An Alternative to Random Encounters: Draw Poker (it sounds dumb, but it's working)

[Radiating Gnome]

The idea: using draw poker to create a specific type of random encounter that puts the PCs in control over the level of challenge they face, allowing them to balance the risk-vs-reward involved.

This is a relatively specific game situation. We're playing Paizo's Second Darkness AP, converted to 4e. They're in the 3rd adventure, which in large part involves a lot of prowling around in the ruins of an eladrin city, helping fight a war against drow and their allies who have occupied the ruins.

• I really wanted to simulate a sort of vietnam-style skirmish warfare, in which the PCs are one of many platoons sent out on patrols -- basically fingers of some distant general's big hand, feeling around in the dark, trying to find out what the enemy is up to, where they are concentrating their forces, maybe holding key locations, bleeding away their resources (killing them), etc.
• I also wanted there to be a strong ritual magic element to the flavor of the thing -- after all, a war fought with elves and eladrin on one side, and drow, dragons and demons on the other, should really have some serious magic going on.
• I wanted the PCs to have some control over how much they took on -- this would simulate the PCs staying in a hot zone a little longer, while the enemy responds with reinforcements, trying to squeeze out a little more of an advantage from the skirmish.
• I also wanted a system that would, somehow, give them a way of evaluating the rewards-vs-risk in a scene -- how much advantage could they hope to get vs how much they risk by sticking around a little longer.

Okay, I know, this sounds like a terrible idea at first.

I normally am dead set against gimmicky meta game mechanics that require the PCs to learn a new mechanic to try to simulate some game/story element. But in this case, by using draw poker to create the sort of risk/reward tension, it seems like less of a sin (though it's still gimmicky) because the players already understand poker mechanics pretty well.

Basically, the PCs get a minimum of 5 cards -- each one determines something about the encounter (setting, mission, starting opponents, special environmental conditions and complications). They start with three cards (the party shares a single hand for each encounter) and get the environmental condition after the first round, and the first complication after the second.

Every round after the second, the PCs can elect to add a complication by drawing another card.

Then, at the end of the encounter, if they completed the mission, they earn a reward based on the poker hand they've built with (best 5 card hand out of all the cards they've drawn).

I'll put my detailed notes for the system in spoilers, below, just in case anyone is actually interested.

Player Handout:

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Celwynvian Poker (Player handout)

This system is intended to model the sorts of encounters your team will have while out on patrol as a part of the effort to drive the Drow out of Celwynvian. You are tempted to take greater risks to try to force better, more decisive results out of volatile, dangerous encounters.

The Goal: You will have driven the Drow back far enough to enter the Academy once you have earned 10 Battle Points.

Basically, you determine how many points you earn in a given encounter as you build the encounter. Each hand of poker is an encounter the party will have to complete. A hand will have at least 5 cards in it, but it may have more, depending upon fate and the number of complication draws you decide to risk as you work your way through the encounter. Each card tells us something different about the encounter.

1. The Setting Determines which set of tiles is used to create the map.
2. The Mission - Determines what the players have orders to do (orders are usually delivered by animal messenger). To earn the results for the hand (below), the mission must be completed. Also, there will be an initial skill check to earn an advantage in the encounter.
3. The Base Encounter
4. Special (drawn after one round of combat)
5. The Complication (drawn after two rounds of combat, and an option at the start of every round of combat after that. once the Pcs elect not to draw an encounter, they may not draw additional encounters.)
* NOTE: A complication draw of a Heart represents the arrival of Elven/Eladrin reinforcements, which ends the encounter.
You'll see what each draw determines as we play through. Not everything that you draw will be bad (but most of it is).

* Face Cards: In almost all cases, face cards mean things are tougher than they would be given a normal card.
* Junk Cards: A few of the results you draw may require another draw to determine the real effect. Those extra cards are not part of your hand.
* Jokers. There are two jokers in the deck. When those appear, in any position, something you won't like is going to happen (you now know that this means the Dragon will appear briefly in the encounter). The joker becomes a junk card (there are no wilds) and a fresh card is drawn to replace the joker in the array.
* The DM Shuffles the deck only after a joker appears. Counting cards, then, will help you know the odds of success in hands after the first.



