I believe this has to do with some prehistoric a part of our mind that realized to acknowledge invaluable harvest and convey it dwelling. It’s survival and generally pleasure to search out scrumptious, nutricious meals. Even now in our fashionable society, it isn’t unusual for individuals to benefit from the “hunt” for bargains, or simply the precise factor they need as a software or ornament.
In video video games, gathering and crafting is usually a solo expertise. Every part you discover, you can also make into one thing you should use your self. Baldur’s Gate 3 means that you can discover a ton of herbs for making potions that you should use within the very subsequent battle. Herbs stand out by urgent a key, amassing can be urgent a key. The herb will then wait patiently in your luggage till you might be within the temper to make one thing, and the crafting is prompt. World of Warcraft, one other sport I’ve performed lots of, did add a while it takes to gather supplies and craft gadgets. Making gadgets would improve your talent, permitting you to spend cash to be taught extra highly effective recipes. Not solely that, WoW has a complete financial system the place you may promote what you make at a revenue, and purchase what you can’t craft your self. This makes the sport an interesting financial and social system.
The entire above requires 1000’s of hours of labor put into these techniques for ensuring these supplies may be discovered, collected and became one thing else. Then the sport is balanced across the enhancements the crafted gadgets make to your characters. In some circumstances, it would make the sport virtually trivial, like all however BG3’s Hardcore mode.
Now including these to TTRPG’s is lots of work. Designers must undergo all of the steps of writing out recipes and rewards, locations to search out them and recommendation to DM’s on find out how to incorporate this right into a sport. Then they need to steadiness the sport round it, which IMO they don’t do in D&D for any magic merchandise. Having PC’s who replenish on therapeutic potions and different energy growing gadgets can break the traditional encounter math. The extra management gamers have over what they discover and make, the extra they’ll optimise and overcome challenges.
You are able to do all this. It might take work. You’d need to have designers make the system after which work them into your marketing campaign in a satisfying manner. How laborious will or not it’s to search out these supplies? How a lot time does it take? Can they fail? Can herbs wither? How simulationist will we need to get?
With the precise group, the precise system help and the precise participant group, this could possibly be a blast.
I personally assume it’s too laborious. D&D is one thing we do on the desk for a few hours each week or couple weeks. After we get collectively, now we have princes to save lots of, queens to slay and dungeons to delve. A LOT needs to be saved monitor of already. Gold, well being, hit cube, spell slots, function makes use of and for some additionally rations and torches. We don’t have a lot that robotically retains monitor of it for us, neither is there an exquisite UI that highlights what we are able to make with the supplies now we have. All of it needs to be finished by hand, finished by our psychological capability.
I don’t need to spend the valuable time now we have collectively on the desk doing issues that aren’t heroic, transfer the story ahead or dramatic. Crafting is a really satisfying, however uncooperative motion. It focuses on mechanics, stock administration and time use. The much less my gamers depend issues of their stock, the higher. I do know there are others who disagree.
There are various options to my points with crafting, however all of them require extra time and funding. I’ve restricted time and restricted psychological capability. I want to spend my time on descriptions of superior scenes, fleshing out NPC’s, creating plots in response to participant needs and PC actions.
I’ve too many issues me and my gamers maintain monitor of already. I want to offer them a potion vendor each every now and then.
The Bastion system provides us an choice to permit gamers to craft gadgets, however with WotC doing such a horrible job at balancing magic gadgets, a DM must oversee each step. Anybody keep in mind the put up of a 2024 marketing campaign the place all gamers had 10 rings of resistance? I see that as a failure.
Take into consideration the effort and time extra crafting in your sport requires, and if that’s what you and your gamers all (not simply half the gamers) take pleasure in on the desk. Whether it is value it, and also you relatively spend time taking a look at crafting guidelines and stock, go for it.
I relatively flesh out a dungeon.
