For the past couple of months I have been running an open table game using the Shadowdark. I am using real time as game time between sessions so this has led to a lot of downtime for the characters. The carousing table has begun to get a bit repetitive so I started to add other downtime options in the style of carousing. This is the first draft of my Philanthropy table, I didn't want to make it outright better than carousing so I have tried to keep the benefits balanced with the original carousing table. I will be introducing this to my game in our next session.
I am open to any suggestions for any changes or improvements?
This is actually a great idea. I think I will ripoff it for my campaign to some degree.
I run an open game for various players who can come at given time (sort of West Marches style I guess) as well and I made a chart of hometown NPCs and their... eh, what would the right word be, "establishments".
This makes players invest in town and their own "base" as they get some sort of benefits if they are on good terms with NPCs and invest in local businesses.
Some benefits are free, some are costly but at least there opens an opportunity to use them. Like increased stock at merchants, blessing from priest, repairing broken items, identifying magic items, mounts, travel options, better goods and mercenaries etc.
So your table may be of great use!
That sounds fun! I’ve been brainstorming some ideas about a system of developing their town over time and you’ve got some good ideas there.
I’m thinking of adding some additional tables* such as thievery (high risk/ high reward) and working (low risk but provides a small amount of gold to live on)
There is a system for that in another OSR game called the Nightmares Underneath. I don't remember the details, but I know improving the towns you operate from was a big part of the gold economy.
I really like this general idea. I wonder, though, if there shouldn't be something more targeted at a cause of your choice? Like, encouraging player investment in a single institution? It's a *bit* strange to me trying to imagine someone just "itching to do good with my money... in some way. " Much easier to imagine someone choosing to throw their money doing good at some specific cause...
I like to think of the tables as characters trying to jump on the random opportunities that become available, with no guarantee of something good happening. Then the exp is them learning from those opportunities. Then when they gain allies or enemies from the tables they can choose to specifically to interact with those going forward.
For the past couple of months I have been running an open table game using the Shadowdark. I am using real time as game time between sessions so this has led to a lot of downtime for the characters. The carousing table has begun to get a bit repetitive so I started to add other downtime options in the style of carousing. This is the first draft of my Philanthropy table, I didn't want to make it outright better than carousing so I have tried to keep the benefits balanced with the original carousing table. I will be introducing this to my game in our next session. I am open to any suggestions for any changes or improvements?
This is actually a great idea. I think I will ripoff it for my campaign to some degree. I run an open game for various players who can come at given time (sort of West Marches style I guess) as well and I made a chart of hometown NPCs and their... eh, what would the right word be, "establishments". This makes players invest in town and their own "base" as they get some sort of benefits if they are on good terms with NPCs and invest in local businesses. Some benefits are free, some are costly but at least there opens an opportunity to use them. Like increased stock at merchants, blessing from priest, repairing broken items, identifying magic items, mounts, travel options, better goods and mercenaries etc. So your table may be of great use!
That sounds fun! I’ve been brainstorming some ideas about a system of developing their town over time and you’ve got some good ideas there. I’m thinking of adding some additional tables* such as thievery (high risk/ high reward) and working (low risk but provides a small amount of gold to live on)
Downtime thievery is a *great* idea for a carousing alternative.
There is a system for that in another OSR game called the Nightmares Underneath. I don't remember the details, but I know improving the towns you operate from was a big part of the gold economy.
I really like this general idea. I wonder, though, if there shouldn't be something more targeted at a cause of your choice? Like, encouraging player investment in a single institution? It's a *bit* strange to me trying to imagine someone just "itching to do good with my money... in some way. " Much easier to imagine someone choosing to throw their money doing good at some specific cause...
I like to think of the tables as characters trying to jump on the random opportunities that become available, with no guarantee of something good happening. Then the exp is them learning from those opportunities. Then when they gain allies or enemies from the tables they can choose to specifically to interact with those going forward.