Advancement - how to do it?

[torilen]

Tott - I have been thinking about using a system that would allow advancement based on number of quests completed,
and I was possibly going to be using the talent tree idea. I think that could really offer a lot of options for the players,
and could offer a lot of diversity, both among the players and for any non-player characters introduced.

Thanks for all the comments, by the way - you've all given me a lot to think about.

[el_flesh]

game master can simply jot down monster types killed and split xp evenly among party
-OR- can make it per player which just needs a little more involved spreadsheet or faster writing skillz...which is pretty impossible for our gaming group...GM sez is like herding cats.

[gravaillon]

I hear a lot talking about the upgrades of the heroes, but... what about the game master ??? If the Heroes are too strong, the game will be very boring for the game master. I think that he has not a lot of things to defend himself (just little monsters with no equipment, poor traps)... The Game master is really a poor guy which can't do a lot of things to make the heroes affraid and not sure of their power...

Has someone got an idea to boost the power of the game master? (instead of buying new monsters minis of course)

[ken]

I hear a lot talking about the upgrades of the heroes, but... what about the game master ??? If the Heroes are too strong, the game will be very boring for the game master. I think that he has not a lot of things to defend himself (just little monsters with no equipment, poor traps)... The Game master is really a poor guy which can't do a lot of things to make the heroes affraid and not sure of their power...

Has someone got an idea to boost the power of the game master? (instead of buying new monsters minis of course)

Have a look in my Lord of The Rings Topic, at the Runes Dice, which I use to give the GM extra power.

[Big Bene]

It's up top him to make the quests more difficult.
More traps, more or bigger monsters, give the monsters (standard minis) more dice or abilities (of course, this should be explained in-game, e. g. "This is the stronghold of the orc emperor, and he has gathered only the toughest fighters to defend it").
Shift away the focus of the game from fighting and stats, add more puzzles and strategic elements which require more than high character stats to solve.

[torilen]

ken - I'll have to check that out - never did really look at that thread.

As big bene suggested, you can add a lot of things to the game to make it harder. Take a page from typical video games. There
is a lever in one room - and the character has to get from that room to another room before the door shuts - maybe three turns.
This would be very difficult for a character wearing the wrong type of armor, or who has had a spell or curse put on him that makes
him slower.

grav - there are a lot of ways to make monsters bigger and badder. Not only that, but there are all sorts of monsters out there
that other people have created. I've added my own list on here for example. A number of them are the same...I simply added to
another list I downloaded from the old aginn's inn website.

Notice the ones I have added. A lot of the undead are mine; the giants are mine; the demons and demon lords are mine; a lot of
the creatures under "Elves" section are mine; I've added elementals and genies in there - though I don't think I've given them
stats or anything yet.

Use these monsters, and you can kick your heroes from here right on back to camelot's round table.

Take note - I will be rewriting all of these - I'm in the process of it now - and will post them in a form more easily used.
I might even try using that new monster card you posted - I've got the blank one, by the way - thanks for that.

The Monsters of HeroQuest - good sheet.doc

[Baylor_OgreBane]

there is an alternative, they could gain experience in all 4 of your ideas,xp gained when completing a task or quest, from purchasing training, by finding books or items and from causing wounds on monsters. if u set a taget of xp to reach the second level lets say 100xp as an example, then it can double for the next level(3) so they would need 200xp ect.
if u based xp on the difficulty of the quest, say for each wound caused on a monster they get 5xp, and the books idea, then u would have several ways too increase your xp.
make sure though that the players log all this down as the game plays through!
also the GM should use their discretion with xp and how its distributed.
the reason why u may need more than 1 from of xp is because barbarians aren't legendary for reading books, nor wizards for how well they can cave in a goblins skull with a mace!
its all do-able.
u can even increase the monsters in the same way by allowing them the same bonus's and advancements as the players with each level. potentially u could have a level 3 goblin chieftain, or a level 10 ogre over lord!

