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16:00
@Catofdoom2 Yeah
@RevanantBacon i didn't watch it happen but they were near the tree and their was a lot of it over and over again
and then it just stopped. idk why
Getting a bit dark @Catofdoom2....
@G.Moylan that's my preferred interpretation
@AncientSwordRage I don't know what you're referring to
I didn't see it happen so Idk what happened.
but they did go missing after. mom and dad never told me what happened to them. @AncientSwordRage
okay, yeah, that got way too dark. sorry about that guys.
@RevanantBacon that's not half wrong
@Catofdoom2 it's an awesome visual
@AncientSwordRage they lost their lives protecting the tree of life!!
16:10
@Catofdoom2 <--- that little arrow symbol means the post is a response, you can hover over it or click the arrow to see what a post was replying to, if context is unclear.
@G.Moylan oh i see it
@G.Moylan I think they're having fun hinting at a dark premise and then feigning ignorance for humorous reasons :p
@Catofdoom2 how's the phoenix going? I think there are 3 screws that could make him actually a threat that can be approached by the party: a) its HP could be too high compared to the ability of the party to deal damage. b) its healing might be too high, creating too much virtual HP that need to be broken through. c) It could possibly have a weakness of sorts.
@Trish I imagine water/aquatic damage would not be its favorite...
@Catofdoom2 I would recommend against continuing to work on the Immortal Phoenix until you've got a better build goal and understand what level the players will be at, what their skills are, and how you envision this fight happening (minions, environment, lair?, etc.)
16:14
@G.Moylan could be.
Until you've got a solid undertanding from that, you'll be developing in a vacuum.
@Trish I don't think nullifiable 2d12 per turn regeneration (which it had by my recollection) is too bad in that sense since it's a high-level target. Aside from a general dislike for regenerating enemies
@G.Moylan cold damage, excuse me
I'm trying to hink of a monster that has a regen ability that can be stopped with a threshold value of damage of a certain type.
And I can't - so far only ones that are any damage of that type.
@NautArch I think 13th age has something like that
16:16
@Trish good morning, i've been working very hard on him
@NautArch yeah I'm thinking of trolls
@kviiri well, an average of 13 regen adds about 50% more time onto the battle. making it shut-downable is a good fix, and hs the same effect as reducing it overall. STill, Regeneration monsters are the hardest to design.... Why regen, if you could have a Phoenix have a much more appropriate rebirth ability that triggers on 0 HP?
@NautArch Trolls are fire iirc... any fire damage and they don't regen that turn, was that right?
I'm seeing a lot of discussion about HP and regeneration, but what's the actual core idea of the design? Why build a custom creature? Is there a special goal for the encounter?
@Trish a rebirth abilty would be better?
@Catofdoom2 I think it would, personally, for a few reasons. It gives you a good thematic reason to pull a "not even my final form" move to make the fight feel more special and dynamic
GcL
GcL
16:20
@Catofdoom2 What's the plot purpose of the this pheonix?
If you've ever played a JRPG (eg. Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger) this is something they make heavy use of. You have a big monster that's too awesome to be easy to defeat, but you also don't want to bore your players by making them fight the same monster for very long
@Catofdoom2 something akin to "once slain, the phoenix leaves an egg. When X happens, the egg cracks and it is reborn" would be the typical phoenix, removing the monster from the game for some time. If it is a "not even my final form", then the egg or corpse shifts and you are in the next phase of the combat. It's all upon what you want.
So their big bosses tend to have phases – after you harm a phase enough (to zero or some other value, doesn't really matter) the boss advances into the next phase where they have different powers and tactics
GcL
GcL
@Catofdoom2 That seems very pheonix like, but don't be surprised when your players try to prevent the rebirth the 2nd time around. If they come up with something clever, like dousing it with water... make sure that has a noticeable effect. Lower damage, different color flames, less hp, duller feathers... something mechanical and narrative is nice.
@MikeQ That's what I keep trying to say :)
We are delving way too deep into design without understanding what we are designing for.
