Runebearer Character Creation (long)

For this post, I am going to walk through the mechanics of character creation in Runebearer. Together, we will create a stout fighter named Edwin.

Roll & Assign Stats

The first step in Runebearer's character creation is to roll 10 primary stats. Stats are generated with a roll of 4d6-4, providing a range between 0-20. I generated a few sets and ended up with a very nice one: 16, 15, 15, 14, 13, 13, 12, 9, 8, 8.

Knowing that I was going to create a warrior, I arrange the stats as follows:

• Strength: 15
• Agility: 15
• Dexterity: 14
• Speed: 13
• Toughness: 16
• Intelligence: 8
• Willpower: 13
• Spirit: 8
• Charisma: 9
• Perception: 12

My reasoning for assigning stats this way was pretty simple. I am creating a warrior, and don't want to think about how to arrange stats, so go physical. Anyone in my gaming groups is probably cringing right now at my horrible inefficiencies, but whatever.

Generate Secondary Statistics

There are five secondary statistics in Runebearer that impact his performance in combat situations. Each of these is derived from the primaries.

• Hit Points = Toughness + 1/2 Strength + 1/2 Willpower + 8

So in our case, 16 + (15/2) + (13/2) = 16 + 8 + 7 + 8 = 39. A commoner with average stats would have 28 hit points and so this is a fine amount, and later, we will get even more for being a warrior!

• Base Defense = a chart result based on the sum Agility + Speed + Perception.

Total	0-2	3-7	8-12	13-17	18-22	23-27	28-32	33-37	38-42	43-47	48-52	53-57	58-62	63-67	68-72
BD	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14

Base Defense is the lowest our defenses can ever be regardless of negative modifiers, or multiple attackers. In our case, 15 + 13 + 12 = 40, which from the chart gives us a Base Defense of 8. This is an above average defense, given that a normal person would have a 6 to start.

• Dodge = Base Defense + 1/5 Speed + 1

Dodge is our defense against arrows and some spells. Our speed is 13, divided by 5 is 2.6 which rounds to 3. So, our dodge is 8 + 3 + 1 = 12. An average character has a 9 dodge score.

• Initiative = a result based on the sum of Speed + Spirit + Perception.

Total	0-2	3-7	8-12	13-17	18-22	23-27	28-32	33-37	38-42	43-52	53-57	58-62	63-72
INI	-6	-5	-4	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6

Our initiative score is a straight modifier to any initiative rolls we have to do to determine turn order in a combat. Unlike d20 games, initiative is rolled every round in Runebearer, and so this modifier, though not critical, will come in handy. Our sum is 13 + 8 + 12 = 33 and so we end up with a +1 modifier.

• Base Move = a result based on Strength + Agility + Speed.

Total	0-2	3-7	8-17	18-27	28-37	38-42	43-47	48-52	53-57	58-62	63-67	68-72
BM	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13

Our base move tells us how many 2 meter hexes we can move in a combat round. Our score is 15 +15 + 13 = 43 which gives us a move of 8 hexes.

Choose a Template

Once stats are generated, Runebearer characters get 60 buy points to spend on skills. However, characters must choose a template which is a package of skills, abilities and bonuses that will spend close to half of those points.

There are a ton of different templates to choose from, but to keep things simple, we are going to pick the warrior template which is I think the simplest template. It looks like this:

+1 Base Defense Combat (choose) +2 Combat (choose) +1 Combat (choose) +5 Hit Points Tactics +24 Buy Points

The warrior gets a bonus to his base defense and his hit points. He also gets 3 combat skills and tactics. The (choose) means that there are several different combat skills to choose from and that the player will have to pick a specific skill for that slot. The +2 and +1 after the combat skills indicate that those skills are more developed and get extra levels.

I am going to pick sword, shield and bow for my combat skills. My sword skill will go in the +2 slot, and my shield in the +1 slot. Edwin is a better melee combatant than archer.

