[Legends of Lanasia] Destiny Points
Chris_Chinn:
Hi Dave,
Let's say a PC and an NPC are having a duel on a rope bridge, and the PC is losing. The player wants to spend a Destiny point to introduce an event- "The bridge breaks, and we're fighting while hanging from the bridge!" - in part for fun, in part for possibly being at a better advantage ("I've got a good climbing skill!" or whatever).
Is this a legal use of Destiny Points? More importantly, is it a -good- use (as far as what you're intending as a designer)? And, what mechanically should the GM use to judge how that effects the situation? Would it use the a/b/c options you've laid out, GM decided modifiers, or something else?
The actual specific answers aren't important here, in this thread, but important for you to be able to communicate in your game. Although more specific rules might help your playtesters and future players, maybe being very clear about the spirit of Destiny Points, and "best practices" for their use might be the way to go. (Houses of the Blooded does this very well).
Edited in after preview:
Also, are Destiny Points not designed to be used IN a conflict?
Chris
dindenver:
Chris,
Well, Destiny Points are independent of the Conflict system.
An example that happened in playtesting was:
The players decided to rob a gambling house. One group distracted the owner while another snuck in back and took out the guards.
Then they rolled a barrel full of coins out the back.
Now, the barrel full of coins happened to be the stakes for the fight with the guards.
So, the way this should be handled is that the coins should have been of a moderate value (mostly silver and copper).
Then, the players could have spent Destiny Points to do the following:
- Upgrade the copper to gold
- Add gem(s) to the mix
- Add a magic item to the mix (maybe someone pawned it on a bad bet?)
- Add an NPC (bounty hunter hired by the owner maybe?)
- Add a relationship with an existing NPC (rivalry with the owner maybe?)
- Add a plot twist (its mob money!)
- Add a sub-plot (how do we launder a barrel full of coins?)
- Add a sub-quest (there's a map inside, where does it lead?)
- Add an event (the city guard pops ny and ask what in the barrel?)
Or anything like that a player might want to see in the game.
As to your example. Honestly, that is an awesome use of Destiny Points (although if I was the GM, I would probably just use it without any cost in resources to the PC). Yeah, you can then use the questions to figure out if there is a mechanical bonus to the situation and if the character has to actually cut a rope or if it crumbles of its own accord, etc.
Does that make sense, does it answer your questions?
Chris_Chinn:
Hi Dave,
I'm not totally clear, but that's ok. I just wanted to highlight some things you'll need to be clear on in your game for people to play:
1. Is spending Destiny in the middle of a conflict possible?
2. How does a play group translate those facts into effects in play?
3. What's the "ideal"/best practices/spirit of the law idea that people should be pursuing?
You may also want to check out Clinton R. Nixon's Donjon, as the entire game is based around players creating "facts" based on successful rolls- including using their facts to describe what treasure is in a chest.
Chris
dindenver:
Chris,
Sorry about the confusion. Of course it is clear in my mind, but I am still figuring out how to decode it for general consumption.
1) Yes, it is possible. It is not the way it is designed, but it doesn't break anything either.
2) Once everyone agrees what the expenditure of the point means, then the GM is expected to play it out over at least one scene (many scenes for some of the more epic rewards). This part is hard to put together as "Do A, then B, then C" because I don't know the particulars of each expenditure. As you can see from the choices the players could make though, there should be a lot of guidance as to how the future scenes would go down by the time it is done.
3) So, the ideal of the mechanic is that in the mind of the players, what makes playing their characters more fun. For instance, Lawrence in our Thursday night group loves to see his character in jeopardy. I imagine he might use Destiny Points to introduce plot twists that get his character into all kinds of complications. While Nate in the same group is all about character growth, so he might use Destiny Points to create sub-plots and sub-quests that makes his character grow. The point is, there is no way for a GM to know what the players want for their characters, but this is a tool for the players to say, "Hey! My character has been striving and he should be getting X by now." And it gives guidelines for the GM to incorporate that into the game in a way that is reasonable.
Essentially, I started thinking about this mechanic when I got heavy into playing Supers RPGs (mostly DC Heroes) and I noticed that the PCs never really got loot, they got more story for their reward. And it made me wonder, how do I satisfy both players (the ones that want loot and the ones that want story). This is my answer to that question.
Does that help at all?
masqueradeball:
I haven't read the demo so this might already be outlined, but when and why do players gain destiny points?
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