TRPG General Chat

BESW

00:17

I have mixed feelings about eating something that's trying to eat me back.

BESW

00:27

Bookstore: a solo micro RPG by Oliver Darkshire. people often ask us what working in a bookstore is like and lately words fail me so I made you a fun dice game to show you exactly how it feels

BESW

01:07

LUMEN RYDER CORE IS ITCHFUNDING by babblegumsam. a genre-agnostic, tokusatsu, monster-hunting, LUMEN game One of the stretch goals is LUMEN RYDER AUSTEN: PRIDE & PREHISTORY.

Someone_Evil

01:25

Being asked to confirm I'm not a robot is slightly insulting on a site I moderate

BESW

Yes, we shouldn't have to be reminded that we're not robots. We know, okay? It's not like we can do something about it.

trogdor

lol

nitsua60

@Someone_Evil When did that come up?

AncientSwordRage

@BESW it's a shame I can calculate the expected value easily, but I suspect that isn't the point.

BESW

01:44

It may actually be! I occasionally run across some interesting design work around creating an effect or experience by making it obvious that the randomizer is not going to make outcomes unpredictable.

The most blunt-force-trauma version is probably Dog Eat Dog, where you can roll moderately fair dice but one side has free and limitless veto power.

AncientSwordRage

Hmmm could be

It made me want to tinker until I changed the expectation

BESW

01:57

Yeah, this game is designed to answer the question "what is it like to be a bookseller?" and the answer doesn't lie in mechanics that replicate specific moments of experience; the answer lies in how interacting with the mechanics make the player feel.

"3 Options To Publish TTRPGs" video essay by Banana Chan Games.

Hot RPG Questions

03:11

2

Q: My player is wearing 2 types of armor, how do I decide which calculation is the one to use?

I've read the other questions about stacking AC which I know can't be done according to the rules, but then the rules also say that you can wear chain shirt under leather, so it contradicts it self there. My question is about if my player is wearing it under a leather armor, which the description...

Feeds

03:22

Needles & Nilbogs: A thought on shuttles

posted on February 11, 2022 by Bardic Wizard

I know it’s late, but bear with me. I’ve had a bad day today and couldn’t really write much. I’ve been tatting more lately, and I thought I’d share a thing I tried for my attempts! I’m actually not using a traditional shuttle. They click too much and make it hard for me to work silently like I prefer. Instead, I’m using the plastic clips that hold bread bags from my local grocery store cl…

Adeptus

07:16

@BESW ...yet

Hot RPG Questions

09:07

8

Q: How can I protect an NPC's death scene from interfering PCs with cure magic?

In my current campaign, a plot point is going to involve the PCs finding a dying man who has been kept prisoner and beaten repeatedly over a long period of time. He is able to give the party some important information before he expires. Classic trope, right? But I'm concerned that one or more of ...

dnd-5e healing npc

AncientSwordRage

11:07

@HotRPGQuestions Don't prep plots

Akixkisu

11:19

@HotRPGQuestions As everyone knows, never invite a detective to your household.

BESW

11:32

Feb 6 '16 at 4:16, by BESW

At least three of the players came up with ways to defeat the villain, or at least fight it to a standstill long enough to escape. One of these solutions took literally the time it takes to say "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." But the GM insisted that before we could do any of that, his GMPC had pulled the pins on a dozen grenades, run the length of the roof, and taken a swan dive onto the villain on the street below.

AncientSwordRage

12:57

@BESW I've been that GM. I ran a game that would have introduced an NPC, that I'd later turn into a PC for somebody else's game (shared world with multiple GMs. There was a yearly campaign from level 1 to 20, then irregularly played higher level characters)

BESW

I've done the PC/GMPC thing, but this GM (actually an ST) was... well, it wasn't a GMPC thing.

Aug 26 '13 at 13:25, by BESW

Most of the White Wolf games I've seen or heard of were very much like yours--the Storyteller's ability to tell stories is the reason for play, sometimes to the point that the players are just tools for the ST to tell his own story.

Feb 6 '16 at 4:28, by BESW

His players generally felt that loss of agency was a worthy price for admission to a front-row seat to his stories.

KorvinStarmast

13:45

@Akixkisu They were originally. (Well, everyone who was not a PC was a monster, originally)

Akixkisu

@KorvinStarmast Reading "I have also insisted that druids are monsters, not a PC class, for years." just fills me with a particular kind of joy :)

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@Akixkisu Well it's a bear/raven/treant that turns into a were, like a werewolf but in reverse, of course it's a monster.

Akixkisu

The joy is essentially tied to the framing and phrasing not the content.

KorvinStarmast

14:11

@Akixkisu yeah, I can see the grin inducing quality of that phrasing. 😊

AncientSwordRage

@BESW yeah I went and read some of the context

Hot RPG Questions

17:33

3

Q: Can minor illusion create a taxidermy look-alike of a creature?

Minor Illusion states You create a sound or an image of an object within range that lasts for the duration. (...) If you create an image of an object--such as a chair, muddy footprints, or a small chest--it must be no larger than a 5-foot cube. The image can't create sound, light, smell, or any ...

dnd-5e spells vision-and-light illusion

nitsua60

17:53

I'm unwilling to unilaterally override the closure, but here's my $0.02:

Disagreeing with the closure: some of the best writing on this Stack has been in-depth, explanatory guides to new players that teach ways of thinking about the games we're playing/running. James--and plenty of future readers--could benefit from someone writing a great answer along the lines of "here are the things I generally think about when approaching combat, here are the factors that influence the cost-benefit of various actions, here's how I talk to my party-mates about them...." Plenty of users have played all classes in hundreds of combat encounters and have the necessary expertise. — nitsua60 ♦ 36 secs ago

Hot RPG Questions

18:49

5

Q: Can Bigby's Hand / Arcane Hand lift an object?

