#glowinthedark
Playbook Special Abilities: The Leftover
The Leftover is the Vault Dweller, Charlton Heston man or woman out of time. They come from literally another place and time or perhaps are just sequestered away in an enclave. Maybe they just found a fancy suit and are lucky enough to look the part.
My inspiration here was the “token human leader” role in so many shows and films, and as such the abilities are hard to pin down. I ended up focusing most on interacting with prewar technology, but I’m open to suggestions. The two abilities I’m pretty solid on (the gist of if not the mechanics) are Trusted User and Wrong Guy Wrong Place Wrong Time, because I love me some Die Hard and my other inspiration was that the Leftover’s whole deal is they’ve just been thrown into hell, a maniac world that doesn’t make sense but they keep on ticking.
Pasted here in case the image is hard to read:
O Trusted User: You know the Words of Passing and the Maidens’ Names. Pre-war security systems, robots, and AI do not consider you hostile unless you attack first. You get +1d to hack friendly systems.
O Good As New: You know the dinglehopper is really a fork. When you use hack to repair something, you get +1d effect level.
O History Buff: You gain potency when you get a read on locations that incorporate pre-war features or when you gather information using pre-war methods.
O Pearly Whites: You’ve got all your teeth! Gain +1d in situations where your appearance would play a major role.
O Untouchable: The Glow doesn’t want you. You get special armor vs. mutant powers and radiation. When you roll a critical using untouchable, clear 1 stress.
O Wrong Guy Wrong Place Wrong Time: This isn’t even your world, but the wasteland can’t seem to get rid of you no matter how bad it gets. When you accept a devil’s bargain, you get an additional +1d.
O Engineer: Provided you have the materials, you can build claims that require advanced technology.
O Inspirational: When you lead your gang, they continue to fight even when broken. They gain potency and 1 armor.
OOO Veteran: Choose a special ability from another source.
“Pearly Whites” is my favorite 🙂
The concept is really cool, but I think there are some mechnical problems:
* pearly whites doesn’t specify the actions it apply to and it seem like it should (sway and barter?)
* Wrong guy wrong time just seem… Too potent? I don’t know, devil bargains suppose to come up a lot, I think the bonus will be too common. Maybe a bonus on devil bargains for resistance rolls only?
*inspirational seem out of place – why is the leftover more potent in leading battles? Maybe a bonus when he lead adepts and read group actions is more aprropriat?
Stefan Struck thanks! Would you agree with Roe Portal that it could use some mechanical tightening? And do you like it because of the fiction it connotates, or did it just make you laugh, or what?
I admit that one came from repeatedly hearing randos spout “You can’t be a scavver – you’ve got all your teeth” in Fallout 4.
Roe Portal you’re hitting on a lot of quibbles I have too. I like the idea of having more narrative-based abilities, where it’s not simply +1d to something but rather unlocks permission to take new actions. Like how the Leech’s Physicker ability lets them heal their comrades. I’m also struggling with keeping the Leftover’s “tech tree” distinct from the Junker, another playbook I’ve got in mind, and one that represents the inventive wasteland MacGyver.
For my group, I find it hard to tempt them into devil’s bargains, and these guys were quick to accept compels when we played Fate for years. I think I might propose fairly rough DBs on average, which is why the “Wrong Time” ability came about.
Inspirational was, ironically, late at night when I was running low on inspiration myself. I just yoinked a Cutter ability to see how it fit, decided that “yes, I think each of my playbooks should have something to help with gangs”, and left it there. It gets into my idea that maybe the Leftover could work as the “leader role” you get in some sci-fi. When you’re the Leftover, you can branch into the Commander Shepard, John Crichton, Colonel O’Neill type. Leading people in a fight is useful in combat while remaining separate from the Reaper playbook, which is your standard fighter class.
And I kind of talked myself out of the Inspirational ability revolving around combat. That’s what Veteran is there for. Silly Adam.
