TRPG General Chat

Based on which questions are currently in the feed doc, it's actually gone back and put the outgoing q back up. I guess it just takes a bit of time to reflect that in the feed

Though I'm not entirely sure what being 'on' the HNQ even mean. There are certainly some questions I have the option to take off even though they do not appear on it

doppelgreener

It's like this:

Oops, I don't have newlines on mobile

It's like this: the system tracks hotness scores of every Q&A that's eligible to be "hot" at all. (So: recent, has some upvotes, etc.) Out of those, the HNQ picks out the top 100 open questions and randomly displays them. Once a question appears on the HNQ list for the first time, that milestone gets recorded on the question history.

Being closed doesn't mean it's no longer eligible. It's just skipped over on the internal "hot questions" high score chart when it comes to choosing what to display.

A question becomes ineligible a few days expire after that "first appeared on HNQ" milestone, or if we remove it from HNQ.

If it's ineligible, it doesn't appear on the internal high score chart at all.

If it becomes ineligible via either of those two methods, it never will ever again.

The time limit is to ensure questions don't hog the spotlight for weeks on end, which used to happen sometimes (HNQ-ness creates its own positive feedback loop after all) and causes continuous trouble for the host site while making the HNQ stale for people who read it.

The questions you take off the HNQ that are not appearing on it are, I'd wager, recently HNQ and within their time limit, but are simply not currently high up enough on the high score chart to be selected for display.

1:48 AM

That seems likely

Q: Where can I find advice on adapting characters from past editions to 5E?

1

Suppose I see a monster/npc/race described in material from previous editions (likely 2nd or 3rd) and want to rework it for 5th- where can I get advice on how to do so?

Q: Is a lich aware of its phylactery being destroyed?

2:22 AM

3

Let's say the party who are going up against a lich discovered where its phylactery was and how to destory it. They manage to get to the phylactery without the lich knowing about it and destory the phylactery. Would the lich be aware that its phylactery had been destroyed? Is there anything in an...

dnd-5e monsters dungeons-and-dragons lore undead

2:50 AM

hey there @ThomasMarkov, welcome to the RPG.SE lair :)

@Shalvenay howdy

Just spent an hour on the answer about greater invisibility and swift quiver for the bard.

3:35 AM

I honestly don’t know if this is the right place, but this isn’t a good question for the site and I could use some advice.

@BardicWizard fire away!

A six year old I know wants to learn to play D&D, and what he knows of d&d is my 5e campaigns and books lying around. He specifically wants to do a lot of rolling dice, and probably something vaguely superhero-y in style, but didn’t like it when I suggested the 4 page RPG Risus because “we can’t roll the funny shaped ones in it and I don’t get what I can do”.

Does anyone have suggestions on either simplifying D&D5e for a fairly mature six year old, or on a free RPG that would be easy to learn and play?

@BardicWizard Sure! (I've played RPGs with my three kids from about 5 on up.) @PeterCooperJr. has also played with kids, and maybe @NautArch?

@BardicWizard As far as simplifying 5e, I'd suggest a quick little ~eight-question "interview" about what they'd like to be able to do, and then go ahead and make up the character yourself.

Give them a minimal character sheet (list class, level , HP, AC, proficiencies, and leave lots of room for equipment/loot), and a card that lists what to do for attack/check/save, and on that one list ability modifiers.

I.e. the first page is what they look at and ponder and play around with a lot, whereas the second is the one they reference when you say "roll a dexterity save to try and avoid the log they just pushed down the hill at you!"

All that said, if I were starting over I'd be tempted to play Dungeon World with my kid who wanted to play D&D and tell them it's (basically) D&D.

Does it need to be D&D specifically? Every iteration of D&D involves some amount of math and resolving rule syntax. Maybe a more flexible and less mathy system would be better.

@MikeQ Yeah, but it doesn't have to be the player doing that math....

(I'm not trying to argue for D&D, just pointing out that doesn't really need to be a stumbling block.)

3:43 AM

I only have d&d 5e and access to free online resources.

He does well with math, not great but decently. Of course, I’m not the one teaching him kinder math...

goblin-court, perchance?

For very young players, I'd recommend something like Honey Heist. The only dice is 1d6, and you can basically make things up as you go along.

They want polyhedra.

I thought “we can’t roll the funny shaped ones in it" meant no dice other than d6

The kid is my six year old brother. He says he likes the d20 because it’s cool and wants to roll it.

3:46 AM

@BardicWizard It's not quite free, but for $3 Amazing Tales is absolutely worth it. It was my kids' favorite at that age.

He didn’t like risus because it didn’t have the “funny dice from your [my] book”.

They get to roll polyhedra, characters are as cool as you imagine them, and action resolution is dead-simple.

