TRPG General Chat

Medix2

00:34

@TheOracle Well, time to practice that conscious decisions to not comply

Medix2

01:12

@Someone_Evil By the way, this sentence is nonsense to me with the colon "Most of these are going to legitimate: edits by the querent, someone fixing their tag based on info in the post or comment, etc." Did you mean "are going to be legitimate"?

Someone_Evil

Sure did :)

Medix2

I was like "is this some obscure verb form??"

AncientSwordRage

@Medix2 it indicates the start of a list

Medix2

@AncientSwordRage Yes I know that, the problem was the missing word

AncientSwordRage

Read it as "Most of these are going to legitimate the following: edits by the querent, someone fixing their tag based on info in the post or comment, etc."

Medix2

01:14

"My favorite thing do is eat" would be a similar error

@AncientSwordRage The verb is legitimatize though?

These are both verbs, thanks English

AncientSwordRage

@Medix2 very much not

I mean it can be I guess

adjective
/lɪˈdʒɪtɪmət
verb
/lɪˈdʒɪtɪmeɪt/

Medix2

I had not, until today, heard legitimate used as a verb instead of legitimatize

Someone_Evil

"legitimize"?

AncientSwordRage

2

Q: Differentiate - *legitimated* vs *legitimized*

Please analyse and differentiate the two sets of participles legitimated / legitimating legitimized / legitimizing What are their overlaps, and what are exclusive to each.

@Medix2 note the different IPA pronunciations above

Medix2

@Someone_Evil Er yeah, that, or maybe not, idk English is weird

AncientSwordRage

01:19

Legitimajig

Medix2

> "Legitimate" as a verb is pretty much unheard in the US

So that's probably why I've never heard it

Joshua

Bagpipes of invisibility: conveys invisibility to the player as long as they're being played. How do people come up with this stuff?

AncientSwordRage

If you add a strange Weir to a river have you weired a weird Weir?

Medix2

@AncientSwordRage r/wordavalanche

AncientSwordRage

@Medix2 that sub should be dead. I saw a HUGE avalanche there one time

Medix2

01:22

@AncientSwordRage The xbox x x box xboxboxb xbx gibberish one? Reading it out loud is just impossible XD

Joshua

OG: http:// slashdot.org

Well somebody did sell an xbox box on ebay; it went for $300

MikeQ

How much X could an xbox box if an xbox could box X?

AncientSwordRage

@Medix2 oh no

No no no

reddit.com/r/WordAvalanches/comments/3ogese/…

I had to track it down

Joshua

well if you want a world avalanche learn parseltongue the hard way

AncientSwordRage

That subreddit should have ended 5 years ago

BESW

01:40

Chris S. Sims wrote a twitter thread about why "I'm convinced that it was a mistake to design NPCs based on player character options."

Nox Apud Operarcanum by Unplaytested. Gay wizard drama

"Once More Into the Void tells emotionally fraught RPG stories in a Mass Effect 2, Picard framework" Interview by Chase Carter for Dicebreaker. The duo behind the upcoming game talk translation, betrayal and the joy of being a Renegade.

Kickstarter: NOVA by Spencer Campbell. When the sun exploded, we looked to the Sparks to bring a new dawn. A mech-filled tabletop RPG Illuminated by LUMEN.

[BXLLET\> by Rathayibacter. Bullets make power. Power makes ruin. Ruin makes fertile ground. And [[MXGXZINE// by VVVisection. A Class and NPC Supplement for the [BXLLET> SXSTEM

Shalvenay

hey @Joshua

BESW

The Tattoopunk Antebible by Small Gods Press. A punk anti-bible for your Tattoopunk world

Joshua

hey. Was just reading about building NPCs like PCs

BESW

Summer Romance TRPG by kumada1 and 25 others. Included in this bundle are almost thirty games about closeness and yearning, intimacy and distance, perfect matches and messiness.

Federation HR by Gem Room Games. A party game about the hardest working team in space

AncientSwordRage

That's a lot of links

BESW

01:45

Birthday Birthday! A sale hosted by Jay Dragon @ Possum Creek Games. its my birthday! omg wow, wouldnt it be crazy if u bought my games and maybe read them or even maybe played them

AncientSwordRage

Looks like a lot of game designers have been busy

Joshua

@Shalvenay: Thank goodness this one is weight limited rather than volume limited or I'd find a way to break the game with it. dndbeyond.com/spells/instant-summons

Shalvenay

eheheh

@Joshua -- so, I've been thinking of where I'd put my phylactery if I was a lich...and the possibilities are pretty frankly terrifying, especially considering that Aumvor's fractured phylactery seems to have no limit on how many times it can be used

Joshua

Is it time to worry when last round your opponent summoned four creatures, and this round those creatures are casting summon?

Shalvenay

@Joshua I'd be a bit worried about lag :P

DM: "Apologies for the lagspike, but give me a minute to process all these summons please..."

