Baalshamon
I have recently started a new rule in my game. All players must post their list of items on their character tab in OP. If a player says they use an item in game, and I check OP to find it not there, the item is not available. Perhaps it was left behind, lost, or stolen. Do you think this is a good idea or one doomed to failure?
-Steve
"Star Trek Late Night":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/star-trek-late-night
"Duskreign's CotM December 2011":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/wyrmshadow/wikis/122011
"CotM January 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/star-trek-late-night-januarys-cotm/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=star-trek-late-night-januarys-cotm
Comments
This rule pre-supposes a few things:
*Players will be diligent about updating their OP char.
*Players will not argue or try to game the system.
*We all have as much time as we would like to work on the game as players or GM.
It's my experience and observation that players aren't nearly as active as any GM wants in any aspect of any game, be it OP, character back-stories, showing up on time, bringing the GM dinner or booze etc etc. It's our cross to bear, if that's the case - why would it be different this time? If you crack down on your rule I think it's only going to make for sadfase players at best, grumbling and dissension in the ranks at worst.
If you run an outstanding game, (which I have no reason to believe you don't) - players will probably go along with it, but is there a better way to handle this? I dunno that's for you to decide but perhaps incentivizing op contributions / updates / work is the answer. Run an audit every so often? Free minor experience bonus or some other bennie to those with the most accurate / updated OP char page? Me no know... just a thought.
killervp
"A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt
"Duskreign's First Ever COTM":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/wyrmshadow/wiki_pages/112011
Just trying to help out.
As I side note i am always the loot tracker for games and I use google docs so that way I can share it with the DM and the rest of the players. Also no worries of the information being lost. Once something is sold or used I just change the text color to red. Maybe that will help a bit.
If your players are actively participing on OP (as in at least once a week updates assuming you have game once a week) then it is no problem. If they are not you are just going to end up pissing them off. I would just address each player individually and go over their stuff and try to keep it contained that way. Not a perfect solution but it might be the only real solution you are going to have.
-Jaymes
"Changing History":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/l5r-changing-history
-Jaymes
Campaign of the Month Febuary 2013
As to listing it here I have to agree with TheMazeController when he said "We all have as much time as we would like to work on the game as players or GM". It is good to want your group to keep a copy here and to want to get them involved, but it isn't always practical. Sort of like carrying 87 guns, 115 knives, 3 swords, 66 grenades, and 14 tomes. :)
P.S. I'll have to mention that the next time my group gets together. We have one person that has to carry a weapon for every situation. He misses the fact that you might be able to carry the weight, but you can't logistically carry a halberd, great axe, a bow, two bastard swords, a mace, a crossbow, and an extra suit of plate armor in a normal backpack. I wanted to go PC tipping. He was also a more attractive target then half the NPC we were fighting at the time. "You know if I loot you my character can retire?" Your guy has him beat hands down. :D
"Return to the Time of Troubles":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/return-to-the-time-of-troubles
"For your players":http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff300/A-G-A/over-encumbered.jpg
My players have gotten onboard with this new rule and as of the 10th of this month it goes into effect. We shall see how well it works as time goes on.
lol. You know I don't know why, but seeing that made me think maybe I need to pull an Xbox an give achievements. "You have not been over encumbered for 10 sessions."
@StephenWollett
Let us know how it goes.
"Return to the Time of Troubles":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/return-to-the-time-of-troubles
One thing that does help a lot is to introduce it at the launch of a new campaign. If you start off with the requirements of keeping up with character loot and actively updating the portal right from the start the adoption pains are much, much lower.
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With my current players I told them that story (except for the adventure to get it back) and asked them to put their inventory out on their OP character sheets - in their hidden area. It has to include what & where it is at. Everyone has done it except my wife. Gotta have her sit down for 15 or 30 minutes to record the stuff. Although her character is considered 'wealthy' (a special Perk in the Hero Game system) and so she always has coin.
I was thinking it should have the following to be as generic as possible
|Item|Location|Weight|Notes|Value|
The page should have enough lines to handle 50-100 seperate items
Plus another section that could handle currencies. Maybe give 15 lines for this
|Type|Quatity|Location|Notes|
If we had this it could be added to anyone's page that isnt using an existing dynamic sheet.
DreadGazebo said:
"Go to the items tab and make a “backpack” (or whatever) item for each character. Assign that item to each player and ask them to keep track of things there, suggest that if they don’t keep proper tabs on it, there’s a chance the inventory goblins will come and snatch their stuff ;)"
^ This. Is. GENIUS. I think I'm going to implement this now.
_~Mae_
"Whispers in Tamris":https://whispers-in-tamris.obsidianportal.com/
~Mae
CotM Selection Committee
Because they leave it entirely in my hands (albeit most do not know how to code, and I did not make it easy for them - I kinda wish I didn't make it all spiffy but just made a simple list of items that they could easily edit), I do have a lot of control over not only what they get, but which character gets which items. When the loot is sold, they rarely get an appropriate value because I don't take much time with the math. Characters can't usually buy items in my campaign, save potions and scrolls. I can't remember the last time they went looking to purchase anything of value or importance. Even when they have items at their disposal, many of my players never look at their character's page, don't have notes about their stuff, and forget to use key items I have given them for specific purposes. I can't count the times I have had to remind them too look in their items for something specifically useful for a situation (which might require INT checks in order to remember they have the item). I even had one player (no longer in the campaign) who was a wizard that horded scrolls and never once used one, not even to add to his spellbook.
Still, I enjoy the work, when I have time. I have made it clear that if something has not made it onto their page, either they can't find it amongst their gear, or it has been lost. I keep very good notes. For the most part, they don't argue with me. But then again, I usually take about a half-hour of time before one session a month to make sure everyone is up to date. Most of them don't really care about stuff... and for the most part, I don't mind. We enjoy the role-playing over the treasure-hoarding aspect of the game, which we all agree is more important.
"PhoenixMark":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/PhoenixMark
"CRIMSON SKIES":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/crimson-skies
"COTM June 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/crimson-skies-junes-campaign-of-the-month/
Also "Sactown Blues":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/sactown-blues and "Shimmering Kingdoms":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimmering-kingdoms