While at Genghis Con a couple weeks ago, I had an interesting discussion with Jesse about mod cards. As I see it, the benefits and disadvantages of mod cards are as follows (feel free to correct me if this isn't an accurate summary):
BENEFITS:
1. It enables players who want to play "explorer" or "scout" type characters or teams to actually go out and explore and scout and find things.
2. It gives players a simple way to actively search for mods. That way players who want to participate in mods have a way of actively going out and searching for them rather than just waiting for a mod hook to show up. (That's not to say there aren't other ways of actively looking for hooks; there was a recent document posted about how to get more plot that addresses this issue in detail. But this is one way of looking for mods.)
DISADVANTAGES:
1. Since mod cards can be found in any order, and there is no guarantee that a particular mod will ever be found, it can be difficult for Plot to weave these mod cards into the overall story.
2. Since mod cards can be found and turned in at any time, it is difficult logistically for Plot to run, since players could bring them to NPC camp at a time when the NPCs are needed for other story related events.
3. In particular, lots of people go and search for mod cards early Saturday morning in order to get them before others get them. This leads to lots of people wanting to do mods on Saturday morning, which can lead to a backlog.
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Thus I have come up with some potential ideas for hoe to keep some of the advantages of mod cards whie mitigating the logistical issues.
-- Idea 1: Delayed Hook ---
The idea here is that the mod card would have some piece of information on it, which means nothing in itself but whose significance is revealed later, by a hook. For instance, a mod card could say something like "You see a tree with a red X marked on it." This would not be turned in when you see it. But later in the day, for instance, the sheriff could come in and say "We've just learned that the Evil Guild of Evilness has set up evil bases marked by trees with red Xs on them. Anyone who has seen one of these trees is invited to get a group together and raid the evil base."
This way it still rewards the players who went out and scouted early on, since they will know where to go for the mod. But the time at which the hook is sent out is still under Plot control.
-- Idea 2: Timed Mod Cards --
In this idea, a mod card would have a time at which the mod is to be run marked on it. For instance, let's say a mod card says it will be run at 1:30 PM. Then if I went out and found the mod card at 11:00 in the morning, I would not take the mod card to NPC camp. Rather, I would get my group together, then show up at the mod location at 1:30. The NPCs would know to set up at that mod location at exactly 1:30 PM. (With this idea, since you would not turn in mod cards to NPC camp, the NPCs would just show up at the mod at the designated time. If there was no PC group there, then the NPCs would just leave and not run the mod. But it sounds like lots of groups are searching for mods, so hopefully that won't happen all that often.)
Again, you have to explore to find the mod, but the mod is always done at a time which is chosen by Plot based on their needs. Another advantage of this method is that it forces players to be prompt, since if they do not show up at the designated time they will miss the mod. This I think could minimize the amount of NPC time used, because the NPCs don't have to wait for the PC group to set up- they just go there at the designated time, and if there's no PCs there, they can go back.
-- Idea 3: Proof of Exploration --
In this idea, cards would be placed around the site that just have, say, four-digit codes on them, and no other information. If you wanted to explore the area as a PC, you would walk around the site and record any codes you find. Then you would go back to NPC camp and say, e.g. "I just explored around for an hour and found these six codes, did I find anything?" The purpose of the codes here is just to serve as a "proof of work" that you actually did walk around the site and explore. Then the NPC camp could tell you what you found based in part on their needs - for instance, if they didn't have any NPCs to run anything, they could say you didn't find anything. (This would encourage groups to stagger their explorations, because they are less likely to find something if they explore when everybody else is, due to competition for NPCs.) Or the more codes you found, the more thoroughly you explored so the more likely you are to get something if there is competition, etc. So the explorer and scout PCs could still go around and explore and scout and find things, without messing up the Plot timeline.
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Do you agree with this assessment of the current system? What do you think about these ideas?
BENEFITS:
1. It enables players who want to play "explorer" or "scout" type characters or teams to actually go out and explore and scout and find things.
2. It gives players a simple way to actively search for mods. That way players who want to participate in mods have a way of actively going out and searching for them rather than just waiting for a mod hook to show up. (That's not to say there aren't other ways of actively looking for hooks; there was a recent document posted about how to get more plot that addresses this issue in detail. But this is one way of looking for mods.)
DISADVANTAGES:
1. Since mod cards can be found in any order, and there is no guarantee that a particular mod will ever be found, it can be difficult for Plot to weave these mod cards into the overall story.
2. Since mod cards can be found and turned in at any time, it is difficult logistically for Plot to run, since players could bring them to NPC camp at a time when the NPCs are needed for other story related events.
3. In particular, lots of people go and search for mod cards early Saturday morning in order to get them before others get them. This leads to lots of people wanting to do mods on Saturday morning, which can lead to a backlog.
---
Thus I have come up with some potential ideas for hoe to keep some of the advantages of mod cards whie mitigating the logistical issues.
-- Idea 1: Delayed Hook ---
The idea here is that the mod card would have some piece of information on it, which means nothing in itself but whose significance is revealed later, by a hook. For instance, a mod card could say something like "You see a tree with a red X marked on it." This would not be turned in when you see it. But later in the day, for instance, the sheriff could come in and say "We've just learned that the Evil Guild of Evilness has set up evil bases marked by trees with red Xs on them. Anyone who has seen one of these trees is invited to get a group together and raid the evil base."
This way it still rewards the players who went out and scouted early on, since they will know where to go for the mod. But the time at which the hook is sent out is still under Plot control.
-- Idea 2: Timed Mod Cards --
In this idea, a mod card would have a time at which the mod is to be run marked on it. For instance, let's say a mod card says it will be run at 1:30 PM. Then if I went out and found the mod card at 11:00 in the morning, I would not take the mod card to NPC camp. Rather, I would get my group together, then show up at the mod location at 1:30. The NPCs would know to set up at that mod location at exactly 1:30 PM. (With this idea, since you would not turn in mod cards to NPC camp, the NPCs would just show up at the mod at the designated time. If there was no PC group there, then the NPCs would just leave and not run the mod. But it sounds like lots of groups are searching for mods, so hopefully that won't happen all that often.)
Again, you have to explore to find the mod, but the mod is always done at a time which is chosen by Plot based on their needs. Another advantage of this method is that it forces players to be prompt, since if they do not show up at the designated time they will miss the mod. This I think could minimize the amount of NPC time used, because the NPCs don't have to wait for the PC group to set up- they just go there at the designated time, and if there's no PCs there, they can go back.
-- Idea 3: Proof of Exploration --
In this idea, cards would be placed around the site that just have, say, four-digit codes on them, and no other information. If you wanted to explore the area as a PC, you would walk around the site and record any codes you find. Then you would go back to NPC camp and say, e.g. "I just explored around for an hour and found these six codes, did I find anything?" The purpose of the codes here is just to serve as a "proof of work" that you actually did walk around the site and explore. Then the NPC camp could tell you what you found based in part on their needs - for instance, if they didn't have any NPCs to run anything, they could say you didn't find anything. (This would encourage groups to stagger their explorations, because they are less likely to find something if they explore when everybody else is, due to competition for NPCs.) Or the more codes you found, the more thoroughly you explored so the more likely you are to get something if there is competition, etc. So the explorer and scout PCs could still go around and explore and scout and find things, without messing up the Plot timeline.
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Do you agree with this assessment of the current system? What do you think about these ideas?
