TRPG General Chat

Shalvenay

12:04 AM

hey @nitsua60

BESW

Fate More is sending out backerkit surveys, and Storium just went public.

nitsua60

@Shalvenay hiya. Life?

Shalvenay

still grumpy over my school project, man :/

BESW

**Cool RPG stuff:** [Bundle of Holding](http://bundleofholding.com "buy RPGs cheap in bulk, support charities & indie designers!");
[Storium's general launch](https://storium.com/ "Still no native library of storycard art, though.");
[Conan RPG](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/modiphius/robert-e-howards-conan-roleplaying-game "'the most authentic Conan roleplaying experience yet'");
[7th Sea 2e](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnwickpresents/7th-sea-second-edition "Revised rules, revised Nations, updated for the 21st Century");

doppelgreener

@BESW it really needs that library

BESW

12:16 AM

It's on their to-do list. I feel a little cheated that they've started counting down my year's Kickstarter subscription before they rolled it out.

doppelgreener

@BESW because your kickstarter promise from them involved that library, right?

BESW

I was under that impression, yes.

doppelgreener

if that's in writing you could actually contact them about that. :P

BESW

.....yes. It is. [screenshots]

doppelgreener

yeah, that looks like a missing to me.

BESW

12:32 AM

I've left a comment and will be following up with an email.

doppelgreener

> @BESW: I understand your disappointment about the art library, and I share it. I promise we're doing everything we can to get it ready ASAP. I hope it won't be much of a delay.

They missed the part about not starting your subscription countdown until it's out.

BESW

Hence the email titled Please delay my MEMBER subscription until art library is available.

doppelgreener

@BESW Jolly good.

BESW

It's not like I expect them to supply me with art customised for Weird Fruit or anything.

Two other people have already asked about delaying their subscription.

But for "time" reasons, not "public launch incomplete" reasons.

doppelgreener

These and other events are a reason why it's very good to say to your community: "We're going to do this thing. Here are the details. Is this OK?"

BESW

12:46 AM

They did say it would be delayed.

(Hee, "Vacation mode" doesn't just let us input dates.)

Got an email back already; they'll extend my subscription to whatever date the art library is published.

doppelgreener

Noice. :D

BESW

1:44 AM

"Noice" is a city in France, isn't it?

nitsua60

@BESW That's "niece," no?

(Or should I say "non?")

nitsua60

2:17 AM

am I right that one can ping a diamond mod whether or not they're "in" the room? Or is it the other way, that they can always ping us?

BESW

It's the other way.

They have Power Ping!

nitsua60

hmm... darn.

BESW

You should be able to invite a mod to a room through their chat profile, though.

nitsua60

ahh--thanks. I knew there was a way to invite, but I was poking around in the room tools.

BESW

@mech [wave]

Shalvenay

2:23 AM

LOL. the dungeon I'm in in NWN just recursed. :P

BESW

2:35 AM

I'm doing preliminary work on a new PC for our Weird World campaign, and his high concept is tentatively Reluctantly mystical millennial.

mech

@BESW Heya

BESW

What's new?

Adeptus

Practicing "Be Nice" so hard right now. I made a comment on someone's answer, and they essentially told me I don't know what I'm talking about. Resisting urge to counter-snark.

BESW

Yes, well, that's what you get for asking for downvoters to comment.

If it's any consolation, apparently I've had "a case of the doesn't-get-its" for years.

Adeptus

2:55 AM

@BESW This wasn't a comment on my downvoted answer, this was a comment I made on someone else's (which I didn't downvote either). Or are you saying it's karma? :P

BESW

It's absolutely karma.

Miniman

@BESW It looks a whole lot like that guy had "a case of doesn't-get-it" wrt your question.

BESW

That user's answers vacillate wildly from "super insightful" to "profoundly irrelephant."

Miniman

@BESW That's a surprisingly common condition in these parts.

BESW

3:27 AM

@Weaveworker89 Hi!

IgneusJotunn

3:38 AM

BESW, is your username at all to do with the system Big Eyes, Small Mouth?

