TRPG General Chat

The Oracle

00:28

-2

Q: Stack Overroll: the Stack Exchange RPG?

I've written the basic mechanics for a new role-playing game, and I wanted to crowd-source the details, like writing specific spells, creatures, items, etc. Do you think SE would be a good place for something like this: i.e., an official SE RPG? The system uses opposed rolls, where you roll your...

discussion

Ben

01:01

Morning all

linksassin

@Ben Morning

How'd the wedding go?

Ben

It was Funktastic haha

There was a druid and everything lol

linksassin

Got through your speech alright then?

Ben

Yeah :) had no issues at all

Which, considering the track record, is a bit odd

Apparently it was really good too, so I'm a bit chuffed about it

linksassin

Congrats!

BESW

01:09

Grats!

user15026

@Ben yay! :D

V2Blast

wooooooo

trogdor

Nice

Ben

01:39

Ty ^_^

It was kinda funny cos everyone was congratulating me on such a great speech, just as much as everyone was congratulating the newly weds haha

I do wish someone recorded it though. It was off the top of my head, but my sister loved it haha.

user15026

I am glad she loved it :)

Shalvenay

hey there @nitsua60

trogdor

@Ben that's definitely important

Ben

Yeah :) and I'm happy I was able to make her feel special :)

BESW

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Tweeted by EvilHatOfficial on May 14, 2019 at 7:57 PM

KorvinStarmast

01:50

@Ben I have given speeches at quite a few weddings. I rehearsed them all. I tip my cap to you for going extemporaneous. Well done.

linksassin

@KorvinStarmast Any speech I rehearse is 10x worse than something spontaneous. I don't even like writing them down because then I worry about remembering the words precisely rather than delivering a good speech.

Ben

So I have a friend that is going professional with their artwork (as in, they're doing commissions to make money/build their profile). At the moment they're on twitter, FB, and Insta, but I don't feel like they're a proper "artwork" page? Anyone have any other suggestions?

@KorvinStarmast [Googles "extemporaneous"] Why thank you :D

linksassin

@Ben Is deviantArt still a thing?

KorvinStarmast

@linksassin I can do either, but for a large setting (like my daughter's wedding, over 300 people) I hedged my bets. :)

@linksassin yes it is

linksassin

@KorvinStarmast Fair call.

Ben

01:53

@linksassin It is. I thought that too, but it's that reaction that I feel maybe it's not quite as prominent?

KorvinStarmast

@linksassin I also did extemporaneous at the funeral of a dear friend's dad, when she came up to me 10 minutes before the eulogy, tears in her eyes, and said "I can't. Please, will you?"

Shalvenay

@linksassin it very much still is a thing

linksassin

@Ben I'm not an artist is why I have that reaction. I know of it from friends that are though. So I imagine it's bigger in that community.

Ben

@KorvinStarmast Yeah true. I realised, after that speech that I do the "look over the crowd" behaviour

@KorvinStarmast Well done

@linksassin I used it too. I'm not as much of an artist as I used to be though

KorvinStarmast

@Ben Yeah, I love working a room, but first, you have to try and get a feel for the room.

user15026

01:55

@Ben I know a lot of humans who use Insta for art stuff, maybe if they use the same account for personal and art, separate the two, but other than that, shrug

Ben

@Shalvenay That's a bit more promising then haha

@KorvinStarmast Yes. Very important

KorvinStarmast

@Ben hitting a false note can created a centicringe: a hundred people cringing all at once. 8^p

And yeah, done that too. oops.

Ben

@Ash Yeah. If anything I feel she should probably do that. At the moment there is a large section of cat photos amidst everything else haha

user15026

nods She can do the same with like creating a FB "page" or whatever they call it specifically for art too

Ben

@Ash She has done that, and I think the same on twitter.

Not everyone is on social media though :P

user15026

01:59

Make a simple free page someplace that she can throw things on?