16:24
@GcL back in the beginning of the earth, the phoenix would set everything in its path ablaze, nothing could vanquish the phoniex for it was the strongest phoenix ever so the gods sealed him away, dividing its soul between 20 arrows.
NautArch's right, I think
I love dropping ideas but that's all that it is without an idea on what it's wanted to be like :)
GcL
GcL
@Catofdoom2 Neat back story. What is the purpose to the plot the players are involved in?
And if this is a end-game fight, you really don't need to figure this out now.
GcL
GcL
Does this monster need to be a tough fight? Is it there to absorb expendable resources to force tougher choices later? Is it there to illustrate the players can't just kill their way through the dungeon?
Odds are the story, the players, and even the boss may change by then.
16:26
@Catofdoom2 Is the phoenix they fight an actual godlike being? splinter of that primordial force? Is it meant to be the culmination of the campaign where they rescue the planet?
We were actually just discussing this #elsewhere
Or is it just a mere afterimage of the primordial world-destroying thing, which just needs to be returned to egg-shape and then haued to a temple to be re-arrowed?
@Trish well they can reseal the phoenix (because nothing can kill it) or they can let everything burn. so kinda rescue the planet but not fully but yeah.
@Catofdoom2 If nothing can kill it, it doesn't need a stat block.
That many people start these very long campaigns, eg. long form L1 - L20 campaigns in DnD 5e, but very few people actually get close to finishing them, so most people have much less experience on how to play as (or run a game for) a high-level party
16:28
I think... we need to know more, or it doesn't need a stat block. If it is meant not to be killed, you just run a "timer" and use narrativum. The players need to do their best, but in the end it is Deus-ex-machina that does it.
@NautArch if defeating and killing are not the same thing, then it does make sense
Applying that experience, still: I wouldn't plan anything beyond a couple of sessions ahead unless I was 100% cool about not getting to see it in action.
GcL
GcL
@NautArch Yeah. Just needs some mechanics for dealing with it. E.g. taking damage makes it fly to the opposite direction, or come towards the source of damage if this is a herd the bad guy kind of encounter.
@NautArch MOUTAINS HAVE A STAT BLOCK!!!!!!!
@AncientSwordRage Kinda/sorta. If they can't kill it, then the stats don't really matter. Just the attacks and keeping the fight going for whatever else has to be done.
16:30
@Trish @GcL it was one of the first living things
@NautArch Also in reverse: if the stats really matter, it can be killed. (This is something a friend who's really into Deadlands has been lamenting, that the game's splatbooks just had to stat the unkillable hence rendering them killable)
GcL
GcL
@Trish I abhor Deus-ex-machina endings. Rather have agency where the players know how the machine will work, or at least have an expectation of it. A cage, teleporter, sleeping dart, or whatever. If they have an idea of the goal and what conditions trigger that goal, it's a lot more satisfying than, "push a button and unexpectedly the problem is solved."
@Catofdoom2 Neat back story. Doesn't tell me where it fits into this plot. Specifically what it's role is in the plot.
@GcL true, make the players... operate the machine.
@GcL it's kinda like a boss. like one of the final bosses. maybe the last one depending on how the story is played
I really think we need to go back a few steps @Catofdoom2.
16:33
A lot in campaigns can be handwaved. normally, in TDE a fight 1:1 against orcs would take some... 5 rounds to dispatch. In my Year of the Gryphon campaign, I barely ever used full on fights: I bunched a group of orcs into units, and hits above a certain number removed an orc as a wounded or dead. Since we were fighting an army basically, it made sense.
Then, the end boss. They **knew** they could not kill the monster endboss, but they did their best so one of them could actually blow the horn to summon the gryphon that would dispatch the demon.
What level are the players going to be when they reach this encounter?
