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00:02
@NautArch finally got around to messing with that. thanks.
@MarkWells that was brought up when this site was founded...if you want to go back and look at some of the early meta discussions.
 
1 hour later…
Ben
Ben
01:21
Morning all.
It's been a while since I went on SO... has something changed recently?
I posted a question and within a minute it was drowned in 3 pages worth of other questions
And a day later it's still only been viewed 5 times
I guess we're just more popular than before?
Which means individual posts might get less attention.
I haven't seen the stats on this though, so I could be off-base.
Is it time to worry when the dark lord says killing him leads to his will?
01:42
@Joshua But it does, doesn't it? When he dies, his lawyer goes and gets his will out of the safe.
Nice one.
Ben
Ben
@MarkWells I'm tweeting that
02:26
6
Q: Can a character/creature escape the Negative Plane without its Nightwalker being lured back to that plane?

WeiramonBackground: Character of approx 9th level is attempting to find something hidden in the Negative Plane. They will not have access to spells of 3rd level and higher, let alone 7th level and higher that allow for planar travel to escape the plane and so my main concern is the bag of holding effect ...

02:54
Hi so, a game I’m playing at sort of collapsed, and I’m don’t really want to commit to another normal game, but I have heard good stuff about play by post, and I was wanting to play a game of it. I was wondering if any of you here have any experience with that? And do you know any sites (or even games that are looking for players)?
@TheDragonOfFlame I've tried it before, found it very hard to keep momentum going in that sort of context
@Shalvenay I’ve heard that too
03:10
Yeah, the few play by post games I've played are just too slow.
7
Q: Does Calm Emotions prevent the damage from Weird?

zachWeird says On a failed save, a creature becomes frightened for the duration. The illusion calls on the creature's deepest fears, manifesting its worst nightmares as an implacable threat. At the end of each of the frightened creature's turns, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or take 4d10 ...

Ben
Ben
@TheDragonOfFlame The right forum can work. We once played on FB, which was probably not the best. Discord worked better.
One of the main things we used was a "post initiative order", and a timeout. So for example, it would be Player 1, then Player 2, player 3 would take longer than the agreed time to post, so player 4 would post.
 
3 hours later…
GcL
GcL
06:27
@TheDragonOfFlame What kind of game are you looking to play? AM5 has worked nicely for me by posts.
We're currently running a campaign here on SE chat. If you can find players and can coordinate, the exact medium shouldn't matter all that much, I think...
 
4 hours later…
10:20
[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Blacklisted website in body, pattern-matching website in body, potentially bad keyword in body, potentially bad keyword in title, blacklisted user (268): Is there any option to contact a delegate if the Cash app not working? by Daniel Weber on rpg.SE (@Rubiksmoose)
Heads up: There's a TRPG KS going on that bills itself as "created by a team of Natives" but I'm hearing unfortunate things about how it's treating its creators. I won't link it here, but if you stumble across it, be aware.
2
@BESW thanks for the heads up!
A pattern I'm starting to see: if the pitch for a KS leans on hiring a lot of marginalized creators, but the stretch goals prioritize extra merch for backers over extra pay for creators, dig deeper because that's a warning sign.
@BESW that is a troubling pattern
10:40
Yeah. Like, just generally I'd like to see more KS campaigns kick extra money to the creators. It's a good way to build the industry! But if you're using marginalized people as a marketing point, well. Then I'm gonna get downright suspicious. Especially giving how many big-budget campaigns I've heard about recently that are jerking the creators around behind the scenes.
Another warning sign: a big list of creatives and no social media or contact info for them. Bigger warning sign: there's contact info for only the leads.
(Sometimes creative people don't want to be listed, especially if it's a project that outs them in a way that they don't want to get back to their day job or families. But if a big list seems weirdly absent ways to, say, commission one of its artists for your own work? Suspicious.)
In other words, I get warm fuzzies if a KS campaign is designed so that the people working for it leave better off financially and better positioned in the industry than the campaign strictly needed to.
 