Ben

I'm being the "supportive" one that's giving her all the suggestions of how she can promote herself... giving her some commissions to test/expand/showcase her abilities, etc.

user15026

Like...you don't have to be on insta/FB/etc to find the stuff (insta especially, I find)

Ben

@Ash Yeah. It can be clunky though.

user15026

nods

Ben

The other part of it is NSFW filters

V2Blast

02:01

most artists do have a presence on various social media. but a website of her own might be good to have

KorvinStarmast

How my wood elf monk died - deviant art caught it.

user15026

I just think we are moving kinda away from the whole "you neeeeeeeeeeed a webpage" thing

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in answer, bad keyword with email in answer, email in answer, messaging number in answer, pattern-matching email in answer, +1 more (436): How does casting a cantrip work? Is it different than casting a regular spell? by Cindy Anthony on rpg.SE (@doppelgreener)

KorvinStarmast

@Ash that's what the cloud is all about

Ben

Like, DA has a tag, so it's automatically filtered. Insta doesn't overly care, so sometimes you need to throw the NSFW warning, which can be a red flag for a few people

V2Blast

02:02

@SmokeDetector gone in 23 seconds

Ben

Even if it's one pic, that has sideboob

@KorvinStarmast Counterpoint: Armour didn't help Boromir either :P

KorvinStarmast

@Ben what armor?

Ben

[Thinking of a quip that isn't self explanatory, to avoid ruining the joke]

@KorvinStarmast I suppose the "fantasy" in "fantasy armour" is a synonym for "fictional"

Shalvenay

@Ben :P

Ben

[nailed it]

KorvinStarmast

02:09

@Ben Or "nonfunctional beyond promoting sales among neckbeards" or something like that.

Shalvenay

@KorvinStarmast heheh, I've been known to lean almost too far in the other direction with my armored ladies

KorvinStarmast

Boris Vallejo established a certain style that seems to have had a lot of momentum ... naught to do with realism and much to do with promoting sales via book covers.

Ben

I'm trying t to find the one with the Full Plate Armour "Let's see them hit me now" with an arrow through the visor

Shalvenay

@Ben the lady before you simply fishes the arrow out of her visor and tosses it at your feet, as if throwing the gauntlet down for a duel

MikeQ

Greetings my fellow pasta enthusiasts

user15026

02:18

mmmmmpasta

Shalvenay

(i.e. they have what to some are too few qualms about embracing the "walking tank" look dialed up to 11)

(which isn't quite as impractical as it sounds, but still leads to some remarks....my favorite is a "what do you do when....nature calls?" question one of my chars got once :)

Ben

@MikeQ [insert Castlevania reference]

@Shalvenay That was your dragonborn, wasn't it?

Shalvenay

@Ben several of my chars, but yes, Jherala definitely falls in that category

Ben

My characters all fall into the "I'm fine [coughs up blood] No, no, I'm fine" tank category haha

Shalvenay

@Ben yeah, I have one or two that are that way, but sometimes that's not such a great idea :P

(HP tanks aren't so hot when healing items aren't as nice as they usually are and your cleric isn't exactly going to leap in with a healing spell either)

Ben

02:23

@MikeQ I've been reminiscing about my DH days lately.

@Shalvenay Especially when there is no Cleric haha

MikeQ

@Ben No need to reminisce. The machine god is eternal.

Shalvenay

@Ben oh, we had a Cleric :P but they were way in back

Ben

I've been trying to convince my regular GM to run a DH game, but he doesn't like the setting haha

MikeQ

Hm.... that's concerning. And heresy.

Ben

@Shalvenay Our PF Oracle is, oddly enough, the last one left alive, 4 times now, and counting. Lol. And they're really not stingy with their healing either

Shalvenay

02:27

@Ben yeah, it was a bit of a comedy of errors all around

Ben

@Shalvenay Thinking about all my characters so far, it's been very much a "Times didn't die: 45. Times Died: 2" The ratio is impressive

MikeQ

I mentioned Wrath and Glory to my TTRPG circle. No plans for now, but I think the wheels are in motion.

Of course, the gears of DEUS MECHANICUS are always in motion, for all time

Ben

@MikeQ excellent

I have also mentioned W&G. It has received a better response than DH; but again... same universe.

Shalvenay

@Ben yeah. I don't generally have trouble with going splat in pen-and-paper play, but I have one NWN character that I have long lost count of how many times she's died....

(and at a 10% XP penalty for death, that's not a fun experience. :/)

Ben

Oh joy haha

linksassin

02:31

So the best answer on my question is deleted by it's owner and I can't figure out why. rpg.stackexchange.com/a/148042/48759 They aren't active here so I can't ping them

Ben

@linksassin Odd. Maybe accidental?

linksassin

@Ben I'm not sure. But they raise several of the issues I had and part of the reason I asked the question. Since it's deleted I can't comment to follow up.