I just answered a question on it, and I swear every time I tried to type BESM I typed it BESW because of context

BESW

Heheh.

No, BESW has nothing to do with RPGs at all.

I first heard of BESM through this site.

Adeptus

Jan 1 at 13:59, by nitsua60

I've always assumed BESW is a team of four, working in shifts. One's always typing, one's farming links, one's running games, one's sleeping.

Jan 30 '15 at 13:57, by Kit Z. Fox

@BESW I always think of you as compass points.

BESW

Mar 20 '14 at 12:50, by lisardggY

Borth East South West.

Aug 14 '14 at 11:39, by Gustav Bertram

Big Eyes Small WAAAAARG?

(This is a recurring theme in the chat, as you can tell.)

IgneusJotunn

3:54 AM

"Is BESW suitable for character optimization?" You know, honestly I'm not sure, they don't seem to do a lot of the optimization que- oh wait I read that wrong

(I find this theme amusing)

BESW

in Not a bar, but plays one on TV, Feb 28 at 0:52, by BESW

@nitsua60 My build is too messy, there's no way to optimise me now.

Adeptus

I tried searching for some of the "what BESW stands for" posts, but couldn't work out what search terms to use

BESW

Click through the dates on the stuff we've been quote-linking.

nitsua60

@Adeptus If you'll tolerate one stranger's advice, I'd delete your last comment in that back-and-forth. All the points you make in the comments you've made in your own free-standing answer. Posterity will judge the two answers and it looks so far like you'll come out on top.

Adeptus

What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!

nitsua60

4:03 AM

@BESW That's the user that, after three days of hard-to-wrap-my-head-around objections and seeming obstinance, ended up bringing me around to contest my own answer on the throwing sand question.

@Adeptus I've never understood how this isn't the custom image on the Strunk & White badge....

Adeptus

@nitsua60 I have no problem with him having a different opinion. But when he is misquoting the rules, I want to inform him. (Maybe it's not worth the effort?)

BESW

The Stack has no interest in telling people they're Wrong.

The only way "You're wrong!" is a useful comment is if it'd help the person change his answer to add quality to the site.

nitsua60

And you did. In your penultimate comment. I don't see what the last comment adds on top of that except now you're engaging in an argument.

Adeptus

nitsua60

@Adeptus that's my most famous bit of chat ever. In fact, the majority of my stars somehow reference our four-as-one omnipresent salon host.

Adeptus

4:09 AM

I will bow to the collective wisdom of the chat

@nitsua60 Not just one guy. One guy + BESW.

BESW

"Omnipresent Salon" sounds like a good name for a swing revival band.

nitsua60

@Adeptus Ahh. That's the... collective wisdom you're talking about!

RollingFeles

Good morning! Need some advice from expirienced SE users.

BESW

@RollingFeles I'm sure we can dig some up for ya.

nitsua60

@RollingFeles shoot

RollingFeles

4:14 AM

I found interesting question with tons of great answers, one is already accepted, but they miss some points which I want to add. Which would be better: sum up all best points in my opinion or just make disclaimer "There are many great answer, but I want to add my two cents"?

BESW

[goes digging into meta]

RollingFeles

/me testing /me

:)

BESW

27

A: Should I be requesting people answer the question independently?

In my opinion: Answers should actually answer the question. This is non-negotiable. The real value of multiple answers is different perspectives. I mean, really: five or ten answers just rewriting the same post are pretty worthless! All this really does is make sure the top 1-2 answers keep g...

> Your answer should stand alone, but it's both acceptable and useful to reference other sources — whether external sources or other answers — for detailed discussion that you can't do better yourself.

> If you only have a small bit you want to add to an existing answer, edit the existing answer. (If you're unsure, start with comments and then make an edit once you've hashed out the idea a bit.)

RollingFeles

Thank you very much!

nitsua60

On the other side of the scale, here's what I did in a similar situation.

I think it really depends on how objective a matter the question poses.

If it's a pretty factually-based matter and there's something incorrect, perhaps making a fuller and better answer is the way to go. On an opinion-based one like I just linked, I went with adding my easter egg for those who read down to the fifteenth answer =)

Adeptus

4:19 AM

heh "He's got a name. I feel bad shooting him"

nitsua60

Kid said it, and I got a warm glow.