Adam Schwaninger About tightening:
If you want predictable games (like D&D): yes,
else: no. I like to be utterly suprised by my players and their ideas so maybe they come up with something strange like ad-hoc theater perfomance for a gang of thugs or face to face with a wild animal who digs the appearcance of the PCs sooo much because of teeth. (Desperate? Yes, but worth a try. Beats being eaten alive.)
But: Matter of playing style. I didn’t say that my way is the only way
Thanks – I think I’ll “limit” it to just all the social skills. But I will mention barter, boss, and sway specifically. Then I’d personally be okay with people thinking outside that box, but have the limitation there in case it just got dumb. “Uh, I should get a +1d to resist that gunshot because I’m too pretty to die!”
And I might still let that fly the first time for making me laugh.
How is Engineer used in play? Could a Leftover build a claim rather than seize it?
For claims, I’m still trying to hew close to John’s original purpose, that they’re assets you must take from another faction. Engineer would simply handle one of the fictional prerequisites for some of the fancier-sounding claims, like Physicker gives your Leech permission to heal people.
You can build claims. Who has the raw materials to build it? Why haven’t they built one? Who knows how to build it, and who do they work for?
You can take and hold physical claims. Who already has one? What do they use it for? How hard will it be to keep it?
Some claims are people, like informants or terrorized settlers. To whom do they owe their allegiance? What do they want in exchange for their loyalty?
So for Engineer, my thinking so far is that while you can build a recycler so your gang doesn’t suffer supply loss, you’d still need a heist to get the parts you need. And those parts are always going to be held by some other faction, because it is still a claim, and you can’t just go out and find a claim.
Also probably going to change History Buff to: You get +1d to flashbacks using places, people, or information from the World That Was.
Should I also include a “these flashbacks cost 1 stress less” clause, or is that broad enough an ability?
I’ll admit that I’m pretty unfamiliar with the source material, so it’s hard for me to judge what kind of abilities fit this kind of playbook. That said, lets get to the judging.
Trusted User – I’m assuming hack has a pretty broad range of meaning, because the traditional use of the work hack doesn’t make sense with friendly systems. This ability is fine, but I don’t really get it fictionally. Why do robots and AI like the leftover? I assume this is me not having played Fallout, or seen any of the movies you’re referencing.
Good As New – Why is this guy so good at repairing? You’d think that someone who has spent his whole life in the wastes dealing with broken shit would be better at repairing than the guy who’s been in a nice working vault all this time? +1d effect level should probably just be +1 effect level.
History Buff – +1d for flashbacks is fine. Saying they cost 1 less is pretty meaningless because DMs use wildly different pricing for that.
Pearly Whites – I think this ability is great and should stay as is. Trust your players to think of cool ways to use this, and trust the GM to know when they’re just being silly.
Untouchable – How can you roll a critical when using an ability that by it’s nature prevents you from rolling?
Wrong Guy, Wrong Place, Wrong Time – I also am not a huge fan of this, but not because it’s OP (I think every playbook should have 1-2 super OP options that everyone wants), but because it’s not really fun. It’s just a pretty sweet statistical advantage. If this move is meant to be your hallmark, I want something more narrative.
Engineer – Sounds okay, except now you’re telling me no one else can do this? Sounds like the kind of thing anyone should be able to do with an LTP and the right materials. Tell me how this guy is better at it?
Inspirational – He’s a leader type? Okay, sounds good.
Overall, I’d like at least 1 or 2 moves that have a little more oomph. Something that breaks expectations in a cool way, and aren’t just a +1. Not having a good grasp on the setting makes it hard for me to come up with cool abilities, but I’ll think about it and try and think of some examples.
For Trusted User, I’m digging down into the old Gamma World bag and referencing how PSHs (pure strain humans, not really actual regular people but more like Khan-anyway, their schtick was they were real good at staying human through all the mutant miasma) would be recognized by killbots and bunker drones and such as human and not fired upon, in stark contrast to the gangs of mobile plants and badgers with laser rifles that prowled the wastes. I’m running with that and saying that maybe everyone’s mutated a little bit for this hack except the Leftover (and it’s something perhaps the killbots notice), or maybe the Leftover has implanted RFIDs marking them as “friendly”, or maybe he/she just has enough background experience dealing with robots wherever they came from that they know the protocols and commands to gain access to this prewar stuff.