Results: The hand you end up with at the end of the encounter determines your rewards:

* Nothing - No time for a rest, go on to the next encounter (or return to base)
* Pair- Earn 1 BP or a short rest
* Two Pair- Earn 1 BP and one short rest
* Three of a Kind- Earn 1 BP. You find a bolt-hole to take a breather. Take as many short rests as you want. This is a milestone.
* Straight - Earn 2 BP. Multiple Short Rests + Milestone, each PC regains 1 healing surge
* Flush - Earn 2 BP. Short Rests, Milestone, and each PC regains 1 daily power
* Full House - Earn 2 BP, Short Rests, Milestone, and each PC regains 1 healing Surge and 1 Daily power.
* Four of a Kind - This contributes to a decisive victory in this quarter of the city. You gain 3 BP and may take a free extended rest.


Return to Base:
After any encounter, no matter the result, the PCs have the option to return to base and take an extended rest.

Every time you take an extended rest, you lose two Battle Points.

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DM Notes:

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THe PCs will build the encounter with at least 5 cards. The odds mostly pay off for the PCs only when they get to 7 cards.

Encounter - determines the starting opponents in the encounter
Complication - determines what makes stuff worse
Setting - Four options: Ruin, wild, blended?
Special - Some new hazard or environmental effect
Mission - stealth (observe and report), killing, ritual magic work, rescue

1. The Setting - The settings is created using dungeon tiles -- the DM will have several bags of tiles for each encounter types.

* Spade - Clearing
* Heart - Ruined building(s)
* Diamond - Intact building(s)
* Club - Mixed
* Face Cards - A face card indicates that the encounter also includes a hazard (DM will add the hazard)
* J: Darkness. Drow sorceries dampen light sources in the area. All light sources shed dim illumination, and none shed light beyond 4 spaces. This effect can be countered with a skill challenge (arcana/religion/nature DC medium, 4 successes before 3 failures -- each success adds 1 to the area illuminated by light sources.)
* Q: Sleet. The grow seem to be winning the struggle to control the weather in the ruins. Everything is cold and wet. PCs gain Vulnerable Cold 5 and Resist 5 Fire.
* K: The Smell of Brimstone - Demonic influence sends a cloud of noxious, sulfurous fumes through the area. All PCs must save or start the encounter dazed (save ends)
* A: The Dragon Flies By. At the beginning of the encounter all PCs are subject to the Dragon's fear attack.


2. The Mission - The mission determines the type of encounter the PCs are jumping in to. They'll need to make a group skill check to get an advantage in the scene. Skill DCS are Medium (see Face Cards, below)

* Spade - Skirmish (just killing enemies)
* Skill check for advantage: Check: Stealth, Acrobatics, Perception
* Advantage: Set up first, gain surprise round
* Win: Bloody or Kill 5 Non-minion opponents
* Heart - Capture & Hold Location (Special: must draw complications until they draw a heart)
* Skill Check: Endurance, Nature, or Streetwise
* Advantage: Once, when drawing a complication card, the PCs can elect to discard the complication and draw a new one.
* Win: Hold Out until you draw a heart as a complication card
* Diamond - Ritual magic Node (Special)
* Skill Check: Arcana, Religion, Nature
* Advantage: PCs start the encounter knowing where the nodes are. Otherwise, they must be discovered during the encounter
* Win: Complete the ritual task
* Club - Resources
* Skill Check: Insight, History, Thievery
* Advantage:
* Win: Destroy or Capture 8 Resources
* Face Cards - A face card indicates that the skill check is hard.

3. The Encounter
* Spade - Drow Patrol
* Heart - Unallied Monster
* Diamond - Undead
* Club - Drow Allies
* Face Cards - A face card indicates that the encounter also includes an elite, named opponent.

-This encounter should be one level lower (APL-1) than the average party level -- so an easy encounter for the party. If it's a face card, either replace one of the opponents with an elite version of the same type (usually this is a named NPC opponent), or add an extra opponent.

Select monsters for these encounters that are at or slightly below the party level.


4. Special - This card adds a new wrinkle to the encounter (to try to bring out the war zone setting). It's drawn after the first round of combat. In this case the numerical value of the card determines the result.