Is it appropriate to flag someone else's answer for undeletion?

Ben

Yeah. There's no vote to undelete either

I'd say it's worthwhile

@MikeQ I very nearly committed Tech Heresy once.

It was one of those "you must let me use your body for experiments after your death" situation.

Except the person in question was actually a Kroot

Ben

02:53

Me: [hears a fantastic joke] I'm going to remember that one!

Me 5 mins later: [remembers that I forgot the fantastic joke]

linksassin

@Ben Everytime.

Ben

03:34

Replaying BotW. Made the effort to get the Champion's Tunic, so I could look the part when I get the Master Sword. Wanted to get the Master Sword before I did any of the Divine Beasts, So I could look the part for the interactions with the Quest Givers.

You need 14 hearts to get the Master Sword, because retrieving it deals 13 and 3/4 hearts to retrieve.

I had 14, but I was missing 1/4.

I had to eat an apple, then do it again. Kinda undermined the whole feeling of it all haha

BESW

04:25

Astounding Tales and the Gods who Sing Them, by Momatoes on itch.io. It's tough being a deity when nobody pays attention to you anymore. Society has moved on, what? Madness! Of course, the solution is simple: craft tales so ASTOUNDING and so MAGNIFICENT that no one has any recourse but to listen to you again.

user15026

@BESW that sounds awesome.

linksassin

@BESW Yeah that looks really cool. Fit with my favourite lore for power level of gods. The power of gods is a direct function of their number and fervor of worshipers. I know it's not original but I love the idea of unpopular gods loosing power. That's why evangelism is so important. Cleric literally get stronger by their gods having more followers.

Ben

Reminds me of the Hogfather

> During Teatime's attempt to kill the Hogfather, his near-success resulted in the excess belief that would have been used for the Hogfather finding new outlets in the form of various creatures suggested by the Unseen University staff, including Bilious, the Oh God of Hangovers, the Hair Loss Fairy, and the Eater of Socks, although all but the Oh God of Hangovers seemingly ceased to exist once the Hogfather was restored.

linksassin

04:41

@Ben Which book is that from? I'm new-ish to Pratchett

Ben

@linksassin The Hogfather

@linksassin Though that quote is just from the wiki en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld_(world)#The_power_of_belief

The thing I like most about Discworld though, is that magic is chaotic and dangerous, to the point that the Wizards don't actually use it, and Rincewind is seen as one of the most powerful, because magic keeps happening around him, with no ill effect to him.

linksassin

@Ben TBH I'm not a fan of Rincewald himself. I prefer the City Watch or Death series.

Haven't got to the Hogfather yet.

Ben

I haven't read many Rincewind episodes. I've read Hogfather, The Last Hero, Colour of Magic, Wyrd Sisters, 5th Elephant, Nightwatch, and one with the Printing Press.

I've also seen a few stage performances, as well as one or two of the animated movies

linksassin

@Ben I hated Colour of Magic, it was bad enough that I wrote off the whole series as not worth the effort. Then a friend told me that they aren't all like that. So I read Guards! Guards! and loved it. Also liked Mort.

So now need to obtain/read the rest of those series.

BESW

I used to like the "gods need prayer badly" thing. These days, not so much, especially as a universal concept.

V2Blast

04:58

true. I haven't personally come across the trope too much but I haven't read all that much in ages

trogdor

@linksassin I really liked the ones I've read that didn't have Rincewind best for sure

linksassin

@BESW What turned you off it?

trogdor

I like his writing overall though, if partly because I haven't read too much fantasy that was similar to how he writes it

Ben

@linksassin side note clarification for my answer: I didn't watch too much of the CR series myself, because of that allowance to bend the rules on bonus actions etc. I didn't really delve too much into it, but it seemed like he would allow them to use their bonus action for things that normally couldn't be used as such.

BESW

@linksassin It doesn't make sense to many/most cultural senses of godhood, being an individualistic and often atheistic allegory, and too often it gets applied as a universal trope forcing that perspective onto the beliefs of cultures which don't value its underlying assumptions.

linksassin

05:01

@V2Blast It, or a version of it is pretty common. Think Rise of the Guardians a childrens movie where mythical figures only exist if children believe in them.

