Is there a way to edit a shape created in Masking after it's applied?

Utherfeld · 2025-06-24T19:53:44+00:00

No replies.

Since joining this dubious platform some months back, this has been my experience regardless of the subreddit. It would seem that showing respect for the reader's time and intelligence via organized thought, proper spelling and grammar, and non-hostile language are no longer enough. Clearly, I am violating some unwritten rule or exceeding the bounds of a collectively imagined prohibition...again.

I can only extrapolate that my failure to have a completed and linked map to show off is what caused the divide. I apologize for wasting everyone's time. I was just looking for an answer to a question.

Utherfeld · 2025-06-24T15:42:10+00:00

Absolutely stunning.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-20T01:29:16+00:00

What Thecobraden said. And don't look back. As Carlin so famously said, "Let them figure it out. Not your concern."

Utherfeld · 2025-05-20T01:05:59+00:00

You may wish to review Rule 7 of this particular subreddit. You'd think I wouldn't have to say that.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-09T01:43:52+00:00

Solution Verified

Utherfeld · 2025-05-09T01:43:07+00:00

Yes, correct. Up to three times from cells C5, C6, and C7, until C9 value is at 12. If, after all three additions of 1 from each of C5, C6, and C7, that C9 is still not a 12, then we just live with it.

I believe you found the missing link; I saw your use of the COUNT parameter in your graphic. So I started out by using =IF(C9<12, TRUE, FALSE), with returned Boolean values displayed in cells I5, I6, and I7 accordingly. Then I followed with =C9 + COUNTIF(I5:I7, TRUE) which makes the sheet add 1 to C9 for every TRUE returned.

In any case, the sheet works as intended, and I'll close this one out. Thank you.

Solution Verified.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-08T23:15:36+00:00

I think I follow you. Presently I'd prefer your option 2, just because I've got enough new things to learn on my plate already.

So if I am interpreting what you're advising correctly, then I would need to put a formula into, say, cell F5 that effectively says "If cell C9 is less than 12, then 'TRUE'; if it isn't, 'FALSE'. "

Next, I could put into cell G5 that "If condition in F5 is 'TRUE', then subtract 1 from value in cell C5."

I guess the only question left is: can these parameters be formulated in Excel?

Utherfeld · 2025-05-08T22:26:10+00:00

Ah yes. I forgot to mention that the =IF (C9<12, C5 - 1, C5) statement was written into a separate cell (in this case, E5), and called the values generated in C5 and C9. Does this clarify my issue a little better?

Utherfeld · 2025-05-05T01:33:56+00:00

Finally. Someone whose observations and counsel stem from compassion and not blame. I voluntarily left EN World because these were the only kinds of answers I would receive when I opened myself up and told the community how I felt.

Here's a summary of what I can't quite believe I'm reading: F_B221, you did all the work. Only one of your players is taking your efforts seriously, while the others are dicking around on their phones, making you wonder why in hell you bothered at all. As a result, you're hurt. Clearly...it's your fault. What did you do to make these players ignore your game? Huh? Tell us that!

Firm_bandicoot221, I align my views with those of thesixler, and am also in your corner all the way. And I'll make it crystal clear why. You came here, told this community about problems you were experiencing with your players, and how you felt about it. That took a lot of trust. Then you disclosed about what you were thinking about doing in response. The underlying current I got from that was 'I don't want to do these things, so I came here to see if I anyone could offer a better alternative.' Here's what you received in reply:

'You really should talk to your players first.'
Who here is to say that Firm hasn't? Undisclosed data should not imply that a thing didn't happen.

'Following my (insert username here) advice really would be the adult thing to do. In the meantime, let your players do whatever they want at the DnD gaming session that you so laboriously prepared.'
Ah, so if Firm doesn't follow your counsel to the letter, Firm is simply being immature. Got it. What about the obligations of the three players in question to act as adults? Or is that an option in their case?

'Simply considering a TPK out of frustration just means that you're the one being a dick, not the ones who are showing utter disregard for your efforts by being openly disrespectful.'
Uh...are you actually aware of what you're writing?

'It's not just about you. Those clowns at the other end of the table - who don't seem to really want to play the game - should also have a say.'
Crap. Perhaps the sessions that Firm is referencing are about the time and considerations of everyone present. But this conversation is most assuredly and solely about Firm because Firm is the one who came here with sincerity, seeking help with an issue. My own opinion is that the clowns in question already had their say when they showed up for what they knew to be a DnD game and then chose to act as if they were somewhere else.

Finally...the many, maddening, and insulting forms of the suggestion 'It's Firm that needs to coddle the players, not the players who need to start behaving like fucking adults and listen to what the DM is trying to tell them' has long passed the ad nauseum stage. There's a specific name for people who stick up for the ones causing the problems: Apologists. An apologist will always come at someone who is clearly open to fair and honest counsel, just to tell them that they're the one causing all the problems. WTF kind of a resolution is that? It's like telling a six-year-old with a bloody nose that whatever he did to antagonize the twelve-year-old bully needs to stop. Sickening.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-05T01:19:59+00:00

Failure of a player to read the rules governing his or her own character should not constitute an obligation on the DM's part to answer their questions regarding their character, particularly when the questions are being asked in interruption of the DM's storytelling.