RollingFeles

@nitsua60 It took me a while to scroll up to the question :)

nitsua60

Well, it is the question on this stack.

@RollingFeles I feel like the difference between mine and the point contemplated in meta is that mine added something new (albeit very small) to the collection of answers; it wasn't trying to add something to another answer.

Shalvenay

hey there @IgneusJotunn

RollingFeles

@nitsua60 My current situation is the same. My two cents are not dependent on other answers.

But they are would be part of advice, not whole. Thanks anyway, I will consider it and try to make good answer :)

nitsua60

4:36 AM

@RollingFeles that's all any of us can do =)

night, all

BESW

ttfn

I've got the spark of a PC brewing over in the Genesis chat. Would welcome brainstorming suggestions.

Magician

Random thoughts of the day, about compels. Any kind of conflict or complication can be a compel. It comes from something. Even if that something is not phrased as an aspect, it could be. The way Fate advises you create adventures is basically compels on two aspects, sans actual compels - you don't want to give the PCs the ability to opt out of the game, after all.

BESW

Yup.

Magician

How, then, do you decide when things just happen, and when you compel? The book recommends you compel people who're out of fate points, i.e. have more things happen to them. In a way that's roundabout: they've already been a star of the story, spent their fate points to be awesome, and now they get to star some more.

BESW

I look at compels as a way to offer choices: "Would you like the story to be about this?"

Magician

4:47 AM

That's a nice way to think about it.

BESW

If the GM's got something he wants to be sure is in the story, it's not a compel--just like you only roll if failure and success would both be interesting.

Self-compels are a mechanic for rewarding the players who say, "I'd like the story to be about this."

Magician

I also found that I often use compels when I thought of something mean, that would be "unfair" otherwise.

BESW

Aye.

Magician

It's a thin line at times... For instance. I may wish to have the party captured, and have, I dunno, Knockout Gas as justification. Compelling it is a strong signal: this is not a failure, this is an interesting way for the story to proceed. But even if I didn't have any good ideas for what would happen if the party didn't get knocked out, I wouldn't feel good about just informing them that happened.

BESW

This is, I think, an excellent case of how Fate rarely has just one mechanic that's "right" to choose.

Magician

4:59 AM

@BESW ...expand on this a bit?

BESW

> [...] don’t look at the rules as a straitjacket or a hard limit on an action. Instead, use them as a variety of potential tools to model whatever you’re trying to do.

It's not always clear if a PC ability should be a skill or a stunt or an aspect, or if a clash should be a contest or a conflict, or if an interaction should be a compel or opposed rolls.

And often there's not gonna be just one mechanic that's right to model that narrative thing.

It's not clear because the choices aren't actually rank-able: whichever feels right at the time is the right one.

BESW

5:17 AM

A Welsh empress builds a city made of dragon's fire.

Tweeted by MagicRealismBot on March 2, 2016 at 3:49 AM

Magician

You know how a world-ending catastrophe comes about every other week, and some heroes always pull off an unlikely victory, saving everyone? Of course you do. That's because you're not in any of the universes where they failed. The quantum multiversal tree keeps branching, and most of those branches are dead or dying. Only one timeline grows ever further, with more and more broken universes sprouting from it. Do not travel between the worlds. Do not disturb the multiversal gardeners.

BESW

You might enjoy The Fold by Peter Clines.

Magician

...did you just give away its "terrifying final twist"?

BESW

Not really.

It's a sequel to a book which basically gives the twist away on the cover.

But even with that, both books managed to surprise me.

Magician

Cool, I'll keep it in mind.

BESW

5:31 AM

They're kinda Laundry-Files-esque, but much more optimistic and less gross-out.

Anaphory

7:19 AM

Does anyone know a freely-available in-world encyclopedia for a (preferably midlle ages style fantasy) setting? I am in the process of making one for Empire, and I'd like to compare for any obvious gaps mine has.

BESW

7:35 AM

in-world, ie, an artefact prop?

