@Graylocke What's "the duration"?

@Graylocke I assume it shouldn't be too heavy, eh?

How long the magic lasts for :)

Yeah, that's what the screenshot says. But what is it?

Uhm? So if I cast Mage Hand, the hand only lasts for 1 minute before the spell stops and I would need to cast it again.

oh! I just saw "duration" at the top. Previously I had only read it in the text.

If I cast Prestidigitation, then the effect (say I drew a magic marker moustache on your face) would last for an hour before it wore off.

Now it all makes sense. :-)

:D

Also, where are you getting these screenshots from?

And what's "Components: V, S"?

Basically, almost everything in the book will have a little "stat block" at the top, and then it will repeat some of that in the description.

You did invite questions. :-) Feel free to tell me to shut up.

Oh the screenshots are from the huge set of spell pages later on in the PDF.

And "Components" are the things you need to be able to do to cast the spell. They are mostly "flavouring" that you get to choose the specifics of... unless you are constrained in some way.

Sorry, that's not very clear -- perhaps if you explained what "V" is, it would be clearer?

The three components are V (verbal - you need to be able to speak in order to cast the spell), S (somatic - you need to be able to gesture, so not while bound!) and M (material - you need some kind of "spell component", often thematic bits and pieces)

ah I see

Sorry - I was trying to get all that out (and remember what the 3rd one was)

@Graylocke I guess I shouldn't pick a heavy one, since I assume we'll be traveling a lot, eh?

Oh - there is a 4th which is "F" (focus) - it is usually the replacement for M. A single object for channelling magic. It is pretty much what Cleric holy symbols do, and you can have arcane casters do that too

Oh yes! lol

@msh210 Sure , so ... pipe organ is probably not a good plan.

;)

Also, the rest of the characters are pretty "outdoorsy" :P

Something you can strap to your pack probably :)

Or you could sing!

(I still need to actually watch that)

Yeah, so, um, maybe the ocarina?

@Mithical where's it from?

The Road to El Dorado

Ooooh ocarina! :D

And El Dorado is awesome :)

@msh210 . . . it's definitely portable.

I have pan pipes that I play... poorly ^^;

(since I am not a Bard... o.o)

@Graylocke or maybe this

I just looked at Bard... and you are apparently allowed to know 3 musical instruments of your choice :) (Not that you necessarily carry them all around with you!)

oh nice, then I will definitely sing as one of them

Btw - if navigating the PDF is a pain, then you could use: roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Bard#content

The search bar is a little more friendly and you can more easily open lots of tabs >.>;

@Graylocke thanks!

I'm reading the intro and it says "Without the healing magic of clerics and paladins, adventurers would quickly succumb to their wounds.". So maybe one of us should be one of those....

Yes :D bobble is playing a cleric :)

bobble can heal

Though bards also get a little bit of healing magic too I think

oh okay

Our Bard will know uh... 4 level 1 spells!

And Cure Wounds is in the Bard list too :)

(though you will only be able to cast 2 L1 spells before you need to rest to recover the ability to cast more)

Does that mean, like, not do anything for one turn?

or just not cast spells? or....?

rest? Uhm it needs to be an out of combat, rest for a few hours

like overnight or in a safe place or whatever.

oh

that restriction is also on the rest of us magicky ppl

you have to get tougher to cast more of the non-cantrip spells

As a second link (same site) roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Spells%20List?sort=Level#content is really useful for looking up spells -.-;

@Mithical - looks like Rangers can cast Cure Wounds when they are level 2 o.o; So not to begin with but not too far away. I think I will be the only one incapable of healing ^^;

(And knowing that, I may as well not throw away a spell choice for something literally everyone but me can do better lol)

I don't expect Cthulhu-involved people to heal very well >.>

what is "lawful good", "chaotic good" that you (pl.) wrote in your self-descriptions?

I don't follow Cthulhu! >.>;

@msh210 Alignment! A short-hand way of describing your general morals/ethics.

hm

People tend to think of it as a long scale from Lawful Good being "the most good" to Chaotic Evil being "the most evil" but that is ... not really true :)

Oh, Neutral Neutral is usually referred to as True Neutral

Tabaxi is a race like human or elf?

Tabaxi is a race, yes :)

And halfling means a half-what and half-what?

Halfling is basically hobbit

ah okay

The Hobbit, at least, I've read.

:D

(Also LotR, but that was years and years ago and I don't remember it well.)

yes "halfling" is the non-TM hobbit ;p

:-)

I also like how everything else "half-" is always "half-human"... how human-centrist ;p

Humans just like to get with everything they can >.<

The excuse is that they are supposedly the Ditto of the D&D universe.

"Ditto"?

Oh Pokemon reference. Basically, they can have offspring regardless of the other partner...

