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D&D 5E: What is an arcane focus?
A arcane focus is a simple object - like a magnifying glass or jeweler's loupe - that can serve as the tool needed for certain "ritual" spellcasting. This particular kind of wizard, warlock, or other mage prepares spells in advance and they must be cast in conjunction with an arcane focus. OriginallRead more
A arcane focus is a simple object – like a magnifying glass or jeweler’s loupe – that can serve as the tool needed for certain “ritual” spellcasting. This particular kind of wizard, warlock, or other mage prepares spells in advance and they must be cast in conjunction with an arcane focus.
Originally introduced because few fantasy worlds had any reason to do unit conversions between weights of different items which are more often measured by volume than weight when computing their gold piece value according to their weight/volume conversion rate. D&D spells cannot use calculations based upon distance, time, energy output, power input etc., so it was realized this early that the types of spells available might need to be affected by one’s carrying capacity.
As a result the wizard’s portable hole spell, which was initially made available as one of the basic spells for 0th level spellcasters, became a pure liability for anyone who actually needed to use it, since players were completely dependant on both their gold pieces and how many coins they could carry before their weight limit was either reached or exceeded. The same situation happened with the cost of other items, which was originally supposed to be calculated by weight/volume rate but because none of them were ever intended to actually weigh anything this quickly became an unrealistic scenario full of no win situations for D&D players.
Another emerging problem was that it never made any sense why carrying capacity would affect the number of spells that could be cast, since it would only make sense if carrying capacity was meant to make you unable to carry objects like spellbooks or scrolls (which was later covered by making them weightless) but otherwise it did not help at all when actually casting spells.
As a result arcane focuses were introduced in order to create an in-game explanation for why carry capacity had some sort of altered effect on spellcasting, especially since carrying capacity was originally only supposed to be an optional rule which had no impact on play at all. This is why most spells today are still based upon the original assumption that carry weight has zero influence on how many spells can be cast at once.
See lessHow long did the Roman Empire last?
The Roman Empire was founded on October 27th, 800 BC and remained in power until AD 476. Those years add up to 1,139 years. If you really want the finer points of when the empire expanded, then it grew almost constantly for a really long time, seizing territories from enemies such as Gaius Julius orRead more
The Roman Empire was founded on October 27th, 800 BC and remained in power until AD 476. Those years add up to 1,139 years.
If you really want the finer points of when the empire expanded, then it grew almost constantly for a really long time, seizing territories from enemies such as Gaius Julius or expanding with generals like Marcus Aurelius. In total however it lasted around 1000 years. After that it eventually fell to be just one region among many others in Europe because of its relative weakness compared to competitors in Asia and Africa who were untouched by decline due to their ever-growing populations which had been buoyed by a pandemic at that time.
See lessWhat are some cool Latin words like ‘Invicta’?
Qui vincit non est invictus. Translation: "who conquers, is not unconquered." In other words, one may be the victor in a particular battle, but that doesn't mean he or she cannot lose another. Non sum qualis eram quondam. Translation: "I am not what I once was." This phrase can be translated as a laRead more
Qui vincit non est invictus. Translation: “who conquers, is not unconquered.” In other words, one may be the victor in a particular battle, but that doesn’t mean he or she cannot lose another.
Non sum qualis eram quondam. Translation: “I am not what I once was.” This phrase can be translated as a lament for the past, when things were better than they are now.
Ad astra per aspera! Translation: To the stars with difficulty! A statement of ambition and perseverance.
See lessIs it safe to eat blue steak?
Meat, whether cooked or raw (especially raw), may contain viruses and bacteria such as E. coli that can cause illnesses.
Meat, whether cooked or raw (especially raw), may contain viruses and bacteria such as E. coli that can cause illnesses.
See lessHow old is Goku?
The first Dragon Ball anime series was released in 1986. Given that this is the 'canon' story, Goku will be turning 50 this year. Bullshit. Goku has always been a young boy and you're an idiot if you believe he's 50 years old. He'll be turning 18 thirty-five days from now!
The first Dragon Ball anime series was released in 1986. Given that this is the ‘canon’ story, Goku will be turning 50 this year.
Bullshit.
Goku has always been a young boy and you’re an idiot if you believe he’s 50 years old.
He’ll be turning 18 thirty-five days from now!
See lessWhat causes a green flame?
A green flame is caused by compounds in the fuel mix absorbing some of the blue spectrum of light from a flame. This causes a spectral emission line at 504.2 nm. In contrast, methane burns with an orange-red colour. When particles are burned with little oxygen available, as is usual for liquid fuelsRead more
A green flame is caused by compounds in the fuel mix absorbing some of the blue spectrum of light from a flame. This causes a spectral emission line at 504.2 nm.
In contrast, methane burns with an orange-red colour. When particles are burned with little oxygen available, as is usual for liquid fuels, then their combustion releases very few photons of visible greenish-blue fluorescent energy or polarized emerald longwave radiation and so any flames under these conditions appear reddish unless there is so little available air that they burn inefficiently and produce much black smoke and their color then appears dark red.
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