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--- western_marches [2019/12/05 16:11] – dave
+++ western_marches [2019/12/11 15:15] (current) – [Encounters and Wandering Monsters] andrew
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 //I suppose this map is now just Pennsylvania.//
+**I have a black and white, line-drawing topographic map of the U.S.,  when I did the "Mutants and Muskets" campaign I took a picture of a section of Texas and embiggened it to use as the base map.   I'll try to dig it out and see what I can do for PA.  This is what the Texas Map looked like:**
+{{::texas_map.jpg?400|}}
+//I like it!  I'm handy with drawing tools if we need to do some fix-up. Specifically, I could probably take out the cities and their names if we wanted to.//
@@ Line 39: / Line 44: @@
 Greater emphasis on creative problem solving rather than fighting
-Several GMs
+===== Several GMs =====
 Each prepares their own “civilization” starting point - village, city, keep, etc
@@ Line 57: / Line 63: @@
 Each of us will have NPCs
+=====LOGS=====
+Instead of the traditional LOH session log, we should have a section of the wiki set aside, it will have 1 page for each in-game month, each character's activities will be briefly noted as to time used.  Bullet items, not prose paragraph descriptions.  When all active characters have been accounted for in a month, it is "closed", and a text copy printed out.  Since with side quests and healing times and long projects underway, several months might be open at the same time.
+Individuals can offer prose narratives to flesh out details, perhaps for bonus xp.
@@ Line 77: / Line 85: @@
-===== XP Rewards =====
+===== Gameplay =====
+Here's a diagram of how the gameplay should go each session.
 {{:gameplay.png?400|}}
+===== XP Rewards =====
+==== Good Ideas ====
+For bringing treasure home from the wilderness **Yes**
+For being the GM **Yes, in traditional LOH fashion**
+==== Possible Ideas ====
 For just showing up and playing?
@@ Line 88: / Line 108: @@
 For writing an in-character log for the session
-For bringing up a goal for exploration?
 “Leading” an expedition?
-Dividing up loot? Building a charter?
+For sponsoring lower level PCs to adventure!  //I actually kind of like the idea that a higher-level PC might sponsor a lower level group to help out. That might create a new style of play in later sessions. //
-For helping another PC achieve their expedition goal
+For building a stronghold and ruling? **With crunchy guidelines attached**
-For finding something while exploring?
+NOT COMBAT - The reward shouldn’t be just killing things  //Also, I hate calculating XP rewards for killing monsters. That sucks as a GM. //
-For discovering something cool?
+==== Bad Ideas ====
-For bringing treasure home from the wilderness
-For writing content in the wiki
+For bringing up a goal for exploration?  **Weak sauce, you should have your goal be the one that is acted on**
-For being the GM
+Dividing up loot? Building a charter? **I think for this game, we start them with a charter and let them use that structure until they think of something else**
-For sponsoring lower level PCs to adventure!
+For helping another PC achieve their expedition goal **helping is its own reward**
-For building a stronghold and ruling?
+For finding something while exploring? **need very specific guidelines**  //NO BAD IDEA. I VETO MY OWN IDEA.//
-For engaging in a scene with another PC
+For discovering something cool? **probably too many gray areas**  //ALSO NO.//
-NOT COMBAT - The reward shouldn’t be just killing things
-Maybe there is an XP “bucket” that all players contribute to and withdraw from? **Boo, Wendy Testaburger**
+For engaging in a scene with another PC **probably weak sauce, cause for dispute**  //I PREFER THIS FOR INSPIRATION/CHIPS RATHER THAN XP.//  Then good.
-Maybe the PARTY has a level?--**If there's no regular party, how does this work?  Besides, I hate it**
+<del>Maybe there is an XP “bucket” that all players contribute to and withdraw from?</del> **Boo, Wendy Testaburger**
+<del>Maybe the PARTY has a level?</del> **If there's no regular party, how does this work?  Besides, I hate it**
 ===== Treasure tells a story =====
 You kill some goblins, but they are carrying dwarven-crafted weapons carved with symbols of a forgotten clan. Hmm, sounds like there’s an abandoned dwarven lair somewhere in this region. If you deciphered the runes in the depths of the dwarven mines, you could learn that the exiles established another hidden fortress in the valleys to the north.
-Rumors at town
+===== Rumors at town =====
 Wanted posters
 There were other kinds of bounties that cropped up in town: the local priesthood is paying gold for water collected from the Opal Caves to treat a spreading fever, or an apothecary who pays for certain herbs growing in the Frog Marches. These weren’t plots, just simple excuses to go out and maybe earn some guaranteed money if you found what you were looking for and made it back.
-So a lot of the day-to-day organizing is going to be the same.
@@ Line 137: / Line 155: @@
 How campaign calendar/narrative is managed. Since you are doing a smaller scale shared campaign, you have more power over the overall narrative. You may give each PC a certain amount of Time Units to use in each Time Period (e.g. 28 days in 1 month that can be used for adventuring and/or downtime activities), or you may just say, "Each inactive PC accumulates Downtime while the active PCs go off and adventure." Or something in the middle would be using narrative milestones where you just advance the calendar as necessary.
-Rules for rewards. Specifically, rules for how magic items are handed out.
+===== GM Rules for Rewards =====
+Specifically, rules for how magic items and loot are handed out. What are GMs empowered to do. What could be threatened? What can't?
+===== Downtime Activity Rules =====
-Downtime activity rules. I guarantee someone will want to make scrolls or potions, and probably even permanent magic items.
+    * [[Crafting]]
+    * [[hench|Recruiting]]
+    * Strongholds
-DM rules. Assuming you are splitting DMing duties. What DMs are empowered to do (such as, "How many magic items can they place?").
-What kind of tools are there for DMs who want to create a West Marches campaign? Is it done through a wiki page or facebook or something? What kind of things need to be on the random encounter tables, and do players get to see the encounter tables? Thanks for the help!
+===== Encounters and Wandering Monsters =====
-I think the DMG has some okay encounter tables.
+I think the DMG has some okay encounter tables. We should agree on a standard method of PC travel through the wilderness that encourages choices. One resource may be my wilderness [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-I3TlCLE-j9XTyWGIQUDwFRiaZxunPfBQqRzhItz-xM/edit?usp=sharing|crawl-o-matic]].
-My main recommendation is to set aside encounter balancing. I read a great article recently that suggested not trying to balance encounters against the party. Instead, create a thematic locale with thematically appropriate monsters to populate it, then figure out the relative challenge to the party and inform your PCs when they hear about it (and especially if they manage to sneak up to spy on it).
+My main recommendation is to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnKc64ADYf8|set aside encounter balancing]]. I read a great article recently that suggested not trying to balance encounters against the party. Instead, create a thematic locale with thematically appropriate monsters to populate it, then figure out the relative challenge to the party and inform your PCs when they hear about it (and especially if they manage to sneak up to spy on it).  **Absolutely plus plus**
-This works great for West Marches because (in theory) you are creating a world that gets more dangerous as things get further away. That means that any location you create should fit some distance out based on how dangerous it is.
+This works great for West Marches because (in theory) you are creating a world that gets more dangerous as things get further away. That means that any location you create should fit some distance out based on how dangerous it is. So if you just create a bunch of locations and start slotting them into the world.
-So if you just create a bunch of locations and start slotting them into the world.