tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116962779728480800.post5578547814704379304..comments2024-03-25T03:52:40.426-07:00Comments on The Ongoing Campaign: Adventure Games, Goals, And Spectacular Science Storiesfaoladhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116962779728480800.post-74643173773960731612015-03-30T17:11:28.033-07:002015-03-30T17:11:28.033-07:00There may be something in that which I can definit...There may be something in that which I can definitely use. The idea of special quests for each level, at least for the Psychic Warriors, is a good one. Something like it was part of the "Barbarian Cleric" (I think it was called) class in an issue of Dragon magazine, where the character had to defeat an increasingly powerful demon to rise each level, as a sort of shamanistic thing.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116962779728480800.post-44635236843466791532015-03-30T15:43:48.208-07:002015-03-30T15:43:48.208-07:00I keep thinking about Obi Wan: "If you strike...I keep thinking about Obi Wan: "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine." It's like...that's what he <i>needed</i> to happen to advance to the next level, you know?<br /><br />What about a table of different tasks? To advance to a new level, you must hit a particular milestone. I'm thinking of the Lover's Solo in Pendragon. You roll randomly each time you want to complete a task, 2d6 on a table that goes from 2 to 20. For each task you've completed, you add +1 to your roll (ergo, how you get above 12 on that table). The higher the result, the more difficult the task (and eventually the easier tasks lower down on the chart aren't even possible results).<br /><br />So take this model and run with it. This could easily be spun out, since you only have three classes. Each class has its own task table. (In this case, the extra +1's could simply be +1/level past 1st.) At character creation and at each new level, the player rolls on the table to find out what task he needs to accomplish to level up. For your Northwest Smith types, this could easily still encompass wealth acquisition. "Hmm...a 7. Let's see...'Personally acquire 10,000 Credits.'" Scientists, obviously, would have things ranging from "collect a spore, mold, or fungus sample" to "discover a new mountain range and name it". I'd imagine Obi-Wan had a "20" for his latest level, and it read something like, "Allow yourself to be killed in order to save your friends."<br /><br />You could then have each level grant the usual power-ups and so forth. Again, for Obi-Wan, the relevant level granted "Force Ghost transcendence" or the like.<br />David Larkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04133630988557116729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116962779728480800.post-80568882685342715802015-03-28T16:18:06.791-07:002015-03-28T16:18:06.791-07:00I really appreciate the ideas being thrown, too! I...I really appreciate the ideas being thrown, too! I'm exploring as many possibilities as I can, hoping to settle on something that works. One possibility that I have noticed is to restrict Psychic Warriors from xp for money, except if they donate it to their Temple (or, if they have their own Temple, to the Temple that sponsors theirs), then give them xp for "achieving goals", as you note, though I am still working out how best to approach that latter award. I'd add that other characters could get "achieving goals" xp, too, if I added it. The money restriction would just be a class feature of the Psychic Warriors.<br /><br />Another possibility suggested on G+ is to get rid of xp for cash entirely, for all classes, and replace it with defeating foes and achieving goals.<br /><br />Or something. This is definitely an area I want to think about.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116962779728480800.post-88362802126429228142015-03-28T08:16:47.237-07:002015-03-28T08:16:47.237-07:00Yeah, I see what you're getting at. That's...Yeah, I see what you're getting at. That's why a player gets a chance to construe the necessities after the fact. If the group, for instance, took a contract to get rid of some local crime baron, he could assume that there are some innocents in trouble. If he now goes and talks to some town folks about their troubles, he will find find what he is looking for as it is very likely, given the situation. So the only option a DM has, is to make it an interesting side quest (daughter fell in with the wrong crowd, father is missing, that sort of thing). Let's take the example a bit further and assume that one of the crime baron's henchman is an evil Psychic Warrior. A player could now make it his personal quest to bring that guy down before anything else. It'd be all within the already established storylines, but that kind of focus helps giving an adventure the feel and tone you might be looking for, because the players will make it happen (I think).<br /><br />As for the currency mechanism. The problem I see is that it would need a subsystem that, like combat, works as something decided by rolling dice, with an indisputable outcome (you kill the monster, you get xp/it's treasure). Maybe something like spiritual or social combat? The dice decide then if the character did the right thing or not (just like hitting the target or not). Might be problematic. But still, the basic idea is to make it the result of something reactive. A bad roll can mean the character did something wrong, like rolling a one in combat. And if they can accept loosing a limb, they could also accept a character misjudging the situation.<br /><br />As an aside: an interesting twist could be that a successful roll might alter the story to what is accepted (a bit like InSpectres does, don't know if you're familiar with the game). But this would also get you further and further away from the source and more into indie game territory, I guess.<br /><br />Anyway, just throwing ideas here :)Jens D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116962779728480800.post-39559987402219111472015-03-28T07:09:27.507-07:002015-03-28T07:09:27.507-07:00I am intrigued by the idea. If I understand you ri...I am intrigued by the idea. If I understand you right, the way that it would work at the table is the player would nominate some action performed by his character as fitting the criteria required for advancement, and the Referee would then approve or deny that nomination. The part that bothers me is the subjective character (the Referee makes the decision based on feeling, rather than it being a direct and obvious result of some thing that pre-exists in the game being converted into advancement*). If I can find a way to make it into a more objective measure, it looks good. Maybe give an alternate experience scheme for defeating foes? I dunno…<br /><br />*I wonder if I could find a more complicated way to say that? ;) Anyway, the idea is that, for instance, money is a thing that converts into experience points. Creatures defeated converts into experience points. These are direct and obvious conversions that don't require the Referee to make a subjective judgement, for the most part. One money equals one experience point. One goblin equals ten experience points (or whatever). Collect enough experience points and the character's level goes up. There's no need to judge whether ridding the world of Count Dooku can take the character to level 8, or if it requires ridding the world of Palpatine (for instance).faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116962779728480800.post-55319621981830735492015-03-28T04:49:11.894-07:002015-03-28T04:49:11.894-07:00Interesting question. Guess you wouldn't want ...Interesting question. Guess you wouldn't want to go the way of the cleric here. Giving a player some sort of codex to play his character with was always a bad idea, since it only works if the player does it actively. On the other hand, what you could do is defining level-specific goals a Psychic Warrior has to fulfill before advancing to the next level (which would give it a quest-character and something a player would actively seek instead of always pondering if he does the right thing ...). If those were vague enough to fit any given story, you'd see players (in theory) interpreting stories in a way that fits their purpose, creating the right stories in the process. Examples might be: "Protect one innocent soul from a dark fate (easy, early level maybe)" or "Rid the world of one Dark Force (harder, mid-level, maybe)". I know, it's a bit vague here, but I believe instead of saying a player has always to protect the innocent, it's far more effective to say he has to do it one time actively (seeking it, even) to advance to the next level ... Anyway, that'd be my idea.Jens D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com