Hmmm I wonder if Danger Patrol: Pocket Edition would be a good fit, or too complex?

You get to be cool characters rolling lots of different polyhedrons, at the very least.

Can confirm, kids prefer the funny shaped dice. My two year old never steals my d6s. She loves the d4s. And she loves leaving caltrops on the floor around my desk.

@BardicWizard How important is the medieval fantasy aesthetic?

3:52 AM

Not at all, @nitsua60

Again, six year old. He wants to play anything, from “a guy with an ATV like Ryder!” (from Paw Patrol) to “a dragon with wings!” (Probably from the game of mighty empires currently set up?).

@BardicWizard Ooh, amazing tales has a free quickstart version!

I highly suggest you give it a look.

4:20 AM

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Q: For a level 10 Swords bard with Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter, when is it better for DPR to use Greater Invisibility vs. Swift Quiver?

6:20 AM

10

The scene: A 10th-level College of Swords bard (includes Extra Attack). Crossbow Expert. Sharpshooter. 20 Dexterity. Hand crossbow +1. Intelligence is his dump stat so he needs to ask a friend what to pick for his Magical Secret. One is definitely Find Greater Steed, because he is going to ride o...

dnd-5e spells optimization damage bard

Q: For the purpose of the Detect Magic and Identify spells, is a magic item that is currently out of power still treated as a magic item?

9:05 AM

5

If a magic item runs on "Magic Batteries", when the item is out of power, would it be treated as a magic item for the purpose of the identify and detect magic spells? For example, I have a mirror that shows through illusions. It has crystals around it that are destroyed as you used it; you can re...

dnd-5e spells magic-items magic

SmokeDetector

10:22 AM

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11:33 AM

@Someone_Evil you got me

@AncientSwordRage :)

It's definitely worth a separate question. And my gut also says no, unless there's some feature which lets you just learn or cast a cantrip (without specifically choosing it from a class list)

hey there @Daniil, welcome to the RPG.SE lair :)

user435118

@Shalvenay Hello :)

@Shalvenay lair action triggers

Welcome!

@Someone_Evil I agree it's probably a no, my only misgiving is that when most of the 'Learn any cantrip' effects were written the only way to get a cantrip was from a spell list

user435118

Sorry if this is obvious but what's the difference between an RPG and a normal computer game?

11:47 AM

@AncientSwordRage Yeah, it's sort of cleaner up until you have cantrips which aren't on a class list, which isn't gonna happen until you do things like GGR backgrounds (or cantrips/spells that are only for enemies etc.)

@Daniil Not all computer games are Role Playing games, and RPG tends to mean Pen and Paper, or Table Top Role Playing games

@Daniil Well the RPGs we usually talk about (and our site is for) aren't computer games at all

user435118

I just read the definition of an RPG, what's the fun in that?

This might be a good introduction (admittedly D&D centric, but there's fair chunk is general)

@Daniil ...would an example help?

user435118

11:57 AM

@Shalvenay Sure

@Daniil I can link you a transcript of a one-on-one D&D game I ran for a fellow user here a couple years ago, then, or would that be too much reading?

user435118

@Shalvenay I'm alright thanks. Not too interested in RPG's

@Daniil May I ask what brings you here then, if not an interest in RPGs?

user435118

@AncientSwordRage It's one of my 'starred' rooms for some reason so when I join all starred rooms it joins me in here as well

@Daniil ahh ok cool

user435118

12:05 PM

Is there a problem with me being here?

@Daniil nah, not at all, feel free to lurk/hang around :)

@Daniil nope no problem, just curious

user435118

I thought I'd read the D&D basic rules but they're 180 pages long :/

Start with the introduction. There's a lot in the basic rules that aren't how to play, there's a lot in the basic rules that's sort of source code or game-data (player options, spells, monsters, etc.)

12:20 PM

Or try something smaller like Fate Accelerated (70-ish pages) or Goblin Court (a dozen very small pages) or Lady Blackbird (player rules fit on one single-sided page plus character sheet).

Q: Can you break up Eldritch Blast attacks?

3

EB at higher levels makes multiple beams. Can you choose targets after each beam, move in between them, and use bonus actions as well? Case in point, level 5 Warlock casts EB. Decides to target Alice first, hits first beam on Alice, and downs her. Warlock then moves 10ft, casts Hex on Bob with a ...

dnd-5e spellcasting

Would make an interesting Invocation

@Daniil In my experience there's often no need to read the book cover to cover

Most of it is more of a reference than required reading

Q: Could I cast a range spell as a melee attack?