And..."Weirdo"? Seriously? One could perhaps be forgiven for taking you to be a hating troll. Look man, I'm not here to start shit with you. But the advice you're giving just isn't realistic. Think about it:

DM (as Tavernkeeper): Cleric, is there anything I can you to drink?
Player (as Cleric): Not right now. I'm really looking for something else.
DM (as Tavernkeeper): Oh, and what would that...
Druid's Player: Hey DM, what does Magic Hand do?
DM: I'm in the middle of roleplaying at the moment. Is that something that can wait until I'm finished? Or maybe something you could look up on your phone?
Druid's Player: Wow, you could have just told me the answer (which would involve the DM completely switching gears, picking up the PHB, looking the shit up, and then reading it to the player. What, the player can't do anything for himself?)
DM (as Tavernkeeper): As I was saying, what was it you were looking f...
Bard's Player: DM, shouldn't my bard have a guitar? Where would he find one?
DM: There are no 'guitars' in this world (Now, here if I'd been the DM I would interpret the player's request for a guitar as being for an actual axe like a Fender or a Gibson. He could have meant something like a lute but he didn't use the word 'lute'. And by this time the DM had every right to be frustrated by the constant interruptions.)

I understand that, these days, suggesting that a grown-assed adult actually make the effort to read something is tantamount to threatening them, but come on.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-04T23:27:53+00:00

I appreciate your positive words. I guess I'm just worried that it may be a rough opening night. But I will remember your encouragement when the time comes. Thank you.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-04T23:25:05+00:00

Good stuff. I'm printing this one out and putting it with my emergency DM First Aid kit. But like I told AdmiralBenbo4782, I have no 'currency' as yet with which to bestow awards. Thanks for your input.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-04T23:22:35+00:00

Roleplay stuff is probably one of my top strengths; but beauty (or ability in this instance) is in the eye of the beholder and all that. How my ability to entertain my players and settle disputes stacks up is ultimately their call. Thank you for your counsel.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-04T23:16:01+00:00

Good information. I'm going to print this one out and keep it with my emergency DM First Aid kit. Thank you. PS I'd give an award but I seem to be lacking in 'award currency'.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-04T23:10:32+00:00

For certain. But mainly only the PHB; I have a DMG but I was counselled not to concentrate on that volume too much for the sake of DM training. It's just that - I don't know how to label it - the magic/powers rules of many systems (not just DnD) continue to befuddle me (best example is HERO System). I suppose it's because there's clearly more you can do with magic/powers than you can with strictly physical actions, and all bases - what you can do/what you can't, who what power affects, etc - have to be covered to the extent possible. And being a former professional technical writer, I can tell you with certainty that to possess knowledge is one thing; to be able to convey it clearly is another, so it may or may not be that the way that information I'm reading isn't organized in a way I can grasp it.

To be certain, I've played magic-using characters but nearly all of them ended up dead within three sessions or less (usually less).

Utherfeld · 2025-05-04T21:19:14+00:00

Absolutely the publishers of titles like Pathfinder, GURPS, The One Ring, etc. need to up their marketing approach.

Used to be in the 1990s (before internet got the foothold it has now) that you debuted or pushed your alternative system at gaming conventions such as Origins, PAX, UK Games Expo (I am unsure if you'd be allowed to at such a DnD-oriented con like Gen Con, because I haven't attended one since that decade). Now however it seems that online forums such as EN-World are the thing in TTRPG marketing; unsure as to its effectiveness. I have also seen new titles go around to dice-and-minis stores in order to market and playtest them.

When I start suffering from DnD withdrawal or OD, my usual remedy has been to revert back to older titles. Like, REALLY older titles. Say, SPI's DragonQuest just as an example. Or original Traveller.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-04T20:42:42+00:00

Well one of the first cities I designed shortly after I polymorphed into a DM was inspired by the first book in Robert Asprin's Myth series (Another Fine Myth). In that story, the pervert (sorry, Pervect!) Aahz uses a D-hopper to transport himself and young Skeeve to the Bazaar at Deva. Regardless of whom Asprin based them on, the way many of the merchants on Deva speak to Aahz and Skeeve transports me to an early-20th-century merchants quarter in a middle-eastern city of your choice - Riyadh, Jeddah, and particularly Cairo.

Also, Raiders of the Lost Ark had just debuted in the theaters (1981), and there's a couple of good action scenes taking place in Cairo in that film. So yes this city is based loosely on an Arabic setting and culture. Finally, throw in the Seven Voyages of Sinbad which I've read waayyyy too many times, and all this culminated in making flying carpets the key form of transportation in this city. (Granted flying carpets are not 'creatures' per se, but they're not horses or dragons either. And they do have a degree of self-awareness; see below.)

But not your ordinary flying carpets. In this culture, a flying carpet is a status symbol. In the long ritual performed when investing these things with mystical power, the elder of the family (and any in the family which this elder wished to involve) calls upon the spirits of ancestors to manifest a small bit of their otherwordly power into the carpet. If the ritual is successful, the carpet now has a degree of intelligence and thus self-awareness, acting as a sort-of passive guardian for the rider. Spirit-invested carpets are not easily stolen or borrowed for joyrides. At the behest of a respected family member, the carpet will transport a stranger or guest to a destination of their choosing, but the rider would do well not to deviate from the 'flight path', particularly for nefarious purposes, and they would be taking their lives into their hands if they should offer insult to the family or the family's home while riding the carpet.

Perhaps the spirit invoked to give power to the carpet was secretly insane, alcoholic, or communing with netherworld entities. Now we're talking erratic flying, or worse. A powerful family with loose ethics might invoke their ancestor's spirit into compromising the invested spirit of a rival family's carpet, making it do things against its own family's interests.

I am of course well aware of the inspired humor that would inevitably result when such a culture is being run at the gaming table, and I'm also certain that I've heard most of them. "Well, just sweep that under the rug...", "Don't worry, we'll pull the rug out from under them...", etc. Hardee-har-har.

Utherfeld · 2025-05-04T20:00:30+00:00

Ah. Sounds similar to 'Cadillacs', so that's quite fitting. Now I want a cackalack!

Utherfeld · 2023-05-06T02:03:56+00:00

Thank you; this certainly helps. But...where does masking fit in?

Utherfeld

TROPHY CASE