Questions tagged [answers]
For all questions that are primarily about answers - both on mainsite and on Meta. (If a more relevant/appropriate tag exists, it may be used alongside or instead of this one.)
186
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Should users refrain from answers (or partial answers) in comments?
There are situations, when you know something that is related to the question, but it's too insubstantial to be a proper answer. For example, let's imagine a question:
In which edition of game X ...
- 3,103
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The gremlin in our answers: "Fate is narrative" answers to mechanical Fate questions
It seems like there's a gremlin in the Fate answers. He bites without warning, no one is immune, and while he'd been quiet for some time, he's back now. And he's making it hard to get good answers, ...
- 53.2k
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What are the citation expectations of answers on RPG Stack Exchange?
As a Stack Exchange site, answers on RPG.SE are expected to be cited and backed up, but what the expectations are exactly can be hard to find.
What are the citation expectations of answers on here?
...
- 36.3k
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2
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Should I be requesting people answer the question independently?
For a while now, we've had answers like these ones which fail to really answer the question on their own, but just add some extra information building on other pre-existing answers. They often even ...
- 36.3k
37
votes
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I think this answer might be harmful
This answer currently suggests swimming while wearing a full suit of metal armor would be a reasonable thing to do in real life. In actuality, jumping into water with a full suit of metal armor on ...
- 67.1k
33
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2
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600
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Can non-open-license rules be discussed, or not?
Context
This is in relation to this question here:
Is there a limit to how much stuff you can carry?
And in particular this comment from a mod:
[...] Age of Rebellion is not open licensed and ...
- 1,563
32
votes
3
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362
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Should I post two answers if I find contradicting arguments?
RPG rules, in pursuit of flavour, can sometimes be flowery and ambiguous, even self-contradicting[citation needed]. In doing research for improving one of my answers that tries to resolve an ...
- 1,004
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3
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How should we handle answers that use Jeremy Crawford's now unofficial tweets?
The 2019 sage advice compendium has released, and it includes a change to what is considered "official rulings."
Previously, Jeremy Crawford had the capacity to make official rulings over twitter. ...
- 26.3k
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Stance on using D&D Beyond for references?
With the release of dndbeyond, and seeing it used a few times around the site, I wanted to ask if we have (or should have) a policy regarding using direct links to a paywall shielded website, instead ...
- 64.7k
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When rules change but votes don't, how to handle it?
Sometimes, not that rarely, rules change in RPGs. Answers that were good become objectively, definitely wrong overnight, through no fault of their writer.
The accepted course of action is to do ...
- 62.2k
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Does this answer about towns protecting themselves against dragons really need to be deleted?
A new user recently left this answer to How did towns mundanely protect themselves against Dragons or bring them to the ground?. The answer is currently deleted so is only visible to 10k users. ...
linksassinMod
- 30.6k
22
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Rewarding old answers with bounties
Thrice recently I've placed a bounty on an old question (1, 2, 3). My intent in each case was simply to reward an existing answer, and I indicated such in my bounty notice.
I feel like these bounties ...
nitsua60Mod
- 101k
20
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2
answers
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Is it appropriate to edit an answer just for tone?
When reading an answer to a recent question, I felt that the content of the question was good, but the tone (and commentary) of the question seemed negative, verging on personal criticism. I didn't ...
- 631
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Are one-line "mic drop" answers merely frowned upon or actually prohibited?
Are one-line answers merely bad answers (presumably meant to be down-voted or commented upon to suggest improvement) or are they actively against the rules for posted answers (beyond salvation and ...
- 30k
19
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A Modest Proposal for answers that aren't backed up
This has happened many times, but I'm going to focus on the most recent question where answers have flooded in that aren't backed up but are highly upvoted.
If we do, in fact, want people to support ...
- 124k
19
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2
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Is it appropriate to downvote an answer that may have been good at the time it was posted, but is now incorrect?
Suppose that while browsing through old questions, I find that the top answer, while almost certainly correct at the time it was posted, is now incorrect. I add a new answer with the current, correct ...
- 10.5k
18
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2
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Are self-answer questions still allowed?
