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01-13-2006, 04:22 AM
Just posted this on the official Boards, but figured I would post it here as well, get your feedback on it as well.
As much fun as a large quest like the Griffon Sword or Reavers Rising quest are for players and GM's to do (I am assuming that the GM's enjoy getting beat up on all the time in these ;-P ) I was thinking the other day that they have a large number of problems inherent in running them as well. They require a large number of PC's to get involved, all of whom must be on at any given time to be able to participate, wich of course oftimes conflicts with RL concerns, and there is the problem that not everyone who wants to get involved even has the opportuntity to do so in any meaningfull way.
So last night while bored out of my gourd at work, and under the influence of maybe a bit too much coffee, I came up with an interesting idea for a way to do a sort of personal quest that would involve a single GM, a few PC's at most, and could be generated entirely at random by, get this, the treasure system. (Ta da!)
How you say? Ok, imagine this: PC is off hunting, gets a few boxes, and takes them to be opened. Inside one box he finds a certain item. Just for the sake of this example, we shall make this a "short rod". Upon removing it from the box, he gets some sort of indication that this is something unique. Say a "warm glow emenates from the Short Rod, and a vision appears of <insert teaser here>. At this point the item in question, the "key" to the quest would become bonded to that PC, ensuring that only he could then complete the quest.
Now, this item has been inserted into the treasure system, keyed to a particular level of PC, and the plot for a short quest has already been roughed out and put in place by the GM who is going to be running it. Upon the item being found, entirely by random chance, the GM would be alerted, and could then tailor the specific quest NPC's/critters to the level, and class of the character finding the item.
From that point on, a short quest could be run for that PC and probably a few freinds only. (Might be possible to limit this to a certain number, and level of PC's that could participate from that point on.) The item could have a loresong attached to it, or some other mechanism could be involved that would give clues as to the next step in the quest. But by using the treasure system, the GM's can insert, or remove (I think, correct me if I am wrong about this.) the item to ensure that he is online, and available to run the quest, and the PC's have a few hours, or even days, to decide how to proceed, and figure out the clues as to the next step.
One of the things that I truly love about Elanthia is the sheer amount of history the game has. This gives the GM's a wealth of ideas and locations to draw on, and gives the PC's a chance to delve into the background of certain areas. Take the Citidel in Rivers Rest for example, or Bonespear Tower in 'Haven, or any number of places throughout the lands that have a unique history attached to them, and tailor a quest around that. Nothing hugely elaborate, say a hidden room, or a dungeon below Bonespear that has never been discovered, or a secret door in the Citidel that leads who knows where?
As far as loot goes, again the GM could tailor what treasure is involved to the level of the PC's involved, and perhaps even allow them to decide for themeselves what the ultimate form of that treasure would take. Some kind of weapon/armor/something, that the PC's could alter to their taste, or is unique, or whatever. But something that would give a definate sense of reward to the PC, without totally unbalancing the game of course. For lower level PC's it might even be possible to have any such item "grow" with them as they increase in level, ensuring that it would be an item that did not become useless 5 levels down the road, but would be something that they could use over the lifetime of their character. And to avoid these items being sold, make them a bonded item, that only the original character who did the quest would be able to use.
Hope this will spark some ideas, and further discussion and/or refinement but this is an interesting way to enrich the experience of any character in Elanthia, from the little guy hunting his first nymph, all the way up to a capped character hunting Old Ta'Faendryl. And great fun for the GM too, as he has a small group to contend with, has time to tailor the encounters to a specific person, and maybe even win! (hmmmm......NAH!!!)
As much fun as a large quest like the Griffon Sword or Reavers Rising quest are for players and GM's to do (I am assuming that the GM's enjoy getting beat up on all the time in these ;-P ) I was thinking the other day that they have a large number of problems inherent in running them as well. They require a large number of PC's to get involved, all of whom must be on at any given time to be able to participate, wich of course oftimes conflicts with RL concerns, and there is the problem that not everyone who wants to get involved even has the opportuntity to do so in any meaningfull way.
So last night while bored out of my gourd at work, and under the influence of maybe a bit too much coffee, I came up with an interesting idea for a way to do a sort of personal quest that would involve a single GM, a few PC's at most, and could be generated entirely at random by, get this, the treasure system. (Ta da!)
How you say? Ok, imagine this: PC is off hunting, gets a few boxes, and takes them to be opened. Inside one box he finds a certain item. Just for the sake of this example, we shall make this a "short rod". Upon removing it from the box, he gets some sort of indication that this is something unique. Say a "warm glow emenates from the Short Rod, and a vision appears of <insert teaser here>. At this point the item in question, the "key" to the quest would become bonded to that PC, ensuring that only he could then complete the quest.
Now, this item has been inserted into the treasure system, keyed to a particular level of PC, and the plot for a short quest has already been roughed out and put in place by the GM who is going to be running it. Upon the item being found, entirely by random chance, the GM would be alerted, and could then tailor the specific quest NPC's/critters to the level, and class of the character finding the item.
From that point on, a short quest could be run for that PC and probably a few freinds only. (Might be possible to limit this to a certain number, and level of PC's that could participate from that point on.) The item could have a loresong attached to it, or some other mechanism could be involved that would give clues as to the next step in the quest. But by using the treasure system, the GM's can insert, or remove (I think, correct me if I am wrong about this.) the item to ensure that he is online, and available to run the quest, and the PC's have a few hours, or even days, to decide how to proceed, and figure out the clues as to the next step.
One of the things that I truly love about Elanthia is the sheer amount of history the game has. This gives the GM's a wealth of ideas and locations to draw on, and gives the PC's a chance to delve into the background of certain areas. Take the Citidel in Rivers Rest for example, or Bonespear Tower in 'Haven, or any number of places throughout the lands that have a unique history attached to them, and tailor a quest around that. Nothing hugely elaborate, say a hidden room, or a dungeon below Bonespear that has never been discovered, or a secret door in the Citidel that leads who knows where?
As far as loot goes, again the GM could tailor what treasure is involved to the level of the PC's involved, and perhaps even allow them to decide for themeselves what the ultimate form of that treasure would take. Some kind of weapon/armor/something, that the PC's could alter to their taste, or is unique, or whatever. But something that would give a definate sense of reward to the PC, without totally unbalancing the game of course. For lower level PC's it might even be possible to have any such item "grow" with them as they increase in level, ensuring that it would be an item that did not become useless 5 levels down the road, but would be something that they could use over the lifetime of their character. And to avoid these items being sold, make them a bonded item, that only the original character who did the quest would be able to use.
Hope this will spark some ideas, and further discussion and/or refinement but this is an interesting way to enrich the experience of any character in Elanthia, from the little guy hunting his first nymph, all the way up to a capped character hunting Old Ta'Faendryl. And great fun for the GM too, as he has a small group to contend with, has time to tailor the encounters to a specific person, and maybe even win! (hmmmm......NAH!!!)