D&D General Flip or Twist A D&D Cliche

[MatthewJHanson]

I had a dungeon room with an elaborate puzzle. When the PCs solved it they only thing that happened was that a certificate magically appeared, which said they had solved the puzzle.

 

[ichabod]

Dwarves have French accents instead of Scottish ones. They love wine but wouldn't be caught dead drinking ale or mead.

Elves are rednecks. I mean, they live out in the woods, right? You better not mess with Elrond-Bob and his buddy Billy-Faramir.

 

[Stormonu]

PCs are literally born yesterday. Their own world ended in a fiery cataclysm and they awoke in this new realm, with half-remembered pasts and having to learn to make their way in this new-to-them world. And everyone else is someone or something that had a former life before arriving here - just some have been here longer than others.

 

[soviet]

GP subtracts from your XP - you are no longer hungry and driven but grown comfortable and complacent.

 

[Reynard]

GP subtracts from your XP - you are no longer hungry and driven but grown comfortable and complacent.

Oh, this is interesting. How would you implement it? A rich character could go into the dungeon and undertake all the challenges and difficulties...

Maybe the GP value of your gear gives you XP penalties. You go in wearing +3 plate and carrying a Sword of Trap Detection, you obviously did not get as much out of the experience as someone wearing leather and carrying a moderately pointy stick.

 

[Lanefan]

Maybe the GP value of your gear gives you XP penalties. You go in wearing +3 plate and carrying a Sword of Trap Detection, you obviously did not get as much out of the experience as someone wearing leather and carrying a moderately pointy stick.

This is a really cool idea....for someone else.

If I tried implementing it here I'd probably be burned at the stake.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Oh, this is interesting. How would you implement it? A rich character could go into the dungeon and undertake all the challenges and difficulties...

Maybe the GP value of your gear gives you XP penalties. You go in wearing +3 plate and carrying a Sword of Trap Detection, you obviously did not get as much out of the experience as someone wearing leather and carrying a moderately pointy stick.

I wouldn't penalize gear, that'd just drive players away. Instead, I would penalize hoarding and reward spending.

Your XP gains are banked for some period of time (one or two weeks, a milestone, whatever). At the end of that period, you get those earnings all at once. However, your XP are reduced by a percentage based on how much GP you possess when that period ends. GP spent on consumables or other short-term benefits is ignored completely. GP spent on "permanent" benefits is ignored, up to a cap based on character level (e.g. if you spend 400 GP on a magic ring at level 1, some of that still counts against you, but only the one time.) Giving up--as in, not selling or trading, actually giving away--such magic items at a later date refunds the XP "paid" for them.

Players who spend extravagantly are rewarded. Players who hoard are penalized. Players who show prudence may be rewarded later, but the rewards are smaller relative to their target needs.

Money and resources are still good. They're just something you treat as needing to be used, not as something to pile up as much as possible.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Technology used to be a nigh omnipresent and powerful force across the land but you don’t regularly see the great machines influence as much anymore and the power it’s all starting to seep away and isn’t as strong as it used to be, some groups are experimenting with this new thing called ‘magic’

 

[FrozenNorth]

Dwarves have French accents instead of Scottish ones. They love wine but wouldn't be caught dead drinking ale or mead.

Dwarves are grim, fatalistic and stoic. It is a coping mechanism because dwarven leadership has been corrupt or insane for generations. The also speak in Russian accents.

 

[Ondath]

Technology used to be a nigh omnipresent and powerful force across the land but you don’t regularly see the great machines influence as much anymore and the power it’s all starting to seep away and isn’t as strong as it used to be, some groups are experimenting with this new thing called ‘magic’

That sounds like Numanera, and I say that in the best possible way! It's a very cool take on Magic, and also works really well with some Vancian trappings (spells have slots because they're machines with limited modes).