GMless Games A sale hosted by Viditya Voleti. Buy any or all of the Goblin King's five GMless games for 60% off! Includes the excellent cosmic mayhem of Space Goblins!
Regain Your Starlight by lampara games PH. A micro-ttrpg of a Star trying to return to the heavens, and the numerous friends and foes they encounter along the way. Featuring characters inspired by Noli Me Tangere and Philippine folklore!
ACROSS THE HUMPBACKED SKY! A bundle hosted by Melsonian Arts Council. Get the newest edition of science-fantasy TRPG "Troika!" and a chapbook adventure, for $18.
Troika! Numinous Edition is also available for free as a plain-text SRD, in the "Download demo" section of its page.
@NautArch This is one reason that as a GM, over time I've self-imposed strict limits on the number of made-up words I'm allowed per campaign.
My experience is that it disrupts the game more than it adds atmosphere.
Just learned tonight that most of our side quests were euphemisms for pooping.
3
- Escorting village children to the pool. - Inquiring at a stable about a horse. - Kidnapping (taking) the Duke. - Establishing contact with the thieves' guild by dropping a 2 of Clubs down a sewer drain.
I no longer feel bad about making a demon Foot soldier that collects legs.
so playing DnD 5e, what happens if I cast the first level Sleep spell, get 27 for my roll, but there are two 15 hit point creatures in the area of effect?
I did not roll high enough to put both creatures to sleep. Only one can fall asleep (27-15=12). How do you determine which of the two creatur...
@Axoren I played a game of vampire the requiem where my character had a strong Scottish accent, and called an NPC "Meg, Lass" to the point the other characters just assumed their name was Meglas
@NautArch @kviiri I'd be interested in playing too, if such a thing came to pass :)
@Medix2 Oh? I took Japanese for 2 years in college, and a few linguistics courses then as well, but the two never intersected much so I don't know much about Japanese from a linguistics perspective...
@V2Blast I must say, I've never played a proper game online but if I have the time and energy you are most welcome to join!
The experience might spook me a tiny bit tho x)
I need to find player sometime anyway. My usual group, sadly, is of the "what's wrong with DnD" variety which doesn't usually lead to good discussions.
Appropriately I'm hyggeing it up atm, with my stuffed centipedes Untamo and Antero, and reading the combat rules with some good tea.
@kviiri All the TTRPG games I've played in have been online (the only exception being the D&D 5e Starter Set campaign (Lost Mine of Phandelver) that I DMed for my IRL friend group)
The combat rules seem rather online-friendly! No grids, no concrete locations, but rather you're either engaged with some enemies, near them (=one move away) or far from them (=more than one move)
But mind ye, I'll be really strapped for free time at least until summer so I at least won't be running the game until then. I'm glad to have sparked enthusiasm, though!
@kviiri With that much time, I'll be able to paint a mini by the time we start. Then take a pic. Not through Icon Descriptions. Is there more than one rule book? I can get one from amazon, I think
Yeah, they're really short descriptions compared to what's in the book but all they guys seem to be there
Basically the Emperor rules over the Empire (duh), is helped by the Archmage who casts all sort of benign magic to keep things rolling smoothly and the Priestess who is the interface between the people and the Gods of Light (not detailed further). The Emperor is also allied with the Dwarf King and Elf Queen, but not without some tension.
The Crusader is also an agent of the Emperor, although he is evil himself. He fights demons who would rather destroy the world than let the Crusader's Dark Gods rule it, so he is a convenient if ruthless ally. The Great Gold Wyrm is basically a supreme force of good except currently preoccupied to block the Abyss, which is a massive gash in the landscape bleeding out all kinds of evil things.
The Orc Lord is a realm-shattering warlord whose return is feared, the Lich King used to rule the Empire (when alive) and would very gladly do so again, the Three is an alliance of evil dragons, although one of them (the Blue) is actually an imperial sorcerer under a powerful geas.
The Diabolist is basically the primary face for demonic hordes. The Archdruid and Prince of Shadows are somewhat ambiguous types, without a clear moral compass --- depends on how you like nature vs civilization and order vs disorder, respectively.
This is an interesting racial feat. Surprising (Racial Power) Once per battle, subtract one from the natural result of one of your own d20 rolls. Is rolling under a score a desired thing?
