Fixing the 10-minute Adventuring day.

[Pyrex]

My group is currently in the middle of the Age of Worms series and we've hit a stretch where our last three days of adventuring time (and likely the next few) are 10 minutes of adventuring (including one or two combats) followed by 23.83 hours of rest.

This isn't such a big deal right now in AoW as our DM is overlooking any time-sensitive elements, but I'm the next DM in rotation and plan to run something a bit more time-sensitive and would actually like the characters to be able to get something like a full day of adventuring in.

The solution I'm currently pondering is the 10-minute "power nap".

The idea being that a couple of times a day the party can take a power nap for the following benefits:

10min Power-Nap:
-Recover HP and ability damage as per a night's rest.
-Recover one daily use of any class or racial feature usable two or more times per day.
-->Example: A 5th level druid can only Wildshape once per day, and so would not recover a used wildshape. A 6th level druid can Wildshape twice per day, and thus would recover one use during a power nap
-Recover some depleted spells as follows:
--Highest level spells: None
--Next highest: Recover one
--Third Highest and on: Recover two (and so on)

Example: 9th level Cleric:

A 9th level Cleric taking a power nap would recover 9hp, 1pt of ability damage to all ability scores, recover 1 use of Turn Undead and would recover (as per Pearl of Power) 1x 4th level spell, 2x 3rd level spells, 2x 2nd level spells, 2x 2nd and 2x 0th level spells.

Thoughts?

 

[Cheiromancer]

First, make sure the combats aren't such that the players have to buffed to the gills to handle them. The players might be resting after each encounter because a second encounter like that one would finish them off.

Next, impose a cost for a day's recharge- 150 xp per character level, or thereabouts (equivalent to 2 moderate encounters). Give +50% more xp for all encounters of the day. This means that if they rest after a moderate encounter, they get no xp. If they do the normal 4 encounters they get normal xp, and if they can stretch their resources further they get bonus xp.

Alternatively, use shorter days. Let them recharge (as if by a night's rest) after each encounter, up to 4 times a day. Only give out 1/4 as much xp, though.

 

[StGabe]

Create a story where they have to do something with a specific timeline that precludes resting and balance the encounters so that they don't have to reset between them in order to succeed.

 

[Pyrex]

First, make sure the combats aren't such that the players have to buffed to the gills to handle them. The players might be resting after each encounter because a second encounter like that one would finish them off.

Yeah, that's exactly the problem we're having in our current AoW games. The current portion of the current module is freaking brutal. Two fights in a row were nearly TPK's. And that's with a 6-character party.

Next, impose a cost for a day's recharge- 150 xp per character level, or thereabouts (equivalent to 2 moderate encounters). Give +50% more xp for all encounters of the day. This means that if they rest after a moderate encounter, they get no xp. If they do the normal 4 encounters they get normal xp, and if they can stretch their resources further they get bonus xp.

Interesting idea, but I really don't want the characters to have full resources for each battle (which is why they'd recover no top-level spell slots under my proposal); but rather give the characters a little more gas so they can handle a larger number of encounters in a day.

 

[Pbartender]

Consider using reserve points.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Interesting idea, but I really don't want the characters to have full resources for each battle (which is why they'd recover no top-level spell slots under my proposal); but rather give the characters a little more gas so they can handle a larger number of encounters in a day.

Sounds like you are responding to my "shorter days" proposal rather than the "root hog or die" proposal. The latter proposal gives them an xp debt of 2 encounters, but +50% xp for all encounters. At 4 encounters per day they are at the break even point (50% of 4 is 2) and if they go more than that they get ahead.

The current portion of the current module is freaking brutal. Two fights in a row were nearly TPK's. And that's with a 6-character party.

Interesting. It sounds like the EL is about 3 too high, then. At least if these are supposed to be moderate encounters. I wonder how AoW plays if the characters are 3 levels higher than the suggested level?

 

[XCorvis]

I like the idea of the power nap, but I think it's probably just easier to level the party a little faster so that they have more resources to expend.

 

[Arkhandus]

Suggestions.....hrmm.

