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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Number48" data-source="post: 5783405" data-attributes="member: 6688047">A couple of things I would like to add to my previous post. These aren't in the beginning of the book, but important changes I'd like to see mid-book.The standard (but not required) way of doing encounters is scene-based. In any fantasy media it isn't important how the rooms are connected or where the guard house is in relation to the general store. The characters have an off-screen transition from the last important setting to the next one and the tedium in between is lost on the cutting room floor. So prep your cool encounter areas and don't worry about connecting them on a map. Nothing prevents intricate mapping, it just isn't assumed in the general game.Magic items, and loot in general. Get rid of magic plusses. They have no flavor and don't help the story. Their only importance is in game mechanics that don't have to be put in, like requiring a +1 weapon to damage Monster X. There has to be a decent way in the rules to not have the loot change the character. If my character uses his father's sword while pursuing his father's killer, he shouldn't abandon that for a Holy Crusader sword. If I have an image of my character as a trident-using gladiator, I don't want the game to force me to give up the trident because I'll never find a magic one. Sure, characters can grow and change and that's a good thing, but it needs to be driven by the player and the story and not by percentile dice on a chart. Find a way to make magic items and even generic loot suit the game you want to run. I would even favor ditching hard-and-fast loot for a simple wealth rating. Is there a good purpose in your game to the accounting of treasure?Add in a form of story points, giving the players a small measure of story control. I already implement something in my Pathfinder game. Although it may not be what the game in general needs, the game needs something. What I use, everyone starts with 10 or 20 story points (I use poker chips) depending on the game. Everyone also starts with a Super Secret Background. Whenever a player asks a question about the background of the scene that hasn't been defined, "Is there a chandelier I can use to swing across?" "Would I have met this guy before?", I point to their story points and say, "You tell me." This gives them some authorship and encourages creativity without requiring it, and limits the authorship to things that aren't game-changing. In addition, every character has an ability that gives them even more power and costs 5 story points. The "Prince in Exile" Super Secret Background has an ability where one of your supporters recognizes you and lends you aid you wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but nothing so obvious as to blow their or your cover. To earn story points, I give 1 out for a clever idea. I give 1 out to the agreed-upon best roleplayer of the evening. Then I give out story points for "misfortune bidding." At some point, maybe every 2nd or 3rd game session, I declare that one of the characters is going to have a misfortune which will based on their background (known or secret). I ask who would be willing to have a misfortune for 5 story points. If more than one person bids, I ask those people who would be willing to have a misfortune for 4 story points, etc., bidding them down. I encourage them to work together and discuss and thus earn the group as a whole more story points as an exercise in fostering group unity. The misfortune can be story or combat based, but will not be debilitating. In one instance, the character who was totally archery-focused had his quiver of arrows ripped off him and lost down a ravine. It was a misfortune, but he wasn't crippled by it, and it was temporary. Another time, as the group entered town, the female warrior got the misfortune and, looking at her background, I decided that one of the people going on trial in the town square was her son. This touched off a whole side adventure. The misfortune was story based, there was no mechanical penalty, and it actually served to drive the story forward in general.I want to see more handwaving encouraged in general. Rations? We assume your character is smart enough to carry food if they aren't capable hunters. Arrows? You have enough for an extended combat, recover most after and fashion or buy more during downtime. A mug of ale, plate of stew and room for the night? The cost is so trivial we needn't spend the time tracking it. After all, we expect grand stories to be told using these characters, right? On the off occasion you want to make these things more significant, see misfortunes above. But, in general, these things aren't worth slowing the game down for. Even for small things that might be important, I don't want to slow down the game or punish the players by making them tediously buy every tiny possible thing they might need in town. Would my character have a piece of chalk handy? Would my character have a tiny knife for eating that could be used to cut this? I didn't write it down, but wouldn't my wizard have an empty bottle or two just in case? Either create a simple roll based on something like a wealth stat, or see story points above.</blockquote>

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