GcL
GcL
@Trish If they know how the machine is supposed to work then it's not unexpected, and not dues ex machina
@GcL well, depends. Tehy know how to operate it but have no clue what happens or when to use it. "This wheel will end the threat. Turn it at the right time or risk your own destruction"
Someone mentioned old-school JRPGs and I think I see the issue here. In those games, the convention was to lock a 4-character party into a "boss fight" combat, where the boss has a ginormous pool of HP that the characters will slowly chisel, resulting in a long and drawn-out "battle" that consists of repetitive turns. That design does not translate well to D&D 5e.
@NautArch definitely higher levels probably above 16 (unless the DM is doing it wrong)
16:35
In my experience, the number one way to never see your homebrew monsters in action is to design ones the party is supposed to fight six months from now.
GcL
GcL
@Trish That's still entirely expected. Expect that when the wheel is turned, threat ends. Dues ex machina is something unexpectedly showing up, usually at the last moment, to save an otherwise doomed situation.
@Catofdoom2 And what level are they now?
@GcL ok, it's not a full on Deus ex machina.
GcL
GcL
I think the bit about adding a timing element makes it an even better plot mechanic. Could be an entire quest to find the turn-the-wheel-timer.
@Catofdoom2 Level 16 is a long way off. Plenty of stuff in the near future to spend energy on and make interesting for players.
@GcL they might even face the phoenix earlier in the campaign, just to give them exposé to it. A battle they have to flee from, to show them what is on the line (and they get XP for fleeing)
GcL
GcL
16:39
@Trish Don't need a stat block for that.
@GcL AYE
just... in classic style: have it show up.
GcL
GcL
Challenge is to flee effectively, can make for an interesting chase sequence. Or series of chase sequences. The DMG actually has a section on running chases.
@GcL mountains have stat blocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@AncientSwordRage ho-oh?
GcL
GcL
16:40
@Catofdoom2 That's a waste of the paper or bytes it's written on.
not seen again for ages
Nothing is as unclimactic as the one player that is not on the deck of the ship being not affected by the villain's paralyze spell to climb up from the other side of the ship and sneak up to the monologing villain using invisibility and backstabbing them to death with a poisoned crit sneak attack.
Mid monologue
@Trish villain whips around "You caught me monologuing, you sly dog!"
@G.Moylan lol
16:43
@G.Moylan The DM was stunned, I was laughing as his villain just took 50-something damage. AND a roll against auto-die.
@Trish OMG, thats amzing
@Trish baddy broke pls fix
@Trish Depends, that sort of action could be very memorable and climactic. Definitely an interesting way of taking advantage of the situation.
it was a... lvl 6 ot 7 elf-ninja in pathfinder using a wakizashi or katana iirc. I asked the DM "Is he helpless?" he said yes. I pulled the "step of invisibility, move over, stab him in the back. That's.... clatter Much damage and if he isn't dead already, roll for deadly on the weapon.
Hero: _stabs villain in neck_
Villain: _dies_
Hero: "What a pain in the neck!"
why didn't the underscores work
16:46
It's * in chat
Line breaks can mess with formatting as well.
@Trish they both work
oh?
multiline messages kill formatting
I believe
it must be the line breaks. darn.
16:49
@Catofdoom2 I don't mean to ruin your fun or tell you not to do things your way, but I think creating encounters closer to the party's current power level would be more immediately rewarding and more likely to actually get screentime
Though if you're homebrewing for a wider audience, that point is moot
i already did. and they're playing those. now I'm playing even farther ahead
@kviiri
I see! Let's hope you get to see him in action then :)
@Catofdoom2 What level are they now?
@NautArch 4
@Catofdoom2 About how often are they levelling?
in real world time?
16:54
Makes me think of all the tabletop content that I spent time working on, intended for climactic late-campaign encounters, that never saw light of day because the campaigns dissolved after the first few sessions... :(
maybe 1 level every session or 2
And how often are you playing?
That's a pretty darn fast progression, but cool.
Once per two is about the pace we did (roughly)
You're still looking at 14 sessions before this creature arrives.
Why is it intended for a 16th level party, specifically?
16:57
And given that you see this as a climactic encounter, developing the whole encounter together will help you more than just one piece.
