In my successful iterations of PA games, scrounging has been one of the key components of fun for the players. I tend toward 'gritty' types of games, and as a GM any genre is at least a little gritty in my hands (even Star Trek). One thing I have always done is give players equipment that is generated randomly, with some choices made by them, in essentially a character creation mini-game. Under special circumstances I might allow a player to purchase equipment, but I never allow advantages like Wealth so they can buy equipment with monetary assets.
During actual game play I have also used these equipment generation tables for random loot. I use a custom Scrounging skill to determine when players are successful at getting something useful from wherever they happen to be searching. In a way it works like foraging or survival, except instead of a binary value of finds food/doesnt find food, specific items are generated.
This is where I am now running into my headache.
Currently my list of items has 15 sublists (each with even sub-er lists appended to them) and has many thousands of potential items on it. I also use a custom set of equipment condition variables and reliability numbers so that you might rather have a nicer condition machete than a rusty old sword. In previous games, the scrounging mini-game often took 15-20 minutes for the player/players involved. The other players didnt seem to mind much, and the scrounging players really loved the surprise treasure aspect of rolling on tables.
Now as the list is getting larger and larger, what I want to know is what is the 'best' way to handle this mini-game? I am trying to develop ways to allow good rolls/high skills to not only allow players to be more likely to find items, but to find better stuff. In the past each successful roll generated a number of successes based on how much it beat the target by, and each table had a 'value' somewhat arbitrarily decided by me based on relative utility of the items in the table, and these successes could be used to buy rolls. The player made the first roll, and either chose to keep that item, or move on to their next roll. If they decline an item, they could not return to it. I am not convinced this old solution is good any longer.
I dont mind having a mini-game, but I dont want it to be too involved. I am open to any ideas you guys may have as to other ways to implement scrounging.
Any thoughts?
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