Each skill in Runebearer is based on 3 statistics. To determine your starting skill level, you add those three scores and then consult a chart, much like we did when we calculated base defense, initiative and base move previously. Here is the starting skill level chart:

Total	0-9	10-12	13-16	17-20	21-24	25-28	29-31	32-35	36-39	40-43	44-46	47-50	51-54	55-58	59-61	62+
Level	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17

Let's figure out how good I am with the sword. Here is the master list of skills.

Skill Name	Attributes	Default	Cost	Improvement
Acrobatics	AGI/STR/SPD	None	5+4	5
Acting	CHR/CHR/INT	Half	3+3	3
Administrate	INT/CHR/WIL	None	3+3	3
Alchemy	INT/INT/SPI	None	5+4	5
Ancient Knowledge	INT/INT/INT	None	5+4	5
Animal Handler	CHR/WIL/PER	None	3+3	3
Artifacts	INT/SPI/PER	None	5+4	5
Carouse	CHA/PER/INT	Half	3+3	3
Climb	STR/STR/AGI	Half	3+3	3
Combat: Axes	STR/AGI/DEX	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Bows	DEX/DEX/PER	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Flail	DEX/AGI/SPD	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Knives	SPD/PER/DEX	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Mace	STR/AGI/DEX	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Magic	DEX/PER/SPI	Special	3+3	5
Combat: Sling	DEX/DEX/DEX	None	3+3	5
Combat: Swords	DEX/AGI/PER	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Staff	DEX/AGI/SPD	Half	3+3	5
Combat: 2-Handed	STR/DEX/AGI	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Pole	DEX/SPD/AGI	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Thrown	DEX/PER/STR	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Shield	DEX/PER/SPD	Half	3+3	5
Combat: Unarmed	STR/DEX/SPD	Full	0+3	5
Conceal	PER/INT/SPI	Special	3+3	3
Converse	CHA/INT/PER	Half	3+3	3
Craft	Variable	None	1+1	2
Diplomat	INT/CHA/PER	None	3+3	3
Disarm Traps	DEX/PER/INT	None	5+3	3
Disguise	INT/PER/PER	Half	3+3	3
Engineer	INT/INT/PER	None	3+3	3
Escape	AGI/DEX/WIL	None	3+3	3
Etiquette	CHA/INT/PER	None	3+3	3
Fast Draw	SPD/SPD/DEX	Half	3+3	3
Fast Talk	INT/CHA/CHA	Half	3+3	3
Forgery	INT/INT/PER	None	3+3	3
Gamble	SPI/SPI/INT	Half	3+3	3
Herbalist	INT/INT/PER	None	5+4	5
Interrogate	WIL/INT/CHA	Half	3+3	3
Investigate	PER/PER/INT	None	3+3	3
Knowledge	INT/INT/INT	None	1+1	2
Language	(none)	None	3	-
Lockpick	DEX/PER/INT	None	3+3	3
Magic Skill	Variable	None	7+4	5
Medical	INT/INT/SPI	Half	3+3	3
Meditate	WIL/WIL/SPI	None	3+3	3
Navigate	PER/PER/INT	Half	3+3	3
Orate	INT/INT/CHA	Half	3+3	3
Persuade	CHA/CHA/INT	Half	3+3	3
Pickpocket	DEX/PER/SPI	Half	3+3	3
Physician	INT/INT/DEX	None	5+4	5
Repair	STR/DEX/INT	None	3+3	3
Riding	AGI/PER/SPI	None	3+3	3
Rune Knowledge	INT/INT/SPI	None	5+4	5
Seduce	CHA/CHA/INT	Half	3+3	3
Stealth	AGI/AGI/PER	Half	3+3	3
Streetwise	CHA/PER/INT	Half	3+3	3
Survival	INT/PER/SPI	Half	3+3	3
Swim	STR/AGI/TOU	Half	3+3	3
Tactics	INT/PER/SPI	None	3+3	3
Theology	INT/INT/SPI	Half	3+4	5
Track	PER/PER/INT	Half	3+3	3
Trade	CHA/PER/WIL	Half	3+3	3

Looking at the skill table, I see that Combat: Swords is based on Dexterity, Agility and Perception. Adding those stats, I get a total of 41, which gives me an 11 starting skill level. However, since my template gives me 2 bonus levels in swords, my starting value is actually 13. In most games, characters start with important skills in the 10-14 range. 8 would be a starting score for a non-heroic character.

