On the other hand, I ran a game once where, in lieu of the usual gold-piece reward, the PCs got ownership of a tavern. One of the players got all excited and put together a spreadsheet of expenses and probable revenue and so on. This being the same player who, when asked what domain her cleric was, answered “How should I know?”.
You never know what’s going to keep folks engaged.
Yeah, I did that once and I got the same player- which annoyed the hell out of the other players.
I wracked my brain coming up with interesting treasures to give the PCs this last session. They just wanted to know how much they could sell it for and I can’t really blame them.
Another lesson I’ve learned is that a big pile of gold pieces isn’t really a reward, either, though. The real reward is giving the players the opportunity to spend that big pile of gold pieces. Perhaps the best “reward” I ever got as a player was the opportunity to sponsor the education of a couple of urchins the party had encountered. It cost us a thousand gold (a significant fraction of the total wealth we’d accrued up to that point), and resulted in no new magic items, equipment, or other loot whatsoever.
Of course, that wouldn’t have been nearly as rewarding to some other players or characters, and plenty would have just told the kids “OK, you’re safe now, bye-bye”. Precisely what everyone wants to spend their gold on will vary tremendously, and figuring out what that is is the challenge for the DM.
Yeah, I didnt like that from 3.5 In my world, you cant just buy whatever you want- sure generally potions, scrolls and +1 weapons and armor, but, the “good stuff” is hard to find. unless adventuring. So a +3 flaming battle axe- the fighter who prefers greatswords can either use it or get a +1 sword, plus some cash.
Magic items arent that rare, but most are unique, with a quirk.
I’m really torn on this. All the way back to 1E, giving magic items was hit and miss. Sometimes players loved it, sometimes it went onto their inventory never to be used. Then at the end of the campaign, they remember they had it.
This also ties into how magic is viewed in the gaming world. That opens up so many questions. Pre 3E, the idea seemed to be that magic couldn’t be made anymore and heroes had to go find it. Sure, it sounds great to send the party after the dragon slaying spear, but my disconnect comes from sending that first level party on that quest. Metagaming tells us they will be the correct level once they get the spear and then go find the dragon. Not sure that makes sense from other stand points.
digression
I have gone back and forth on DND/PF and level games v skill based games like Alternity or Shadowrun. I’m ready for something that is in the middle. Skill based games generally let starting characters excel in their focus, do well in several skills, and average in a few more. The players need to work to cover gaps. Level based games, create starting characters that don’t feel competent until after fourth level. However, they also don’t have combat that could kill a character from one lucky shot at any point in their career. I don’t find it as easy as saying start at fourth level because we have been playing new games to us (PF2, Level Up) and it’s better to start from first level to learn how the game works.
/digression
As I’m using FR, I do run it such that finding general +1 items is easy, same for healing potions or wands. If they want something like a vorpal sword, though, that would take a quest.
Due to my own disconnect on level based games, I haven’t had a game where the campaign is based on finding what is needed to make the slaying item, whether that party uses it or not. Maybe that could be interesting.
Equally, going back to GNS, it’s unlikely (S) that the group would stumble across weapons they just happened to be able to use, unless they only ever use common weapon types. In the end, it’s a game I’m running for my friends, so I let them make or find the magic items they wanted, so we all have fun. I do understand the problems that the question of magic brings up.
Thanks for the discussion!
We had this happen with one shot items, items that could only be used once, like potions. One DM loved to hand out potions, and then asked 'why didnt you use that potion?" . “When you are up to your ass in alligators, it is hard to remember your original goal was to drain the swamp”. Besides- for some reason in most editions- drinking a potion cost an action, and generally there were better things to do.
I’ve always wanted to run a Shadow-esque Pulp Cthulhu campaign but it would require a group that is really devoted to playing up the pulpy vibe to make it work.
Stranger
We switched over to Pulp CoC and never went back. I ran it for a gaslight London campaign, and it worked really well.