I do get your point about Hack, though. Let’s try changing it to “+1d to interact with these systems”. It opens up your options some, and doesn’t beg the odd question “if it’s a friendly system why do I have to hack it?”
I screwed up Untouchable. I was using the text from the Slide’s Subterfuge power, and read the second clause like “when you roll a critical using subterfuge” and interpreted it as the ability, not simply the normal word for “conniving and sneaky shit”. “When you roll a critical while dealing with radiation or mutants, clear 1 stress.” That fixes things a little better, I think.
Thinking about mashing up Engineer with Good as New, because you’re right, Engineer by itself connotates that nobody else can do this. My intention with Engineer, as explained above, is to make it so a PC can do it instead of having to claim (ahem) the expertise from another faction. (you still need to get the parts for what you want, though)
The repair bit is to connotate the technical knowledge needed to keep something like a Vault running from before the war. It’s not invention, and I think the Junker is going to have that area covered. It’s following the instructions and keeping things working. Maybe not too different, but it also helps tell the story of where you came from. Someone with History Buff could be a cryo-frozen survivor who actually was around before the bombs fell. Someone with Good as New might be a descendant of generations of vault dwellers who have had to keep their recyclers, generators, and hydroponics operational for decades.
Mark Griffin also for your perusal:
Brave New World: Name a taboo from Before that is no longer considered immoral. Add it to your sheet. When you contend with this behavior, add +1d and potency. Should you break this taboo yourself, you suffer an immediate trauma.
I’m thinking about replacing Untouchable with something along these lines.
Also getting weirder:
Wrong Guy Wrong Place Wrong Time: When you suffer on a run because of your unfamiliarity with the wasteland, you gain +1d to be used later. You may keep up to three of these dice per run.
What is suffering?
Pretty vague, right? I’m wondering if it needs to be detailed more. I only now realize I subconsciously basically just used Fate’s compel mechanic for this.
My original thought was if you accept a devil’s bargain based on your unfamiliarity with the new world, that would count. But would that constrain people too much to lay it down like that?
It’s Spider->Foresight…ish?
I would support collapsing Engineer and Good as New, because Engineer feels wimpy otherwise. I understand the fictional benefit, but I don’t think that would be enough for a PC hungrily eyeing other options. It would be good paired with something that gives a more concrete benefit.
Now that is an interesting move. If you pick this playbook at the beginning of the game, and pick that move first, you get to make a statement about the world as it exists today. If you pick that move later in the game, you’ll have to either pick something already established or something that conceivably has never come up (or rewrite how the world works, this is blades after all). That’s interesting. BUT, it is still just another +1d and potency move.
Adam Schwaninger Ahh, I thought from your bolding it was referring to a specific mechanic! I think it could use some sort of explanation or rewording. It makes me think of the Hound’s Vengeful: ‘After you face a consequence from a source, you get a related benefit.’
Wrong Guy Wrong Place Wrong Time – Say what feat of peak endurance or determination you’d like to perform and the GM will give you a cost in stress and/or harm. Accept the cost without resistance and the feat is performed as you described.
I may not know much about the wasteland, but I know my John McClain. Something alone these lines could be cool
Jason Eley it also frees up a slot for something else. That said, if it came down to Trusted User vs. Engineer/Good as New, Trusted User wins. There’s just no other playbook where that kind of effect makes as much sense, but I could shunt Engineer off to the Junker if I needed room.
Mark Griffin I would love some examples of some good “non +1” type effects. Doesn’t have to be from this genre or from this system, either. I think there’s room for the bread and butter +1ds and potencies too, but it’s very tricky to get the feel right for something more narrative and absolute and not have it just be “oh everyone’s going to take this one”.
(Aside: man Adam Schwaninger you’ve been a real beast posting stuff lately. I should probably, uh, play a little less Overwatch tonight and get a post ready.)
