Bounty System
Every in-game hour, each settlement will roll for the chance to create a Bounty Spawn. Success chance is something in the neighborhood of 20-25%. If the roll succeeds, a level-adjusted spawn is created in a mid/high level landscape zone near the settlement.
The spawn can be tracked using the –track command, but otherwise must be encountered normally for the first six IG hours that it is live. If six hours pass and it has not been killed, an automated post is made on a designated Message Board within the settlement that rolled to create it in the first place. This message would generically describe the Bounty Spawn and hint as to where it was located. Example:
[Ragnarr the Red] is a [human] [pirate/bandit/outlaw], wanted for his [theft of a chicken/murder of three town guards/operation of an illegal pyramid scheme]. He was last sighted in the [Skull Crags Foothills], and the government of [Guldorand] will pay well for his head.
When a player defeats the Bounty Spawn, it produces XP on the scale of a boss, as well as drops a generic head that can be turned in to a bounty collector for a significant gold reward. Additionally, it will have a chance (50%?) to drop a Lore Fragment, which ties into the next system.
Lore Hunting System
Lore Fragments (“Fragment of [RACE] Lore”) can be obtained either at a high drop rate from Bounty Spawns, or at a very rare drop rate from other qualifying creatures (likely humanoids level 10-30).
Individual players, factions, or settlements can gather Lore Fragments with the end goal of obtaining artifacts. They would be integrated into the Resource or Expanded Warehouse system for settlements, allowing settlements to set a price to facilitate purchasing of Fragments should they choose to.
Once five fragments of a particular race is obtained, they can be used to trigger crafting a Tome (“Tome of [RACE] Lore”). This can be crafted by whoever uses the stack of fragments, but triggers a high DC Lore check so it is best for this to be done by a scholar/wizard type.
d20 + Base Lore Skill + INT Modifier + Racial Bonus (+10 if crafter is same race as lore) vs DC 50
The Tome can be examined, with the description reading something like:
The holder of the Tome may then use the Tome as a key to open the artifact chest at the end of the specified dungeon. The Tome is consumed upon use.This tome of [Elven] lore, compiled by [Celendil Silverspear], describes a legendary [Rapier] that was lost many years ago at [Blackfin Rock]. After intensive study of various scattered accounts, it has been determined that the artifact remains there in the possession of [the Tidehunter].
Racial Tie-Ins and Artifacts
The reason Fragments and the resulting Tomes are tied to different races is to ensure a small measure of control and predictability into the creation of the artifacts at the end of the hunt. Depending on the racial modifier on the Tome used, the artifact created will be more likely to, less likely to, or will not generate different types of equipment. As a potential example for the races:
Additionally, common items such as boots, gloves, cloaks, and jewelry would be equally likely for all races.
Considering the additional effort that would be involved to obtain an artifact, I would also suggest a few changes to the artifact generation system:
- 2-4 item properties
- Separate out the “Only Usable by [RACE]” option out into its own property. 50% chance that “Only Usable by [RACE]” for the race on the Tome applies to the item. (This can still be worked around with high UMD)
- You also might weight the chance of certain abilities or skills being chosen as effects based on the race of the Tome, such as: more likely to get a Dex modifier and less likely to get a Con modifier for Elven; more likely to get Con over Str for Gnomish, etc.
An Example
Just to give a better idea of how this might work in practice, and some of the potential additional avenues of RP it might create, here is a hypothetical scenario involving my own character.
Celendil, an elf, fancies herself a loremaster and seeker of lost elven artifacts. She spends a great deal of time monitoring bounty boards and keeping an eye on things around the isle in an effort to gather Fragments of Elven Lore. She’s tracked down and killed a number of Bounty Spawns, and has collected three Fragments of Elven Lore, one of Human Lore, and one of Dwarven.
She finds a dwarven mage in Brog who also hunts for lost artifacts, and trades him her Dwarven Fragment for an Elven one. She then sells the Human fragment to a buyer from Cordor and uses the proceeds from the sale and some of her own coin to purchase her fifth Fragment of Elven Lore from a shop in Guldorand.
Excitedly, she drinks a few Fox’s Cunning potions and attempts to decipher the lore herself.
9 Roll+ 26 Lore Ranks + 6 INT Modifier + 10 Racial bonus = 51, which beats the DC of 50.
Success, but only barely! Next time she might want to pay a specialist to do it instead.
She has crafted a Tome of Elven Lore, which tells her that there is a lost set of Leather Armor on Red Dragon Isle. She doesn’t personally use Leather Armor, so she is faced with a choice – she can sell or trade the Tome to someone else, take a friend who uses Leather Armor along with her to Red Dragon Isle and give them the resulting artifact, or sponsor her own trip to the isle and then sell the artifact herself afterwards.
Thanks for reading!