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Pemertonian Scene Framing and 4e DMing Restarted
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6093694" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>This is similar to how I tend to handle downtime, too. In 4e, at least, the only activity that mechanically soaks up downtime is learning rituals - there are no long term healing rules, income earning rules, training rules etc. (This is a noticeable difference from Burning Wheel, for instance, or Runequest.)</p><p></p><p>So I have the players tell me what they're doing, mark off any expenditure/update inventories (eg if they're buying gear), make any relevant notes for future reference (eg "Spent a week helping the priestess of Pelor resettle the refugees"), etc.</p><p></p><p>Sometimes it will turn out that "downtime" in fact needs some action resolution: examples from my game I'm thinking of were when one PC recruited a dockside mercenary, whom the PCs had previously fought, to be the enforcer for his newly-established temple; and when the PCs argued their court case to regain possession of said temple from the wererats who had been squatting in it. I try to resolve these situations, which often don't involve all the party and may be fairly low-stakes, quickly and efficiently while maintaining colour.</p><p></p><p>These little vignettes can also turn into new scene: for instance, when the eviction notice was served on the wererats, they complied. But then when the PCs went to take up occupancy of the newly-vacated temple it turned out the wererats had left their gargoyles and troll behind.</p><p></p><p>Or another example: in down time, one PC was researching the books and gear taken from a defeated wizard; another was going around town trying to learn more about the personalities, histories etc of some Orcus cultitst the PCs had defeated. Both these downtime activities turned into scenes - the investigating PC learned where it was that the cultists worshipped outside town, tracked it down, found and descended a stairway into the underdark, and stumbled into an ancient, sealed temple to Orcus.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile the researching PC discovered that the defeated wizard had a Leomund's Secret Chest active, and with the help of another PC plus the crystal ball that had also been taken from the enemy wizard he reversed the ritual to teleport the two PCs to the site of the Secret Chest, where they found themselves having to deal with a sphinx.</p><p></p><p>Now there was no self-standing reason, based simply on the narration of the backstory, to think that these two things were happening at the same time. But in the interests of coherent narrative and coherent play, I deemed the discovery of the temple and the teleportation to the sphinx-guarded chest to be simultaneous, and then adjudicated the two ensuing conflicts side-by-side.</p><p></p><p>I also, by exercise of GM fiat, stipulated that another Raven Queen-worshipping, Orcus hating PC was with the investigating PC. Given that the fiated PC is a ranger-cleric, and the investigating PC a paladin, it made sense that the ranger would accompany the paladin to find and investigate an Orcus temple outside the city walls.</p><p></p><p>The fifth PC, the dwarf fighter, I stipulated to be watching the other two Sphinx bothering PCs through the crystal ball - and when they got into an argument with the sphinx that wasn't going to well for them he hurled himself into and through the ball to come through to the sphinx's area. At about that same time the tide began to turn against the sphinx, and at the same time the two PCs in the ancient Orcus temple were being badly creamed by a bunch of demons, and so the Sphinx - who could of course see the fate of those friends far away beneath the ground! - gave the PCs fighting it the option of teleporting to the underdark to save their friends. And they took that option, thereby reuniting the party and leaving the sphinx and the Secret Chest for another day.</p><p></p><p>That was at the end of 16th level. The PCs are now nearly 21st level, and still in the underdark! (And from memory have had 3 extended rests since then, and are currently angling for a 4th).</p><p></p><p>That sounds a lot like Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, which allows you to spend a plot point during a Transition Scene to activate a "resource" - ie a bonus die that lasts until the end of the next Action Scene.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6093694, member: 42582"] This is similar to how I tend to handle downtime, too. In 4e, at least, the only activity that mechanically soaks up downtime is learning rituals - there are no long term healing rules, income earning rules, training rules etc. (This is a noticeable difference from Burning Wheel, for instance, or Runequest.) So I have the players tell me what they're doing, mark off any expenditure/update inventories (eg if they're buying gear), make any relevant notes for future reference (eg "Spent a week helping the priestess of Pelor resettle the refugees"), etc. Sometimes it will turn out that "downtime" in fact needs some action resolution: examples from my game I'm thinking of were when one PC recruited a dockside mercenary, whom the PCs had previously fought, to be the enforcer for his newly-established temple; and when the PCs argued their court case to regain possession of said temple from the wererats who had been squatting in it. I try to resolve these situations, which often don't involve all the party and may be fairly low-stakes, quickly and efficiently while maintaining colour. These little vignettes can also turn into new scene: for instance, when the eviction notice was served on the wererats, they complied. But then when the PCs went to take up occupancy of the newly-vacated temple it turned out the wererats had left their gargoyles and troll behind. Or another example: in down time, one PC was researching the books and gear taken from a defeated wizard; another was going around town trying to learn more about the personalities, histories etc of some Orcus cultitst the PCs had defeated. Both these downtime activities turned into scenes - the investigating PC learned where it was that the cultists worshipped outside town, tracked it down, found and descended a stairway into the underdark, and stumbled into an ancient, sealed temple to Orcus. Meanwhile the researching PC discovered that the defeated wizard had a Leomund's Secret Chest active, and with the help of another PC plus the crystal ball that had also been taken from the enemy wizard he reversed the ritual to teleport the two PCs to the site of the Secret Chest, where they found themselves having to deal with a sphinx. Now there was no self-standing reason, based simply on the narration of the backstory, to think that these two things were happening at the same time. But in the interests of coherent narrative and coherent play, I deemed the discovery of the temple and the teleportation to the sphinx-guarded chest to be simultaneous, and then adjudicated the two ensuing conflicts side-by-side. I also, by exercise of GM fiat, stipulated that another Raven Queen-worshipping, Orcus hating PC was with the investigating PC. Given that the fiated PC is a ranger-cleric, and the investigating PC a paladin, it made sense that the ranger would accompany the paladin to find and investigate an Orcus temple outside the city walls. The fifth PC, the dwarf fighter, I stipulated to be watching the other two Sphinx bothering PCs through the crystal ball - and when they got into an argument with the sphinx that wasn't going to well for them he hurled himself into and through the ball to come through to the sphinx's area. At about that same time the tide began to turn against the sphinx, and at the same time the two PCs in the ancient Orcus temple were being badly creamed by a bunch of demons, and so the Sphinx - who could of course see the fate of those friends far away beneath the ground! - gave the PCs fighting it the option of teleporting to the underdark to save their friends. And they took that option, thereby reuniting the party and leaving the sphinx and the Secret Chest for another day. That was at the end of 16th level. The PCs are now nearly 21st level, and still in the underdark! (And from memory have had 3 extended rests since then, and are currently angling for a 4th). That sounds a lot like Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, which allows you to spend a plot point during a Transition Scene to activate a "resource" - ie a bonus die that lasts until the end of the next Action Scene. [/QUOTE]
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