Real estate improvement.

[The Observer]

So.

I'm going to do a thing, along with all the other things I've been doing in the background.

Thing is, I need to have consequences for the thing, as well as other things in that vein.

With that in mind, I'd like to cast about for small buffs or services gameplay-wise that a) could only be obtained in town, b) are useful and convenient, but c) not to the point where players would find them mandatory.

Go ahead, shoot.

 

[SoAndSo]

Well as you addressed me directly :

Sleeping in the inn for certain periods of time give different kinds of (smol) combat flavours until the next time you sleep (ignores scenes that have set sleep periods).

Sleep 4< Hours: Minor STR and Max health buff, minor initiative, Willpower and Agility debuff.

Sleep 4-8 Hours: No change other than removing sleep buffs/debuffs.

Sleep 8+ Hours: Minor initiative and agility buff, minor STR and Toughness debuff.

 

[GothPastel]

Probably increased health recovery when resting around town/safe areas, as opposed to around and about the rest of the map.

 

[BubbleLord]

1. New “fluff” dialogue. Upgrading Sanders and his place for example could involve gathering/helping build dedicated mini shrines/effigies to the Gods. This could bridge into content similar to that Tira pack I did a while back. This also works for others (Ogrun could talk about his smithy and adjusting to town life, Ivris about some fluffed lore for TFs, so on).
2. Individual blessings; to go in hand with the shrine thing. Maybe every 24 hours Sanders can bestow a temp buff based on god ideas?
3. Upgrades for Ogrun could be “fortify” to either give temp bonus damage or defense?
4. Leorah could maybe provide things that help with camping? Or maybe provide fluff on regions and give you hints for exploration.
5. Garth gets new drinks and could upgrade your personal room to provide better rest bonuses. Maybe not based on hours but how good your room is (given hours of sleep non the floor won’t make you well-rested like a GOOD BED) to encourage folks to do it. It’d likely need balancing to make benefits not AS good.

To put it lightly that I’ve considered this myself would be foolish; this is why I mentioned the mercs moving in at the end of their stuff. Upgrading Hawkethorne is just too good to not think of for what it could provide

 

[flying_moustache]

Buffs/services that can only be obtained in town, means to me that we are comparing camp life/wandering in the wild to life in (a small form of) civilization.

So, the way I would tackle this is: If you are out in the wild, with random fights happening all around you, what do you miss about your life in civilization?

a) a feeling of security

The last iteration of that, that I remember is the "well rested" perk in Fallout. You get it if you sleep in a bed, which allows you to gain more XP for a limited period of time.
This closely resembles what SoAndSo already suggested and I would say its really up to you if you want to give health/resolve/physical buffs or small XP boosts.
Though, I would go so far to say, that even just STROLLING through town should give a minor buff to reflect the relaxation of being in civilization and not having to check every damn bush you come across for enemies.

b) being well groom

If you are out in the wild, you will not be at your best appearance-wise.
I wouldn't go into unpleasant details like smell and thelike, but maybe a smallish decrease in sexiness after a long time away from town would be appropriate? Could also supercharge sexiness to 110% temporarily for grooming yourself in town to balance things.

 

[Stemwinder]

Since there's clearly going to be long periods of wandering the maps I'd say it's probably better to first focus on ways to survive outside of town, things you can do in camp that'll help with encounter marathons.

Like a cooking system that provides certain benefits. It can be complete with flavor scenes for party members (if you tell them it's their turn to cook they make something, everyone reacts), party members can have favorite dishes that give them additional buffs if the PC makes it, etc.

 

[Hanzo]

Some of these may be planned, but:

Party member skillset swapping.

Party member swapping.

Piercing Management. Since the sanitary conditions aren't as high as in a Sci-Fi setting like TiTS, I guess the champion will only be able be able to change them in a safe place.

Cooking (mentioned by the above poster). Could be interesting. It can be a sencondary use for alchemy ingredients.



Buff ideas:

Well Rested: Increased HP recovery over time. Gained by resting at home.

Sated: Decreased Resolve loss over time / Resolve gain over time (I can't remember if resolve is lost or gained over time right now). Gained by having sex at home. A bit weird, I know. Must be tweaked a bit to make sense.

Make Up: Small sexiness boost, lasts some time (24h?). Certain actions like blowjobs remove it.