TRPG General Chat

Bardic Wizard

12:15 AM

@HotRPGQuestions so... this is a thing now?

Hot RPG Questions

5

Q: Does an Air Genasis' Unending Breath affect a dragon's poison breath?

I play a 3rd level Air Genasi Monk and my party will be fighting a Green Dragon and was wondering whether or not a Green Dragon's Poison Breath can affect me if I'm not breathing due to Unending Breath. Any thoughts?

Mark Wells

12:28 AM

@BardicWizard Meet naked sprite familiars in your area!

(Naked Sprite Familiars is the name of my Pixies cover band)

BESW

If the covers aren't chiptune then you're not using your band name to its fullest potential.

Bardic Wizard

12:56 AM

@BESW chiptune?

BESW

Chiptune is a kind of electric synth music that uses or mimics the old arcade machine/video game console sounds.

I mention it because "sprite" is the word for the two-dimensional objects composited onto a background to create the moving effects in those games, like the character you control.

The Shovel Knight soundtrack is a modern example of chiptune.

Adeptus

Sometimes when I'm listening to The Glitch Mob (who aren't quite chiptune, but aren't far from it), I think "...haven't I played this game?"

Hot RPG Questions

3

Q: Can a monk use a quarterstaff for the attacks from Flurry of Blows?

I have a Level 3 Air Genasi Monk with a quarterstaff. When I take Flurry of Blows, do I have to attack without a weapon, are there certain weapons I can use, or can I use any monk weapon as my Flurry of Blows attack? How does this work?

dnd-5e weapons monk unarmed-combat

Joel Harmon

@Adeptus I sometimes listen to video game sound tracks at work, even for some games I haven't played. Then I see a clip from the game somewhere, and think "shouldn't I be working?"

Adeptus

For a while I was watching music videos in a small youtube window while working. Then I put on a bunch of OK Go videos... It is impossible to work when those are on. You just have to watch them.

Joel Harmon

1:11 AM

Yeah, I would also get distracted.

Key reasons for sound tracks include "no words", which can be very distracting while I'm trying to focus.

BESW

Some of the best music for me to work to has words, but it's music I'm so familiar with that the words are in my head already so I have lyrostatic equilibrium.

Joel Harmon

I only manage that with a few songs.

Adeptus

Foreign languages also work well for that... I quite like Mongolian band The Hu, but have no idea what they're saying (well, some idea, from reading translations... but no idea what the specific words mean)

BESW

Amusingly, the songs I have lyrostatic equilibrium with, tend to be songs I've listened to for so many years that it's not even the kind of music I mostly listen to now.

Bardic Wizard

1:35 AM

@BESW same! I have the mess of Gilbert and Sullivan stuff I use for homework all the time and I know all of the words to the extent I don’t really hear them any more

Rubiksmoose

I've been on a kick of listening to some Japanese music with lyrics for work. I don't understand 95% of it so it's not distracting except that rare moment when I'm like "Hey, I understood that!" which is fun.

BESW

One of my favorite "I have no idea what this means but I love it" bands (aside from various local artists who sing in CHamoru) is Fey.

(Even when I understand a string of words literally, she's singing in so much idiom and metaphor than I'm still clueless. I think Popocatepetl is about a bad breakup.)

And in the cross-section of my Venn diagram for "I don't understand this" and "this is in my head forever," "Desolation Row" is king.

Hot RPG Questions

4:05 AM

3

Q: If a player rolls 33-34 on the wild magic table (maximize damage), what happens if they miss the target on the damaging attack?

On the Wild Magic Sorcerer's Wild Magic Table, (PHB p.104), getting a roll of 33-34 results in: Maximize the damage of the next damaging spell you cast within the next minute. What happens if the sorcerer casts an attack roll spell that deals damage, and misses the target, or a Saving Throw spe...

dnd-5e spellcasting sorcerer wild-magic

Bardic Wizard

4:19 AM

I had a weird thought earlier: is there any mechanical way in D&D5e to hoard stuff and always find something useful in it (weapons and other things with mechanical benefits especially, but if it’s only small trinkets that’s fine too)?

My next character for the school group is going to be a pack rat.

BESW

I'd borrow from DFRPG and say "set aside an amount of gold, and at any time you can pull out something and subtract its cost from your earmarked gold."

Maybe put a limit of "items produced this way must be either non-magical OR cost less than [appropriate amount of money to keep it from being ridiculous]."

Or just put a hard cap on the total amount that can be earmarked this way at any one time.