BESW

01:50

@AncientSwordRage I am actively providing distraction from the D&Dery which occurred in my absence.

KorvinStarmast

@Ben tru

Joshua

@Shalvenay: If one of those ways doesn't include "on escape trajectory out of the solar system" you're probably doing it wrong.

Shalvenay

@Joshua eheheheh. bonus points if that escape trajectory has a significant angle to the ecliptic

Hot RPG Questions

4

Q: Can Thunder Gauntlets meet the material component requirement of Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade?

This is very related to this question: Artificer Armorer Guardian attack and cantrips like Booming blade This is to talk about the new rules introduced in TCoE with respect to Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade now needing "a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp" as the material cost (whereas before...

dnd-5e cantrips armor artificer

Joshua

This is how wrong first contact can go: fanfiction.net/s/12810590/19/…

Glazius

02:18

@Joshua Maybe a little, in that they're so confident in victory they're about to spend a whole round styling on you? Or are summoned creatures allowed to use their summon abilities now?

Joshua

I would presume the wisest course of action would be to dimension door out of there rather than sticking around long enough to find out.

Glazius

@Joshua No, I mean, that was a standard rider on summoning spells: no recursion. d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#summoning

Joshua

Ah. I'm kind of expecting the second level summoning spell to be dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Summon_insects or something like it

Adeptus

02:50

Humble's Pathfinder 2e bundle is down to its last couple of days... now I have to decide if I want to spend ~$30 on yet another system that I may never play...

BESW

03:04

@Adeptus Given that choice, there's a lot of indie bundles you could get instead and support the diversification of the industry.

Bardic Wizard

05:29

I don’t want to talk about it right now, but I thought I’d pop in and say that the group issue I had last week is on its way to being resolved (I hope.) with minimal damage.

(It’s not actually resolved until we have a real plan for next time but we’re getting there)

Ben

@BardicWizard No idea what the issue was, but I am hopeful it goes smoothly :)

trogdor

well partial good news at least I guess?

Bardic Wizard

@Ben I hope so too — it was basically our first big conflict in almost 5 years of friendship and nearly a year of this campaign, and it erupted over a mess of stuff and no safety tool to stop it

Anyways, only popping in for that. Now it’s back to the Really Rosie soundtrack and a shawl that needs doing before it gets super hot here, so good night!

trogdor

well, safety tools won't automatically stop arguments generally

although the right ones can certainly help create an environment that might help to prevent them for sure

Ben

Enjoy your evening :)

Hot RPG Questions

06:17

7

Q: Can a petrified wizard communicate telepathically with their familiar?

The wizard in my campaign has just been petrified after his first encounter with a cockatrice. He had his familiar 'out' at the time of his petrification. I'm sure that the intent of the rules is that this wizard can not communicate with his familiar whilst petrified (although I welcome suggestio...

dnd-5e familiars conditions telepathy

BESW

07:00

Panel: Games as Poetry, Poetry as Play (Freeplay '21)

►

Live in two hours

AncientSwordRage

07:46

@BESW "running interference" as they say

I sunny know who they is however

Adeptus

08:16

@BESW I've recently bought the Palestine bundle & the Trans Support bundle. (And last year's Racial Justice bundle). Are there any others that you'd recommend?

BESW

Jun 2 at 5:14, by BESW

Bundle for At-risk and Houseless Youth by tim zee and 22 others. This bundle of TTRPG products is helping Horizons for Youth by donating 100% of proceeds (minus itch's fees) for every sale made until June 30.

There's a couple you just missed, like the one for helping Pammu and Sin move out of a bad situation, and jay dragon's birthday sale.

Jun 1 at 22:13, by BESW

Queer Games Bundle 2021 by queergamesbundle and 195 others. Help nurture our diverse queer arts community, fund the creation of the next great game you love, and find your new favorite game by purchasing the bundle today < 3

7 hours ago, by BESW

Summer Romance TRPG by kumada1 and 25 others. Included in this bundle are almost thirty games about closeness and yearning, intimacy and distance, perfect matches and messiness.

Or you could put money into indie kickstarters like

Jun 1 at 22:16, by BESW

Kickstarter: ARC: Doom Tabletop RPG by momatoes. A cataclysmic tabletop RPG where heroes embark on heart-racing adventures to slay the apocalypse.

May 12 at 22:35, by BESW

Kickstarter: Once More Into The Void by Jamila R. Nedjadi. A science-fiction roleplaying game of bringing the family back together for one last job.

May 25 at 23:54, by BESW

Kickstarter: Into the Mother Lands - An Original Afrofuturist TTRPG led by Tanya DePass. Setting book for Into the Mother Lands RPG!!!

May 26 at 0:21, by BESW

Kickstarter: FISK BORG by Sprinting Owl Designs and World Champ Game Co. Brutal and accursed fishing set in the somber world of MÖRK BORG ttrpg.