Dude I beat Fallout and I know better than to jump into Elite Dangerous right after, so I have time. And I didn’t buy Overwatch because I recognize what my Vice is, and I will overindulge the crap out of that. 🙂
Mark Griffin ritual-type mechanics to accomplish action movie stuff. Sold.
Oohh, thinking now of a “pay the cost, do the thing” idea for the Driver. Mad Max always ends up sacrificing his car…
That is the trick, every class wants a move like that.
I have the benefit of having supernatural creatures in my hack, which lends itself to game breaking powers. I would really like to post some playbooks soon, but I’m still working on the graphic design of the sheet. I’d like to post a whole finished sheet at once.
“Pay the cost, do the thing” is the entire mechanic for my Undying post-apoc hack, The Grind. It fits so well in this genre.
Brave New World: Name a taboo from Before that is no longer considered immoral. Add it to your sheet. Should you break this taboo yourself, you suffer an immediate trauma. Until that happens, when you contend with this behavior you may pay 1 stress to increase your scale, your effect, or your position. (probably just 1 at a time? maybe optionally pay 1 stress for each?)
I’m hoping this is self-limiting. If you pick something specific, it’s not going to bother you that much, but in return it’s also unlikely your ability will come up often.
Or, if you want to be Wasteland Batman, take “killing” as your taboo. Then you get crazy bonuses for fighting killers, which is like, everyone.
Adam Schwaninger
brave new world is amazing! just what the leftover needed. “Pay the cost, do the thing” is also cool, but I’m not sure if action-hero stuff is the right niche for him. I’ve liked the vengfull\forsight hybrid better, but the playbook seem to get in a better shape overall, which is cool.maybe add some internet related weirdness? something like the abillity to channel the dead global metrix to let the backup of a person or expert program to inhibit your body for a time. now that a “Pay the cost, do the thing” power I want to see 🙂
That’s weird but that’s pretty awesome, and there’s precedent for similar things in, say, the Broken Empire books. Might be tempting enough to junk Engineer for it.
I agonized over Wrong Guy/Place/Time quite a bit, and I think I agree that action movie powers don’t really fit either – with any of the playbooks. The action movie moments don’t mean as much if you can just negotiate them at the table. I at least need that moment of risk for any victory to feel real.
That said, for me the “pay to win” mechanic is worth it if we’re talking about retribution. Mad Max isn’t going to not catch the bikers who killed his family. If there’s a playbook who needs an aspect to be Unstoppable Vengeance Engine, I’d slip that ability in there.
Where I’m at now is something like the flipside of Brave New World – an ability that represents the Leftover who burns their old life and persona down bit by bit, succumbing to savagery to survive. Rick Grimes or Carol from the Walking Dead, in comparison to, say, Morgan, who quite clearly fits how Brave New World works.
In fact, it’s pretty uncanny how well Morgan fits, and I didn’t realize it until now. He’s a killer losing his mind. He meets a guy who sets him on this path of peace where he swears off killing (purchasing Brave New World in game terms). Thereafter he is incredibly effective against people who have shown they have no qualms about murder. The last thing we see him do is murder someone, and I’m betting there will be some consequences from that.
Here’s my semifinal list of Leftover abilities. Thank you everyone for your input – it’s so valuable to get your different views as I bumblefuck my way through more playbooks. 🙂
I had to kill my Die Hard dreams, but that’s a mark of good editing, right?
Trusted User: You know the Words of Passing and the Maidens’ Names. Pre-war security systems, robots, and AI do not consider you hostile unless you attack first. You get +1d to interact with these systems.
Engineer: When you use hack to repair something, you get +1 effect. Provided you have the materials, you can build claims that require advanced technology.
History Buff: You get +1d to flashbacks using places, people, or information from the World That Was.
Pearly Whites: You’ve got all your teeth! Gain +1d in situations where your appearance would be an advantage.
Line in the Sand: Name a taboo from Before that is no longer considered immoral. Should you break this taboo yourself, you suffer an immediate trauma. Until that happens, when you contend with this behavior you may pay 1 stress per additional effect: scale increase – adjust your positioning – increased effect
Brave New World: When you need to succeed at any cost, sacrifice part of your former life. Pay the cost (GM sets an appropriate cost), explain how it’s worth it, and describe how you succeed.
