Play Cycle

So, I'm going to talk a bit about the play cycle in Mistwardens.  I'm doing this as much to organize my thoughts as anything else, so this is probably going to end up being even more of a ramble than normal.

In your generic fantasy RPG, the typical play cycle goes something like this:

1.  The PCs encounter adventure hook.  This might involve traveling to a new location, or it may involve simply being at the local tavern at the same time as the mysterious quest giver.

2.  The PCs prepare to leave on their journey.  This is the step most likely to be skipped. It usually entails buying various adventuring supplies throughout town (what about a bit of rope?  You'll want it if you haven't got it), possibly hiring some assistants, and maybe doing a bit of preliminary investigation and rumor-hunting.

3.  The PCs leave their place of safety to follow the adventure hook.  The place of safety is usually civilization itself, but it needn't be - plenty of adventures are set entirely within an urban environment.

4.  The PCs reach the Dungeon and face its dangers.  This need not be a literal dungeon, as long as it's a place of danger where they can solve the problem to which the adventure hook pertains.  The thwarting of the dungeon's dangers may involve a single session, or it may be spread over several sessions.

5.  The danger thwarted, the PCs return to their place of safety to the spoils they find.  Typically, this means experience, wealth, and magic.  Often there is a bit of time spent dividing up the loot amongst the party, but this can vary from group to group and isn't integral to the process.

6.  Return to step one for the next adventure.  Repeat until the campaign ends.

Sometimes there are other steps involved, and sometimes one or of these steps may be skipped over - for example, some adventures are meant to begin in media res, thus completely skipping steps one and/or two.  Overall, these steps are largely informal.

Mistwardens is not going to be all that much different, except that many of these steps are going to be hard-coded into the rules.

1.  Receiving the adventure hook is more or less the same, though typically the PCs are in charge of a settlement and adventures will involve dealing with threats to that settlement.

2.  Pre-journey business in town will be more formalized.  PCs receive a certain number of actions they can accomplish before leaving on their journey, in which they'll purchase supplies, buy favors, hire henchmen, and so on.  This is meant to be a bit more abstract - your actions don't just determine how efficient you are at spending your time, but also how good you are at finding what you need in the time that you have.

3.  The PCs leave the safety of town.  Journeying is much less hand-waved than in most fantasy RPGs.  It's a matter of resource management, making sure you have the supplies and skills you need to make the journey safely, as represented by the Camp Building roll.  Wandering monster encounters are built right into the system, so that you only encounter them if you roll poorly (or, alternately, if you roll very well).

4.  The PCs reach the Dungeon and face its dangers.  "Dungeon" here is used even more loosely than in most fantasy RPGs, where it can include not just the decrepit tower that you're journeying to, but also the cursed swamp that surrounds it and the haunted forest in between.  Additionally, dungeon "levels" actually have a mechanical effect - the deeper into the dungeon you go, the more difficult it becomes by default.

5.  The danger thwarted, the PCs return to safety.  There isn't really any treasure-divvying in Mistwardens, since that's done as you play.  Experience points are still tallied and divided, though since they're a physical thing I suppose you could consider them to be "treasure."

Then there are four extra steps that Mistwardens has:

5B.  The PCs boast about their accomplishments.  The PCs are, by default, Big Damn Heroes, so every adventure ends with them boasting Beowulf style.  This has a mechanical benefit, in that it's the primary way to receive magical equipment.  Minotaur PCs have a special challenge here in that they have to walk a fine line - they need to claim the credit they deserve, but without overshadowing their masters, since failure to do either is considered a Shameful act.

6.  The Mists recede.  Maybe.  This involves a roll (still working out the mechanics of this one), and if successful you clear more territory for your settlement - and, thereby, the Empire.

7.  The PCs manage their town.  The default mode of play has the PCs in charge of a settlement, and this is the part where they manage it Civilization-style.  They have various resources that they spend to make their settlement safer and more prosperous, to make it stronger in resisting the Mists, and to build various facilities that give them advantages in adventuring (which is really what the game is all about).

8.  The Mists fight back.  The Mist, as a primal embodiment of chaos, doesn't just float idly by.  It fights back against the forces of civilization, always attempting to (re)claim more ground.  It's entirely possible to go through an adventure and lose as much ground as you gained in step 6 - or even lose more than you gained.  This just causes more problems to solve next time around.

I'm also pondering a step somewhere in between steps 1 and 3 involving swearing an oath related to the adventure hook - some goal you intend to accomplish, one that is distinct from the adventure hook itself.  This would play into the boasting at the end of session, making it easier for your equipment to become enchanted.

Condensed some more, I suppose I envision the typical play cycle as Town-Travel-Camp-Travel-Camp-Travel-Camp-Dungeon-Travel Home-Camp-Travel Home-The End.  Ideally, I'd want all of this to take place in a single 5-6 hour session, though it may sometimes involve several sessions (or even several trips to and from town) to clear out a single dungeon.

Really, it depends on how the rolls go.

* * * * * * *

Since my last update, I've written about 3,659 words, plus about three hundred words in random, condensed hand-written notes.  My To-Do list has expanded quite a bit, and looks like the following at the moment (anything with a question mark is something I'm not sure I actually want to do):

-Make a solid cost list for Network, Wealth, and Gear.

-Finish the unfinished skills.

-Figure out a way to pay hirelings.

-Write up attitudes towards rivals for factions/races.

-Figure out a way to increase your Network.

-Rules for buying Network with Wealth.  Where?

-Figure out Faction and House XP.

-Eldritch creation rules.

-Mutation rules.

-Helping rules.

-Finish rules for creating Wildlings.

-XP cost chart.

-Alternate magic systems:

       -Geomancy

       -Golemancy

       -Curse Magic

       -Trap Magic

-Revise Magic Damage.  Based on Will?

-Starting racial equipment. (Different shields, etc.)

-Finish the advancement rules.

-Faction Influence rules.

-Oaths and oathbound artifacts?

-Status Cards for:

        -Helpless

        -Hungry

        -Poisoned

        -Diseased

        -Paralyzed

        -Blind

        -Sleep

        -Bleeding

        -Mute

-Write a note about time measurement

-Adventure-making advice/system (Randomly generated dungeons?)

-Reputation Rules?

-Rules for fleeing

-Rules for Maps-making?