[AD&D2e] Doing things for the first time
Callan S.:
Sadly I didn't get to run that prep I mentioned. I think your right that players change only the short term effects/basically a shallow change to the world, while your component thing defines something deeper/more long term. I think killing monsters was supposed to be the deeper/more long term thing originally, that supposedly changes the world somehow if you do it. So it wasn't supposed to just be a level up thing, it was was as if it changed the world to do so. Except it didn't - the next dungeon has as many monsters as the GM wants. The past does not influence the present. It ends up being like world of warcraft, where the monster respawns five minutes latter. There's always another orc.
Actually what might be interesting is if you fight orcs (or whatever creature), record how many you beat and after a certain number you make a roll with low odds of getting a power up against them. The power up basically makes the orcs nothing to you. Or maybe it's phrased as only the weaker breeds of orc now exist, as the stronger ones were all killed off. So killing can have an effect.
I guess leveling does something like that, but it's not related to actions taken by the PC. If you never fight kobolds and get to level 10, kobolds are nothing to you, but not because you did anything about it.
Quote
And now, here's another rule for some imaginary game that taps into the above. I think it would be cool to have a rule like this printed in a core rulebook: "If you suffer a fever, a sprained anke, a __________ or a ________, mark a light wound. If you suffer a broken bone, a ___________, or a ___________, mark a critical wound. If you ever suffer a new wound not covered here, you all together decide where it goes, and write it into one of the paragraphs before.". It's like house rules, but with an invitation! Wouldn't that give a strong sence of continuity for a game?
I'm not sure this lends the same surprise of discovery as your component idea. Someone could formulate an idea for the particular wound early on and it's just a matter of getting it - there's no surprise there. What I'd suggest is compiling a list of candidates for those wounds, say five or ten, then at some point it's randomly rolled for and the rolled result is written in.
Dweird, if it becomes pure spreadsheet manipulation and the player can't see character choices within those manipulations, the issue is the player has turned off their imagination and is only using the logical/spreadsheet side of their brain.
JoyWriter:
A very good system, it's an extension of the randomly generated npc/other game element to the rules of the game itself. Another classic way people come across this is allowing people a roll to see if something is possible. If the roll succeeds, it is possible from then on, although possibly gaining ("revealing") limitations over time.
thedroid:
It's reminiscent of the quick-start character rules in FATE, where the player decides as challenges arise whether the character has any experience with them.
I could see it working well for a GM who wants to jump into a setting without much planning. How big is the city? [roll] 10,000 inhabitants.
If it's taken too far, I would see monumental record keeping for things that are slightly different than the standard rule-book versions. [This spell lasts longer; that monster is tougher, etc.]
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[*] Previous page