1 hour later…
12:00
@BESW it makes me happy too
 
2 hours later…
14:05
o/
14:16
hey
my daughter has had me make her pizza bagels for breakfast the past three mornings
Sounds like she knows what's good
that she does
my good eater
Is the other one not a good eater?
not really
except eating apples. He's really good at that.
We go through 4-6 apples/day with him.
and that's a large portion of what he eats
14:20
One of my friends, when we were growing up, went through a pahse where he would only eat butter and american cheese sandwiches
like a grilled cheese, but not grilled
My 3 year old is super picky. Her response to almost any food is "i want chicky nuggies". My two year olds response is usually "I want more".
I"d like "chicky nuggies". From him we get "I like only one type, and they don't seem to make it anymore, so apples please"
Does he at least eat a variety of types of apples?
Or is it red delicious all the way?
We mostly do pink lady, gala, and honeycrisp.
The bigger apples :)
he's not a fan of red deliciosu
14:37
I had to downvote DaleM for his unsupported answer regarding the pit traps, but man,those are some good ideas.
@NautArch 4-6 apples a day are the material components for Anti-Doctor Field
2
@MikeQ he is pretty healthy
@MikeQ It's a slower sugar high, is that many apples per day. There was a time that I'd use a half an apple in the morning as a sub for a cup of coffee. Probably should do that more often.
14:52
@KorvinStarmast why not both?
enkryptor's answer to that grease question is awesome.
@NautArch yeah, I liked the "walk you through it" methodology there
1
Q: Why do we assume that PHB rules apply to monsters?

KirtThe party is deep into my 5e-updated classic Greyhawk Giants series. They are returning the body of a stone giant killed in the siege of Headwater to the stone giant's clan. The Thane of the Stone Giants intends to hold Funerary Games in honor of his slain kinsman and invite the PC's to particip...

