Using fortune cards to reward roleplaying

[Vicar In A Tutu]

So, there's been much noise about the fortune cards. The objections can be divided into roughly two categories: People who dislike the idea and people who like (or are indifferent) when it comes to the idea, but instead dislike the implementation. For the people that don't like the implementation, I have an idea: Ditch the WoTC rules for fortune cards (players building their own decks) and instead use the fortune cards to reward good roleplaying. If a player makes a particularly impassioned plea to the king, using lore and game history to back up his points and thereby convincing the king, let that player draw a card from the fortune deck: He can use that card in a future battle. You can also reward roleplaying during combat, if the paladin puts himself in an extra tough position to protect innocents in battle, let him draw a card from the deck. And so on. Just buy a couple of boosters and use a common pool of cards. You should maybe impose a limit to how many cards a player can hoard to avoid the best roleplayer from having 20 cards available at any time, or you can just award that player less cards (because if he already roleplays a lot and has many cards, the job is already done).

What do you think?

 

[kaomera]

What do you think?

It sounds like a good idea, and could be a good way for some to add Fortune cards into their games if they want to but don't like the current mechanics.

However, for myself, it doesn't address my concerns with the implementation. First of all, I find that the majority of the cards I've seen so far have a very narrow window of usefulness. I think it might work better if the group as a whole purchases a bunch of cards and then you can sort out who would get use out of which ones and give each player a separate deck (perhaps two characters of the same role could share in some cases) to draw from. You're still starting to look at a relatively large expenditure on so many cards - I've seen two friends split a box of packs and neither could quite come up with a deck (by the standard rules) that they where satisfied with, although there where only three "dead" cards between the two of them, so if they can find one or more other players to trade with they should be good.

My second issue is simply that the fortune cards are yet another distraction, and one with pretty minimal gain (mechanically - if someone really thinks they're neat then the fun factor could far, far outweigh this issue). I already have an issue with some players that turns take far too long with flipping through cards, checking conditions, moving multiple conjurations, etc.

Personally I think I'm happier just ignoring Fortune cards for as long as I actually can...

 

[Insight]

One of my players had a good idea re: the cards. The entire group of players gets one stack of cards to use for each encounter. This would be one card per PC. Any one of them can use any card, but only use one card per encounter.

This solves the problem of people getting cards they can't use. It does not, however, solve the problem of people taking too long for their turns (in fact, it could make a turn take slightly longer). Not sure if there is an easy solution for this problem. I suppose if they remember what cards are in the stack, they won't bother with the cards unless one of them pertains to what the player is doing.

 

[BobTheNob]

Got to admit, dont understand why we needed the cards in the first place. To me its adding a feature that their was no driving imperative for in the first place.

Would so prefer that they just expanded on the good works done so far in the essentials line

 

[jimmifett]

I can see the appeal of this idea. Perhaps have a use it or lose it during an extended rest approach. If they haven't used them by an extended rest, they get shuffled back into the deck.

 

[kaomera]

Got to admit, dont understand why we needed the cards in the first place. To me its adding a feature that their was no driving imperative for in the first place.

IMO the imperative was to produce another source of revenue. And, again IMO, I don't think that's a bad thing. I didn't really understand what the draw was, and at $4 for 8 cards of very random utility I thought that they where significantly overpriced. I've had it explained to me, by one of my players, that they're basically just "shiny"... They're (potentially) a neat little thing to add to your character's suite of abilities, and some people actually really like the random aspect.

What really bugs me, in the end, is that they are not "completely optional" as has been claimed. Like any player (-purchased) resource in modern D&D the expectation and culture is such that as a DM* I am eventually going to be backed up against a wall in regards to using these things. Players who have spent $$$ collecting them aren't going to be happy to hear that I'm not interested in using them, and I can't really selectively allow them for players who are "fast enough" (not the least because I think that would defeat the whole idea of "fast enough" in the first place).

(* and as a DM who is nostalgic about the days when I could game with only good friends...)

Would so prefer that they just expanded on the good works done so far in the essentials line

Oh, I agree 100%++

 

[aurance]

So anyone want to discuss the original post? There's already a "(de-)merits of Fortune Cards" thread.