My style of GM'ing was more fast-paced than the others', though. I tried to timebox each quest to 1-2 sessions
@Catofdoom2 Do you see them needing to collect the 20 arrows first?
yes @NautArch
@Catofdoom2 I would work on those encounters first. And then think about how you can use those encoutners and those arrows in the final encounter. That will help guide how you can set it up.
You can start thinking about the mechanics of the phoenix encounter. THat's more important than the stat block considering killing it isn't an option.
17:11
@Catofdoom2 Thinking more, the phoenix seems more like an environmental set-piece. The players need to interact with environment (with the arrows?) and complete the process (TBD) in order to end the encounter.
gimme a minute
@G.Moylan Line breaks prevent any formatting on stuff
17:32
@NautArch What a weird duplicate mish mash on those spellbook things
Since we're talking about duplicates
I really think we can close some of the wish questions as dupes of the recent one
@ThomasMarkov We should make a list! Amirite @Medix2?
@NautArch Already did!
Have you checked it twice?
I've been thinking of learning FATE. Does anyone know if there are free quick start rules out there?
17:34
@NautArch not sure, but would you make the phoenix akin to a dragon using... "lair actions" or something, reshaping the environment?
@Someone_Evil Not yet, was definitely going to check it twice and thrice.
Obviously usual procedure would seek to close questions as dupes of the earliest question, but I think my answer being the highest score answer in the entire tag makes the recent question a good candidate.
@Trish I would probably introduce lair/legendary actions of some sort. But the encounter seems more about containing the phoenix. The phoenix mechanics and stats aren't as important as the mechancis for concluding the encounter. The phoenix itself is there only to 'slow down' their success. Or failure, if the table is playing like that.
Also everyone should go read and vote on this meta and wish questions.
I was a year and a half late to the party, so my answer has some catching up to do :P
But before I figure that out, @Trish and @Catofdoom2, I'd work out what is needed to complete containment and then start building things around that.
@NautArch "Can a Wizard use two spell books? [duplicate]" "Can a Wizard prepare spells from other spellbooks? [cuplicate]" "Using a found spellbook as a Sorcerer-Wizard multiclass [duplicate]" "Can a Sorcerer/Wizard prepare spells from another person's spellbook? [duplicate]"
17:38
@NautArch done
@Medix2 close em all lol
"Can the wizard in our group prepare a spell from the spellbook of an NPC wizard?" "Can a wizard copy spells from another's spellbook?" "If I stole a spellbook from a wizard, could I learn spells with it?" "Can a wizard use an acquired spellbook, or must they first copy its contents into their own spellbook?" "Can a multiclass character with 1 level of wizard copy any wizard spell they find into their spellbook?"
@ThomasMarkov Those ones are... in a really weird chaining order and they have highly upvoted answers too :(
@Medix2 pick a good one and close some open ones
@Catofdoom2 how do you figure the players shall contain the phoenix then?
@ThomasMarkov Fair enough. I don't know exactly what made me think of the christmas song, but now slightly disappointed the final line wont fit "🎵 Close vote Thomas is coming tonight 🎵"
Actually, not even sure that scans
17:39
I just noticed some people have tags in their desription on their profile. How can I do that?
Ah one of them is actually very different since it asks "Do you have to be a wizard to learn spells from a spellbook?"
@TheDragonOfFlame [tag:tagname]
@Someone_Evil I tried just now, but all I came up with was "He's making a list / He's checkin it twice / He's coming to eat your minis and dice / Thomas Markov is coming to town"
So [tag:wizard] renders
Works everywhere but comments(?)
@Someone_Evil comments still create the link, but dont format it as a tag
17:41
That seems right
Heres a question. Is it possible to format text as a tag, but have it link somewhere besdes the tag page?
Oh, you can even link to tags that can't exist like
click for beer
@KorvinStarmast Here, here!
"There are no questions tagged " Well, we will have to do something about that.
