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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7455172" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!Yes, welcome! It's a pretty...er... "old" group of folks on these boards (not quite Dragonsfoot.org old, but still, I think the average age is in the 30's iirc a poll done a year or so ago). So we may seem a bit ornery every now and then...but overall, we're a good group.(ok, maybe I'm speaking mostly for myself; I can get quite ornery...often... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ).All of these I guess. I say I guess because this is my normal game...my gritty game is...less forgiving. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devil.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":devil:" title="Devil    :devil:" data-shortname=":devil:" /> With regards to Spell Components, I did find that for 5e, letting the player decide if he wants to go with a "spell component pouch" (focus, I guess it's called in the game now), he can....BUT...if his PC actually has the required listed spell component that would otherwise be covered in the "spell component pouch" (e.g., "a bit of sap and a piece of goose down"), the PC can increase/vary an aspect of the spell. So he could double the Range or Area of Effect, or do at least 'average' damage on a dice roll (e.g., 5d6 would count 1-3's as 4's; so, 20-30 as a total, not 5 to 30), that sort of thing.The other thing I do for a more 'gritty' game is arbitrarily decide specific "wounds" as needed. If a PC is climbing a cliff to get a way from a giant, and the giant hurls a boulder at him and gets near max damage, I'll describe the PC taking damage and that he has a broken leg...so Disadvantage on the rest of the climb if he doesn't make an Athletics (STR) check to hold on to the cliff in the first place. This isn't done all the time...only when I feel the scene is particularly "dramatically appropriate". And yes, this goes for NPC's and Monsters too. Descriptions of how painful something is, is one thing, but bringing in a game-mechanic hindrance because of it makes it "gritty".Uh, yeah, I should have finished reading Sacrosanct's post before mentioning my "specific wounds" thing... I don't know what this AiME shadow-point system thing is...but if Sacrosanct thinks it's good for a gritty feel, I'm adapting it! (what can I say?...we seem to have generally the same sort of "style" for playing D&D).One thing he didn't mention, however, is Wealth. One of the things that keeps a gritty game feeling gritty is lack of wealth. I would half, and reduce coin type by one for any treasure found/recovered/paid. So if the dice call for 23gp, 120sp and 200cp, it's now 12sp, 60cp and that's it. Prices in the book remain the same, however. The Equipment Damage idea I use as well, but I use my own system. I call it the "CPAGMEL" ("See PAG MEL"). It stands for a list of Quality Level's ("QL"), with the lowest being "Crap", then "Poor", "Average", "Good", "Master", "Exquisite", and "Legendary". Each one has a cost multiplier for purchasing, as well as a suggested modifier/effect penalty or bonus (Average is, obviously, average...no change in other words). When the PC's are moving through a jungle, and don't have the opportunity and/or equipment to maintain certain items, those items get reduced in QL. In a jungle, for example, metal, paper, cloth and leather would get reduced after a certain lack of care is reached (probably a day for paper; maybe two or three for cloth; another day for leather, a day after that metal). Items reduced to "Crap" quality can not be repaired. Everything else can be, with a skilled enough craftsman, enough time, and of course enough money to pay him. Oh, just thought of another thing: Light. Keeping track of equipment usage (arrows, torches, food, etc) is very important...and light especially so. If you are deep in a labyrinth of caves and dungeons, and suddenly find yourself without light...things get bad instantly. Keep the setting DARK! Don't have the PC's 'randomly find' a couple flasks of oil, don't have a corridor on the 8th level of the dungeon have torches on the wall every 20', etc. If it goes dark for the PC's, it will be bad. Even for those with Darkvision. Those with Darkvision can see, sure, but now they have to help their 'blind' companions navigate, let alone fight or do something like jump a pit/crevass. Darkenss and shadows really bring home the "dangerous, alien, and unforgiving" aspect of, well, everything...even a cloudy night with a half-moon will be rather terrifying if you know you are being hunted by a pack of goblins.^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

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