@HotRPGQuestions Because why wouldn't they?
> Evil psychopaths who build dungeons like a laugh as much as the rest of us.
@KorvinStarmast That's no good. Eating half an apple will only protect yourself against half a doctor.
15:08
@MikeQ Half an apple a day keeps the PA away?
@MikeQ Fair point. I need to revise my medical threat assessment.
15:25
@MikeQ Or a whole halfling doctor!
GcL
GcL
15:39
@NautArch No one is a fan of those. Half of their name is lie!
15:57
@GcL Yeah, those apples are green!
@Ben that seems pretty normal for stack overflow. the front page churns so fast, everything's gone in the blink of an eye.
@KorvinStarmast I do not understand that inspiring leader question
16:23
I seriously don't understand what the problem is we need to solve.
Apparently, an extra 8HP/day is like, game breaking or something?
I think that the DM and the players are seriously overestimating the strength of the temp HP from that feat
What's odd is that OP had said there hasn't been an actual problem at the table.
The only thing i say is that they thought it was too easy for the rogue to give them the temp HP.
I think the counter is do you make all your players RP their features to use them?
I mean, yeah, it takes 10 minutes and a speech.
I mean, GWM is pretty darn powerful, too.
We should make the player do something to get the -5/+10
@NautArch Trying to balance a mechanical advantage with an RP restriction is never a good idea
@NautArch I swing the sword more harder to get the +10 damage
:p
GcL
GcL
16:31
@RevenantBacon I actually get decent mileage doing that in civilized locations. Using magic, carrying large weapons, using abilities has role playing consequences.
And forcing someone to RP to be able to use a feat they took is kinda bad manners. What if they don't like doing RP, and are just there to hang out? What if they're just not good at RP or improv, and can't come up with a speech on the spot?
@GcL That's not the same thing though
Because RP "consequences" can be easily ignored
GcL
GcL
Not by characters that want to live.
Heh, but that's a specific situation - not a general use.
But having a "you must do X amount of RP every time you want to use this feature" can't be ignored
Clearly there will be times where doing X is a bad idea.
GcL
GcL
16:33
Fireball in town generally gets people thinking the characters are bad guys and responds accordingly .
ALthough players often ignore that and then go "wuh?!" when you point out the logical consequence.
@GcL maybe they are just kicking off the bonfire festivities?
@GcL Attacking someone is a mechanical action, and having the players get attacked back is a mechanical response
Not RP
GcL
GcL
That would be a heck of a way to do that. "You said you wanted a BIG bonfire."
I wonder what is the origin of this mindset, that the DM is somehow expected to negate all player decisions
Because it is a dumb mindset
The party gets a spellcaster? Well now the enemies are anti-magic. Invisible rogue? Anti-invisible guards. The party gets an additional +8 hp? Now the enemies do an extra 8 damage.
Because many DM's view the game as "player vs DM"
16:35
Yep
That was entirely my world for years and it's taking me a long time to recover.
GcL
GcL
@MikeQ Some people read the DMG as an adversarial manual?
As a player, this tells me "my decisions don't matter, because the DM will instantly negate them"
I do set up instances that can challenge a party by making their easy buttons not available.
@GcL That seems strange when the Monster Manual is right next to it.
but that's not the same thing.
GcL
GcL
16:36
@MarkWells But a lot of the monsters are pretty bad. Who wants to seem them win?
One of the guys I used to play with played that way, and every game inevitably devolved into an arms race of "what can I add to this monster to negate the thing that the players just got from levelling up?"
@NautArch his problem is one of perception on the part of his players, and he's trying to accomdate them. The two answers already given IMO provide sound advice.
I don't game with him anymmore
@RevenantBacon Like picking up sentinel and having the DM consistently pick monsters that can avoid it?
At that point, why even bother playing a game where characters advance and level up?
16:37
@KorvinStarmast WEll, he's trying to accomodate two of the players. The one with the actual feat doesn't seem to have an issue. But more importantly, there is no actual, practical problem listed. Just an impression, and I don't know about you, but I don't make changes when tehre isn't actually a problem to solve.
@RevenantBacon It's an additional 24 HP if you have two short rests and use it during both of them. 😎
I wonder if there's a TRPG that's designed specifically to make the "players vs. DM" paradigm enjoyable for both sides.
@KorvinStarmast and they earned those temp HP!
@NautArch More like picking up a feat that gives me a +1 to saving throws, so he just increases every monster save DC by +1
@Yuuki paranoia?
GcL
GcL
16:38
@NautArch You'd be in a vanishing minority of people then.
@NautArch me either, which is why I have stayed out of it. My answer would be "you're players are being needlessly picky" but that's not a great answer
Like literally negating every feat or feature we had
@GcL That I am.
@NautArch Good point, though that's "player vs. everyone"
GcL
GcL
@Yuuki Hero quest?
16:38
@Yuuki Hackmaster?
GcL
GcL
Although, that's more of a board game.
Oh heck, what was that dungeon crawly boardgame that had a vcr tape that played along with and was part of the game? That was awful for everyone.
@NautArch I have half a mind to suggest to him that he discuss with the player taking another feat, but honestly, the two players thinking it needs extra handling (how darned simple of a feat can it be? )need to be told "No, it doesn't, you take care of YOUR PC" and press on. But I doubt that's the kind of answer he's looking for. So I won't waste his time.
The problem isn't the players-vs-DM paradigm. The problem is that the DM's go-to approach is to take away the players' new toys.
@MikeQ because of an unsubstantiated complaint
I would be much unhappy if I saw my DM asking this question here.
@MikeQ IMO, the problem is the other players and the DM doesn't see that as the problem, he's choosing to see the feat as the problem. One player wants the speech and the player with the feat does NOT. The feat's not the problem.
Very tempted to frame challenge, but honestly, the atmosphere at the table is unclear to me so I may be completely off base with my guess. That is why I suggested he take it to a forum and brainstorm it.
GcL
GcL
16:43
Does a dirty lymric count as a speech?
Don't we have a question or two here about why players shouldn't dictate other players' playstyles?
@MikeQ yes, I think we do, but I am not sure what tags to search for that.
@MikeQ plurality of playstyles?
oh, no.
not that.
35
Q: How should I deal with a player telling other players when and what to roll?

