Reflections on DF training costs

I use the DF3 training cost rules in my regular DF game.



I use the rules on DF3 p. 43 as a guide. Basically, to learn new skills and abilities, you have to pay some cash in game. To learn new skills and abilities off your template, you have to pay double. I don't charge anything to improve what you've got on your sheet already.

There is only one big change I made:

Raise something you have: Free (this is changed from $20 to raise skills, abilities, etc. other than attributes)



How has this gone?

What I thought this would do is:

- drain a little cash, to keep players hungry to earn more for their characters.
- push people, especially early on, to improve what they have before they expand into new skills and abilities.
- provide a brake on acquisition of new powers and lenses.
- allow free training to be a noticeable, albeit small, bit of reward.

What it actually did is:

- drain a little cash, to keep players hungry to earn more for their characters.

Yes, this happened as expected.

- push people, especially early on, to improve what they have before they expand into new skills and abilities.

No, not in the slightest. Even when resources were scarce early on, players chose bankrupting their characters, chose to risk starvation from inadequate resources, chose to risk Survival rolls and forgo benefits from spending money in town in order to train in new powers. Existing traits were generally not improved until the "build" was complete through the addition of planned-for Power-Ups, desired spells, additional perks, and expanding to things on the template left off with the intention of buying them in play. Wizards especially want to learn as many new spells as possible as fast as possible - so much so we had to put special brakes on how many spells you could acquire during downtime to avoid the "let me check my list of 95 spells and see if I have that one" syndrome.

Instead of "I'm nearly broke, so I'll up my existing skills and leave buying a Power-Up until I've got some cash" I got "I'm nearly broke, so everyone lend me money so I can get this Power-Up. Maybe someday I'll raise my existing skills, once I've gotten through this list."

This is probably why a number of long-serving characters have substantial cash reserves - not enough for powerful items, and zero drain from training costs because they went broad early and now go deep with points only.

- provide a brake on acquisition of new powers and lenses.

See above. Didn't even provide a speed bump.

- allow free training to be a noticeable, albeit small, bit of reward.

This turned out to be true. The mage getting new spells via Wild Talent instead of paying for teaching has saved a good chunk. The occasional free learning or free training I've offered hasn't been passed up. No one really seeks it out, which is fine, too, because I didn't want every downtime to devolve into, "I look around and see what free training is available, so make me a list and I'll decide if I want it or not."

Overall

Overall, I am glad I put the rules in place. I'm sad they did not work out as planned, but they did add an element to the game that I like. People do make decisions based on training costs, and training costs drive adventuring goals a little further (it's not just make a profit, it's make a profit with cash for training.)

At the same time it's not as onerous as the AD&D rules could be, where you'd seemingly need to pay almost every coin over to level up (not literally true, but it felt that way.) And they are easy enough that they don't get forgotten in play.

Feel free to use my experience in your own DF games. Did I say feel free? I meant, that'll be $40, silver or gold preferred.