Post by thecoldironkid on Dec 4, 2020 20:20:55 GMT -6
My in-game explanation is: The more competent, experienced, and renowned characters become, the more high maintenance they become. Ex: gambling more, more extravagant living, etc. These aren't necessarily things controlled by the player; and it also explains why sometimes the random events I periodically roll for, are determined by actions of the character rather than the player. Characters have their own personality. You can't be in control of them the entire time. It's also why players can typically have a stable of characters in my campaign, even though I usually limit play to one character at a time.
But I really like carousing for extra XP if the games are more infrequent (like monthly). It's a really fun mini-game.
1) at what point can we just start handwaving away the costs of adventuring equipment? (EDIT: ha! i just looked at the item costs in MEN AND MAGIC to help make my point and... never mind. equipment costs should NOT be rolled into upkeep. i thought i'd be feeling pretty good about myself if i were, say, a SWASHBUCKLER, but that's still only 160 gold pieces i'm blowing every time i hang out in town. replacing just my horse that got eaten costs more than that.)
2) if we're playing with mandatory upkeep costs, am i the only one who thinks the "carousing rolls" should just be automatic? probably with different tables, tailored to each class, with more and more extreme results (both good and bad, but always providing hooks if possible) for more gold spent. honestly, i love the idea of making "downtime" its own minigame, but i hate coming up with rules for what players MIGHT choose to do, and a simple table of just "here's what happens this week" would take a load off me while also adding some interesting content to downtime.
also, maybe unrelated: has anyone experimented with the idea that a character's xp total = their CURRENT hoard of gold pieces? this would definitely light a fire under their butt to adventure, due to the steadily dwindling supply of gold going to upkeep costs. also, they would need to turn a profit if they wanted to level up AND buy equipment AND think about building a stronghold. ALSO also, if clerics are tithing on top of their upkeep cost (my default assumption would be they do not, but i don't know about others), that would balance out their (in my opinion) paltry xp requirement, but that's a whole nother discussion.