Patron-based gameplay

[rusty_shackleford]

No, not the things warlocks have in 5E or the thing paypigs use.

I came across an interesting idea that actually sounds rather fun.
https://bdubsanddragons.blogspot.com/20 ... -play.html

What are Patrons?
Chanticleer is an e-friend, tw1tter celebrity, and the DM of a 5e Waterdeep campaign that employed BROSR best practices; including JTK and downtime. He coined the term "Patron" for "characters who would be NPCs whose downtime is controlled by a Player".

With Limited Approach be aware that Patrons will be MUCH MORE ACTIVE, on the whole, than an NPC. There is no amount of random action rolls you can make for an NPC that is going to compete with a player controlling an NPC with major resources at his disposal.

A Patron Villain could be very dangerous to the PCs, for instance; using everything at his disposal to simply kill as many PCs as he can while they're resting at the inn. Patron Villains will do the sort of "unfair" things a DM would be too scared to do to PCs for fear of losing player loyalty to the campaign. Be wary of this effect when introducing Patrons, most especially villains. Having the villain be remote to the PCs "home base" will help mitigate a sudden assassination of a PC for instance. Or at least give the PCs time to become aware that Dairin the evil swamp Mage might send an assassin to kill them during downtime.

I suggest reading the entire post if that sounds intriguing. I don't think I've seen this idea or anything like it suggested before despite it being so seemingly simple.

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There's definitely the basis for some sort of two-tier game to be made here. A strategy play-by-mail(so to speak) sort of game and a micro-level RPG that's happening during.

[Acrux]

Oh, yeah, these guys are using the 1:1 time rules (time passage in the game is the same as in the real world) which allows things like this. I asked about that a while back (probably on the Codex) and everyone told me it was ridiculous to even try...oh well.

I've been thinking for a while that it might be an interesting way to play, especially for groups that meet mostly online (hint, hint for dice roller).

The "we play the Objectively Correct way" that Jeffro Johnson and these guys use gets on my nerves, though.

[WhiteShark]

I went down this rabbit hole a couple months ago when I was reading up on ACKS. It does look like a very fun way to play. The one thing of which I am wary is that one of the bloggers talked about how patron players ended up developing into co-DMs, thinking about what was 'good for the game' rather than playing their patrons according to their goals. To me that seems inimical to the whole concept.