For whatever reason they thought that was sensible

ah I see

> Ditto, is a Normal-type Pokémon introduced in Generation I. Ditto is a unique Pokémon because it can breed with any Pokémon in a Day Care Center regardless of its gender, except for...

Why they're breeding in day care centers, I don't want to know.

Don't try to understand Pokemon... It is terrifying when you go to deep.

Is there some kind of convention once a game starts to indicate whether the character is speaking or the person who manages that character? Like, having the managing person speak in parentheses or something?

(I understand it's usually played in person not in a chatroom. I'm asking about the chatroom case.)

Very true! I think we will have to go with whatever Mick decided the convention should be :)

sounds good

gtg, bbl

have a good day, night, respectively

Bai :)

I should probably also do things like dinner and suchly :)

then spend the evening attempting to draw a tabaxi with limited art skill ^^;

see you later :)

@Sciborg when you're around and can continue your tutorial, I'd appreciate a ping.

Eep - I should sleep instead of doing character art..! (scampers to bed)

@Sciborg Bobbly-controlled minds, you mean :P

@Mithical What's your character?

Hehe

Are you a rogue?

Ranger

Ah. We have two rangers now!

Maybe I should switch to rogue just to keep it diversified

Or sorceror?

Switch back to druid >_>

Ooh, actually, '@Sciborg could you like "make" a race like you did for gray?

I would like to consider being a half-celestial, kind of like a tiefling, but like, angelic

I might not end up changing my character at all, but I want to see options :P

Also, my character has changed to True Neutral in alignment

I was reconsidering my alignment

Chaotic Good might be a better chance

I'm staying Lawful Good - Dwarves already tend that way, and that's how I want to roll

Also, huh, does the "show full message" not show up in the transcript?

Most elves are chaotic good, but like being raised by wolves would make you pretty True Neutral :P

only on mobile

Good to know, thanks

I discovered that while trying to read Codenames logs on my phone

...I still miss the always able to edit power...

you can click on your message, that should let you edit?

(maybe I'll change to Dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut)

@bobble not after two minutes

ah

I'm not good at visualizing people... or anything... I can't "see" what things look like in my head

So figuring out Astrid's physical traits is being hard

Yikes

I'm not good with visuals either. Much better with concepts.

My mental "images" are limited to relative positioning (so I can remember floor plans very well) and sounds.

Oh, I'm pretty good at visualizing things

I have terrible relative positioning though

The fillable boxes aren't showing up on my form

How do you get them back?

What form?

Sciborg emailed me a fillable-PDF charcter sheet

I have all my stats stuff filled out, but I want to record some character information now

...I have a phone note

'borg could email you the character sheet (they also have a Word document); I could also forward you the form-fillable one. If you want

I can email you both mith

It's fine, I'll just use my phone note and rely on Mick to keep track of everything :p

Individual character sheet matter more in things like combat, when Sciborg will have to keep track of all the enemies and we're expected to keep track of ourselves

...although it might be useful to see if I've forgotten anything

mith@codidact.org

form-fillable or Word?

only North can send you the Word

Either, I have no idea how to use either of them

The form-fillable one is a PDF that allows you to type directly onto it

North, are you conformable emailing Mith? I can otherwise

I can email them

thanks

Oh wait ctually

Bobble can you email them? I just realized I saved my blank form fillable one as an edited one

sent

I'm bobble Poofy

Received

We have two rangers, a cleric, a warlock, what's Msh?

Bard

Oooh

Nice choice

thank you

Do you know the pan pipes?

I'm considering switching to a spellcasting class but I'm not sure yet

They're my god's symbol

Eh, I'll keep it this way

@bobble never heard them in person (live) AFAIR, but yes. Why?

as in, does your character play the pan pipes?

@bobble oh.

@bobble no - I was told I can choose up to... three? instruments.

I haven't done so yet.

@bobble is your god Pan?

How did you guess :P

I didn't know anyone still worshiped the ancient Greek gods.

I found a little religious book someone dropped, that's how I converted.

Shouldn't Sciborg tell us what place and time we're in before we decide what people to be? Like, it might be more useful to be a dwarf in Middle-Earth than in a Martian colony (just for example).

I think the vague idea was a forest of some kind, since we're all nature people.

ah

ah okay

@Mithical What route are you planning to for ranger? Hunter or beast master?

