TRPG General Chat

AncientSwordRage

01:19

Date set for free RPG day — June 25th in the US, July 23rd elsewhere (Twitter link)

2

Phoenices

01:43

Hm. I wonder how I could answer "taking it to chat is a good option" without making it look like the only option.

Er, to Someone_Evil's meta question.

Someone_Evil

Chat is covered under "Off-topic, ask at a (traditional) forum" (we include chat on that list, though often folks will comment with chat of forum (link) )

Someone_Evil

01:56

It's a good thought though. Maybe there's a part somewhere that we should be better at encouraging/offering that line, but I think we already have that covered in existing practice.

goodguy5

02:32

@AncientSwordRage It was just a throw away joke

AncientSwordRage

@goodguy5 that's a relief

Quordle is still hard btw

goodguy5

@AncientSwordRage I've been slacking on my word games. Even lewdle let me down a few times and I haven't really done them

BESW

02:50

"One More Multiverse partners with Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast"

nitsua60

03:31

@ThomasMarkov Which, for those interested in the history, stems (I believe) from my having a little extra energy to push on that particular pet project because my spring break falls in March =)

goodguy5

You would

BESW

Small Planet Games' Beam Saber Bundle by Caro Asercion, Ben Roswell. This bundle consists of supplemental material for Beam Saber designed by Small Planet Games

Chemus

05:19

Is it bad form to change unconventional word usage that's obviously translated into English into more conventional usage, especially in a new user's query? rpg.stackexchange.com/q/196261

Glazius

05:44

Oof. Today's Quordle.

BESW

06:00

@Glazius I got 1 and 4.

Glazius

I basically had to resort to an anagram solver for one of the words and it's something I've never seen used.

Mithical

06:14

@Glazius That was not easy.

Hot RPG Questions

07:15

1

Q: Can you cast the Rope Trick spell when you are in the air?

The rope trick spell description says: You touch a length of rope that is up to 60 feet long. One end of the rope then rises into the air until the whole rope hangs perpendicular to the ground. At the upper end of the rope, an invisible entrance opens Can you cast rope trick while you are mid-a...

AncientSwordRage

10:33

@Mithical at least you finished yours, here's mine

Hot RPG Questions

11:23

2

Q: With this nerf to the Sharpshooter Feat, will players still want to use it?

I'm getting pretty close to wrapping up a campaign where the highest damage dealing character in the party was a Sharpshooting Fighter, who in combination with the Crossbow Expert feat, was regularly dealing upwards of 100 points of damage per turn in the levels 11-16 range, not including Action ...

dnd-5e feats balance

BESW

13:03

SoulMuppet Publishing wrote a twitter thread about "trying to make SoulMuppet a more sustainable publisher not beholden to any single platform that lead to the dilemma many of us currently face"

CHyphenD wrote a twitter thread about questions that help her break down intimidating design tasks.

Crossword Dungeon Jam Hosted by Molomoot. I created a dungeon inspired by my daily crossword and folks seemed to really like it! So I've made a basic how-to guide & would really like to see what other people create from it.

2

The Strix asks on twitter "Narrative designers, what's the most invigorating core theme you have ever worked with in a game?"

What Little Remains (Crossword Dungeon) by Molomoot. A dungeon inspired by my daily crossword...

BESW

14:04

Chase Carter asks on twitter "What are the board game/TTRPG newsletters I should be reading?" and puts out a "Last call for #ZIMO2022 submissions for me to check out on Dicebreaker."

goodguy5

@BESW thanks for the links, but.... ;)

AncientSwordRage

@goodguy5 don't leave us hanging

goodguy5

14:52

again, throwaway joke. BESW helped me realize that I was being needlessly critical of his shares

AncientSwordRage

@goodguy5 I like this message, but it could be better ... for a start your throwing away a lot of jokes!

Don't you know they can be recycled?

goodguy5

Oh that's the thing, I recycle a LOT of jokes ;)

I hate when I downvote a question and I know who it's going to be before I get to the author.

Hot RPG Questions

17:10

3

Q: What to do when the new "Monsters of the Multiverse" book doesn't match "Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes" and "Volo's Guide to Monsters"?

The new book official 5e book, Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, contains a lot of the same content as the two previous books Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and Volo's Guide to Monsters. Currently, Monsters of the Multiverse is only available by buying the complete Rules Expansion G...

dnd-5e books

KorvinStarmast

@Trish Thanks for the notification, I enjoyed working with him on a variety of Q and A.