2:13 PM

1

I'm wanting to make a sorcerer that throws a little flare in his spell attacks. I was wondering if I could use a range spell attack as a melee attack. Like casting firebolt, but punching with it instead of throwing it.

dnd-5e spellcasting melee-combat

5:39 PM

@AncientSwordRage Each to their own. I tend to read every rules I get cover to cover when I first get it. Pathfinder core rules took a couple of days. PHB wasn't quite so bad. I never bothered with the DMG or MM. I got Blades in the Dark as part of the bundle for justice and read it cover to cover in a single sitting just last week.

@linksassin oh I'm the same. I'm just saying you don't need to, if you assumed you did it might me off-putting.

hey there @linksassin

@Shalvenay G'day

and yeah -- I don't exactly read RPG rulebooks cover to cover, even, which is something unusual for me since I've been known to read lots of things cover to cover most folks generally don't

(my latest? got my grubby paws on a copy of the 2018 Life Safety Code Handbook -- read that all the way thru)

@AncientSwordRage That would have to be there worst kind of gatekeeping ever. You can't play this because you haven't read this enormous dense rulebook that won't make much sense to you anyway.

Just because I do it for fun doesn't mean I think others should. I know I'm weird.

5:47 PM

@linksassin yeah, it can get really terrible with lore references in some circles, I hear

@Shalvenay Lol. My sister went through a phase of finishing every single book she started out of pure stubborness. I really wanted to trick her into starting something that seemed interesting but was actually a textbook or something but never found a good book.

@linksassin it's more self imposed... See the comments from further up in the chat

@linksassin it was actually fairly interesting but I geek out on the built environment in a lot of ways

6:03 PM

@AncientSwordRage Haha, I did have a look. It certainly wouldn't be my preferred way to get introduced to the hobby.

Q: Is there an item that can cast Alter Self?

4

The 5th level party I DM for just found a Hat of Disguise. Our Rogue (Thief Archetype) is fascinated by the endless possibilities, but slightly put off by the shortcomings of the Disguise Self spell it casts. She has had a conversation with our spellcasters, and her player has asked me whether th...

dnd-5e magic-items

7:09 PM

I read the Werewolf the Apocalypse rulebook once, that really does seem to be designed to be read, or a large chunk of the beginning of it, anyway.

I enjoy the notion of a book designed not to be read

7:27 PM

Syntax going on there.

@Someone_Evil Sounds like something Oulipo would do

@A.B. No, I got what you meant. I just imagined one of the opposites and found it amusing

A book not designed to be read might be the fifth effort of a famous Highly Literary Writer. It's rubbish, but they know loads of people will buy it anyway just to look clever.

No, I know what you meant, just doing the same.

A book designed to not be read... hmm, we may be getting into quantum physics here.

@A.B. Just design it to be something else, like eaten

@Medix2 Sounds fibrous

7:31 PM

Oh there is that "destroy this book" thing or whatever, I wonder if that counts...

@Someone_Evil The box for Fiber One contains more fiber than its contents

:-D Yeah. But if you did read it before you ate it, it wouldn't matter.

But a book with only pictures counts depending on what you assign to the word "read", I suppose

If the point had to be for it not to be read, hmm... I can't immediately think what story that would belong to, but it sounds promising.

LizWeir

I'm currently doing some writing not intended to be read, I think!

O_o?

LizWeir

7:33 PM

making notes on a course I'm studying - mostly so the information sits in my head better

for referencing and revision I'll probably end up using the course materials

so writing notes is mostly not for them to be read in future

Oh yeah! I know what you mean. Just writing it is what mostly makes the difference. Reading it afterwards might help if you forgot it anyway, if you can understand what you meant, but probably won't be necessary.

Reminds me of a Peanuts strip. "And I read my essay to the whole class!" "What was it about?" "I don't know, I didn't listen."

Heh, that reminds me of the many notebooks filled with indecipherable scribbles made by taking notes in a feeble effort to stay awake during class

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ that's a form of modern art isn't it? Something Jackson Pollock might have done

That's why spell scrolls are so difficult to read. Most were made by bored wizardry students, so the writing is all in shorthand, and some of the arcane symbols have been replaced by Cool S and other doodles

7:49 PM

brilliant

@Medix2 what "destroy this book" do you mean? You mean like "burn after reading"?

Q: Can Mage Hand drag more weight than it can carry?

8:11 PM

4

I have been watching/listening to Chance's D&D Spellbook, which highlights a potential 'loophole' in that the spell doesn't list how much the hang can drag, say if attached via a rope that weighs less than 10lbs. Normally a spell only does what it says, but carrying and dragging seem closely enou...

dnd-5e cantrips

@A.B. There's some sort of journal thing titled "destroy this book" and it's full of things like "burn this page" "spill coffee on this page" "turn this page into an origami crane" and so forth. You definitely do have to read the pages to know what to do with them but it's deisnged with more than reading in mind

KorvinStarmast

@A.B. haha. I see that you have read Ulysses by James Joyce :)

8:37 PM

What, rubbish that people will buy to look clever?