Ben

Just want to make sure I am presenting the right idea there

V2Blast

@linksassin yeah, I know it's semi-common, I just haven't personally read/watched/experienced too much media that uses it

BESW

I'd be totally fine if the only gods who need prayers badly are the ones whose cultural context means it makes sense for them.

linksassin

@Ben I'm up to date with the current campaign and have seen the first one twice-ish. There isn't a house rule to allow it. He just doesn't stop the game to check technicalities very often.

Ben

So it's more of a "let things slide to keep the game moving"

linksassin

05:05

@Ben Absolutely. He does a fair bit of that. I think he makes a quick judgement of whether or not it actually matter in this circumstance then moves on if it doesn't.

Ben

Ok, shall edit :)

linksassin

Things like using a skill to investigate a room but still getting an action to attack he often allows. Technically it's against the rules but preventing it would just slow down play.

Ben

@BESW The Gods be like

People stopped believing, and just went about their own things. So the Gods are just sitting around playing board games

trogdor

@BESW I only know of one god in it who actually seems to need prayers and the main society who worships him is,... Well pretty much a huge Inquisition, that being said I have no reason to think they don't all work that way in Diskworld either so fair enough

I did like that book though

linksassin

@Ben I feel like there should be a campaign setting where divine magic has died out. Until some adventurers discover a long closed temple, then one of the gods turns to the others and is like "Guys! I think someone believes in me!"

V2Blast

05:13

Here's the Twitch event for our Planeslip stream tomorrow: https://www.twitch.tv/events/dzevIXKrTnacdjFJY7Exrg
I'll post a reminder closer to game-time but you can set it to remind you when we're live

linksassin

@BESW I don't think it takes prayers. It takes belief. Some gods don't want prayers, but if no one knows they exist. They don't.

trogdor

It said a lot of things about religion I agree with. Although it might also have been a little harsh on religion in general so :/

I don't think i would recommend it to you

Ben

@linksassin [God feels a twinge] Woah what was that? [Twinges again] Wait... [looks down to mortal plane] Oh Me!

MikeQ

@linksassin This is similar to the premise of another Discworld book, Small Gods. An ancient deity has been reduced to a small tortoise, because their followers have corrupted the religion into a self-serving system. He befriends an outcast temple priest, who becomes his "prophet".

linksassin

A side product is that charlatans that stir up belief in a fake god are very surprised when that god actually shows up.

trogdor

05:17

@MikeQ yeah that's the one I read, I liked it personally

If partly because I really place certain organized religions as having become that exact kind of system

MikeQ

I mainly liked it because it was witty. And most of Pratchett's better stories poke at stuff like belief and the power of ideas.

trogdor

Yeah if you don't like his wit or his penchant to poke things like that don't read him for sure

I can certainly see some people being annoyed or even offended by it

Also if you've read one of his books, you haven't read all of them but you already have the general taste of the other books, at least that I've read

If you like it great, but if one is enough that's more than understandable

Or if one is too many even XD

Ben

Otto Chriek! He was the best

The Truth is the one I was thinking about.

They invent the Printing Press, then Otto joins and is a Flash Photographer that keeps dying. However he can be revived by dropping blood on his pile of ashes

At first they use a bloody steak. Then eventually he starts wearing a vial of blood on a chain around his neck, so he takes the photo, [poof] into ash; the vial smashes onto the ashes, [poof] he's back to his normal self again

linksassin

05:34

@trogdor The exception to that is Colour of Magic. While is has a similar style it is not a good indicator of the rest of his work from what I have read

kviiri

In Dungeon Crawl, Jiyva, the god of slimes, has only one sapient follower --- the rest are mindless slime creatures. Killing the only sapient follower kills Jiyva too, unless the player worships them too.

trogdor

@linksassin hmm maybe

It was the first one I read so it's most distant in my memory

linksassin

@kviiri That's cool.

@trogdor It was the first one I read too. And it was the reason I didn't read any more for several years. The others were much funnier and less disjointed.

trogdor

@linksassin my favorites are definitely the ones that feature Death and his family

Especially Hogfather

linksassin

Anyone with more experience than me in past versions of D&D? Do you know if the table in this answer on my question is from a different edition?

trogdor

05:48

I think that one is literally my favorite if his books

@linksassin ugh spellpoints no idea XD

I don't actually have a reason to hate them, I've never used em

linksassin

@trogdor Yeah, I'm gathering the opinion they weren't a popular option.