Anaphory

Yes, or at least with mostly in-world content

Mine is for a LRP and will mention some rules, like ritual power levels, in in-world terms.

BESW

Hmm. I suggest you look for resources associated with large ongoing PBP worlds.

eimyr

Yo

Anaphory

Ho

On a moderately related note, is there a good way to find short folk stories of certain flavour? I'm aware of some kind of classification of folk tales and a database thereof, but how do I find a story eg. of the type "comrade helps comrade with broken weapon using funny trick"?

I'm bad at writing things like that myself, and I cannot think of a funny trick for it.

eimyr

8:18 AM

TIL that a LOLcat is a legitimate NPC category in Mage ascension

Anaphory

Maybe Good Soldier Shveik might help me with stories about that character...

BESW

When I'm back on a proper computer I'll see what I can dig up re folktale categories, but from what I recall they're quite... Unpredictable.

Is there a literature.SE beta running right now? That'd be a good question for them to tackle.

Anaphory

8:42 AM

I'll have a look wheteher there is one, it might also be useful for other RPG-ispired questions...

Do you mean both the general "How do I look for" and the specific "What stories match"?

One fell through beta, being to small, and a new attempt is just in the definition stage.

(Why do you ask? It's one of the proposals you appear to be follfowing on Area51)

Tritium21

I would just like to say that in Aberrent, it is easy to build a starting character that can take no damage from a fall from orbit. that is all.

doppelgreener

9:08 AM

@Anaphory in world... Are lore books sold in book stores about games and media what you're after?

eimyr

Dudes and dudettes, it's official. I'm using CMap for NPC/faction management. I'm considering using it for (investigation) campaign development too.

@Anaphory If you find any encyclopedias I'd be interested too.

Just let me understand it properly - you mean encyclopedias written in-universe and published in a book format?

BESW

@Anaphory I haven't been keeping track of them and was on my phone.

I'll look up other resources later tonight, but for now... does anybody know the cultural origin / original name of these guys?

I'm thinking they're adaptations of the Gwion Gwion ("Bradshaw") figures, but I can't find a definitive link.

Anaphory

9:24 AM

@doppelgreener I'm looking for encyclopedia-style books that are written as if part of the fictional settings they report on.

eimyr

@Anaphory complete books or are excerpts acceptable?

Anaphory

Excerpts might be interesting.

doppelgreener

@Anaphory In real life? WOW is full of exerpts. But all of these books tend to break the fourth wall when they're made for real - because they're made for real people.

Polyducks

@eimyr That's hilarious. And Wythenshawe is pronounced 'With-en-shore'

Anaphory

I'm writing an encyclopedia to be used in-character in a LARP, and I'm looking for inspiration for that use.

BESW

9:27 AM

You may find "metafiction" a useful word.

Polyducks

@Anaphory have you seen that amazing illustrated encyclopedia in a made up language?

doppelgreener

@Anaphory Going back to the basics here - if you want to find gaps on your encyclopedia project, you don't need in-world encyclopedias - they're rare, purpose built and not reliable or, for that matter, necessary and worth digging up. Just find an approximately similar real life document and compare.

eimyr

@Anaphory I'm not sure if that was translated to English, but Manuscript Discovered in a Dragon's Cave (Rękopis znaleziony w Smoczej Jaskini, 2001), fantasy encyclopedic compendium. by Andrzej Sapkowski would be exactly what you need. It even has out-of-universe and in-universe sections for many entries.

Polyducks

@Anaphory Codez Seraphinianus en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Seraphinianus

"Fantastic beasts and where to find them" is another good choice

@doppelgreener you mean about as useful as a real-life book on compression engines?

Anaphory

@doppelgreener Real-World books have a differnt focus, fictional-world ones need to focus on the differences, without letting it shine through that they take some real-world things for granted.

@Polyducks That sounds like a good suggestion.

doppelgreener

9:31 AM

@Anaphory you're making an in world book about an empire. We've written a lot of those.

BESW

The Dictionary of Imaginary Places is an encyclopaedia of fictional locations from other books, presented as if they're all equally real.

