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1:50 AM
Popping in to brag that my level 5 Barbarian managed to deal 52 points of damage in a single attack, AMA.
Critical Hit as a Zealot Barbarian with Great Weapon Master→2d12 (Greataxe) +2d6 (Divine Fury) +4 (Strength) +2 (Rage) +2 (Divine Fury) +10 (Great Weapon Master) →[12] + [10] + [6] + [6] + 18 →52.
 
2:11 AM
What did that stirge ever do to you?
 
2:31 AM
@nitsua60 I play RPGs to fulfill fantasies I could never live in real life, like finally making that mosquito pay in a way that's proportionally justified. 😋
 
Fair =D
 
3:16 AM
@nitsua60 who the #@$$ gave all the stirges on-hit Contagion DC-35?
 
 
2 hours later…
5:17 AM
6
Q: If you cast a cantrip as a bonus action, can you also cast a cantrip as your action?

Gavin DavisThe rule in the PHB is fairly clear on casting a cantrip and a spell: if the spell is a bonus action, you may cast a cantrip as an action. My question concerns the two bonus-action cantrips, magic stone and shillelagh. Can one of these spells be cast as a bonus action and then another cantrip, l...

 
 
2 hours later…
7:36 AM
The 13th Age approach between rigid combat magic and free-form magic is quite interesting.
Basically normal spells are "spells do what they say they do" style combat magic. Wizards have cantrips like mending, light, prestidigitation etc they can do a handful of every now and then, but they're relatively ineffectual for larger-scale stuff.
 
7:56 AM
But when you want to do world-shaking wizardry, you can make a "ritual" which is basically "make some plot-relevant magic happen by creating freeform effects building from the rigid spells one has".
Eg. casting Shield as a ritual to create a protective barrier to fortify a fort's entrance with
 
I think I might use a similar concept if I ever make a Rivers of London type game.
You've got the little spell-bits that you've practiced so much you can do them swiftly under fire, but you can build them up into much more impressive effects if you have the time to do it carefully and thoughtfully.
 
It feels like a natural extension from the d20 spell system, and I've been thinking about there being a single system for "blast things to bits" which generally should be lightweight enough to not bog the game down while meshing neatly with the combat engine, and plot-relevant larger-scale wizardry, resurrections etc.
err.. that was meant to end with "doesn't really make sense"
 
 
1 hour later…
9:23 AM
[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in answer, bad keyword with email in answer, email in answer, pattern-matching email in answer, potentially bad keyword in answer (348): Alternatives to rest for restoration of spell slots by morgan john on rpg.SE
 
9:56 AM
It feels a lot like the distiction Mage: the Awakening make between Rotes and free form magic.
 
Dungeon World has similar with its wizards having "spells" and "do anything with magic but the GM tells you what do you need to do to make it happen"
The latter is essentially a re-skin of Apocalypse World's workshop
 
10:23 AM
9
Q: As a DM, what changes do I need to make to my preparation when transitioning to online play?

linksassinI, like many others, have been forced by the current situation to re-evaluate how my games are played. I current run/play in pathfinder 1e and D&D 5e campaigns that have been played entirely in person with pen/paper character sheets and hand-drawn battlemats. We are investigating the move to on...

10
Q: Can I reskin a Tabaxi as a canine in AL?

Evoker of MulmasterWould it be legal in Adventurer's league to play a Tabaxi, that I called a wolf? I want to play an anthro-canine, but seeing as there is no official race of that sort, would it be considered legal to use the play a Tabaxi, that looked like and was a dog equivalent?

 
10:47 AM
@NautArch oh yes, that stinger can take a bit out of a PC, though our dwarf both hit his save and has dwarf resistance, so he didn't feel that spike of damage ...
 
 
1 hour later…
12:05 PM
@Shalvenay lol
@kviiri Yes, and here you'd have a pre-built library of examples (the spell lists/descriptions) to draw on--both as GM and as player.
 
@nitsua60 Hm, "here"?
 
RPG.SE really changes when you unlock the see deleted spell
4
 
Gosh yes. Now imagine if you could see deleted comments.
 