Using a similar process, I can find my shield skill (which is based on Dexterity, Speed and Perception). My stat total is 39 which makes my starting level a 10. However, my shield skill is +1 from my template and thus my actual starting level for shield is 11.

So, I add the stat bonuses to my base defense and hit point, making them 9 and 44 respectively. (Also, because base defense increased, so does dodge.) Then I figure out my starting values in the 4 skills in my template:

• Combat: Swords -- 13
• Combat: Shield -- 11
• Combat: Bow -- 11
• Tactics -- 7

And I am left with 24 buy points with which to...

Purchase More Skills

The warrior template leaves me with 24 points and with those points, I can round out Edwin. I am going to focus on physical skills, but with the idea that Edwin was born of peasant farming stock and took to soldiering as a way to better his lot in life.

The cost of a skill is listed in the skill list under the cost column as a pair of numbers in the form 3+3. That means that buying the skill costs 3 points, and raising it a level costs an additional 3 points per level. At character creation time, skills can only be raised a total of 3 levels, though for the price it is often best to get as many different skills as possible. I decide on the following:

• Animal Handler
• Climb
• Craft: Farmer
• Fast Draw
• Repair
• Riding
• Swim
• Trade

That leaves me with 2 points with which to buy some extra knowledge or craft skills. Once I figure out my starting scores, Edwin looks like this... were I to actually be playing Edwin, I would have to spend the 2 remaining points, probably on 2 more background skills.

Edwin the Example Warrior

Strength	15		Animal Handler	9
Agility	15		Climb	12
Dexterity	14		Combat: Bow	11
Speed	13		Combat: Shield	11
Toughness	16		Combat: Sword	13
Intelligence	8		Craft: Farmer	10
Willpower	13		Fast Draw	11
Spirit	8		Repair	10
Charisma	9		Riding	9
Perception	12		Swim	12
Hits	44		Tactics	7
Base Def	9		Trade	9
Dodge	13
Initiative	+1
Base Move	8

Rules-Light Games Make Me Jealous (but I still can't play them)

I started playing D&D in the 3rd grade, got into AD&D shortly after that, and started running Traveller soon thereafter. I diced through the heady 80s with games like Fantasy Wargaming, Espionage, Rolemaster and Aftermath. The late 80s and much of the 90s was dominated by various incarnations of HERO games and at one point (4th edition, I think), I vowed I would never play anything but HERO. In the late 90s, when I decided I would write Runebearer, it was (and still is) an unholy combination of HERO, Rolemaster, Aftermath, Jorune, a bit of AD&D, and yes, Fantasy Wargaming (but simpler, honest). My biggest gaming regrets are never having run Bushido or Space Opera.

Basically, I dig rules-heavy games. Generally, I think that puts me in the majority (Pathfinder, D20 and D&D4th are pretty rulesy), but in the forums and internet circles I follow, it is all about Savage Worlds, FATE, OSR and Apocalypse World... definitely lighter fare than I am comfortable with.

I admit, this makes me a tiny bit jealous for two reasons. The first reason is simply that as I get older, I cannot escape the growing feeling that the gaming world has passed my by. The second reason is that I do sometimes enjoy the idea of NOT worrying if a system is working, or if such and such rule is balanced. Every so often, "pick up and play" seems like a neat idea. I would love to love light games.