May 26 at 0:21, by BESW

Upcoming Kickstarter: Wyrd Science - Issue 2! led by John Power Jr. Wyrd Science - Issue 2! - A magazine about RPGs, wargames, board games & the culture around them...

Part of making the gaming industry better for small presses and self-publishers, is supporting their projects that aren't part of a big charity event with a lot of publicity; those events are nice but they don't make the creators' jobs more sustainable. For people to be able to stay in the industry they need to sell their stuff when there's not a cause attached to it.

2

Adeptus

08:33

Thanks, I'll have a look at them all

BESW

There are also collections of games that aren't formally bundled:

Feb 21 at 2:44, by BESW

Across RPGSEA, a searchable database of Southeast Asian TRPGs, is getting a lot of updates in both content and features.

May 13 at 2:52, by BESW

Games of #RPGSEA a collection by Role Over Play Dead. Showcasing just a few of the diverse and original RPGs and larps created by the vibrant Southeast Asian scene!

Oh, here's a bundle I missed:

Mar 7 at 6:48, by BESW

The Tabletop Tuition Support Bundle A sale hosted by Secession Cycles. Get every paid tabletop game that I have made (5 in total), as well as a singular collection of 7 poems that you will definitely ponder with and enjoy! All of them can be played solo, 1 of them can be played with 2 players, and 1 of them can be played with 3 or even more players!

Medix2

11:50

I don't think I've ever wanted to delete a well upvoted answer of my own before today. Weird feeling

AncientSwordRage

@Medix2 dig yourself a hole?

if I'm not thinking of the right question then that will come across wrong

Medix2

@AncientSwordRage No just getting mad about DGtS and the incessant comments about me being wrong when I'm right because the thousands of Metas makes the whole thing confusing.

AncientSwordRage

Meta is bad at setting policy

Medix2

I mean, there's a whole post that does nothing but describe the policy. And I'm getting fed up with people...

Until recently, whether or not I supported the policy didn't matter, it was (and still is) policy, so I must follow it. To do anything else is to both bring consequences onto myself and to call for others to do the same and potentially lead to anarchy, edit wars, and angered comments. I didn't want those things, but now it seems that following the policy has done all of that anyway and I feel defeated and sad. So I'm just about ready to give up on following it at all

AncientSwordRage

that sounds rough

Thomas Markov

12:02

@Medix2 If youre following the policy, that isnt your fault, it's the fault of the people who dont respect the system we have in place.

I've reviewed this answer as "Looks OK", but Im going to recommend it for deletion if it isn't improved today.

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov I thought the pattern was not to do that

Thomas Markov

@AncientSwordRage The delete button in the queue says "this post cannot be improved", which I dont know if Erik can do that or not, so Im not going to delete it without giving them a chance to improve it.

I think theres an mse post about this issue

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov yes

it depends on the queue if I remember?

Thomas Markov

46

Q: Add downvote option to Low Quality Review Queue list of potential actions

VLQ flagged posts are now being shown in the Low Quality review, which allows: Looks Good Edit Delete Skip but no option to vote on the post. My suggestion is to add downvoting as options: Downvote Downvote/Delete (this would replace current Delete) There have been times I want to downvot...

feature-request status-declined down-votes low-quality-posts

Also that question should be closed for now.

AncientSwordRage

> There is another option here though - the one we used in Triage: the last reviewer, the one to "complete" the review, gets a post-review screen that displays the final verdict and offers them the option to vote or move on to the next task. This encourages voting, slightly, while limiting the number of votes that can be generated directly from a single review.

that isn't an option here is it?

Thomas Markov

12:12

Never seen anything like that

Im also thinking about writing a guide on meta for writing a good "ask the GM" answer.

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov I presume it's SO only

Medix2

I'm sure I have a good few "Ask the GM" answers that just examine the rules, conclude that they are ambiguous, and say to ask the GM without actually explaining my own thoughts on what I would do and without explaining what each possible decision entails. Wish I didn't, but I definitely do

Thomas Markov

@Medix2 Explaining exactly why the relevant rules are ambiguous or don’t properly handle a situation is definitely part of a good answer for some “ask the gm” type responses.

@Medix2 find what you think is your best one and I’ll maybe include it as an example.

Need one more delete vote here

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov you could do this like a tattoo

@ThomasMarkov I can't delete vote yet (:

Barrier Tattoo is 'similar' to that effect ,but not exactly the same

Hot RPG Questions

12:41

10

Q: Is there a canonical source for the Arcane Trickster's magic?

I've been curious about the source of the Arcane Trickster's magic. All the player's handbook offers about the source of magic for this subclass is as follows: PHB p. 97 Some rogues enhance their fine-honed skills of stealth and agility with magic, learning tricks of enchantment and illusion. Th...

dnd-5e magic lore rogue

Thomas Markov

13:07

paging @Someone_Evil

Someone_Evil

?

