Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
So, I've been thinking about this skill challenge, and how poorly it modeled in-game reality.

You're on a sinking ship. By default, the condition track should not sit still - it should degrade every "turn"/action phase/whatever.

Character actions should almost never make the ship sink faster. It should almost never be optimal for someone to say, "nah, you guys have got this, I would just be underfoot, I'll sit this out", as was the case for Talakeal's character. This was quite literally an "all hands on deck" situation. More hands should have made the work lighter.

So, at the simplest, I might try… every "turn", the ship degrades 2 steps. Every turn, every character (and zombie!) can attempt a relevant ship check to improve the ship 1 step.

A more advanced system might allow really good rolls / more critical actions to increase the maximum number of steps gained (or even change the rate of progress lost!), or to limit the maximum number of gains from certain repeated actions (you can bail water infinitely, but there are only 3 patchable holes, for example). And to better model how long different actions take.

Thoughts?
Basically, the DM tried to modify the mechanics for a chase scene to represent getting a damaged boat into harbor before it sinks. In a normal chase scene, all of the fancy tricks carry a penalty for failure, and the DM did much the same. Unfortunately, he didn't include a basic run equivalent action (bailing water perhaps?) for untrained characters to do without risking the cost of failure.


Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
Although I might use words like "linear adventure" and "sandbox" and "plot hooks", to try to get all of the players and the GM on the same page regarding expectations for the game. Because, right now, it sounds like maybe 2 people were expecting a high Participationism linear adventure, while 2 people were expecting either a sandbox, or better plot hooks.
I don't think plot hooks get more urgent / clear than "You are stuck in a small town where everyone is starving, the townspeople think its connected to the missing druid and are looking to form a posse to investigate."

I am kind of miffed at my party members. Originally I wanted to play the "dragon" character, but everybody wanted to play outcasts with no social skills or grand plans, so I remade my character to function as the party leader / face, and now everyone is grumbling about wanting more authority / respect and not wanting to listen to anyone.