Anyway, I was going to do nearly the same thing. I normally reward "DM's die" for things I like (admittedly, I'm pretty arbitrary with this reward, as I'm close friends with the people I DM - I might just give you one for making me coffee). I'd just hand out a d6 which they could use to add to a single d20 roll, sometime in the future. I'm going to try Fortune Cards instead.

 

[Echohawk]

So anyone want to discuss the original post?

I'll bite...

In the main city of my current campaign, there is a temple of Erathis that has featured in several games. When the heroes of the story first visited the temple, one of them decided to make a small donation, and in return, the priestess in charge of the temple told him to call on Erathis's favor when he next needed it. (Out of character, the player gained a small blue counter; red counters are action points.) Later on in the game, during a critical part of the final battle, that player flubbed a roll badly. Immediately, he yelled "Erathis, I beseech you to guide my aim" and tossed the counter down on the table. The boon he gained was a simple re-roll of the die, but it was a success, and helped turn the tide of the battle.

Since then, it has become a recurring theme that the PCs visit that temple whenever they are leaving the city on an important mission, and they now all make donations. Depending on how much they donate, they get counters of various colors. A green chip is a +2 to a roll, a white chip gives them an extra move action, and so forth. They have figured out that the usefulness of the boon depends not only on how much they donate, but also on how this week's donation compares to their last donation, and how it compares to everyone else's generosity this week. (I have them write down the amounts they are tossing into the tithing box, so they can't easily compare their benevolence to that of the rest of the group. But one of the sneakier characters listens to the jangling of the coins so she can estimate how much to donate.)

But back to the Fortune Cards. I don't really like the official rules associated with the cards, but I'm definitely picking up a few packs to replace the counters we're currently using to represent Erathis's blessings. I'll probably let each player draw X cards and keep Y of them to use whenever they want during that game, with X and Y depending again on their relative generosity towards the temple.

 

[Insight]

I'll bite...

In the main city of my current campaign, there is a temple of Erathis that has featured in several games. When the heroes of the story first visited the temple, one of them decided to make a small donation, and in return, the priestess in charge of the temple told him to call on Erathis's favor when he next needed it. (Out of character, the player gained a small blue counter; red counters are action points.) Later on in the game, during a critical part of the final battle, that player flubbed a roll badly. Immediately, he yelled "Erathis, I beseech you to guide my aim" and tossed the counter down on the table. The boon he gained was a simple re-roll of the die, but it was a success, and helped turn the tide of the battle.

Since then, it has become a recurring theme that the PCs visit that temple whenever they are leaving the city on an important mission, and they now all make donations. Depending on how much they donate, they get counters of various colors. A green chip is a +2 to a roll, a white chip gives them an extra move action, and so forth. They have figured out that the usefulness of the boon depends not only on how much they donate, but also on how this week's donation compares to their last donation, and how it compares to everyone else's generosity this week. (I have them write down the amounts they are tossing into the tithing box, so they can't easily compare their benevolence to that of the rest of the group. But one of the sneakier characters listens to the jangling of the coins so she can estimate how much to donate.)

Slightly off topic, but I like how you got the players to buy into this idea in the game.

But back to the Fortune Cards. I don't really like the official rules associated with the cards, but I'm definitely picking up a few packs to replace the counters we're currently using to represent Erathis's blessings. I'll probably let each player draw X cards and keep Y of them to use whenever they want during that game, with X and Y depending again on their relative generosity towards the temple.

I'm all for anything that rewards (or potentially rewards) all of the players, not just the ones who decide to buy the cards. I don't like the idea of the players with more money having an advantage. That's precisely why we pool the cards.

 

[Incenjucar]

Got to admit, dont understand why we needed the cards in the first place. To me its adding a feature that their was no driving imperative for in the first place.

Would so prefer that they just expanded on the good works done so far in the essentials line

While I believe it's purely on accident, it's entirely possible that Fortune cards will find a strong niche with players of Essentials martial classes, replacing the many options that pre-E martial classes have.