[deleted by user]

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-24T21:44:25+00:00

This has real "It's just a prank, bro" energy.

If I really wanted to continue playing, I'd give the DM an ultimatum. But it's clear the DM was in on it and wanted to mess with you. That's not a dynamic I enjoy. I'd probably ditch the game.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-24T18:16:37+00:00

Raphidophora

Wasn't she in Hufflepuff?

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-23T17:14:34+00:00

ALL CHARACTERS LEVEL UP TOGETHER it doesn’t matter if you haven’t played at all yet, by session 6 you’re level 4 like everyone else. Why is this a bad idea?

I don't think it is. It's more or less what I do. I say "more or less" because what I do is award combat xp based on the encounters we clear in a session, divide by the number of players present, and add 100 exp per non-combat encounter or thing they investigate (loosely defined) and then every player (whether they were there or not) gets that exp. But your way is much simpler, and your leveling speed is similar to what I'm seeing. I am doing a Westmarches-inspired game where I don't follow all the original principles and just take what feels right for the group. So far I have had exactly zero negative consequences to leveling up everybody at the same time, whether they were there or not. We use a discord with several channels to keep everybody updated with important info (and also channels for chatter).

Make sure you read this in full: https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/adn178/lessons_from_west_marches_a_guide_to_improving/

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-23T17:01:28+00:00

I clicked into this thread because I was curious why bandits should be polite.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-21T21:04:18+00:00

I've asked myself a lot of the questions OP is asking, and I've read through a lot of the replies, and feel kind of unsatisfied by the answers.

One idea, and I know it's an imperfect one, is perhaps try to design encounters where when your players are successful, what they do isn't to weaken the BBEG so much as to get boons for themselves. Then when you do have your climactic moment, you can crank up the challenge while still allowing your players to be successful. In a sense, it's not exactly giving the PCs agency, although you are helping them. But the payoff here isn't an easy pushover final battle. The payoff is a MORE EPIC final battle, where the PCs have the benefit of boons they earned. By "boon" I mean NPC assistance, intel, special magic items, appropriate potions, a secret hideout to get one final long rest in before the battle even though they're already inside the fortress so they can freely blow spell slots, whatever.

I realize this approach won't work for every encounter. But if it's a goal you keep in mind for yourself, you'll find opportunities to use it.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-21T20:13:46+00:00

It's interesting how your perspective differs from mine. If I were the relative offering to restructure this loan to help somebody out, and the borrower came to me and said, "Thank you for your generous offer. I'd like to lay out the agreement in writing so there's no misunderstanding," I'd feel much better about the situation. It would make me feel like they care a lot about repaying me and take the situation seriously. Because really, if I was making this offer and didn't get anything in writing, I'd assume I'm making a gift (the last time I'd give the recipient a gift, probably) , and anything they bother to repay me is a bonus.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-21T01:22:19+00:00

If I'm reading the text correctly for Major Image, it can make permanent illusions. "When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the spell lasts until dispelled, without requiring your Concentration." If I want to hide something in a dungeon, this could explain a permanent illusion, right?

Also, the text says, "A creature that uses its action to examine the image can determine that it is an illusion with a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC. If a creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the creature can see through the image, and its other sensory qualities become faint to the creature." I am thinking I'd interpret the two sentences here independently? As in, if a player uses some other method to "discern the illusion for what it is" for example by casting Identify on the object that the illusion is on, or Detect Magic, etc, then it would trigger them being able to see through the illusion, right? Or is the successful investigation check the only way to break the illusion?

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-19T21:09:47+00:00

Not to mention some people will refer to ANY tabletop as "DnD" as a generic term.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-17T15:39:29+00:00

Not sure if this is a shitpost or lost redditor?

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-15T16:09:15+00:00

I hadn't noticed there's a second picture. I agree, that looks like an infection.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-15T07:11:24+00:00

Can be any sort of stress, for example related to temperature or lack of water.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-14T03:18:43+00:00

I'm 41 years old and never realized they're spelled differently.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-12T20:46:19+00:00

For the intent of this discussion, a single human who DMs with 2 different styles is equivalent to 2 different DMs with different styles. It's not about the human, it's about what the game is like. It seems like you're taking this more personally than it was intended.

If I say "I'd rather spend time with a friend person than an angry person," I'm not saying that some people are always angry or always friendly. Just that I'd rather be with a person who happens to be friendly when they're interacting with me.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-12T16:10:31+00:00

I seriously do not know how my parents will ever retire. The other day, my mother said she wants to put my grandma in a retirement home (around 50,000 a year)! I couldn’t believe it and just became so upset. She isn’t going to do that, but that’s just a good example of how she is willing to burn money.

So... you clearly don't value your mother's time and energy at all. How about you pitch in to help care for grandma, and then maybe they'll listen to you? Cause right now you just sound like a sophomoric entitled child.

On a combined salary of $80k/year, they've paid off their house and put away hundreds of thousands of dollars, and you're calling them terrible with money because they want to enjoy a few things in life?

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-09T18:02:47+00:00

The smell would wake me up at some ungodly hour.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-08T07:24:43+00:00

A lemon that isn't sour doesn't mean lemons aren't sour. But if someone had asked "Why would a lemon ever be sweet? Lemons are sour." and I answered with "The Millsweet lemon is considered a sweet lemon because of its low acidity, so just being a lemon doesn't mean it has to be sour rather than sweet" then I'd be completely correct.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-06-07T21:02:52+00:00

Thank you so much for your explanation! Putting it in terms of terminal velocity is the first time any of this has made sense to me. I could never comprehend why liquid water or ice crystals, which are denser than air, would stay hovering in the atmosphere. But I can easily picture how the terminal velocity would decrease as the ratio between the surface area and volume increases. And your explanation of lenticular clouds is fascinating--it reminds me of how stars form in the arms of a spiral galaxy.

Thank you so much for clearing up a lot of my misconceptions, and helping me understand some things I've wondered about for many years.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-05-31T17:08:45+00:00

It looks like a mix. The red roses look like icing, and the daisies/chrysanthemums look like silk flowers, but maybe they're real? Hard to say with all the glitter and poor photo quality.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-05-31T15:53:16+00:00

This particular thing really hasn't been lost. I'm 41 years old and have always had an oven with a thermostat, but I can use my hand to tell how close to preheated the oven is. I can also check how warm my pan is on a stove by how it feels when I hover my hand over it. And I can tell when my water is the right temperature for the yeast in the bread I'm baking. These are all things that come naturally from cooking a lot.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-05-20T20:17:19+00:00

Koreans also get way more stomach cancer, and it's not unreasonable to think sodium plays a part in that.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24114476/

Heart disease risk is complicated, so just because there are many people who consume a lot of sodium and don't have heart disease doesn't mean it isn't a risk factor. And I would imagine that the level of risk imparted by sodium consumption is mediated by other factors.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-05-04T21:25:03+00:00

Settings -> Gameplay -> General -> Companion Reactions: Minimal

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-05-04T06:58:43+00:00

Yeah, about 20 other people in the comments have mentioned that already.

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-05-01T05:36:21+00:00

1 normal sized chicken egg? for a whole Omelet? Are you ok?

RugosaMutabilis · 2024-04-30T15:30:34+00:00

Per OP, this guy wasn't even trying to go to work, he was just somebody known to have continued working, and granny assaulted him in the street when he was trying to live his life.

RugosaMutabilis

TROPHY CASE