Re: [DL] Too much information?

["Jeff Yates" <jyates@primaryfunction.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Downs" <knick_nevin@yahoo.com>
Subject: [DL] Too much information?
> Just out of curiousity. I wanted to hear how other GMs
> ran the minutia of characters' lives in their games.
> For instance, I've played in groups where people had
> to specify what they're characters were wearing and
> when they bathed and ate, etc. and I've played in
> other games where most of this is glossed over,
> sometimes the GM never even asks players to deduct
> money from their funds for staying at an inn or paying
> for food. "Okay, four days pass." might be all thats
> ever stated.
> What I'm curious about is how much detail GMs go into
> and how much players like to get into the details.
> -doc
>

Our group plays Darksun, Deadlands, HOE and Forgotten Realms, at various
levels of character experience.  But generally if the group of characters
are totally novice, then resources (ceramic pieces, gold pieces, gold
eagles, 9mm rounds, etc) are scarce and the GM cares somewhat how we spend
'em.  Further into the campaign, we've all got whatever passes as cash, then
when we stop somewhere and buy food, lodging, equipment repairs... we find
out the price for a day's stay, a day's meals, etc and do our own
multiplication to price our ten day stay, and do our own book keeping.  The
GM know about how much he's handed out, who's usually out of money
regardless, etc, so it's very loose, but we are honest.  If resources
continue to be a game plot device, then it can be such that something just
isn't available, no matter how much moola we've got to buy it with
(sometimes you just can't get water -- certain places in Darksun, or the
middle of the Arizona bad lands, are just plumb dry).  If we decide we need
to buy a relic +5 holy avenger junk gun, then there's a little more
scrutiny, but not too excessive.

For clothing, we don't usually care much.  Any genre, the party is assumed
to have just slogged thru some chunk of dirty wilderness, and are grubby,
patched, but dressed.  If there's been a fire, or we're trying to disguise
ourselves, or attend some sort of ball, then clothing really matters.  If
it's a roleplaying thing for a certain character (some fastidious Tin Horn
elf or something) then that person roleplays it and mentions the baths, etc.

For taking time to eat, drink, relieve oneself -- again it's assumed that
any lifeform will eat when it's hungry, drink when it's thirsty, and do so
when not running for it's life or something.  The posse/party spends enough
time hiking that they could eat while walking, or while setting up camp.
Unless of course there's extenuating circumstances, we don't track it all
that much.

That generally applies to our whole group: I run Deadlands (tho the posse
just did a bit of time travel to HOE), another guy runs HOE, a third runs
Darksun, and yet another runs Forgotten Realms.

Does that help?

Jeff Y.
Marshal for the Dynamite Gang,
player at the moment.