D&D General How Do You Feel About Randomness?

[overgeeked]

In my view, it being extra steps is a big part of the point. Finding a valuable item, rolling to assess its value, bringing it back to town, looking for a potential buyer, haggling over the price... These things all increase the anticipation, which is a big part of what makes treasure feel worthwhile, instead of just a meaningless number on the sheet. Gold is mostly not very useful to adventurers in D&D, and the more you reduce the process of obtaining it to simple bookkeeping, the more transparent that becomes. It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but making gold more of a process in-character to acquire helps make it feel intrinsically valuable.

Absolutely fair. I just don’t find that whole process very interesting anymore. Nor scavenging copper pieces. I’d rather get on with the adventure, not ground things in logistics. Indiana Jones and red line travel. I want to move between the exciting bits as fast as possible. I don’t mind slower scenes and roleplay and catching our breath, but finding a buyer for an objet d’art is the polar opposite of the experience I’m interested in. Action-adventure not slice of life.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Another way to make non-cash loot matter is to have it tie into other aspects of the setting, especially ones that a pc might care about.

A jeweled necklace is more interesting than 40 gp, but a onyx-and-ebony raven amulet will get the grave cleric's (or hexblade's) attention to the point where they might just keep it.

 

[overgeeked]

On the topic of treasure and gold, I'd rather use the old sword & sorcery trick of having the PCs carouse their earnings away between adventures or levels and have the impetus for them journeying out again is that they're poor and need money. Something like XP for gold spent carousing or similar while in town for extended downtime, or something like that, would be ideal. It would solve several problems in one go. Make a nice carousing chart, or borrow one, and away you go.

 

[Charlaquin]

Like most things in D&D, the more effort you put into it the more you get out of it. If non-cash loot is just noted on a loot list and automatically liquidated once you're back in town, it's just making everyone put in more effort for the same result. If it takes a bit more effort and you put some spotlight time on it, and the party builds up relationships with specific NPCs and learns what sort of art and curios they'll pay the most for, maybe even takes on special requests as a plot hook to retrieve specific lost heirlooms? Then it's a major contribution to the fun and flavor of the campaign.

That is, if everyone at the table is on board for that. If the DM doesn't want to focus their limited creative energy on that? If the party just wants the dungeon delving and not a sideline of mercantile endeavors? Then don't do it.

Exactly!

 

[Charlaquin]

Absolutely fair. I just don’t find that whole process very interesting anymore. Nor scavenging copper pieces. I’d rather get on with the adventure, not ground things in logistics. Indiana Jones and red line travel. I want to move between the exciting bits as fast as possible. I don’t mind slower scenes and roleplay and catching our breath, but finding a buyer for an objet d’art is the polar opposite of the experience I’m interested in. Action-adventure not slice of life.

Totally reasonable! My philosophy is that “the exciting bits” are what you make them. But I definitely understand being more interested in focusing on what happens when you get to the adventuring location, rather than the travel to and from it, and the in-town activities.

 

[Charlaquin]

On the topic of treasure and gold, I'd rather use the old sword & sorcery trick of having the PCs carouse their earnings away between adventures or levels and have the impetus for them journeying out again is that they're poor and need money. Something like XP for gold spent carousing or similar while in town for extended downtime, or something like that, would be ideal. It would solve several problems in one go. Make a nice carousing chart, or borrow one, and away you go.

Yeah, still hoping to try out my Soulslike cash to level up system. Some day!

 

[Older Beholder]

I feel like randomness can be good, or it can be bad.
That's kinda the point.

 

[GrimCo]

I don't like randomness in char gen. Played lv 3 wizard with 7 hp in one campaign. In other i had 16 14 11 11 10 7 as stats while friend had 18 18 16 13 12 9. Power difference was messurable and evident. Also it limited viable classes and concepts. Later we switched to everybody rolls full stat block, we pick best one and everybody uses it. Finally we switched to point buy and HD average rounded up. That was in 3.5 era. In 5e we use pb or standard array and hp average.

Combat and saves/skills is enough randomness for me.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Roll d4 for my response...

1-I hate it
2-I dislike it
3-I like it
4-I love it

 

[Lanefan]

I don't like randomness in char gen. Played lv 3 wizard with 7 hp in one campaign. In other i had 16 14 11 11 10 7 as stats while friend had 18 18 16 13 12 9. Power difference was messurable and evident.

Best character I ever had, in terms of fun-entertainment-durability, was in 3e; a Wizard (Illusionist) who started with* 15-12-12-11-10-7 - the 7 went straight into Wisdom and I played her as a happy-go-lucky airhead. Meanwhile others - some of whom had started with stat lines like your friend's - slowly fell by the wayside until, for a while, I was the longest-serving member of the party.

* - I think. I'm 100% confident on the 15, the 7, and that the aggregate bonus of the 6 stats was +2 or less.