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WitchHunterRegault Profile
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Champion

Registered: 06-2006
Posts: 32
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New Game Mechanic - Contacts


I have an idea for a new game mechanic…

I play both games with and without a GM on a regular basis, so the differences between the two game-play types are very noticeable to me. I’m constantly trying to make the non-GM games as in depth as possible without bogging the game down with scores of tables and rolling for generation of the things a GM would take care of.

One of the things I enjoy when I GM is creating interesting situations and encounters for the players that lead them into their next dungeon crawl. I usually have a loose story binding everything together, but there needs to be something that brings the warriors to the door of each dungeon.

When you don’t have a GM, however, this aspect of the game is completely absent. The party jumps from walking out of the gates of town to being at the front door of the next dungeon, assignment and special equipment in hand, ready to complete their next act of dangerous Warrior-work. It seemed like there was a good opportunity to fill that gap and make the transition a little smoother with some new game mechanics.

This is a *very* rough description as I have made little progress with this outside of toying with the idea. Any input on this idea would be much appreciated.

The way the new mechanic works is that the Warriors, as a party, have a short list of available jobs (adventures), I’m thinking three to start with the possibility of increasing that length when they go up in Battle levels.

When a new party is formed, the initial three adventures are also generated in the normal fashion, and the names of the adventures are recorded somewhere for reference. The Warriors may then elect which of the three jobs they are interested in completing and set about doing so in the normal fashion. You cross that adventure off (whether you complete it or abandon the task) and now the party has an empty slot in their list. The next adventure must then be one of the remaining on the list, OR the Warriors can attempt to make new contacts and encounter people in need of help to gain access to another adventure.

This can be done in a number of ways. Some Settlement or Hazard Events may indicate that the Warriors have been offered a job to complete. For example, as the Warriors journey back to civilization from their most recent escapade, they roll a Hazard that indicates they have found a small settlement in need of their help. Or the Hazard could indicate that they Warriors have bumped into a messenger that was trying to track them down with an important new task. The party would then roll up a new adventure, and add this to their list of available jobs to complete.
 
Another way to gain new jobs would be while the Warriors are in a Settlement, they can visit certain locations specifically looking for new tasks and assignments. One of the Alehouse events could be modified to become an encounter that nets a new job. Or, the Warriors can go to their respective guilds and quarters looking for assignments.
I think the easiest way to accomplish this is for certain locations to be flagged as possible sources for new jobs. When the warriors visit one of these locations, then they make a roll similar to a stock roll when trying to buy goods (3D6 in a city, 2D6 in a town, 1D6 in a village). If they succeed, then they have made a contact that has offered them a new task to complete.

The only other stipulation is that the Warriors only have a certain number of “slots” to fill with potential jobs. This means that once the Warriors have 3 tasks available, they must complete (or at least attempt to complete) one of these jobs to free up space for new adventures.

I think that this list could grow as the party grows. For example, once all the members of the party are Champions, the list grows 1 slot, so they may have as many as 4 available jobs at any one time.

So, what do you guys think? For all my complaining about rules simplification, this may seem like a lot of additional information to keep track of, but I think it adds a new and fun aspect to the game for people who play without a GM. In addition, it gives the Warriors something to DO in town for a change!

Cheers,
Regault
12/Aug/2006, 2:32 am Link to this post Send Email to WitchHunterRegault   Send PM to WitchHunterRegault
 
Evil Hypnotist Profile
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Novice

Registered: 08-2006
Posts: 17
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Re: New Game Mechanic - Contacts


Its a good idea, I have given my groups a choice of where to go and which adventure to take on occasionally and it does give a nice bit of extra depth to the game. I also try and give the adventures locations so the group knows more or less where they are. Cities, then become destinations and sometimes I alter the number of hazards if a city is close or far away from where we have decided we emerged after an adventure is complete.

The contacts idea is a nice touch but rather than increasing the slots as the warriors go up in battle levels why not change the type of contact. Novices can then be hired by the local blacksmith to find a lost family heirloom, while BL10 Lords would be the honoured guests of the region's Elector Count or even Emperor Karl Franz himself, if the warriors think he is worthy of their help of course!
12/Aug/2006, 3:53 am Link to this post Send Email to Evil Hypnotist   Send PM to Evil Hypnotist
 


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