Talk to Ashiel About Anything Mark II

[Tels]

Well if you are going to flee cross-sea i would offer up a bed at my place, buuut its cold and messy ^^;

New Zealand is actually ridiculously easy to get a visa for. Go online and get a work visa, it takes about 10 minutes, and then you can go and work in New Zealand for up to a year, and it only takes a short time to get a residence visa. My sister just did this, she's only been there about 6 months and is a legal resident.

[Ashiel]

I won't be leaving.

[Lemmy]

The "I'm moving to Canada!" crowd is just a bunch of immature whiners overreacting... But as much as I'd like to discuss the elections, that's not allowed around here, so instead I'll ask:

What old school anime (if any) do you guys like?
What recent anime (if any) do you guys like?

[DracoknightZero]

The "I'm moving to Canada!" crowd is just a bunch of immature whiners overreacting... But as much as I'd like to discuss the elections, that's not allowed around here, so instead I'll ask:

What old school anime (if any) do you guys like?
What recent anime (if any) do you guys like?

Old school: Hmm, Dragon Ball Z despite the fillers.
Recent: Hero Academia, it was just awesome.

[Ashiel]

The "I'm moving to Canada!" crowd is just a bunch of immature whiners overreacting... But as much as I'd like to discuss the elections, that's not allowed around here, so instead I'll ask:

What old school anime (if any) do you guys like?
What recent anime (if any) do you guys like?

I'm pretty fond of (in no particular order) Vampire Hunter D, Ninja Scroll, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, DBZ, Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo, Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, Trigun, Neon Genesis Evangelion (even though I only saw it for the first time a couple years ago), Ranma 1/2, and probably a few dozen I don't remember off the top of my head at the moment.

I'll have to think about the more recent anime. I just woke up and my brain still seems to be booting up...

[Tels]

Since Mass Effect 2 and 3 are now backwards compatible with the Xbox One, I've been playing ME3 multiplayer (still tons of fun). One of the key mechanics for high level play party synergy to set off ability combos. Certain abilities can prime a target for another ability to detonate an explosion that deals massive damage, depending on what type of health the enemy has. Tech combos deal lots of damage to shields, biotic barriers and electronic enemies, cry explosions deal lots of damage to unprotected enemies, fire explosions deal lots of damage to armor, and biotic explosions deal lots of damage to armor and biotic barriers.

Anyway, I have to wonder if some sort of "combo" mechanic would be appropriate for TTRPG games. Like certain spells act as primers for another spell to trigger a secondary effect. For example, like maybe a fear spell primes an enemy for a phantasmal killer spell to release an AoE effect that deals minor damage, but also triggers an AoE Fear effect for a small number of rounds. Or a cold spell could be the primer for a Rime Spell metamagic effect even if you don't possess the feat. D20 Legends could have a spell like burning hands prime enemies for another trigger spell to detonate an enemy to make nearby enemies gain 1 stack of Burn. Spells like magic missile could be great sources for detonating primed enemies.

Probably too complicated to put into a system unless the system was designed from the ground up to include them.

[Zilrax]

Heard there was a big earthquake in New Zealand. Hope everyones okay.

[Tels]

Heard there was a big earthquake in New Zealand. Hope everyones okay.

Yes, we got a call late last night after it happened. Both of my sister's and my new relativew are all okay. Thank you for your concern.

[DracoknightZero]

Yes, we got a call late last night after it happened. Both of my sister's and my new relativew are all okay. Thank you for your concern.

Are the KIWIS okay? ARE THEY?!

[Ashiel]

Since Mass Effect 2 and 3 are now backwards compatible with the Xbox One, I've been playing ME3 multiplayer (still tons of fun). One of the key mechanics for high level play party synergy to set off ability combos. Certain abilities can prime a target for another ability to detonate an explosion that deals massive damage, depending on what type of health the enemy has. Tech combos deal lots of damage to shields, biotic barriers and electronic enemies, cry explosions deal lots of damage to unprotected enemies, fire explosions deal lots of damage to armor, and biotic explosions deal lots of damage to armor and biotic barriers.

Anyway, I have to wonder if some sort of "combo" mechanic would be appropriate for TTRPG games. Like certain spells act as primers for another spell to trigger a secondary effect. For example, like maybe a fear spell primes an enemy for a phantasmal killer spell to release an AoE effect that deals minor damage, but also triggers an AoE Fear effect for a small number of rounds. Or a cold spell could be the primer for a Rime Spell metamagic effect even if you don't possess the feat. D20 Legends could have a spell like burning hands prime enemies for another trigger spell to detonate an enemy to make nearby enemies gain 1 stack of Burn. Spells like magic missile could be great sources for detonating primed enemies.

Probably too complicated to put into a system unless the system was designed from the ground up to include them.