Polyducks

@Anaphory The Codex Seraphinianus is a good choice if you just want to draw pictures

BESW

@Polyducks I think he's focused on writing, so the Voynich Manuscript may not be especially helpful.

Polyducks

Shame. That's another good one

Anaphory

@BESW Google Search by Image suggests Kokopelli Tattoos

BESW

9:40 AM

Ha! Thank you.

Anaphory

@Polyducks It is!

Have humanity figured out more about it than last time I checked? ...

BESW

I don't think there's been anything significant for about 40 years, and nothing conclusive ever.

Polyducks

@Anaphory I think it's most likely to be automatic writing. What an interesting morning's google I've had. You guys should look at the dreamachine. Trippy as hell. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamachine

Sounds like something out of a mage campaign

@Anaphory the most obvious place to look for an in-game encyclopedia would be a DnD ruleset

They work hard to set theme and flavour, and cover the most important things players need to know about the world

with any game you want to know about combat (including if there is any in the game) and how to 'win'

You'll need laws of the land. Those are often a good one to start the flavour of the universe

"Nobody must remove their machine. Penalty is death." sets a good, ominous tone

Anaphory

Ah, I need to be off to bed. See you in the morrow!

BESW

ttfn

Polyducks

9:57 AM

o7 night!

I'd better go and pretend I'm working hard :)

later guys!

BESW

Ta.

BESW

10:27 AM

Ask Lovecraft reminds us the best way to pronounce the name of the Faceless God.

BESW

11:35 AM

but at what cost? https://t.co/y0t3Yag2EF

Tweeted by Jam_sponge on March 1, 2016 at 3:43 PM

BESW

12:27 PM

> Kokopelli Tattoo (megastunt)
Function: Living tattoo of a music god
Flaw: Living tattoo of a trickster god
- Ink armor. Armor:2.
- Live-in muse. You get +3 instead of +2 when invoking musical aspects.
- Erratic inspiration. Spend a Fate point and pick a skill: you get +2 with that skill until the end of the scene.

BESW

12:56 PM

One of my players just sent me some ARRPG hardware stunts. One of them is a petrification gun with the flaw that sometimes it doesn't immobilise its target--instead it turns them into a rock monster.

David Wilkins

1:18 PM

I like the Kokopelli Tattoo. I really need to play Fate at some point

So I have an idea what to do with the Dragon

BESW

@DavidWilkins The full PC that I made today.

David Wilkins

Since the players have been spending the last three days murdering his entourage, he has been building ice walls around every entrance into his lair except one. The players can break through them with spells or weapons, but it will take a few turns, during which the dragon has a monologue (not yet written)

BESW

Ooh, evil monologuing! Good call.

David Wilkins

By the time they break through to get to the dragon, he is ready to abandon this minor lair, but not after trying to land a breath attack.

He (as written) is supposed to abandon it anyway after taking 100 points of damage if facing more than three foes

Hey there @eimyr

eimyr

hi

David Wilkins

1:31 PM

"My skin is a mystical minefield" sounds non-sequitur but in that context, is an awesome description

eimyr

DJ Tats Banter is a good name for...?

BESW

...a girl I knew in college.

eimyr

What is Tep?

David Wilkins

I assume one of his tats?

maybe an egyption thing?

BESW

Typo.

David Wilkins

1:34 PM

ahh

BESW

...I have this thing where I keep accidentally giving my PCs three or more names.

David Wilkins

well, aliases are cool, as long as we can cross-reference

at least when needed

BESW

He's Mateo Martinez, but his professional name is DJ Romeo, and his friends call him Teo, and people who aren't his friends but are trying to be informal call him Matt.

David Wilkins

Which reminds me...I have to mail in my jury pool selection questionaire

eimyr

huh

That's neat. Some room for the GM to act out, but woe is him if everyone does it.

I always have trouble remembering PC names...

hmmm

Mainsite question?

Pixie

1:37 PM

I do well to give my characters just the one name.

eimyr

HI @PIXIE!