Thomas Markov

So I want to write an faq-worthy guide for writing "ask your DM" answers, but we've got a meta question that seems pretty similar to that idea here

Do I really need to shoehorn what Im trying to do with it into that post, or do you think a more general guide is okay as its own post?

G. Moylan

@AncientSwordRage I don't have the energy to parse that to see if it actually makes sense, but wow is that long

Someone_Evil

@ThomasMarkov I'm not really sure we need specific guidance for that

We have general guidance for all answers, which is that they should demonstrate themselves correct, which in this case means demonstrating why it is up to the DM (or why it is that with no guidance from the books)

Thomas Markov

@Someone_Evil I wanted to elaborate a bit on our general guidance for answers for the particular application of "ask your DM" answers.

Since it isnt immediately intuitive (at least, I dont think it is) how our general guidance for support applies to answers of that nature.

Someone_Evil

13:20

Is it the proving the negative aspect which is causing issues?

Thomas Markov

@G.Moylan It's pretty incredible.

@Someone_Evil Sometimes, but there is a lot that can go into making a good "ask your DM" answer that is often left out.

Someone_Evil

Because there are some cases where it's up to the GM because the book says it is, and then it's pretty straight forward

@ThomasMarkov What bits are you thinking of?

Thomas Markov

So for questions that ask about rules interactions that are just ambiguous, we can give commentary on why the rules are insufficient for addressing the problem, if it isnt entirely self evident, as well as citing similar interactions that maybe are more clear (YMMV on this one).

But where I really think we can improve or add to our general guidance is for questions like this one.

The correct answer is "there isnt anything published for doing that", but there is a lot that could be said for helping the querent work through the issue with the DM.

Subjective experience, where we can describe a similar situation at the table and how we worked it out with the DM. Instead of just "ask the DM", we can provide experience dealing with similar problems, such as what the conversation with the DM looked like, what solutions we have tried for dealing with similar problems, etc.

It is this application of our general "subjective answer" guidance that I dont think is immediately evident for this particular kind of question.

So that when we get answers like this, which happens often to questions of this nature, we can say "Hey, check out this guide for writing good answers like this"

But maybe our citation expectations post is good enough for this already.

Someone_Evil

13:37

All the general notes still cover all these issues, and I haven't seen such answers plague the question type. Pretty sure they all get dealt with appropriately. More often we see it used a close reason, but we have a FAQ for that already

AncientSwordRage

@G.Moylan @ThomasMarkov there's an explanation further down, but even that is hard to follow

Thomas Markov

New topic: so Ive been under the impression that for accessibility reasons, MathJax should be avoided unless it is necessary for a post. Is this assumption correct?

Someone_Evil

It's not an entirely incorrect notion. What about it?

Thomas Markov

@Someone_Evil I just edited a post to remove unnecessary mathjax formulas and said "removed mathjax for accessibility reasons" and wanted to make sure I didnt just make that up. I thought I remembered someone telling me that one time.

@Someone_Evil This makes it sound like it is also not an entirely correct notion :P

Someone_Evil

13:52

I have no idea how screen readers handle that kind of MathJax, not sure it's come up before

@ThomasMarkov Maybe it just pins a lot of judgement on necessary, which can lead to confusion and disagreement

bobble

24

A: Are Markdown tables superior to MathJax arrays for accessibility?

Realized I could do some experimentation of my own here: at least with the Non-Visual Digital Access (NVDA) screen reader (which is free, and therefore quite popular as I understand things—it’s also what I use at work to test accessibility), Markdown tables are read quite nicely: when you reach a...

Thomas Markov

@Someone_Evil In this particular case, I just moved a double $$ math mode to a quote block, and removed the \$ from some numbers; definitely not necessary on that one.

bobble

NVDA, without extra plugins, simply gives up upon reaching math. Not sure how well plugins work

Someone_Evil

@bobble That's tables, which we know aren't great, but are also a lot more complex (I think) than the normal MathJax produced. But that it's a guarantee it gets handled well

Thomas Markov

Im gonna ask meta.

Maybe theres a meta.se post somewhere.

AncientSwordRage

14:08

@ThomasMarkov nananana na na nananana na na

@bobble bobble is search-royalty

Medix2

I'd check Math Stack Meta tbh

Thomas Markov

@Medix2 I think “there will be MathJax” is probably just part of the buy in of using math.se

But obviously not something we can assume here.

bobble

Have you read this? docs.mathjax.org/en/latest/basic/accessibility.html

Medix2

These may be helpful as well

Thomas Markov

@bobble looks like much of the accessibility features are part of browser/reader extensions

Using such extensions seems like a reasonable user buy in for math.se, but not here.

AncientSwordRage

14:21

@ThomasMarkov I agree

I wonder if SE could implement something with aria tags?

