Monday, April 11, 2011

My "When You Arrive" House Rule

This house rule is an attempt to use raw, vital Pavlovian conditioning to train the players to show up on time.

The level of the character you generate/play is determined by what time you get your butt in a seat, your dice on the table and pencil to the sheet.

Start at 1:00 PM through to 1:59 PM = 4th level character

Start at 2:00 PM through to 2:59 PM = 3rd level character

Start at 3:00 PM through to 3:59 PM = 2nd level character

Start at 4:00 PM or later = 1st level character

EDIT: Please note that I actually do use this house rule in real life when I DM.

12 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 11, 2011 at 7:21 PM

    Haha! I started telling my players their initiative was going to be based on time of arrival... and suddenly people starting showing up on time. :D

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  2. C'nor (Outermost_Toe)April 11, 2011 at 7:29 PM

    I'm assuming that this only applies if the session starts at 1:00 PM?

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  3. Aaron E. SteeleApril 11, 2011 at 8:10 PM

    I can think of all sorts of applications of this rule.

    ;D

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  4. AnonymousApril 11, 2011 at 8:16 PM

    My wife used to give out bonus experience for showing up early for a few of her campaigns.

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  5. Eric R. WirsingApril 11, 2011 at 10:16 PM

    This is hilarious! I'm going to have to use this in broader application, such as Initiative (Stuart) or Experience Level (this post), etc.

    That being said, I'm not the most punctual, either. Work schedules, childcare, arguments with the wife; all of these can affect when I arrive. But as I brought munchies to the table, all was forgiven.

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  6. C'nor (Outermost_Toe)April 11, 2011 at 11:37 PM

    @Seaofstars:

    I'm betting that didn't apply to you, did it? :D

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  7. ChrisApril 12, 2011 at 3:02 AM

    Genius. Player skill not only trumps character power; it defines it!

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  8. PaulApril 12, 2011 at 1:34 PM

    Brilliant.

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  9. AosApril 12, 2011 at 3:25 PM

    I've got one player who is chronically late to my skype game. The commute from the living room to the computer room is hell, apparently. This is a good rule.

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  10. BlairApril 13, 2011 at 5:20 PM

    Thanks; I was sure I was going to be called a meanie for this by someone :)

    This started out as a joke but than I had to implement it and it seems to be working...

    @ C'nor: Correct!

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  11. Greyhawk GrognardApril 13, 2011 at 7:19 PM

    Challenge the player, not the character...

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  12. SwordgleamApril 13, 2011 at 9:28 PM

    Nice! I think I'd do that in much smaller time increments, though. 45 minutes late and no penalty? Pfft.

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