TRPG General Chat

1:03 AM

I just stood in line at the PO for two hours to pick up my How to Think When You Draw books.

@MikeQ there is one major difference: polar bears are way cooler. Cartesian bears are such squares.

@BESW oof. But yay new book!

It's these guides, but more of them, in three hardcover volumes.

2

Whoa, that's awesome!

And it came with an index page for all three books!

I now know 1,000% more about drawing angry things then I did just moments before!

@BESW Can't beat a good index

1:09 AM

Can I join it?

If you ask nicely :)

And like, their style is kinda cartoony but most of the tips are SUPER useful for any style.

Like the tips on lava which observe that it "billows out in hoops" which are "like arrow heads, showing the direction of motion" and the tops of the hoops are complex while the bottoms are simple.

And when it's pouring onto a surface, draw it like a silk scarf being dropped onto a table: it "forms folds."

Shalvenay

@BESW makes me think of cake batter being poured into a pan

Q: Does Improved Abjuration affect spells that have a circumstantial ability check?

1:39 AM

Complex numbers no longer want to stab me

Hot RPG Questions

3:15 AM

6

Consider the Abjuration Wizard's 10th level feature: Improved Abjuration Beginning at 10th level, when you cast an abjuration spell that requires you to make an ability check as a part of casting that spell (as in Counterspell and Dispel Magic), you add your proficiency bonus to that ability che...

dnd-5e spells class-feature wizard

9:59 AM

@BardicWizard you leveled up

12:12 PM

ayyyyyyyy

@HotRPGQuestions Ya know, this class feature seems actually really weak :/ Only affects 3 spells in the whole game, and one of them Wizards don't even learn.

@RevenantBacon But the two spells it adds it to are counterspell and dispel magic making those more reliable against higher level effects

@RevenantBacon to be fair, counterspell and dispel magic are pretty great spells.

@RevenantBacon Anectdotally I've seen a Wizard/Cleric multiclass. Don't know what the full build idea was, but having cure wounds and an owl familiar was pretty slick

Sure, but it then forces the wizard to prep at least one of those two spells every day or the feature is worthless, and the feature is also worthless if you aren't fighting a spellcaster. Compared to say, the level 10 Evocation power which comes in handy in every fight.

Or the level 10 Enchantment power, which lets you multi-target Dominate X spells

12:23 PM

I've seen a lot of wizards prep one or both of those even without the feature

I took counterspell with my Bard's 10th level magical secrets. It's that good.

Hmm... it may or may not be weaker than the other 10th level features, but that's a really narrow analysis. Increasing consistency on something that can twart a lot of different effects should not be underestimated

Oh, no, some of the features from other schools are definitely weaker, it just seems that this feature is excessively narrow in its focus

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

1:11 PM

Hello other individuals who presumably exist!

/me waves its pedipalps in greeting.

@BardicWizard That's a bit presumptuous I think.

Q: Does having the (accurate) shape of an Aboleth give one all their ancestral-genetic memories?

@BardicWizard Are you worried some of us may be complex?

Hot RPG Questions

5

Via spells True Polymorph and Shape Change it is possible for any qualified recipient (CR10+ required for the True Polymorph - though ShapeChange only requires one to cast the spell) to gain a very accurate shape of an Aboleth. This linked description (above) suggests all of these creatures have ...

dnd-5e spells monsters polymorph

When I was teaching high school math, I had a student write the word "nothing" when the answer to the problem was 0.

1:23 PM

@Someone_Evil yes

I am also worried someone here could be... gasp.... a MIMIC

(Blame the rpg club at my school for prompting an hourlong argument on the most accurate mimic detector)

@BardicWizard 10 foot pole. Works every time.

nitsua60

@ThomasMarkov I thought it was "a good mimic joke."

@ThomasMarkov our answer: a ten foot pole with a summoned small animal on the end. If the animal gets eaten by the object it’s a mimic.

Two people with questionable morals thought using a baby would be a better idea. The rest did not agree.

@BardicWizard I cast conjure baby.

@ThomasMarkov these were the people who play CE characters and somehow manage to just barely not get kicked out every year

Unsurprisingly, they’re on probation again

1:45 PM

@BardicWizard Now I'm thinking about the Rare Exports, Inc safety instructions.

(Father Christmases are enraged by drinking, smoking, naughtiness, and loud noises.)

@BESW ooh, what are they?

"Rare Exports, Inc" is a fictional company that's the subject of two short films and a feature-length film. They capture wild Father Christmases and train them to be nice to children, then ship them around the world for work like being mall Santas.

You can find the short films on youtube or vimeo, but CW for nudity, blood, child endangerment, drinking, smoking, swearing, and some questionable ethnic terms related to Scandinavian Indigenous people.

Fascinating... I’ve never heard of it (yet more evidence everything’s before my time)

The film's okay, but not really the same tone as the shorts.

Heh, the short films went mildly viral about fifteen years ago and by the time the full movie came out in 2010 everybody'd forgotten about them and didn't care.

