Man_Over_Game

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Discussion on question by Devilsbestf…

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Man_Over_Game

May 7, 2021 19:52

Almost seems like he's on an Attack on Titan fix or something at the party's displeasure.

Discussion on answer by Ruadhan: Logi…

Imported from a comment discussion on worldbuilding.stackexcha...

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 12, 2020 06:53

@UKMonkey I agree. Not only is defense reactive, but it's also inefficient. You'll have better luck teaching an army of soldiers to kill better with swords than you would equipping them with suits of armor and mounts. A suit of armor that protects against 95% of all arrows is still more expensive than the 96 arrows it'd take to make it worthless. Is it easier to make a more durable tank, or an anti-tank shell?

Discussion on question by Daniel Zast…

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Daniel Zastoupil

Feb 28, 2020 00:48

@KorvinStarmast I could do that, but right now I don't have much to base the weight of each Short Rest off of. Is 4 a lot? Is 1 a few? I was hoping to work off more than just my gut feeling, but I suppose that's all we get, sometimes.

Daniel Zastoupil

Feb 28, 2020 00:48

@NautArch It's not for my table, necessarily. I create homebrewery and DM resources. Calculators and balance adjustments. It's a lot easier to account for an average table than it is to allow variance for a short-rest heavy-or-light table for every table.

Daniel Zastoupil

Feb 28, 2020 00:48

@KorvinStarmast I tried asking an almost identical question on the number of encounters a long while back, and it was nearly instantly closed for the very same problem I'm trying to avoid, simply because I was dumb enough to try and "refine" it. Some things are best left open-ended

Daniel Zastoupil

Feb 28, 2020 00:48

@KorvinStarmast I wanted to keep it open-ended, answered by the best source with the most supporting evidence, due to the lack of surveys on the topic. Sure, it starts by defining it by "Day", then it's defined by "Adventuring Day", and whether or not an "Adventuring Day" is a Long Rest or a Day-Night cycle of whatever world it is. Before you know it, the 1-2 actually existing sources can no longer apply because they aren't specific enough. So I'll opt to keep my options open.

Daniel Zastoupil

Feb 28, 2020 00:48

@GCL I'm not asking to make a poll. I'm asking if there is factual evidence as to how many Short Rests players actually take. I'm unsure, but is that still against the RPG.SE rules?

Daniel Zastoupil

Feb 28, 2020 00:48

@Someone_Evil I make a lot of homebrew and DM resources. Recognizing how common Short Rests are can help determine how powerful a Short Rest magic item should be vs. a Long Rest version, or repeat the same for class powers.

Daniel Zastoupil

Feb 28, 2020 00:48

@KorvinStarmast Nothing much more than Google searches. Most attempts to find or gather this information gets caught up in silly semantics (How many encounters vs. combat encounters, Short rest per Long Rest or per 24 hours, "Don't you know you're supposed to have 2 per day", etc) that prevented me from gathering any meaningful information. I'm hoping someone else has had better luck.

Daniel Zastoupil

Feb 28, 2020 00:48

@lucasvw Due to the rarity of any option, I'd prefer to keep it open-ended. If there are multiple answers, the one with the most supporting evidence would be the better answer.

Board and Card Games

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Daniel Zastoupil

Dec 3, 2019 16:15

@murgatroid99 Apologies, those were already pending review by the time I read your message. I've since ceased any updates, and I'll wait a decent while before continuing.

Daniel Zastoupil

Dec 2, 2019 23:41

Realized that there were a ton of questions on face-down cards that are often duplicates of the same few rules, and that could easily be mitigated by just good organization (like good tags). But I probably went overboard.

Daniel Zastoupil

Dec 2, 2019 23:38

@murgatroid99 Sorry about that. I forgot that edits cause the question to bump. My bad.

TRPG General Chat

Main chat room for tabletop role-playing games. Anyone can ask...

