tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768285619146394809.post1581092338779700817..comments2023-04-04T19:02:52.605-06:00Comments on Crit This!: Itemized Expenses in RPGsDavid Schimpffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04207702598494587244noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768285619146394809.post-32547060856112473392015-01-26T17:19:04.170-07:002015-01-26T17:19:04.170-07:00The only time--and I mean the only time--I've ...The only time--and I mean the <i>only</i> time--I've found it worthwhile to keep such careful note of equipment has been in the course of playing old school D&D. Because that whole system was designed around resource management, be it rations, gold pieces, or spells per day. I mean, this is a game where you're supposed to track how many feet the party moves in 10-minute increments, and how many torches or flasks of oil their light sources consume in an hour. So if you're not tracking that kind of stuff, you're essentially giving the PCs a HUUUUGE advantage.<br /><br />The problem is that, since D&D set the tone for every game that followed, that sort of penny-pinching approach was simply passed down in the gaming DNA without really thinking about whether it was a good fit for the mechanics of the game. That was one of the things I was happy to see changed with 7e Call of Cthulhu, them finally dropping the D&D-style inventory approach to equipment. (Although a friend and I did once spend a wonderful evening equipping his Gaslight-era character using a reprinted 1902 Sears Roebuck catalog. Suffice to say we knew every single volume in his home library and exactly how many forks and knives were in his silver service.)<br /><br />Ironically, D&D also introduced the approach you're discussing here, where you simply calculate a monthly living expense and deduct it. As you mentioned Pendragon, I could see doing a sort of monthly "Winter Phase lite" where you run through a simplified economic system with a couple rolls. GURPS 3e had a pretty cool little sub-system for determining monthly income based on a "Job Roll"--with fumbles leading to loss of job or (in the case of hazardous professions) physical injury or incarceration!David Larkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04133630988557116729noreply@blogger.com