[torilen]

I've actually been playing around with simply using items and treasure and artifacts and such for "advancement". I've added a couple of
spells to the spell list so it makes sense...not spells, really...powers. Enchant, Multiple Spell, Imbue...things like that. I'll add them in
as a post here (or somewhere else...drathe, where do you think I should add something like that?)

It works out really well. I've also created a character carry capacity...it is quite a bit more extensive than typical rpg carry capacities,
so as to allow a lot of "advancement" for the characters. I'm going to work on this stuff tonight...I might be able to add it later.

[torilen]

Here are the new spells/powers I've added to allow for the new items and artifacts that I would use for
the "advancement" idea using treasure and items.
NOTE - I don't know where exactly these would fit in with the normal spells. I created these for a variation of
HQ that I'm working on - magic is still mostly element based, but goes by type (arcane, divine, druidic, etc.)

I guess with a normal HQ type game, the attempts for enchantment and imbuing could be done in between
the quests - maybe just one attempt per "break".

Multiple Spell – This power allows a Wizard or Elf to cast more than one spell during their
turn. This does not, however, allow the character to cast more spells than they
normally can. At the start of the Player’s turn, if the Player wishes for his
character to cast a spell, roll a number of combat dice equal to the character’s current
Mind Points. The character may cast a number of spells during that turn equal to
the number of dice not showing a skull, though he does not have to cast
the full resulting number.

Modify Spell – This power allows a Wizard of Elf to modify the spells they know and cast.
In order to modify a spell, the Wizard or Elf must be able to cast multiple spells.
Typically, modifications would involve increasing the damage caused by a spell,
increasing the healing offered by a spell, or increasing the reach or duration of
a spell. The result of the Multiple Spell roll will tell the Player just how much the
character can modify a spell. For each die not showing a skull, he may make
one change to a spell – he may add one point of damage, he may add one point
of healing, he may add one space to the reach of the spell or 1 round to the duration of
the spell. In cases where a spell attacks more than one target, or creates more
than one object (such as Flying Icicles), a modification can add targets or create
more objects.
Modify Spell can be used in conjunction with Enchant or Imbue. Modify Spell can
take the place of any of the “additional uses” resulting from the initial Multiple
Spell roll for Enchant or Imbue.

Imbue – This power allows a Wizard or Elf to imbue a single item with a portion of his own
Body Points, Mind Points, or Spirit Points. The attempt is completed just as an
Enchantment attempt. If successful, the character may imbue the item with all of
his points, up to leaving himself with one point. An item can only be imbued with
one type of ability (Body or Mind or Spirit). The points are removed from the
character and may be healed as have been described. The effects of an imbued
item work for a total of 10 rounds per quest, unless the attempt results in
a permanent effect.

Enchant – This power allows a Wizard of Elf to enchant a single item with the spells or
powers they have at hand. In order to use this power, the Wizard or Elf must be
able to cast multiple spells. To enchant an item, the Player must first check to cast
multiple spells. If he is able to cast more than one spell, he must then roll a
number of combat dice equal to his character’s current Mind Points. If at least 3 dice do
not show a skull, he is successful in enchanting the item with a single use of
the chosen spell in a quest. If the Multiple Spell check allowed for more
than two spells, the item may be enchanted with more than a single use of the
chosen spell. A single item may not be enchanted with different spells. If six of
the dice rolled for the enchantment showing anything except a skull (four of
the dice for the Elf), the effects of the chosen spell will be permanent. In the case of
healing spells, this will act as a Regeneration power being used each round. If the
enchantment fails, the item is destroyed and is useless and worthless.
If the Wizard or Elf desires to enchant a spell scroll, the Multiple Spell check is not
needed, but the scroll offers only one use of the spell, and is usable only once.

[torilen]

Here is a file that includes the new carry capacity thought for characters, along with some new armory equipment items
and a few magical items/artifacts that could possibly be created by a character using enchant or imbue or such.

Enjoy.

treasures and artifacts.pdf