real quick? Is my most recent comment on this question a good response? (Not asking if you agree with my evaluation, rather my delivery).
 
Fine, divination cantrip
 
3:24 PM
@ThomasMarkov I like it, and I think the previous comment wasn't so nice. But it also seems the community wants it open..so...
 
@NautArch I don't think the community is paying attention to that one anymore
 
that almost bothers me more. Folks reopened, but aren't helping.
 
@NautArch Same tbh.
Personally, I think its a textbook example of too broad as explained here on meta.
> There are either too many possible answers, or good answers would be too long for this format. Please add details to narrow down the answer set or to isolate an issue that can be answered in a few paragraphs.
@GcL I've been swayed.
 
3:45 PM
@ThomasMarkov I think it's actually good now.
 
GcL
4:33 PM
The true strike as an action would not mechanically benefit the multi attacking classes. Trade two attacks for advantage on the first roll of the next attack. That's trading 4d20 for 3d20.

It would be advantageous to the ranged casters and rogues. Casters for spells that use a spell slot and are hit-or-nothing... but that's really only a low level advantage.
Not a lot of hit-or-nothing spells at higher level. Witch bolt comes to mind as that's a boat load of guaranteed damage over time if it hits.
 
@BardicWizard prestidigitation
 
Not enough people are asking about Magic Stone, the best spell for a Necromancer.
 
@Axoren it's a great spell
 
The problem is that people keep thinking in terms of "I couldn't possibly throw enough of them in one turn!"
That's why your minions do it.
At the cost of a 4th Level spell at the beginning of the day and your bonus action each turn, you're dealing an extra 9 damage every turn and three of your minions have magical weapons. And you can still cast spells with your Action
 
GcL
4:53 PM
What 4th level spell?
 
Animated Dead upcast
For 3 Skeletons or Zombies
 
GcL
Gotcha. Can you hand out multiple stones to multiple creatures in one object interaction? or just drop them and let the minions pick them up?
 
On your turn, Bonus Action to make some Magic Stones. They take them from you as an object interaction and attack with the stones. You do the rest of your turn.
Pretty sure they act on your initiative.
But dropping is also an option, same action economy.
 
GcL
Oh, and they get your spell casting modifier instead of their crappy attack modifier.
 
Yes.
 
GcL
4:56 PM
Zombies are good meat shields. That get back up at 0hp save can get really comical.
 
Makes them the best artillery.
If you're keeping a batch with you for the long haul, they can also wear attuned items, I think.
Basic requirements of attunement are just being in contact with the item last I checked, which feels kind of weird.
I feel like you at least need to think for yourself to attune.
Weird
 
GcL
I think the zombies would fall short on "spend a short rest focused on only that item" as I wouldn't characterize zombies as being able to focus on anything for long.
Maybe they could? I don't know. My knee jerk reaction is to disallow it as the only player I have that would contemplate that would be using it as an edge case to meet with another edge case and cheese the game. Which can be entertaining, but tends to be dull for the other players.
 
@GcL 5e doesn't have a way for necromancers to make ghosts, does it? Ghosts seem like they're be great at that.
 
Sage Advice says they can as seen above. Which I think is kind of bonkers in a high-magic game.
Like, imagine a Zombie using Prayer Beads to bless the party, freeing up a Conc slot from the Cleric.
 
GcL
It says undead can... not all undead nor zombie specifically.
 
5:03 PM
The way he worded it: Creatures can.
Logically, that means "If it's a creature, it can."
 
(I'd rule that zombies just can't take short rests, or any kind of rests. They are being denied rest, that's why they're undead.)
 
GcL
@MarkWells I like that. They're the "restless dead".
 
I think that's a misnomer. They're denied their rest (read: afterlife) not their rest (read: taking a break and recuperating)
There's a similar ruling that creatures can short rest somewhere, I bet.
 
@Axoren It's magic, it works by aggressively binding symbols to things
 
GcL
@Axoren Humans can walk tightropes without falling. That does not imply all humans can do that. There are many that can't.
 
5:05 PM
@MarkWells It's magic, it doesn't need to make sense.
 
@Axoren It does make sense, though
 
GcL
I wouldn't insert the "all" qualifier into the statement. I'd be more accepting of "generally" being inserted.
 
@nitsua60 How about Buttercup from HMS Pinafore?
 
@MarkWells In your interpretation of attunement, you have a rigid framework by with attunement works. However, it doesn't need to work that way.
 
@BardicWizard Lots of PbP expertise at GiTP forums, and they even have a PbP sub forum.
 
