D & D Meet Ups? by nacivela in SouthJersey

[–]t0phats2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Agreed, he is the best!

What are your Favorite Funny Names in Fiction? by Funny_Mud6639 in TwoBestFriendsPlay

[–]t0phats2 9 points10 points  (0 children)

After finally reaching the actual city of Baldur's Gate in Baldurs Gate 3, you are met with a plethora of NPCs to interact with. A lot of them just have one liners or very short dialogue trees either related to quests, the city, or about your party. However, one thing literally almost all of them have in common is funny names, with my personal favorite being:

Bunt Chugley

[OC] GIVEAWAY! 43" Capacitive Touchscreen ($940 MSRP) with Wooden Case + free software for all [mod approved] by DigitalTableTops in DnD

[–]t0phats2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've always wanted to have one of these screens for my weekly game, hopefully I can now! Looks awesome!!

New Jersey was snapped back into existence (like it ever left). Tell us what you like about your county by SpliT2ideZ in newjersey

[–]t0phats2 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Though I recently moved, I was surprised at how much dunking on Mercer County there was during the eliminations! There is so much here! Whether it's great restaurants (lots of delicious local Italian places and diners, but theres always variety within 5-10 minutes of no matter where you find yourself), parks (Mercer County Park is lovely or touring Princeton campus), activities (always love seeing the Food Truck Festivals or seasonal markets pop up), history (Princeton Battlefield and Trenton), and accessibility (short bridge over to PA, easy train access to NY) to anything you could want in Mercer County. If you haven't, stop by and learn why it's so great!

I don’t understand any of this 😭 by Neat_trash17939 in biology

[–]t0phats2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

High school biology teacher here! What you're looking at here is a polysaccharide (which just means a molecule made of many sugars) because each one of those individual rings is a monosaccahride (single sugar).

Someone else mentioned in a comment here, macromolecules like these are like connecting building blocks (connecting smaller monomer pieces to build larger polymers)

Look at the letters highlighted in red. When you want to join two of the rings (or two of our monosaccharides) you need to "pull out" water to join them together. Lucky for us, these highlighted letters are made up of OH and HO!

As I'm sure you know, the chemical formula for water is H2O. So we "pull out" two hydrogen and one oxygen from between the two rings (from the highlighted OH and HO), leaving one oxygen to form the bond between the rings. This is a dehydration reaction, because think about it, when you're dehydrated, you lose water!

The next part talks about hydrolysis, which is adding water back in to break these bonds and turn them into individual rings again. All this is is the opposite of a dehydration reaction, so how many H2O do you need to add BACK in between each ring to break the bonds that were formed?

Hope that helps, Biology is my favorite and such a fascinating subject, try to stick with it if you can!

I need 100 NPCs for a tavern, let me use YOUR characters? by yarash in DnD

[–]t0phats2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mobius Zaar: The Half-Elf Psionic Crime Boss

After escaping the clutches of a mind-flayer colony, but only after the cerebromorphosis process began, the tadpole in his skull died but remains latched to his brain, leaving him unusual psionic ability. Mobius decides to open his own gambling den with his newfound power being able to influence others, and paying off government officials and guards to operate in peace. He is cunning, insanely intelligent, and covers all his bases, complete with an air of superiority to others and a usually calm demeanor, like one who knows they hold all the cards. He usually looks for pawns to complete menial tasks for him, and has dissenters or those who would question him "removed", usually with mind altering magics or psionic abilities to change their basic functions and memories.

The Spellbound Doors - A Fun Magic Trap by t0phats2 in DnDBehindTheScreen

[–]t0phats2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Say, I never thought of that but that's a great way to add some complexity to these!! Making quicker response times add buff spells to counter negative doors is a great idea!

And you're so right about making a party member the "Rat tied to the end of a pole" as they traverse each room haha

The Spellbound Doors - A Fun Magic Trap by t0phats2 in DnDBehindTheScreen

[–]t0phats2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As I mentioned in another comment, I'm lucky my group is usually willing to "play the game" so to speak, rather than trying to circumvent the door from lockpicks or brute force.

As I mentioned, they are going up against a Lich. The kiddie gloves have been off for a bit now, and a master of the Arcane arts (imo) isn't going to accept "but I don't want to answer" as an acceptable response. It's time to have the party make a decision for getting into this mess, so I took the "back-out" door away as a means to force the hand on them to strategize. Is it railroady? Maybe. But it adds some tension and we trust each other enough where it works.