You'd be surprised as to how uncomplicated it can be, actually. Save-bombing is the classical combo-attack of choice. For example, phantasmal killer as you mention is a great spell to use in conjunction with a class such as Antipaladin who gets in someone's face and gives them a -4 vs fear effects, then rolls Intimidate to inflict the shaken condition for another -2, so they're now rolling at -6/-6 vs the phantasmal killer and no resources were even expended!

I was helping a friend of mine rewrite the Dread Necromancer class from 3.5 and I introduced a number of new combo-based mechanics to it, most notably a tagging system so when you channeled negative energy, foes who were killed before the end of your next turn return channel uses to you (if you hit multiple targets with a single channel and they all die before the end of your next turn you can even get back more than you spent). One of the early prototype characters relies on stacking fear effects using Shatter Resolve.

Incidentally, mentioning the stacking burn effects is pretty on point for D20 Legends. I want to use the corrosive, burning, and chilled conditions as a sort of catalyst for abilities. Such as being able to spread the burning condition to nearby foes, and making so that adding another stack of burning causes them to immediately take burning damage as if a round passed (so if they're burning for 1d6 damage and you inflict burning again, they immediately take 2d6).

[Ashiel]

Heard there was a big earthquake in New Zealand. Hope everyones okay.

Yeah ditto. First I've heard of it. Been working night shift and everyone I know has either been talking about the skyrocketing salt supply in America (this is a metaphor FYI), or RPG stuff.

[Ashiel]

Just drew out a quick concept sketch for my friend Raital. It's not a character portrait but a proof of concept for the idea of a witch-ninja, using the necromancer class we were working on (which is essentially a rebuilt dread necromancer from 3.5).

[Zilrax]

Looks good. Face looks a little glisteny but maybe that's intended?

I remember the dreadnecro. Fun thing that. Doing a necro cleric myself via Undead Lord. Course I kinda regret it now, as the characters superior officer basically forbids her from making anything but sentient undead, and her religion forbids her from forcing people to be sentient undead. So I'm like welp, glad to know I tossed a whole domain for this.

[Rynjin]

Your GM sounds like the kind of person who would tell everyone to make pirate characters and then set the entire campaign in a desert.

[Zilrax]

Different dms, so maybe I just have bad luck? Or maybe it's me :p

[Ashiel]

Different dms, so maybe I just have bad luck? Or maybe it's me :p

Honestly, good GMs are worth their weight in gold.

[Lemmy]

Honestly, good GMs are worth their weight in gold.

Can I use my Jupiter-based weight to calculate how much gold I'm worth?

[DracoknightZero]

Can I use my Jupiter-based weight to calculate how much gold I'm worth?

A bitt off-topic from that, i believe i found a picture of Lemmy from his earlier years:

Spoiler: Lemmy

Show

What about a mediocre DM? Are they worth their weight in silver? Because even finding one of those are hard.

[Lemmy]

A bitt off-topic from that, i believe i found a picture of Lemmy from his earlier years:

Spoiler: Lemmy

Show

Those are my ancestors, actually. That one in the front is my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather: Lemmineth Vin Lemminstein III.
But don't feel bad. It's an easy mistake to make... The Lemminstein genes are pretty strong. The family resemblance is uncanny.

Yeah... You Americans think you had it tough with the Oregon trail... But did any of your ancestors single-handedly build a bridge with no support beams? Or dig trough granite using nothing but their bare fingerless hands?

What about a mediocre DM? Are they worth their weight in silver? Because even finding one of those are hard.

By definition, wouldn't mediocre anything be the easiest to find?

[Klara Meison]

Your GM sounds like the kind of person who would tell everyone to make pirate characters and then set the entire campaign in a desert.

Hmm, that could work. Some sort of desert-fairing ships like in that episode of Avatar as the main medium of transportation. You could add various desert-swimming critters like in Monster Hunter too...

Pretty nice idea actually.

[Zilrax]

I did something like that once. I had a region called the Jade Sea, a grassland with lots of rolling hills. Ships move along it, through various methods, including pirates. The gnoll pirates favored using Bullettes to pull their ships along, while the lizardfolk made use of mechanical legs of sorts.

I enjoyed the look of my pcs face when they were walking through the region, and spot a black skull and crossbone flag over one of the hills. They peer at it, before a whole bloody ship comes up over the top and then hurtles down towards them.

In a later game involving a look into the past, there was no Jade Sea. In order to get their yuan-ti army across the sea to the mainland from the island, they hired an powerful lamia archmage, who decided, "You wanna get past? Okay." And promptly did a ritual that transmuted the entire sea between the island and the mainland into grassland. The sharks became bullettes, waves became hills and so on. Remnants of the magic linger, allowing the ships to move around at all in the Jade Sea despite logical sense.