Arcane Hand has a lot of text. Among it, it says: It has a Strength of 26 (+8) When you cast the spell and as a Bonus Action on your subsequent turns, you can move the hand up to 60 feet and then cause one of the following Effects with it. Grasping Hand. The hand attempts to grapple a Huge o...

dnd-5e spells movement grapple

goodguy5

I've only been able to find one decent use for truestrike

Sorcerer:
twin true strike turn 1,
twin chromatic orb turn 2.

KorvinStarmast

20:24

@goodguy5 Good against single big tough enemy, not good versus a crowd.

goodguy5

:6040484 even two big tough enemies ;)

but yea

KorvinStarmast

@nitsua60 concur But I'd like to see who else is in the party

goodguy5

if I had a player that cared, I'd probably house rule it to be self cast and up to a minute or something

KorvinStarmast

@nitsua60 The reason I want to see who else is in the party is so that a response can frame it in a way useful (in the near term for the asker) in showing the synergy between characters/classes/roles rather than replying with PC classes that may not be in their group.

goodguy5

20:46

I think that fighter-17 question is going to come down to either champion or rune knight.

Hot RPG Questions

11

Q: How does this homebrew cantrip compare to other cantrips, and certain levelled spells?

There aren't many cantrips that I know of which inflict a status effect, so I wanted to create one. The aim is to make it strong enough that it's viable, but not so strong that it's a must pick. Here is the cantrip in question. I haven't settled on a name, so I've put both. Fright/Nightmare Illu...

dnd-5e homebrew-review conditions cantrips

goodguy5

RK -
I need to figure out if the giant bonus is worth two weapon fighting or not.

Either 6 Greatsword attacks
or 5 Versatile Long Sword, draw other long sword, 1 one-handed longsword, 1 off hand longsword.

Each attack gets +1d8 added to it and the first two attacks get 2d6 from the fire runes (and potentially restrain the target)

Champion uses a greatsword and swings at the target with great weapon master and great weapon fighting. ez maffs.

Thomas Markov

@goodguy5 Be interesting to compare to Sharpshotter/Crossbow expert.

goodguy5

@ThomasMarkov That's just the same thing with less damage, right?

Someone_Evil

21:01

Isn't BM just gonna have better dmg than Champion for the same build, no?

goodguy5

@Someone_Evil uh .... maybe? I was factoring in crits maybe too much, idk.

Thomas Markov

@goodguy5 Champ crits on 18-20 starting at 15th

goodguy5

exactly

Thomas Markov

Definitely has to be accounted for.

Someone_Evil

But maneuvers are gonna be net more damage aren't they?

goodguy5

21:04

it's roughly a 10% damage increase if you don't have advantage, like 20% with it

you might be right idk

6 superiority dice is a lot.

Someone_Evil

+1d10 per attack is gonna be hard to beat

goodguy5

each attack is 8.33+5, so 13.33.
I think Champion's 18-20 gets them like a 25% damage boost, so like 15.33?

ooff yea

Though, that let's you almost guaranteed to proc heavy weapon master's crit clause

Thomas Markov

If an answer goes up, I'll check it against my napkin math on a crossbowman and consider actually doing the math for my build.

Someone_Evil

@goodguy5 Wait, how?

goodguy5

@Someone_Evil Sorry * if they have advantage

15% crit with advantage is like 27% effective crit or something, right?

Someone_Evil

21:13

27.75%, yes

But that chance times 2d6 is only +1.94 per attack, unless there's dmg dice I'm not accounting for (GWF would make +2.31)

goodguy5

@Someone_Evil yea yea compared to the base

I agree

Someone_Evil

While BM can throw a die on for +1d10 (5.5)

goodguy5

yea yea, agree

Thomas Markov

I forgot about action surge

goodguy5

I wonder if great weapon fighting is triggered on fire runes....

vs AC 19, a +11 to hit is 65% to hit.

RK
2 attacks with 2d6+2d6+1d8+5
- and forces a DC 19 Strength Save to be restrained (35% chance to save)

Then any additional attacks after that are made with advantage and only the 2d6+1d8+5.

Now how do I pull all that together.

Where's our math elemental

I need a tidy way to calculate the way that triggering the restrained condition impacts the remainder of the turn

I don't want to brute force it :(

Glazius

21:30

@goodguy5 Does twinning let you have two active concentration spells?

goodguy5

@Glazius no, but it changes the targets to two, instead of one. still one spell

one could theoretically twin a witchbolt, which would be kind of fun

nitsua60

@KorvinStarmast That's fair.

goodguy5

21:50

anyone know how to add bonuses to a finite number of attacks in anydice?

ugh, I forgot to include great weapon fighting, but I've hack together this graph.

The rune knight hack at the end assumes that they will only trigger the runes on a crit, but also technically allows more than the two rune triggers, though statistically unlikely

anydice.com/program/26d67

It also assumes all advantage

now to parenting

AncientSwordRage

22:09

@goodguy5 can you model parenting in anydice?

2

Someone_Evil

22:39

@goodguy5 Wait, what's the 1d8 damage per attack from?

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