17:50
@ThomasMarkov I had lunch today but, since I had to come back to work, could not have a beer with that wonderful spicy grilled chicken sandwich (which I got to do the last time we were at this place and I wasn't working). I may have a longing for on my brain at the moment
I've written at least one answer about alcohol here.
Also, I don't play basketball or basketball games really, but NBA2k21 is free on epic right now.
@ThomasMarkov I once wrote an answer about milking an ivory goat ...
@KorvinStarmast I wrote an answer about sexing dragons.
@ThomasMarkov Neighbor of ours got a rooster when getting baby chicks. Wrong sexing.
17:52
@NautArch Baby chicks are tough.
@NautArch won't it help to make more baby chicks though?
@KorvinStarmast Where we are you can't own roosters in a neighborhood.
Yet that hasn't stopped me from shouting "There's a rooster in the henhouse" every time I come over.
@NautArch That law most certainly exists for a reason. They did not arbitrarily ban roosters. Someone got upset, once upon a time.
@NautArch Can you lease them?
@NautArch hmmm, do you have to go to a stud farm to get rooster services?
|| no, not a cock farm, just NO! ||
17:55
Is there a one page rpg tag? Cant find one
hmm, forgot how to do spoilers in chat
I guess they use a different syntax than discord does. 🤨
Feb 28 '20 at 4:43, by Adeptus
[spoiler](http://like-this "like this")
[tag:Hmm,-it-looks-like-you-can-do-anything-as-a-tag...]
Nope, I was wrong
Huh
@KorvinStarmast We've called around to a couple farm. The dad just wants to take out into the woods...and come back without it.
OK, [spoiler](not a bock farm)
17:58
Maybe have chicken fajitas later.
@TheDragonOfFlame I think punctuation is out for one. There's also a length thing on actual tags
@KorvinStarmast You need the http:// to make the formatting pick up the link
@TheDragonOfFlame Why shouldn't it?
@Someone_Evil did that actually make a tag, or is it just visual?
The tag formatting syntax just generates a link. It doesn't search any databases to check if the tag exists.
18:00
@TheDragonOfFlame There is no such tag, what do you need it for?
@Someone_Evil I could imagine someone needing it, can't you? Or are there specific ones for specific rpgs?
@Someone_Evil Thank you 😏
@NautArch It will probably be big enough to eat before its big enough to scream.
2
Also, that is a horrifying sentence if read without context.
@TheDragonOfFlame Use specific for specific RPGs. If no existing question would have the tag it would just be roomba'd. If need comes along we can make it then, but I'm not sure need would
18:06
I drew a fantasy map:
(I spilled tea on my desk, thought it fell in a neat shape, put my notebook on it and filled in the edge)
18:17
@kviiri actually not that bad of a map...
I see some kind ofmountainus island/peninsula on the left...
@Trish It's aesthetically pleasing at very least. I'd say far better than anything I could produce intentionally in comparable time
@kviiri nice lol.
i'm backl
@Trish there's a specific item they need.
do you like my photo?
A bit of practice and you can start illustrating for History Matters!
@kviiri you love it?!?!?
@kviiri did i respond to a message that wasn't for me???
18:22
@Catofdoom2 Can't say I love it, though I guess there is some minimalistic humor to be found there :)
youtu.be/_OH_RiS5K2s like this video me and my friend made for our film class?
i'd start at 9 seconds if i was you
youtu.be/_OH_RiS5K2s?t=9 i'd use this one preferably
@kviiri is it good?
lol
does anyone like the video?
@kviiri Oh, bravo. well played.
@KorvinStarmast ?
what happend while i was gone?
@Catofdoom2 I was applauding the map kviiri made by spilling tea on his desk. See the picture up there a bit. 😎
oh, that's really cool @KorvinStarmast @kviiri
i did the editing and the recording. he did the screen capture at the beginning. luckily I'm never on the video
GcL
GcL
18:34
@kviiri You prefer reverse graph paper or dot grid?
@GcL Not generally speaking; this is company swag from my employer and just happened to be at hand.
