by LMSchwartz01 » June 14th, 2010, 2:16 pm
We think the Scavenger Hunt is fun and should be available, but it should be optional. Our group of players has all levels of expertise, from those who have played (and written) RPG's and mystery games to those who are new at character portrayal. The Scavenger Hunt is only one method of assigning weapons. Hunting clues is hard in a large group and randomly dispensing spells seems unfair. Presumably, some spells are better than others, and the background of the character should determine what kind of spell s/he has. Warriors have attack spells; jokesters have "funny" spells. Another method for dispensing weapons and spells would be to assign weapons and spells according to the characters, as in RPG character generation. For example, a high-status elf would have a knife and/or a short sword; a law officer could have a gun. Naturally, these could be stolen by other players. The "spells" could also be mundane Advantages and Disadvantages (again like RPG gaming). For example, a wizard or a faerie would have a spell, but a human character could have excellent hearing or eyesight or the ability to lipread or to speak in multiple languages. I would keep the rule about only using each weapon once (it gets confiscated along with the body), but it could be stolen or traded for information (blackmail or money) multiple times until it is used or confiscated by an authority figure (Sheriff, Inquisitor, Guild member). Spells and Advantages cannot be stolen, of course, but they can be negated (Wizard cancels ability to spell; noise in background makes hearing hard). In large games, the players could choose which weapons/spells/Advantages their characters have.