Talk:Abstract Encounters

Using Abstract Encounters:

• vehicle combat

• roles: 5 stations
• things to do with pips: yes
• antagonist/consequences: enemy ships

• sieges

• roles:
• things to do with pips:
• antagonist/consequences:

• magic item creation

• roles:
• things to do with pips:
• antagonist/consequences:

• research

• roles:
• things to do with pips:
• antagonist/consequences:

• mazes?

• roles:
• things to do with pips:
• antagonist/consequences:

• bar fights?

• roles:
• things to do with pips:
• antagonist/consequences:

• chase scenes?

• roles:
• things to do with pips:
• antagonist/consequences: bad guys catch up or get away (as appropriate), local town watch gets involved, etc.

to create a system, pre-work required:

• different tasks/stations/assignments
  • things to do with your pips (per task/station/assignment)

• some form of antagonist or resistance or consequences for failure
  • this should be within the context of the abstract encounter. There can ALSO be real-time consequences, but each abstract encounter also needs some reward/failure defined.

• its possible that players could define their station/role on the fly during each encounter, and also come up with their own way of spending pips. GMs should allow this flexibility, if it seems reasonable. In some cases, these new uses or roles can be recorded for future use, and in others, they offer specific ways of taking advantage of specific circumstances. In either case, such tricky uses of pips is encouraged.

some general theories:

• each station should feel different, but should empower progress

• the need for distinct stations is derived from:

• not every character is good at the same things, gives the nature guys something to do while the war guys do something else and the spell guys do a third thing
• gives each player something to do that isn't just "I help the guy who is good at it".

• pips should be:
  • bankable
  • usable to improve the meta of the station - makes future rolls better, in exchange for not really doing anything now
  • usable for immediate gain
  • usable to aid an ally's station

• since the action pool mechanic will always eventually succeed, there needs to be some external mechanism which rewards quick results and punishes slow results. The real currency is time. How many intervals can you afford to bank dice before you need to act? What are the consequences for not acting sooner?

Treasure/XP

• XP: I'm thinking XP should be equal to 1 monster of the same CR as the encounter in question, times the number of stations available (not the number of players). This means that a party of 4 in a vehicle with 5 stations would get more XP (per character) than a party of 5 in the same circumstances. This works, because that party of 4 is going to have a harder time of things, since they're missing a critical member of their crew.

• Treasure: varies. Could use the XP reference model, deriving treasure from monsters. Alternatively (and this is true of any encounter, including monster fights), no treasure, or 'meta' treasure that is only good for the improvement of the party's vehicle or other meta- campaign-based item. The personal rewards can then be banked for future encounters, finding a lost treasure, etc. Depriving players of treasure in the short term to give them a bigger haul in the longer term can feel more rewarding.

Ideas for Generic Expenditures

Even in the systems like retraining or magic item creation, there should be upgrades you can purchase with your action pool pips, which make your future action pool rolls potentially better. These upgrades would allow the player to break the normal 'discard 1 to bank 1' rules, in certain circumstances.

• pairs
• upgrade cost: 12 pips
• if upgrade is purchased, any time you roll a pair, you can bank the following amount, depending on the value of the pair:
  • • pair of 1's = 3 pips
    • pair of 2's = 4 pips
    • pair of 3's = 5 pips
    • pair of 4's = 6 pips
    • pair of 5's = 8 pips
    • pair of 6's = 10 pips
• both dice in the pair are considered 'expended' for the round by doing this.

• three of a kind
• upgrade cost: 18 pips
• if upgrade is purchased, any time you roll 3 of a kind, you can bank bank 2x the value shown in the 3 of a kind (e.g. three 4's would be bankable as 8 pips). All three dice are considered 'expended' for the round by doing this.

• four of a kind
• upgrade cost: 24 pips
• if upgrade is purchased, any time 4 of a kind is rolled, you can bank triple the value shown (e.g. four 3's could be banked as 9 pips). All four dice are considered 'expended' for the round by doing this.

• 3-dice straight
• upgrade cost: 18 pips
• if upgrade is purchased, any time you roll a 3-die straight (e.g. 3, 4, 5) in a single action pool roll, you can bank the trio of dice for double the value of the middle die (e.g. if you rolled a 3, 4 and 5, you could bank 8 pips). All three dice are considered 'expended' for the round by doing this.

• 4 odd dice
• upgrade cost: 24 pips
• if upgrade is purchased, any time you roll 4 dice showing odd numbers (in a single action pool roll), you can re-roll a single die in your action pool before choosing which dice to bank or discard. These 4 odd dice can't be used for other unlocked upgrades (like a 3-dice straight, etc.), but can still be banked or discarded like normal action pool dice.

• 4 even dice
• upgrade cost: 24 pips
• if upgrade is purchased, any time you roll 4 dice showing even numbers (in a single action pool roll), you can bank one die in your action pool without the need to discard a die. Any other banked dice must follow the normal 'discard one to bank one' rule (unless other upgrades, above, permit alternate ways of banking qualifying dice). These 4 even dice can't be used for other unlocked upgrades (like a 3-dice straight, etc.), but can still be banked or discarded like normal action pool dice.

Note that pairs, three-of-a-kind's, straights, evens and odds all have to come from a single action pool roll (since only banked pips carry over between intervals, not dice, this should be obvious). Clearly, if your skill checks aren't high enough to consistently provide at least 4 dice in your action pool, none of the upgrades requiring combinations of 4 dice will be terribly useful to you.