RE: Re: Saga system

From: ASHLEY MUNDAY <aescleal_at_...>
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:13:10 +0000 (GMT)

Here's one way of looking at Jane's "how to get your characters from A to B in N years" problem:

>From what I've seen of the way players increase their
character's abilities they tend to increase their abilities one point at a time, unless they're swimming in hero points. On the other hand, the number of hero points determines the breadth of their abilities. The more hero points per adventure you chuck out the more abilities get increased.

Another way of saying this is:

• a character's highest ability is proportional to the number of adventures he's participated
• the number of abilities a character has near his or her maximum is proportional to the number of hero points awarded per adventure

So, to get from best ability 5W (sort of roughly a characters best starting ability) to best ability 10W3 (sort of hero level) would take 45 adventures or other experience doling out sessions.

Now you've got an unlimited number of options, but here's a few in excrutiating detail:

• Just run 45 or so adventures( / episodes / scenarios / scripts / curtain falls / whatever metaphor is in vogue this week) keeping an eye on your players character sheets to see if they're actually improving at something like the rate you want. If they're moving upwards at a reasonable rate, wind on game time faster, if they're going to slow, dish out some directed awards and fit in a few more adventures.
• Use a saga system, perhaps allowing them to increase a keyword every year (they'll probably spend it on a keyword that includes their best ability gaining +30ish from this) and doing an adventure every other year to raise them the last 15 points.

Another option is to let them adventure for a short while in Pavis. Argrath started there you know and he did quite well - he got a whole counter to himself in Dragon Pass.

Cheers,

Ash

• Jane Williams <janewilliams20_at_...> wrote:

>
> > Jane - I think David and I handle this quite
> differently. In
> > our games, there is no real link between time
> passed and HPs
> > received.
>
> Yes, I'd got this impression, and I'm still trying
> to sort out how I
> could use it.
>
> Look, I have a campaign I'd like to restart based in
> the late 1590s. The
> PCs, when we get going again, will be new adults at
> about the level of
> choosing their specialist cult (one already has). I
> want to have a
> general story-arc sweep that means they participate
> in the general
> Sartar Rising events on about the same level (if
> they so choose) as the
> major NPCs. So, by about 1620, the stats in the back
> of OiD are a
> general guide to where they ought to be.
>
> How do I get them there? Obviously I'll have to do
> some "and a year
> passes" gaps, but I need a feel for how fast they
> should be advancing. I
> need a feel for what level people should be at at
> intermediate dates.
> The extent to which stats go up and down as they
> take time out from
> adventuring. And I need it consistent with the
> published NPC/resistance
> numbers, so "make up whatever you like" isn't going
> to help. At the very
> least, I need a feel, and "some" isn't quite precise
> enough to help.
>
> > That's one contest that seasons to perform. So
> they get
> > directed HP for whatever skills they used.
>
> Fine. How many HP?
>
> > If a long passage of time happened - let's say my
> players
> > left Dragon Pass and decided to homestead in
> Wenelia for a
> > decade ... give out points appropriately (and
> maybe a stack
> > of "spend-it-anywhere" points).
>
> How many, and how big a stack? You've got the feel
> for this. Don't tell
> me to use mine, I haven't got one. Getting one is
> most of the point of
> this conversation!
>
>
>
>
>
>
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