I'm a big fan of occasionally chucking my players into the middle of a situation - my experience is that it produces memorable and enjoyable gaming sessions, so long as it's done with care.
In an upcoming campaign, I'd like to introduce the PCs during a pitched battle (towards the end, but the players won't know that) and I'd like to add some kind of mechanical effect to emphasise the environment & description. I've had a few ideas, but I am concerned that anything I do removes choices from the players, one of the cardinal DMing sins.
To compensate for that, I have been thinking about balancing what I'm taking away with an extra benefit, like "you've already used an encounter power (pick one) but you've earned an extra action point" or "you're bloodied but you can use two Second Winds this encounter".
I'm not really a mechanics-focussed kind of DM, so does this kind of thing sound workable? Is there a better way?
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I'm a big fan of occasionally chucking my players into the middle of a situation - my experience is that it produces memorable and enjoyable gaming sessions, so long as it's done with care.
In an upcoming campaign, I'd like to introduce the PCs during a pitched battle (towards the end, but the players won't know that) and I'd like to add some kind of mechanical effect to emphasise the environment & description. I've had a few ideas, but I am concerned that anything I do removes choices from the players, one of the cardinal DMing sins.
To compensate for that, I have been thinking about balancing what I'm taking away with an extra benefit, like "you've already used an encounter power (pick one) but you've earned an extra action point" or "you're bloodied but you can use two Second Winds this encounter".
I'm not really a mechanics-focussed kind of DM, so does this kind of thing sound workable? Is there a better way?
I used something similar to start my current campaign. I wanted to begin with something exciting - I run a police procedural, and didn't want the first encounters to be the investigation and stuff.
So, I plunked them into the In Media Res combat at full health. Anything they used was then considered 'spent' when we went back to the beginning and did a "how-did-I-get-here" story. So, during the first combat of the backstory, the rogue's daily was spent and (character-wise) he just didn't use it.
If you aren't intending to do a "how-did-I-get-here" backstory, just tell them they've been fighting. Perhaps tell them they've spent two healing surges, and go from there? or even no surges?
You might even draw up a table and have PCs randomly roll to see what state they are in, with each of the option having some weakness, compensated by some other benefit.
I really like this idea - it definitely fits into my style of play. I'll have a mess around with it, and see what I come up with. Thanks!
I plunked them into the In Media Res combat at full health. Anything they used was then considered 'spent' when we went back to the beginning and did a "how-did-I-get-here" story
I like this idea too, but this particular adventure kind of only goes forward from that point, so I'll have to save it for another time.
I am concerned that anything I do removes choices from the players, one of the cardinal DMing sins.
Not where I come from. I often find constraint builds creativity. That said I think your kinda talking about two diffrent things.
Thinking about it, I probably am - I think I am conflating choice and control. The purpose is not so much railroading according to a plan, as setting up a dramatic situation, and the mechanic I am looking for is just another tool to enhance the drama.
Basically, I don't want to have to run the heroes through a boring, protracted battle just to make them feel like they've gone through a boring, protracted battle - I want to cut straight to the interesting bit but keep the feeling that it was painful getting here!
I rather like the idea of imposing limitations balanced out by benefits. You might even draw up a table and have PCs randomly roll to see what state they are in, with each of the option having some weakness, compensated by some other benefit. Whether randomly distributed or not, I think as long as you give it a bit of name and flavor, you can make such effects seem fitting and reasonable:
"Broken But Unbowed: You have stood at the front lines of combat and faced the onslaught of the enemy assault, and watched one ally after another fall to the ground. But where others fell back at the carnage, you only grew more determined, refusing to let anything stand between you and victory! You are currently bloodied, but for the remainder of the encounter, you may save against ongoing effects and conditions at the start of your turn rather than the end."
Especially if you give some legitimately unique benefits, I think the players may even find it exciting, rather than limiting - even if, in a purely mechanical sense, those benefits aren't actually as significant as the limitations placed upon them.
I think it will require a bit of care in making your choices, but would definitely help the combat stand out as interesting and memorable.
I love this idea. It gives the impression that each character has experienced the fight in a slightly different manner, and doesn't feel like they're being penalized for no reason.
You might also want to look at this recent DMG2 excerpt, especially the section on Energy Nodes. Not that you'd want to throw them into your pitched battle, but it might give you some ideas for how PCs might regain things.
If you do decide to start the PCs out with fewer encounter powers, for instance, you might include something in the fight itself (whether a particularly heroic action, or defeating a specific monster, or taking advantage of a terrain feature) that might allow PCs to recover those resources expended before the game's start.
Best of luck!
You could balance things by adjusting the opposition instead. In keeping with the mid-battle state of things, they could be facing enemies that are themselves bloodied or have expended encounter powers. That also presents an interesting twist on minions. Instead of them being weaker peon monsters, they could be regular bad-ass monsters that have already taken a few shots and only need one more solid hit to put them down for good.