I have loved The Shadow for a long time. Read the books as tweenager. Loved the new 80s comics and collected them, even if they lost a head over how to write him. I enjoyed the movie as well!
However.
I am not good at capturing the feel of a different genres in a role playing game. My Star Wars doesn’t feel Star Wars. My attempt at a Ravenloft like game isn’t gothic horror. I can’t attempt Dragonlance because for me it’s about the books, and I don’t want to re do those. Super Hero campaigns don’t work for me because super heroes are static, and that’s not fun for a game, imo. Same for most other genres. CoC doesn’t work because I think the best ones are one shots or one adventure, which sees one character dead and one insane. That’s my expectations, though.
I think part of this is because my players don’t like to say what is scary to their characters and what would scare them. A lot of times, they don’t think of those things, so don’t have an answer anyway. I’m left guessing at what scares them, for example, as the gothic horror campaign is a current one and nothing in six months has scared them. Maybe if I work on what might scare the players but it feels too meta even if it does work.
I hope your Pulp CoC worked and was great!
Thanks for the discussion!
We have this going on in our Pathfinder game. Tons of consumable items but mainly with fairly minor effects and we just forget that we have them. Or we have a potion and a scroll of Darkvision but we have six people so it’s rarely going to help to have 2/6 people rolling with Darkvision versus casting Light. Maybe once we get SIX potions of Darkvision…
We didnt try to capture the Pulp "feeL’ We just used the Pulp rules- which made characters more fun and survivable.
You dont need to give the players nightmares.
So well the other DM stole the idea and ran a second campaign with the same characters and world. I then got to play.
Right, never worth an action in the middle of a heated combat.
Even worse if the GM makes you spend time fishing it out of a sack/pouch/pack before the action to use it. Not saying mine does but I’ve known 'em.
Yeah, same here- TWO actions. From a Handy Haversack no less. That was at a con, and I just said- “you just dont want us to use that potion, right?”
Mind you in our last game, we used a potion of diminution well to let a PC squeeze thru a small crack. but not in combat.
Personally, my problem with potions is that I always say “I’ll save that for when I really need it”, and then, ten levels later when it’s become completely irrelevant, I look back and realize that the time I needed it most was probably the very first time I said that.
I also prefer not to play spellcasters, because I do the same thing with spell slots, on a smaller scale.
Plus, D&D was usually just potions and scrolls for one-shot consumables. Pathfinder is full of charms, teeth, buttons, figurines, etc that are all just one-shot items to get tossed onto my sheet and ignored forever. Bad enough to try to remember to use a Potion of Mighty Whacks, but then I have Green Jade Rabbit Figurine and I’m never gonna remember wtf that does. I could append the name with (+2 Dex for 1 min) but I didn’t want it in the first place, much less to do extra homework.
I got something called a Snapleaf Charm that… gives you one use of Feather Fall. Now, that one I do remember because I bought it on purpose but ain’t no one gonna glean that from their character sheet if they didn’t already know. Sounds like it should summon a posy or somethin’.
I have an item that is cheap but hard to find that lets them use a potion as a free action. It’s from the 3E FRCS, a masterwork potion belt. They all try and buy those as soon as they can! Otherwise, it’s a single action (three action economy) to get and take a potion.
I allow them to take an extra action when drinking a potion to make sure they drink it all and then it’s treated as if they rolled max.
Bummer on them not wanting you to use the potion!
@Jophiel Great cartoon!
Thanks for the conversation!
As a player, I love having a growing list of random nonsense (magical or otherwise) that I can dig into weeks or months after I’ve received any given item. As the DM I like to give my players the same opportunities. I am definitely guilty of hoarding and not using stuff in video games though.
Mearls got picked up by Chaosium several months back as an executive producer leading “…creation, implementation, and management of strategies to grow the company’s current and future TTRPG lines, and working with producers and creative teams on the day-to-day delivery of products for each game.”
He also has an interview talking about why D&D 5th Edition is how it is, and what he considers to be deficiencies in it.
Stranger
Goddamn bonus actions.