BESW

22

Q: Helping players remember NPCs with uncommon names

In my game of The Dark Eye we play in the south of Aventuria, and thus the players come across many NPCs with names that are not that common (especially compared to common german names) and my players struggle with remembering the names. We mostly play in town, so there are many NPCs at once in s...

eimyr

Were you here when I pondered the tentacley name?

Pixie

HI @EIMYR!

I was.

eimyr

I settled for Ciaran Cuttle.

bonus points for alliteration

Pixie

1:38 PM

Nice.

eimyr

It was cooking for a long time before I settled, but it came naturally.

BESW

AM I TOO LATE FOR CAPSLOCK GREETINGS? HI EVERYONE!

#quiettooquiet

@eimyr Ah, one of those names that none of my group would get the accent right for.

eimyr

well, the accent is on "ran"

Pixie

BESW

@DmitryGrigoryev Hi!

@eimyr Yeah, I looked it up to be sure.

eimyr

1:44 PM

kiya-RAN cut-tel

BESW

We're having a hard enough time with Llyan.

eimyr

how do you pronounce that?

Pixie

We played in my PF game for like 2 years before anyone realized how my character's name was pronounced.

BESW

@eimyr lee-AHN

eimyr

@BESW hwo does your group copes with Domhnall Gleeson?

@BESW Also, thanks for the link, but it's related, doesn't solce my problem...

Pixie

1:46 PM

It was mostly Skype IMs, but we'd done some voice sessions. I didn't correct anyone, but I consistently pronounced his name in the intended fashion. It was amusing when I told them.

eimyr

@Pixie and the name was...?

Pixie

Flainn.

It's pronounced more like "flan."

eimyr

somewhere between Flan and Flynn, aight?

Pixie

Yep, it's related to the name Flynn.

eimyr

Celtic in origin too.

BESW

1:49 PM

My friend Alan has no idea why I say his name funny and then chortle.

eimyr

My players in Courtly Intrigue had very diverse names. There was Zeyus of Maen and Domingo of Talanavera, Draego and Toraden Silverstaf (single f). I struggled to remember.

BESW

One of my players had a PC named Edgar immediately after a PC named Rodger. I eventually gave up and started calling Edgar by his last name exclusively.

eimyr

I warned them that if they keep putting names like those on their retinue NPCs too, all other NPCs will be called Zdzisław Skrzypczak of Myszkowice.

What's wrong with Edgar?

Pixie

Probably just easy to get the names mixed up. My boyfriend and I find ourselves accidentally typing the other character's name if they both start with the same letter or are otherwise similar.

BESW

Two __dg_r names in a row? I wasn't gonna get them right more than half the time.

eimyr

1:54 PM

I guess.

Was the pronunciation similar too?

BESW

No, but my brain is pretty visual that way.

eimyr

I would naturally pronounce it as Ed-ghar and Rod-jer

I see.

BESW

When things get in my aural memory, horrible Spoonerisms arise instead.

Pixie

We've also had games in which neither character had a name, sometimes for rather extended periods of time, because finding a suitable name was too difficult. That's why I said I'm doing well to give my character a single name. I wasn't kidding. :P

eimyr

@BESW Your new avatar

BESW

1:57 PM

Usually the name comes first or last for me.

eimyr

I figure names out when I'm driving.

Alone.

BESW

"Horrible Spoonerisms" would, of course, be a good name for a band.

eimyr

To say them out loud often.

Pixie

Occasionally I get them early on, but if I don't, they take forever. Thus, more than once, we've had the characters fully formed and ready to go, just... nameless. So we refer to them by epithets and get going.

eimyr

"Sporrible Hoonerisms" too.

Unfortunately I often name characters after fictional ones.

Existing fictional ones.

And not on purpose.

BESW

1:59 PM

Sporrible Hoonerisms' first album is "Nameless Epithets."

Pixie

@eimyr Heh. My boyfriend has done that before, but normally it's an intentional reference to the character.

@BESW I had to look at this three times because I thought my eyes were mixing up letters. I can't put it past them.

eimyr

I can't see anything wrong..

