Questions tagged [faq]
These questions are the most frequently asked and answered questions on Meta. See here for an index of frequently asked questions: https://rpg.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/7064/faq-index-for-role-playing-games-stack-exchange
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I've been told my question is better suited to a forum, but where should I go?
I asked a question that got closed for not being suited for the Q&A format that RPG.SE uses, and was told that my question would work better on a discussion forum.
Where can I find an RPG ...
84
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Can we affirm that RPG.SE embraces a plurality of playstyles?
I've recently had the dubious pleasure to have been told both that the high visibility of RAW-centric optimising online is an illusion and nobody actually plays that way in a real game, and that old-...
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2
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Use real headers instead of fake headers
It's a somewhat common habit at RPG.se to use bold sentences to make the appearance of a header for a section of text, rather than using our existing header formatting. This is probably because it's a ...
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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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How do we handle a desire to challenge the frame of a question?
Sometimes, someone asks a question that seems like it might suffer from the XY Problem (asking about your attempted solution instead of your actual problem) and you want to point that out. Or you ...
- 175k
52
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3
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Don't signal your edits in text
To amplify the bullet from here:
Stop using the "Edit:" syntax of forums. We have explicit revision histories on everything, so everything should read as if the best version was the first ...
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How can I ask a good homebrew review question?
I'd like to post some homebrew material I've made, and I want people to review it so I can ensure it will work well. How can I ask a good question like this? What are our guidelines for handling these ...
- 36.3k
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What's a frame challenge?
So there's a ton of questions about how to present a frame challenge, or how not to frame challenge, and I've had people mention it on the comments on questions of mine in response to others' comments....
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How does all the various Stack Exchange functionality work?
The FAQ
If you want to know how asking/answering, tagging, voting, bounties, or whatever works, all the answers are linked from the Meta Stack Exchange master FAQ question: FAQ for Stack Exchange ...
- 175k
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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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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
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Why are site comments being deleted?
Some site users have noticed old comments being deleted. This is correct - site comments are meant to be a mostly temporary means of improving questions and answers. Here's an explanation of the ...
- 175k
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How to deal with questions that just don't understand the scope of the RPG landscape?
We've had several questions lately that we've been closing. What point-buy systems of magic (like psionics in 3e D&D) are there? , https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/14120/what-are-the-main-...
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FAQ Index for Role-playing Games Stack Exchange
For frequently-asked questions common to all sites in the network, see FAQ for Stack Exchange sites.
For official guidance from Stack Exchange, visit the Help Center.
Asking questions
How do we ask ...
- 243k
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Is there a functional purpose to putting things in code text here?
Fellow member @SteveC has been doing diligent work editing questions and answers to put the names of Dungeons & Dragons terms into code text: from Toughness to ...
- 54.3k
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Are questions about alignment on topic?
In the various Dungeons & Dragons games, and a limited set of other RPGs, there is the concept of "alignment," which is the ethical and moral disposition of a character.
We have a fair number of ...
- 175k
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Why was my question closed as too broad, unclear, or opinion-based?
There are a good number of questions, especially from users new to the site, that get closed as too broad or opinion-based. This is a post we can link them to for more guidance than what comments can ...
- 175k
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Does "Ask the DM / GM" equate to "Primarily opinion based?"
I've noticed that in some cases people vote to close as Primarily Opinion Based when they think the only possible answer is "Up to the DM". There's a slight twist in this community where it'...
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Are character build or optimization questions on topic?
We attract some character build/optimization questions that are very vague - like this newer ones.
How can I add more attack to my Wood Bond Oracle?
A class like the "Action Survivor" ...
- 175k
26
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3
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Are tool recommendation questions on topic?
Recommendations for games and published adventures are now off topic due to our policy on them being rescinded. The general agreement was that we did have functioning rules for them, but enough users ...
- 36.3k
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Are campaign research questions on topic? [2012]
There is a category of questions on this site that seriously pollutes our scope. Taking these questions to their logical maximum (which I see us continually approaching) everything under the sun has ...
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How to deal with feedback questions about house-rules?
Imagine a DM that wants to introduce a certain house-rule into his game but is unsure about the gameplay/mechanical consequences of his proposal. So he decides to come to RPG.SE and ask a question ...
user660
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Is profanity allowed on RPG.SE?
There have been questions in relation to language used, and offenses given in word choice- but what about outright profanity? Though (I think) most here are adults, that's not necessarily a given, ...
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How do we ask and answer subjective questions?
On RPG.SE, we deal with a fair number of questions that don't have a strict, objectively correct answer. Some game rules questions do, but we also have a good number of questions about how to run a ...
- 175k
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Are Game Recommendation Questions On Topic? [2015]
Game recommendation questions are sadly NOT on topic here on RPG.SE.