@KorvinStarmast Ah! There are powers that trigger based on certain types of natural rolls. They're called Flexible Attacks. Fighters and Bards, at least, have them.
@KorvinStarmast I recommend checking out the combat system btw, of course I haven't tried it yet but basing combat on clusters of participants instead of concrete locations feels like it might create more interesting tactics
@kviiri I liken it ToTM, and now I am pulling out my hair. Where is the detail on the background? I am trying to figure out what mechanical effects a given background has and there is no link for backgrounds. Where should I be looking?
@KorvinStarmast Backgrounds are free-form. Essentially, you have a variable amount of points in each of the backgrounds you choose, and when you make a skill check, you pick a background that can plausibly help you with what you're doing.
There's no exhaustive list of them, but the book has some instruction on how to make backgrounds that are neither too specific nor too general.
@kviiri OK, got it, adding points and I start with 8 total points and no more than 3 (How to make a background is, I guess, in the downloaded srd? Does it take an action or a quick action or is this more or less "ad lib" in play?
Backgrounds are made at chargen, if I understood your question correctly. Although the book does suggest that you change them as your character grows, if it feels appropriate.
I think you can have arbitrarily many backgrounds as long as you've got points to spare, but you get to only use one background per skill check. No background can also have over five points unless a feat (or similar) specifically lets you.
@kviiri For some reason, I read that the bard can only have three, but that may be talents. I'll recheck.
Assigning Background Points Each character gets 8 background points, plus any extra that your class’s talents award. Assign your background points to as many backgrounds as you want, up to your total points. You can assign a maximum of 5 points to a single background (and minimum of 1).
@kviiri gaah, it's three talents. I can only have three talents. OK, now it makes more sense.
There's no subclasses in 13th Age, but Talents are basically equivalent. It's stuff you plug into the base class to extend its power. (and you can improve many talents with feats to get even funkier bonuses)
@kviiri And one of the talents is the same name as a background "Battle Skald" no wonder I are confused. DOH! I will not pick battle skald as background; that way I am no longer confused. :)
@kviiri yeah, the talent thing is making me do a lot of cross checking.
@KorvinStarmast Heh, I didn't notice that! Although I must say, I had glanced over the SRD earlier and I had a vague idea that backgrounds are "just names" so I probably just skipped the list
In the book, they point out that originally they intended to give bards and rogues extra background points, and eg. fighters less. The idea was to respect the tradition that rogues are skill monkeys. Their playtesters disliked it, though. I guess it does feel more like one being "punished" for taking a certain class.
@KorvinStarmast That'll be useful if the ancient dragon lord awakens and wants to eat a king to satisfy his hunger. You can be sent as a substitute because you taste royal.
How do I report duplicate profile to help a new user fix their sharded profile? It seems this user can't edit their question because they accidentally made a second account:
I’m making a character and I want him to be able to make clones that aren’t as strong as him, but can use some of his abilities and be useful in recon and battle.
My character is a level 4 barbarian that I’m trying to make resemble meliodas, from the seven deadly sins. Magic items that cast clon...
I am peculiarly interested in 13th Age bard considering bard is a character class in DnD-likes that never quite rubbed me the right way, so I'd probably make a bard too. Maybe Folklore cataloguer +4, Courtier +3, Spy +1.
@kviiri I like the "jack of all trades and a master of none" theme. And the license to be a smart alec in play as a class requirement. Tempted to reduce Cha score to bump wis and Int .. thinking ...
I envision a fellow who's a hard-working academian, keen to travel and collect stories of the rural folk. He'd be welcome to the court to share his research of these stories, and maybe gotten caught in a bit of court intrigue on the Emperor's behalf.
@KorvinStarmast I've tried playing "serious bards", it kinda makes sense because eg. in Finnish mythology poetry was often considered to be inherently magical
I've been jotting together notes for a little story. Not sure how it'll come together, but the idea is to present a fictionalized version of Christfried Ganander, one of the earliest collectors of Finnish folk culture, in the John the Balladeer vein.
Although it might require too much stretching of the source material
I've been thinking about the idea that poetic magic works largely through the deities' and spirits' sheer love for clever and beautiful verbal expression. Or respect for the mortal's chutzpah if the poem is at least a bold attempt.
