Excerpt: the quest's the thing

[beverson]

That's just wrong.

For YOU. If it works for him in his game, I say rock out.

 

[drjones]

Maybe I have played too many MMOs but I feel like xp is only important in that it triggers the 'level up' event so I would be inclined to say 'you killed the big bad guy! good job, everyone now is level 3' and save on the mucking about with adding numbers up (which no one would fudge of course).

But maybe that takes some fun away for folks who like to know when and how much they are being rewarded? Keep the food pellets coming when they hit the lever?

 

[The Highway Man]

Agreed. I often use a technique that Robert Aspirin called "the magician's force" in the MythAdventure series: I'd present the players with the illusion of a choice (door 1 or door 2), but no matter their choice, things on my end remain unchanged (it's an illusionary choice to help make them feel like it was their decision to do what I had already planned). So long as you can think on your feet fast enough to tweak whatever choice they make, you can railroad your players with them none the wiser.

I would so unhappy at this game table! You're entitled to do this, but that's typically the kind of railroading I hate when playing the game.

I too dislike the "yellow brick road" aspect the Quests in 4E.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Assigning Treasure rewards is the same as telling us how much treasure a player should get when he gets XP... but: you should make sure you give XP not only to the player finding it, but to the whole party... but: its generally more easy to do the way of giving xp for quests and give out treasure as you like...

Assigning story awards in so small pieces is annoying... i always thought that story awards finishing a story... so it was always the same for me as quest xp.

Roleplaying awards? Yes, i do that, but only for very very special events... so its a very rare occassion, and usually every player gets some awards then.

 

[Spatula]

All-around good stuff, and good DM advice. Also, kudos to the excerpt author for acknowledging that this is an evolution of pre-existing ideas, rather than telling us how 4e finally lets you give XP rewards for completing objectives.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I quite like it, gives lots of good advice. I too have given out XP for quests/major story points. It has actually in many cases replaced fighting XP as the main way to gain XP.

I don't personally see anything railroading in 4e, it simply gives you a nice structure in which both the players and DM together can tell a story.

I am my players don't have any issues with the game being mainly oriented towards plots and playing through plots. Hell, our game structure is almost like a tv/novel.

We start off with a Prologue Game. Then we have Episodes (about 2-3 sessions) that are basic plots that help move the major storyline along, there are also other Episodes that can branch off where the PCs explore other aspects of the world (though there are still hints to the major storyline).

Most character-plots are considered minor storylines that evolve along with the major storylines.

As for in-game XP/advantages for roleplaying. I think this can work quite well, especially if this is grounded in some sort of rule that fits with the characters, ie: WoD's Virtue and Vice where you can gain Willpower from them.

I am thinking about having roleplaying Milestone mechanics. So these milestones when a character accomplishes/performs something extraordinary their rewarded with a milestone, it can be minor like a action point in reserve (lasts beyond rest) or major such as a feat.

Edit: People have missed one thing too, look at this piece of art: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/excerpt_4E_quest2.jpg notice anything "missing"

 

[Irda Ranger]

This is EXCELLENT stuff. This is exactly the sort of stuff that a novice DM or casual DM should see. If this is a primer for what the DMG contains, I'm all for it.

Agreed. Very solid and practical advice. It's not high falutin' prose, and it acknowledges the realities of player management, while keeping it all fun. Very, very good.

I always have rewarded quest XP. But my favorite way to add bonus XP was letting the players vote for session MVP.

This is a great rule. I've always wanted to use it since I read Burning Wheel, but haven't had an opportunity. I also like the JohnSnow's idea of awarding Action Points for this rather than XP.

Is that a good thing? I'm not sure. It wastes less of the DM's prep time, but it also railroads. I bet few players will say "screw the quest reward, we'll go do something else." That constrains their actions considerably.

It's only "constraining" if you give them that one quest, refuse to give them any other quests, and frustrate all attempts to turn right or left. And that would be your fault, not the games'.

Me, I just plop the PCs down in a sandbox (called "Homlett", or whatever) and describe the scene around them. I answer questions, and curious NPCs ask questions, and usually by the end of the first couple days in town I ask "So, what do you (meaning the PCs) want to do?" They'll reply "We want to look into those Bugbear raids on the outlying farms", or whatever, and I then get the following in writing:
1. What's the Problem? (Bugbear raids)
2. What's the Action? (Investigate farms, ask questions, probably follow tracks)
3. What's the End Game? (We know where they came from & why)

This provides incredible focus and motivation, since they picked it themselves. Psychological buy in is very important here.

At about that point I'll let them know what the local shops have and say "OK, buy whatever equipment you need for this quest; I need a moment behind the DM screen." Then I'll roll on my Random Evil Plot Generator 1d4 times and mix the results ("Well, isn't that interesting, apparently an Eladrin Prince lost a baby son five years ago and he hired a Centaur Bounty-Hunter to find him; the Centaur has tracked his kidnappers to this vicinity, and then (not being too keen on race relations outside the Feywild) hired the Bugbears to help him canvas the area looking for a child of the right age - but they've gone ultra vires.") BAM! Instant quest.

Clear, informative and useful.

Which is great for expected of the DMG and doubly so for very strange to see in a hong post.

See edits.

 

[med stud]

I would so unhappy at this game table! You're entitled to do this, but that's typically the kind of railroading I hate when playing the game.

You wouldn't know if you were exposed to it, though . The beauty of Mourn's way of DMing is that since the players don't know about it, they don't feel railroaded. If the players get to know it, you have to change it.

 

[The Little Raven]

That's just wrong.

Please explain, or I'll simply dismiss this as "One True Way" nonsense.

 

[Irda Ranger]

You wouldn't know if you were exposed to it, though . The beauty of Mourn's way of DMing is that since the players don't know about it, they don't feel railroaded. If the players get to know it, you have to change it.

Yeah, well it just wouldn't work with my players. They're thorough. "There was a door back there we didn't check out - let's hit it."