Hot RPG Questions

15:53

2

Q: How fast in DnD terms is the word "immediately"?

For example, the spell Sending says: You send a short message of twenty-five words or less to a creature with which you are familiar. The creature hears the message in its mind, recognizes you as the sender if it knows you, and can answer in a like manner immediately. The spell enables creatures...

dnd-5e spells spellcasting

Trish

VTC on a historical question rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/2939

Thomas Markov

16:59

This looks like a pretty good question.

Upper_Case

@ThomasMarkov That's a reddit link

Thomas Markov

@Upper_Case well then.

Try this one:

4

Q: What are the DM's responsibilities when dealing with a character's unplanned death?

This facet of RPGs is the thing with which I have the least experience/comfort level. I'm sanguine about the idea that Dungeons etc. are inherently dangerous places, and that the PCs behavior is generally risk-take-y, and that sometimes PCs ignore hints, and bad rolls happen, and that death is s...

dnd-5e gm-techniques campaign-development character-death

Upper_Case

Ah, that is a good question

For a minute I thought you were excited about the "I want to ban non-human races in my next game, but I don't want to have to ban them" question

Thomas Markov

Though I voted to reopen that question.

Upper_Case

It seems stack-able and answer-able to me, but the OP is seeming resistant to the only possible approaches. And some obstinance seems to be creeping in from all directions

Thomas Markov

17:07

@Upper_Case Ive got an answer, but Im not sure how well the author will receive it.

Upper_Case

@ThomasMarkov Lol, I also have one but I am pretty sure the author will receive it poorly. It also may have been eaten by the question closure, and if so I probably won't bother to re-write it

Thomas Markov

@Upper_Case what was your take?

Upper_Case

Setting-based incentives will nudge people towards playing as humans, and swapping or offsetting exotic-race traits onto a human chassis will reduce incentives to play specifically as an exotic race. But ultimately what the querent is seeking is a ban, and pretending that that is not the case will perpetually confuse the whole issue

How about yours? Or is this a "no spoilers, wait until it's posted" situation?

Thomas Markov

@Upper_Case Maybe its a frame challenge, but my answer is basically, "include your stipulations in your pitch". Instead of trying to convince players that want to play exotic races, just find players that are cool with not playing exotic races.

L Cooper

@ThomasMarkov I think that really gets at the meat of the interpersonal situation here, which seems to me to be "I want my players to want to play human-ish races"

Upper_Case

17:14

@ThomasMarkov That's a really good angle

kviiri

The funny deal often is, making "soft bans" on things like magic or exotic races, they become more attractive

2

Thomas Markov

@kviiri When I pitch games to new players, usually my second or third sentence is "no aarakocra" cuz I dont like DMing the early levels for aarakocra.

L Cooper

@kviiri Especially when one person gets to play an exotic race. It just sounds like a setup for resentment to me

@ThomasMarkov I have a policy of "Oh god no homebrew unless you ABSOLUTELY cannot get the flavor you want out of every available sourcebook AND UA content AND the Critical Role subclasses/classes. Also, no flying speeds at level one, I beg of you." (I am bad at telling if something is balanced or not, and so many homebrew classes and races are just banana crackers. UA is sometimes fiddly, but less so than homebrew nonsense.)

Upper_Case

@LCooper 100% correct, especially given how the situation is seemingly set up

Thomas Markov

@LCooper I definitely started out this way, but Ive got a good foundation of the rules now, so I find it pretty easy to evaluate homebrew.

L Cooper

17:23

@ThomasMarkov I envy you! I do worry a lot when bending or adjusting the rules that I'm doing something Wrong, or breaking the balance, or something else, so even though I think I could evaluate homebrew okay, the self-doubt demons get to me real bad... Easier to just let Wizards and Matt Mercer do it for me!

kviiri

@ThomasMarkov "No Aarakocra, no chaotic evil, no lolrandom, no bore", etc

G. Moylan

@LCooper Matt Mercer's stuff isn't exactly known for being balanced either, though

L Cooper

And I'm already the "meanest" of the DMs in my friend group, which tends more towards a very loose interpretation of the rules, so I hate having to individually approve or deny homebrew. The classic "mom said I have to go" excuse.