Trish

@KorvinStarmast me too, I just spotted it when I looked at an old LARP question

bobble

17:38

@AncientSwordRage 's fine to ping, if I can get to it I will and if I can't I won't.

NautArch

17:50

@V2Blast as an answerer, I feel focusing on what happens to the items is different than the original question of focusing on tricking the patron. I'm going to roll back the edit and if the community wants to put it back, they can.

AncientSwordRage

18:45

@bobble Gotcha

Yuuki

@HotRPGQuestions Haven't really been paying attention to new releases but Monsters of the Multiverse is only available as part of a set? Ew.

Thomas Markov

@Yuuki Yup. Ew is right. Standalone doesnt release till mid may.

NautArch

Then you have to buy class info as NFTs.

Mithical

@NautArch *gags*

Yuuki

20:09

Settings will be available on monthly rotation.

NautArch

20:24

Heh, we've always played our readied attacks raw at my tables both as player and DM. Interested to see how it goes otherwise.

Xirema

20:37

So I'm currently between accepting @ThomasMarkov and Nepene's answer on that question I posted, but they're offering divergent conclusions so I'm trying to work out which is more accurate. 😛

Thomas Markov

@Xirema I can provide my explicit formulas if you need them.

NautArch

Take this to the Elemental Plane of Math!

:P

Xirema

I trust the math, and I actually don't think there's disagreement between you two on that point.

(Also, I'm about to spool up my probability engine on it to test a few alternatives; I was considering doing something like -3/+5, -3/+6, -4/+6, etc...)

But one of you is saying "based on the math, it's still good to take, just not as good" and the other is saying "no, based on the math, it's just not good enough anymore"

NautArch

Are you sure the highest votecount answer isn't a consideration?

I think it depends on if you think the numbers are good/not good enough.

Xirema

I'm... very shocked that answer got so many upvotes.

NautArch

20:42

I mean, I've played a GWM and I have SS/XE combo in one of my games.

Xirema

Like, yes, the character is highly optimized. He has a 22 in Dexterity and a magic hand crossbow. A character with more mundane stats/weapon would not hit nearly so high.

NautArch

I don't think I have an issue with the feat itself, so it's quite valid.

@Xirema The manual you gave him for 22 is probably a bigger issue than the feat.

Xirema

@NautArch All of the characters in the campaign got a manual.

Targetting their primary stats.

NautArch

Are all as optimized?

Xirema

I'd say so. The only real exception is the Barbarian, whose Strength only went to 20 after the manual.

(and at >200HP, that's clearly not her greatest feature)

NautArch

20:44

What's the average DPR for those other characters?

Xirema

I'd have to run the numbers, but eyeballing things, the Barbarian usually hits around 40-50, the Rogue about 30 (multiclassed into Warlock, so her numbers are expectedly low), The Cleric is more of a healbot, and the Sorcerer took Warlock Initiate and is Eldritch Blasting for about 40-50.

There's also a DMPC Artificer that can reliably Firebolt for about 20-30.

But she's also specialized to have high AC and HP, and not much else.

Thomas Markov

@Xirema For me, Nepene's anlysis isn't particularly compelling.

Because there isnt much there.

NautArch

@Xirema What level again?

Thomas Markov

Blame the mathematician in me, but "just shift the graph down cuz yeah" is an assertion that could use a more thorough treatment.

NautArch

oooh appealing to Xirema's maths?

Xirema

20:48

@NautArch They just hit 16, but the numbers have been relatively consistent in the 3rd tier range (which isn't terribly surprising).

The fighter got a boost a few levels ago because he started multiclassing into rogue and only got his third [fourth] attack at level 14 or so.

NautArch

@Xirema Barb sounds about right because they have their rage to balance damage for staying alive. The rogue makes sense with the multiclass. What kind of sorcerer?

But a non-warlock blasting without the charisma modifier in damage isn't super optimal.

what meta magic did the sorcerer pick

Xirema

@NautArch They have Warlock Initiate, so they do have Agonizing Blast.

NautArch

@Xirema ah, sorry.

Are they adding more damage from a quickened levelled spell?

Because there's a whole action they can be spending here to likely double that.

Xirema

@NautArch Wild Magic, but I gave them a bunch of homebrew buffs (chance to proc Wild Surge is proportional to Spell Level, Prof Mod Sorcery Points on a Short Rest, a few other QoL adjustments)

Thomas Markov

@Xirema You cant take Agonizing Blast with the feat unless you are a warlock.