That's past the normal progression, and it's really rare campaigns go that far
 
@BESW laughs in moderator
 
12:16 PM
@AncientSwordRage We'll have the last laugh when the comments are actually really dull and occasionally disturbing
 
Jun 11 '18 at 6:35, by BESW
> I've seen posts you people wouldn't believe. Frame challenges on fire off the shoulder of rules-as-written. I watched house rules glitter in the dark near the D&D tags. All those questions will be closed in time, like tears in rain. Time to vote.
3
 
@kviiri yup, just keeping the illusion up
 
sheds a tear in moderator
 
If I mention a new user here, will it notify them? I'd like to make a suggestion regarding a closed question they asked.
 
@MarkwishesMonicawell No. I think you can only ping users that have been to the room recently
 
12:29 PM
@MarkwishesMonicawell Only if they show up on the autocomplete which is based on visit time and/or post time iirc. Can you not give the suggestion in a comment on that answer?
 
you can use [chat] to create a short link to here
 
I can, but I'm not sure how a near-answer comment would be seen on an off-topic question
 
@MarkwishesMonicawell Try to avoid answering, but you can suggest they join us/you in chat to talk about it (and that you have some specific ideas for them) no problem
 
Yea, "we can help you at [chat]" is a pretty normal route
 
12:52 PM
@kviiri Sorry--I mean if you were layering that onto an existing system with d20-like spell lists.
 
@doppelgreener can we talk about why you closed my meta question?
and morning all!
 
1:09 PM
yea, @doppelgreener! Let's talk about that!
 
o/
@NautArch sure
for context: when i'd closed it, i'd seen a total of one question touching on the transition to online play, being that one where someone was surveying "what are all the things that could go wrong?"
 
@doppelgreener ah, gotcha. Now that you've seen more, do you think you can reopen?
An answer of "nothing, just keep on keepin on' is fine". BUt I think there may be other viewponts.
 
i've taken a look at the questions linked in this comment:
i don't think there's actually a specific mainsite problem yet, as in, escalation to meta isn't needed yet. we've seen this:
- two survey questions
- one tool recommendation
- a question surveying how people have converted
the three questions among those first two bullet points have been closed appropriately. the last question in that last bullet point is also a survey and, i am pretty sure, should also be closed. (as in i might close it in a few minutes once i have the time to give it a proper look through and some proper thought.)
that is 3 out of a total 4 cases being handled completely appropriately, and one possible breakdown
 
Does this feels like the sort of question that could do with a cannonical Q&A though?
 
OKay, so because you personally don't think it's necessary, but another mod (@nitsua60) feels like it was good to ask, I don't see why it needs a mod-hammer.
 
1:22 PM
but you were asking "how do we handle these questions?" and saying "I think we need to figure out if these questions are really on-topic for us here", but I don't see any evidence of any actual contention or breakdown such that we need to examine the question so broadly
 
if the community doesn't think it needs to be open, then let the community close it
but if the community thinks it's a question worth considering, then let us do that.
 
@NautArch I closed your question because it showed no evidence of an actual problem occurring warranting meta escalation. Super duper early meta escalation causes its own problems because, y'know, there's no actual problem to discuss.
So we can't actually solve it
Or address practical realities
 
@doppelgreener then maybe ask Nits why he thinks it was good to ask. Because that seems counter to your opinion on this.
 
@NautArch - @nitsua60 what's your thoughts on this?
@NautArch the community is welcome to vote to reopen
 
@doppelgreener here was his response when oracle posted it.
 
1:26 PM
@NautArch sure
 
@doppelgreener Honestly, that seems unfair. You also could have let the community close it if they felt it needed to be closed.
 
@NautArch "if the community wanted X they could've done it themselves" isn't a reason for me to not act as a moderator, because it could be applied to anything
 
Fine. I'll just agree to disagree about your moderation choices here.
 
i saw a serious problem in a meta question that could have some severe ramifications if not handled well.
you should consider what could happen if people come up with a poor approach because there is little actual material to discuss in the policy question you're opening about topicality
meta escalation of topicality and question handling is for when there's demonstrable problems happening in community moderation
 
@doppelgreener The thing I'd like to see would be us pulling some sort of collective resource for all those, suddenly transitioning on online play, whom we expect to see crashing over our decks. Something in the style of our [forums] meta or the Academia Meta post that collects both on-site and off-site resources.
 