@kviiri still working on feats and talents, there's a lot to unpack for my brain that is so used to another system. Can't find the chart for skill bonuses, but I presume they are same as 3.5 srd?
I personally have a distaste for the score-modifier distinction anyway. Not a major one, but I think it's a bit silly to have two values where one is only used for deriving the other.
I mean, the raw values presumably saw more use in the earlier editions of DnD, but they don't really in the later ones, except in a few select places where they could've been replaced with modifiers without major trouble.
@kviiri It makes sense in a point-buy system where the Score is a measure of how many points were invested into a stat: i.e. every two points is an increase in potency. However, 5e specifically got rid of a lot of situations in which you'd only be gaining a single point. Now, odd scores only exist for the purpose of half-ASI feats or getting a minor edge in point-buy.
I think that can be abstracted away even further, to the point where we just have modifiers.
Actually, there are some weird parts of 5e that use scores instead of their modifiers. Things like jump distance and jump height, as well as carrying capacity.
and obviously there are spells that relate to ability scores (usually even values, so easily converted). either they only work on creatures with a specified ability score above a certain value, or don't work on creatures with a score above that value
Bigby's Hand/Arcane Hand has this: https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/arcane-hand "Interposing Hand. The hand interposes itself between you and a creature you choose until you give the hand a different command. The hand moves to stay between you and the target, providing you with half cover against the target. The target can't move through the hand's space if its Strength score is less than or equal to the hand's Strength score. If its Strength score is higher than the hand's Strength score, the target can move toward you through the hand's space, but that space is difficult terrain for the t…
interestingly, Sending and Telepathy say something like "The spell enables creatures with Intelligence scores of at least 1 to understand the meaning of your message." I guess it's accounting for living things that aren't even "smart" enough to have an Int score, or effectively have an Int score of 0.
@kviiri if I take a wizard spell (1st level) with jack of spells, can I upcast that spell using a bard "slot" at higher levels, or is it forever a 1st level spell?
and for completeness, checking the MM, gas spores have this in their Death Burst ability:
> Spores invade an infected creature’s system, killing the creature in a number of hours equal to 1d12 + the creature’s Constitution score, unless the disease is removed.
@kviiri If I can up cast, I am really tempted to take Magic Missile, but I think Blur or Mirror Image might be a better pick as a support character ...
intellect devourer's Devour Intellect will require a bit of math before comparisons are made every time the ability is used. Shadow's Strength Drain also reduces Str score by 1d4, so would result in fractions again
@KorvinStarmast I think you can't upcast generally, but you can re-take the same spell again at a higher level to improve it. Not sure how it works for a bard that has wizard spells
There aren't exactly slots here, that much I know --- each spell is its own "slot", kinda like 4e powers.
I've only read through the rules once so I don't know everything quite yet, but if good questions pop up I think asking them on the main site would be useful :)
I am trying to familiarize myself with Pathfinder 2e, which is also my first role-playing game in which I will be actively participating in live sessions. I am interested in creating a 1st level human Warpriest of Sarenrae, but I am having trouble figuring out the advantages and disadvantages of ...
@kviiri I already have nine questions, six of which I have answered by asking you here or looking a little deeper into the rules. that one I may still ask on main site
Solitary Games Sale A sale hosted by Sohkrates. Grab some dice or some playing cards and get ready to tell your own story. Hack the rich, explore the stars, make first contact, or make your own world from scratch.
two of them played Baldur's Gate games and I wanted to give them something to hang on, at first I wanted to dip and buy Descent into Avernus... but that's too long to play in 2 weeks xD
And searching around I found that thing existed, but being playtest material maybe it wasn't good? I dunno
there's always lost mines of phandelver wich I already own
@Axoren Define brain. Not every intelligence might be centrally located. Even on Earth, 2/3rds of a octopus's nervous system is distributed outside of its central "head".
@Helwar I also don't think BG:DiA has much connection to the earlier BG games, and only Chapter 1 (levels 1-5) takes place in the city itself. But then I only recently started playing BG:DiA and have barely played the games
fun thing is I never played baldur's gate and I don't know much about the city, played campaigns in Amn, Waterdeep, Chult, the place with the witches and spirits (don't remember the name...) never played in Baldur's Gate
I can only find one module, Descent into Avernus for a season 9 module. Is there any other season 9 modules?
