TRPG General Chat

6:15 PM

@KorvinStarmast Heh. We think very similarly, except I think you generally give up a bit more lattitude than I do :)

@godskook What I use is a map image, then load it in GIMP and can do whatever I want with it on a flatscreen monitor my players can see.

Adam

@NautArch I don't think pinning somebody's hands -> incapacitation. It's limiting, but not necessarily all that limiting

NautArch

@Adam Ill do an edit to add what I put in the comments. The end-goal of the barbarian to prevent spellcasting. Since pinning doesn't do that (they still can do verbal and possibly a material with a focus), that leaves removing their Action. Is that incorrect?

Adam

@NautArch Is disarming a fighter and throwing his sword off a cliff removing his action? Same sort of concept applies here.

NautArch

@Adam Nope, he can still attack. This wasn't about removing a material/focus (which is an equivalent to the fighter question). A better equivalent is how to stop the fighter from attacking.

Adam

6:22 PM

Except the spellcaster can still cast spells. Plenty of spells have only a verbal component

NautArch

Ugh. nevermind.

nwp

I feel like this question is clearly "primarily opinion based" but the community seems to disagree. Why is that?

NautArch

deleted my answer, I like @KorvinStarmast answer It's what I meant to say :) ALthough I did like my bit on turnaround is fair play (which another answer had as well.)

nwp

The objective question in the title is already answered in the question and the rest is speculation how a DM might rule or opinion of what answerer's would rule.

NautArch

@nwp that's a good point- although i also don't see anything wrong with the answers (except for one of them.) to help guide the querent

godskook

6:26 PM

@nwp, the title question is the only question he's asking, so I don't see how you can say its answered in the question.

ShadowKras

A lot of questions are opinion-based, specially for 5ed. But some are objective enough so they can be answered.

nwp

@godskook The question acknowledges that there is no such mechanic in the rules and asks if it should be done anyways. It essentially asks how to apply the rule of cool without breaking balance.

Adam

The question sits on the good-subjective/bad-subjective line. My gut feeling is that it's good subjective, but I can see the argument for the other side of things. And I can't really explain why it doesn't scream "opinion based" to me

godskook

@nwp, as I understand it, the question was never, in anyway shape or form, asking about a mechanic, and therefore, acknowledging that there's no such mechanic does not "answer" the title question.

@nwp, and we have the homebrew tag, and can answer "is this balanced" questions on this site.

ShadowKras

well, if you think its opinion-based, you can cast a vote and others could agree/disagree.

nwp

6:34 PM

I don't want the question closed. It apparently is a decent question. It's more about calibrating my sense of what is allowed.

ShadowKras

"Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise." <- can the question be answered based on facts, references or specific expertise (good knowledge of the game system i assume)?

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch amigo, I liked your answer on the grapple thing. Why did you delete it? I thought you did a good job of presenting some of the balance problems ..

godskook

I'm not exactly "mainstream" about what's a good question around here, but here's my opinion:

"What should be my favorite color" - bad question, as every answer is equally good.

"What colors go best with #f7e4c9" - good question, as some answers are better than others, and useful links, facts, references, and expertise can be brought to bear on answering it.

nwp

@godskook I think that is it. The question is basically a homebrew/balance question in disguise (I may just have rolled low on insight here).

Although the line between homebrew/balance and opinion is a bit fuzzy for me, but that will probably solve itself over time.

KorvinStarmast

@nwp Part of the reason that I answered was to illustrate some of the balance issues that is in the game, such as the feat, though some of what nautarch posted illustrated that better. I am also a fan of inspiration, so I wanted to plug that. 8^D

godskook

6:42 PM

@nwp, imho, this isn't homebrew, or even houserule, just someone trying to understand the rules of the game as they're printed, but in this case, the distinction between that and houserules/homebrew is rather thin, so....w/e?

nwp

@KorvinStarmast Now I'm not so sure anymore. "I am also a fan of inspiration, so I wanted to plug that." is exactly the kind of thing an opinion based answer attracts and the reason they get closed.

KorvinStarmast

@nwp because this is a perfect scenario to apply inspiration to overcome the disadvantages I recommended due to how the grapple feat and grapple rules differ significantly.

The recommendations were built on how the mechanics of grapple and the feat do work.

@nwp since the question is from a DM, and a number of us have noted that a lot of DM's don't seem to dig that deeply into the DMG, and inspiration is explained there, it's an aid to the DM embedded into the answer based on common DM questions and concerns.

@nwp The other reason I bring that up, from an "experienced/expert" perspective is that a lot of questions try to examine things in isolation. Well, a party fight has a lot of moving parts, and if your party has a bard, that can make something hard less difficult. (So too could a guidance cantrip cast on the barb right before he tries it).

nwp

@KorvinStarmast That sounds like "The question is vague. Let's answer with general tips on how to DM" to me which is not good.

KorvinStarmast

@nwp Not at all. The question is about a particular scenario "making grapple do more" with the anser being "this is what grapple does and 'this is what the feat does' and by the way, here is how to make that which is difficult less difficult. Rulings over Rules is the 5e theme ... hence the entire answer based on a ruling with logic backing up why.

The inspiration point is bonus material, based on common questions and concerns expressed. (and witnessed)

What I liked about @NautArch's answer, sadly deleted by owner, was how it addressed the potential for simply allowing this "easy button" shut down of a caster to overpower what grapple is, mechanically.

NautArch

7:16 PM

@KorvinStarmast I can undelete it...i just don't like it because I didn't fully read anything today and missed that he wasn't looking to fully prevent spellcasting, but just material/somatic.

@KorvinStarmast ok...it's back. with some changes :)

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