masshysteria
Explorer
I've been thinking about this idea and have a couple of concerns and ideas.
1. How do you handle levels? If Jim consistently shows up and Mary only makes it every now and then, is it okay for Mary to lag behind Jim? If leveling happens based on attendance, I could see it much more difficult to plan the encounters for the night.
2. How do you handle treasure? Similar idea to levels. Those that show up more are more likely to have more loot and better equipment. Personally, I don't think this is a huge deal and maybe by having the NPC mentor give/loan something to the wanting player it can be solved.
3. How do you balance encounters without knowing the number or classes of character showing up each night? Do you have people commit to the night a week in advance? The numbers problem is probably solved by adding or subtracting monsters in most cases. The classes problem may be overcome with tag along NPCs or loaning out equipment for that night. No healer? Here's a wand of cure light wounds.
I think it would be good to have a bunch of pregen character ready to go each night. Since this is an open game, it would be great to have someone walk in and say, "Oh, can I play?" and be able to hand him a bunch of character sheets and say, "Sure, pick one."
1. How do you handle levels? If Jim consistently shows up and Mary only makes it every now and then, is it okay for Mary to lag behind Jim? If leveling happens based on attendance, I could see it much more difficult to plan the encounters for the night.
2. How do you handle treasure? Similar idea to levels. Those that show up more are more likely to have more loot and better equipment. Personally, I don't think this is a huge deal and maybe by having the NPC mentor give/loan something to the wanting player it can be solved.
3. How do you balance encounters without knowing the number or classes of character showing up each night? Do you have people commit to the night a week in advance? The numbers problem is probably solved by adding or subtracting monsters in most cases. The classes problem may be overcome with tag along NPCs or loaning out equipment for that night. No healer? Here's a wand of cure light wounds.
I think it would be good to have a bunch of pregen character ready to go each night. Since this is an open game, it would be great to have someone walk in and say, "Oh, can I play?" and be able to hand him a bunch of character sheets and say, "Sure, pick one."
