Venture-Agent, Canada—Alberta—Grand Prairie
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We (the local regular GMs) are looking at the Player Boons and are super excited about them and can't wait to start handing them out. We are also thinking about how to distribute them in a manner that matches the intent the leadership (and the letter of the event support policy), creates maximum player enthusiasm, but doesn't add to after game bloat. I want to start this conversation so that we can share ideas and receive some wisdom from others.
I really like the dice rolling and tokens at our local conventions, but those had a lot of down time where we could look at the boons, get familiar with them, take an hour to decide which one we wanted, and roll at our leisure. I'm less excited about going through that routine on a weeknight time crunch, but maybe I"m just making mountains out of molehills.
We brainstormed the idea of handing them out as "PFS Achievements" or MVP award but that has two huge flaws: It's not an even/fair distribution, and it is super hard to hit the 10% target. I think this is a bad idea.
To make less dice rolling we talked about just having a roll off at every second table with the high roll taking a boon or to roll off once a month with a player gets +10% per game played that month.
The store owner also gave us some expert advice, recommending a points method much like the GM Boon. The VA keeps a attendance tally (not hard in our group) and the players earn a boon every 10th game. We are really attracted to this idea because: the player boon feels earned and new players have one less thing overwhelming them.
So, how will your group distribute the player boons? What works for your game space?
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A totally over complicated way is using the Warcraft 3 Random Distribution evening system.
After 1 game you get a 1.5% chance to get a boon. That amount increases by 1.5% each time you don't get a boon, and resets if you do.
For simplicity we'll round up so we're only at 2 digits,
So after game one everybody gets a 2% chance to get a boon.
After game two everybody who hasn't yet gotten a boon gets a 3% chance.
After game three everybody who hasn't yet gotten a boon gets a 5% chance.
etc.
Some Notes:
This gives an approximate long term distribution of 10% while reducing unlucky and lucky streaks.
Even if you were extremely unlucky you are guaranteed a boon after 68 games in this system.
The mode is 8 and the standard distribution is 5.06
TL;DR An overly complicated way of maintaining 10% while reducing the expected variance.
Venture-Captain, Germany—Bavaria
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10 % chance per player per table, rolling a d10 or 20 is usually the quickest one.
These days I hand the players one of my own dice for the roll to ensure that things are fair for everybody.
There is actually nothing stopping you from printing a set of the current player boons, stamping a huge "void" on top and letting players look at them when they have the time.
I fail to see the advantage of rolling trying to avoid rolling one per session.
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Of course, when it comes to conventions we have used another solution.
One of the organizers checks player attendance (and remember GMs also count here) to see how many boons he has to distribute, assigns a number to every table and then rolls. Usually, we roll table number and player number (counted clockwise with the GM as the 1) as publicly as possible, to make sure that it is as transparent as possible.
We also use this method to distribute con support, it's relatively quick and avoids certain problems.
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One motivation was that we have a lot of superstitious people who believe uniform distributions will not, in the long run, even out for them :P
Those who love logic and control might find more interest in the GM line.. for only 6 handy sessions they too can get a GM boon ;)
As a generally GM who knows the dice hate him i can see why this one would be a good option. Hopefully the profession(Gambler) type players don't gripe
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Those who love logic and control might find more interest in the GM line.. for only 6 handy sessions they too can get a GM boon ;)As a generally GM who knows the dice hate him i can see why this one would be a good option. Hopefully the profession(Gambler) type players don't gripe
But what of folks who are incapable either because of time constraints or lack of talent to GM, or are in a Lodge where they only get the Boon if their tables fire?
Saying 'oh, just GM' is very much a kick between the legs to some people.
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Of course, when it comes to conventions we have used another solution.One of the organizers checks player attendance (and remember GMs also count here) to see how many boons he has to distribute, assigns a number to every table and then rolls. Usually, we roll table number and player number (counted clockwise with the GM as the 1) as publicly as possible, to make sure that it is as transparent as possible.
We also use this method to distribute con support, it's relatively quick and avoids certain problems.
I started doing this at our mid-sized conventions after having a streak where nobody won a prize for two consecutive slots. It gets the intended ratio, but guarantees a winner each slot. Also, by doing it publicly, everyone gets to cheer for the winner.
I like your idea Tony, will have to pass that on to my boss
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But what of folks who are incapable either because of time constraints or lack of talent to GM, or are in a Lodge where they only get the Boon if their tables fire?Saying 'oh, just GM' is very much a kick between the legs to some people.
Agreed, it was somewhat in jest.. i know that repeatedly rolling badly for one off rolls frustrates as well and the other people who have the touch for things like boon rolls can have a pile of them across a con/year.
so will try a few more serious points:
1) GMs will tend to get less games than players and would be less likely to build up points. Would they get some way to balance a chance at a boon if they only got the less frequent game option.
2) Repeat attendance would be the only way to gain these, visitors to your games would not have likely odds of gaining them..
I agree its a positive option but there tends to be some cases it will be less beneficial for..
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Venture-Agent, Canada—Alberta—Grand Prairie
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1) GMs will tend to get less games than players and would be less likely to build up points. Would they get some way to balance a chance at a boon if they only got the less frequent game option.
Here I assumed that GM's counted as players also when it came to receiving Player Boons.
