tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post414264418219291215..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: The Sweet SpotAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-30794451234560133002016-12-08T13:02:30.710-07:002016-12-08T13:02:30.710-07:00I dont know if have thought about and discarded bu...I dont know if have thought about and discarded but I want to put out the reverse of pick pockets and that is planting. I was reminded of a novel I read a couple months ago, two groups of theives familiar with one another were hired by a group of mages to fix an election in a city. These two groups of thieves were competing against each other. In the first scene where they interact one froup plants a purse on the other calls the guard and accuses of theft.vefore the guards could search him he manages to plant it back on the first thief put also plants the guards purse as well. I know a little far fetched but I think it a good story to illustrate the idea.Keltoihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13009157588474586885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-15799814107124067602016-10-25T11:40:17.086-06:002016-10-25T11:40:17.086-06:00Johnny,
I think you downplay that many thieves do...Johnny,<br /><br />I think you downplay that many thieves do it because they enjoy it. You're clearly not watching enough old movies, like the Thief Who Came to Dinner or The Sting, in which thieves participate because it is a rush. This is why it has to be a "mini-game" - so that the player will ultimately see an additional benefit to gaining the money. They may, in fact, play because they also enjoy the moment of being caught, as it gives them a chance to fight their way out. That can be fun too.<br /><br />Dani,<br /><br />That may be a bit too gritty for me. Interesting, but time-expensive.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-85600040435033225552016-10-25T11:36:37.422-06:002016-10-25T11:36:37.422-06:00Scarbrow,
The benefit of pickpocketing over adven...Scarbrow,<br /><br />The benefit of pickpocketing over adventuring is that it is fast. Situations do come up where the party has lost all their coin and needs some as soon as possible.<br /><br />Additionally, there should be a point where the speed of the pickpocket's payoff compensates for the adventure's advantage - equals them out, as it were.<br /><br />Yes regarding the adventuring leads generator - but I see my whole world this way. Still, you bring up the point that the thief getting caught needs more elucidation - what exactly happens? Is it risking life and limb? How hard is it for a 6th level thief to escape? Are we not just talking about a quick exchange of weapons, perhaps, then flight? Is it that different from an adventure?Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-43090057221459345902016-10-25T10:09:19.101-06:002016-10-25T10:09:19.101-06:00What if you tied potential reward levels to the te...What if you tied potential reward levels to the tech level of the urban location in which the thief is pickpocketing? The consequences for failure then increase along with the potential reward (since many individuals in high-tech areas are leveled). You could also perhaps adjust the thief's success rate based upon some relationship between their level and the tech level of the city.Danielle Ostermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05688510764917107213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-49142802992380174982016-10-25T10:03:39.034-06:002016-10-25T10:03:39.034-06:00I'd like to posit that if a player character i...I'd like to posit that if a player character is pickpocketing to make money, then any score should matter to the player.<br />Pickpocketing is something desperate people do. That's why all the famous pickpockets are homeless orphans, and none of them get rich doing it.<br />A player resorting to pickpocketing has found themselves in a dire situation, maybe they have been stripped of most of their accessible wealth and are stranded in a strange city, and need to buy passage on a ship or something of that nature.<br />Trying to make pickpocketing a worthwhile revenue source for a high-level Thief is problematic because it's really a survival skill rather than a legitimate way to accumulate wealth.<br />If a mid to high level Thief wants to go into town and make a big score, that's a heist. A heist has all sorts of potential to be an interesting adventure and shouldn't be reduced to a few rolls.Johnnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13021302861939781925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-45042264595791659102016-10-25T06:45:23.372-06:002016-10-25T06:45:23.372-06:00"So we don't want rules that eventually g..."So we don't want rules that eventually guarantee a player's success." Yes, this is another one of those things that so well clarifies for me what I should be striving for in my game. I started playing 3rd edition, and you have it absolutely correct that it's a ladder to invincibility. This is what I needed to hear, thank you. Lothar Svenssonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03195099273437009840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-84562271500730909062016-10-25T06:35:37.461-06:002016-10-25T06:35:37.461-06:00About the craps table, I wonder a question: Why sh...About the craps table, I wonder a question: Why should a player risk (possibly) life and limb, (possibly mere) harsh punishment for a gamble on (usually small) sums of money, when adequately played adventure will threaten him all the same, but will probably result in an (on average) greater bounty? After all, there IS treasure out there. The DM knows, the players know. If there wasn't treasure out there to be had while adventuring, the characters would stay on the city, either working or stealing. You say: "do we want to risk making the payoff so high that the party will just hang around town rather than go to a dungeon?". I will suggest that the answer is yes, we do. If the possible reward, after weighting for success probability, is not on the ballpark of "dungeon treasure", I don't see why should any thief bother. Unless there's 1) Less risk (and your table/system/world is far from that) or 2) The possibility of unique rewards (and there goes the idea that this is "just to get money"). In short, the sweet spot is an uncomfortable place. Oh, of course, some people just like to gamble. Las Vegas is a homage to that impulse. But then, neither the payoff nor the risk need to be high. <br /><br />I would suggest to tie the pickpocketing, and the craps table, and the whole minigame, into the "adventuring leads generator", so to speak. Not something as simple as a table, of course. But all that reckoning the thief does should eventually uncover some interesting things, not necessarily valuables to steal. Simply... those small, weird bits of life that start adventures. Just "steal or be caught"... is a little old on itself, isn't it?Scarbrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14354844943665937610noreply@blogger.com