D&D 5E (2024) Carousing in 5E

[beaumontsebos]

Hi all,

I'm running a public game that has rotating players. For downtime, I decided to use Shadowdark's carousing rules and tables to make things simple.

For those not familiar, players contribute monetarily to a night (or more) of fun and roll to see the outcome. The outcomes can be good or bad. They can gain allies, gain enemies, gain treasure or lose treasure. But they always gain some XP to entice them to risk carousing. This is where I need some advice.

In my public game, character advancement is based on how many times the player has shown up to the table. So, XP awards are not an enticement. Carousing is too risky without gaining SOMETHING even when it turns out bad.

Any ideas on something that can entice them to risk carousing other than XP? I was thinking inspiration (although if they already have inspiration, this is no good) or temporary HP (although temp HP after days of drinking doesn't really fit)...

Thoughts?

 

[Reynard]

Maybe something more granular than Inspiration and incorporate the Luck rules from ToV?

Alternatively, you can include the possibility of minor magic items like healing potions or weapon oils or whatever.

 

[beaumontsebos]

Maybe something more granular than Inspiration and incorporate the Luck rules from ToV?

Alternatively, you can include the possibility of minor magic items like healing potions or weapon oils or whatever.

What is ToV?

 

[Reynard]

What is ToV?

Tales of the Valiant by Kobold Press. ToV is a 5E compatible game.

From the Black Flag SRD:
LUCK Every PC has a special resource called Luck. You use Luck to influence the result of any check.
GAINING LUCK W hen you create your character, start with 0 Luck. You gain Luck in the following ways:
• Once per turn, when you fail to hit with an attack roll or fail a save, gain 1 Luck.
• The GM can award 1 Luck as a reward for a clever idea, excellent roleplaying, or pursuing an interesting— rather than optimal—choice.
• The GM can award any amount of Luck to one or more PCs for surviving difficult encounters or achieving story goals (in addition to XP or other rewards). Playing the Game
LOSING LUCK You can have a maximum of 5 Luck at one time. If you already have 5 Luck and gain more, you must immediately roll a d4 and reset your Luck total to the number rolled.
SPENDING LUCK You spend Luck to add a 1-for-1 bonus to any check you make. For example, if you have 4 Luck, and roll a 13 on the die, you can spend 2 Luck to make your result a 15 (leaving you with 2 Luck for later).
Alternatively, immediately after you make a check (attack, ability check, or save), you can spend 3 Luck to reroll a d20 used for the check. Luck can’t stop a critical miss on a 1 or create a critical hit by adding up to 20. Note that Luck gained from a failed attack or save can’t be used to enhance the same roll that generated the Luck—you only accrue Luck after you officially fail the roll!

 

[beaumontsebos]

This is a good idea, Maybe I can grant them a limited Boon of Luck from the DMG. Have it last until they use it or they take a long rest. And they can get a bonus to the roll depending on how much they spend to carouse.

Could work, but I'm always open to other suggestions...

 

[nevin]

Hi all,

I'm running a public game that has rotating players. For downtime, I decided to use Shadowdark's carousing rules and tables to make things simple.

For those not familiar, players contribute monetarily to a night (or more) of fun and roll to see the outcome. The outcomes can be good or bad. They can gain allies, gain enemies, gain treasure or lose treasure. But they always gain some XP to entice them to risk carousing. This is where I need some advice.

In my public game, character advancement is based on how many times the player has shown up to the table. So, XP awards are not an enticement. Carousing is too risky without gaining SOMETHING even when it turns out bad.

Any ideas on something that can entice them to risk carousing other than XP? I was thinking inspiration (although if they already have inspiration, this is no good) or temporary HP (although temp HP after days of drinking doesn't really fit)...

Thoughts?

Carousing is something that in my opinion should just be roleplayed out or simply not done. For the DM it's adventuring in a controlled area, there can be encounters, you can roll for gambling if the players want to do it. It's also a place characters can make friends or enemies of almost anyone at any level in the society they are in.

Give me fun adventures where I can waste my resource's and I might. Give me other things in game to grab my interest and I might, build an orphanage, donate to a temple, invest money in a shipping house etc. But a simple table lotto game where I waste money and I might win or lose something seems like a cheesy way to waste character resources without spending DM effort to entertain me while you do it.

 

[beaumontsebos]

But a simple table lotto game where I waste money and I might win or lose something seems like a cheesy way to waste character resources without spending DM effort to entertain me while you do it.

With 8 rotating players in a free public game, I am absolutely looking for something that entertains without so much effort.

We roll on the table and then I do a quick back and forth with the players that participated to flesh out the scenario. It has proven super fun with the players so far. But they do need some enticement for the risk.

 

[Reynard]

Carousing is something that in my opinion should just be roleplayed out or simply not done. For the DM it's adventuring in a controlled area, there can be encounters, you can roll for gambling if the players want to do it. It's also a place characters can make friends or enemies of almost anyone at any level in the society they are in.

Give me fun adventures where I can waste my resource's and I might. Give me other things in game to grab my interest and I might, build an orphanage, donate to a temple, invest money in a shipping house etc. But a simple table lotto game where I waste money and I might win or lose something seems like a cheesy way to waste character resources without spending DM effort to entertain me while you do it.

You seem to be missing the point of the carousing system. it is explicitly there to eat gold so that the characters have motivation to continue to adventure. In Shadowdark, the "payment" for that is a minor XP boost. It is genre enforcement.

 

[nevin]

Well if it works for the table then great. But you are trying to get the non gamblers at the table to gamble. If that's the only problem then you need to figure out what thier level of risk is. You might need to throw better rewards, you might need to have different tables with different levels of risk. In that scenario I'd try to have tables of various risk reward levels and let the players roll on the appropriate table based on the risk level they choose. Think of it like a casino. One player might want to play craps or roullete and risk it all for a big reward. Another might be happy with slot machines and margherita's.

But I still would suggest if you want carousing you can have a lot more fun turning that point of the game into part of the game. I've always been amazed that players sometimes have more fun in little adventures in town with the most minor consequences than they do killing the dragon and saving the world. Your tables of outcomes are half the work already. make a bunch of npc's or buy a book of npc's and generating npc encounters isn't any harder than monster encounters. Its not any more work than generating dungeons or other encounters, once you get through a couple and get comfortable with it.

 

[nevin]

You seem to be missing the point of the carousing system. it is explicitly there to eat gold so that the characters have motivation to continue to adventure. In Shadowdark, the "payment" for that is a minor XP boost. It is genre enforcement.

oh I get it. I just prefer to work in things that entice the players to spend the gold on other things. It's amazing how much a player will spend on things that the DM percieves as not important. Spending money building the big house and working on becoming a noble. Funding the local orphanage or temple that takes care of the poor. let your players have meta game goals that may or may not affect thiei adventuring. You'll be surprised at how easy it is to keep them broke and desperate for more money.