In our last post, we decided we wanted to do nodes-and-routes for our design, and I arbitrarily labelled each route as having a duration in days and a danger rating. Today I'd like to think about what those two pieces of information mean.
DIGRESSION ONE: D&D: One major problem that classic DND runs into is that many of its systems are written around time costs, but the game has no inherent time budget. For example, the game is written around the assumption that adventurers will face 2-6 challenges per day, with each combat or puzzle draining about a quarter of their resources- The challenge in D&D is typically intended not as "how can we possibly survive this battle against the goblins" but "how can we defeat the goblins at the cave entrance, overcome all the traps in the dungeon, and still have enough HP and spells to defeat the dragon at the end of the dungeon?" However, sleeping for eight hours restores your depleted HP and spells. If the PCs overcome half the dungeon and then nap, they'll have twice as many resources as intended for the second half. The question of how to circumvent this behavior and prevent the "five minute adventuring day" (an extreme version of the situation where the PCs nap after *every* fight) is an ongoing discussion in D&D theory.
DIGRESSION TWO: FITD: In Forged in the Dark games, the DM is encouraged to create narrative progress bars called "Clocks" and mark them whenever appropriate. Clocks serve two purposes, broadly speaking: First, they provide the experience of time passing in a narrative/worldbuilding sense. E.g. if the DM starts a clock that says "the king is building a new castle" then the party can notice the castle getting a little bigger each time they return from an adventure.
Second, they can act as budgets/HP bars for abstract concepts. For example, the DM might create a clock that says "Guard returns from his break 0/4" and then the party know they have four abstract units of action before the guard arrives. One thing I find particularly ingenious about clocks is that they encourage a language of give-and-take. DMs will intuitively say things like "Oh well that action was very loud, I think that'll speed the guard up and it costs two ticks" and players will say things like "What if I leave an egg in the hallway? The guard will have to stop and ask 'why the hell is there an egg in the hallway?' and that'll buy us time, right?"
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In Renegade Merchant, why do we care if time passes? Let's brainstorm:
- Paychecks: The crew want money every week.
- Resources: The crew keep eating and breathing every day. Morale fits under here too, I suspect.
- Opportunity Loss: Certain contracts and quests are only available for a limited time, either because they become meaningless (IE: A contract to deliver medicine is only valid for as long as the plague lasts) or because someone else does them (There are NPC renegade merchants competing for jobs).
- Crises Blossom: Player holdings may experience threats which must be resolved before a certain amount of time passes.
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