I'm just considering a particular theme for a future campaign and more flexible casting would suit.

trogdor

They do seem like an overcomplication, probably

linksassin

I also think it would be cool to make level 4.5 spells that use a different number of spell points.

trogdor

For my tastes i mean

linksassin

It would also allow for 'mana' potions that regain spellcasting.

trogdor

05:51

If you're looking for flexible casting it sounds like a good fit

linksassin

I was actually considering creating a complete homebrew system using mana before I decided to see if the built in variant was decent.

trogdor

For a D&D system/like system anyway

@linksassin have you looked at how DFRPG handles magic?

It's Fate so it would be a whole other system if you use D&D or Pathfinder or wtv

But it could give you ideas at least if you do end up home brewing something?

linksassin

@trogdor No yet. But I will be looking into Fate, DW and other more seriously when I get closer to the end of my current campaign as DM. I've got at least a year to get this ready, I was only asking so I could playtest spellpoints as a player in my current 5e campaign.

trogdor

Mk

Just wanted to make you aware of it

What it does well is flexible casting

The setting kinda turned some of us off though

Because the Dresden books did

V2Blast

#DnD Take: Monks should be rebranded to "Martial Artist" to remove the Orientalism aspects, and the ascetic aspects should be shunted to a subclass to reflect the dedication involved in that lifepath. Make them a dedicated melee combatant, high HP, low AC, high damage.

Tweeted by POCGamer on May 13, 2019 at 4:41 PM

linksassin

05:58

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to keep it in mind.

V2Blast

a good thread about monks in D&D

trogdor

But if you specifically like the magic mechanics which I think were mostly solid you don't need to set it in the Dresdenverse

BESW

@linksassin That's a distinction without a difference for the purposes of my objection. I'm using the TV Tropes term for clarity.

@MikeQ See, I don't object to Small Gods using the concept, because it's Prachett's own setting which he's set up as specifically allegorical to what he's interested in allegorizing, and he chose his targets carefully. There's little to no spillover.

MikeQ

Spillover? What do you mean?

Ah, are you comparing Pratchett's portrayal of power-via-belief versus Gaiman's potrayals?

BESW

Not specifically, but yes those are two good examples of what I consider responsible vs irresponsible use of the conceit.

Ben

06:07

@V2Blast What about the Shaolin Monks? (Didn't actually look at the link).

BESW

What about them?

V2Blast

@Ben what about them?

lol

also, you should look at the link

it's a thread

Ben

I do feel though, that there is validity to it. Even monks that study martial art usually live lives of peace and pacifism

MikeQ

@BESW From what I've seen, Pratchett is focused more on sort of a social belief. People believe in something, spiritual or practical or other, and that idea gains power and changes how people think and behave. Whereas Gaiman uses real-world religions and the characters have some connection to certain understandings of religious faith, but it's not the point of the story.

linksassin

@V2Blast Interesting thread. Inherit racism in gaming is definitely an issue. If monastic traditions is sensitive topic for some people perhaps it is something we should consider.

Hot RPG Questions

06:14

1

Q: What kind of action are dodge and disengage?

Question about Actions vs Bonus Actions, vs Reactions: In a game I was DMing recently (5e), the cleric had 2 ghouls on him. He took his reaction to dodge the attacks of the ghouls, and on his turn he took his action to try to use turn undead, then used his bonus action to dash from the ghouls. I...

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Ben

@linksassin Inherent*?

linksassin

@BESW Fair. To be clear when I say favourite, I mean for use in my own settings not that it should be universally applied as an religion allegory.

@Ben ... yes... my bad.

Ben

Haha. That could have gone one way or anther :P

linksassin

@Ben Though inherent racism is often inherited.

Ben

Not untrue

Lol

BESW

06:22

@linksassin It's not just about reducing harm, though that's obviously very important. half the thread is about how removing the Orientalism creates space for more variety of interesting and fun options.

Challenging stereotypes makes for more interesting games.

MikeQ

Are there really no WOTC publications about how to generic-ize (?) the cultural inspirations from the system mechanics?

linksassin

@BESW True, and while I agree with that I don't think that having the Oriental aspects has to prevent those ideas. We could do flavour re-skins anyway to get most of the characters he suggests.

V2Blast

@MikeQ not that I'm aware of.

BESW

He addresses that really clearly: the problem is not of flavor.