Shortly put I had a mechanics question about infinity-rpg regarding the stealth system that was not immediately clear. I figured out the solution eventually within the book, but thought it might make ...
18
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3
answers
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How to answer a RAW question when the RAW are silent?
What do you do when the OP says they only want RAW but the RAW don't mention what they want? I went for "tell them the RAW are silent but give them your humble (and indeed tongue-in-cheek) opinion for ...
- 15.2k
18
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3
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I have some information to add to help someone solve their issue, do I answer or comment?
So, this has happened to me multiple times now, and to be honest it's getting frustrating as a casual user of this particular SE (especially since the judgements seem less cut-and-dried than other SE'...
- 1,258
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2
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What should be done when there is an incorrect common answer that keeps getting deleted when the answerer realizes their mistake?
For a mild example of what I'm talking about, see this 5e question.
There have now been three answers (two deleted, one (currently) undeleted) pointing out that by 5th level, a Fiend patron warlock ...
- 19.3k
17
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answer
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Are habits from D&D 3e making answers to 5e questions more prone to overly rigid answers?
A possible problem
First of all, I am not trying to pick a fight with anyone, I am only trying to make the site better.
Having only been a member on this site for a few weeks now, I am concerned by ...
user39671
17
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2
answers
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When answering a product/content identification, please explain *why* you think you've found the right thing
This was prompted by Mid-to-late 1970's Space Based RPG: what was it?, a question I've put on hold briefly so we can assess clean-up. The question needs some refinement (and this question will be ...
- 36.3k
16
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3
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How should I provide examples of experience as support for my answer?
I attempted to answer a question about group dynamics today, which I did by talking about how I think this issue would be best resolved. I received two comments, suggesting that I should provide ...
- 586
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Is it acceptable to resurrect old threads with new answers?
I was browsing the main site and came across this veteran 1.5 year old question, and I feel that I have a useful answer to add - a house-rule interpretation that hasn't been brought up in the current ...
- 10.4k
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2
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Please consider using book references that will be understood internationally
This originally was an off-topic comment elsewhere. I think it's important enough to warrant it's own post.
As this is an international site, our language is English. However, many people play games ...
- 22.5k
16
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2
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Getting a straight answer from questions filled with frame challenges
On the question How to create a villain for level 1 players, there are many great answers, however they are all frame challenges. They don't help someone who needs to actually create a conventional ...
- 1,654
15
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4
answers
855
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What constitutes copyright infringement?
Looking at the question on teleportation, there is this answer that appears to quote a body of text from PHB3. I don't actually own that book, so I couldn't check it out. But that got me thinking ...
- 6,744
14
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6
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Is it better to use or not use personal pronouns? Specifically, "I" in questions and "you" in answers?
I noticed GcL put comments under answers to the this question and edited its title with this edit description: "Removed personal tone from title."
Old Title:
Can I make a Wall of Stone with ...
- 75.5k
14
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2
answers
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Whether to answer or not if one believes there is no answer possible
So, there is this (good) question about asking for a particular authoritative source. However, I believe there can be no answer either because of some fundamental problem with the framework or because ...
14
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2
answers
179
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Which answer should I accept if the rules are ambiguous on the matter?
Recently I posted this question and as a result received two contradictary answers, but since game rules are a slightly ambigious on this particular topic, arguments for each of the answers are ...
- 1,803
14
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4
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387
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Is it acceptable to include your opinion of the quality of character choices in an answer?
I've noticed what I consider a trend to include whether or not character choices (Classes, Subclasses, Feats, Qualities, etc) are a "good" choice either in comments or frequently as part of an answer. ...
- 41.6k
14
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2
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What is expected/customary procedure for crediting info from comments?
Is there a generally accepted procedure for crediting info that someone suggests in the comments of my answer. Should I write something like "@coolrpg points out..." and then the info that user ...
- 8,387
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When do we close a question for drawing opinion-based answers and how can we try to get ahead of such closures?
I'm not talking about opinion-based questions, but the flipside of when a question could generate good subjective answers, but doesn't.
This question does have several parts that are tied together:
...
