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<blockquote data-quote="Balesir" data-source="post: 6044812" data-attributes="member: 27160"><p>I really like the ideas here - especially the 1+StrBonus for encumbrance. Daily supplies has been done (4E Dark Sun - I use it more widely that DS, though!), but encumbrance is long overdue an overhaul to make it something you don't just want to handwave with a HHH as soon as possible...</p><p></p><p>Here, though, I think you're missing out another area that can be simplified. The whole "miles per day" thing is traditional, but for streamlined play there are other options that I like better. The way that some strategy games handle this is to divide the map into "areas" that take one "turn" (8 game hours?) to cross in any direction. The shape of the area is a function of the terrain: for example, a n area with a major road in it would be long and thin - if you traverse it along the road, you travel a long way in a single turn, but if you cross it from side to side it doesn't help you much (other than maybe letting you know where you are). Likewise, hill ridges are a bit longer along the ridgeline so that crossing from one side to the other is slower than running along the tops (or even along the lower slopes on either side).</p><p></p><p>Some sorts of terrain have particular effects, too. Plains, for example, might allow mounted parties to move two areas per turn, rather than one. Thick woods or jungle might require a skill roll to move out of. Rivers might be impassable unless you have (or build) a boat - but they are long and thin, so if you <em>do</em> have a boat they allow fast movement.</p><p></p><p>Lots of things are easy to set up in a clear, simple and unambiguous way with this sort of system. Pinch-points/bottlenecks, trade routes, defensive vulnerabilities, trackless wastes. I really think a roleplaying system that uses this sort of idea is a missing opportunity, to date.</p><p></p><p>I have been thinking for a while around this in 4E. I think what would really be neat is some sort of system for combining a skill challenge-type-thing with an encounter. Maybe a combat or physical challenge (climb the waterfall, etc.) that a skill challenge can avoid, and either way the characters get 50% (or whatever) XP. If you avoid the fight - good for you, you got "free" xp! If you didn't - oh, well, a (probably fairly easy) fight and resource loss for not much gain. Maybe time to spruce up those skills?</p><p></p><p>I think the "area" movement methodology I outlined above might help, here, too. It makes the wilderness a bit more like "dungeon rooms" from the DM perspective. Maybe the road between here and Suzail <em>is</em> the quickest way, but if the Bad Guy is going to lay an ambush to stop us, which area will that be in? Meanwhile, all the off-piste woodland areas, as well as being small (= slow going), have a 1/6 chance of one of those 50% XP SC-to-avoid encounters...</p><p></p><p>In the context of DDN (or even 4E, for that matter), I think there's scope for a really nice "gritty statuses" module, there.</p><p></p><p>I think this can work pretty well with 4E's concepts of "hazardous terrain" that makes attacks against creatures passing through and "hireling minions" where the pack mule might be a minion that is "dead" (i.e. swept away) on a hit.</p><p></p><p>Funnily enough, I was thinking the other day about how "skill" is often manifest in "perception" - basically, someone trained and experienced in a skill will "see" a situation or problem very much differently than someone without the skill. I was thinking that this should be a specific benefit of having <strong>training</strong> in a skill (as opposed to just having a big bonus). Uses for this might be giving players whose characters are trained information on the DCs involved, for example.</p><p></p><p>I think a similar thing might apply here, since the difference between being stealthy in nature and being stealthy in town revolves largely around seeing the environment in a way that makes it clear what elements are your friends and which your foes as you try to sneak. Maybe just say that characters who lack training in the appropriate environment take a penalty to sneak - or suffer disadvantage, perhaps? That way, the urban thief will still want the distraction in the woods in order to cancel out the disadvantage they are already suffering.</p><p></p><p>That may be so, but we can dream, can't we? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>Besides - if WotC don't do it, perhaps somebody will - there seems to be some interest, after all.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Balesir, post: 6044812, member: 27160"] I really like the ideas here - especially the 1+StrBonus for encumbrance. Daily supplies has been done (4E Dark Sun - I use it more widely that DS, though!), but encumbrance is long overdue an overhaul to make it something you don't just want to handwave with a HHH as soon as possible... Here, though, I think you're missing out another area that can be simplified. The whole "miles per day" thing is traditional, but for streamlined play there are other options that I like better. The way that some strategy games handle this is to divide the map into "areas" that take one "turn" (8 game hours?) to cross in any direction. The shape of the area is a function of the terrain: for example, a n area with a major road in it would be long and thin - if you traverse it along the road, you travel a long way in a single turn, but if you cross it from side to side it doesn't help you much (other than maybe letting you know where you are). Likewise, hill ridges are a bit longer along the ridgeline so that crossing from one side to the other is slower than running along the tops (or even along the lower slopes on either side). Some sorts of terrain have particular effects, too. Plains, for example, might allow mounted parties to move two areas per turn, rather than one. Thick woods or jungle might require a skill roll to move out of. Rivers might be impassable unless you have (or build) a boat - but they are long and thin, so if you [I]do[/I] have a boat they allow fast movement. Lots of things are easy to set up in a clear, simple and unambiguous way with this sort of system. Pinch-points/bottlenecks, trade routes, defensive vulnerabilities, trackless wastes. I really think a roleplaying system that uses this sort of idea is a missing opportunity, to date. I have been thinking for a while around this in 4E. I think what would really be neat is some sort of system for combining a skill challenge-type-thing with an encounter. Maybe a combat or physical challenge (climb the waterfall, etc.) that a skill challenge can avoid, and either way the characters get 50% (or whatever) XP. If you avoid the fight - good for you, you got "free" xp! If you didn't - oh, well, a (probably fairly easy) fight and resource loss for not much gain. Maybe time to spruce up those skills? I think the "area" movement methodology I outlined above might help, here, too. It makes the wilderness a bit more like "dungeon rooms" from the DM perspective. Maybe the road between here and Suzail [I]is[/I] the quickest way, but if the Bad Guy is going to lay an ambush to stop us, which area will that be in? Meanwhile, all the off-piste woodland areas, as well as being small (= slow going), have a 1/6 chance of one of those 50% XP SC-to-avoid encounters... In the context of DDN (or even 4E, for that matter), I think there's scope for a really nice "gritty statuses" module, there. I think this can work pretty well with 4E's concepts of "hazardous terrain" that makes attacks against creatures passing through and "hireling minions" where the pack mule might be a minion that is "dead" (i.e. swept away) on a hit. Funnily enough, I was thinking the other day about how "skill" is often manifest in "perception" - basically, someone trained and experienced in a skill will "see" a situation or problem very much differently than someone without the skill. I was thinking that this should be a specific benefit of having [B]training[/B] in a skill (as opposed to just having a big bonus). Uses for this might be giving players whose characters are trained information on the DCs involved, for example. I think a similar thing might apply here, since the difference between being stealthy in nature and being stealthy in town revolves largely around seeing the environment in a way that makes it clear what elements are your friends and which your foes as you try to sneak. Maybe just say that characters who lack training in the appropriate environment take a penalty to sneak - or suffer disadvantage, perhaps? That way, the urban thief will still want the distraction in the woods in order to cancel out the disadvantage they are already suffering. That may be so, but we can dream, can't we? ;) Besides - if WotC don't do it, perhaps somebody will - there seems to be some interest, after all. [/QUOTE]
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