This means the following kinds of questions are off topic:
I want to play (details) kind of game/story. What game should I use to ...
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Why is an answer being downvoted without any comments?
An answer has multiple downvotes but nobody has left a comment explaining what's wrong with the answer or why they downvoted. Why hasn't anyone explained their downvote?
Return to FAQ Index
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Are questions about rule intent on-topic? [2022]
Questions asking for the designer reasoning behind a given rule or other game elements have a long history of needing moderation. (If you're interested in past discussions on the subject, you can get ...
Someone_EvilMod
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Is this site for experts, or not?
On the one hand, this question here about what RPG.SE is, and this answer here about answering FATE questions, specify "[this site] is a collection of expert knowledge" and "Expert ...
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How is the [system-agnostic] tag supposed to be used?
Coming off my discussion about this meta I have realized that I have no idea how the system-agnostic tag is supposed to be used correctly. Or, I thought I did but that not everyone agrees. Or maybe ...
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Is there a style guide for posts?
I understand editing questions for clarity, but is there a style guide somewhere for Questions and Answers, detailing things like "These things should be italic, these should be bolded, ...
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What should I do when a question does not specify the game system being used?
Occasionally, a user will post a question that includes neither a system tag nor an explicit statement of the system being played.
Since we no longer have a policy of immediately closing such ...
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3
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How should we use Community Wiki? [2016]
In the beginning, RPG.SE was Community Wiki crazy. We used it for everything. We have an old Meta question on what to use CW for. But then we realized list questions were bad and CW was being used as ...
- 175k
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Is homebrew an acceptable answer to a question?
Perhaps it's just the game designer in me, but for many of the questions asked here I almost automatically start thinking of homebrew solutions to whatever problem the asker is having. Would providing ...
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What should I do about spam questions?
I keep seeing spam questions on the site. Usually about poker, for some reason. What should I do about those? They make me angry. They make me want to HULK SMASH.
Return to FAQ Index
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If an answer to question A can be found in question B, should we close A as duplicate of B?
Related:
Non-duplicate question with answer in another question
Should/can we change the Duplicate notification?
Situation — there are two different questions Aq and Bq. Question Aq has a specific ...
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Eek! A troll in the Stack! What do I do?
I've seen a strange question and it's accumulating poor responses from its owner. Stuff like this is happening to me or someone else:
left a comment asking for a clarification, and got a response ...
nitsua60Mod
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When a Question Changes Completely, Should it be a New Question?
I understand that at time questions are unclear, vague, or unanswerable in their original state and need to be edited. I also see the value in the questions changing so much that some of the answers ...
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What is an "edit war" and is it ever appropriate?
I was recently involved in a series of back-and-forth edits to the tags of a question. In particular, the question lacked any explicit statement or tag designating the system, so it was closed in ...
- 143k
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Are "list questions" on topic?
A “list question” is a question that generates an endless list of answers, none of them better or worse than any other. They're questions that ask things like “list all the things I could do with a ...
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Should I use a narrow system tag, or use a broader tag?
I am playing D&D 4e and I have a question about how I can create an excellent pirate adventure. Since people have pirate adventures in other RPG systems, and Stack Exchange is about useful answers,...
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What kind of questions can I ask here?
The FAQ says?
Role-playing Games - Stack Exchange is
for gamemasters and players of
tabletop, paper-and-pencil
role-playing games.
We've had a slight bit of discussion about LARPs that seem ...
anon186
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Should questions include System/Setting in title if tagged with system/setting?
For example: "WFRP2e--Does Tzenntch bully Nurgle, if so, can he be reported, and to who?"
Then tag the question with WFRP and religion-and-deities. My thought is that the question lead ...
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I want to ask for recommendations, but that's off topic. Is there any way to ask my question?
Recommendation questions have been off-topic since August 2015. If I need a recommendation, how can I get help now?
Return to the FAQ Index
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MathJax guide for RPG.SE: How to format pretty tables and equations?
There are strong reasons to prefer Markdown tables to MathJax discussed in this meta, please take a look there before deciding to use MathJax tables on RPG.SE
For a more exhaustive tutorial please ...
Someone_EvilMod
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A question has some facts majorly wrong: should I be correcting them in comments or an answer?
I've come across a question where the querent has some facts majorly wrong, and they seem to be a substantial cause of the problem they're describing.
I know that we refrain from answering in comments,...
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Are "choose your own adventure" questions on topic?
Only previous reference is in an answer to What kind of questions can I ask here?, which is 5 years old. We've seen much water pass under the bridge since then.
Question inspired by: Choose Your Own ...
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Can I send private messages to users?
I feel there should be a message system where you can leave specific users private messages, so that users can comunicate privately, which is why the chat won't do. How come we don't have anything ...
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