[DL] Rules Tinkerin': Fate Chips

[Alan De Smet <chaos@highprogrammer.com>]

I recently finished running a Deadlands campaign and I'm gearing
up to run another one.  My experiences have led me to consider
tinkerin' with the rules a bit.  I'm curious to see what other
members on the list think of the changes I'm considering.  Has
anyone else tried similar changes?  Does anyone have better
ideas?  Perhaps my descriptions of why I'm considering these
changes will reveal that I'm overlooking more fundamental issues
in my games.  I'll break my ideas into different messages to keep
them from getting too out of control.

This message, fate chips.  Fate chips are used for three things:
improving rolls, minimizing damage, and increasing attributes
(through conversion to bounty).  My players have consistently
avoided spending fate chips whenever possible.  They'll
grudgingly buy off wounds and the occasional wind.  They almost
never improve rolls.  I can't remember the last time I got to
draw fate chips because a player spent a red chip.  Every chip is
hoarded toward the goal of improving their attributes.  To
minimize chips spent on wounds, they tend toward more being more
cautious (particularly a problem since I'm planning on running a
more "high adventure" style campaign next).

In my first campaign I gave the usual amount of chips, (three per
session base with occasional additional ones for reaching plot
points or suffering under hindrances).  My players rapidly build
up bounty and raised aptitudes at rates I was uncomfortable with.

In my second campaign I tried to curtail this a bit.  I only gave
one or two draws per session and became much more restrictive on
raising aptitudes (requiring practice or practical experience).
This helped keep the characters a bit more under control over the
campaign (lasting a real world year and about four very busy game
months).   Still, this technique wasn't very satisfying.  It also
didn't work that well.  Our brave Chinese swordsman regularly
drained his chip pool when he charged into combat.  As a result
he tended to advance more slowly.  Our more cautious huckster was
more able to build up bounty.

That's why I'm interested in tweaking how fate chips work.

My plan is to separate fate chips from bounty.  Fate chips can
_not_ be converted into bounty.  Like first edition Deadlands,
I'll explicitly give out bounty for plot advancement, probably
one or two points per session.  Now that I don't need to worry
about fate chips being hoarded and transformed into aptitudes, I
can return to being a bit more free with the fate chips.  Given
that chips can't be spent on raising attributes, I expect players
will run into the chip cap frequently, giving them incentive to
spent chips more frequently.  I'm also considering dropping the
chip cap down a bit, but I'll give that more thought later.)

-- 
Alan De Smet chaos@highprogrammer.com http://highprogrammer.com/alan