GcL
GcL
Free paper
Free paper.
@Catofdoom2 disturbing
lol
which part?
18:35
Which brings me to a funny point: I'm very bad at throwing free paper away, and have not historically been particularly organized about the usage of various notepads and notebooks I have. I've also been very bad at not scrounging up leftover free paper where it pops up
GcL
GcL
Free clutter
part 2 coming soon
What should we do for part 2?
So many of my notebooks begin with random doodles from when me or my brothers were in elementary school, maybe a bit of homework, then abruptly switch to computational theory, statistics and lambda calculus. Plus lots and lots and lots of experiments for my MSc thesis.
@kviiri you and my wife seem to have a similar predilection. she does the same
@Catofdoom2 shrug
not sure I get the humour in the first place
18:48
but jojo edit
I wonder if elves only consider themselves old after seeing human humor and realizing that they don't "get" it.
@MikeQ lol. I'm not old but I'm not in Junior High (middle school)
I meant I didn't get it either, so maybe I must be too old.
19:05
@Someone_Evil When I want to format something as a tag in comments, but also link to the tag, I use [[tag:tag-name]], which renders as "[tag name as a link to the tag]".
I started doing this particular format because people were complaining that when I wrote [tag-name] it was hard to see information about the tag (which... really? stick it in your search bar), so they didn't listen to my tag suggestions
@bobble I think I've done that too on occasion
Therefore, added a link while still keeping square brackets around the tag name,
2
Q: Frontline satyr bard – better to be from Theros or from Thylea?

AnikiI plan to make a frontline bard – high AC, mostly melee attacks with a bit of magic (war caster feat), who also has nice social skills. I will take college of valour. We are starting at 1st level and will level from there – I am also thinking to later take a level each of fighter and sorcerer. I ...

do you like my video?
okay, imma go for the day
19:27
I respect your creativity and playing around with video editing is a fun and rewarding hobby. It's a cool, useful and entertaining skill to have.
Still, linking your video several times in quick succession comes off a bit pushy
19:59
hello
@Gwideon Oh hi, long time no see.
What's up?
not much
just honestly bored out of my mind
what about you
I've had a hopelessly unproductive evening which, I guess, should be excused
I've spent the past two and half weeks working on my hobby game project for most of the evenings, it's been fun but finding the balance between keeping a routine alive and not making it a chore is hard at times.
I hope to see you around again one of these days, I must be going soon
Sauna's almost ready
Trying to finish this one function before going
Ah well, might as well finish tomorrow
see ya o/
@Gwideon Take care
20:40
yolo
 
1 hour later…
GcL
GcL
22:09
@Catofdoom2 Unless you're a pheonix
22:21
@GcL Or a Lich. Or a cat.
@Trish Or both?
What about all three?
@AncientSwordRage THAT is scary. A Cat-Lich. First, it had 9 full lives to master magic. died and turned lich in the last. And then it comes back another 8 times in case anyone slays it!
GcL
GcL
Yes. Felichenix
@GcL where I struggled to port-man-triple you succeeded
22:57
14
Q: Herding Maids to stop being creepy

TrishMAID is a rather fun setting thing. And from a game design standpoint surprisingly well made for a game that is focused around trying to be a funny, sometimes sexy, harem Anime trope. But I have yet to find manage to get a game group to actually focus on trying to play the game and not either try...

Ben
Ben
23:13
@Mithical oooh Self Bane... Noice
Little hi little lo, little hey little ho.
anything big goin' on?
Ben
Ben
I'd say that's a matter of perspective... Here and now, not overly. In the next 12 months? I'd definitely say so
Wbu?
I have two projects to not get anything done on because other stuff got in the way
Ben
Ben
OH You're in the right place for that. Lol
@BESW is a strong contender for that scenario :P
I personally haven't worked on my primary project in almost 4 years now lol
In January 2020 I gave myself of goal of publishing some TRPG-related project on itch.io every month for the year. You can see how that went.
00:00 - 16:0016:00 - 00:00

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