But ultimately, I feel these games lack something. After a few sessions, all of the characters in a Savage Worlds (or FATE) campaign look the same to me and most OSR games look just a bit too much like Basic D&D -- a fine game, but one I quickly discarded for a game with more crunch. I realize that nowadays, my go-to rules-light game is ... 5th Edition HERO!?!

For me, one of the main draws of heavy games is the joy of interacting with a system. I enjoy seeing players sweat the trade-offs during character creation. I enjoy watching how different skills and talents interact to make characters powerful. I enjoy seeing a tactical situation develop and knowing that the players' actions (and luck) THIS ROUND will decide the whole fight. I love the fact that with just the right amount of complexity, things become nuanced, balanced and beautiful instead of complicated, clunky and slow.

So, this article ends the same way any "heavy vs. light" article has to end -- we all like different crap. Where do you fall on that scale? Tell me what level of crunch you enjoy in your rpgs. What draws you to those games?

I Swing My Sword... Again -- Encouraging Tactics and Movement in Combat

I was browsing reddit the other day and I saw a post that described a situation in which the players were fighting a drake and even though the GM had put out some cover for them, they just charged up to the beast and swung their swords until they won. The GM was asking what he could to to encourage his PCs to do more in combat than "I swing *roll*."

The first thing I thought when I read this post was that the players acted as players often do -- they took the most economical route to victory. They didn't dully swing their swords until they lost. They pounded away until they won the fight. This tells me they didn't need to do anything but swing their swords to win the fight. All of the cover the GM put down was wholly unnecessary... and I will go one step further and guess that if the players had acted as the GM intended, they would have decreased their chances at victory!!

Now, I don't know the specifics of the drake, or the fight. Perhaps the cover was there to protect the PCs against the drake's powerful breath attack, or his eye beams, or whatever -- I don't know. What I do know is that in nearly all rpg tactical combat systems, the most efficient thing to do to win fights is to DO DAMAGE. It could be big damage every couple of rounds, or it could be small, steady damage each round. It doesn't matter. You just need to dish it out.

I realize that I sound like the sports announcer that says, "The team that will win today is the one who scores the most points!" as though it is some sort of deep analysis. And yet, I think GMs often forget how our rules systems create incentives for certain types of behavior... and how well our players know and use those incentives.

So, I am GMing an encounter with a drake and I put down lots of cover. I expect players to use that cover because it will allow them to avoid the damage of the drake's breath attacks. But I fail to realize that, based on the balance of the encounter, if both sides just do as much damage as they can each round (minus the occasional heal from the PC cleric), the players will win handily with no need move or use cover, or any tactics at all...

The thing is, if you want cool action in combat, you are going to have to create it. How can you do that?

Minions!! -- Minions, mooks, lackeys, scrubs... all words for the same concept: a low-grade enemy that is really no challenge to the PCs and tends to drop in one or two hits. How do these types of enemies help make combat more dynamic?

The main thing minions do to make movement more important is that they make it harder. Battles with single big bad guys tend to quickly stagnate into the PCs and the baddie running toward the middle of the battlefield and slugging it out. Minions clog up the battlefield and block the PCs from getting to their master. You can't do damage unless you can reach the master enemy. Reaching the master means you have to move and because movement is no longer easy, movement powers, or powers that can clear the way, become infinitely more useful.

The second thing minions do is they do damage to the PCs. For PCs to do damage to the main enemies, they have to stay alive so again, tactical movement becomes critical. You don't want to be flanked and mobbed by a half-dozen minions because you will drop before you reach the big bad. Perhaps even more important is the fact that minions do way more damage than they should for the amount of staying power they have. (I call this the "Destroyer Effect" -- any old Star Fleet Battles players here will likely know why.) Savvy players will realize that mitigating the incoming damage of the minions is key to winning the battle and so killing, crowd-controlling, or otherwise avoiding them becomes a priority. All of this requires using tactical options other than standing in front of the bad guy and just swinging.

