The Campaign: You're Raiders Sacking Settlement, Not Tourists Hitting Up The Gift Shop

(Following from yesterday's post.)

Campaigns are won or lost long before battle is joined because either you have what you need to get it done or you don't, and fortune does not favor the foolish.

Lacking the logistics is foolish. Being foolish is a good sign that you're going to be party of the corpse pile in the dungeon signfiying a disastrous previous sortie into the dungeon.

It is not enough to ensure that the party have the equipment that they need. They also must reserve the capacity necessary to haul out the treasure looted therein.

Encumbrance is a core mechanic of the game. It is part of the Logistics aspects of proper campaign play.

You're Raiders, Not Tourists

Dungeon delving is the game's core activity. That is nothing less than conducting a raid on a foreign settlement, no different than any other raid for loot and captives, and that means three things: you need to have the provisions to go there (and back), you need war supplies (ammunition, explosives, etc.), and you need to haul stuff back to base.

Handwaiving Encumbrance and Logistics destroys a core part of the game. You no longer need to decide between taking X over Y from the dungeon, you trivialize travel to and from the dungeon (which incentivizes handwaiving transit and the time spent therein), and there is no need to hire and wrangle Porters or pack animals to carry the haul back.

This is not a themepark. You are not there enjoying a thrill ride. You are engaging in opportunistic violence for gain, in addition to anything else, as part of a larger military (or paramilitary) campaign.

Managing your man's logistics means that you are compelled to address the reality of your man's situation. If your man runs out of spell components, memorizing those spells is not a good idea. Your archer runs out of arrows? That bow is useless. Rations and water running low? Time to turn back. Same with any healing supplies--bandages, potions, items, etc.--that extend your range or your time on the target.

"But-"

You are not playing your man's role properly by complaining about this. If the Referee is doing his job then the lack of needed goods will do damage and destroy morale. You need to feed your pack animals and porters, you need to keep carts or wagons in good repair, and they all need to be protected. Incompetent expeditionary leaders accrue bad reputations, especially if those animals or NPCs don't come back in good health (or at all).

You are required to deal with all sorts of limitations to succeed. Time, distance, carry capacity, morale, etc. are all part of playing the game. This is why I emphasized in previous posts that competent campaigners do what it takes to keep supply lines shorts, minimize the distance between base camp and operational area, and pacifices the area about a dungeon as if it were the encirclement of a city under siege.

Forcing players to think through these matters, and having Referees enforce them, compells players to think and act from their man's point of view. Ignoring it contributes to failing to appreciate the experience for what it is, turning it Me & The Boys Going At The Ren Faire.