@G.Moylan No, but at least I know which of the classes got playtested-- cobalt soul monk got adjustments, and I played a gunslinger in a campaign and didn't feel particularly overpowered. And again, my friends are used to a very loosey goosey style of DND; I made a lot of concessions because I know the group I'm working with

G. Moylan

Which is fine, I just don't want people to get the wrong impression that Matt Mercer's stuff is whole-cloth balanced.

kviiri

I never was too keen on allowing homebrew when I ran DnD in the first place

With AW, I often banned playbooks because they were poorly suited for my specific deal (eg. multi-session oriented features for single-session games)

L Cooper

17:29

@G.Moylan Valid! I guess I'm also comparing that level of unbalanced with some of the wild classes I've seen some friends get away with playing-- there's a difference between "this monk subclass gets too much information on enemies" and "this wizard tradition completely breaks the need for a spellbook at all and also gets a ton of other abilities"

G. Moylan

Most homebrew [sub]classes read to me like the author is basically saying "What if we took a wizard, game them extra spells/slots, and added ROCKETS"

kviiri

I find the genre of "let's emulate this very particular thing from fiction as closely as possible" which often meshes poorly with DnD balance considerations

G. Moylan

@kviiri something something all the countless called shots mods

L Cooper

@G.Moylan That's exactly the type of unbalanced I'm trying to avoid! I've accepted that my parties are gonna be a bit off the rails, but I at least want half a chance at balancing encounters. Especially since that's a complicated art already.

kviiri

@G.Moylan oof yeah, that too

Thomas Markov

17:36

Only need one more reopen vote here

Carcer

is "tell your players only one of them can be an elf and have them thunderdome it out for the privilege" not the obvious solution?

Upper_Case

@Carcer I think that each PC should be a fraction of an exotic race, and then they can combine like Voltron to collectively be a member of that exotic race

Carcer

@Upper_Case the party may have one elf or two half-elves, a player may substitute two halfling characters for one human character

L Cooper

17:52

@Carcer What's the conversion rate to gnomes?

Carcer

@LCooper the value of gnomes varies with wild unpredictability based on whatever Elon Musk has most recently tweeted and as such they are not accepted as legal characters by any stable game

Trish

@ThomasMarkov I don't think it is ready yet, as this is very dependant on the setting.

Thomas Markov

@Trish Its open now, and I gave a properly system agnostic answer.

NautArch

@Carcer I heard Venezuela is accepting gnomes as currency now.

Trish

@NautArch I thought it was Sokotian Uruguay that did...

but then again, last time I checked my world map, Japan was a shogunate and Prussia had just formed the Norddeutscher Bund and annexed the Netherlands...

Hot RPG Questions

18:18

6

Q: What is the DC of Draconic Presence?

At level 18, the Draconic Bloodline sorcerer gets the Draconic Presence feature which is basically an aura of fear/charm. Its saving thrown is defined in the following way according to page 104 of the PHB. each Hostile creature that starts its turn in this aura must succeed on a Wisdom saving th...

dnd-5e class-feature sorcerer saving-throw

KorvinStarmast

@G.Moylan thank you for bringing that up.

Carcer

18:38

have the mini icons for various stacks in notifcations/HNQ sidebar gone weird for anyone else?

hm. hard refreshed and they're fine now

maybe my client just barfed

The Oracle

-1

Q: Cleanup Duty: Game Recommendations

There are still QUITE some questions out there that are game recommendation questions and not closed or locked. It might take months to go and close and lock them all by hand, especially since game recommendations were deemed unfit for the stack 5 years ago and still people dig them up regularly,...

support

Thomas Markov

@Trish I edited this question, it should be okay to stay open, and the existing answer is probably still fine.

Trish

@ThomasMarkov Just went through "has the game rec tag, I toss till I am down to 9 so I have some in case of emergency". You might re-tag that one

Thomas Markov

@Trish I did.

KorvinStarmast

@ThomasMarkov yeah, looks like a differences thing ...

Thomas Markov

18:52

Is anyone else's "watched tag" highlighting not working?

Trish

@ThomasMarkov ~~works for me~~ correction: it doesn't...

Thomas Markov

hmm

bobble

meta-se's font is borked for me, all of a sudden

puzzling and lit look good though

G. Moylan

Review Queues be hoppin today

@bobble It's Segoe-s of Seasons Past!

Hot RPG Questions

8

Q: How to get real-looking rust that will be safe to the touch?

Normally when I build a prop, I use steel, or cover it with glue and iron dust, and then apply various oxidizing compounds, acids (and sometimes salts and bases) to make a real rust. Then, I gently wash it and seal, or not. This is great for a photoshoot, because nothing can beat real rust in "lo...

larp props prop-construction physical-safety

The Oracle

20:00

2

Q: Watched and ignored is not displaying for me

I have two watched tags and 85+ ignored tags. As of checking the site today (06-09-21 PT), the process of highlighting watched tags and blurring ignored tags does not appear to be functioning the way it was previous to today. At the top of my question display are the Newest / Active / Bountied / ...

support bug tags

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov Win 7?!

Thomas Markov

@NautArch Yeah, IT hasnt upgraded me yet.

NautArch

security risk, yo

bobble

8

Q: Ignored and watched tags seem broken

For the longest time my ignored tags have been working but today they are not. They work on the home page but not the /questions page. However, if you choose the "Gray out questions" option then that fails. Arqade is the only site I've ever had a long-standing ignore list so I don't think I can b...

bug ignored-tags tag-watching

G. Moylan

@NautArch yeah how far is Win7 out of support now?