And now all I can think about is this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m7EGVhrz8k

[DracoknightZero]

Those are my ancestors, actually. That one in the front is my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather: Lemmineth Vin Lemminstein III.
But don't feel bad. It's an easy mistake to make... The Lemminstein genes are pretty strong. The family resemblance is uncanny.

Yeah... You Americans think you had it tough with the Oregon trail... But did any of your ancestors single-handedly build a bridge with no support beams? Or dig trough granite using nothing but their bare fingerless hands?

By definition, wouldn't mediocre anything be the easiest to find?

I do love that you took the joke and went all the way. If i were of the female sort i would have offered you my babies, but alas all i can offer you is a facebook "like".

It sounds like you had more luck with DMs than i had... because the regular DM i have met is at best "meh".... then again trying to find games at Reddit or /tg/ would be a self-fulfilling prophechy of suck.

[Rynjin]

Hmm, that could work. Some sort of desert-fairing ships like in that episode of Avatar as the main medium of transportation. You could add various desert-swimming critters like in Monster Hunter too...

Pretty nice idea actually.

Even so, you tell the players about what you're going to do beforehand before they make people who've lived on boats their whole lives and are geared mechanically towards sea dwelling.

Not, ay, let a player make a necromancer and then, later say they can't actually necromance.

[Ashiel]

Even so, you tell the players about what you're going to do beforehand before they make people who've lived on boats their whole lives and are geared mechanically towards sea dwelling.

Not, ay, let a player make a necromancer and then, later say they can't actually necromance.

This is pretty much exactly what happened to me recently. A GM told me I could play a necromancer, told me some special fluff stuff to build the necromancer around, gave me lots of ideas for the necromancer, then after the character was done, told me that he's had problems in the past with necromancers being anti-party and so I couldn't play one, despite no one in the group having any objection and my character being explicitly built around being proactively helpful.

[Lemmy]

I do love that you took the joke and went all the way. If i were of the female sort i would have offered you my babies, but alas all i can offer you is a facebook "like".

You can always send me your firstborn through the mail.

It sounds like you had more luck with DMs than i had... because the regular DM i have met is at best "meh".... then again trying to find games at Reddit or /tg/ would be a self-fulfilling prophechy of suck.

Well... Average/mediocre anything should always be the most common. That's what makes them average/mediocre. How good the average is, however, is a different story...

[DracoknightZero]

You can always send me your firstborn through the mail.

Well... Average/mediocre anything should always be the most common. That's what makes them average/mediocre. How good the average is, however, is a different story...

First: Nah, a facebook like is all you need.

From my perspective: Average is: "Knowledge local lets you tell you something about a person" *rolls 20* "You know the entire backstory of a person that have never been in the area, you know their deepst secrets, you know their class level race alignment and that their motivation is to remain hidden"... i am not even kidding, this have actually happend to me.

[Ashiel]

First: Nah, a facebook like is all you need.

From my perspective: Average is: "Knowledge local lets you tell you something about a person" *rolls 20* "You know the entire backstory of a person that have never been in the area, you know their deepst secrets, you know their class level race alignment and that their motivation is to remain hidden"... i am not even kidding, this have actually happend to me.

People often forget that humanoids are creatures with statblocks too, and you can size up opponents pretty well with Knowledge: Local.

Knowing full history and deepest secrets and stuff might be pushing it though.

[Lemmy]

Wouldn't a Knowledge check just tell you about the race and/or society of a character? I wouldn't allow it to give character-specific information unless he's some sort of notable, well-known individual such as a noble or famous general.

[137beth]

People often forget that humanoids are creatures with statblocks too, and you can size up opponents pretty well with Knowledge: Local.

Knowing full history and deepest secrets and stuff might be pushing it though.

In 3.5, I use a house rule that K:Local is renamed K:Humaniods. I don't actually change what it does, I just give it a name that actually reflects its functio.

[Ashiel]

Wouldn't a Knowledge check just tell you about the race and/or society of a character? I wouldn't allow it to give character-specific information unless he's some sort of notable, well-known individual such as a noble or famous general.

To my knowledge there's nothing that distinguishes the results you get from Knowledge. If you make a Knowledge check about a creature with a template, you get the info about the creature + the template. Knowledge checks scale with the CR of the individual, so properly IDing a higher level humanoid is harder.

I've always taken it to be like in certain heroic fantasy things where you've got that one guy that picks the otherwise normal looking guy out as being the supreme badass. Like in Rurouni Kenshin, where the mob boss calls down all of his men and apologizes to Kenshin, even though Kenshin doesn't really do much of anything...because to Mob boss noticed certain signs that Kenshin was in no danger from the entire room of them (in the anime he says he has the eyes of a battousai or something), but in D&D terms the boss made his Knowledge: Local check and understands not to muck with Kenshin.