* 2 - Font of Temporary HP: a space appears on the board that will grant 5 temporary HP to anyone who starts their turn in that space. If they start their turn in that space and already have temporary hit points, they are weakened until the start of their next turn
* 3 - Elven Preparations: Kaerishiel (Leader of the mercenaries the PCs are fighting alongside) and his elves have been through here and prepared the ground for fighting. Each PC gains one reroll, which must be used during this encounter (or it is discarded)
* 4 - Magic Circle: Defense. A magic circle is revealed by the fighting. Any combatant standing on the circle gains +2 to all defenses.
* 5 - Magic Circle: Healing. A magic circle is revealed by the fighting. Any combatant standing on the circle heals may add +5 to it's healing surge value
* 6 - Magic Circle: Blood. A magic circle is revealed by the fighting. Any combatant standing on the circle scores a critical on a 19-20.
* 7 - Silence. An area of magical silence covers the battlefield. Communication that depends on speech is impossible, and all combatants gain Resist 5 thunder
* 8 - Demon Pox. A cloud of biting insects (3x3) starts at one edge and moves across the battlefield at a speed of 6. The DM controls it's movement, but must always move towards the opposite edge (a la push). Any combatant that enters or starts it's turn in the cloud takes 5 damage, is dazed, and is exposed to a vile disease of demonic origin.
* 9 - Drow Balista has the Range - At the start of every round, an off-map balista fires a bolt at a visible random PC +10 vs AC, 3d8+7 damage
* 10 - Broken Glass & Sharp Edges: The ground is treacherous. Anyone who starts their turn prone takes 5 points of damage (4x4 area)
* J - Rising Sleet - The weather turns cold & ugly with driving rain & snow. All creatures are treated as lightly obscured
* Q - Blood Rage: Any time a creature (PC or NPC) becomes bloodied in the encounter they may make a free melee basic attack
* K- Firestorm: An Alchemical Firebomb strikes a space on the battlefield (burst 0). Any creature that enters or starts it's turn in the space takes 10 fire damage. At the start of every round, the area of flame grows by 1, becoming burst 1, burst 2, then burst 3. The round after burst three, the fire burns out. The heat and smoke from the fire obscures vision (lightly obscured)
* A - Demonic influence touches the battlefield. All combatants enter a combat fugue (save ends). While affected by the fugue, combatants may not ready or delay actions, may not fight defensively, take a -2 penalty to hit and gain a +5 bonus to damage.

5. The Complication (drawn after 2 full rounds of combat. After the first complication (so starting on round 3), the PCs can choose to draw a new complication card after each full round of combat, but once they decide not to draw a new complication, they can draw no more.)
* Spade - Drow Arrive
* Heart - Allies arrive! (the encounter ends -- friendly forces sweep through and drive out the enemy)
* Diamond - New Special (as the card value)
* Club - Draw another Encounter card (this card is junk, so it is NOT included in the hand)
* Face Cards - a face card indicates either a hard DC hazard or challenge (if the card is a diamond) or the inclusion of an elite, named NPC in the new NPCs joining the encounter.

If the complication adds enemies to the encounter, no matter what type of enemy, the new opponents should be enough to raise the encounter level by roughly one level -- err a little higher than that, if you like, but not too much.

If the complication adds enemies and is a face card, determine the number of enemies normally, then either add one or make one an elite of the same sort (usually this is a named NPC opponent)



Poker Hand Results:

To earn these rewards, the PCs must satisfy the mission (card #2). If the encounter ends because friendly reinforcements have arrived, it can be assumed that the PCs were able to complete the mission even if it was not complete when the encounter ended.

* Nothing - No time for a rest, go on to the next encounter
* Pair- Earn 1 BP or a short rest
* Two Pair- Earn 1 BP and one short rest
* Three of a Kind- Earn 1 BP. You find a bolt-hole to take a breather. Take as many short rests as you want. This is a milestone.
* Straight - Earn 2 BP. Multiple Short Rests + Milestone, each PC regains 1 healing surge
* Flush - Earn 2 BP. Short Rests, Milestone, and each PC regains 1 daily power
* Full House - Earn 2 BP, Short Rests, Milestone, and each PC regains 1 healing Surge and 1 Daily power.
* Four of a Kind - This contributes to a decisive victory in this quarter of the city. You gain 3 BP and may take an extended rest.

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Understand the Odds
The rewards are based on a sorta careful study of the odds -- the PCs are about 85% likely to get at least a pair if they draw 7 cards -- assuming those extra complications both result in additional enemies, the encounter should only end up being APL+2, so tough, but not impossible. (Also, those long, tougher encounters are not quite so bad because the enemies don't all appear at once)

In one session in which we've used this system so far, the PCs had one very long encounter that developed into a Full House (lots of nice rewards), then two shorter ones that ended when reinforcements arrived -- but the third one was complicated by two flyby attacks by the dragon (drew a joker).

All in all, we've played two sessions using this for part of each session, we're having a good time with this.

We've played a total of about 6 encounters using these rules (each session also ended with some set piece encounters in key locations on the map). The players earned a full house in one marathon fight, two pair or one pair most of the time, and has had one or two garbage hands. They've encountered the dragon several times (those "visits" by the dragon make him an increasingly hated foe the PCs are dying to kill). The cards have been cruel, and have slapped the PCs around several times with "special" card #9 -- balista bolts from off the map. That made the final, set-piece encounter in yesterday's session, in which the PCs capture one of those balista emplacements, an especially sweet victory.