@BESW what's that book you've mentioned a couple of times, that has the text laid out in different directions in different parts of many pages, and all sorts of hidden nuance in how you even tackle finding what to read? Do you have any idea what I mean?

(It's, like, the one book that would make TeX/LaTeX people go 'oh, no, even we can't get behind that.')

Peter Cooper Jr.

@BardicWizard I do have some suggestions for playing D&D (or other RPGs which our family tends to all just call "D&D") with kids. I started writing up a few thoughts, and what I've got here is probably closer to an essay than a quick chat, but hopefully it'll help. :)

If you're looking for minimally-structured storytelling, with an excuse to roll a polyhedral die every once in a while, then I'll second Amazing Tales. The free basic rules are fine and give you the gist of it;

the Full paid version doesn't add any rules but gives a bunch of helpful suggestions for playing with kids and some good settings and adventure ideas that I do recommend you buy if you can swing it.

If you want something with a bit more structure and still a lot of flexibility for any character or setting with fast character creation, I've tried out Fate Accelerated with some level of success. (Free to download from publisher, PWYW at DriveThruRPG)

It does use funny dice, though not the D&D ones, so I don't know if that's a dealbreaker. There's also the free Masters of Umdaar setting for it that I haven't tried but looks like fun in the right group.

Wizards of the Coast has actually come out with a few kid-targetted products. Check out Adventure with Muk, as well as Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Heisod and its sequel, Champions of the Elements.

They also have a page with links to their free coloring pages and their published (paid, physical) "Young Adventurer Guide" books.

Just going with straight "real" D&D can work fine too, especially if you just use pregenerated characters. The game boils down to just they say what they want to do, you tell them what die to roll and what happens.

Sometimes it can be more fun when playing with people who are just using their imagination rather than people trying to optimize damage per round. It can be hard to get a group of kids to work together with a cohesive strategy, though, so you might need to keep that in mind when building encounters.

There's also Dagger, which I haven't had a chance to try yet but is specifically trying to be lightweight D&D for kids. It's d6-based and centered on the D&D-style-fantasy setting, so might be hard to adapt to other types of settings.

It seems to me to just mainly some ideas expecting an experienced DM to just run with them, not really as targetted to "getting started" as say Amazing Tales does. But you may be able to use it either directly or as some inspiration for how to simplify D&D enough while still feeling like D&D.

8:52 PM

@PeterCooperJr. Oh, yes, this!

Peter Cooper Jr.

Figment I got as part of the recent itch.io bundle (and it doesn't look to be free outside of that), and is Rock-Paper-Scissors based rather than dice based, and is pretty rules-light. It's also designed to work well with PvP, which I don't know if it's a use case you deal with but is one I appreciate a game being able to handle since sometimes my kids want to take opposite sides.

I've also heard good things about No Thank You, Evil, Quest, and Magical Kitties Save the Day, though I haven't tried them and I don't think they're free to download. I'm sure there are others I've heard of that I want to check out sometime that I've already forgotten about.

(Sorry for spamming chat with all that. I didn't have time to make it shorter.)

user15026

9:17 PM

@nitsua60 this makes me think of House of Leaves, or S.

user15026

But I might be misunderstanding

10:29 PM

@nitsua60 Ash is probably right, it's like House of Leaves.

@Someone_Evil One definition of lyric/poetic RPGs is "games meant to be read but not played."

Oh, there's this one very simple game a guy made for his kids that's all about massive amounts of polyhedral dice... [rummages] This could take a while to find.

@Medix2 Is there any other way to improve my answer there? I still got downvoted even after my answer was almost identical to yours.

@BardicWizard Game developer Rob Donoghue designed a game he called "Basic Focus" to play with his 7-year-old. He started noodling on it here and finalized it here. The end result uses d6s but it'd be super trivial to just make it a couple fistfuls of random dice.

@ThomasMarkov Yeah I'm not sure... I don't particularly like my own answer in the first place

Gosh I'd forgotten some of those mechanics and I love them.

@ThomasMarkov The rules are very much written assuming you'll only ever have one action, which isn't a bad thing, but it does make for some rather undefined scenarios

10:49 PM

Your initial observation that I needed to establish a general-specific relationship was a good one. Identifying “its action” with “your action” to exclude hasted actions was the only way I could see to do it. Sans that portion of my answer were on exactly the same page. Yay ambiguity of language I guess :p

11:05 PM

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