tuskiomiI have a player who tells the other players what rolls they should make and when, usurping my role as a DM - they don't try to narrate the story, but do jump in to demand rolls. For example, in their first session, the players enter an inn and their first course of action was to get wasted. Said...

close, but not it
Not what to roll, but how to RP
I am thinking that a few years ago I answered a question for a DM along those lines, now I need to search my own answers ...
16:46
i.e., a player shouldn't tell another player that they need to sing out loud if the PC is a bard, or tell another player to hide under the table if their PC is a rogue
@MikeQ yeah, it's the stepping on toes, but not uite it
22
Q: How do I, as a player, encourage my fellow players to role play?

tuskiomiI am a player in a group of 5 +1 dm. Three of them are wonderful, as well as the DM. They role play, provide commentary, and are great sports when it comes to the game. The last two are a bit more problematic. They don't seem to know how good the game is when you actually act, rather than simply...

This is an interesting statement: "Verisimilitude is a very real thing in D&D"
@Someone_Evil Did you just create a second chat on that inspiring leader question?
17:09
Good heavens I'm worn out today. I wish I could do real life TTRPG style: roll 1d20+4 to complete this report, 1d20+3 to paint those walls...
17:49
@mods I wonder if rpg.stackexchange.com/q/110848/23970 would benefit from a historical lock, now that WotC's ditched PHB+1 for AL? Or just a head-note that says "the referenced rule was rewritten in 2021, this Q&A references the version in effect 2015-2020," maybe.
@nitsua60 Give it a final canonical update and then lock it seems fine
@ThomasMarkov concur @nitsua60
@nitsua60 great to see you break lurk, hope things are improving at your end of the nation. We are getting some spring weather now ... which means for me Yard Work is my fate, and my doom.
@nitsua60 not sure if you are still in the play test loop / list, but if you have another one coming up I'm game. 👍
18:07
@KorvinStarmast Now I do want to make up Entitled
A creature with the Entitled feat can cast Speak with Manager, requiring very loud verbal components
**Entitled**
Add +1 to Charisma. You have huge tracts of land, and you can sell the property without so much as a *by your leave* from the local duke ... and you get a signet ring.
+1 to Charisma? Entitlement tends to reduce Charisma, in my experience
snigger
OK, now do I italicize and bold in chat these days? My usual tools are not working .,.
I will try control I - nope
Look like a post in chat with an internal carriage return
*won't italicize*
TIL in chat today ...
@Upper_Case Of course, having high charisma includes having an overbearing personality, hence Intimidation as a Charisma check ...
@KorvinStarmast Fair point. I don't think I'll ever quite break free of my intuition pointing me to World of Darkness stats
18:18
4
Q: Can you use a large creature's dead body as a means to walk over a grease spell so that you are unaffected by that spell?

PaulIn 5e, if a Grease spell is cast and a large (eg. 10'sq facing) creature is killed on it, covering the same area as the spell, could other players/NPCs/monsters walk over that creature as if the Grease spell does not exist?

