Game Design: Acquiring Equipment as Part of Game Play

[Micah Sweet]

Would be interesting to see a fantasy version where (almost) everything is equipment with your characters developing proficiencies. In Final Fantasy: Four Heroes of Light, all your spells are books in your inventory (and each of your character only has 15 inventory spots for everything) so you even your magic is gear. I’d do that for a Fantasy gear game.

That seems really neat. Is this game available anywhere?

 

[Undrave]

That seems really neat. Is this game available anywhere?

It was on the DS. I don't know if they made a port elsewhere. A lot of the mechanics were recycled in the Bravely Default franchise but I don't think they kept the spell book part.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It was on the DS. I don't know if they made a port elsewhere. A lot of the mechanics were recycled in the Bravely Default franchise but I don't think they kept the spell book part.

Oh, too bad. I thought it was a TTRPG.

 

[Undrave]

Oh, too bad. I thought it was a TTRPG.

Maybe it SHOULD be... hmm

 

[aramis erak]

T2K, in 1st, 2nd, and 4th editions, scouring the local area for useful detritus was a part of the playloop. It was weak in 1st, somewhat weak in 2nd... and it's a small chapter in 4th.

You'd have thought from their reactions in my 4th ed games that a working electric shaver was a magic item in my last two runs. (No one got lucky on scrounging to find the easter egg on the scrounging list...)

There's also the strong reliance upon barter in towns...

 

[John Dallman]

To me, the list of mundane equipment is a part of expressing the character's personality. It starts off quite short and generic, and sometimes it grows substantially over time. A few examples:

My first character in the occult WWII campaign was an intrusion and theft specialist. He carried lots of stuff to help with those things, because he often did them alone, and needed all the bonuses he could get. Compiling the list took several hours, a few sessions into the campaign.

My second character in that game is a ritual magician. His equipment list is very short: clothing, a handgun, and a toolbox full of ritual paraphernalia. That's all; he just doesn't feel the need for anything else. He may change his mind, of course, when he doesn't have something he needs in the future.

The last fantasy character I created had a pretty basic list at first, but weight was an issue because encumbrance thresholds are meaningful in GURPS, and he needed to wear a lot of armour. Then in the same scenario ("The Varnhold Vanishing") he acquired a large bag of holding and we had to get a rescued village-full of people back to their homes, thirty or so miles away. That bag now has lots of tents, blankets, food and so on, because he doesn't want to get caught out again.

 

[pemerton]

To me, the list of mundane equipment is a part of expressing the character's personality. It starts off quite short and generic, and sometimes it grows substantially over time.

Or the opposite - at least in my Torchbearer experience! (Ie it starts out long and reflective of a player's choices for their character, and then over time it gets shorter and reflects what might have been looted together with what has survived the rigours of adventuring!)