2:12 PM

@BardicWizard Mimics only do inanimate objects, you should be more worried about a Doppelgänger

There is one Imposter Among Us

@RevenantBacon what if the 10ft pole was the mimic??

@RevenantBacon no, the discussion revolved around whether the online dice roller we were using was a mimic

@AncientSwordRage Wouldnt be an issue in my party. We store our ten foot poles in 30 inch sections and use mending when we need them.

@AncientSwordRage Oh no, our worst fears have come to pass

@ThomasMarkov what happens if you cast mend on a mimic?

2:21 PM

@AncientSwordRage We'd know it was a mimic when we cut it into quarters immediately after purchase.

Nothing would happen, they're still creatures, they just look like objects

@AncientSwordRage why did you have to say that??? What if everything’s a mimic???? What if you’re the mimic??????? What if I’m a mimic????

The carpet is a special subspecies of cloaker, the walls are mimics, and the ceiling is actually just a bunch of ropers.

Oh, and the inside is filled with gelatinous cubes

@ThomasMarkov only for someone to replace a quarter with a mimic while you're not looking

@BardicWizard what if you're possessed by an intellect devourer?

Honestly, my favorite thing to use as a disguise for a mimic is as a "locked" door

Everyone always checks treasure chests to see if its a mimic, but nobody checks doors. Especially if they're already halfway through a dungeon and it looks the same as all the other doors they've come accross

2:39 PM

@AncientSwordRage aasaaaaaaaaaaqaahhhhhhhhhhjhhhhhh paranoia mode activated

One of my other favorite tricks is, after having subject them to a mimic door, just having regular doorknobs be covered in glue, so someone grabs it and sticks to it, and they freak out and hack a regular door to pieces.

@BESW brain floof

@RevenantBacon fun, but I'd have to have a reason

@AncientSwordRage Kobols live there

@RevenantBacon I can imagine the kobolds eating the glue, not using it...

although it would make a good trap if something else was coming as well

MikeQ

2:47 PM

It's entirely plausible that mimics know how adventurers work, so they set up a decoy mimic as bait. Then they pounce while the adventurers are distracted by the decoy.

@MikeQ seems unlikely for an Int 5 creature

but I can imagine a parent-mimic, like the equivalent to the Elder Brain but for mimics

MikeQ

They're smart enough to disguise themselves as other objects. Doesn't seem like much of a stretch for them to try disguising other objects as themselves.

kviiri

@BESW And there's an oft-forgotten sorta-sequel where the kid from Rare Exports has to save president Samuel L. Jackson from terrorists and wilds of "Finland" that looks nothing like it

Despite being a Finnish production, largely

The hills, man! Finland is flat beyond human comprehension. When I first saw a mountain I was sure it was a glitch in the skybox!

But mountains are pretty so I don't care to hold a grudge

3:06 PM

@MikeQ I guess, I always thought if it as more instinctual

Like all the mimics that disguised themselves as comfy chairs in dungeons got found out, until only the ones that disguised themselves as chests etc. Survived.

@AncientSwordRage Rime gave us the greatest aquatic polymorph creature.

I cant wait to use it in my game.

@ThomasMarkov from the frozen manual?

Yeah.

Sperm whale.

An 8th level character with polymorph can change into a sperm whale.

Oh I see, something you can polymorph into

@NautArch Our bard ended up having to drop out due to severe medical issues and now there's absolutely no one in the party who can give us access to resurrection by any means. We're likely going on indefinite hiatus for that game so my updating of that question is gonna need a pause.

I'm gonna at least accept guild's answer because it answers the question as given.

3:18 PM

@ThomasMarkov Wait, there's a sperm whale stat block now? I may have an answer to update

@Someone_Evil dndbeyond.com/monsters/sperm-whale

CR8

@Someone_Evil which answer is that?

A: How to give a whale barding?

28

RAW: It'll cost 6000 gp; you should use fabricate The rules for barding (PHB p. 155) don't account for size so the armour for any sized creature costs four times and weigh twice that of normal armour (as listed on PHB p. 145). This brings the barding in at 6000 gp and 130 lb. This is ostensibly ...

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

3:57 PM

@Someone_Evil ... why?

Why do whales need barding?

and on the same note, should whales be bards?

@BardicWizard Great war against the Krakens.

user15026

@BardicWizard They want to be pretty too

user15026

@BardicWizard we do talk an awful lot about whale songs....

lisardggY

@BardicWizard Imagine the range bonuses on their performance rolls.

@BardicWizard Whales need barding to protect against bandit attacks.

There are a lot of dangerous things in the forest.

lisardggY

4:01 PM

@Axoren It's a real risk! khou.com/article/news/crime/…

goodguy5

every once in a while, I have to make a comment I know is going to get removed.

Based on a search in toPhonetics.com, the phonetic pronunciation would be: "ju ɑr ðə ˈprɑbləm" — goodguy5 57 secs ago

I never give up an opportunity to share a pun about an answer/question.

Don't know if any are still up that I can go back and reference

But I know a lot of them get removed.

I have a comment that is just "Xylophone." and I'm trying to puzzle what could possibly have been said to which I'd reply with that.