BESW

@eimyr That's the album's first single.

eimyr

Their last will be "Foreigners don't understand us". It will rake in a Brit Award granted by a confused and humiliated jury.

When I name NPCs it's 5. The Forgetful. Ummm..his name is... errrr... BILL!!! shines outwards, screams inwards

Pixie

"Didn't you say his name was Tom before?" "Oh. No. That's, um. His brother."

BESW

2:11 PM

There's an easy way to avoid that confusion.

eimyr

Couple hours later, the RPG hangover begins. *How could I forget his name was Tom? And why do I always come up with those terrible common names? A vampire lord named Tom? What was I thinking?"

Pixie

Tom and Bill, mild-mannered, average Joes who are also twin brother vampire lords. That's actually a pretty fun idea.

eimyr

Now his name is Joe too? writhes in GM ennui

Pixie

"It's... his surname! Bill... Joe."

The poor man's Billy Joel.

Oh, clickbait video titles. "10 creepy anime you definitely haven't seen!" had my hopes up, but I had seen most of them and heard of all of them.

BESW

There are worse names for a villain.

eimyr

2:16 PM

Mainsite question seed: How to create a clickbait PC name?

Pixie

"You'll NEVER believe what this villain calls himself!" "What?" "Oh, he doesn't call himself anything. He just tells people they'll never believe it."

eimyr

Groin sounds like a distant, slightly odd cousin of Oin and Gloin, who was excluded from the quest despite being an expert one-handed swordsman.

BTW on the first session of D&D 5e I haven't been accustomed to the GMs accent and he has sent us to travel to Matrain Farm without spelling it out.

For a while I was convinced that it's an in-joke that we're going to a Metroid Farm and used it as honest-to-god legit intended farm name.

BESW

I was going in the direction of "my train farm" and imagining rows of little cow-catchers sticking up from the dirt.

eimyr

(He pronounced it more like Metroin Farm, as he tried to imitate Welshness.)

(Welshity? Welshdom.)

mech

2:34 PM

In my long-running Greyhawk game, I named one of my main NPCs Samuel, and then one of my main antagonists Samael. Players still haven't let me live it down.

eimyr

Ouch.

@Pixie Have you seen Maria the Virgin Witch?

Pixie

@eimyr I have not. A friend enjoyed it, so I was going to check it out sometime, but that describes a great many shows. xD

eimyr

I have seen 3 eps so far

And I have to say, from the very beginning, the portrayal of Medieval society is shockingly accurate.

Pixie

I've been watching Maoyuu lately myself. I need to finish the last couple episodes.

eimyr

The arms and armor, tactics etc are spot on and the creators went out of their way to portray real (although bizarre) events, such as a criminal process on a pig that stampeded a man to death.

(Some of such events were documented by contemporary writings)

I didn't think it would go to such lengths.

But then you have frivolous magic and typical anime fanservice, talking about the sexual conduct of the main character (quite in character) and childish anime tropes like distracting an angel to look the other way literally (out of character)

Pixie

2:45 PM

Hmm, accurate armor? I wouldn't have expected that from the images I've seen of the show. :P

eimyr

Remember, it's 15th century.

Pixie

I know. What I mean is that I'm not sure I've even seen a character from that show who's got more than half of their skin covered. :v

eimyr

You have this anime rubbish alongside this spot on combat scene.

Pixie

Ah, okay.

eimyr

Even Skallagrim, the Youtube Resident Weapons Guy, praised it.

But what I was most happy to see were the non-combat elements - customs, buildings, plain clothes.

Pixie

2:50 PM

That has been my biggest stumbling block in picking it up, but it's also kind of... everywhere, these days. There are moments in Maoyuu that make me groan, but thankfully, they don't focus on fanservice too much.

eimyr

They didn't fall for "brown tide medieval" stereotype

Pixie

I don't know what that means.

eimyr

looked up maoyuu Oh! The Boobs Red Horns screenshot anime!

brown tide = a) excrement is everywhere and no one seems to mind b) no one dresses in colourful clothes, even rich nobles

everything is dull brown or gray, even paintings and banners

Pixie

Yes. There is a bit of fanservice and occasional boob jokes. Not even good ones. That is the groaning part. But the real focus is politicial/social interactions.

eimyr

see Ironclad or Game of Thrones to some extent

Yeah, I've seen some GIFs. They unerringly focus on the cleavage.

