And there are rules for doing odd jobs around town. They could easily be adventurous but your character will probably want to rest.
The town and adventure phase play so differently that it seems to me best to make settings that support those two modes as well as possible. I could see a scary, cosmopolitan and monster-infested city hosting both if you (say) just put city-themed “dungeons” within the city walls - sewers, a raid into the dark temple of the Sisters of Extortion and so on. I think things would get weird very quickly if you tried to run urban intrigue, however.
This gets into sparks/hacking territory, but it has occurred to me that you could chain two or more town phases together. Put a cap on the number of pieces of business each player can do; when you hit four (or whatever), it’s a new season and you have to find accommodations again. In fact, a heist/raid/assassination or other short urban ‘adventure’ could count as a piece of business.
Alright, so let’s say two different cities:
Monstropolis: a (maybe underground) city ruled by monsters for monsters, where people can go but it is really dangerous.
I’d look at each segment of town and make a monster counter-part. Prices will be a mess and recovery probably won’t be as easy. I’d think flop-house very well might be the best you can do and the chart of saying what happens is going to be kinda dangerous. That said, if you can recover there, yeah, there are dungeons right there in town and barely any law to speak of.
But if you skip town on your bill, it won’t be a group of brigands who come looking for the money. Do you really want to see what kind of posse is gathered when you skip out on a hostel owned by a troll or beholder?
Now, this is different if it is a ruined city that is just over-run with monsters who are squatting there. That I’d do as a nasty spot of wilderness, probably with a few linked and unlinked dungeons within to make the risk worth it.
The pressure from the resource mechanics comes, in a large part, from using up food and light. If you’re not in a dark place with little access to forage, a lot of the tension is removed.
I hope this doesn’t come off as rude, but that’s why I didn’t kickstart this game. I’m at a point in my life where I’m kinda D&D’d out.
I’m still curious though, and like a huge loser I will probably plunk down some hard earned cash when the game is available to us losers.
I think that’s a perfectly reasonable reason not to buy Torchbearer. It’s not going to be to everyone’s tastes!
See, that’s a reason I can respect. You know what the game does and aren’t interested. There’s no reason to try and make the game do something that it doesn’t, it’s not a general system! There are games that attempt that, God bless’em.
Yeah, but the irony here is that I kinda love Burning THAC0! Or maybe it’s not. From what I understand of TB, it’s pretty specific.
i want monstropolis now!
Some areas of Monstropolis might require skill tests (to cook or procure food) for monsters that don’t use currency. Lifestyle maintenance adds to the ob (more mouths to feed) and failure to pay means you’re the payment.
Don’t know what kind of fit that is. I haven’t even watched the KS video for Torchbearer, so I’m in no position to judge.
I think the Dungeon Word supplement Dark Heart would also be useful for a monstrous city.
I’ll write up a Monstropolis thing in a bit.
spoiled brat histerycal fit! i want it now
I used to have one, bought it a the local store when it came out. I believe I sold it (for a couple hundred dollars) to buy Burning Empires.