Con Rewards vs. Homeplay

I think there are three interlocking issues/questions:
(1) Will the divergence in xp/levels cause future problems for forming tables or writing modules?
(2) Are there members of the campaign that don’t make it to the relevant cons who feel they are missing part of the story (because they don’t have access to any of the special events)?
(3) Is it a potential disincentive to new players who can’t won’t make it to the relevant cons?

1 does not yet turns up locally but someday it could. 2 turns up locally. 3 I have no idea about… But I do worry a little bit about it.

I think all points of view are valid and need to be heard. However, for Situation #2 above, why are these members of the campaign unable or unwilling to attend cons? That is really a big factor in how to solve the issue…

If the issue is that there are folks who just cannot afford (or never have the time) to attend any cons, I sympathize. I don’t know how many of these folks there are. However, I’m guessing those folks are probably not playing with a big contingent of campaign players who DO attend all the cons (Due to being in another country, etc.) Therefore, the #1 or #3 above probably aren’t going to be a concern of those players.

If the issue is that some folks *could* go to conventions but choose not to for whatever reason, then that is a choice and I don’t feel there needs to be any big sweeping changes to accommodate those folks specifically around changing the way Con modules work. Could there be other changes to have more unique events offered as home play? Sure.

John

Nice to see a good dialog here in terms of different points of view while still remaining civil.

At the height of the old 3.5 campaign we were regularly seeing 100+ players at the BIs. I don’t recall what the highest number ever seated was. My recollection was ~200, but it’s been a while. For various reasons, interest has waned. There needs to be an invigorated and engaged player base to support continued development both in terms of releases and the living campaign itself.

For the first time in many years I spent a day at Gencon as well as going to Origins. I ran 3 slots on Saturday and of the 17 players I ran, 14 had never played Arcanis before that Gencon. No idea how many picked up books or will come back, but it was good to see new blood. Origins and Arcanicon seem to be primarily established players.

I mention the above to help put the cons I’ve seen in some perspective as that in part informs my suggestions as to rewards.

1. Arcanis is a story driven game. That has been it’s strength and appeal for many if not most of the players across both living incarnations. Because of that, all players should have access to major story points. The question is how.

In any case other than the full BI being available, a summary published to the forums, available for download, etc. would be good to have available. This helps address the story concerns.

In an ideal world, here’s how I would probably like to see the special events play out. The key central story for the BI is covered in a single slot worth of time. That contains the key rewards, and is published for home play and integrated into the con experience. The other slot worth of time for the BI represents special missions that wrap up or open up side plots, adjust the difficulty of future BI rounds, even helping finalize the overall difficulty for home play. I remember special missions seeking out and dealing with Morshun val’Ishi, with the opposing enemy general whose name escapes me at the moment or rescuing characters captured by the harvesters.

The special mission portion could grant awards that have meaning without being over powered. They could build on options available to players of the base BI. For example, if the BI granted access to a choice of Tier I Runes from a limited list, a special mission might open up an additional option.

In terms of con rewards, the extra Fate Point for use in a BI earned from being the Veteran of a BI is both tangible and limited at the same time. The temporary blessing granting bonus stamina falls into the same camp.

Another idea might be being able to name one of the character’s exceptional weapons or armor as Heirloom after one or more special events. The item in question would already have to meet the requirements mechanically (Exceptional quality). What would be gained would be the reputation bonus – and penalties if ever lost or sold. A character could say “THIS was the sword I used to strike a telling blow against Uxbraxtixt!” (sorry about the misspelling)

Titles I think were mentioned and could be interesting. Medals recognizing service provide an RP hook. A minor social bonus with appropriate audiences could be included.

If something like the above won’t work, I like the idea of an exclusive event not available for con play taking place at the same time. Now, what would be REALLY cool, though perhaps a pain to organize would be to set up in advance time for people to home play the exclusive mod that has an impact on the specials at the con. In a perfect world, you’d have them run the same weekend (up through noon Saturday to submit results) and have those factored into the difficulty of the BI or special event.

Also, for events at the cons make it clear that all of the critical events impact and results are pulled from those attending even if the mod’s accessible to homeplay. Influencing the story for good or ill is something the con events have always done to my knowledge. Having some tangible sign of how as a reminder to players may help as well.

I agree with the person who said there isn’t a clear win for the staff on this issue. Making everyone happy isn’t possible.

Hopefully ideas from this thread will be useful to the staff as they decide what to do with future special events.

With a sweep of his hat,

Paul

I think there are three interlocking issues/questions:
(1) Will the divergence in xp/levels cause future problems for forming tables or writing modules?
(2) Are there members of the campaign that don’t make it to the relevant cons who feel they are missing part of the story (because they don’t have access to any of the special events)?
(3) Is it a potential disincentive to new players who can’t won’t make it to the relevant cons?