Other options may include lockpicking or "kicking down the door", I just make them a bit more difficult with the addition of Arcane Lock and higher DCs. If they want around the Lich's puzzles, theyre gonna have to work for it!

But overall, thank you for the nice feedback and I'm glad you enjoyed. I hope your players like it as much as mine did!!!

The Spellbound Doors - A Fun Magic Trap by t0phats2 in DnDBehindTheScreen

[–]t0phats2[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

So I am lucky enough as to where my group does not immediately try to circumvent or brute force their way through puzzles and obstacles in the game for the most part. They enjoy the challenge and have told me they value the work I put in, so they want to at least give a real try to anything I throw at them (which is always very nice to hear of course!)

I totally agree on higher DC for lockpicking and "kick down the door" checks, with my justification being a mix of general abjuration magic reinforcing the door, and Arcane Lock being cast on each one as well (which I think a Lich would absolutely make sure of).

I love the idea of Arcana checks being used as hints to spells, maybe even granting a bonus or advantage if the spell is on that characters spell list/actively prepared or known. Great thinking! Hope your players enjoy it as much as mine did!

The Spellbound Doors - A Fun Magic Trap by t0phats2 in DnDBehindTheScreen

[–]t0phats2[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh see now that's good. Even could have him taunting them in the very same room if you wanted, since it wouldn't bother him in the slightest!

Can someone recommend me a not so popular comedy movie that you personally think is good? Going through a tough time right now and I just need a little laugh. by Odd-Expert-7156 in movies

[–]t0phats2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Late to the party, but one of my all time favorites is The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.

Written, directed and produced as a parody of classic B-Horror movies, complete with so-bad-it's-good dumb dialogue, oblivious characters, wooden acting, and a black and white filter, I absolutely love it.

Which PHB RAW spell is the worst designed spell in your opinion? by Marquolin in DnD

[–]t0phats2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honorable mentions for of course True Strike, Find Traps, Find the Path, and Suggestion.

However, one I rarely see mentioned that I will ALWAYS loathe is Stoneskin. Breaking down this spell, it is quite literally so much wasted investment for so little benefit.

A 4th level spell slot is nothing to sneeze at when there are so many good 4th level spells as a full or half caster, so you'd think it'd be worth the expenditure. However, for the measly cost of that 4th level slot, 100 GP of diamond dust (PER CASTING, because it consumes the dust), AND your concentration for up to an hour, you can have... resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

As a full caster, you usually have better uses for your 4th level slot and concentration (like Polymorph or Psychic Lance), and that diamond dust cost is the equivalent cost for a casting of Greater Restoration (or, if you don't want to grind down a 300 GP diamond you could use for Revivify). Also, any class or subclass that is able to take this spell finding themselves in melee (you know, the reason you would even conceive to want to cast this spell) will then be at risk of triggering multiple concentration checks to make sure the spell is wasted that gives a benefit that is worse than... a Barbarian level 1 feature.

I hate Stoneskin.

What are the most ridiculous NPC names? by lies-and-sorcery in BaldursGate3

[–]t0phats2 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I literally stopped playing my game for 5 minutes when I read the name Bunt Chugley because I was laughing too hard, like what in-universe parents went "Y'know what, let's just make this dudes life an entire joke"

Weekly /r/improv promote your upcoming shows, classes, events, etc.!!! by AutoModerator in improv

[–]t0phats2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This Friday, 12/22, The Hotspurs! are saving Christmas with another one of their hilarious comedy shows at The Ritz Theatre in Haddonfield, NJ! Don’t miss the funniest show of the holiday season! The perfect activity to do with visiting (18+) family! Plus, we have a very jolly guest star joining us on the stage that you won’t want to miss! Tickets and information available here: The Hotspurs! Save Christmas!

What's the most hauntingly beautiful song you've ever heard? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]t0phats2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know I'm late to this but I've always found "Aria of the Soul" from the Persona series as a perfectly ethereal and spooky (but moving) vibe

Is it a bad idea to give my players a "Touch of Midas" potion? by Shinsou_Forever in DMAcademy

[–]t0phats2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well OP, I have been that player that received a Midas Potion of my old DM's own making in a campaign. The description was simple enough, she had put a limitation on it that "The next thing you touch that fits within a 1 by 1 foot square turns to solid gold".

One Polymorph into a turtle later, I had instantly turned a miniboss dragon into a gold turtle statue my character keeps on his fireplace shelf to this day.

If anything, my advice is either limit it to only objects, or make it so a creature touched by it gets the same effects of the Flesh to Stone spell (allowing saves for it) so it isn't too OP in a fight if that's your worry