Proposal: Special Cases for 3 characters

[dimsdale]

Many members of this community are judges. Many are DM's for one or more adventures. Some run adventures as well as have characters in other adventures. Being a judge and running adventure are huge time commitments. And because of that, I can see where a limit was imposed.

However, some of us have no interest running an adventure and/or being a judge. We just want to play. I'm currently have characters in two adventures, posting frequently in both of them. What can I say, I just love pbp adventures.

The point I want to make is that I know I can easily create and run a third one. Is there any chance that after others have finished creating their 2nd character that some of us with no other commitments could create and run a 3rd?

Just throwing the idea out there.

 

[Moon_Goddess]

I would say the people who take the time to judge and the people who take the time to DM have put more a commitment into making this community grow, they've put more into this game and would deserve a third character first,

So I'd run your proposal backwards.

 

[dimsdale]

I would say the people who take the time to judge and the people who take the time to DM have put more a commitment into making this community grow, they've put more into this game and would deserve a third character first,

So I'd run your proposal backwards.

Sounds okay to me. I'll wait. Everyone in the community who runs and/or judges an adventure should have first crack at making a third character. I'll wait. When everyone who wants a third character, under the criteria you've mentioned (having more interest in the game than myself) have completed their third one, I'll make mine. What do ya say?

Although, I do feel that some of them might not want to make a third.

 

[garyh]

I was thinking the same thing as Darwin. But I'm a Judge and sometime DM.

As far as third characters go, I'd think one of two things should be required:

1) Total character levels of a player's first two characters equaling some specified level (if you have, say, 6 character levels total on PC's 1 and 2, you can create PC 3... 6 levels being a random example). I see this as an extension of the current "1st PC to level 2 before 2nd PC is allowed" rule.

OR

2) To play a third character, you must exchange X DM Credits to activate that third PC (with that PC starting at 0 XP, NOT receiving the usual bonus XP for exchanging DM credits). This insures that those who take more of the adventure slots with their many characters have created adventure slots for others at some point. This doesn't even have to be THAT many DM credits. 4 credits (2 months DMing) is about what our shortest adventures seem to run, and that may work for the "price" of a third character.

I would be okay with either of these as requirements for 3rd PC's (with particular total levels in #1 or DM credits in #2 up for discussion). I lean more towards the second myself, as I like the idea of "encouraging" more DM's.

 

[JoeNotCharles]

I don't think there should be any difference between judges/DM's and just plain players making third characters. Not everyone has the urge or skills to be a DM or judge, and we don't want the community to turn into a clique where the handful of judges get extra perks. In fact, I'm strongly against giving judges any extra bonuses not directly related to their judging duties.

If we start allowing 3rd and 4th characters I think we need to really make sure that nobody's playing more characters at a time than anybody else. It can be hard to keep track, especially with some adventures running much longer than others. It would really suck, for example, if somebody starts an adventure containing a lot of people who already have characters in 1 or 2 other adventures just a day before someone's very first character enters the tavern, and then they have to wait for ages until another adventure starts. We had a while with more adventures then characters, but I'm still worried that we'll end up having a glut of characters without enough adventures to go around as a general thing.

EDIT: on reading garyh's reasoning, exchanging DM credits for extra PC's does sound like a good idea - as long as it's not a self-selecting group, where friends of judges can get DM credits more easily than anyone else.

 

[garyh]

DM credits have no subjective element. You DM a game for a X months, you get X*2 DM credits. End of story. No way to fudge the system.

And I agree, Judges should get no extra perks. That way lies the issues of favoritism and other worse things. You'll note I didn't suggest any sort of Judge preference in my 3rd PC ideas.

There were suggestions back when we were started of awarding "DM" credits to Judges just for judging, but I think all the actual Judges or Judges-to-be argued against that. The only DM credits a Judge ever gets is for taking over and DMing an adventure, and it's the DMing that earns the credit there.

 

[JoeNotCharles]

Yeah, just wanted to make sure it was explicit that there's no subjectivity. The only way I can see subjectivity creeping in is if the judges were to start rejecting adventure submissions by people who they don't want to DM. (Which would be incredibly skeevy.)

 

[ryryguy]

I have to say, as somebody itching to start a second character but still far away from reaching level 2 with my first character, I'd be a bit jealous if other folks start bringing in third characters.

My (potentially) (slightly) hurt feelings aside, I think that if we do open up things for third characters, we should also consider loosening up the requirements for starting a second character. What that would mean would depend on what's eventually decided about third characters... if it involves DM credits, then you should be able to use DM credits to speed up getting a second character.

Whatever is decided, if anybody starts bringing in third characters, I'd like to see the path to second characters made a little bit easier. Maybe just some flat amount of time spent adventuring - three or six months maybe? I guess I'm not sure exactly how quickly a character reaches level 2 normally, but if you've played that long and still haven't quite made it for whatever reason, I think the second character slot should be opened.

 

[garyh]

Yeah, just wanted to make sure it was explicit that there's no subjectivity. The only way I can see subjectivity creeping in is if the judges were to start rejecting adventure submissions by people who they don't want to DM. (Which would be incredibly skeevy.)

Speaking as a Judge since the beginning, we've NEVER rejected an adventure. Asked for more info, sure. Made suggestions, sure. But never rejected. We do everything we can to get as many DM's as possible, since the number of available adventures is pretty much the most limiting factor in a living world.

I have to say, as somebody itching to start a second character but still far away from reaching level 2 with my first character, I'd be a bit jealous if other folks start bringing in third characters.

My (potentially) (slightly) hurt feelings aside, I think that if we do open up things for third characters, we should also consider loosening up the requirements for starting a second character. What that would mean would depend on what's eventually decided about third characters... if it involves DM credits, then you should be able to use DM credits to speed up getting a second character. You can also use DM credits to open up a second character more quickly by spending them to get your first PC to level 2 faster.

Whatever is decided, if anybody starts bringing in third characters, I'd like to see the path to second characters made a little bit easier. Maybe just some flat amount of time spent adventuring - three or six months maybe? I guess I'm not sure exactly how quickly a character reaches level 2 normally, but if you've played that long and still haven't quite made it for whatever reason, I think the second character slot should be opened.

Time XP is designed such that a year of adventuring gives you a level's worth of XP from time alone. So even if you have a very slow-paced game that only gets you 500 XP from combats and/or challenges in six months, the time XP on top of that would get you to level 2 in six months, and thus eligible for a second PC. You can also use DM credits to open up a second character more quickly by spending them to get your first PC to level 2 faster.

 

[Lord Sessadore]

My main concern with 3rd (or even 4th) characters is basically what Joe mentioned - that there won't be enough adventures, and new players get left out. Especially right now, when the number of characters waiting for approval or soon to finish adventures is enough to man 3 or 4 adventures and there aren't those adventures ready and waiting for them. Bad timing at the least is a problem with 3rd characters at the moment.

I have to say, I like garyh's idea for needing DM credits to "activate" a 3rd character. While I realize that doesn't help you at all, dimsdale, the idea has merit - in order to flood the system with yet another PC, you need to provide the system with some adventure slots to keep other PCs busy.

On that note, I should really finish putting together my adventure ... though I can't really start it until August sometime.