Comments on: New Exciting Ways to Reward and Exhaust your Players: Resources in 4e. http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/ Inspired 4e Design Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:35:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 By: gamefiend http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1746 gamefiend Mon, 18 May 2009 23:11:58 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1746 sweet. Glad you like! Got more coming this week.... sweet. Glad you like! Got more coming this week….

]]> By: Asmor http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1739 Asmor Mon, 18 May 2009 17:14:03 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1739 Very nice, this will fit perfectly in my upcoming campaign... :D Very nice, this will fit perfectly in my upcoming campaign… :D

]]> By: satyre http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1702 satyre Mon, 11 May 2009 07:41:10 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1702 As the last rogue said - yoink! You might want to combine the component thing with the 3E concept of power components which gives a modifier for exotic doodads. The only thing you'd then have to watch is players trying to flange a bonus for any old monster part. @Hastur - Nature for navigation (unless you have big underground lakes full of aboleth in which case Dungeoneering comes into play. Rowboats (Strength check) and punts (Dexterity check) are elementary (a Strength check) to steer once you've got the hang of it. If you're sailing, then Athletics and Use Rope for all that sail-setting stuff while navigation uses Nature and Perception. Maps, sextants and spyglasses provide modifiers to these rolls. Haggling with crew needs Bluff, Diplomacy, Insight and Intimidate. Pirates of the Carribean fans can come up with modifiers based on one-liners, magic items and corsetry gags. As the last rogue said – yoink!

You might want to combine the component thing with the 3E concept of power components which gives a modifier for exotic doodads. The only thing you’d then have to watch is players trying to flange a bonus for any old monster part.

@Hastur – Nature for navigation (unless you have big underground lakes full of aboleth in which case Dungeoneering comes into play.

Rowboats (Strength check) and punts (Dexterity check) are elementary (a Strength check) to steer once you’ve got the hang of it.

If you’re sailing, then Athletics and Use Rope for all that sail-setting stuff while navigation uses Nature and Perception. Maps, sextants and spyglasses provide modifiers to these rolls.

Haggling with crew needs Bluff, Diplomacy, Insight and Intimidate. Pirates of the Carribean fans can come up with modifiers based on one-liners, magic items and corsetry gags.

]]> By: gamefiend http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1691 gamefiend Thu, 07 May 2009 22:01:14 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1691 @jonathan I do like to get old school sometimes! :) Encumbrance...how to smoothly integrate? I'd have to think about that one. The others are all good candidates though...you've got my wheels turning. @kaeosdad the ration points have worked awesome thus far...in the slaughtervale game they were designed for, it was awesome to have the players get lost in a navigation quest, and then just deduct the extra points that leave them just a few days from starvation. Oops! Spell components could be cool...use them a bit like reagents from AV, with an extra touch to them. Maybe set it up so they give bonuses to certain rituals? Quest buffs are also cool, and also get me thinking... @jonathan I do like to get old school sometimes! :)

Encumbrance…how to smoothly integrate? I’d have to think about that one. The others are all good candidates though…you’ve got my wheels turning.

@kaeosdad the ration points have worked awesome thus far…in the slaughtervale game they were designed for, it was awesome to have the players get lost in a navigation quest, and then just deduct the extra points that leave them just a few days from starvation. Oops!

Spell components could be cool…use them a bit like reagents from AV, with an extra touch to them. Maybe set it up so they give bonuses to certain rituals?

Quest buffs are also cool, and also get me thinking…

]]> By: kaeosdad http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1683 kaeosdad Wed, 06 May 2009 08:27:11 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1683 RATION POINTS!!!! shit, I've been trying to figure out a simple way to implement rations into my games again without having to count three meals a day. Awesome! As for resources as treasure, how about renewable spell components? Say a rare patch of green-blue 5 foot mushrooms used for a specific ritual that can be harvested once a month? I'm going to try using more spell components as resources when my campaign starts back up next month to encourage more ritual casting and alchemy. Another resource I thought about implementing is the temporary buff quest reward. Say you rescue the witch hag from the evil fairy princess so the witch hag bestows a temporary buff of +2 to attack and damage against fey creatures while wielding the plucked out eye of the evil fairy princess. The eye of course will deteriorate after a few days and become useless... RATION POINTS!!!! shit, I’ve been trying to figure out a simple way to implement rations into my games again without having to count three meals a day. Awesome!

As for resources as treasure, how about renewable spell components? Say a rare patch of green-blue 5 foot mushrooms used for a specific ritual that can be harvested once a month? I’m going to try using more spell components as resources when my campaign starts back up next month to encourage more ritual casting and alchemy.

Another resource I thought about implementing is the temporary buff quest reward. Say you rescue the witch hag from the evil fairy princess so the witch hag bestows a temporary buff of +2 to attack and damage against fey creatures while wielding the plucked out eye of the evil fairy princess. The eye of course will deteriorate after a few days and become useless…

]]> By: jonathan http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1681 jonathan Wed, 06 May 2009 03:40:29 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1681 RATIONS! How very old schooly school of you friend! Here's a list of additional resources: - encumbrance - arrows (no really, lots of people don't bother) - weapon / armor wear and tear (on a crit, it makes a save or looses effectiveness somehow) - spell components - morality points (yes... you can loose these too in times of _great_ need). =D RATIONS! How very old schooly school of you friend! Here’s a list of additional resources:

