TRPG General Chat

12:01 AM

10

Q: Variant: Skills with Different Abilities confuses me

In the 5e PHB, the Variant: Skills with Different Abilities topic confuses the hell out of me. Your DM might call for a Constitution Check... Your DM might allow you to apply your proficiency in Atheletic and ask for a Constitution (Athletics) check... so you apply your proficiency bonus to the ...

BESW

12:22 AM

this person should not exist by Speak the Sky is a solo artefact-making game of surveillance weird horror! You annotate and deface a Where's Wally book to create an archive of evidence from an occult conspiracy and identify people of interest from each case involving the dangerous supernatural entity, the Man Who Should Not Exist, and his companion Entites of Power. (The North American localization is 'Where's Waldo?')

Hot RPG Questions

8

Q: Overlapping Proficiencies From Leveling?

In my game I'm a Rogue with the Entertainer background. Leveled up enough to pick a subclass and decided on Mastermind for the teamwork possibilities. The subclass gives Disguise Kit proficiency, something I already had from my background. If I do the level up in Beyond it insists I pick a new...

dnd-5e proficiency archetype background dnd-beyond

Ben

1:15 AM

@AncientSwordRage Just did a quick google and test - it still works in 365. Doesn't work in anything else though (we use Thunderbird)

In Thunderbird Shift + F3 doesn't do anything - ctrl + F3 is Find & Replace

AncientSwordRage

@Ben excellent. Thunderbird is a Mozilla product isn't it?

Ben

1:42 AM

Yeah

NautArch

1:52 AM

i haven't used thunderbird in ages. Mostly since I switched to gmail.

AncientSwordRage

2:02 AM

@NautArch same

NautArch

but dang, I did love it.

except when I had the wrong setting once and downloaded all my mail and removed it from the server.

BESW

NautArch

@BESW Go!

BESW

It's a shame they ended the new series earlier this year; it was getting really good.

...I should go back to Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and watch more of that.

Re: the earlier conversation about magical vocabulary, it's fascinating to me how one or two authors can use a perfectly ordinary word like arcane in a particular way, and a couple decades later that very specific application (totally unrelated to the original meaning) is now the default use for an entire genre.

Arcane, eldritch, mana, elf... all dramatically redefined by a handful of authors, and their former applications almost entirely erased from the English language.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW cthonic

BESW

2:17 AM

[flails]

(Also of note: Tolkien single-handedly changed the plural of elf and dwarf in popular consciousness.)

AncientSwordRage

@BESW he did a lot of stuff single handedly

Guy didn't seem to have much use for both hands

He was a hands half-full kind of thinker

BESW

You joke, but.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW fun fact, Wes Anderson hated doing puppet work

He wanted to break into 'real TV' and kept doing thunder birds, captain scarlet to get noticed

Had a friend at uni who liked all of his stuff

@BESW I do joke, but.

BESW

I think you mean Gerry Anderson.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW .... Yes

BESW

2:28 AM

Although "Wes Anderson's Captain Scarlet" would be... A Thing.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW I had to look them up as the name is only vaguely familiar

BESW

I find his movies vastly overrated, but he's got a lot of admirers and I have to admit he takes his detail-focused auteur style very seriously.

AncientSwordRage

Its entirely possible that I've never seen a single movie of his

Bardic Wizard

2:57 AM

My school extended open mic submissions and my singing group actually got something together in time for it this time around!

TheDragonOfFlame

@BESW what was the old definition? Also who changed the definition? Also WotC Miss defines eldritch

Bardic Wizard

It only took checks text logs a little under two days from “hey they’re extending open mic submissions. If we all put lots of effort in i think we could get something in” to “alright, here’s the final audio, and we’ll get the video done in a couple hours”, which I’m pretty sure has got to be the fastest time we’ve pulled something together even if it means there’s only one alto and only one second soprano, so I’m really happy!

BESW

Arcane? It means mysterious, or understood by only a few.