Up side: The PCs have an active hand in their encounters, and they get to take calculated risks.

Down Side: Prep is a bit different for the DM. You will need to be ready with a library of monsters -- in my case I needed four different types [drow, drow allies (demons and drider, mostly), undead (zombies, and a cadaver collector for the fun of it), and unallied monsters (monster denizens of the ruins, so, drakes, some saber-tooth tigers, a few treants, etc)]

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Replying to an XP comment may be a transparent way to get a bump for a post, but here goes....

Unwise, I actually think that, while it's possible, you'd have to be pretty clear about the things you're trying to simulate with the cards.

After all, the difference between a regular random encounter and the encounter in this sort of war zone, is that there's more strategic gain to be earned when you stick around and let the fight get harder and longer (heh heh, that's what she said).


But seriously..... in a random wilderness encounter, the PCs just bump into something and have to survive it -- there isn't a lot of reason to make the fight tougher just to try to make the win bigger. BUT if you set up a situation where you're doing more than just random encounters, it could theoretically work.

The key is in the "battle points" used for the poker rewards -- what do they represent?

In my example, they represent tactical gains -- depleting enemy forces and resources, gaining strategic positions, making gains in the ritual magic battle going on alongside the physical skirmishes in the ruins, etc.

In a random wilderness encounter, what would those points represent? I don't think you want it to be progress towards the destination -- it's hard to see the relationship between voluntarily extending battles, hanging around and fighting more and more foes, just to try to travel a little further.

Those battle points are, essentially, successes in a variation of a skill challenge, when you get right down to it. And I've used skill challenge variations to represent wilderness travel for a long time, but this seems like a tricky fit for that kind of encounter.

Now... that said, all you need to do is change "wilderness exploration" to "wilderness pacification" and it makes a lot more sense. So, for instance, you could put the PCs on the frontier of an empire where barbarians or goblins or whatever are raiding the local farms and causing problems. Your poker "encounters" could build skirmishes with those goblins and their allies, and the points/successes the PCs earn would represent the relative progress the PCs are making in driving the goblins or barbarians out of the area -- and once they've achieved all of the successes they need, they "earn" their way to the barbarian or goblin camp.

Of course, I could be totally wrong. It happens. At least, that's what my wife tells me.

-rg

 

[Unwise]

Yeah I agree with what your saying. An XP message was a bit short to express myself.

Where I am thinking of using it is when my PCs try to set up expeditions into the ruins of old Akhosia. Each sortie costs them X amount of money and X amount of time. They are competing with other factions to try and discover the left over riches of the place.

So they decide what their goal is, do they want to try to find the old temple of Bahamut/Erathis? Find the tower of magic? The Dragons Roost? Some other place the have heard a rumour of? It takes 10 Exploration Points to find the place.

Each sortie out into the jungle takes X amount of gold and time. They want to reach 10 exploration points with as few returns to base as they can.

As you said though, why does encountering more enemies lead them close to their goal? That could be answered in two ways, one is that they actually do want to pacify the region, secondly, maybe it is just meta-game, with little knowledge on the PCs part. Maybe they are just pushing their luck more and more, not purposely engaging additional enemies.

So drawing extra cards reflects the fact that they have pushed into an area without carefully clearing out the denizens bit by bit. They decide to try to clear out that lizardman camp without first clearing out the swamp kraken, just hoping it would not engage. They decide they can likely take on the kobold clan, even though they know its hunting party is due to return soon. There seem to be a lot of in-game explainations available.

It might take some tinkering with what the PCs know about the next cards on the deck. Maybe with exploration, they get hints about what the next few cards might be. For instance, they do some excellent surveillance, they learn that the Kobolds have a hunting party due to return soon and that they have a dragon that sometimes visits them for sacrifices. Armed with this knowledge, the PCs make decisions about what cards to draw and the in-game effects do not feel forced.

Also, it would be possible to draw more cards before the encounter plays out too. With some cards not representing monsters, but more environmental problems. For instance, they decide to press on towards the narrow bridge crossing despite the blustering storm that is blowing in.

All of this is a bit unnecessary for me though, as my PCs have a deck of cards that tell their future for the day and even let them manipulate it a little. So I plan to use the card system to literally just be how much they are pushing their luck/fate.



-------------------

On a side note, can anybody find the post some bloke made about using cards to represent the ability of players to change the game in some way. E.g. "You automatically succeed in a knowledge religion check: You decide what you learn, at least some of it will be true" or "You may declare that two people/factions now have a bitter rivalry".

