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How can I avoid a Monty-Haul campaign in DnD?
- Thread starter warfangiscuter
- Start date
Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
Fair enough. It is quite a bit off topic. I am probably taking the SA stuff a bit personally.
Obryn
Hero
You may perhaps be unaware that there have been forums mocking 4e and newschool gamers for years. Is it really surprising that they finally decided to mock back?
I mean, hell, it's darn near impossible to mention 4e in an approving light over here - on theoretically neutral ground - without someone jumping in to mention how much it (or their playstyle) sucks.
-O
Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
i have no problem with people mocking older editions or even older playstyles in a forum. That isnt what my complaint was about. But I am not going to get into that here anymore.
warfangiscuter
First Post
Now they've got chainmail! I don't know what i should put up against them. We have a barbarian, a rouge and a ranger.
warfangiscuter
First Post
That's very good. i just might try that.
DnD_Dad
First Post
If you are giving 1st level characters +1 stuff just set the standard of the world that way. Give anything and everything a +1 item. Make sure that you keep the challenges challenging and the monsters monsterous. Don't let you players squash everything you throw at them because you let it become unbalanced.
Celebrim
Legend
1) Beware of above average NPC's. If you want to avoid powerful items ending up in the ands of players, don't give NPC's powerful items. Often Monte Haul situations arise out of a desire to impress or challenge players that goes wrong. If the NPC's are powerful, in short order the PC's will be more powerful. PC's are expected to succeed. Find other ways of showing your cool than giving cool things to the NPC's.
2) Plan to provide the PC's with the resources that they need. If they have more resources than they need, slow down resource acquisition oppurtunities. If they are lagging, accelerate them. In general, don't have your plans so firm in advance that if the players lag in power that they are forced into situations that they can't handle anyway. Likewise, don't have your plans so firm in advance that if they get ahead of the curve that its going to end up in an accelerating problem.
3) Keep yourself grounded in the setting. The PC's will have difficulties and will lose or expend resources down the road. You don't have to actively plan against them, just think what would happen normally. Heck, I've usually got the opposite problem. I just had a player lose 36 g.p. in my game because he was keeping all his money on his person and got his pockets picked by an NPC. That may not sound like much, but in my game 1 s.p. is as valuable as a gold peice in most games because silver is the universal medium of exchange - that's a loss greater than 720 g.p. on games with a gold peice standard. Now all the sudden I have a character with far less resources than I really want them to have. You don't need to actively work against players, and if you do, you'll usually regret it when their luck swings the other way. Tax collectors and bandits are fine, just don't bring them in solely because the players are succeeding.
4) You are really early into the game. Things aren't officially Monte Haul until players can easily take on challenges 5-8 levels ahead of their expected power curve. Don't get panicy. One of my favorite strategies is give the players above average equipment early on and then have the resources dry up a bit. The reason I do that is that I want players to develop relationships with their equipment. A sword like 'Gladecutter' or 'First Blood' might be perfectly acceptable as a weapon for a 12th level character, but I get it into the hands of the player at 2nd or 4th level with the anticipation that they'll then spend most of the campaign with that equipment and the knowledge that I can provide them challenges appropriate to their resources in the mean time. Monte Haul tends to happen less because of the quality of equipment than the quantity of it. The player with 'First Blood' might have that as their only significant item for most of the campaign.
2) Plan to provide the PC's with the resources that they need. If they have more resources than they need, slow down resource acquisition oppurtunities. If they are lagging, accelerate them. In general, don't have your plans so firm in advance that if the players lag in power that they are forced into situations that they can't handle anyway. Likewise, don't have your plans so firm in advance that if they get ahead of the curve that its going to end up in an accelerating problem.
3) Keep yourself grounded in the setting. The PC's will have difficulties and will lose or expend resources down the road. You don't have to actively plan against them, just think what would happen normally. Heck, I've usually got the opposite problem. I just had a player lose 36 g.p. in my game because he was keeping all his money on his person and got his pockets picked by an NPC. That may not sound like much, but in my game 1 s.p. is as valuable as a gold peice in most games because silver is the universal medium of exchange - that's a loss greater than 720 g.p. on games with a gold peice standard. Now all the sudden I have a character with far less resources than I really want them to have. You don't need to actively work against players, and if you do, you'll usually regret it when their luck swings the other way. Tax collectors and bandits are fine, just don't bring them in solely because the players are succeeding.
4) You are really early into the game. Things aren't officially Monte Haul until players can easily take on challenges 5-8 levels ahead of their expected power curve. Don't get panicy. One of my favorite strategies is give the players above average equipment early on and then have the resources dry up a bit. The reason I do that is that I want players to develop relationships with their equipment. A sword like 'Gladecutter' or 'First Blood' might be perfectly acceptable as a weapon for a 12th level character, but I get it into the hands of the player at 2nd or 4th level with the anticipation that they'll then spend most of the campaign with that equipment and the knowledge that I can provide them challenges appropriate to their resources in the mean time. Monte Haul tends to happen less because of the quality of equipment than the quantity of it. The player with 'First Blood' might have that as their only significant item for most of the campaign.
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