Game Mechanics

AleBelly
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AleBelly
Rider of Rohan
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Game Mechanics

#1 Post by AleBelly »

Topics
Player Expectations
Private Forums
World-centric, not party-centric
Wilderness exploration
Dungeon/small scale exploration
Experience points
Posting character actions and treasure


Player expectations

Posting frequency
I'd like to see a posting rate of once a day, although obviously things come up. If you're going to be away for awhile, it's probably best for your character to hang out in town while others venture forth. I will occasionally make moves for characters if necessary...and will do so with past actions and reactions in mind.

Number of characters
Each player may only play one character at a time.

Metagaming and min-maxing
I don't think most people like metagaming and min-maxing, especially most of the old schoolers on this board. Characters will face consequences for metagaming, and for cheating on the dice roller (not that I expect any of you to do this, but just to be safe...)

Character scheming
If characters are scheming something together, they often communicate via PM. I should be included on these so I'm aware of what's going on and weave it into the game. If something's sprung on me in the last minute I may not be able to incorporate it into the narrative.

Player conflict
Characters will disagree, and may even have physical confrontations! That's fine. But this is a game...let's ensure it doesn't cross into interpersonal conflict.

GM mistakes
If you think I misapplied a rule or got something wrong, please let me know. I'm sure I'll slip up from time to time, so please let me know when it happens.
Last edited by AleBelly on Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:20 pm, edited 9 times in total.

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AleBelly
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Re: Game Mechanics

#2 Post by AleBelly »

Private forums

This game will make use of private forums, which can only be viewed by the individual player. I shamelessly copied this approach from dmw71; I hope to be half as effective as he is with it. This campaign is about exploration, and I feel this enhances the feeling of exploration.

For instance, battle is over, and you slayed an orc chieftain. You search the body and find a rare, valuable gem. The battle will play out in a group forum, but I will inform you of your finding via private forum. It's up to you to share with others what you find. Do you tell them and split the loot, or do you pocket it for yourself?

Each adventuring party will also have a private group forum. At the close of the adventure, party members can earn XP by writing up a summary that they'd like others to know about...or they can just release the action thread to everyone.

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AleBelly
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Re: Game Mechanics

#3 Post by AleBelly »

World-centric, not party-centric

Those of us that have been in longer PbP games have experienced that real life gets in the way, people lose interest, etc. I'm intending for this to be a long-term game, so the world will be the center of the campaign instead of the characters. Parties need not stay together for any length of time, and new players can enter the game whenever they like. I'd like to acknowledge Keehnelf for pioneering this approach and showing that it can be quite a success.

What does this mean? It means that you won't necessarily form a single party and travel together for the entire campaign. If someone is going to be AFK for a few weeks, their character can hang out in town and the active players can venture out. If a player loses interest, their character becomes an NPC or ventures out into the great green yonder. Your character gets killed? Re-roll another and start again! A cleaned out goblin warren could become a spider lair if left unattended out in the wilderness. The world will react to the players' actions.

It also means that geographical locations have a fixed range of difficulty (the only thing that will affect difficulty is events that occur in the game world). If players venture into an area that's too dangerous, I don't scale back the difficulty. The world is a cruel, uncaring place, and although the characters will see the world through their perspective, they're only a small part of it.

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AleBelly
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Re: Game Mechanics

#4 Post by AleBelly »

Wilderness exploration

The wilderness is mapped out in a hex format (7 miles to a side). A map is below, which I will not update. Note that the world extends beyond this initial hex map, but it should last us awhile.

When giving traveling directions, the party can be as exact as they want. This can range from an exact bearing (280 degrees), or a general "we want to explore the hex northeast of here."
Alleborg hex.png
Alleborg hex.png (279.38 KiB) Viewed 1274 times
Note - that F9 should be an H9...that's a typo. And there is no extra significance to the two identified hexes, I promise. :)

Each hex is divided into smaller hexes, roughly 0.5 miles to a side.
Minihex map.png
Minihex map.png (347.49 KiB) Viewed 1274 times
Some of these will have an area of interest. Players can target specific hexes if they want. Keep in mind that there is a base chance of getting lost if not on a road or following a watercourse. The base chance 10%, but can increase due to several factors (poor visibility, thick vegetation, etc). This usually won't be much more than 30 degrees off course, but getting really lost is a possibility.
Last edited by AleBelly on Mon Dec 15, 2014 3:33 am, edited 2 times in total.

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AleBelly
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Re: Game Mechanics

#5 Post by AleBelly »

Dungeon/small scale exploration

When exploring buildings, tombs, dungeons, etc., I will have made a map already, so players do not need to map. I will provide those.

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Re: Game Mechanics

#6 Post by AleBelly »

Experience points

I will follow the OSRIC rules for granting experience points, more or less. I will likely find ways to add a few more in given the slow pace of PbP games.

XP will be divided evenly at the end of an adventure - defined as return to a safe place. Only treasure publicly known will count towards this - no XP are given for treasure that was secretly pocketed by an individual.

As mentioned elsewhere, I will make the private group forums public at the end of an adventure if the party agrees. If they want to keep certain details secret, I will grant XP to those who write a summary of the adventure. After all, it will be common knowledge that the party left, so they'll have to tell everyone what happened...even if they say reveal nothing or make up a completely bogus story.
Last edited by AleBelly on Wed Dec 31, 2014 7:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

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AleBelly
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Re: Game Mechanics

#7 Post by AleBelly »

Posting character actions and treasure

Once a player posts an action for their character, the action is considered binding in most circumstances. It's better to work out a plan with other party members (which isn't always possible) before stating actions.

I will assume characters are sharing treasure with the group unless they explicitly state they aren't when they discover it.

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