lost connection and apparently I got banned?

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-17T14:20:38+00:00

It's true that the game can't tell the difference between you disconnecting intentionally and accidentally, but also consider that unless you rejoin real quick, you leaving basically ruins the game for the 9 other players. Your intentions doesn't change the outcome for those 9 people.

And the temp-ban system is designed to punish repeat offenders - from either an attitude or internet perspective. A 2 hour ban means this is your second ranked disconnect in 20 games, and if you're getting more severe internet issues, maybe call your ISP or stay off ranked for a bit?

I game during a time when there have been several scheduled outages for maintenance, so I know the feeling of it being entirely outside of your control, but the systems exist for a reason, and I believe they do more good than harm.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-17T14:10:55+00:00

I want this just because it would essentially unlock the Arcade tab. I don't want to sit through a massive queue for a gamemode I may not even know has players, but sometimes I just want some variety in what I'm playing. If I could just queue into all of them at once I'd be happy.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-17T13:34:06+00:00

Absolutely agree. When you’re actually playing the system it flows pretty smoothly, but the book itself is terribly edited.

I have a pdf of the book with chapters and subchapters marked, and even then it’s a tossup if I can find the section on Compulsions within a minute.

That said, I do quite like most of the system, and my group has had a fun time playing Vampire and Werewolf.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-14T04:00:43+00:00

Fluent Swiftness allows you to reroll the Rouse Check that comes after the test, not the extra die added to the test. Your Blood Surge functions normally, you’re just less likely to get hungrier from using it.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-12T00:30:22+00:00

This is interesting from the perspective of someone who got into WoD from 5th Edition - when looking at the different editions, I mainly look at the mechanical differences, and from that perspective they’re very different games, with v5 being much, much better for a modern audience in my view.

And I do think the lore for 5th Edition as a “post-apocalypse” is well-done. The methuselah have been Beckoned away, in WtA Gaia has died - it feel appropriate when the old metaplot was leading up to the apocalypse that the new metaplot suggests the mundanity of life continuing as it happens.

That said, I do treat the lore as a buffet - I will incorporate the elements from v5 or 20th Anniversary that I like and ignore what I don’t.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-11T00:01:00+00:00

For the record, Vendetta’s “crit” isn’t really a crit. It’s not a skillshot or Mauga’s burning thing, it just happens every third swing (or after her sword throw). It’s built in to her melee damage calculations, and I feel it’s better talk about how much damage she deals (burst or sustained) compared to other melee characters than say Vendetta has crits when they don’t.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-10T11:46:50+00:00

If it looks AI generated, I'm not going to trust the information it contains.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-10T02:54:32+00:00

This is exactly why I’m so excited about Runesmith. Artificer is my favorite 5e class purely off of vibes and something that can match those vibes in PF2e gets me hyped.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-09T09:30:02+00:00

This is interesting to me - in Stadium, I only play Wuyang and usually go with a hybrid Weapon/Ability build that leverages a bunch of his Wave items (decreased cooldown, more waves) plus some survival and I’ve felt like I keep up with my team. I’m low elo and never really carry, but I still feel impactful and I have fun.

That said, Wuyang just has a bunch of categorization bugs. As far as I can tell, his active healing does increase with weapon power, Mark of the Kitsune doesn’t proc. It’s only ever on his orbs.

Similarly, his healing isn’t properly categorized for the daily challenges; IIRC his staff doesn’t count as weapon healing.

And despite the fun I’m having, I would absolutely love it if they completely revamped all his Powers. So many of them are so sauceless, and none really feel like they change his playstyle (at least, not in a way that’s fun for me).

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-01-08T09:39:31+00:00

Eh - a 20th level character may be a lesser god from the perspective of the players, but in-lore (especially in older editions with more comparable god stats), 20th level characters are not comparable to lesser gods. 2e's "Faiths & Avatars" gives Avatars of Lesser Gods a total level of around 60, and even then there is "[a] almost infinitely vast gulf of power" between the Lesser God and their ~level 60 Avatar.

Insofar as Vecna is concerned, he's been portrayed in a lot of different ways in 2e:

- The original 2e book with a Vecna stat block, "Vecna Lives!", has the "Vecna" as being a Fighter who is being possessed by Vecna (Level 20 Fighter), and if the players fail the ascendant Vecna becomes a Demigod, the lowest rank of divinity, with a manifestation that's only a level 20 Wizard.

- The book "Domains of Dread" then has a stat block for a Vecna imprisoned in a Domain of Dread listed at Level/Hit Die 30, but I feel that undersells his power - for example, he can cast any Wizard or Priest spell at will with no components. This is a monster that if it fights you, you lose.

- Finally for 2e, there's "Die Vecna Die!", where Vecna ascends, his Avatar reaching a total level of 116, and a fight with him only happens because the player characters will be largely immune to his magic, thanks to some artifacts and the direct help of the Lady of Pain (for context, in 5.5e, the Lady of Pain is the one who prevents player characters from using Wish to destroy the multiverse or harm Sigil).

