PDA

View Full Version : The Value of Freetime in game?



Lupy
2008-10-24, 08:13 PM
The players in my campaign have reached level three, been well paid, and ambushed a lot, and this Tuesday after another good sized encounter they will reach the city they were heading to. I know they want time to spend money, and I wrote some in, but I was curious as to how often they need this sort of "shopping spree" time.

tahu88810
2008-10-24, 08:14 PM
Last time I checked? Any time they need to buy something and they have both access to the shops and cash.

Lupy
2008-10-24, 08:22 PM
They don't "need" anything, but they want to spend they're inadequate rewards. (I like to keep the treasure heaps small.)

tahu88810
2008-10-24, 08:23 PM
They don't "need" anything, but they want to spend they're inadequate rewards. (I like to keep the treasure heaps small.)

Sorry, let me rephrase that.
Any time they want to buy something and they have both access to the shops and cash.

Unless you're railroading like crazy it shouldn't be a problem.

Inyssius Tor
2008-10-24, 08:46 PM
If you're planning on keeping your players in the wilderness for extended amounts of time...

It depends on how much of your treasure is in the form of ready-to-use magic axes and stuff, how much is in the form of gold, and how much is in the form of kobold boots and statues and horses and stuff.

It also depends on if your players spend their money on, say, periapts of wisdom and axes of stabbing +36 and the other normal magic items, or if they spend their money on alchemist's fire and scrolls of fireball and healing potions and other consumables, or if they blow it all on ale and whores.

If you give them a whole bunch of unwieldy kobold possessions and expect them to pawn it all, they're going to need a lot of shopping breaks. If you give them very little money, but all the magic items they'd need, they're going to need much fewer breaks. If they blow their money on consumables--without a cleric, maybe they need healing potions--they're probably going to be broke and underpowered anyway soon; give them a reusable healing belt to slow down the swift departure of their Recommended Wealth-By-Level.

Curmudgeon
2008-10-25, 06:17 AM
I'd rather do it the other way: give them all the time they need, and more. Let them get bored, fritter away some of their treasure, and get restless enough to actively start looking for adventure. I think that's better than trying to force their actions and keep them frustrated at not having enough down time.

Jack Zander
2008-10-25, 06:42 AM
I tend to let my players dictate the amount of freetime they have between adventures, but limit what they can buy from the town they are in. A thorp won't have much anything of value to an adventuring party, so they'll have to travel to the nearest major city, which may be out of the way or too much of a hassle to do.

nargbop
2008-10-25, 10:33 AM
I've found it's best to end a session on "you enter the marketplace..." and then let the players take their time going through the books looking for what they want. It's just not fun doing standard item buying in character. Beginning of next session, you check off "yes, you can buy that amulet of natural armor. No, the rod of chain spell is not available in this town..."

Now, that being said, if you want them to buy their allotment of items and then find a strange shop hidden in a corrner they didn't notice before... that can happen next session.

Yahzi
2008-10-25, 01:04 PM
I know they want time to spend money, and I wrote some in, but I was curious as to how often they need this sort of "shopping spree" time.
I think the answer is pretty clearly, "whenever their characters make time for it."

It's nice that you penciled in a little time for your players to do what they want; but you might consider that maybe their characters should be directing their own actions all the time.

Just a thought...

martyboy74
2008-10-25, 01:09 PM
I've found it's best to end a session on "you enter the marketplace..." and then let the players take their time going through the books looking for what they want. It's just not fun doing standard item buying in character. Beginning of next session, you check off "yes, you can buy that amulet of natural armor. No, the rod of chain spell is not available in this town..."

This works especially well if they can email you out-of-session to check on the items. It makes the valuable session time much more useful.

LotharBot
2008-10-25, 01:25 PM
In one of the games my wife was DMing for me a long time ago, there wasn't adequate shopping time, which made me feel like my characters weren't growing through the (several level long) adventure. I had tons of cash but no time to spend it upgrading my stuff. That was incredibly frustrating.

Remember, the reason to put treasure in the game is so the PCs can gain power and options over time. If you're not allowing them to use their treasure to that end, they're going to be frustrated.

How often do they need it? Probably once per two sessions, though it can be less frequent in heavy RP settings and such.