I can't remember to be honest.

Link?

@GreenstoneWalker Xylophone. — Axoren Jul 20 at 22:24

I caved and checked:

"Finesse" and "blunt instrument" don't go together. — Greenstone Walker Jul 19 at 22:55

4:47 PM

Unrelated to from before, but there is nothing stopping a Cleric from being an absolute Chad and grappling a person, dragging them away from their allies, and then casting Sanctuary on themselves.

It's almost better than Level 2 Hold Person in terms of making someone a non-threat.

Doesn't give the same offensive advantages vs. them, though

@AncientSwordRage I see they went with Shove instead.

@Axoren looks like it

5:03 PM

I approve

@AncientSwordRage Just a small edit, lol

Mark Wells

@AncientSwordRage I loved how Final Fantasy XII did this: the premise of mimics was that they gained intelligence by eating the brains of intelligent creatures, so they evolved through a series of increasingly complex forms to attract increasingly intelligent prey. Eventually they learn to hide in dungeons and imitate treasure chests in order to attract adventurers, which are more intelligent than most humanoids.

I disguise myself as a wizards spellbook

Not only are they the smartest humanoid targets, they're also the squishiest

Mark Wells

5:19 PM

They were engineered as animal traps. Later, the artificer was told that the target was in fact an ancient dragon, and couldn't think of a way for his creature to fight a dragon, so he added the "eating brains to gain intelligence" feature so that they would eventually be smart enough to figure it out. This ended well.

5:58 PM

I just got downvoted about 10 seconds after posting an answer.

Way faster than the answer could have even been read.

:(

So I deleted my answer and closed it as a dupe, since it was a dupe.

Incidentally I could use some funny stories to cheer me up

Today’s been tough (and I’m only through first period)

@BardicWizard One time in sixth grade, me and my friend got lost at recess.

@ThomasMarkov how???

6:08 PM

We got turned around in the woods behind the school and ended up a mile and a half down the road from the school.

That’s ... wow

we didnt even get in trouble.

probably because our teacher would have gotten in more trouble.

Maybe I’m just very urban, but why were there woods behind the school?

Cuz there were? I dont know how to answer that lol

That’s fair

Well, anyways I’m off to torture — I mean second period!

nitsua60

6:20 PM

@MarkWells I feel like the logical endpoint to this--which I'm not arguing against, just noting--is that anything capable of eating a human is, with some high likelihood, actually a mimic.

@BardicWizard My elementary school had woods in one direction. Come to think of it, even now I have no idea what lies in that direction.

Google maps to the rescue. My school's name was "West Hill School." It turns out that it borders a tract named "West Hill Open Space," a thing that seems to raise more questions than it answers.

6:59 PM

@nitsua60 Was it near West Hill Close Space?

then the line in between can be clopen

@ThomasMarkov Look at you, being all active and mod-like and stuff!

@RevenantBacon lol wut

The Produce Flame question

Oh yeah. Im trying to do more stuff like that.

I need to save a bunch of comments that I can paste. If anyone already has a google doc like that...

SmokeDetector

7:16 PM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at beginning of body (45): Necromancy subclass balance suggestion? by Nachtkalmar on rpg.SE (@Rubiksmoose)

@SmokeDetector that one hit hard with the bolded wall of text.

I tried to get a grasp on that one to edit into something more accessible, but it seems impenetrable.

@RevenantBacon good work on that edit

7:32 PM

it's just SO BAD

I did all I could for the clean up, but it needs a lot of work from OP for clarity

The biggest issue was that they weren't doing line breaks properly and that they highlighted entire paragraphs and converted to headers

At least it can be read now.

Even if it gets cleaned up and clarified, it's going to be a tough one to answer. It's a hombrew subclass based on a homebrewed class from dndwiki. A complete answer will have to consider the base class in addition to this complex subclass feature list.

I was going to vote to close, but someone else already beat me to it

I definitely needs more clarity, and I left a comment informing OP as such

Welp I’m feeling a bit better

Mark Wells

@nitsua60 But only the ones that are disguised as bait objects, because all their scary hive-mind superintelligence is still chained to the mimic instinct. When you eventually find the prototype dragon-slaying mimic superboss, it is a treasure chest the size of a house.

Q: Can this question on real-world corollaries be salvaged?

my English teacher spent the last ten minutes of the period telling us funny stories about her dog because we finished early

I’m purposely ignoring the question i posed on worldbuilding for the rest of the day which also helps

The Oracle

7:55 PM

0

I asked this question: Are any of the kingdoms/realms of the Forgotten Realms based on real world civilisations? It was closed for asking about Designer Intent, which is off topic. I've run into pages on the web where people have equated various civilizations/peoples in the Forgotten Realms to re...

discussion specific-question on-topic

A: New ask page: How do we want to use it to help new users specify their system?

10:24 PM

Wooo! Finally!

1

I've had to make a few adjustments due to how our customization options are actually implemented, but this is done and hopefully in a way that doesn't ruin y'all's intent. The modal on the Ask Question page: Sidebar: How to tag: