Level Up (A5E) So where do ya'll plan to start with LU?

[Faolyn]

I'm a little confused. Why would you need consent from the players? Surely it's supposed to be seamless and unobtrusive. Players wouldn't (shouldn't) know and, more importantly, they could be used or ignored as needed. I'd feel bad as a Narrator (because that's what we're called nowadays! ) if my players thought they were in some kind of mini-game.

I would guess some players just want to skip straight to the plot and ignore the getting there part.

 

[BabbageUK]

I would guess some players just want to skip straight to the plot and ignore the getting there part.

That wasn't what I was getting at really, so apologies if not clear. I meant the whole "you can only use these rules if we, the players, agree" thing.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I would guess some players just want to skip straight to the plot and ignore the getting there part.

I think it might come down to personality. Some people like the journey (no pun intended) just as much as they enjoy the destination, or more. I mean this both figuratively and literally. It goes for entertainment (cut to the chase!); actual travel (are we there yet?); tasks (no fun until its done); etc.

People who enjoy time-consuming meticulous hobbies (especially crafts) often enjoy the details.

Obviously, the middle bits can always be a slog (to anyone) if the details aren't to their taste. On the other hand, if it's well-done, I think even the most "jump-to-the-end" type person will come around. Or at least be patient enough for the rest of the players to enjoy themselves.

LU journey rules are definitely designed to try to balance this.

 

[Morrus]

I mean a game which strongly sells itself on its exploration pillar might not be a strong choice for people who want to skip the exploration pillar?

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

That wasn't what I was getting at really, so apologies if not clear. I meant the whole "you can only use these rules if we, the players, agree" thing.

These days I assume GMs and players discuss what they do and do not want out of a game, and therefore it is good sportspanship for a GM to not simply use a journey system without at some point having said "I'd like to try using this system for handling journeys between places, is that okay?"

 

[BabbageUK]

These days I assume GMs and players discuss what they do and do not want out of a game, and therefore it is good sportspanship for a GM to not simply use a journey system without at some point having said "I'd like to try using this system for handling journeys between places, is that okay?"

Maybe I'm missing something but I always got the impression that it isn't a 'all the time' or 'none of the time' thing. As a Narrator I would use them where appropriate, and not all the time - always at the speed of plot, so to speak.

 

[Faolyn]

I mean a game which strongly sells itself on its exploration pillar might not be a strong choice for people who want to skip the exploration pillar?

But you have so many other cool parts as well!

 

[Smackpixi]

ok, let me try again. Making the journey interesting is a matter of adventure design. If the players know that Bob the evil mage is holed up in Luskan with the chalice of ultimate power, nothing that happens along the way to Luskan will be interesting or fun no matter how good your random tables are, or your challenging but simple supply mechanics are. It will just be a pain in the ass between characters and the story.

However, if players only know that Bob went north with the chalice, then the journey becomes interesting. And you can use new journey mechanics to roll up encounters along the way, or you can just design them yourself. But some of the encounters should have clues to where Bob is going with the chalice.

thats an interesting and engaging journey. But that’s adventure design. i didn’t get the Level Up DM book with the journey mechanics, so maybe I’m speaking out of place here, but I read the summary of how it works, and even if you can roll 6 d20s and suddenly conjure the entirety of Forgotten Realms out of thin air It will still be a pointless place unless the DM attaches a story to the abandoned cabin, ettercap snare, and tricky crevasse.

i don’t doubt for a second that new journey mechanics are fantastic for filling the spaces between with interesting stuff. I do doubt that players will give a crap about them unless DM imbues that stuff with meaning. Which, brings me back to point, new mechanics fix nothing, DM still has to make journey matter or skip it.

 

[Morrus]

ok, let me try again. Making the journey interesting is a matter of adventure design. If the players know that Bob the evil mage is holed up in Luskan with the chalice of ultimate power, nothing that happens along the way to Luskan will be interesting or fun no matter how good your random tables are, or your challenging but simple supply mechanics are. It will just be a pain in the ass between characters and the story.

However, if players only know that Bob went north with the chalice, then the journey becomes interesting. And you can use new journey mechanics to roll up encounters along the way, or you can just design them yourself. But some of the encounters should have clues to where Bob is going with the chalice.

thats an interesting and engaging journey. But that’s adventure design. i didn’t get the Level Up DM book with the journey mechanics, so maybe I’m speaking out of place here, but I read the summary of how it works, and even if you can roll 6 d20s and suddenly conjure the entirety of Forgotten Realms out of thin air It will still be a pointless place unless the DM attaches a story to the abandoned cabin, ettercap snare, and tricky crevasse.

i don’t doubt for a second that new journey mechanics are fantastic for filling the spaces between with interesting stuff. I do doubt that players will give a crap about them unless DM imbues that stuff with meaning. Which, brings me back to point, new mechanics fix nothing, DM still has to make journey matter or skip it.

We got it first time. We just didn’t agree.

 

[niklinna]

If I felt that way about journeying, I'd have given up on Order of the Stick long ago.