Move the Enemies -- Sounds silly, but one thing GMs tend to forget is if the enemies aren't running around, flanking and using terrain, then the PCs aren't likely to do so either. Have the enemies run to the top of a nearby hill to get the bonus for high ground. Make them duck behind wagons for cover against the PCs' arrow fire. Make them split up and try to encircle the PCs. Have the evil wizard fly to a nearby ledge so he can rain death on the PCs from a safe distance. Your players will have to use their heads to either counter these moves, or copy them in later battles.

If you have trouble thinking of how to move your enemies in the heat of combat then...

Have a Script -- For your next big battle, try writing a script for your antagonists. Plan out their first 2-4 rounds of combat. "Bandits A & B will charge up and try to net the rogue, then they will draw their weapons and harass the mage. Bandits C & D will form up and protect the evil priest who will cast Bless, then Flame Weapon on them. Once they have their buffs, C & D will charge the fighter."

It doesn't even have to be a good plan. Having any plan helps you make sure your NPCs aren't just target practice. It will get you thinking about how to move your combatants and use the battlefield and that will get the PCs thinking along the same lines.

Change the Objectives -- Way too many battles in fantasy rpgs come down to who can slaughter whom to the last man the fastest. That scenario lends itself to each side charging the other and putting down damage until one side dies.

What if the PCs have to protect one building from being burned by a band of roving goblins? In this case, it is unlikely the goblins will simply charge the PCs and fight until dead. It is more likely that a line of skirmishers will move up and harass the PCs while a second rank throws torches and oil at the target structure. Maybe they stay at range and shoot flaming arrows, or roll a wagon full of burning debris down a hill at the building.

Having an objective for the battle besides "kill 'em all" opens up a ton of tactical options. Do the goblins stay at range and pelt the target with fiery missiles? Do they try to lure the PCs into a pitched battle so that another group can safely torch the house? Do the PCs charge the would-be arsonists, or do they stay close to the objective, buckets in hand? What about spells and special abilities? In this case, a wall of force might be more useful than a fireball? What about the ability to control the weather and conjure up a nice soaking rain? Can you cast Resist Fire on a whole house?

Make Them React -- The idea of "changing objectives" is really a subset of this concept. Make your players react to the changing situation on the battlefield and you will get more action in combat. A simple example is the PCs coming into a room full of hostile bandits. This is going to be a simple "fight until dead" combat. That is, until one of the bandits makes a break for the alarm on the far wall of the room.

Now the players have to react. It isn't enough for them to wail away at the enemy in front of them. Now the rogue has to tumble through the crowd, or the mage has to cast Hold Person, or the fighter has to Bull Rush to make a lane for the cleric to knock the runner senseless.

How about in the middle of a mundane battle, the leader of the enemies yells, "Ok boys, we got 'em pinned. Now kill that mage!" and a group of archers appears in the distance and starts pelting the wizard with arrows? Now the players have to react. At the very least, the mage has to cast some defensive spell, or take cover, or nuke the archers. If that isn't possible, then the group is going to have to take some risks and make a move or two to deal with the new threat.

Terrain -- I think of terrain as being grouped into two categories: mundane and exotic. Mundane terrain is stuff like hills, trees, walls and streams. There is usually mundane terrain on every battlefield. The key to using mundane terrain in combat is to know your game's rules (or house rules) for it , have the NPCs use it, and to make the modifiers for using it clear to the players. Have the orcs take the high ground before they throw their spears and tell the players you are giving them a bonus to their range because of the terrain. When the PCs try to charge up the hill, tell them you are penalizing them because they are fighting uphill. When the PCs take cover to avoid the spears, tell them the AC bonus they are getting because of their caution.

Exotic terrain is stuff like lava, pools of acid, a swaying rope bridge across a 100-foot deep chasm. Exotic terrain is sometimes about modifiers, but just as often it is about avoiding an instant and painful death. If you have a pool of lava on the battlefield and the fight ends without the threat of someone being thrown in... you should definitely start questioning your life choices.