I've maxed my queue today for The Great Shopping Purge

NautArch

20:09

@G.Moylan apparently january 14, 2020.

Unless extended service updates were purchsed

G. Moylan

@NautArch yikes

NautArch

Argh. Received replacement phone after jumping into water with my old one and stackexchange is stuck on it's captcha for sign-in.

third time's the charm.

bobble

@NautArch would advise against jumping into water with a phone

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch OK, I'll believe that you are not a robot. Really, I will! 😁

NautArch

@bobble Where were you on Monday?

bobble

20:15

?? Why?

AncientSwordRage

in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, 33 mins ago, by TheLethalCarrot

I changed it from grayed out to hidden and refreshed and it worked as expected

in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, 42 mins ago, by TheLethalCarrot

It didn’t initially though

Anoplexian

Hey yall, I think I need a raity check. My dm sgives me a lot of personal agency (in that my character,

Skills, and action are mine) but is telling me that the story is going to be a linear experience but not railroaded. I'm not interested in a railroad experience and expressed that on session 0

AncientSwordRage

20:31

@Anoplexian linear experience sounds like a code word for rail road

Anoplexian

He has taken to completely ig oring my advice on anything despite being a brand new GM with little dnd experience. How can I explain to him that his idea of agency and the sotry is a railroaded experience.

Thats my thought as well

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch I get that or "request seems forged" all the time

RevanantBacon

Who went on the closing spree for "game recommendation" questions?

Anoplexian

I specifically mentioned I didn't want a railroaded experience, but his words were "I will have an npc and they will give you options"

As much as I want to play, this is really not fun to me and if I leave, the experience level in the game drops to 4 new players, one slightly experienced person (my gf) and a fresh GM

AncientSwordRage

@RevanantBacon Trish?

6

Q: My DM is hardcore railroading us - dropping excessive amounts of hints, regardless of our response

We are playing a D&D 5e game, and our DM is constantly dropping the same hints, and re-iterating the same details over and over again, to try and get us to go where he wants. I've played enough games to enjoy the "free-roam" style adventure, and I can appreciate the railroad approach as well. Th...

dnd-5e problem-gm railroading

RevanantBacon

20:34

@AncientSwordRage Well, I certainly would expect such a thing from them

AncientSwordRage

29

Q: How to deal with a DM who controls us with powerful NPCs?

I'm currently in a campaign run by a friend, and so far, I'm having a great time. However, he does do one thing that has been irritating to me, he makes all of the important allied NPCs far more powerful than our party. Now, I get that some NPCs will be more powerful than us, but when every singl...

dnd-5e npc problem-gm railroading

@RevanantBacon I could be wrong, so let's not jump to conclusions

Anoplexian

I saw that, but I have 4 new players with no idea what they want out of right.

Thomas Markov

Start with the tag railroading and see if something helps.

Anoplexian

Right

Aytocorrect why? RPG

AncientSwordRage

Did you see the meta? @RevanantBacon?

@Anoplexian what did they say in session 0?

RevanantBacon

20:35

No, I've been mostly not paying attention to much here today

Thomas Markov

> You have no more close votes today; come back in 3 hours.

rip me

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov just wait 3 hours

Anoplexian

They want an adventure, but I don't think they have a full picture of what Dnd is capable of.

So it ends up with "this is what I like" but how it relates to DND is where they have no idea. They don't have the experience of being railroaded vs not

RevanantBacon

@AncientSwordRage But that'll take like, a whole 3 hours! What are we supposed to do until then!?

Thomas Markov

@Anoplexian Has the DM actually violated your player agency, or have they just described the story as "linear"?

AncientSwordRage

20:38

A good resource on railroading

L Cooper

New DMs who are writing their own adventures almost always wind up railroading people in my experience-- it's hard to do something else!

Anoplexian

Described as linear, but has an NOC that presents the group with options.

NpC

AncientSwordRage

@Anoplexian you can edit chat messages if you're quick

Anoplexian

It's a pre-built module

RevanantBacon

@LCooper This is why I have so much trouble starting up a campaign, I keep trying to make an adventure that isn't rail-roady

Anoplexian

20:41

How on mobile?I

AncientSwordRage

@Anoplexian click your message, then on the pen

Anoplexian

Awesome thanks!

Thomas Markov

@Anoplexian Im gonna need more details, because that just sounds like the basic formula for all stories.

AncientSwordRage

On desktop mode there's a down arrow to the right/start of the message

Anoplexian

What do you mean Thomas?

Thomas Markov

20:43

Don't quests begin with some kind of conversation with an NPC?

Most of the time?

L Cooper

@Anoplexian It sounds like maybe the options presented by the NPC are way too explicit-- not dropping hints, but saying exactly what should be done and how?

