Post by Kai Wren on Mar 2, 2019 19:40:44 GMT
Adventure threads - and the grading thereof - are by far the most subjective aspect of Waterdeep and you should not be surprised if the staff member who reviews your adventure increases or decreases your planned rewards.
Combat is of course the easiest part of any adventure to grade as this can be judged by finding the effective party level, the CR of the monsters, and awarding XP accordingly. Note that any NPC assistance can count as an extra party member.
Even in these instances though, we will need to see evidence that the combat is played intelligently and coherently within the context of the story. It is unlikely that a rampaging hoard of orcs are likely to be tactical geniuses, for instance, but if a red dragon never flies and never uses its breath weapon there are going to be questions about the extent to which the fight can really be deemed a fair representation of the threat of the monster in question.
Skill challenges are even more subjective and are prone to a great deal of grader latitude when it comes to the reward.
In general, the following criteria must be met in order to qualify for any additional XP or gold reward:
There must be clear parameters for failure.
There must be clear consequences for failure.
There must be a significant (>20%) chance of failure for the party in question.
If these criteria are met the grader is free to apply a bonus of XP or gold (their discretion, based on the circumstances) to the thread of between 10% and 50% of the base XP and Gold achieved in the thread. The grader will make this decision based upon the likelihood of failure, the tactical approach undertaken and how internally consistent the thread seemed to be.
Gold Payment
In addition to any experience from overcoming challenges and wordcount a flat rate of gold is paid depending on the effective party level.
1-5: 100*party level
6-10: 500*party level
11-15: 1000*party level
16-20: 2000*party level
This is based on the presumption of at least 3 encounters per adventure thread. The grader can increase or decrease this amount at their discretion.
Magic Item Payment
Finally, a character may be rewarded with magic items rather than gold in an adventure thread. A character may apply a 20% bonus to their effective gold earned through wordcount and gold reward when determining if they have enough gold reward to receive the item requested. (E.G. a character who earns 1000 gold from the thread may take a magic item of up to 1200 gold value in lieu of gold). The character may mix and match this with gold reward, but may only request one magic item per adventure thread.
Note that in line with our death policy a character may choose not to die in a thread which would otherwise kill them. If this choice is made they receive 50% less reward in both XP and Gold.
Combat is of course the easiest part of any adventure to grade as this can be judged by finding the effective party level, the CR of the monsters, and awarding XP accordingly. Note that any NPC assistance can count as an extra party member.
Even in these instances though, we will need to see evidence that the combat is played intelligently and coherently within the context of the story. It is unlikely that a rampaging hoard of orcs are likely to be tactical geniuses, for instance, but if a red dragon never flies and never uses its breath weapon there are going to be questions about the extent to which the fight can really be deemed a fair representation of the threat of the monster in question.
Skill challenges are even more subjective and are prone to a great deal of grader latitude when it comes to the reward.
In general, the following criteria must be met in order to qualify for any additional XP or gold reward:
There must be clear parameters for failure.
There must be clear consequences for failure.
There must be a significant (>20%) chance of failure for the party in question.
If these criteria are met the grader is free to apply a bonus of XP or gold (their discretion, based on the circumstances) to the thread of between 10% and 50% of the base XP and Gold achieved in the thread. The grader will make this decision based upon the likelihood of failure, the tactical approach undertaken and how internally consistent the thread seemed to be.
Gold Payment
In addition to any experience from overcoming challenges and wordcount a flat rate of gold is paid depending on the effective party level.
1-5: 100*party level
6-10: 500*party level
11-15: 1000*party level
16-20: 2000*party level
This is based on the presumption of at least 3 encounters per adventure thread. The grader can increase or decrease this amount at their discretion.
Magic Item Payment
Finally, a character may be rewarded with magic items rather than gold in an adventure thread. A character may apply a 20% bonus to their effective gold earned through wordcount and gold reward when determining if they have enough gold reward to receive the item requested. (E.G. a character who earns 1000 gold from the thread may take a magic item of up to 1200 gold value in lieu of gold). The character may mix and match this with gold reward, but may only request one magic item per adventure thread.
Note that in line with our death policy a character may choose not to die in a thread which would otherwise kill them. If this choice is made they receive 50% less reward in both XP and Gold.
