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Qwertystop
2010-10-20, 10:50 AM
I'm starting to DM a fairly casual game soon and nobody (Including me) has played D&D before, though I've been looking stuff up for a while. I was thinking of a way to make it easier to work out the basic necessities (Food, bedding, basic material foci such as holy symbols, etc) without just saying "You have all that stuff, don't bother keeping track of it". My thoughts were two magic items that each player will have (Or maybe share 1 of each between them):

Bag of Sundry Necessities
This bag looks like a small cloth bag with a drawstring, which can only be opened by the owner. When the owner reaches in, he can retrieve any basic, non-expendable necessity such as a bedroll, clean clothing, etc. (subject to DM approval). The bag contains unlimited amounts of these (Only one of any item can be out at a time, but if it is destroyed another can be taken), as well as one basic material focus for the owner if they are of a casting class (holy symbol for a cleric, (I can't remember what it is) for a druid, etc.). If the focus is lost, you cannot retrieve another. It will hold things such as food and other expendable necessities if you put them in. Anything else will not go in, as though there was an invisible wall across the opening of the bag. It weighs 2 pounds.

Rings of Astral Mail-Order (Idea gotten from a homebrew class that I cannot remember the creator of, which was a spellcaster focused on gold)

These appear to be two small metal rings connected by a chain that is always just long enough to not be restrictive, and short enough to not dangle. The chain cannot obstruct anything, but will bring the rings together if one or both are not held. When someone puts one ring on their thumb, and the other on their smallest finger, and holds them to their ear and mouth respectively (similar arrangements can be made for non-humanoids), they can place an order for any item costing 1 gp or less. This takes a standard action (Or move action if that would be more balanced), and then the money disappears from their possesion and the item appears in front of them. If they do not have enough money, they cannot place the order. When they begin the action, there is a 10% (a roll of 1 on a d10) chance of being put on hold, expanding this to a full-round action.


The stuff in italics is what I would especially like help on.

bloodtide
2010-10-20, 01:55 PM
Bag of Sundry Necessities is in the game, known as a 'bag of holding', except the owner must fill the bag with stuff. An the Robe of Useful Items, of course.

But allowing players to grab 'anything' out of a bag is a bit too much. You will spend every minute of game time telling them what they can't get out of the bag, and it will slow the game down.

If you want a Bag of Sundry Necessities, then make a list of what is in the bag.

Spellcasters wear or hold their focus, a cleric for example most commonly has their holy symbol around their neck. No need to put it in a sack.

Rings of Astral Mail-Order. Let them order anything? This will cause more problems then the bag. The character's could be in the lost dungeon of Rokp and 'pop' they get a needed item. The ring would give them Caltrops at will, for example.

A standard action is fine to make the call.

Shpadoinkle
2010-10-20, 02:29 PM
I was thinking of a way to make it easier to work out the basic necessities (Food, bedding, basic material foci such as holy symbols, etc) without just saying "You have all that stuff, don't bother keeping track of it".

Why?

Honestly, I don't see the point of keeping track of all this stuff. When was the last time you were reading a novel and the author stopped to detail what exactly was in the characters' backpacks? That doesn't happen often because it's hard to make interesting.

I guess if you REALLY want to keep track of this stuff in some way instead of just glossing over it, and you REALLY want it to have some kind of impact in the game, what I would do is have the players mark off a couple silver pieces for every week's worth of supplies they want (food, lamp oil, sewing needles and thread for repairing their clothes after a fight, etc. etc.) whenever they're in a town or at a trading post or whatever, and keep track of THAT.

jywu98
2010-10-20, 06:18 PM
For Druid is holly and mistletoe.

Merk
2010-10-20, 06:51 PM
I often give my players the power of "batman retcon": you have what you need, even if you don't.

Talyn
2010-10-20, 07:51 PM
Honestly, I don't see the point of keeping track of all this stuff. When was the last time you were reading a novel and the author stopped to detail what exactly was in the characters' backpacks? That doesn't happen often because it's hard to make interesting.



Tolkien does it all the time, and his fantasy world is the grand-daddy basis for Dungeons and Dragons, so...

Seriously, though, maybe you can make the "Plans Ahead" feat (or maybe "Packrat") which allows a player to pull out a mundane item with 20 x level gold pieces, subtract that amount from his wealth, and say "luckily, I always carry around X for just such an emergency!"

Milskidasith
2010-10-21, 12:11 AM
Tolkien does it all the time, and his fantasy world is the grand-daddy basis for Dungeons and Dragons, so...

Seriously, though, maybe you can make the "Plans Ahead" feat (or maybe "Packrat") which allows a player to pull out a mundane item with 20 x level gold pieces, subtract that amount from his wealth, and say "luckily, I always carry around X for just such an emergency!"

I'd let them do that anyway, at least if their mental stats were high enough or it would be something somebody would bring that isn't necessarily something you'd care enough to dig through the books for the stats of. Rope? Sure, you brought it. Lantern Oil? Yeah, you have some.

No need to make it a (useless) feat, especially when, by level 4, D&D characters can start ignoring most normal "necessities" of life.