Steven Marsh's page

Thanks for the reply!

Relating it to the blessings pile is a really interesting idea, but it leads to an incentive to burn through cards to explore earlier, which means that there's a real possibility you'll have some kind of bonus for that final villain . . . which I fear might make the conclusion a bit too easy. (I'm also not sure how easy it'd be to keep track of the blessings discard pile, since that deck tends to be a royal mess when we play.) Still, for others who might stumble onto this thread, here's how one possible breakdown might look with a +4 max bonus:

• 1-6: +4
  
• 7-12: +3
  
• 13-18: +2
  
• 19-24: +1
  
• 25-30: +0
  

. . . and here's how it might look with a +3 max bonus:

• 1-7: +3
  
• 8-15: +2
  
• 16-22: +1
  
• 23-30: +0
  

Regarding the die bumps . . . that's also a neat idea, but the problem is that it adds another layer of decision to a game that (for our table) is already at the limit of decision paralysis. "Do I use the die bump now to get the moderately cool magic item we kinda-sorta want, or let it go and save it for when we really need it?" (We already go through way too many rounds of, "Do you want a blessing for this attack? You're at about an 75% chance, which is pretty good, but . . . Well, maybe you can discard the weapon? That adds another 1d6, but then you don't have a weapon . . . but you'l'l be drawing two cards, so you might get another . . . Wait. Don't you have an ally who can add 1 to any combat? Should you use that now? But if you roll 6 over, that was a waste of a free exploration . . ." Seasons pass. Pages of the calendar fall away.)

We tried a similar system before that allowed for a certain number of rerolls per player per adventure, and folks were still being frustrated by large chunks of the game, muddling to the end without much loot or sense of accomplishment . . . until that final boss (if we survived until then), when all the resources we'd saved until then were enough to annihilate the final villain.

One thing I like about a flat fiat bonus is that it takes the decision out of the players' hands and just makes things easier . . . until the game becomes gradually harder.

(If it matters, our gaming table is myself, my wife, and our 10-year-old son . . . we're no gaming slouches, but it's not like we're die-hard grognards or anything.)

As an aside, when we ran into a similar problem with the boardgame Castle Panic, the simple solution there was just to add a card to each of our hands (so six cards per hand instead of five); more options meant an easier time keeping the board clear. But that's not a real option for PACG; a larger hand limit almost adds as many problems as it solves!

Our household enjoys the PACG, but we find it at times a bit too tough for our liking. This has been exasperated as we've started Wrath of the Righteous. Our group doesn't mind having an easier time, since we view the Card Game as being a surrogate for the RPG experience, where we get to see how cards interact, have fun playing characters, etc. In most RPGs I've been part of, the assumption is that the players are going to win . . . or, at least, will have a really good shot at emerging triumphant. (This is similar to movies in our mind; you know the Hero is gonna win . . . the fun comes in seeing how he's going to end.)

The trouble has been how to house-rule the PACG to maintain a level of tension, while not making it either too easy or keeping it too hard for us.

For the past couple of games, we've had a house rule that has been working well for us to maintain this feel we're looking for, so I thought I'd share.

• House Rule: All characters get a bonus — to all checks — equal to the number of open locations, minus 1.
  

We've been playing with a three-player game, so this has traditionally meant five locations, which means a +4 bonus at the beginning, which becomes +3, +2, and +1 as locations are closed . . . ending at no bonus at all when there's just one location left.

This has had the effect that the opening rounds of the game are a bit of a romp, with the heroes getting stuff easier, having an easier time with traps and monsters, and having an easier time closing locations. It's also reduced the number of wasted turns; so often in previous games a large percentage of players' turns are essentially pointless: "Oh, the difficulty to get this boon is 7, I have a d6. Even if someone uses a blessing, I still only have 50/50 odds. I guess this turn is moot." Conversely, with a +4 (at the beginning), that same d6 check now has a 4-in-6 chance of getting it . . . and if it's something someone really wants, then spending a blessing becomes a much more logical proposition.

However, as locations close, the bonus decreases . . . until the last location, when you're basically playing without training wheels (not counting whatever goodies you've acquired in the rest of the game, of course).

Oh, and "closed = closed" . . . even temporarily closed. So the only way to win (in most scenarios) is to face the final villain with no fiat bonus.

I haven't played this with a larger group; it might need to be toned down, perhaps capped at +4. Or maybe not; in theory, in a larger group, a few locations are going to get closed pretty quickly. But we've only playtested this with three players, so YMMV.

Anyway, we haven't playtested this to the ends of the earth yet, but — so far — it seems to be making a more-relaxing experience for us. If anyone's done anything similar, or can think of any immediate pitfalls or problems, feel free to share.

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

As I mentioned earlier, I'd really rather not have anyone run more than one character. My wife and son were having a hard enough time keeping their abilities straight when running one character each using the fairly straightforward Beginner Box options; I shudder to think what'd happen if they start having two characters to keep track of. (I think my son's going to play a dragon-blooded sorcerer in this campaign, and from the get-go it seems like it'll be a mental handful for him.)

I'm also less-than-enthused with having an NPC in the party, because 1) I'll have my own stuff to keep track of (again, it's my first Adventure Path if I go through with it), and 2) I don't like the idea of Captain NPC swooping in and doing something heroic that should rightly be their victory.

My wife and son recently played through the Pathfinder Beginner Box (with me serving as GM). It was our first time playing, and we all had a good time. Of course, the heroes found themselves somewhat hampered by the lack of character types, but they were surprisingly balanced (my wife played a cleric and my son played a thief).

We all had enough fun that we want to move to the "big leagues" of full Pathfinder RPG (core rules), ideally running through one of the Adventure Paths. (I'm considering Legacy of Fire, Mummy's Mask, or Kingmaker, since those all seemed like they would be appropriate for a nine-year-old.)

However, I still fear that they'll be hampered by the fact that there are only two players, one of whom is a nine-year-old (albeit a fairly smart one). They were already knocked to the ropes a few times during the Beginner Box adventures, and I don't want to make things too challenging for them. I don't want to adjust the adventures too much (since I don't have enough experience with the system to know how to appropriately scale something for two heroes); I'd rather, if possible, beef up the heroes a bit.

I'm currently considering the following:

• Assume each hero rolls the maximum HP when leveling up.
  
• Start with Epic Fantasy point-buy attributes.
  

Again, the goal is to beef them up enough that I don't need to radically alter adventures, but not so great that there's no challenge (although if it's a smidge easy they'll probably be happy). I don't want to add an NPC party member or have any players run multiple characters (since I think they have enough on their plate to think about already).

Does anyone have any insight, or see any problems or pitfalls with my plan? Has anyone tried anything similar? Is there anything cool or different I should be doing instead to achieve the same goals? (Ideally something easy, since we're all still learning the system?) :-)

Thanks in advance!

I'm not sure if I'm going to make it to GenCon, but my wife is definitely going. Is there a way to "authorize" her to be able to pick up my loot? (Even if it's an option I'm not sure if we're going to bother... but I like to know my options.) :-)