NautArch

20:51

Nice, we did the spell level proportion, too.

Xirema

@NautArch They have done it before, but they tend to play really conservatively unless party members are about to die.

@ThomasMarkov How do you figure?

Thomas Markov

Eldritch Adept, right?

Xirema

Oooh, I see now.

Thomas Markov

"If the invocation has a prerequisite of any kind, you can choose that invocation only if you’re a warlock who meets the prerequisite."

Xirema

I missed that detail on the wording.

NautArch

20:53

@Xirema Well, that's kind of an issue. THey are playing suboptimally - that isn't the Sharpshooter's fault.

They should be pumping out close to what the SS does.

Plus able to do AoE.

Xirema

Yeah, but the difference is that the Sorcerer can only do that a limited number of times a day, before they run out of high level spell slots (or sorcery points to quicken spells), and even if they're doing that, they're only barely keeping up with the fighter.

NautArch

Also, help pile forming on that martial ready action question.

Xirema

There's only so many times you can cast Disintegrate a day.

NautArch

@Xirema They shouldn't be 'keeping up with them'. THe fact that it's close is perfect. The sorcerer can do a LOT more than a fighter can.

Xirema

@NautArch In theory, yes, but they are specialized to focus on damage output. They don't have a lot of utility spells.

NautArch

20:56

They've got their AoEs, they have non-combat spells, they have their meta magic to do more cool things. The fighter shoots people full of arrows. I'm having a hard time wanting to nerf that.

Someone_Evil

Not actually a solution to your problem, but if you're just coming out of a campaign where a character as shone off using Crossbow Expert I would've hoped the next campaign doesn't feature it for the sake of character variety, but maybe that's just me

NautArch

@Xirema So they've specialized but don't run it optimally? That seems like the bigger problem.

if they're playing conservatively and not dropping damage like they should...that's on them!

Thomas Markov

@Someone_Evil Frame challenge: do the same thing but as a bard.

Crossbow Expert Sharpshooter Swords Bard is 110% my favorite build ever.

Xirema

Well, I'm actually pretty good at spacing out combat encounters, to the point that resource management matters.

(Which, itself, probably benefits the fighter a lot, whose resources purely recharge on short rests)

One thing I probably shouldn't leave unstated: I am explicitly not planning to make changes to Great Weapon Master.

The nerf would only apply to Sharpshooter.

@Someone_Evil I actually don't know for sure what characters they'll have in the next campaign.

I know the player playing the Fighter though is exploring different archetypes.

Someone_Evil

Would different archetypes also mean different weapons?

Also, which Archetype was this Fighter?

Xirema

21:08

Err, I meant different character archetypes.

Sorry. 😛

Someone_Evil

Ah, right. Lovely ambiguities

Xirema

I'm turning towards the idea of compromising a bit, maybe going for something like -5/+8 or -4/+6.

Based on the data I'm seeing, I'm feeling like the -5/+5 is maybe a little more of a nerf than I want to see.

MikeQ

What about -1d10 / +1d20? The averages are about the same as the original feat. Therefore it must be balanced.

Xirema

I still want it tuned down a bit, because ranged characters that can hit like a truck are problematic for encounter design.

@MikeQ LOL

I mean, we are using a VTT, so from a usability perspective, it's not a problem.

But oh my god the variance. X)

(Also, the feat would have to specify whether the d20 counts when rolling critical hits)

NautArch

21:37

@Xirema Aren't those ranged characters usually alone?

But yeah, i hear you. And developing environments where they can't position like that can make it seem unfun.

Thomas Markov

@MikeQ This version of the feat comes with the phone number for the gambling addiction hotline.

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov You know Baddwirt would love this

BESW

23:37

International Parks Jam Hosted by Disaster Tourism. Design a pamphlet Solo TTRPG around living and working in a national park, or the outdoors in general.

Thank You Ma'am TTRPG Jam 2022 Hosted by ell0. Join me this March of 2022 to create a silly TTRPG or silly TTRPG related content—hex crawls and paper miniatures are totally welcome!

Peregrine Coast Press wrote a twitter thread about fundraising Transmission for Them. A solo journaling game about lovers lost in space, playable with a standard deck of 52 playing cards.

BESW

23:57

"R. Talsorian Games & Darker Hue Studios Team Up" We’re thrilled to announce R. Talsorian Games has signed an agreement with Darker Hue Studios to distribute Haunted West, a tabletop roleplaying game shining the light of truth on the old west.

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