Specifically, along with esoteric, it means secret knowledge or traditions that are only revealed to members of a particular group.

TheDragonOfFlame

@BESW I suppose that applies to magic though doesn’t

BESW

Sure, it can technically be applied that way in settings where access to magic is gated by membership.

But it could just as easily be applied to a secret handshake, or Rosicrucianism.

The idea that it's a kind of magic, though--that's much more recent.

TheDragonOfFlame

3:06 AM

“Hey can I show you my arcane handshake?”

BESW

It's worth remembering that estoerism is a backwards category, used to lump together a lot of different traditions and practices which actually have nothing to do with each other.

Ben

3:29 AM

@TheDragonOfFlame It's magical because no matter who you do it with, they always do it perfectly with you.

AncientSwordRage

@BardicWizard that's pretty darn good

MikeQ

The term still kinda works if magic serves the role of technology in a magical fantasy setting. Most folks know what it does, but the inner workings may seem arcane to a layperson.

Imagine if the verbal component of any spell is the equivalent of "Go-go gadget" or "Hey Siri,..."

BESW

The thing about esoterism and arcane knowledge is that it's not just uncommon or difficult to understand, access to it is actively gated.

MikeQ

Of course, this raises the question: If all magic is arcane because it's mysterious, then is divine magic also arcane? To which I answer: (vague shrug)

Bardic Wizard

@AncientSwordRage it’s great. What’s frustrating though is that I’m literally the only alto and it’s frustrating bc we usually do a SSA split and last year there were 3 times as many sopranos as altos (4 first sopranos, 5 second sopranos, 3 altos). This year there’s 4 first sopranos, 1 second soprano, and one alto. So I’m literally the only person singing the harmony. And it’s a song that needs the harmony

BESW

3:42 AM

You have to join the club, pass the test, pay your dues, whatever is necessary to convince the keepers of the knowledge to share it with you.

So yes, in the original sense of the word, divine magic is arcane if it's only available to, say, people who are inducted into a particular order.

MikeQ

Divine magic is arcane, but it's not Arcane. And if a wizard does a really spectacular spell, then it's divine but not Divine. Related: When is an attack not an Attack? Remember folks, the game was designed to be easy to understand!

BESW

The idea that "divine" and "arcane" are kinds of magic is new and strange, and only applies to a very narrow subset of worldbuilding where those distinctions even make sense.

Bardic Wizard

... on the bright side, I think that technically makes me the alto section leader now

BESW

Here's a fun counterexample: in DC Comics, the character Doctor Strange recites "arcane" invocations... that are calling on the powers of "gods."

TheDragonOfFlame

@BESW pretty sure doc strange is marvel

BESW

3:52 AM

...you're right, I was typing fast and change my mind about using Constantine as a reference mid-sentence.

AncientSwordRage

@BardicWizard I understand some if these words

Sorry I don't know a lot about music

@BESW my only contribution to this topic is that coteries is a anagram of esoteric

BESW

Anagrams are always valuable contributions.

3

AncientSwordRage

@BardicWizard this sounds like a good thing?

MikeQ

4:08 AM

"The eyes" is an anagram for "They see"

"Twelve sided die" is an anagram for "We edited devils"

Bardic Wizard

@AncientSwordRage it just means I’m the most-senior/most-responsible/least-likely-to-forget-the-music/only alto, so take on extra responsibility. It was more for when we met in person and had more than one alto (also last year’s section leader graduated and one alto changed schools bc covid and so I’d prob end up doing it anyways. But at least there’d be frosh and other new ppl to drag in so it wouldn’t be by default)

MikeQ

"Gnome wizard" anagrams to "Gizmo warden"

AncientSwordRage

10:58 AM

@BardicWizard sounds like you may end up leveling up faster

@MikeQ I like this

AncientSwordRage

12:01 PM

@BESW Re: Lasagnas, a Cultivable Subornation Yam War

that took too long to figure out, even with the "I, Rearrangement Servant" website

NautArch

2:14 PM

howdy howdy

doppelgreener

howdiddly doodly!