1:29 PM
Now, your question right now is "should we relax our standards on these questions so that we can better help folks out?" which is ... really different to your original one, and I haven't had the time to think about it and assess it properly to cast a reopen vote. Maybe if it was that question to begin with I wouldn't have closed it. (Again, haven't fully thought about it yet.)
 
@doppelgreener I personally think the material is obvious. Folks are transitioning to online and asking general questions about how to do so. That normally isn't appropriate for us, it's too broad. But in this case, I"m asking if should loosen our standards so we can more proactively help people.
@doppelgreener yeah, imagine that. YOu gave feedback and I tried to adjust to make it work. :P
 
I don't think (personally) we should loosen the standards--I worry about us then answering the same question a hundred times in the coming month. I think the over-broad or unfocused "I'm transitioning... help?" questions should still be closed. And I'd love to hae a great place to point people when we close those questions.
 
c'mon dude, is that necessary
put yourself in my shoes: I arrive Sunday night after being out of things for a couple of days and see someone calling into question an entire category of questions which appears to have only one(!) actual concrete case even after I go look for a bit, and the question doesn't link any. I close it and ask for the question to clarify what's actually going on such that this is warranted.
 
sorry, i'm frustrated. And there were more, you just didn't see them. THat's not my fault, either.
 
@NautArch Part of it is (it seems to me) they're not always completely even asking how to do so, they're just looking for support and encouragement. Again: not great mainsite Q&A, but I'd like to think "I'm looking to transition to online quickly, where can I find help/advice?" would be a much more friendly, welcoming, and helpful meta to point them toward than just "this isn't really a good fit. But we've got a list of forums."
 
1:32 PM
And now I have you being grouchy at me for daring to close your question, "how dare you not let the community do it", "imagine that, I actually listened to your advice", and it's Monday morning and I've barely gotten back into things.
 
@doppelgreener Put yourself in my shoes, too. I think we both could act better here.
 
... me act better than close your question and ask for clarity?
 
But I saw an issue forming, I want to help folks, another Mod seemed to think it was a good iea, and hten you shut it down single-handedly.
 
@NautArch Yes, I closed your unclear question and asked you to be more clear about what was going on
 
@doppelgreener OKay, I think i Need to step away. I have given a mea culpa, but you keep attacking.
 
1:34 PM
I am not plugged into a moderation hive-mind
 
@doppelgreener I think that the parts (the plug and the cable) are on order; not sure when the shipping data will firm up. ;-)
 
I'm attacking? For explaining what I did in response to you explaining what you did? I get you're hurt, but this doesn't mean I'm attacking you.
 
I'm going to try posting a meta along the lines I describe above. Here's to hoping it helps =)
 
Maybe we should be trying to work together to figure out how to ask the question rather than what we're doing.
 
Yes, I think that'd be super
 
1:37 PM
OKay, so how does my recent edit work for you?
 
Do you mind if I take a few minutes to consider it? Putting aside this conversation, I've been on this site for all of five minutes today & since that revision was made
 
@doppelgreener sure
 
@nitsua60 I'd be interested in your thoughts on the current state of that question
 
@doppelgreener there's a bunch of them interleaved in yours and @NautArch's colloquy above, and then a little in the comments underneath.
 
@nitsua60 i've caught up on that, yeah. okay, gotcha
 
1:41 PM
Briefly: out of it I'd love to see us develop a little resource for CoViD refugees that we expect coming (akin to [forum]), so that on mainsite we can close and have a targeted, timely resource to put right in people's hands.
 
@nitsua60 That was exactly my shower thought.
 
@nitsua60 i think that would be super, since we can just collect a ton of tools there for virtual play, including virtual tabletops, character sheets for various systems, document sharing, etc
 
I think that could be helpful both in terms of useful info, in terms of making people feel supported and connected at this time, and in having newcomers to the site see it working well.
 
@nitsua60 Kind of like a community wiki on meta with a resource pointer? As we do with forums? (I think I am catching your drift, but maybe not)
 
Honestly folks, it's great that we're hashing it out here, but my intent with asking was for the community to hash it out in meta itself under the question. Maybe I worded it wrong, but that was my intent.
 