V2Blast

Unfortunately the top comment on the the reddit thread tries its hardest to miss the point: reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/botpk3/…

BESW

06:25

@The_Infideer @ratnovelist @DropTheDie @royal_running Most classes don't have anything so culturally specific baked into them. Even the Barbarian class with it's Scandinavian-esque art examples can be extended to non-European areas; Monks have a lot of specific cultural stuff baked in you get no matter what martial artist you play.

Tweeted by POCGamer on May 13, 2019 at 9:20 PM in reply to The_Infideer

V2Blast

(I also had to remove another comment in the thread for trying very hard to start an argument and insult people)

BESW

Jul 10 '18 at 22:18, by BESW

It's not broken if you tell the end user to fix it.

V2Blast

@The_Infideer @POCGamer @ratnovelist @DropTheDie @royal_running If your solution is that the consumers should use the product in a specific way, why shouldn't the product change instead?

Tweeted by ramblingenzyme on May 15, 2019 at 1:45 AM in reply to The_Infideer

(a reply to a user saying "A rule I have while writing is to base my cultures on a mix of at least two others in the real world; maybe D&D players should do the same with monks?")

BESW

But seriously, a palette swap is explicitly insufficient for what he's talking about; the monk's abilities are tied to Orientalist mysticism to the point that you'd have to twist yourself into knots to justify associating those mechanics with forms of martial arts from other parts of the world--or even most actual Asian martial arts forms.

The problem is not just about labels, it's built into the mechanics.

linksassin

That's fair.

MikeQ

06:34

This is true. Unfortunately D&D isn't a culture-neutral system. Consider the mechanics of clerics, paladins, and druids. Or the descriptions of gods, dwarves, elves, gnomes, demons, devils, and magic. They're all through western lenses.

A "culture neutral" system would be appealing, but WOTC is more content to stick with their own D&D traditions.

V2Blast

@BESW yeah, his first tweet sort of states the same

BESW

[sigh] D&D's "tradition" is the calcification of a collection of random things previous developers liked in their books and movies.

Personally, I'd play a master of suffrajitsu in a heartbeat.

She wields an umbrella and a hairpin and will mess you up.

linksassin

@BESW Doesn't the 'jitsu' part of 'suffajisu' tie it equally to eastern themes? Genuine question not accusing.

BESW

@linksassin Suffrajitsu is what the newspapers called the mix of martial arts used by the bodyguards of the Women's Social and Political Union to protect their leaders from the police.

MikeQ

@linksassin Etymologically yes, which is different from how WOTC does orientalized depictions in their western-centric fantasyland, which is the issue at hand

linksassin

06:42

@BESW Ok cool. So it's a period accurate term. That's cool to know.

@MikeQ Awesome. I can understand that distinction.

BESW

If I made a suffrajitsu "class," I'd take certain liberties but it'd be within the context of codifying the self-defense styles of several different actual womens' lib movements, not just making stuff up based on movies exoticising them.

(The actual WSPU Bodyguard used exercise clubs, not umbrellas and hatpins, in actual jiu-jitsu techniques, when fighting the police; umbrella/hatpin techniques were taught to women for self-defense.)

linksassin

Cool so what would the hypothetical Martial Artist class have to distinguish it from fighter?

MikeQ

Flip the question around. What defines a "Fighter"?

linksassin

If we made "Martial Arts" a fighting style that fighters could take at first level it would basically be what we want yeah?

BESW

There's a Twitter thread in the original discussion which bangs out an interesting idea for a kind of sorcerer-style melee combatant, where their power source defines their subclass features.

MikeQ

06:50

@linksassin Depends who "we" is and what they want, but that is a reasonable approach

BESW

I have no interest in hashing out D&D mechanics, I'd play a suffrajitsu in a game that made me happy.

> Hatpin Handstab You have wpn:4 on physical attacks against targets who are touching you.

linksassin

@MikeQ Basically I was trying to figure out what niche, Martial Artist would fill that wouldn't be covered by Fighter or Barbarian. Unarmed attacks that do decent damage is about the only part.

BESW

> Always accessorize. When someone checks you for weapons, they always miss one.

MikeQ

Hm, that depends on how much of the monk class that the nebulous "we" wants to keep.

BESW

D&D doesn't really need niche protection.

@Tyrophant Why not? I'm having an amazing conversation about this thread right now elsewhere that pretty much solved this by using a combination of a sorcerous power style origin and associated subclasses to capture a variety of possibilities and playstyles.

