Cultist simulator subvert lore12/17/2023 The three key elements of Diablo looting, then, are frequent drops, a small chance of something great, and some kind of consolation prize you can recycle the trash drops into. The chance that you might get that awesome weapon makes each drop exciting, even though most of them are going to be rendered down into gold and used to buy healing and portals. A very rare few will be powerful weapons that give you a significant edge over the opposition. Every now and again you get a solid upgrade that will keep you on track for level appropriate foes. ![]() Most drops are trash that can be rendered down into gold as a consolation prize. It’s all the thrill of gambling without the cruel exploitation of the hopeless and/or mathematically illiterate. So why, then, do we want to make some means of making it work anyway? What’s the benefit we’re trying to salvage? The Diablo loot lottery triggers the same reward centers as an actual, legit lottery, scratch card, or slot machine, but it does so without pumping anyone for money. Players cannot be reasonably expected to update their character sheets that often. And at the end of the next encounter, you’ll have found another weapon with equally tiny fiddly bonuses. In Diablo, a key part of the system is that it’s possible for this weapon to be 7% more accurate but deal five fewer points of damage and attack only 95% as often. ![]() the difference in to-hit bonuses for level 5 characters and their level appropriate opponents tends to be within maybe ten points from one end to the other). Number inflation is already a problem in RPGs (especially with regards to hit points), and that’s with the numbers within any given level generally being pretty reasonable (i.e. attacks per turn is a function of weapon, not character class and level, weapons provide significant accuracy bonuses or penalties, and so on), these just can’t have the same diversity as Diablo gives them because the numbers have to be smaller because the game isn’t run by a computer. Even in a TTRPG designed to include all of these things (i.e. Not only that, but Diablo looting operates on having tons of fiddly little numerical increases in different stats. In a tabletop RPG, you actually have to narrate out that the ghoul was apparently carrying a vorpal sword that it didn’t feel the need to use over the rusty scimitar it’d been attacking the party with while still animate. ![]() It works in ARPGs because we all get that verisimilitude isn’t high on their list of priorities, and that the looting is mostly abstract in the context of whatever the greater story is (which is itself better off being just present enough to provide necessary context and stakes – Diablo 3 suffered for too strong an emphasis on a story that wasn’t very good). You kill a rat and a treasure chest pops out, you pop that open and you find gauntlets of ogre strength and 27 gold. Because making a direct and obvious translation of Diablo looting to the tabletop is a terrible idea. As an alternative to gushing about XCOM even more, I’m instead going to tackle the question of how to translate Diablo loot to the tabletop.īefore getting into that, the concern of whether or not this is even a good idea should be addressed. Y’know, “Action” RPGs that are now totally misnamed because most RPGs have at least as much real time action as they do, and which are instead defined by the dungeon structure, ability trees, and especially loot system introduced by Diablo.
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