1:43 PM
@NautArch Ok, now I better understand your response here. I hadn't yet read your mea culpa when I sent my next message, and you were responding to that happening. I'm sorry about that, from your POV that would've been intense and unwarranted.
 
@NautArch wait, use meta for why we have meta? (heretic! 8^D ) Oh, OK, I'll drop by there and drop a comment under the questoin.
 
42
Q: I need help adapting my academic workflow to the COVID-19/coronavirus crisis – where do I start?

WrzlprmftThe current COVID-19 crisis impacts academia in several ways: teaching and exams are moved online, conferences are cancelled, travel is restricted, etc. If your are here because of this, here is a brief introduction to our site and resources that may help you. Finding existing questions We have...

Academia's meta I'm thinking of as a pattern.
 
thank you. We're all definitely a little short right now.
 
@NautArch and "here" I thought you were still talking just about the conversation we were having and the question closure, but hadn't yet had that part ^^^^ sink in, so I thought I was being given grief for ... closing your question and talking to you about why. But now I think I get what was going on for you.
 
@nitsua60 nice example, thanks!
 
1:44 PM
It's featured, and I think there's even a possibility that it may be linked in a site-banner on academia.se.
 
To be clear, I really have been trying to understand what was going on, and I also want to be careful to minimise potential damage since meta escalation of topicality is pretty serious.
I don't think a meta Q would've been opened for no reason
 
And this is a serious time where I thought it was warranted.
Times are not normal, so acting normally doesn't always work.
 
the meta Q in its original version from my POV looked like it might be taken as angling at "hey, we've had a couple of bad questions, let's boot out the entire topic forever before it's started" and handled that way by a lot of people
that would be bad for helping people
 
Meta: "I need help transitioning to online gaming because of CoViD-19/pandemic restrictions. Where do I start?"
A1: We have a lot of answers on the mainsite that discuss specific aspects, here are a bunch of the best to start with (from general to specific issues), and the [tag:whatever] tag has hundreds more.
A2: Here are a lot of offsite resources that we've gathered for this. [Links that've been dropped here and in the positivity room during the last week or so, with brief annotation as to how they may be helpful.
 
It may have been better to ask me to clarify if that was the intent before closing it, but it's done and what we can do is move forward to do something well for the community.
 
1:48 PM
There's ^^ my suggestion, but I'm 18minutes late to start today's homeschooling. Sorry to drop that and run, I'll be back a bit in the afternoon.
Those answers might want to be in different orders--I don't know.
Actually, I guess the voting will out.
 
@NautArch RO doot done
 
@NautArch i don't think that was the intent, no, just how a lot of people would've received it. (that and, still, escalating a question of whether an entire category of question is on topic is a big deal: it should ideally only really happen after multiple serious breakdowns)
(or at least after one person actually says "hey, this isn't on topic", and specific examples should be provided, like: "this question just got asked, here's a link, is this thing on topic?")
@nitsua60 that sounds neato. Personally I was thinking "here's some virtual tabletops", "here's some document management options", "here's some good free online hangout apps", etc would be different answers but they probably make more sense being rolled into one (A2)
 
2:03 PM
@KorvinStarmast yeah, i'm pretty worried about a TPK at this point
 
3:01 PM
Ok this article was very cool, and gave me lots of ideas for campaigns
 
aboleth's are super cool! I think dndbeyond did an article on them, too? Maybe?
 
@NautArch possibly?
 
3:25 PM
Day 4 wfh with small boiz. send help
 
@JohnP I'm in a lose-lose. Leave wife at home with kids alone, or leave workers without leadership.
 
@NautArch What industry?
 
@JohnP medical devices
 
And we are basically on "if you can you will work from home".
Ah, we do some of those. Evidently Honeywell produces a lot of PPE, which I didn't know.
 
@JohnP yeah, i sent everyone home that could.
 
3:45 PM
@NautArch I can't find it
 
4:15 PM
anyone have any luck re-waterproofing clothing?
 
@goodguy5 yes, but actually no.
 