Using exotic terrain means having the combatants trying to knock, throw or force each other into it. Have your NPCs use combat maneuvers like Press, Bull Rush or Grapple to try to push PCs into the acidic lava chasm. Allow generous saving throws and ample opportunity for characters to catch falling comrades, or help them with spells... instant death sucks, but narrowly avoiding it is great fun!

Tweak the Balance of Your Fights -- One thing to consider is that offering modifiers for terrain and advantages for clever play is a great idea, but if your fights never hinge on those advantages, don't expect players to take them. In the original example, a GM was concerned that his players didn't use all the cover he provided in their fight with the drake... and yet they won... and no one died. That tells me that the drake wasn't really that dangerous in the first place.

If you want players to move and use tactics in combat, the combat has to be balanced so that it is important to do so. If there isn't a risk of losing, or dying, or being too depleted to go on, then why bother? If your encounters aren't dangerous to begin with, start amping them up a little bit, but make it clear that there are ways to get advantages -- namely by using the terrain provided.

What if the drake in the example did double damage with his breath weapon, but taking cover gave a bonus to the saving throw and totally mitigated the damage on a successful save? Now, instead of taking 1/3 of their hit points on a breath attack, they take 2/3. The breath attack becomes way more dangerous now, knocking players to within another round or two of being knocked out. If the attack hits multiple characters, it may well overwhelm the healers and spell the doom of the group! Unless, of course, they take cover whenever the drake breathes.

Except, your battle ends in a complete party wipe because...

Does Your Game Support Doing Stuff -- You might need to take a look at your game and make sure it supports the type of action you want to promote. For instance, in the fight with the fire-breathing drake, my fighters charge up and start hacking at it. Now, I would like them to take cover when the creature breathes, but how can they? When the drake's turn comes up, it breathes. Can the fighters react out of turn and dive behind cover?

Some games allow characters to "abort" their next action to take a defensive move like diving behind cover, but not all games do. If you are playing a game that does not allow defensive reactions, then you should consider just how you expect the PCs to take cover. Perhaps you can house rule in a "tell" a round in advance to warn the PCs of the impending breath weapon attack. Now the breath weapon becomes a decision for the fighters. Do they waste a round of damage to avoid the breath? Meaningful decisions are always good!!

Alright, this post has gone on long enough. Hopefully, this has given you some ideas for your next epic combat.

Tabletop Minigames

My Tuesday group is participating in a series of athletic contests this coming game. That got me thinking about how to handle contests in a dramatic and mechanically interesting way. I could just have the PC test against one of their attributes, or against the most relevant skill, but boiling it all down to a single die roll seems anti-climactic.

Don't get me wrong, I like when a tense combat all comes down to a single die roll, but that is different. Combat is a long series of actions, reactions and die rolls. It is cool when those events converge at a single, critical point. But, if combat just started as a single die roll... well then where's the fun in that?

On the other hand, most of these games will involve only one, or maybe two, of the PCs at a time -- unlike combat. So, I don't want something that is so involved that everyone else tunes out.

What I have decided to do is create a few mini-games to represent the various athletic events. These games will involve at least one decision and a number of die rolls, but each game will take maybe a minute or less to resolve. This way, the games are mechanically interesting, require some player decisions, and are still quick to finish so the spotlight doesn't stay on one person for too long.

Here are three examples:

Javelin Throw

Step 1: Running up to the line -- The player decides on the difficulty for an Agility test. If they fail the test, they fault and score a zero for that throw. If they succeed, they score "points" equal to the difficulty they chose for the test.

Step 2: Throwing Skill -- The player picks the highest from their skills combat: throw or combat: spear and rolls 1d12 - 1d12 (-11 to +11). They add the die total to their skill and add that to their score.

Step 3: Strength -- The player rolls their Strength Damage Die and adds it to their score.

The final score is their "distance" for that throw. Each participant gets three throws and their best is kept.

