Looking at a few modules (Dyson's Delve, Tomb of the Serpent Kings...) and there will some adaptation to use Macchiato Monsters rules, and it's OK.
One question, though, about XP. If I am to put PCs in a dungeon, is their goal truly relevant? They are supposed to explore caves, gain treasure and avoid danger. So they will either choose one of those things as their goal (and some other XP system, based on loot for exemple, might work better) or not (and they won't progress at all while dungeoning).
Am I the only one with this issue (I have never been a GM)?
I have found it acceptable to give multiple goals to players. So while they might have a campaign goal like "Reunite with my long-lost son", I will also encourage players to have immediate (session) goals like: Kill a monster I've never seen the likes of, Find a strange magical object, Discover a hidden room of secrets, Disarm a deadly trap, etc. These goals also function to tell the GM what the players are most interested in doing during the session.
ReplyDeleteI think it is also up to you and your group regarding the difficulty of (how many sessions it should take to achieve) each goal, as this will be the pacing of character advancement.
I know almost nothing about OSR? so maybe it's a non issue.
ReplyDeleteBut let's suppose I present my players with a dungeon (starting the game on the front door or something), how iwll they be able to choose their goals?
One thing to not lose sight of with modules is they aren't set in stone. In fact, they're way better when they get tweaked/customized for the party (even if it's just a little bit). If you have a player who's goal is "Kill a dragon" it's totally ok to change the big-bad in Serpent Kings to a "really weird dragon" or "actually, they're totally related to dragons." Take cues from your player's goals.
ReplyDeleteIf one says something like "I want to decipher ancient texts" then put some somewhere in the dungeon for them to decipher :).
If your player's goal is "Find my long lost-sister," feel absolutely free to place a dead bandit in a room that has a letter in the missing sister's hand on his body!
Think of these things like Easter Eggs for your players. They don't have to find them or anything, but they will make the adventure seem more cohesive with the world you are building together :)
Ah, I like to generate a list of questions to provide to players at the beginning of a session, the answering of which will create goals.
ReplyDelete"You are all at the mouth of the Tomb of the Serpent King."
1. Who told you that there was a hidden passage within, what did you have to promise this person in return for the knowledge? - goal: fulfill the promise
2. You've been here before, you were the lone survivor after your party was slain by what foe? How did you survive? - goal: avenge my friends
3. How did you become a snake cultist? What artifact are you trying to recover from the tomb? What would everyone think if they found out you were a cultist? - goal: find the artifact
So it's back to the "ask questions, use answer" mindset?
ReplyDeleteI don't really mind, actually.
When I am GM, I like to reward my players when they do something big or important for their characters. ( I call it personal objectives).
ReplyDeleteSometimes they choose something before playing : I want to have a magic sword (it's a stupid exemple but why not) sometime we decide during the game.
For exemple, in one of my last game, Cathia Remond played an orcish cooker. She, with her friends, captured an elf prince. They killed him and she cooked (with a success to the dice roll for cooking) and they eat him.
Of course cooking and eating an elfish prince was not announced by the player at the beginning of the game but for me it deserved an objectif for an orcish cooker !
I think it's more interesting if you give the players a goal for the dungeon: find a lost jewel, make contact with the goblin queen, kill the prisoners, rescue the dragon... Even if it's just to haul back as much treasure as they can. It'll remind the players that they're not there to kill everything.
ReplyDeleteAnd personal goals are always fun, of course.