Cover the cloth in oil so that water can't permeate it
 
I need to also be able to wash it
 
You can wash it in oil
 
But I need one side to stay permeable
 
4:24 PM
@goodguy5 SO it was once waterproof and now isn't?
 
yes
I think it's technically highly water resistant, and now isn't
 
@goodguy5 was it gore-tex or something else?
 
imo, it's like gortex, but they call it PUL, I think
 
okay, doing some research. it's a polyurethane laminate.
 
o.O
you're a damned wizard
 
4:33 PM
my first thought is that you can't 'refresh' it. It's not a Durable Water Repellant, it's actually a laminate on the fabric.
 
I can't find any fact facts on the subject.

It's relating to my cloth diaper question from the other day, that I think I asked.
I'm going to toss the suspect units in the dryer on high and go from there.

Maybe it'll "reseal" it
idk
time for video games
anyone playing warzone on ps4?
 
@goodguy5 yeah, i figured it was a cloth diaper question. EVery search for PUL talked about for diapers :P
 
So my wife is running a scavenger hunt for the boys. My older one was in tears over finding "A book with numbers" in it, and his brother grabbed the one counting book that we still have.
 
@goodguy5 I'm no good at this FPS games.
 
4:43 PM
Then I showed him page numbers again and his mind was blown.
 
@JohnP That is adorable!
 
@NautArch @doppelgreener (and others) answered the meta; feel free to point out gaffes/omissions!
 
5:03 PM
After 5 days around the kids 24/7 I am discovering parts of their personalities I've never seen. My 3 y/o is supremely ultra competitive.
 
5:57 PM
@JohnP that's really interesting
 
6:25 PM
@NautArch My gut instinct is "trust wife, provide leadership" but I am biased by my life experiences (career Navy)
 
@KorvinStarmast that's what i'm doing! :)
Just very hard on wife, who also has to work from home.
 
@nitsua60 That's a win. Where's my snack? 8^D
@NautArch On the bright side, she does not have to deal with distracted drivers ... so safer all things considered ...
 
@KorvinStarmast ha, true! We also decided that any grocery store runs are done by her. She gets significantly less sick than I do.
 
@NautArch I have been assigned as the grocery store lackey by my wife. I can live with that.
 
@KorvinStarmast I was doing it, but that point she brought up is true.
In 5e, is there a mechanic for enchanting weapons with spells?
 
6:46 PM
@NautArch Shillelagh?
 
@NautArch yes, but are you looking at a crafting thing? (Sword casts X spell once per day, recharge at dawn) like certain magic items?
 
@NautArch Enchanting in what sense? Elemental weapon, Artificer infusions or enchantment-school effects?
See also Artificer's 11th level feature
 
7:10 PM
@Someone_Evil more about making a magic item with a spell embedded in it. Thinking about that whacky vacuum question.
 
@NautArch 5e has very little in the realms of permanency etc. I suspect to avoid some of the traits of 3.5
 
I'm guessing it's really just homebrewing a magic item.
 
7:48 PM
@nitsua60 Yep, being included in a banner message at the top of academia.SE was a result of a conversation with one of the CMs in the TL, I believe
@NautArch Oof. Good luck <3
@NautArch There's an artificer 11th-level feature, Spell-Storing Item:
> At 11th level, you learn how to store a spell in an object. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one simple or martial weapon or one item that you can use as a spellcasting focus, and you store a spell in it, choosing a 1st or 2nd-level spell from the artificer spell list that requires 1 action to cast (you needn’t have it prepared).
whoops, Someone_Evil said it already
 
 
2 hours later…
9:32 PM
22
Q: Can a creature take turns as normal if they are inside an Antimagic Field while another creature casts Time Stop?

user62688Time stop is a spell that stops time for other creatures, allowing one creature to take multiple turns in a row. It says: You briefly stop the flow of time for everyone but yourself. No time passes for other creatures, while you take 1d4 + 1 turns in a row, during which you can use actions an...

 
 
2 hours later…
11:27 PM
5
Q: What labels should be used when moves referencing playbook-specific features are taken as a move from another playbook?

LizWeirA few playbook moves reference labels connected to playbook-specific features - for example the Protege's Venting Frustration, allowing the character to roll the label their mentor denies to directly engage a threat while Angry. When taken as a "take a move from another playbook" advance for a c...

 

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