- 124k
14
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2
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How can I write a good answer for a topic that no official source book covers?
Several times, a valid question arises about some topic that unfortunately is not covered by any official source book. These questions do have merit, and the very fact a canonical vacuum exists make ...
- 23.6k
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How to properly review a homebrew?
There are quite a few questions asking to review homebrew. The best way to ask such questions is covered in this meta:
How can I ask a good homebrew review question?
I'm interested in how I should ...
- 2,992
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4
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What to do when an answer guesses the system of a question rather than waiting for the querent to clarify? [duplicate]
We have guidance about instructing that we do not allow and will revert any edit that attempts to guess the system of the question and edit it into the question here. We also have related guidance for ...
- 93.9k
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When a Question changes, should answers change, too?
This question on OOC talk has changed significantly since it was originally asked and several answers given. When something like this happens, offering new information, is is best to edit an answer ...
- 7,098
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4
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Do we need to do anything about old, upvoted, accepted answers that are not up to scratch with our standards today?
I stumbled upon this question today, which has this answer. It's upvoted (currently sitting at +18/-2) and accepted, but is very short and has a standard banner message across it that I've seen ...
- 78.5k
13
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3
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Do I edit or create a new answer when my view on my current answer changes significantly?
Researching my answer to this question: Can the arcane/druidic focus staff double as quarterstaff? has lead me to re-evaluate my answer to this question: Can an Elven Wizard use a bow for an arcane ...
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2
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Is using D&D as an example when no system is specified acceptable?
Based on this implicitly system agnostic question, I answered using D&D as an example since it's a very common, often gateway system to RPGs.
Is the assumption that an answer using D&D ...
- 9,988
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Version labels for answers: is this a tool we could use?
Stack Exchange recently announced version labeling for answers, something they will initially work on implementing at Stack Overflow. The details are laid out in this Meta Stack Exchange post: Version ...
- 143k
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1
answer
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Can I answer a lore question with information from non-RPG media?
Say that I see a question about the Shadowrun setting. I happen to know that the answer to the question can't be found in the RPGs, but it is answered in the novels and/or video games. Can I use that ...
- 15.8k
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2
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Should I update my answer with information from someone else's answer?
In this question I made an answer and @illustro also provided an answer which includes information that I feel would improve my answer (I made a similar point in my answer, but his answer provided ...
- 29.6k
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2
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When do homebrew suggestions need to be playtested by an answerer?
It is unclear to me when someone needs to provide playtesting for homebrew suggestions and when they don't.
As an example, in this answer, MattDM provides a really good answer for the first half, ...
- 124k
12
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3
answers
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Should I provide an answer even if I voted to close a question?
Sometimes I feel that a question has some value, but it is formulated in a unclear way, or it seems to ask two questions in one post, which is not recommended. Despite its value, the question is not ...
- 23.8k
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What's our policy with answers advocating piracy (accidentally or not)?
In my question about legal 5e PDF's, it has, more than once, attracted answers advocating piracy or even linking to pirated versions of these PDF's. Is our policy just to downvote and move on, or ...
user5834
12
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2
answers
447
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What do we do with answers made obsolete by a question change?
There's a current case of an infrequent problem: Why is Donjon offline?
Dakeyras's answer was a response to a question that was once there. It was made in good faith, and is a helpful answer.
The ...
- 36.3k
12
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2
answers
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What to do when there's more than one good answer?
This is meant to be a community resource, not a resource for any one specific situation. However, in the end, the asker is accepting the answer, which will relate to his take on the question. If ...
- 18.3k
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2
answers
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What to do with a good answer to a duplicate question after the closure?
Recently someone asked about a Rogue sneak attacking on another's turn. I poked around, sure we'd answered it, found nothing, and answered it myself.
Later another user found the older duplicate ...
nitsua60Mod
- 101k
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answer
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Should I Delete My Answer If I Now Think It's Wrong?
I had posted an answer to this question: Can a druid get out of wild shape to avoid an opportunity attack?
Which I think was rightly refuted.
After some consideration, I considered my answer to be ...
- 33.3k