Archery

Step 0: Generate the Course -- The GM determines the difficulty (armor class) for 6 targets. Each participant will follow the same course and they know all the difficulties in advance.

Step 1: Choose how fast a shot to take -- The player decides how fast a shot they will take in "ticks".
A one-tick shot takes a -1 penalty to hit, and these penalties accumulate for each subsequent one-tick shot the player takes. A two-tick shot takes no penalty and resets the penalty from one-tick shots. A three-tick shot gets a +1 to hit (and resets the penalty from one-tick shots). A four-tick shot gets a +2 to hit, etc.

Step 2: Shoot -- The player rolls to hit the target, accounting for the difficulty of the target, and the penalty or bonus given because of the shot they decided to take.

Step 3: Repeat -- The player then repeats the process, choosing a time and rolling. They have to hit all 6 targets and so if they miss, they have to shoot again.

Once all 6 targets are hit, the total number of ticks they took for their shooting is their score. Low score wins.

Gunfighting

Step 1: Intimidation -- If either gunfighter has the Intimidate skill, they can test this skill against their opponent's Willpower. A success gives their opponent a -2 to hit in the coming gunfight.

Step 2: Bid Accuracy/Fast Draw -- Each gunfighter secretly bids for how fast they want to draw. Each -1 taken to accuracy gives a +1 to their fast draw test in the next step.

Step 3: Fast Draw -- Gunfighters make opposed fast draw rolls with the bonuses they bid for last step.

Step 4: Faster Gunfighter Shoots -- The winner of step 3 shoots first with whatever accuracy penalty they bid in step 2. All damage and wounds are resolved.

Step 5: Slower Gunfighter Shoots -- The loser of the draw now shoots. However, if they were hit in step 4, they take an additional -4 penalty to accuracy.

We'll see how it goes this week. Does anyone else use the idea of mini-games for certain types of contests?

Video Game Achievements for Your Tabletop Game

One thing I am trying in my latest campaign is to award the PCs video-game style achievements as they progress. I had toyed with this idea before, and imagined lots of wacky conditions for unlocking the achievements. As I started compiling lists of conditions like "Medicine Man -- Healed 100 people (+1 to heal effects)" I realized how terrible this idea would be in practice. It would require way too much bookkeeping, would be just a bit too immersion-breaking and it would reward silly behavior...

"Leon, why exactly did you charge the dragon head on?"

"I wanted the Trial by Fire badge -- take 1000 points of fire damage (+2 to save vs. fire). Only 921 points to go, baby!!!"

So, that idea got shelved. Still, I liked the idea of individualized perks for each PC based on notable things they did during the campaign, and so I took the idea off the shelf for this latest game and repackaged it a bit.

After 5 sessions, my players have finished the first stage of the campaign. What I did was I went back over the game notes from those sessions and jotted down the interesting things various characters did. Then, I attached small titles to each, as well as mini-bonuses. This coming session, I am going to present each character with a list of achievements they are eligible for and they can record one and get one of the bonuses.

So, for Anatoli, the defensive fighter who has held his ground against no less than five opponents at one time, but whose damage leaves a lot to be desired, I offer him "Desperate Fighter -- +1 damage when facing 2 or more opponents by yourself". To the fighter/acrobat that has been dropped in the last 3 combats, I offer "Pincushion -- +3 hit points". To the characters who were paralyzed by poison, I offer "Rasputin -- +2 to save vs. poison". To the stuffy professor who is continuously spouting off about his credentials (and is appalled that the rest of the group is not properly certified in their respective fields) I offer "Certified -- Once a night you get a +2 to a roll for which you can somehow claim that you have proper credentials".

I figure to make up 2-4 achievements that each PC is eligible for and at least 2 that everyone is able to choose. That way, everyone has a decision to make and something unique to get. Once the next phase of the game is complete, I can add a few more to the existing list and allow another selection.

We'll see how it goes.