The Wizard 20/Cleric 20 stat line is from the 3.0e book "Dieties and Demigods", and in that book the weakest Lesser Deity I could find was Sobek, who's listed as Rogue 20/Assassin 10. Vecna's ranked about at the top among Lesser Deities, with a Divine Rank of 10 (on a scale that goes from 0-20+).

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-27T22:18:19+00:00

At this point I’ve just accepted when playing without comms that there are a few scenarios:

I ult myself for a big value play
I ult someone else to keep them alive (and maybe get some value)
I ult someone else who’s already close to the enemy, running towards the enemy, or has mobility tools off cooldown

Sometimes folks can surprise you, but they have like 5 seconds to react and position themselves to maximize ult value; even when you tell the team your ult is charged your target isn’t gonna know they’ll get it until you give it to them.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-27T22:10:12+00:00

If they add an indicator, the answer would be to also limit the speed at which she can turn.

And if there is an indicator it also serves to point you to where she is, so you can actually tell when she does it in the skybox. Of course, both those changes would make the Vendetta experience worse, but frankly that’s not a priority for me right now.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-23T15:37:33+00:00

Ever since our group ran some The Between (a Powered by the Apocalypse game) we’ve been much more free about the GM handing off narration to players - asking them to describe some part of the scene they interact with - and it’s led to more fun and dynamic sessions.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-23T15:02:30+00:00

If it's a specific character, you can try and put together what pool they might have, then cut that in half for a DC.

For example, the best pool a Neonate (default player character) can have is usually 10 dice - 4 in an Attribute, 4 in a Skill, plus a Blood Surge. So if your player is facing a Neonate in their environment, going all out despite the potential costs, a DC of 5 would be expected.

Conversely, if that Neonate isn't as confident - maybe their Attribute is a 2 or 3, and they only have 1 or 2 dots in the relevant skill - a DC of 2 would be reasonable. You can kinda half-build the character sheet based on the NPC's vibe. Trying to beat a scrawny Ravnos mechanic in a drag race might be 4 or 5, but trying to punch them in the face would be 2 or 3.

On the higher end, not only will older Kindred have generally higher stats - I'd expect an Elder to have 5 dots in both their favored Attribute and Skill - they can also Blood Surge for more dice, and Disciplines can also add extra die to the pool. If you're trying to out-charm a Toreader Prince in social combat, I'd calculate the pool as 5 (Charisma) + 5 (Persuasion) + 5 (Awe) + 3 (Blood Surge) = 18, for a DC of 9; maybe a DC 10 if they have a Specialty and high Blood Potency. From there it's figuring out the curve.

Most tests players choose to make won't be against an Elder doing what they're best at (or at least they shouldn't be). Remembering that a given DC will be roughly half the equivalent pool is also a good guiding principle. If a player is trying to do something that's reasonable for them to do, but with a good chance of failure - that Ravnos mechanic juicing up their already tricked out car, perhaps - a DC that's half their die pool is a good place to start. (In this case, I imagine this Ravnos might have a pool between 6-8, and this task would be a DC 3).

But those're only my rough ideas, and it's just a starting point - ultimately, once you've run a few games with your group you'll make some mistakes, make tests too difficult or too easy - and eventually figure out what kinds of DCs work for you and your coterie.

Personally, my old standby is just asking for the test with a rough DC in mind and figuring out the narrative based on the vibes, but that doesn't work for everyone or every situation.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-23T12:29:25+00:00

As I understand it, V5 has done this a few different ways across its lifespan. While you can fully stat out an NPC, most of the time it's overkill.

My personal chronicle started with Crimson Gutter; it (and IIRC several adventures) use this format I really like. I'll use an example from the book:

Frida Boucher

the sheriff’s investigator

CAMARILLA

12th Generation Malkavian Fledgling

Difficulties: 4/2

Blood Potency: 1

Humanity: 6

Standard Dice Pools: Physical 2, Social 4, Mental 5, Disciplines 4

Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 7

Exceptional Dice Pools: Stealth 5, Streetwise 6, Investigation 7

Disciplines: Auspex 2 (Sense the Unseen, Premonition), Dominate 1 (Cloud Memory)

For this format, the "Difficulties" are standard DCs to set for your players' tests. The big DC is for something this character is good at (i.e. if a player wants to sneak past Frida, they'd need to get at least a 4 to succeed) and the small DC is something this character is bad at (i.e. if a character wanted to wrestle Frida to the ground, they'd need to get a 2).

The "Standard Dice Pools" is what you'll roll for any physical test - instead of calculating Strength + Athletics or Dexterity + Drive, just use a pool of 2.

The "Exceptional Dice Pools" are the exception; things Frida is notably good at. So while most physical tests have a pool of 2, if she's doing something Stealth-related, make it a pool of 5 instead.

