Another thing I would like to see gone from D&D is the tracking of annoying consumables like lamp oil, trail rations, and the copper pieces it costs to stay in an inn. I'm terribly sorry, but tracking such things isn't why I signed on to play the game.
So, stealing a page from Shadowrun, I propose the following:
Each character purchases a monthly "lifestyle" for a certain amount of money. This covers them for trail rations, standard clothing, inn fees and the like for all the time they are in civilised lands. This includes foreign (but still civilised) lands, since the character is assumed to have small change to cover whatever he needs. Thereafter, you only track food and water in lands where the character can't buy them as he goes, such as on an epic quest to Mordor (even then, there's no need until the Fellowship is broken, or thenabouts). Of course, if there were extreme circumstances, such as a culture who's entire diet happens to be poisonous to humans, there would be a need to track supplies.
Likewise, there should be assembled an "adventure kit" of gear that every PC requires. This should include consumables like lamp oil, iron spikes, caltrops, spell components pouches, weapon and armour upkeep, and so on and so forth. Again, this can be assessed monthly, or once per adventure, or at whatever interval seems appropriate. Then, as long as the player pays this, he needn't track consumables unless he's out of touch for a significant length of time. Perhaps different levels of care here, reflecting the different wants and needs of different characters?
Archived comment by Mort:
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good idea, atleast for D&D, that game is not about having to wonder what petty items you need to buy, or if you have enought money to buy them. I more gritty fantasy games it is one of my favourite parts, you need to make sure you have that cooking pot for the foul root soup you have to prepare when lost in some forest, and god forgive that orc than crapped on your beloved pillow.
But for D&D yeah, just get rid of it. And I can't understand why they havn't included a list of basic kits for the different classes, that is such a convenient thing to have.