@Upper_Case Entitled Feat, Revised: Add +1 to Charisma. You have huge tracts of land, and you can sell the property without so much as a by-your-leave from the local duke. You get a signet ring. Everyone you speak to refers to you as Lord or Lady Kah Wren
@KorvinStarmast Reddit has been blowing up lately about lizard folk having tracts of land.
@ThomasMarkov I thought they lived in a swamp, or in swamp castle? Or are you referring to the 'tracts of land' that Burlew applied to his lizardfolk in the Western Continent in OoTS?
@KorvinStarmast They lived in a castle, but it fell into the swamp.
@ThomasMarkov Which ought to be a part of my Salt Marsh campaign where the lizardfolk are exiled from their rightful home by sahaguin, but isn't. Drat, I missed a trick there
GcL
GcL
18:27
@ThomasMarkov 4th one was fine
@ThomasMarkov I am referring to this comic strip that some people got up in arms about seven or eight years ago
18:38
That strip agitated people?
@Upper_Case yes, and I am glad that I was not participating on the forums when that came up. Rich did say later that in going for a gag he didn't realize that there are people who'd take exception to that ... and he has chosen not to go for that style of joke in the future ... writer's prerogative.
@KorvinStarmast I suppose it's always good for an author and their community to get into sync when they fall out of it, even if the process is sometimes awkward or unpleasant
19:13
I feel bad for getting Aydan S to split their question in two, and then they both get closed as the dupe of the same previous question
@AncientSwordRage They should have changed their first one to one of the questions and then submitted the others.
@NautArch Or spend some time searching the site instead of shotgunning questions
@ThomasMarkov stop making sense
19:35
@NautArch Talking Heads 77 (I liked that album better than a movie of them performing live)
Should we put that homebrew review meta link on that healing question that just came in?
or do we consider 'houserules'fundamentally different?
We definitely should, since the brevity of houserules should make it much easier to meet those expectations.
19:53
Or why not just give out some healing supplies?
Free healing is free healing, just give them healing.
I do feel that most "my campaign doesn't have enough healing options" can be directly fixed by free potions and/or easier adventuring days
@Upper_Case find more potions, purchase them in town, teach players about the Healer feat and the Healing Kit.
It seems like people asking that sort of question have other criteria in mind, just not explicitly described in the questions. I'm not sure it changes the solutions much though, maybe people are just after a fine balance of exciting danger that doesn't go too far
GcL
GcL
@Upper_Case I offer half healing potions (1d4+1) for half the cost of the regular to be widely available. It adds weight, but is cheap and easy for low level parties. Still... the players buy 20 and forget they even have them! "Welp.. out of hit dice... guess we're hosed."
20:09
@GcL I tried introducing a brew-your-own-healing-potions mechanic in one of my current campaigns, but it was unfortunately a disaster :( Now a friendly NPC brews them and offers them at a discounted price, with the quantity she has available to sell determined by die rolls
I like that half potion mechanic though. It helps defray the risk of death in combat, which is my (and my players') top concern wrt HP
So last session our Barbarian tried to buy Healing Potions at a pawn shop, and the only thing the shopkeep had were these strange potions full of a substance that looked like Pepto-Bismol, and she agreed to buy all three.
GcL
GcL
@Upper_Case That's a good idea. I might do that in my next campaign and have the relationship dependent on a player character's relationship with them. Same effect and twice the hooks!
They ended up producing an effect which was nearly mechanically identical to the Tomb of Levistus Warlock invocation. 😂
@Xirema Hilarious! It's sort of the same idea, at least when they would see the results I guess
She also chose to find out by drinking the potion in the middle of a fight against a swarm of revenants. 🙃
20:19
I had a similar experience in a game where I'm a player. The DM introduced a mysterious brew of beer, which seemed to be extremely addictive and damaging to NPCs in a town (the description sounded a lot like methamphetamines). But it turns out they granted Haste, with CON saves for withdrawals (modeled by exhaustion)
A swarm seems like an especially interesting time for that potion effect. How did she fare?
20:30
Well, it's a level 10 party, with 5/6 of the PCs present.
And none of the Revenants had any of the PCs as their "hated foe"
So having the Barbarian incapacitated for the rest of the fight, with 200 extra TempHP, was unfortunate, but they broke her out afterwards with no real consequences.
I ran a one-shot funnel (~25 randomly generated commoners vs. the dungeon) where one of the PCs was an apothecary and started with a few random items from the Sketchy Potions Table. At some point that character died and as usual their gear was picked up by someone else... who was not an apothecary and so didn't know what any of the potions did. But they could read the labels and make educated guesses.
20:59
@Xirema You call?
:p
 
2 hours later…
Ben
Ben
23:09
@doppelgreener I guess I'm not used to the "active hours", since I'm in UTC +10, normally the site is nowhere near that fast.
Which is probably why I was so suprised.
Ben
Ben
23:49
and nopw I think about it, I normally only follow the c# tag anyway. That makes a lot more sense

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