TRPG General Chat

Thomas Markov

3:55 AM

-1

Q: Does Favored by the Gods work with counterspell rolls?

5e. Title, just wondering if it works as I was trying to counterspell power word kill and needed the extra rolls.

sorcerer

Need some close votes.

Medix2

4:09 AM

I do want to point something out @ThomasMarkov (one sec)

The most upvoted answer to this question

Which... I've just been kinda silently knowing that that flipped and hoping nobody would notice...

Well, we've got a Meta XD

Thomas Markov

A lovely one at that.

Medix2

There's some complicated-ness in there... especially since the "new-ness" is hard to measure... (one sec)

Thomas Markov

@Medix2 I thought your answer to the repelling blast question was very well done.

Medix2

There is "What to do when an edit guesses the system being used rather than waiting for the querent to clarify?" which was revisited twice, most recently this year. There is also: "What to do when an answer guesses the system of a question rather than waiting for the querent to clarify?" which is very similar, but has not been revisited as recently.

And then there is: "Is '5e' a clear enough statement of game system by a question asker?" which until recently did agree with the other posts. Only recently did the vote totals end up switching around; as such, at least to me, it is still unclear as to whether the actual practice and implementation of any sort of protocol regarding questions using "5e" has changed.

@user-024673 Please know they did not say that

> [...] continued disregard for site policies can get you temporarily banned [...]

But further discussion should be on Meta, not here

@user-024673 They don't even have the power to ban you, btw

@ThomasMarkov Thank you

Thomas Markov

They couldn’t have meant that since they are unable to ban you.

Again, I suggest you review the code of conduct.

Name calling isn’t going to get you anywhere.

The Oracle

4:27 AM

-1

Q: 5e question that doesn't have the special tag

So I saw this question today: Does Favored by the Gods work with counterspell rolls? In the question it says "5e", talks about "Favored by the Gods", "Counterspell", and "Power Word Kill". If I asked anyone what game this is, they'd look at me funny and reply "5e, duh". If I pushed them and said "...

discussion

Thomas Markov

Not particularly, no.

Medix2

If you want to research and read previous discussion of adding system tags; here's a list I made

We have quite a few answers from various people saying that the obvious-ness doesn't matter and giving numerous reasons not to add in a system tag, no matter how obvious it is. I'm not saying I agree with the current practice; but there are stated reasons

One of the most recent, and likely most helpful/informative discussion would be this: "Re-revisiting the “don't guess the system” policy" which I linked to earlier; I highly recommend reading it

@user-024673 And that's the entire reasons we have Metas and go by voting totals; you don't just need a reason, you needs reasons that people actively click "yes, I agree"

This kinda is a "stepped on an invisible landmine" situation; maybe some good will come of it all

@ThomasMarkov You ever write up and post a whole answer and then realize that some random sentence in the middle was distilled alphabet soup, and then you've gotta rush to fix it?

Hot RPG Questions

6:01 AM

3

Q: Is a lightfoot halfling obscured for the purposes of hiding while in the space of another creature?

Can a lightfoot halfling hide while in the space of some creature (like a Medium-sized or larger ally), and be hidden from an adjacent creature? The halfling is not trying to hide from the creature with which it is sharing a space.

dnd-5e racial-traits stealth halfling

Novak

Hey, Linksassin, I think I've answered my question by looking through the recent chat logs here.....

linksassin

@Novak Yeah I was just coming here to explain to you and found them myself. Thanks for trying to help.

Novak

Not the first time I've tripped on edited comments. I'm so used to being able to see Q/A revision histories, I forget that comments are... let's say "highly ephemeral"

Bardic Wizard

@Medix2 ugh, you ever do that on homework and not realize till after it’s turned in?

linksassin

@Novak Particularly in cases like this. When I became a mod I discovered a whole host of discussion buried in deleted comments that I didn't know existed.

Novak

6:11 AM

Yeah, I bet.

Medix2

@BardicWizard One of my professors once wrote "I have absolutely no idea what you did in the middle, but the start and end were correct; have the points"

Novak

@Medix2 I would like to have had more of your profs-- I was rarely if ever allowed to get away with that. Probably built character, but very unpleasant at the time.

linksassin

6:27 AM

@Medix2 I knew the totals were getting close but I hadn't realised they had so dramatically flipped. I'll discuss with the other mods as clearly we need to address this.

Medix2

@linksassin I swear I once asked a question about "What is the go-to answer to a Meta question for providing guidance: The highest-scoring one? The accepted one? Something else?" but apparently I never did

linksassin

@Medix2 Yeah that's a whole mess. I'm right now trying to think about ways to prevent this from happening again.

Perhaps an edit to the question when the community reaches a consensus with a summary of the votes at that time?

Medix2

@linksassin There is what was done with the re-revisit (just an explicit statement in the question about the finalized answer)

Welp, I got sniped XD

linksassin

Then you go by the answer the edit tells you to follow and if vote totals change we know it might need to be addressed.

@Medix2 I'm thinking we might need to try to do that on more important metas going forward

Novak

6:46 AM

Can the Hot RPG Questions, or something like it, be adapted to send notices when vote tallies change?

V2Blast

@Novak I'm just guessing, but I doubt it

that said, I know little about what's possible with bots :P

Novak

It would still only help users who frequent the chat room often (i.e., not me) but it might be somewhat useful. I don't know what is possible with stack bots, either.

