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First off, I recently read a few chiding posts with regards to the ambiguous nature of thread titling; in this case I felt it better to risk the wrath ";)" of my fellow posters than to put concise information in a thread title that might also contain spoilers.
That being said, I am curious about the "victory point" mechanic. Does one as dungeonmaster explain beforehand that this mechanic is being used to determine the ultimate fate of Farshore at adventure's end, or does one allow the characters to proceed as they see fit and let the pieces fall where they may?
And if one does explain the implications of the "victory point" mechanic, how exactly does one go about it?
Heathy, personally I recommend not telling your players that they are accruing Victory Points. In fact, the manuscript Gary and I sent in said this about it:
During this adventure, the PCs have many opportunities to earn Victory Points to defeat the pirates of the Crimson Fleet when they arrive in force. Rather than running an entire battle, this variant of the Victory Point system from Heroes of Battle allows you to determine its outcome based on what the PCs have done to prepare for and what they do during the battle.
The most likely outcomes using this system are provided near the end of the adventure. The best possible outcome results if the PCs successfully complete all of their missions and side adventures, gaining allies and acquiring valuable resources.
The worst possible outcome might result if the PCs spend more time on side adventures or chasing red herrings rather than focusing on helping the colony.
Each mini-adventure has a sub-heading giving the Victory Points award that successfully completing it is worth. [i]Secretly keep track of your group’s running tally of Victory Points. During the final battle with the Crimson Fleet they will come into play to determine the final outcome.
I think that telling your players that everything they do is going to earn rewards (or the lack of) towards the final fight is kind of a cheating way of going about it and doesn't seem natural. They should already have a sense of a need for preparation, but knowing that if they don't means they are going to get a "bad grade" makes their actions seem forced.
So, IMO, it's best not to let the players know about the VPs until the very end.
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Thanks. That makes sense. I guess it's not exactly a measure of experience and rewards, but more a way to gauge the environment in a situation that is in an extremely variable state of flux.
As such, the trepidation I might feel about keeping the characters in the dark about it is assuaged. It's an environmental phenomenon, like hiding the result of a character's hide roll.
Creative Director
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Yeah, there's no need for the PCs to know how many VPs they are accumulating during the adventure. That said, what you DO need to make sure you do is describe the results of successfully gaining VP if the PCs go back to Farshore before the final battle. If they recruit Phanaton aid, for example, and then go back to Farshore, make sure to tell them that there's a group of phanaton warriors lurking in the trees just outside of town, for example. They should know that their preparations are working, but they don't need to know HOW prepared they are till the end.
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Very cool. It all makes sense now.
To riff on the phanatons, I'd have them spend a few days studying the Farshore inhabitants. Humans probably all look pretty similar to them, and they'd have to know who's the enemy and who's friendly. Imagine that you as a human are involved in a hypothetical epic battle between warring tribes of phanatons; it'd be extremely difficult to tell who is who in the heat of the moment.
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Very cool. It all makes sense now.
To riff on the phanatons, I'd have them spend a few days studying the Farshore inhabitants. Humans probably all look pretty similar to them, and they'd have to know who's the enemy and who's friendly. Imagine that you as a human are involved in a hypothetical epic battle between warring tribes of phanatons; it'd be extremely difficult to tell who is who in the heat of the moment.
On the other hand, the phanatons might be just bright enough to differentiate between the villagers and farmers and such who are inside the palisades protecting the settlement, and the burning, looting, pillaging types piling off the five ships in the harbor, dressed all piratey and such.