NautArch

hahaha, ned in the morning always makes me smile

Once again, waiting until december to get holiday gifts for the kids remains a bad idea.

kviiri

2:39 PM

I already got my family gifts, except mom. She's so hard

Everyone else I can just satisfy with tea

....oh shoot. Only now I got it. My favorite tea store stocks these special artesanal licorices, and she loves licorice. But my order is already inbound

Medix2

What's the difference between locking and closing?

NautArch

@Medix2 You need a key of some sort to reopen a lock?

Medix2

I'm looking through the [designer-intent] questions and found some that are voted closed and some that are locked

Full disclosure, this search was brought on by a recent closure of a two year old DI question, leading me to wonder how many open DI questions we still have

Should the still open DI questions be closed or locked or brought to Meta or (infinite list)?

Looks like they'll just be closed, nevermind

NautArch

5

Q: Should we close old, outdated and off-topic questions?

Please consider the following question: Good GUI for R suitable for a beginner wanting to learn programming in R?. I just voted to close it as off-topic. Besides being off-topic it is also outdated since much has have changed since most of the questions were answered and/or updated. Do we really...

discussion on-topic closing-questions old-posts

But guessing you've already read and know that.

doppelgreener

There's no real reason to act on them unless it comes up

Not even most of our old game-rec questions are closed or locked. We just close them if and when they actually come up again. Trawling through hundreds of old questions is just not a good use of our time.

(And if by "brought to meta" you mean migrate them to meta, no, they're not meta questions.)

Medix2

2:52 PM

@doppelgreener Nah I just meant have a Meta asking what to do

NautArch

@doppelgreener Yeah, i saw one in the review queue but just skipped it

Medix2

But I see other users are already closing questions that didn't come up recently (the queue had two today at least)... And there's less than 50 total, so I might just vote on then all and let the queue do what it does

NautArch

@Medix2 A Mod should probably talk to whomever is doing that

Bardic Wizard

@NautArch it’s a horrible idea waiting that long (says the teenager who still has no idea what to get for my younger siblings, so perhaps take that into account)

NautArch

@BardicWizard We've been doing this for 8 years. You'd think we'd have learned by now.

I am surprising them with a switch, though.

Medix2

2:54 PM

@ThomasMarkov @Oblivious (won't work)

Bardic Wizard

@NautArch I’ve been handling my own presents for people for like 3 or so years and I still start making them in December. Last year I started a scarf for my mom in November and didn’t finish it until march and then it looked kinda awful.

I did actually finish 2 presents ahead of December this year which is good

Thomas Markov

@NautArch I close vote them if I come across them in my browsing. Should I not?

doppelgreener

@ThomasMarkov optional

Thomas Markov

It's not like I sit down and say "let's go off-topic hunting" lol

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov Then why did you purchase an off-topic hunting license? Hmmmmmm

But seriously, I'd just flag them for a mod.

Thomas Markov

3:05 PM

@NautArch It came packaged with my membership to the Closable Questions Hunting Club.

doppelgreener

so yeah, "as and when we come across them" can take the form of "it got bumped", but it can also take the form of "i clicked it in the related links section" or stuff like that

then everyone is at liberty to engage in that how they want—vote to close, skip, do something else

Thomas Markov

@NautArch That seems counter intuitive. Flagging for mod says "you four people, do this work". Close vote says "you who happened to check the queue, do this work if you want to".

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov /shrug? Take a look at the meta I linked above, but I don't think it truly matters.

or don't, it's from stats, not the main meta

ha!

doppelgreener

If it's something I can do (vote to close), I'd just do that and move on—no need for moderator intervention. If I think something should happen that I can't do (i think it should be locked) then I'd flag, but most questions just don't really warrant that—vote to close covers designer reasons.