V2Blast

7:49 AM

@ThomasMarkov I've (sort of) made that edit now. I think it reads a bit more clearly now. (...Technically, the tweet's still presented before the rules; it was easier than rewriting the phrasing of the whole answer to have the rules first.)

kviiri

8:52 AM

@user-024673 Please refrain from referring to opinions of other users as "mob rule", "bs" or similar derogatory terms, we don't do that here.

2

You are free to disagree with the current way of doing things all you like, but you need to remember that the viewpoints and stances you are criticizing are made by and supported by normal site users. Conduct your criticism in a way that does not insult them.

kviiri

9:38 AM

@user-024673 Like I said, you are free to disagree. But we do not insult other users here.

(Also, no, I am not upset, I'm just trying to help you communicate better)

AncientSwordRage

11:08 AM

How's everyone doing this morning

kviiri

11:25 AM

working hard

AncientSwordRage

sounds like a plan

Thomas Markov

At the gym

AncientSwordRage

cool, I was planning on joining a gym at one point

in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, 2 mins ago, by SQB

Tip: Humble Bundle has a bundle of e-books featuring mostly Timotht Zahn, William Shatner, and Piers Anthony.

thought this might interest people here too

BESW

11:46 AM

Aaaaaah

AncientSwordRage

@BESW that's a lot of repeated letter 'A's, everything ok?

BESW

Shatner's his own barrel of sour pickles, but WHY would the Humble Bundle give Anthony the time of day, much less a place in one of their offers?

AncientSwordRage

I've no idea who Anthony is

BESW

in The Reading Room, Jan 18 '17 at 23:59, by BESW

@user159517 Anthony's like an everlasting font of creepy and/or spiteful.

in The Reading Room, Jan 18 '17 at 23:53, by BESW

@Catija Anthony's works aren't exactly toeing the line. (link is text, but seriously not safe)

Content warning for... sexualization of both fictional and actual underage people, to put it mildly.

They've got Jane Yolen in the bundle! Talk her up!

...and include more of her books, that's a pitiful selection of her bogglingly large body of work.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW I'm guessing the Wiki and Amazon page aren't being very forthcoming with those issues

@BESW I read a bit then I noped out

BESW

11:53 AM

Yuuuuuup

My summary of But What Of Earth? is

in The Reading Room, Jan 20 '17 at 11:30, by BESW

(Anthony uses his A-list authorial clout to make good on a ten-year-old grudge against an editor who did a poor job on one of Anthony's already awful early novels.)

AncientSwordRage

ugh

BESW

Just. Anthony is mediocre and petty on the best of days, and then you start to notice... all the other things... that he keeps playing as jokes... for way too long...

It baffles me how he ever rose to prominence, much less managed to be called a "Star of Sci-fi & Fantasy" in the Year 2020. He's a walking stranger danger alert.

Not cool, Bundle. Not cool.

But really, why are THESE your stars of sci-fi and fantasy anyway? More like 1980s Novels I Remember From The Discount Shelf In The Used Bookstore.

I know you've heard of Ursula K. Le Guin, Bundle. You compared Jane Yolen to her.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW me?

oh wait my name isn't Bundle

BESW

OR IS IT.

AncientSwordRage

my brain skipped that bit

:o

::head-splodey-boom::

BESW

12:02 PM

Okay, it's a teamup with Open Road Media. They probably don't have the license for Le Guin. [pops open their web page]

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. front page!

Why isn't SHE in your bundle?

You've got Parable of the Sower in your catalogue and you don't put it in your "stars of scifi" bundle?!

...they've got James Tiptree, too. [face/desk]

You didn't think Birth of a Salesman might be a solid option, huh.

Harlan Ellison gets to go on the list, though. A man that even conservative scifi communities admit was "controversial."

Welp, that was my boggle of the day.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW I did pin it in the scifi chat....now it's unpinned and un starred

BESW

Most of the bundle's choices are just confusing and arguably inept, but Anthony... yeah, that's a hard nope, a deep disappointment, and a lot of skepticism of Bundles going forward.

AncientSwordRage

sadly I think that it's super easy for some to just go "Oh, white male author, probably fine", and thing they don't need to dig deep and look even a little under

BESW

(BTW, when conservative old-school scifi communities say a beloved author is "controversial," they mean he's a sex pest and/or eugenicist.)

AncientSwordRage

sigh

BESW

12:16 PM

And it's not like Shatner's without his... controversies....

AncientSwordRage

that goes without saying

BESW

And I'm all for "enjoy flawed things" and such, but Anthony's "flaws" are the things. Even his good jokes are outsourced.

SQB

Hey, @BESW, how are you doing!

Haven't seen you in a long time.

BESW

[wave] Ruining things, apparently!

SQB

Ha! Nah, Piers ruined himself.

kviiri

12:29 PM

Howdy

BESW

I'm doing okay! Started writing some small TRPG things this year.

What's new with you?

SQB

Going by what Wikipedia has on Harlan Ellison, he seems to have been an unpleasant person, but not a sexist or a misogynist.

And he was anti-Vietnam War, so I can imagine conservative writers having a problem with him.

BESW

@SQB Even Wikipedia had to admit the 2006 Hugo Awards ceremony happened.

SQB

Oh darn, I overlooked that.

Yeah, that's bad.

BESW

My favorite is the bit where he complained about not getting his apology received the way he wanted.

(If you check out the Talk page for the wiki article you'll find more stuff which has been taken out of the article in its current state... and a lot of people trying to write apologetics for him.)

SQB

1:23 PM

Oh, I'll check.

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