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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 5603178" data-attributes="member: 20323">Great suggestions about structuring the dungeon/adventure and DM side of things <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/glasses.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt="B-)" title="Glasses    B-)" data-shortname="B-)" />My thinking is more focused on how to facilitate a dungeon-focused play style from the player side...Grounding recharge in the narrativeOne thing that's always been a sticking point for me about spells/powers in D&D is the arbitrariness of per encounter/day recharge. And a per adventure recharge mechanic seems like an even greater level of abstraction. What I'd like to see is grounding the recharge mechanic to some kind of narrative explanation... For example, divine classes recharge when they pray at a shrine to their deity or fulfill their deity's tenets despite personal sacrifice. Fighters recharge when they defeat a boss, gain a new magic weapon, or pledge themselves to a liege.Players choose risk vs. rewardI'd like to see some reward system for the PCs choosing to face a greater challenge vs. an easier one within the adventure. Scenarios where extreme acts of heroism advance their quest faster, garner them greater XP in the process, and/or provide them certain perks (e.g. setting up their own ambush). It's the carrot for pushing on in the dungeon or facing overwhelming odds (not necessarily just in combat), versus the stick of the dungeon recharging. This could be hard-wired in the system, like 4e's action points restoring during milestones.Or it could be part of the adventure, with each adventure having a "condition track" where if the PCs complete a certain # of encounters or accomplish certain goals, they gain some advantage.Alternately, it could embedded in the character classes. For example, rangers/rogues might have a scouting feature which allows them to aim for increasing amounts of reconnaissance, but with escalating fallout for failure. Or warlocks might draw on extra power from their patron but have to pay for it later in the adventure.Character creationHow much resource management should D&D have? Do combat and non-combat abilities need to be siloed? Is it best that all PCs can contribute in all types of encounters? Why not let each player choose?[sblock]Say the party's wizard is a diviner who specializes in scouting via rituals and provides support/countermagic magic. He leans more toward the RM side of things but has support magic he can rely on consistently. It's outside of combat that his character shines, he can swing a battle before it begins.The ranger/rogue, on the other hand, is a halfling psychopath who wields knives like a blade cuisinart. His talents are at-will and hyper-focused on combat. Outside of combat he's a pain in the arse.The fighter always has the right tool for the job (ten foot poles and caltrops galore) and the player is into resource management. His talents are RM/recharge heavy and mostly about combat. However, he has some kingdom-building and survival talents as well.The cleric is a technical pacifist who packs healing magic and some trick/trap magic. Since the player is newer, she has no RM to worry about, and can use her talents at-will. Besides healing and setting traps, outside combat she also has prestige/contacts in the temple.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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