Pixie

2:59 PM

Unsurprising. xD I had decided to give it to episode 2 and was glad I did.

eimyr

I've had rough past with so called "hard" or "heavy" animes. They all seem very... uneventful?

Txnolyze and Ergo Proxy didn't manage to keep me watching

Not even mentioning GitS

Pixie

I haven't seen either of those. From what I know about them, I wouldn't put Maoyuu in the same catgory. It's nothing like GitS (which I enjoy, but I haven't finished SAC).

eimyr

I've heard nothing but praise about them.

And I enjoyed some deeper ones, e.g. Haibane no Renmei

but this proved too much dystopia and deliberate inaction to follow

Pixie

I haven't seen that one yet. I did start Lain, but I haven't finished it yet.

Maoyuu is kind of about ending a war in ways other than fighting (because the roots of the war can't be solved through battle), so there's not much of that, but it does happen.

AncientSwordRage

7:49 PM

BESW

8:37 PM

@mech I once had a villain from the PCs' past who changed his name when he found religion, and teamed up with them for quite a while without them noticing.

trogdor

@eimyr lol

I in no way understand how my brain decides on a character name

I tend just to roll with it when it happens XD

nitsua60

9:01 PM

@AncientSwordRage it seems the difference between LG and CE is a question of "have I had my shower yet today?" Which, all told, is probably as good an alignment guide as you're gonna get.

2

AncientSwordRage

@nitsua60 sounds reasonable

BESW

CE is what I get on top of my head if I wait too long after my shower to re-tame my hair.

Pixie

9:24 PM

CE is clearly Super Saiyan. Which my phone wanted to correct Super Satan.

trogdor

lol

well, there is a guy named Mr Satan,....

mech

@BESW LOL. What really messed it up for me was that both of the Sam... NPCs were members of the same church, only one of them had gone rogue (while the other was literally the head/pope figure) :P

BESW

@mech My NPC eventually had a crisis of faith after he failed to help the PCs stop a demon, and tried to assassinate the leader of his church and take his place.

....given that he still considered the PCs his friends, and the leader of his church was an enormous super-intelligent two-headed ice-breathing polar bear, he asked the party to help him.

When the dust settled, both the NPCs were dead and one of the PCs had his own religious organisation.

trogdor

lol

Pixie

That's one way to amass a following.

My phone is apparently touchy today. :P

BESW

9:32 PM

I was guessing cat.

Pixie

That's usually a safe guess.

BESW

It was more of a cult, really. They believed that magic was a limited resource and the alarming reduction of magic in the world was due to too many permanent magic items trapping the power which should be free for everyone.

trogdor

cats are always a good guess when something is going wrong

BESW

After the PCs discovered the vanishing magic was actually the fault of a witch who'd accidentally level-drained herself and was levelling back up by sloppily keg-standing all the magic in the world, the cult didn't have a lot to do.

I need this to be a gif.

Pixie

Cult: [stands around awkwardly, kicks some rocks around]

trogdor

9:41 PM

@BESW jar jar doing those hand movements you mean?

BESW

@trogdor No, the "THERE'S A FAN THEORY FOR THAT" animation.

trogdor

ah

ok

BESW

It will be put to good use in the Doctor Who chat.

trogdor

XD

BESW

@Pixie Yes, exactly. So the PC who wound up in charge of them re-purposed the cult to rebuild society after decades of war with a conquering empire and the subsequent rampage of a tarrasque who treated the empire's arsenals of magic rocks like enormous stashes of crack.

Pixie

9:48 PM

I think that phrase could sum up the entire early Madoka fandom. So much theorizing.

Also, I could make you a gif later if I can find a YouTube downloader that functions decently.

BESW

That would be marvellous.

Pixie

I'm not sure what it will look like, but this is the sort of thing I can get out of an old DVD.

BESW

10:04 PM

Nice.

trogdor