A thought on #DnD - style #ttrpg where the player characters can be classified as "professional treasure hunters" either deliberately (they go into dungeons in order to seek treasure) or accidentally (they find treasure while they go into the dungeon f...
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A thought on #DnD - style #ttrpg where the player characters can be classified as "professional treasure hunters" either deliberately (they go into dungeons in order to seek treasure) or accidentally (they find treasure while they go into the dungeon for other reasons).
The absurd amount of valuables the player character find has ample precedent in European #folklore (click on the link for a few examples), and indeed, the whole concept of treasure hunting has precedent in the "Magical Treasure Hunting" craze of Early Modern Europe.
However, folk tales are almost always "one-shots" - the person who finds the treasure either gets rich and lives heavily ever after, or they feel regret for the rest of their lives because they missed their one big shot at riches.
In contrast, TTRPG usually feature ongoing campaigns, and thus the PCs will usually delve into "dungeons" and similar treasure-laden sites again and again. So the question the GM - and indeed, anyone who does #worldbuilding for such settings - needs to answer is:
"Why would the player characters continue to risk life and limb even after finding riches?"
What are your thoughts on this?
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A thought on #DnD - style #ttrpg where the player characters can be classified as "professional treasure hunters" either deliberately (they go into dungeons in order to seek treasure) or accidentally (they find treasure while they go into the dungeon for other reasons).
The absurd amount of valuables the player character find has ample precedent in European #folklore (click on the link for a few examples), and indeed, the whole concept of treasure hunting has precedent in the "Magical Treasure Hunting" craze of Early Modern Europe.
However, folk tales are almost always "one-shots" - the person who finds the treasure either gets rich and lives heavily ever after, or they feel regret for the rest of their lives because they missed their one big shot at riches.
In contrast, TTRPG usually feature ongoing campaigns, and thus the PCs will usually delve into "dungeons" and similar treasure-laden sites again and again. So the question the GM - and indeed, anyone who does #worldbuilding for such settings - needs to answer is:
"Why would the player characters continue to risk life and limb even after finding riches?"
What are your thoughts on this?
@juergen_hubert
I quit playing dungeon games in my teens, because so much about them is unbearably ridiculous. These days, my #ttrpg group and I play investigative RPGs. -
@juergen_hubert
I quit playing dungeon games in my teens, because so much about them is unbearably ridiculous. These days, my #ttrpg group and I play investigative RPGs.A lot of folk tales qualify as "unbearably ridiculous", too - yet that hasn't stopped their popularity.
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A lot of folk tales qualify as "unbearably ridiculous", too - yet that hasn't stopped their popularity.
@juergen_hubert
I don't know what it was that stopped their popularity. -
@juergen_hubert
I don't know what it was that stopped their popularity.Arrival of mass media and decline of household sizes are my primary suspects.
Folk tales work best for large gatherings in the evening where people don't have to concentrate on anything else.