Thomas Markov

I was gonna say, a four year old post with 5 votes from another stack's meta?

NautArch

3:09 PM

7

Q: When should an old, upvoted, well-answered question be closed as off-topic?

As a GM, what minimal geographic knowledge should I have to make realistic maps? was recently flagged for closure. Looking at it in vacuum, it appears (to me) to be off-topic: it doesn't seem to require any particular knowledge of RPGs to answer, even if its answers might be particularly useful t...

discussion closing-questions

Thomas Markov

Seems to me voting to close creates optional work. Flagging for mods creates necessary work.

doppelgreener

@NautArch oh hey, a sherson!

Medix2

@ThomasMarkov Notably about four people check the queue as well

Thomas Markov

@Medix2 By choice, not by charge.

doppelgreener

@ThomasMarkov more or less accurate. mods could also decline the flag as "doesn't require moderator intervention" if they don't feel like acting on it lol

which will vary between mod, by mood, as the seasons change, sometimes depending on the phase of the moon, etc

Thomas Markov

3:11 PM

@doppelgreener Yeah, then you got yelled at by the system next time you raise a flag.

Medix2

@doppelgreener don't forget the number of grains of sand at any given time

doppelgreener

oh yes

Medix2

@ThomasMarkov Very true, very true

Thomas Markov

> close voting has nothing to do with a question's age, score, or answers. If it's close-worthy by our current standards, we close it, that's it. -@doppelgreener

NautArch

@Medix2 Saying those are 'related' is preferable in my opinion. Asking if they answer it suggests that we dont need to answer it here. But it's also not that big a deal. Deleting my comments.

Thomas Markov

3:15 PM

Okay, I didnt start the queue that time.

Medix2

@NautArch That's a fair oi. T. I'll revise

NautArch

Argh, having a foundryVTT issue.

I shall post!

Bardic Wizard

A week after it was due, I finally figured out a decently bad pun for the title for my english essay, and now I wish I could resubmit it with the bad pun included except it’s more of a reference and less a pun so I doubt I’d get the extra credit

Someone_Evil

Mourn not for puns missed, but be glad to have punned at all

3

NautArch

Oooh, made my first tag!

i think

Thomas Markov

3:31 PM

Upvoted because it directly affects my game experience

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov hahaha

I think a lot of the Icewind maps are at 1:5 scale, which makes it easier.

it's the convering 1:10 to 1:5.

V2Blast

@NautArch foundryvtt, I assume?

I might rename the tag to foundry-vtt to fix the spacing (it's officially named "Foundry Virtual Tabletop", and abbreviated "Foundry VTT" with a space)

NautArch

@V2Blast Allgood!

Thomas Markov

I created the rime of the frostmaiden tag.

So I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious.

V2Blast

@NautArch done

NautArch

3:37 PM

@V2Blast grazie!

Thomas Markov

4:02 PM

This post at ask ubuntu is great.

27

Q: Ubuntu 20.04: Why does turning off "wi-fi can be turned off to save power" turn my wi-fi off?

The following item in Power...Settings... states: Wi-Fi can be turned off to save power You can see that the option is currently turned on. That should mean that the system is allowed to turn off the Wi-Fi to save power. However, when I turn off that option, my Wi-Fi is disabled (turned off)....

wireless 20.04 power-management

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov It has 27 upvotes?!

Thomas Markov

@NautArch I joined askubuntu just to upvote it.

Medix2

@ThomasMarkov What a startling lack of clarity in that setting... Perhaps Crawford wrote it

NautArch

Back in the early 00s I started playing around with Linux. Tried hard to get Gentoo and failed miserably. I think I did mostly redhat and some ubuntu.

But went back to Windows.

Medix2

The only time I've used Linux was to run Wine so I could TAS something

NautArch

4:07 PM

It was a fun little run playing around with it.

I think they've vastly improved installation and system management since then.