- encumbrance
- arrows (no really, lots of people don’t bother)
- weapon / armor wear and tear (on a crit, it makes a save or looses effectiveness somehow)
- spell components
- morality points (yes… you can loose these too in times of _great_ need). =D

]]> By: gamefiend http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1679 gamefiend Wed, 06 May 2009 01:45:56 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1679 @kingworks Wealth as a resource would be totally awesome. My basic treatment of it would be a wealth system similar in function to d20 modern, where the players could make skill checks against their wealth to procure items. You could then abstract treasure into bonuses on the wealth, and take out a loooot of recordkeeping, allowing you to focus on the nature of the loot in general. I think you can avoid grind if you allow a bit of leeway with the resource --certain items won't actually deplete wealth, for example. It wouldn't have the same day to day drain as rations, obviously. @hastur Oh man, I love a challenge (especially when it's a skill challenge!) Give me a bit, Hastur and I'll have something for you. If you want, start a thread on the forums and let's talk this over. I already have a few ideas I'd like to bounce off of you. @kingworks Wealth as a resource would be totally awesome. My basic treatment of it would be a wealth system similar in function to d20 modern, where the players could make skill checks against their wealth to procure items. You could then abstract treasure into bonuses on the wealth, and take out a loooot of recordkeeping, allowing you to focus on the nature of the loot in general. I think you can avoid grind if you allow a bit of leeway with the resource –certain items won’t actually deplete wealth, for example. It wouldn’t have the same day to day drain as rations, obviously.

@hastur Oh man, I love a challenge (especially when it’s a skill challenge!) Give me a bit, Hastur and I’ll have something for you. If you want, start a thread on the forums and let’s talk this over. I already have a few ideas I’d like to bounce off of you.

]]> By: hastur http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1677 hastur Tue, 05 May 2009 21:38:23 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1677 Brilliant timing - I have been pondering how to make a sea journey more interesting, and making the trip be all about managing the rations seems like a great idea. Perhaps an extended skill-challenge (or set of challenges), starting when they leave port... or starting even earlier, with a skill-challenge to get as many rations as possible to start with, e.g. while they might have enough money to buy all the rations they need, they might need to ferret out all the places that can actually supply enough rations at short notice. Then between each port, you've got another skill-challenge to navigate successfully - potentially even a nautical fight or two thrown in there to mix it up, and potentially invaders (pirates, sahuaghan etc) try to steal / spoil some of the rations! The only part I'm struggling with is how (in 4e) to represent the "navigate" part - in 3.x, you'd use profession (sailor), with some knowledge (geography) etc, but in 4e their doesn't seem to be enough skills to put to good use - or perhaps I'm just not thinking creatively enough? Anyone able to help me with a good mini-skill challenge for navigating a ship from port to port? Preferably complexity 1, and assuming the PC's are not actually captaining the ship, or even part of the crew, but I'd like to engage them in helping decide the fate of the ship as it tries to get from port to port, across open seas as well as through islands and suchlike, before running out of rations (there are about 22 people on board, i.e. crew, passengers, and PC's). Brilliant timing – I have been pondering how to make a sea journey more interesting, and making the trip be all about managing the rations seems like a great idea. Perhaps an extended skill-challenge (or set of challenges), starting when they leave port… or starting even earlier, with a skill-challenge to get as many rations as possible to start with, e.g. while they might have enough money to buy all the rations they need, they might need to ferret out all the places that can actually supply enough rations at short notice. Then between each port, you’ve got another skill-challenge to navigate successfully – potentially even a nautical fight or two thrown in there to mix it up, and potentially invaders (pirates, sahuaghan etc) try to steal / spoil some of the rations! The only part I’m struggling with is how (in 4e) to represent the “navigate” part – in 3.x, you’d use profession (sailor), with some knowledge (geography) etc, but in 4e their doesn’t seem to be enough skills to put to good use – or perhaps I’m just not thinking creatively enough? Anyone able to help me with a good mini-skill challenge for navigating a ship from port to port? Preferably complexity 1, and assuming the PC’s are not actually captaining the ship, or even part of the crew, but I’d like to engage them in helping decide the fate of the ship as it tries to get from port to port, across open seas as well as through islands and suchlike, before running out of rations (there are about 22 people on board, i.e. crew, passengers, and PC’s).

]]> By: kingworks http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1676 kingworks Tue, 05 May 2009 19:03:00 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1676 What about gold as a resource? The party needs to purchase some valuable item/artifact or maybe some expensive components in order to cast a plot-centric ritual. The downside to gold as a resource is in leading your PC's to grind - something I'd like to keep as far away from the table as possible. What about gold as a resource? The party needs to purchase some valuable item/artifact or maybe some expensive components in order to cast a plot-centric ritual.

The downside to gold as a resource is in leading your PC’s to grind – something I’d like to keep as far away from the table as possible.

]]> By: gamefiend http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2009/05/new-exciting-ways-to-reward-and-exhaust-your-players-resources-in-4e/comment-page-1/#comment-1675 gamefiend Tue, 05 May 2009 16:30:11 +0000 http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/?p=553#comment-1675 @madbrewlabs that's the sort of thing I'm talking about. I'm ironing out my reputation system right now, actually. It's actually got different sorts of reputation --so you could get rep points for being a scoundrel or being virtuous for example. @The last rogue --double yoink? :) @madbrewlabs that’s the sort of thing I’m talking about. I’m ironing out my reputation system right now, actually. It’s actually got different sorts of reputation –so you could get rep points for being a scoundrel or being virtuous for example.

@The last rogue –double yoink? :)

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