I really need to find that post again.

 

[Blue]

I really like how this puts the ability to up the risk for chance at reward int he player's hands. That's not an "all the time" thing, but used right is fantastic for this. Players are often risk adverse, and allowing them this gets them to go for the gold.

However, I was thinking about this - if no matter how many complications and foes there are, a single heart complication solves it all, why would they stop drawing? Keep pulling, pulling, turtle down and try to survive until the cavalry comes.

Perhaps if hearts were enough to neutralize a base encounter, but only even the odds some with face card foes or more foes, or if perhaps there was a less BP gain because those forces weren't off gaining their own BP for the side.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Well, it's been my experience that my PCs are *almost* always ready to draw a new complication and make things tougher on themselves unless they have fallen behind dealing with the enemy they already have on the table (a couple of rounds of cold dice and they might be in real trouble) or they already have what they need out of the encounter.

So, in practice, these encounters almost always end when the complication is a heart draw, and reinforcements arrive. There are a couple of reasons for ending the encounter right then, though (rather than adding allies to the encoutner and playing on):
- Adding allies to the PC side shifts the odds so much in their favor the encounter isn't all that interesting anymore
- I'm not a big fan of playing with myself while other people watch (using npcs to fight npcs while the PCs sit there, not engaged on offense or defense)

-rg

 

[Mr. Wilson]

On a side note, can anybody find the post some bloke made about using cards to represent the ability of players to change the game in some way. E.g. "You automatically succeed in a knowledge religion check: You decide what you learn, at least some of it will be true" or "You may declare that two people/factions now have a bitter rivalry".

I really need to find that post again.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-4t...dex-cards-fly-setting-plot-collaboration.html

I'm fairly certain this is what you wanted. It is an amazing subgame in and of itself.

Oh, and OP, nice job with the encounter system. Bit more complicated than I'd prefer, but it simulates what you want really well.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Mr Wilson -

Re: Complication of the tool: Yeah, I agree that it's not ideal to have to sit at the table with a couple of pages of notes just to figure out what happens when the PCs draw their cards. At the same time, interlude of random encounters and random events I'm replacing in the original adventure had far more that might happen in it -- the system for determining what might happen was just a lot less interesting (just a pair of percentile monster& event tables).

As for the Purple Index Cards idea -- we do something similar. At the moment I'm using the fortune cards Wizards has been selling, but over the years we've also done things like created our own decks of cards like these.

I'd encourage you to supplement the existing deck with some cards you design yourself, based on memorable moments in your own group's game. Our deck includes cards like "Edena is a Whore" and "I am a powerful Necromancer" that are rich in group history (and are the sort of in-jokes that would never really be funny if we tried to explain them to you). So, use the deck to memorialize the best moments in your game.

-rg

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Had a third session yesterday, using the poker rules for a couple of encounters.

This time, in the first encounter, the PCs started out skirmishing with a band of undead around a ruined building. A few rounds in, some Drow (including a named Elite(face card) had been drawn to the sounds of combat, and the encounter ended up testing them pretty seriously -- At one point they seriously debated running for it, and they did at least decide to settle for a single pair (rather than draw new cards and risk making the fight even worse). They managed to turn things around thanks to a few crits and other lucky moments, but it was touch and go.

The second encounter found them ordered to defend an intact building, where they were attacked by Drow again -- this time the fight was actually much better in hand when reinforcements arrived and ended the encounter fairly abruptly.

I don't think I'll use this specific set of ideas again, unless I wind up in a similar situation, but we did have a good time with it. I liked the idea of giving the PCs a way to double down on an encounter in this way.

I grew to really appreciate the complication "hearts" draw that automatically ends the encounter (the arrival of elven reinforcements). It gives the PCs an automatic "win" on the encounter (which entitles them to whatever their hand of cards is worth), but it also cuts short their ability to draw til the have a great hand. That's about a wash, but the experience of taking a battle -- which was probably in a fairly exciting stage (hadn't reached the slow slide towards defeat) -- and just ending it and starting up the next one -- was pretty cool.

Another lesson I learned in the process of running these encounters: pitting the PCs against opponents that are perhaps a little lower level than they are can be good fun for everyone. My opening encounters were usually set to be Party Level - 1, so yesterday when the party was 9th level, they faced a level 8 encounter to start. I built that with level 8 monsters.

Those two lessons (lower level opponents and alternative ends to encounters) are going to be big parts of encounter planning for me going forward, I think.

Anyway... let me know if you decide to give a variation on this a try.

-rg