Ubuntu is basically a pretty simple OS for that from my last experience about 10 years ago

Shalvenay

am on Debian here

NautArch

@V2Blast Thanks for the edits! I wasn't sure about linking to the extension.

BUt it is a pretty awesome extensions and I'm paying the patreon for it, too.

@ThomasMarkov twitter.com/AnsgarTOdinson/status/1334015546979803137

Thomas Markov

4:24 PM

@NautArch Oh my.

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch I thought of the same tweet when I saw the Ubuntu question

Its pretty good

V2Blast

@NautArch I think that if you're mentioning the extension anyway, there's no real point not linking to it for context :P

kviiri

5:17 PM

@Medix2 that's an interesting subversion of the usual pattern :D

@NautArch Actual quote from one of my bosses from my first software dev job: "Everyone, or at least most kids, get that Gentoo phase. For you it might last for a quite a few years since you're so young and enthusiastic"

I default to Xubuntu nowadays

NautArch

6:12 PM

I am so confused. I see a message from Kviiri in the 'other rooms' but nothing here.

ACuriousMind

@NautArch you're currently ignoring kviiri :P

(at least that's probably it - look on your chat profile under "prefs" to find out)

NautArch

@ACuriousMind wtaf. I 100% never even knew I could do that. And I wouldn't ignore him!

also, congrats on mod at physics? Has that always been a thing for you?

ACuriousMind

I've been a mod since '16, but thanks ;)

NautArch

oh! I don't think i've noticed the color in chat before.

ACuriousMind

6:28 PM

and it's not that hard to click accidentally on "ignore user" when you have their user card open, so I wouldn't worry about it

perhaps you notice the blue more since my profile picture is now a similar shade

NautArch

Quite possibly!

But Sorry @kviiri!

kviiri

:D

Ignorable me

gee, now that you mention ignores AND that it can happen accidentally, I should check if I have...

@NautArch Funnily my best friend in my high school -equivalent years also accidentally ignored me. Flipped some switches in his Nokia phone that made my calls to him not ring even when sounds were on otherwise, and SMSs sent to him went straight to trash

For all that time I thought he just wasn't ready for the cellular age...

He'd always notice that I had tried to reach him and them apologize profusely that he has no idea how he missed YET another call from me, he was sure to not mute his phone and all that jazz

Not that I really minded, I had basically learned that it always happens to him and didn't really expect anything beyond that, he'd notice when it was time, call me back and we'd arrange our schedules then

RevenantBacon

7:05 PM

Ha! Get ignored nerd! :p

AncientSwordRage

@RevenantBacon ignerd

RevenantBacon

Dang, that reminds me, you know who I haven't seen in a while? @Yuuki

NautArch

Missing puns?

RevenantBacon

Yep

kviiri

I haven't dropped the news yet here btw, but I'm now officially FINALLY a Master of Science

7

Fear my masting skills

NautArch

7:11 PM

@kviiri mazel tov!!

Welcome to the Master's Club.

@ThomasMarkov is also a recent member.

kviiri

Thanks! I'm still waiting for my Mastercard to come

Thomas Markov

@kviiri Woooooooo!

NautArch

7:24 PM

@ThomasMarkov We have dueling ask your DM answers again :P

That moment when ou realize you forgot to pay last month's rent.

oooopsies.

Bardic Wizard

@kviiri congratulations!

NautArch

@kviiri Although I'm a lowly Master of Arts.

So all of Tasha's is optional, eh?

kviiri

@NautArch At least not the DARK Arts

Said with the right tone of voice "Master... of THE ARTS!" does convey quite well the sense of casting some high-level wards and stuff

Thomas Markov

> Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything offers a host of new options

First sentence of the whole book

> Everything in this book is optional.

It's All Optional section in the introduction.

kviiri

Wow it really rubs it in your face doesn't it

Thomas Markov

7:34 PM

Yep.

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov Yeah.