Tweeted by POCGamer on May 14, 2019 at 3:30 AM in reply to Tyrophant

Here, I even found the thread for you: here's the end of it

MikeQ

07:07

@linksassin The rest of the system is designed such that weapons and armor are necessary for martial combat. So at minimum, you'd want to cover 1. having comparable defense without armor, and 2. having comparable offense without weapons.

If I really had to, I'd cover defense as a fighting style (static formula for calculating AC when unarmored), and the offense as a martial archetype (since punches need to keep up with those other heroes who get progressively cooler magical weapons)

linksassin

@MikeQ Probably a good start yeah.

@MikeQ Marital archetype doesn't kick in till 3rd level though. Makes it difficult to be useful until then.

MikeQ

Right, so the PC would start off as an unarmored fighter with a weapon, then at level 3 they'd gain extra tricks for when they punch

Maybe they joined a kickboxing club or a crossfit gym, and gaining the archetype reflects their new lifestyle change

linksassin

Not sure that quite hits the theme of being a street brawler backstory. Or whatever else they want to be. Perhaps we do need a custom class to not be locked in to the progression of the fighter

BESW

Capoeira, pankration, kurash....

MikeQ

No, adding niche classes just bloats the system, especially when it's not too different from an existing mechanic

See: gunslinger, swashbuckler

BESW

07:20

[shrug] I like the idea of a martial sorcerer/warlock conceit, myself.

Somebody dedicated to a particular cause/philosophy so much that they get supernatural melee abilities from it. Subclasses for each broad cause/philosophy.

Or in a game I'd like, just pick the cause/philosophy and figure out what that would give you thematically.

> Ginga. When you successfully defend against an attack, you get +2 to attack the next turn. When you successfully attack, you get +2 on defenses until the next turn. You lose the benefit of this stunt if you cannot move to an adjacent zone (you don't have to move, you just have to be able to).

> Esquivas. When you succeed with style on defense, you can shed all restrictive effects and move to an adjacent zone in addition to any other benefit.

MikeQ

> Gun. When you have a loaded firearm, you get +2 to attack.

The Oracle

07:42

3

Q: Best answer to my question was deleted by owner, what do I do?

The best answer on my recent question was deleted by its owner. It raises many of the issues that were the reason I asked the question and doesn't appear to have any major issues to be a cause for deletion. I tried asking about it in chat but didn't get a solution. The user isn't active there and...

discussion specific-question deleted-answers

Ben

> I have a gun in my pocket. You can pretend you have a gun. +2 to intimidation rolls.

> Yours says "Replica". Mine says "Desert Eagle, 4.0". You automatically succeed your next intimidation roll when you place your loaded weapon on the table

V2Blast

presented without context:

@POCGamer @whimsicaldumpin if you can't supplex a train then what is even the point of playing a martial artist?

Tweeted by axesnorcs on May 13, 2019 at 5:25 PM in reply to POCGamer

Ben

Pew pew. you gain +2 to charisma rolls when you shout "pew pew" as your fire your ranged weapon.

@V2Blast I use "deflect missiles" to redirect the train.

V2Blast

finished typing up my long breakdown (agreeing with POCGamer's tweet) in a comment on that reddit thread: reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/botpk3/…

BESW

> Choo Choo. When you use an Overcome action to change zones, and you move fewer zones than your roll allows, you may choose for every creature in each zone you enter to defend against the difference between the zones you moved and the shifts you rolled.

> Chew chew. You can eat the scenery. Choose a social skill when you select this stunt; you may use that skill to overcome physical obstacles.

Ben

08:00

Chew chew. You are a raptor. You may rate the target on a scale of Tasty:Bland/Juicy:Chewy

trogdor

@V2Blast suplexing trains is the best

BESW

@Ben Wait, I've played that game.

Hot RPG Questions

4

Q: If a Lizardfolk druid is in Wild Shape, and uses his Hungry Jaws trait, does he use the damage from the beast's bite or the lizardfolk's bite?