Adeptus

4:53 AM

Not 5e, but I believe Kender in AD&D2 (Dragonlance) had a similar mechanic.

kencyclopedia.com/kender/pouches/pouch_rules.cfm

2

I found a homebrew Kender as a 5e halfling subrace nerdsonearth.com/2015/05/kender-playable-as-a-5e-race

3

> Curiosity. The curiosity of the kender knows no bounds. As a result, kender often “acquire” objects that are not theirs. Kender gain proficiency with Sleight of Hand checks and begin the game with five trinkets. In addition, once per day, you may search through your belongings to find any single item worth 2 GP or less and weighing 2 lbs or less, which you reasonably could have picked up in your travels.

Ben

6:22 AM

DM trap idea #12: clearly label all trapdoors as "definitely a trapdoor", and all non-trapdoors as " definitely not a trapdoor". Never waiver.

kviiri

@BardicWizard Apocalypse World 1e has an extended playbook with that exact schtick, I've been wanting things like that

kviiri

8:16 AM

I'm in general fond of the idea "you have X-much random stuff that you can choose to contain useful things as plot demands"

BESW

8:58 AM

Hm. You know what might be a fun way to make it work in D&D 5e? Make it something you spend inspiration on to pull out better stuff.

AncientSwordRage

9:37 AM

@Adeptus seems a little too 'cute' on a few of the traits

also the sling staff needs a range

heck the base sling needs an improved range

@BESW that's good

@Ben seems like a fiendish plan

Didn't someone win a poker tournament by telling everyone what was in his hand? Everyone assumed he was lying and he kept winning

AncientSwordRage

10:28 AM

Hi @LioElbammalf!

Lio Elbammalf

hi @AncientSwordRage

AncientSwordRage

hows it goin?

Lio Elbammalf

Good thanks, how are you?

Ever played with someone who throws away characters all the time? As soon as any get to low health quick or have to make a death save he wants to give up on that character (sometimes purposefully kills them) and make a new one.

Someone_Evil

25

Q: What are possible ways to deal with a player who frequently switches characters?

I have had problems in the past with players who are serial character creators. What I'm referring to are the players who cannot seem to stick with a character more than two sessions at a time without finding endless reason to complain about, dislike, or grow bored with their current character. ...

gm-techniques system-agnostic problem-players

AncientSwordRage

@LioElbammalf no I haven't

Lio Elbammalf

10:42 AM

@Someone_Evil Thanks - I'd read that. I can see why the advice is not to play with them but social groups aren't always that simple.

AncientSwordRage

@LioElbammalf It often comes down to talking to them

Someone_Evil

I suppose you could also show them this, but it requires them to acknowledge the problem:

33

Q: I keep switching characters, how do I stop?

I have been playing in a couple of campaigns recently as a player rather than a DM, and I have noticed a trend. I build characters that are flavorful in one way or another, memorable, fun characters. Everyone enjoys them, including me. They sometimes have goals and growth opportunities. However,...

dnd-5e character-creation

AncientSwordRage

hey DG

kviiri

11:05 AM

@LioElbammalf No, but I've occasionally played with people who have a thing for their characters dying because they like it as a narrative device

dorijan5484

11:26 AM

Hey guys, any ressources available for a newbie GM and newbie players? I'm thiking about running a Pathfinder 3.5 session for a few friends, but fear such a question might be closed duo to being opinion based.

kviiri

Hi, welcome to chat

Someone_Evil

What issues are you concerned with?

kviiri

I'm pretty sure someone can help you here with open questions, and if you can brainstorm some specific ones you can always post them on main

I'm not a PF player myself so can't help with that specifically

Someone_Evil

Both new-gm and gm-techniques could be useful, as well as new-players and system-introduction

dorijan5484

Thank you both. I'm checking the tags you just mentioned, Som. I was looking into the new-gm tag before hand, but there was a mix of everything in side of it.
Is pahfinder a good system for new players / new gm, or should I look into something else?

Someone_Evil

11:39 AM

What sort of gameplay experience are you looking for? (which is maybe not an easy question to answer)

Adeptus

@dorijan5484 It's on the rules-heavy side, which may discourage some newcomers

dorijan5484

@Someone_Evil hmm, it really isn't easy to answer. hahah
Let me think on it a bit.

@Adeptus What system would you recommend for newcomers?

kviiri

@dorijan5484 Sorry to give such a tricky answer, but it depends on what you want

DnD and its derivatives, like Pathfinder, are generally somewhat heavy on the rules and book-keeping, while lending the most mechanical support to running combat encounters

But if you want a more narrative-focused experience, there are easier systems to play with

They might require one to adjust their expectations a bit though, especially with prior DnD experience

dorijan5484

Non of the players or I have any prior DnD experience. Do you know any specific more narrative-focused systems? I feel combat might be less rewarding in those systems. Is it so, or am I just worrying about nothing?

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