5:07 PM
At the end of the day, the rules don't say Zombies can't attune. And the rules only do what they say they do.
It just feels weird because of course we all have these interpretations of how the magic works.
And it seems out of place in most of those interpretations.
 
GcL
@Axoren Unless they're wicked. There's a whole song about how there's no rest for those either.
 
We could probably justify it as the Necromancer, who already has executive control of the souls binding the corpse, forcing attunement upon them.
 
@nitsua60 I'd be interested in modding it to 'you offer advantage to an ally but your movement goes to 0 (or something like that)
@NautArch @ThomasMarkov For your amusement
 
5:27 PM
@KorvinStarmast You have been rebutted.
 
@ThomasMarkov alarming* Your argument is invalid.
Also, wowie, people are actually discussing Magic Stone
 
@Axoren Yeah, I feel that. It's not a bad spell, but it is very lackluster.
 
A similar spell that doesn't scale: Shillelagh
However, it's golden into end-game because it's somewhat of a build enabler.
 
@MarkWells i said divination cantrip (later down) I suppose I could get more specific though...
 
Well, Shillelagh and Magic Stone both scale if you have multiple attacks
 
5:38 PM
For Wis-based characters, they don't necessarily have a good 1d8 weapon option.
 
Otherwise they're kinda garbo
 
@KorvinStarmast i might check it out, seen some other links heading there
 
So it allows you to invest in WIS before investing in an Attack Stat
 
They also both have the advantage of being a bonus action to cast
@Axoren It means that WIS is an attack stat. Monks can benefit from Shillelagh for a few levels too
Though it's not easy to get
 
It's not worth it for Monks because of the build power you need to spend to get it and the turn you miss out on being able to Flurry
Monk suffers from not being able to attack with Monk weapons as part of Martial Arts
WIS on action and then DEX/STR on bonus action is unfortunate
Makes Monk absolutely MAD
I think the only character I've felt Shillelagh was a net positive was on my new character when statting it out for Icewind Dale
Behold, 10 minutes in GIMP slapping together a concept art: https://i.imgur.com/HyFqb7j.png
Arcane Cleric of Mystra
I took Magic Initiate for Druid to get Shillelagh
And I use SCAG cantrips for striking
Arcane Clerics get Potent Cantrip, which means you want to invest in WIS to make that do more damage. Both SCAG cantrips apply this damage twice.
 
5:48 PM
@Axoren My life cleric/magic initiate used it for two reasons. She can make a club a 1d8 attack weapon that does magical bludgeoning damage, and she need not invest in str/dex to have a decent melee attack. Her default cantrip, sacred flame, is too dependent on enemy dex to be useful beyond battles with zombies. But I use it anyway just because.
 
@KorvinStarmast This is where I usually mix in Spiritual Weapon to make up for how bad my cantrips suck on Cleric.
 
yep, SW is a nice little tool when you have a spell slot to spare;
 
Spiritual Weapon occupies a bonus action without occupying conc and does 1d8+WIS
But now, I can mix Shillelagh, SCAG Cantrips, and Spiritual Weapon
 
It also is available on a number of NPCs when I DM so the PCs get to enjoy getting a few swats to the face from it
 
The favored weapon of Mystra is a Shuriken and I'm manifesting Spiritual Weapon to be the Seven Stars of Mystra. When it attacks, it launches a flurry of them at the enemy and only a couple of them hit, based on how much I upcast it.
I've yet to see an enemy use Magic Stone.
Last time ANYONE has used magic stone in a game, was when the DM realized during an ambush that the dwarves we were escorting all knew Magic Stone.
So they tried to defend themselves.
This was Pathfinder, so it was actually a much worse spell
 
5:56 PM
@Axoren I like that! We had a cleric (his player retired the PC at level 6) whose spiritual weapon was in the shape of a big, flaming mug of beer. Whack!
 
@KorvinStarmast I'm planning on incorporating the Seven Stars of Mystra into all of my spells so that I can justify just always having them appear around me at higher levels.
 
@Axoren Heck yeah; thematically it's a great fit
 
Spiritual Weapon: Seven star flurry. Spirit Guardians: The seven stars circle around my slicing at enemies in the area.
 
Who knew that Mystra's clerics were so bloody handed? .👍
 
I'm thinking when I cast touch spells, a star of Mystra appears where I contact.
And eventually, I'd like Green-flame Blade to have a silver flame
But module is only planning to get to 12, so I don't think I can achieve Chosen status in this campaign's lifetime
 
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