1. When I transition over from the 3.5 system and I started reading the rule set of this Arcanis. I saw something that I thought was obvious but may be wrong about. The game went from a max level of 20 to a max level of 5. Arcanis took the grittiness of playing the game at lower levels where a character survives less on super powers, and magic items and more on their own merit, and the player’s ability to role play.
I took this to mean that PCI really hoped to move away from modules that have 10 different bundles of monster stats (as some of the later hard points have to go from APL 2 to APL 21.) They didn’t want to exclude new player, so the monster stat writers were burdened with the work. This new system of a 5 level system would mean by the end of the campaign there would only be a need for 5 sets of monster stats, one for each Tier. Instead we are seeing half Tier stat blocks (1.5-1.10, 2.1-2.5, etc)
I am personally fine with there being a difference between those who go to cons, those who don’t, and new players. In fact I would prefer if the 1.5 cert was removed, and modules had stat blocks, for each Tier (1.1-1.10, 2.1-2.10) rather then the half Tier stat blocks that have been released for some soft points.
In 3.5 you got more XP for playing a higher APL, because you needed more XP to level up. But that’s not the case in Arcanis. A Hard Point can give 350XP to a 2.9 character and a 1.3 character. this is because they are dealing with battles, and traps, that are an equally amount of challenge to one of their Tier.
One thing that would occur, is that people of different Tiers would not be able to play at the same table. But this is something that the PCI has dealt with before under a more divisive rule set.

2. Yes this is a huge issue to me, and I hope others.
What I dislike though is the idea that plot-centric events may occur at a con and I’ll be missing them.
This has being going on since the 3.5 system. Hard Points and some Soft Points have stories that lead towards BIs. But the BIs were never released for home play. Arcanis is story driven, how would anyone like to read a book, and then have a whole chapter missing, or worse the end of the story.
I get that it is balance between keeping business up, and making the player base happy. But honestly there are better solutions then not releasing a module. Releasing it with reduced rewards, without rewards, without certs. You want the good stuff come to the Con. But at least release the module.

3. Again Arcanis is story driven it has a compelling world, unique races, cultures, and political situations, and it has some great writers working on it. If a new player joins in the next story arc when the majority of people of people are 3.1 they will stay with it for the awesome story. What would their starting level be? Start at 1.1 or a 2.5 leveling cert, without the ability to play Arc 1 or Arc 2? Tier 2.5 characters have a larger tool box of skills and talents, it’s hard to create a character a higher levels, let alone understand everything you have access to at the level. I think having modules that support Tier 1 to Tier 3 PCs is a better idea, and it seemed like it was the original idea with this 5 Tier system.

Allow there to be the level gaps between players. Convention rewards can be normal, home play rewards for BIs reduced or removed. That’s my ideas on the subject as some who hasn’t been to a Con before.

Rewards for con-only events is a debate that has been around in living campaigns for years, and it’s not possible to please everyone. Is it fair that someone who can’t afford the time or money to attend a con miss out? Is it fair that someone who devotes the effort to play at a special event at a con doesn’t get anything special? What is best for the players and best for the campaign? It’s a balancing act where staff has to be careful not to listen to one group over the other just because they’re loudspoken.

I see both sides of this and agree you won’t be able to please everyone. But we should try to give those who can’t go to a con (and I totally get the money issue!) something resembling the BI experience. While I do enjoy the BI I would be fine with something less intensive and hopefully less work for the staff. Perhaps that would be easier to package for home play. I liked the special we did this year at Arcanicon maybe use the time and energy saved by creating a shorter BI and use it for that sort of con experience instead. As for an abbreviated BI I would be okay with six fights either broken in half or perhaps four and two. Maybe do it in six to eight hour time slot? I like the special mission idea for con BIs as well.

P.S. Like Paul I am happy this is turning out to be a civil discussion of ideas.

Wilcoxon I understand where you are coming from.

You believe that each Arc should have a minimum level requirement so everyone is on the same playing field, and be about the same power level. This allows writers to only ever have to make a single set of stat blocks for monsters and traps. It also means that player who never play to together but come to Convention shouldn’t have a problem finding a table with similarity powered PCs. This means you never have to level secondary characters, and new players have to feel inferior to long time players.

I disagree with that arrangement for multiple reasons. I believe that people who spend time and money deserve to be rewarded for that by being higher level, having more gold, or having special certs that are provided from those events. But the story should not be denied to those who can’t attend.
People who join the campaign later should not be given a leveling cert so they are same as someone who has been playing from the beginning, or just slightly lower. A new character should always start at 1.1 to learn how to use the character’s abilities, and get a feel for where they want to go with own personal story.
More importantly I don’t like that it denies them the prior modules and the great story that the prior Arcs have. They should be encouraged to play those modules and experience the stories themselves.
I know it creates more work for whomever does the monsters of the module, because it basically brings back Average Party Levels (APLs) but the Tier system I feel can handle that and I believe (perhaps incorrectly) that it was designed to limit it to 5 levels. 5 Tiers = 5 levels of difficulty for PCs.
There can be tables of Tier 1 characters, Tier 2 characters and Tier 3 characters, that are being challenged at their own level but going through the same story.

Dante you’re 100% correct you can’t please everyone. But I do hope that PCI changes some of it’s current policies to promote it’s strengths. The amazing story. Because we all love it together.