Probably beast but I have to study the handbook more

Nothing is decided yet, though - they said today/once people's characters were more defined, they would start worldbuilding/plotting in earnest

ok

donjon.bin.sh/5e/spells

^ searchable spell list, with effects

I think someone needed to look through them?

well drat

will copy my stuff onto a fresh PDF then

It doesn't look like I can edit the PDF from my phone in any case.

blocked

Did you download it first?

yes

aw

I'll see if it works from my computer next time I'm at home

...which will hopefully be in less than 24 hours depending on lockdown restrictions

In the meantime I'll continue to use phone notes

Based on 'borg's activity chart, they should be getting up about now :P

They're still offline according to Discord

Also, good thing that I'm copying stuff over - it appears I mistranscribed my Wis modifier

Okay, so for appearance I decided to go with me in dwarf form :D

This game has 4 noobs out of 6 people. We're going to have fun.

Oh, it's going to be so much fun

OKay so some notes about my character's appearance:

Læraðr, true neutral, real age unknown but is presumed 16-18. A wood elf, tall (6'2"), slender, and well-built, he was raised by wolves after his family was killed by a pack of demonic wolves. He has copper-brown skin, long, hazel brown hair typically tied into a rat-tail that hangs over one of his shoulders. His left eye is a sapphire blue eye inherited from his parents, and a gash across his right eye, along with blood red pupil from his encounter (cont'd)

(cont'd) with the demon wolves. It is said to glow during the hunt. He is missing a majority of his left arm, except during combat and other situations where the left arm/hand is needed. During this time, he is given a magical arm to use. The arm is similar to his right side in terms of length and size, except has a faint, transparent green aura emanating. The arm is also entirely made from vines and roots. It is see through, almost ghost-like in its appearance (the arm is entirely cosmetic)

Is usually okay with people calling him "Lae" (pronounced "lay"). Seeks to find Yggrasil's Bowwhich is said to be made from the very branches of Yggdrasil itself, to slay the monsters and even the goddess herself who killed his village

easy name would be the Yggdrasil Bow

Bow of Yggdrsail?

Yggdrasil's Bow?

Now it seems like Yggdrasil owns the bow O_O

Eh, oh well

@bobble thanks!

Although works well with others in fights and combat, he is quiet, reserved, and VERY awkward (flaw) and does not open up well to others, much to Kithri's chagrin. Having grown up away from civilization his entire life, he cannot read or write in Common Tongue, however, he can speak somewhat brokenly in it. Strangely, he is completely fluent in elvish. Despite his incredible awkwardness, he is loyal to his "pack", but more importantly, in preserving the very life balance of nature.

would bow-seeking involve dragging the party along or would you run off by yourself?

Wandering off on his own

His major flaw being overly independent

You know

"lone wolf" (ba dum crash)

groans

Bond: "I will bring terrible wrath upon those evildoers who destroyed my homeland. Which is the forest."

Preferred enemy: Fiends

@Mithical What's yoru preferred terrain, btw? Mine is forest

What is this "preferred enemy" thing? I've never heard of anyone preferring an enemy IRL.

Oh, that's a ranger specific thing

Oh?

We get a special bonus for when confronting/fighting a "preferred enemy"

Or sorry, the proper term is "favored enemy"

@PrinceNorthLæraðr uuuuh

what are the options again

Hold on

@PrinceNorthLæraðr ah, interesting

also a bonus in your preferred terrain?

@Mithical arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp, or the Underdark

@msh210 Yup. And a bonus for your party, I believe

Mountain

Okay

Arrrggghhh, I don't know what my spells do :(

It's blocked

oh

5thsrd.org/spellcasting/spell_lists/ranger_spells

?

Also blocked

google.com/…

Okay, wikidot worked

Ooh, fog cloud works really well with mask of the wild

Okay lv 1 ranger spells for Lae is Fog Cloud and Hunter's Mark

Lae's first words to (whoever was the first person he met on the party): "So, when was the first time you learned how to gut a deer?"

I think that a perfect precedent to describe the awkwardness of his personality

I think there was an idea someone up there to have us meet first/know each other well

Since I'm planning to just be wandering around, it'd be fairly easy to say I bumped into you at some point

Like we've already bonded?

I mean I already assumed that, it's just for backstory

what specifically do you mean by bonded?

Do we already all know each other at the beginnings of our journey or do we meet each other throughout the beginning of our campaign?

i dunno

remind me if you please - how many people (who) are playing and who among them is new to D&D?

6 people (5 players, and 'borg is the DM) and 4 of us are new

Me (noob), Mith (noob), you (noob), North (noob-ish), Gray (experienced)

got it, thanks

I'm a noob-ish, I know a bit about the game because my friend plays it, and we were going to do a campaign but never got around to it but I've never played myself

the noobish on the block

Oh wait, I don't think I'm allowed spells at level 1 as ranger yet

I'm so confused

yep, you get Spellcasting at level 2

Ah, drat

stuff rangers get for leveling up

I think that sub-classes might get other stuff on top of that

Ah. I thought I read in the handbook I had to choose two spells as ranger