39 réponses à ce sujet

[Eguintir Eligard]

I wouldnt give anything at all for the last big hurrah. What's the point of the stupid vampire sword you can get in BG2 that only works for 2 fights before the game is over. Give them something they will have time to actually use (at least one full sized dungeon) and then shut it down.

[Lugaid of the Red Stripes]

By the same logic, why give them XP if they're only gonna use their new levels for a fight or two?
Does the loot help tell the story?/build the game world?
Does the loot give the player an interesting choice?
Does the loot help create a necessary sense of accomplishment for the player?
Is the loot fun?

If you can answer yes to one of those questions, then keep the loot.

[kamal_]

Sure why not. Let's say you have to collect pieces of the Sword of Destiny to have it reforged so you can defeat the Dragon of Doom, a pretty cliche plot. You only get if when the module's almost over because you spent the most of the module collecting pieces and making friends with the dwarves in order to get it reforged, probably at the last minute right before the Dragon of Doom attacks, so you'll only get to use it once in the module.

[Rolo Kipp]

<shading his eyes...>

Lugaid of the Red Stripes wrote...
...
Does the loot help create a necessary sense of accomplishment for the player?
...
If you can answer yes to one of those questions, then keep the loot.

If you think of the module (campaign) in terms of the *true* reward for a player - character development - then having some kind of unique/special reward at the end not only makes sense, but is really rather expected. *Not* a reward for use in that module, but a trophy to carry forward.

Note that loot doesn't have to be an *item*, but could very well be a feat, a skill, a special custom sub-module with a personalized keep and minions or some other reward that makes that character special.

On the other hand, gobs of random loot is just rather... tacky and annoying ;-P

IMO :-)

<...and staring off into the future>

Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 26 août 2013 - 04:56 .

[Arkalezth]

In short, plot-related and/or unusual loot is OK; random trash isn't. If you get a weapon from a mini-boss two areas before the big boss, it's all right and it makes sense RP-wise, but don't make his pawns drop their mundane gear.

Tchos' module is a special case because you get a few custom potions after the main quest (and likely all the sidequests) is finished.

[MokahTGS]

In Jabberwocky, loot is really a secondary concern and in the final stages of the module you get little to no loot what so ever. Loot serves as a reward, but is certainly not something that is driving the player forward.

[Tchos]

You could also go the opposite direction -- if it's a level 20 party, and you expect the player is not going to import the character into another module because levels higher than 20 are too over-the-top, then why not go out with a bang? If they've earned a hero's reward, then give them the dragon's hoard! Give them leadership of the kingdom and the pick of all eligible princes and/or princesses across the land. Go wild! The end of a character's career is probably the only time you can really get away with a Monty Haul.

Modifié par Tchos, 26 août 2013 - 05:19 .

[Shallina]

Are you sure you won't do an expension ?

[I_Raps]

Iveforgotmypassword wrote...

(1) Thing is that is there really much point in giving away things to a level 20 party just to use in a couple of fights or treasure that they'll never get rid of ?

....

(2) How many modules will a level 20 PC be used in again and if so he/she is bound to be equipped in the best stuff anyway so will be fine on an import without having to sell a whole inventory for a few hundred thousand gp ?

....

(*) Any thoughts?

(*) Here are a couple.

(1) You're doing a module that will get me to Level 20?!!!  SWEET!  Who cares what you do for loot!!

(2) One more if you do one.

Modifié par I_Raps, 26 août 2013 - 07:56 .

[kamal_]

Iveforgotmypassword wrote...
kamal_ I like the idea but "making friends with the dwarves" are you sure ?

That's why it's a quest, the challenge there is their dwarven grumpiness!

[Arkalezth]

Iveforgotmypassword wrote...

kamal_ Ah now I understand they just haven't been the same since their women lost their beards. I know there's a hak for that and I was extremely tempted to use it and still might.

You can use that for a quest: An ancient curse is making the women of a dwarven tribe wake up with their faces shaved and smooth as a elven baby's arse, which is seriously affecting the males' sexual appetite for their wives.

The dwarven king has promised a generous reward consisting in a substantial amount of gold and a huge harem of nice, hairy dwarven women to the hero that can save his race in this dire hour of desperate need.

Modifié par Arkalezth, 26 août 2013 - 08:40 .

[Dann-J]

Surely loot is there to keep the *characters* happy moreso than the *player*? Few adventurers choose to enter the Deep Black Pit of Biting Nasty Things, or the Cursed Swamp of Indescribably Itchy Crotch Rashes, for such lofty ideals as character development. They're in it for the loot!

[ColorsFade]

My thoughts:

I always enjoy getting loot, even if it is the last fight. Part of me would feel really ripped off it I finally found my way to the big boss and he didn't drop anything. But I fall into the category of player who enjoys encounters and loot - I'm a big "roleplay" guy. I'm in it for the fights, story and treasure.

But beyond that, I think loot at the end is a good idea just because you never really know what you are going to do next. You, as the designer, might actually want to add a small expansion pack later. And the player might want to export that character to another module, with that loot.

The latter is a big deal, I think, to some players. I know that for myself, I tend to fall in love with my toons a bit. I want to take them to other adventures if I can. I think it would be fun to use a toon for one module for level 1-20, and then drag them over into some other module for level 20-25. And to have that final piece of uber loot from the last boss mob in that first module would be a fun reminder of where I've been and what I've done.

But again, this is just me. I'm a loot-centric kind of guy. I like fun loot.

[manageri]

If it's actually usable loot then I don't see any reason to stop. No point in throwing tons of gems and all that crap that's just for selling purposes at the PC though. Indeed I'd say that as a general building rule of thumb, it really isn't all that fun for the player to have to loot the corpse of every single one of the 300 kobolds he just cleaved to bits.

[Shallina]

g1mm3 Ph4t L00t

[Dann-J]

manageri wrote...

If it's actually usable loot then I don't see any reason to stop. No point in throwing tons of gems and all that crap that's just for selling purposes at the PC though. Indeed I'd say that as a general building rule of thumb, it really isn't all that fun for the player to have to loot the corpse of every single one of the 300 kobolds he just cleaved to bits.

Consumable loot is always useful. Potions, healing kits, spell scrolls, ammo, etc. If you spawn such loot on creatures while they're alive instead of when they die, there's a chance they might even try to use some of the items against you. Then it becomes a challenge to kill things quickly before they guzzle all the healing potions. Three hundred hasted, aided, barkskinned kobalds with healing potions aren't to be trifled with (unless they're also carrying trifle).

If I have a creature using a particular type of ranged weapon in a module then I try to have them drop at least some of the ammo type they're using. In the past I usually just put a droppable ammo stack in their inventory, but I got sick of getting stacks of 99 all the time. Now I use an OnDeath script that spawns a random number of appropriate ammo (usually between 10 and 30). I also like to vary the types of ranged weapons enemies are using, so there's always someone about who'll drop the type of ammo you're after.

[rjshae]

Personally, I think a better reward would be a nicely done and memorable cut scene ending where the player is thanked for all their hard work and sacrifice. You could always throw in a mention of the nice loot received as a reward. If you write a sequel, you can include the loot there for saved characters.