RevanantBacon

@AncientSwordRage So I checked the meta Trish put up, and they straight up said that they sent a bunch of them to the queue for "cleanup duty". I feel like this, while coming from an intent to be helpful, is probably a tad excessive.

Anoplexian

My last DM was very sandbox, and I know our current DM (who was a character in that campaign) was frustrated by the lack of progression in the story. And I get that, but this NPC is a tag along that is going to be presenting options.

AncientSwordRage

@RevanantBacon possibly

Normally we'd agree something needs doing before doing it

Anoplexian

I was explicitly told that I couldn't go off and do something slightly different, it was that linear. So far it's not fun.

AncientSwordRage

20:45

@Anoplexian did you see my links?

L Cooper

@Anoplexian Ooh. That clarifies a lot. It's so easy to overcorrect on these things-- preventing the campaign from stagnating is one thing, but if the DM is dropping enough clues and the party members are invested enough to be assertive, you don't need the NPC.

Anoplexian

Yeah I'm reading through them. I understand it personally, but my DM doesn't feel he is railroading the party and the rest of the group doesn't know the difference.

AncientSwordRage

@Anoplexian that's definitely violating player agency

@Anoplexian have your spoken to them?

G. Moylan

@bobble I think @NautArch is making a joke that if you'd given him that advice on Monday then he wouldn't have jumped into ~~a pile of leaves with a wet sucker~~ water with a phone

L Cooper

This sounds not entirely unlike a game I was in with The DMPC From Hell

Anoplexian

20:47

Yeah and it's kinda putting a strain on our friendship.

Thomas Markov

@Anoplexian That's an entirely different issue, methinks.

Anoplexian

He said if I did something like the Low Orbit Ion cannon and "broke" the game like that, he just wouldn't DM.

bobble

@G.Moylan ah. yeah, I have trouble with jokes sometimes.

Thomas Markov

Disagreements about how to play a pen and paper game shouldn't have the broader relationship at stake.

Anoplexian

I was also told that for the entire first campaign, I would have to "suffer through it"

RevanantBacon

20:48

@AncientSwordRage Overall, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to close up these questions, but there definitely needs to be a conversation had about not just completely flooding the queue with all these old questions when we're regularly getting in new questions that might need to be closed. After all, as Thomas has already so helpfully illustrated, we only have a limited number of close votes per day.

L Cooper

@Anoplexian If the rest of the players are having fun, is it an option to just...disconnect a bit from caring about sandboxy styles? I've had to do that in the past, and while it was a little rough, accepting that I was on this ride and may as well find fun within the confines of what was happening made me much happier

G. Moylan

@RevanantBacon I'm maxed out, too

@G.Moylan I think a couple others must be as well

RevanantBacon

Yeah, I bet there are, especially because Trish sent at least 19 questions into the queue

kviiri

@Anoplexian Is this a problem? I know if I wanted to run an immersive fantasy story, I would dislike it if my players gamed the mechanics to subvert the intended challenges

The GM must enjoy what they're doing, too

bobble

There was one day on Lit where the CV queue broke - that was due to a single user posting 95 questions nearly all at once D:

Anoplexian

20:52

I just don't have fun. It's not so much subverting per season, but even doing neat and fun actions (like designing a pseudo galling gun of crossbows) was met with "I'll just break it"

It's not about subverting, but finding interesting ways to solve problems.

Thomas Markov

@Anoplexian Yeah, that sounds like something I would just say no to.

And I dont think that has anything to do with agency or railroading.

L Cooper

@ThomasMarkov Same. I mean, a character who's a tinkerer or something, I'd let you roll for it during downtime, but there's a difference between interesting problem solving and asking to do pretty extreme things

AncientSwordRage

@bobble they can be slippery buggers

Thomas Markov

@LCooper That particular thing wouldnt even get a roll. I would just say "does your character have a degree in engineering? If no, then you dont know how to do that, if yes, then your knowledge of building bridges wont help either."

AncientSwordRage

@bobble wow

kviiri

20:55

@Anoplexian Not everyone wants their game to be about MacGyvering, but I can see this being a divisive issue

bobble

@AncientSwordRage on the plus side, that was the day I realized I really could contribute answers to Lit. So many new, open, fairly-easy questions!

AncientSwordRage

@bobble yay

@Anoplexian that can be subverting to the immersion in the genre

It's not like legolas fashioned a Gatling gun in LoTR

RevanantBacon

@bobble Oh, that's not good. That must've required quite a bit of mod intervention to resolve.

L Cooper

@kviiri Even if I was inclined towards such things, I would tamp down on it with new players; if you've got brand new players, I see it as as pretty important to help them get the basics down solidly

Either for my sake as their DM, or for any other DM they might wind up with in the future

bobble

@RevanantBacon Most were okay if basic, but there were a bunch of dupes or unclear/opinion-based

They also didn't bother with proper tagging or formatting - we're still sorting out the mess months later

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