The Drunken Lizard Pub

it has been a trope of CRPGs for quite some time that potions are always in glass containers. but, really, considering what adventurers DO, how bright is that? or else, I want armor made of the same magically invincible glass the potion bottles are using

I've thought the same thing, but then how would we see the contents?

For that matter, hauling around 25 flasks of various potions and elixirs is silly too. How does a rogue "move silently" with all those glass flasks clinking around in his backpack!

in my imagination, "quick item" slots (at least for potions) are like a bandoleer with flasks instead of bullets. the strapping that holds them in place also keeps them separated enough not to clink.

BasiliskWrangler wrote:I've thought the same thing, but then how would we see the contents?

For that matter, hauling around 25 flasks of various potions and elixirs is silly too. How does a rogue "move silently" with all those glass flasks clinking around in his backpack!

I've always imagined potions to be in glass or clay shaped like test tubes with a cork sealed on the top. They could easily be put into a leather band - like bullets are to keep from noise or damage. The potions don't have to be the size of milk cartons after all. In DnD some healing potions can be drunk a gulp at a time, 3 to one potion (cure serious wounds) or one at a time 3 times. Like taking the 'pink stuff'.

I was thinking about that very thing today. I mean your rough-housing about on your quest, you think you would lose some things to breakage. But then you could also say they are in some small, toughened gourds or leather wineskins too.

I like the idea mentioned of small, beaker type potions too because the potion would slide right out. The round bottom bottles would take way too long to imbibe because the air would be trapped in them and they would glug, glug, glug away while your trying not to get hit.

I like the idea they had in a D&D book I read where you could make potions contained in little, breakable clay tiles. You could tuck them away on your person then use them by deliberately breaking them in two, releasing their effects. Seems much handier than toting a bunch of clattering bottles in six pack cases around. They should put that in a game. Make the potions cost more or require some mastery of alchemy to make, but they weigh less and have less change of breaking. And if they do break you still get the full effect.

ThwockSplort wrote:And if they do break you still get the full effect.

That'll make 'em think twice before carrying half-a-dozen potions of poison with 'em! And I don't even want to think about the consequences of Devil's Oil or... Incinerator Fuel /shivers/

Another thing: how do adventurers move in all that silly attire?

You know, females clad in nothing but bikinis while the males wear something totally flashy which the enemies should be able to see from a few miles away. Really, it's like walking around with a sign saying: "Hit me for 12, 000 gold."

And the stuff about the potion bottles totally cracks me up.

Even better one is the almighty santas bag everyone wears like their inventory.5 chainmails?Piece of cake!Toss them all in the inventory.Add a fullplate there as well.Plenty of room for all those bulky sheets of metal.

It's called a 'bag of holding' .. a very early AD&D invention. But yeah, things get silly at times. I mean have you ever seen what 600 arrows LOOKS like. You'd need a horse and cart, not a quiver.

When I used to run D&D games, I was a stickler for weight and emcumbrance (I also made sure people appreciated any good stuff they found--no monty haul dungeons). So, if you found a large pile of copper pieces far from home, it really did weigh too much to be worth carrying! And equipment/supplies/components were kept track of for damage and being used up. A little more book-keeping involved, but it really added to the strategy of play rather then just being a kill stuff/pick up loot game.

Jude

Jude wrote:When I used to run D&D games, I was a stickler for weight and emcumbrance (I also made sure people appreciated any good stuff they found--no monty haul dungeons). So, if you found a large pile of copper pieces far from home, it really did weigh too much to be worth carrying! And equipment/supplies/components were kept track of for damage and being used up. A little more book-keeping involved, but it really added to the strategy of play rather then just being a kill stuff/pick up loot game.

Sure,I do that as well.And so do many GMers I know.But its never present in a cRPG.

I guess that's because we GMs can do it with just a bit of thought and "common sense" involved, but programming all the variables in and coming up with workable formulas is no so easy to do!

Jude

Diablo 1 and 2 try to handle this with different sized equipment and item hit points. It works to a point.

I gave up on D&D after WotC bought it. I did however play Rolemaster extensively where weight and encumberance is heavily watched and different types of armour and skill with such affects all your moving maneuvers

Of course, enormous weight allowances exist, esp. in cRPGs, to facilitate fun game-play. But surely this could be done another way. It would be reasonable, I think, to expect a hero (so a PC with a certain amount of renown and financial wallop) to afford a supply train. Didn't knights of olde have squires to deal with all their equipment needs, including arranging or making repairs? Of course, supply trains would have to be left outside of dungeons, leaving the PC only room in his own inventory to carry the essentials. Supply trains would also be susceptible to attack in the PC's absence. Mount & Blade, another cRPG, already uses a system like this. And of course valuables, like that stash of 3,000,000 gold pieces, would be best left at home. Preferably guarded by a tame and ferocious dragon. Other cRPGs (seemingly only online ones like Crossfire and its variants) use banks to exchange heavy money (copper) into gold or even gems which are more value-efficient, as well as for storing it. I've seen requests for a vault / home for the PC elsewhere on these boards.

Magic users would probably also have other methods for dealing with kit. Opening portals back to a home base to transport heavy equipment being just one. Summoning a familiar to do the job for them would be another.

A slightly off-topic thought: Monks or monk-types should probably not be picking up stuff at all. My understanding of a monk is of a character who has taken a strict vow of poverty. Of course, historically, monasteries and their inhabitants have not always adhered to the spirit of their order...

Of course, all of this is probably moot. What these considerations add in terms of strategic depth and mimesis they lose in fun and developers' sanity.

I would enjoy giving Gold Pieces weight in Book II. This would require the use of banks to store large quantities of gold. Better yet, rather than carry around 8,000 coins, you might choose to carry a few gemstones weighing a fraction of that but having the same value, which then you could use to barter for an exotic weapon or armor. The trade screen would have a third "barter area" where you could place items of value to apply toward the cost of new equipment, so that you wouldn't have to carry 80 pounds of coins with you to the Blacksmith's. Of course, this means that the Mercantile skill would have much more importance because you would always want top value for your bartered items; else you'd want to stick with gold which has a stable value.