Which at least makes it easy to say "No, you can't use that"

Thomas Markov

It contains a reformulation of the specific beats general rule

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov what's it say?

Thomas Markov

> General rules govern each part of the game. For example, the combat rules tell you that melee weapon attacks use Strength and ranged weapon attacks use Dexterity. That’s a general rule, and a general rule is in effect as long as something in the game doesn’t explicitly say otherwise.

> The game also includes elements—class features, spells, magic items, monster abilities, and the like—that sometimes contradict a general rule. When an exception and a general rule disagree, the exception wins. For example, if a feature says you can make melee weapon attacks using your Charisma, you can do so, even though that statement disagrees with the general rule.

Instead of saying specific, it says "exception".

They've done away with the word "specific" entirely here.

NautArch

Ugh, so that also means any answer citing Tasha's needs to also say it's optional

Thomas Markov

7:39 PM

Isnt that we we usually do with XGtE too?

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov Most of the time :P

some of XGtE is optional, some is not.

Thomas Markov

@NautArch Are you sure?

> The options here build on the official rules contained within the Player’s Handbook, the Monster Manual, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Think of this source as the companion to those volumes. It builds on their foundation, exploring pathways first laid in those publications. Nothing herein is required for a D&D campaign — this is not a fourth core rulebook — but we hope it will provide you new ways to enjoy the game.

From the intro to XGtE

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov No, no I am not.

huh, could have sworn it wasn't all optional, but apparently that is not so.

even more fun!

Thanks ~~Obama~~ Wizards!

Thomas Markov

ooooh XGtE says the same thing about specific beats general.

whoa, never noticed this, XGtE explicitly clarifies bonus action spell timing

> If you want to cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 bonus action, remember that you can’t cast any other spells before or after it on the same turn, except for cantrips with a casting time of 1 action.

V2Blast

@kviiri Congrats! :D

also yes, XGTE and TCOE both have "rules to remember" clarifications/reminders in the intro

@ThomasMarkov Some of it (albeit very little) just restates/clarifies the rules in the PHB, rather than adding new/optional rules

NautArch

7:53 PM

@ThomasMarkov FYI, I've been rolling individual initiatives for monsters. I don't usually do that, but the virtual tabletop works better with each token haven't it's own.

Thomas Markov

Moderators have to be 18 now.

Not a particularly surprising move by SE.

RevenantBacon

8:24 PM

Considering it's the internet, won't that be kind of hard to verify?

Yuuki

My guess is that, as with most COPPA-related things, it's more about releasing liability.

"It's not our fault they lied on their age verification."

RevenantBacon

Oh, I was just thinking about how I hadn't seen you in forever! Good to know the summoning ritual worked!

NautArch

@RevenantBacon how do we know it's the real Yuuki?

Yuuki

Because it's me-ki.

RevenantBacon

Ppfffff, what do I look like, SE staff? I'm gonna just assume that I'm correct in my assumption

NautArch

8:29 PM

@Yuuki Hmm, that's very yuuki-like. But I'm going to have to see some more puns.

Bardic Wizard

@RevenantBacon there’s always asking them and then believing what they say

cause people are always trust worthy, right? </sarcasm>

RevenantBacon

Nah, I always take everything said on the internet at 100% face value. I mean, come one, who would lie on the internet!?

NautArch

@RevenantBacon You're like a certain television personality who says they don't vet the information presented on their show.

Yuuki

@RevenantBacon people who put their mattresses on servers, i suppose

RevenantBacon

@NautArch Hmm, gee, I wonder what recent event that could be inreference to

XD

NautArch

8:54 PM

@ThomasMarkov I think i'm going to undupe that critical roll question.

I'm worried about opinion-based, but we'll see how answers come in.

Someone_Evil

9:07 PM

29 comments in less than an hour, btw. Probably not a record, but certainly well above average

Bardic Wizard

@Someone_Evil what is the record though?