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:39

"It's a spell that converts mundane Rock to mundane Mud that becomes mundane Dirt". But NO. They had to add that one thing.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:39

Really, if they just didn't say that you could Dispel it, it would have solved any problems.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:38

And when it dries out, it doesn't become Rock again, it becomes mundane dirt.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:37

You don't play 3.5 if you want everything to make sense.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:36

That's the implication, yes.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:36

Oh, it does that, too. It can dry out based on weather conditions, but Dispel Magic can be used for as long as it remains as mud.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:35

Dunno. It's been a long while since I've done any 3.5 stuff.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:35

Unless...3.5 Dispel Magic can dispel things that are nonmagical.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:35

The version I'm reading says that it has a Permanent duration, but Dispel Magic can revert it back to stone. The fact that Dispel Magic can be used implies that the mud itself remains magical...indefinitely.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:33

I'm reading this off of the 3.5 SRD

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:33

I don't want to think about what happens if you dispel it while someone's in it.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:32

Instant stone floor.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:32

Or you can make a shape of something with mud, then Dispel it to transform it back to Stone.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:32

So you could use it to distract people who are using Detect Magic, as they keep scanning the friggin mud on the walls.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:31

What's really dumb is that it still retains a mudlike form once it's dispelled. It...kinda just stays as "magical mud" until it's dispelled.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:30

Not to mention that it modifies 2 10ft cubes per level. Assuming the minimum level, that's 10 cubes.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:28

Give that sucker to some Drow casters, and your players will probably want to stop going underground for a while.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:27

@WrongOnTheInternet It has a few mentioned uses. The mud itself can be up to 10 feet deep, and basically becomes quicksand to anyone who cannot pull themselves out or fly.

It also mentions you can cast it at the top of a cave, and cause a bunch of damage to anything that's under it as they're hit by a massive glob of heavy mud.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:21

Or powerdrill your way into a stone fortress.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:21

It's probably just a requirement there to make sure you don't melt people's houses.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:19

Sure, but then how does Mage Armor play a part? Or a Barbarian's Unarmored Defense?

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:18

"Well, that wizard was stupid. I've seen him block arrows all day, but he can't block a single Fireball spell that he saw coming".

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:18

@kviiri But then you have to still justify why some abilities work and others don't. Why can't I can't I use Shield against Fireball?

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:17

@kviiri To me, it doesn't seem at all that complicated. Attacks care about your armor, Saving Throw effects don't. As to why they do-or-do-not care about your armor is easily justified from the effect itself.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:14

@kviiri Why?

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 20:11

@kviiri The OP's concern has more to do with the narrative of the spell rather than the mechanics of it. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a question as to why Fireball isn't an "Attack". The game doesn't say it is, so why would the OP question it further?

Because it's his narrative/perspective that seems flawed.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 18:26

Thinking about it, I think I had the Gunz: The Duel icon, which is a somewhat obscure third-person FTP shooter which involved a lot of wall running and PvP.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 18:20

As far as I knew, it was just some default icon that I never changed. So now it either reflects that I'm incredibly lazy, or that I'm slightly clever, and I'm fine with both of those conclusions.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 18:18

But I like it, so now everybody has to ask that question.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 18:18

@GreySage No!

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 18:17

@Gcl Yes!

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 18:16

Fireball, a spell that swells and goes around corners, ignores your armor and only cares about your ability to maneuver around it, which is why it only uses a Dexterity Saving Throw.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 18:15

Attacks, which use an offensive 1d20 (and usually proficiencies and attack bonuses) are affected by armor. Firebolt, a blockable projectile, uses an attack.

Daniel Zastoupil

Mar 29, 2019 18:13

@AshRandom There is a difference between the Attack Action (which is explicitly for attacking with a weapon using mundane means), an attack (which is attempting to hit someone with some kind of physical effect) and an offensive spell like Fireball. Fireball deals damage, can be considered an aggressive action, but does not mention, nor use, the term Attack in any part of its resolution. Instead, it uses a Saving Throw, much in the same way Confusion would.

Daniel Zastoupil

Dec 12, 2018 23:52

Should definitely be good enough to work on for now.

Daniel Zastoupil

Dec 12, 2018 23:49

So I got 3 ideas to work with so far:
Barbarian that sacrifices HP for Temp HP, and in doing so, expands Rage to work with ranged attacks and spells.
Barbarian that has two special spell lists, one for combat spells and one for mobility buffs, that the barbarian can choose 1 from each of to cast when he begins his rage, and they stick until the Rage ends.
Barbarian that has a Ranger spell list and can temporarily remove Rage to cast a spell, and has several abilities that activate when doing so (like Dodge).

Daniel Zastoupil

Dec 12, 2018 23:46

Was it a moment of clarity?