1. Use reserve points from Unearthed Arcana. They're in the Hypertext SRD but not the WotC website's SRD.

2. Throw enemies at the group that don't look particularly tough, most of the time; enemies with a CR lower or equal to a PC's level, and in fewer numbers (well, except when they're much lower in CR; then go ahead and throw a large pack at 'em). The PCs will feel less need to nova-buff and nova-blast everything with every gigajoule of magical power they can muster, and will probably be able to spread their resources out better.

3. Get the PCs used to being jumped sometimes by critters or bandits during the night (or other idle periods), but not too often. An occasional nocturnal predator, an occasional goblin bandit raid, sometimes an angry bear/whatever driven away from its den/hunting grounds by monsters/cultists/whatever and forced to forage amongst the PCs and thus potentially starting a fight, and once in a while something more dangerous. Camps and such will draw more attention than a passing traveler/critter. Just generally let the PCs learn that it's good to save some resources for later traps/ambushes/thieves.

4. Place combat encounters a few hours' travel apart most of the time.

(QUICK EDIT: Forgot a minute that I meant to include this: For the below restrictions, allow characters to bypass them any time they ready or renew their spells/powers, at the cost of some Experience Points. By investing some personal energy, and straining their mind/body/spirit a bit, the caster or manifester can hold a greater amount of magical or psionic energy within easy mental reach, ready for use at any time; maybe 500 XP per character level? Give or take 100-200 XP/level.... So not something they'd do if they just want to level up faster, but an option for when they feel they need to press on and hurry, or think they'll earn enough XP in the next big encounter to still make a bit of XP-profit.)

5. Perhaps restrict casters to only having X spell slots ready at any given time, excluding 0-level spells (don't limit 0-level spells by this, since they're very basic and minor magic). This X value would be 1 at 1st-level, +1 per 3 character levels (so 2 slots ready at 3rd, 3 at 6th, 4 at 9th, 5 at 12th, 6 at 15th, and 7 at 18th). Say that no more than half of these ready slots, rounded up, may be of the character's highest spell level (and if the character has no other spell level learned except 0-level, this restriction does not apply yet). These limits would apply separately for each spellcasting class. Have casters require an hour of study/meditation/prayer/recitation each time they want to change which spell slots they've readied; this is already part of their initial 10-minute or hour-long preparations each morning, so they don't need to do this for their initial set of X readied spell slots each day. This does not change spells per day.

6. Apply the above restriction to psionic manifesters as well, but instead of a limit on slots ready, they have a limit on power points ready. Readied power points would equal character level, plus another 3 points per 4 character levels (1pp at 1st, 7 by 4th, 14 by 8th, 21 by 12th, 28 by 16th, and 35 by 20th). This would allow a psion, at most character levels, to pull off two of his or her highest-level powers in any given encounter, and occasionally have an extra power point or 2 to spare; at some levels he or she will only be able to pull off one highest-level power, one next-highest-level, and maybe have a point or 2 to spare. A non-psion would be somewhat better off, but only because they don't have access to new power levels as rapidly (I don't recall the wilder's progression though).

 

[Pyrex]

Interesting. It sounds like the EL is about 3 too high, then. At least if these are supposed to be moderate encounters. I wonder how AoW plays if the characters are 3 levels higher than the suggested level?

Something like that. It boils down to a hiccup in the EL system. We've got a party of 6 in a module designed for a party of 4. Taking the encounters as written then divying the XP 6 ways instead of 4 means we're about 1.5 levels below what the module expects; but that gap is (generally) made up for by there being more of us.

Where this becomes a problem is against small numbers of relatively high CR creatures which tips an encounter which is supposed to be "dangerous" towards "deadly".

If our party was 2 levels higher (much less 3) I suspect the fights would have gone much differently. (If nothing else becuase by the time you hit L+3 our Radiant Cheese-Monkey of Pelor would have declared the encounter finished in round 1...)

 

[Pyrex]

2. Throw enemies at the group that don't look particularly tough, most of the time; enemies with a CR lower or equal to a PC's level, and in fewer numbers (well, except when they're much lower in CR; then go ahead and throw a large pack at 'em). The PCs will feel less need to nova-buff and nova-blast everything with every gigajoule of magical power they can muster, and will probably be able to spread their resources out better.

3. Get the PCs used to being jumped sometimes by critters or bandits during the night (or other idle periods), but not too often.

*nod* Training better resource management is probably the best solution.