Someone_Evil

@BardicWizard I'm glad I don't have any means of finding out

Powerdork

I have been called back by the siren song of
> The following item was added to your Stack Exchange "psionics" feed.

Someone_Evil

@NautArch Did you intend to link to the same question twice on that critical hit question?

NautArch

@Someone_Evil nope!

Someone_Evil

9:18 PM

Or maybe rather, was there some other question you intended to link to?

NautArch

@Someone_Evil Nope, just a mistake.

Still not sure about the current answer, but mostly because i think the question is generally answered by the original dupe :P

RevenantBacon

9:45 PM

@ThomasMarkov I've been thinking about your question on abilities that trigger on saves, and I think it's actually an X-Y question. It seems like you're basically asking if it counts as meta-gaming for the players to find out if their abilities have triggered, and (if yes) whether it that meta-gaming should be allowed.

(convenient link for reference)

14

Q: Do reactions that trigger on saving throws give knowledge of saving throws that would otherwise be secret?

Preliminaries. Some reactions have triggers which are tangible events in the fiction of the game. For example, feather fall's casting time is: 1 reaction, which you take when you or a creature within 60 feet of you falls. This is something tangible within the fiction: feather fall's trigger is ...

dnd-5e class-feature saving-throw

Thomas Markov

maybe. Let me think about how to respond.

Hot RPG Questions

11:14 PM

5

Q: Are the natural weapon attacks of a druid in Wild Shape magical?

The description for the druid's Wild Shape feature declares that the transformation is magical: Starting at 2nd level, you can use your action to magically assume the shape of a beast that you have seen before. Additionally, the Sage Advice Compendium states (emphasis mine): Determining whethe...

dnd-5e magic attack druid wild-shape

Peter Cooper Jr.

11:33 PM

D&D-5e. Is there a good reference somewhere for just "How do swarms work?" What's in the Monster Manual seems pretty vague, and I'm not having luck searching for relevant questions here since I think I just want a basic overview. (All Sage Advice seems to say is that they're "groups of creatures", and maybe I'm missing out by not owning Xanathar's or Tasha's.)

V2Blast

@PeterCooperJr. There's no particular info about them in XGTE/TCOE. What in particular are you wondering about?

Peter Cooper Jr.

@V2Blast I guess that's the problem is I'm not sure what my questions will be. My players are likely to run into one next session and I just want to have an overview of understanding how they work, since I'm not sure I've ever really "gotten" them.

V2Blast

@PeterCooperJr. There's a swarm tag. Might be useful to look through that

Peter Cooper Jr.

Just, they're handled like they're one creature rules-wise, except when trying to summon a swarm when they count as a group?

V2Blast

D&D 5e Q&As with the swarm tag

They're basically treated like one creature for the purpose of combat (e.g. they're a single entity with regard to attack targeting, saves, etc.), but they are a group of creatures. In general, they're not a thing PCs can summon or turn into.

Peter Cooper Jr.

11:44 PM

And most of the weirdness that results is just handled by the gigantic list of condition immunities they seem to have?

V2Blast

Kinda, yeah.

"The Nature of Swarms" sidebar describes what they are, narratively/flavor-wise:

> The swarms presented here aren’t ordinary or benign assemblies of little creatures. They form as a result of some sinister or unwholesome influence. A vampire can summon swarms of bats and rats from the darkest corners of the night, while the very presence of a mummy lord can cause scarab beetles to boil up from the sand-filled depths of its tomb. A hag might have the power to turn swarms of ravens against her enemies, while a yuan-ti abomination might have swarms of poisonous snakes slithering in its wake. Even druids can’t charm these swarms, and their aggressiveness is borderline unnat…

Peter Cooper Jr.

I guess that really is all that there is. Hopefully I can just narrate over anything weird. Probably the party will just fireball it or some logical equivalent thereof and it won't really matter.

Thanks for the guidance.

V2Blast

No problem! If you have any specific questions that come up, feel free to ask on the site (or here if it's a poor fit for the site)

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