Lizardfolk have a feature that gives them natural weapons in the form of their jaws. This bite deals 1d6+Str damage. Hungry Jaws. In battle, you can throw yourself into a vicious feeding frenzy. As a bonus action, you can make a special attack with your bite. If the attack hits, it deals its ...

dnd-5e damage druid wild-shape natural-weapon

Ben

I vaguely remember a mention of that scale in comparison to the lawful:chaotic/good:evil scale too

trogdor

@BESW ah yes, too bad it was pretty disappointing in many ways

BESW

08:14

@trogdor Next stop: TERRORSAUR

trogdor

It was fun the one time but the action also got interrupted constantly by failure

@BESW lol

Ben

If your ISP cut off your service because they forgot to automatically withdraw the money from the account, would it be worthwhile to ask for that time to be given to you for free, because it was their failure?

BESW

Probably depends on your ISP and the level of minion you've been able to ascend to.

Ben

@BESW I think in the eyes of our main ISP, were effectively the minions from Overlord. Lol

Carcer

it wouldn't be unreasonable to express your displeasure at their failure and you might even get a very sympathetic customer service rep who comps you something

but I'd suspect you don't have high odds on that

Ben

08:25

I think the argument is effectively "you should give me free stuff because you failed to take my money".

But depending on how silver your tongue is, it could work

Carcer

well, no, part of the argument is that you were deprived of a service you had a standing agreement with them to provide, through their own failure, not yours

suddenly having no internet access could have plausibly caused you reasonable financial harm depending on your job and circumstances etc.

Ben

@Carcer Precisely

Carcer

also I think BESW's suggestion was about the level of customer service minion you manage to get the complaint to

BESW

yes, that.

Ben

In all honesty, there's Telstra, which I think is just about making the issues disappear as quickly as possible, and then everyone else is all about customer service

@Carcer Ohh right. Yes

Miniman

08:56

@Ben No-one, and I mean no-one, is "all about customer service".

Ben

"more-so than telstra" might be more accurate. Lol

Or maybe the idea is "you pay for the customer service, because that's the only reliable service you'll get"

:P

Carcer

09:52

yeah, the ISP I use personally is... very expensive, compared to the mainstream offerings, but they are reliable and they have a reputation for seriously prodding buttock when it comes to getting BT to come and fix faults in the physical infrastructure

Carcer

10:19

hm

Ben

@Carcer That was more b sharp than c flat, I think

doppelgreener

For anyone interested in that 2d20-take-highest vs 1d30 link, here's an anydice thingy. The 1d30 has a slightly better chance of getting > 15 than the 2d20 (50% vs ~44%), and has a slightly higher chance of rolling higher than the 2d20 on average (~57% of the time).

Carcer

10:38

the chap doesn't seem to have thought very much about it himself, honestly

Sdjz

@Carcer especially the "crit on a 20-30" thing

Carcer

indeed

Someone_Evil

As a side note, is the "bounded accuracy" addressed anywhere in the books? I feel like there should be a sidebar somewhere in the DMG, but I can't recall.

Carcer

I don't think it's actually discussed anywhere in the 5e books

we know it's a design principle based on the discussion of it in other media by the designers

Someone_Evil

I figured. But it's also the kind of thing they should mention under Creating/Customizing Content. (so that people avoid creating too many +X bonuses and so on)

kviiri

10:46

Yeah

Good point

Someone_Evil

But then, I would have loved to have design notes all over the books so that people could more easily use RAI to make rulings/modify stuff, but I get why they don't want to have that in the books.

kviiri

I don't, really

Carcer

I'm pretty sure I've seen that approach taken in other books/systems, yeah

frequent "behind the scenes" notes on why they wrote the rules/mechanics as they did

I guess the biggest consideration is page space

Someone_Evil

Page space, visual clutter, "narrative" clutter (less clear what parts are the main text and where that is) and it adds a lot of information non-design oriented readers/players might easily find confusing. "No that isn't part of the rules, it's just an explanation of why we made it that way"

Carcer

you know what the obvious solution is

developer's commentary DLC / alternative prints

doppelgreener

10:56

Also, their business model is based on you relying on them for new content including modifications. They have no incentive to actually guide you fully through those processes.

@LiamMorris That's a crit range of 11 faces in 30 for a 36.66% chance to crit, compared to 1 face in 20 for a 5% chance to crit. — doppelgreener ♦ 9 mins ago

@_@

BESW

Carcer

@doppelgreener well, in fairness you should be comparing to the chance to crit with advantage (9.75%)

Someone_Evil

Does anyone feel like calculating the DPR of a Rogue using those rules? Or a Barbarian maybe?

doppelgreener

@Carcer oops you're right

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