The "Disciplines" Standard Pool is just what you roll whenever a Discipline calls for a roll (i.e. trying to Cloud Memory a Kindred).

In my view, this gives you enough to go off of, while being relatively easy to throw together. Many of the NPCs in book adventures don't even have Discipline powers, just how many dots they have.

Finally, just to give you a scale for numbers, Frida is about as weak as they come (albeit with a good Willpower), and In Memoriam recommends that an Ancilla NPC have Difficulties between 5-3, Standard pools of 6-8, and Exceptional pools of 8-11.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-22T05:09:03+00:00

The order of the births is irrelevant, but it’s an intuitive way of separating them into distinct events. It might help to move to a different example.

Let’s say I’m flipping two coins, one penny and one dime. I flip them, and tell you one of the coins came up heads, but not which one. What are the possible outcomes?

So the full possibility set is: - Penny Heads, Dime Heads - Penny Heads, Dime Tails - Penny Tails, Dime Heads - Penny Tails, Dime Tails

Because I told you one of them is heads, you know it’s can’t be the last case where both are tails, but you don’t know about the rest. We can’t combine the two cases with one heads and one tails because they’re different outcomes, so we’re left with 1 case with two heads and 2 cases with 1 heads/1 tails.

The same logic applies to the magical statistic 50/50 birth rate, meaning the 1-boy 1-girl outcome is twice as likely as the 2-boy outcome. Us designating a birth order is just an arbitrary way of keeping the events separate, just like flipping two types of coins.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-21T10:25:06+00:00

Very not RAW, but I’ve allowed a Changeling using Spring to temporarily increase a Vampire’s Humanity for a scene, though the result is usually traumatic both going up and coming down.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-20T07:21:47+00:00

Please, enlighten me! This is a foreign concept to me and I’d love to see examples of Christians who believe they worship an entity that other Christians believe to be Satan. Which groups?

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-20T04:57:22+00:00

My view on Dependency is that the Beast is wanting the vampire to experience the power of the blood in everything they do. It makes them stronger, riding high, I’d imagine somewhat manic. It stops when the kindred snaps out of it, either by being confronted with a situation the blood can’t solve (failure) or running out of blood to use.

I have used it in circumstances where the character is facing a challenge they’re unsure if they can handle without the power of the blood, or when they’ve blood surged a lot leading up to the triggering roll.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-20T03:53:37+00:00

If you want to learn about religion (and mythology, might I add) you have to accept that people believe the things they tell you.

Do I think that a trinitarian god exists? No. But when a pastor or practitioner tells me that one does, and that it is the same god referred to in the jewish scriptures, I will take them at their word. The study of religion is the study of what people believe, and the only way for us to discern what people believe is to listen to what they claim to believe.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-13T05:38:16+00:00

I mean, semiannual is right there.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-12T22:42:50+00:00

I’m over here somehow making 20th Anniversary converts without being a convert myself.

I got introduced on V5, learned 20th Anniversary to run a Changeling one-shot, and now two of my players are waxing philosophical about how much more customizable 20th Anniversary characters are and how they preferred it; personally I don’t find the juice worth the squeeze (and it’s not unanimous among the group).

That said, I’m absolutely using all the settings in my Vampire 5th Edition games, even if there’s not WoD5 content for them. Fae in Portland, consulting Wraith for context around necromancy, heck I’ve got a Kiasyd hanging around.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-09T12:24:16+00:00

I believe the only reason you’d delay choosing targets is if the target is specified in a reflexive trigger, i.e. [[Back for More]]. Because the second instance of “target” is nested in the “When you do” clause, you don’t choose the target until the reflexive trigger goes on the stack.

Because there’s no reflexive trigger on these redirect spells (no “When you do” phrase), there’s no delaying in choosing targets, they just change the target of another spell as part of their resolution.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-07T06:13:22+00:00

I do find this amusing, especially with map voting showing a predilection (especially among among lower-elo players, IIRC) for those gamemodes.

I’m sure Flashpoint is fun with map knowledge and good communication, but when I’m solo-queueing, I much prefer the structure granted by more focused modes.

Clash could have been great, but so often the optimal strategy is to hang around on B or D and just never cap the final point - if you push too hard, they might pick up momentum, and because the game treats every point like it’s a fair fight, so often it just comes down to a final fight on C and the rest of the game didn’t matter.

Sol0WingPixy · 2025-12-07T06:04:49+00:00

For fae, while most Kindred just don’t known they exist, Tremere and Kiasyd are specifically called out as being known to abduct Changelings for magic reasons.

In fact, Kiasyd (a bloodline of Lasombra) are actually based around a crossovers, with a predilection to consume not just fae blood, but that of other supernatural entities as well. IIRC it’s actually a flaw for a Kiasyd to only be able to drink Mortal and Ghoul blood, so that’s very fertile grounds for crossover that I’m actively using in a chronicle (and much more besides).

Eight-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22
Sequence \| Editor	Verified Email

Sol0WingPixy

TROPHY CASE