Inspiring: When you name and describe a gang member, you may lead their cohort in a group action without being present. If you do lead them directly, the cohort gains potency and 1 armor.
Future Shock: War never changes, but the guns sure do. When you attack with hi-tech weaponry, choose an additional effect: target’s armor is ruined – target’s weapon is ruined – you knock the target sprawling – target is terrified
—
Engineer may be on the chopping block once I get to the Junker playbook. Inspiring could use a smartass name like the others, but I wasn’t inspired. -_-
I’m not super clear on Brave New World, can you give spitball some prices for Brave New World? Let’s say I wanted to lead my crew safely across the wastes on foot to a distant settlement? What if I wanted to break the bars of a cage I’m in? What if I wanted to rally a group of War Boys to turn on their leader? I assume they’re character specific, so you may need to insert some more context here.
Let’s say our Leftover in question was like a space pilot frozen for centuries until her escape pod crashes on a ruined Earth. She’s leading her crew to a distant settlement but they’re besieged by sandstorms, no food, the whole nine yards.
“I’ve never left people behind Before, but… if I cut loose the stragglers and the wounded, could we make it?”
“Yes. Your people will remember this – they had Loyal, right? They don’t now. However, you’ll have just enough rations to make it with the reduced number and your improved pace. Good?”
“Not great, but it’s better than losing our whole cohort. I gather the chiefs in the crew around the dung fire that night and tell them the plan. We leave before dawn and trust the storm to cover our tracks.”
I’m honestly not sure how it’d help break a cage, but I can offer a related example? This time our Leftover was frozen in an underground vault to survive the Last War. His family did not survive the process. Now raiders have captured him and he doesn’t have the stress to pull off a flashback. He needs to get out, and he doesn’t want to accept a devil’s bargain and risk the dice.
“I get the attention of one of the guards, preferably one of the younger, skinnier ones.”
“Sure. They’re all pretty skinny. This one’s a guy-“
“Maybe he reminds me of my son?”
“Okay, go on. He comes over and pokes you with the rat-kebab he’s been gnawing on.”
“Not my son, but… maybe there’s a glimpse there of what he might have grown into. The weird look I’m giving him distracts him just long enough for me to snatch the kebab skewer from him and jam it up through his jaw. I slide down with him silently, watching his life go out and seeing my kid from behind the cryo pod glass. Then I get his keys and grab his heat. What’s my cost?”
“Well, you’re a sick bastard (table laughs), but otherwise… let’s call it 2 stress. That kebab kill was pretty thin, and he’d have to fall so you could reach his keys, and nobody noticed?”
“I don’t have the stress for that.”
“Okay, let’s call it a level 1 harm then. That guard’s face hit closer to home than you thought. You’re Hallucinating (write that down), superimposing your old life over this raider camp.”
Now we’ve got a Leftover who grew up in an underground city, sheltered from the outside world. Maybe his vice is an Obligation to send needed supplies back home or something. The War Boys have him (maybe from an earlier entanglement). He’s going to be eaten or some other awful fate. Our PC might be able to flashback to smuggling a knife in to cut his bonds or have friends in the crowd, but he needs this crew of War Boys defanged. Escape isn’t enough.
“Join me! Lord Ginormous is using you for fodder! He preaches lies! Your Fury Road leads to nowhere! Throw him down and join me! I’ll give you shelter and water and guzzoline, great barrels of it!”
“You… uh… you don’t have any of that.”
“But my city does. I figure if I can get them to turn on Ginormous, I have a chance to mitigate what comes next.”
“Ginormous’ll torture you first, see if he can get your secrets for free.”
“But when I don’t break, his War Boys see his weakness and my strength?”
“Yeah, cool. They’ll turn on him then, but you’ll take… 4 stress and level 2 harm ‘Flayed’. AND you’ll need a new ‘vice purveyor’, since they are going to burn your home.”
“Shit, ouch. But they’re my gang now?”
“Yep. Tell me what they do to you and how you turn it back on them.”
—
As I write this, this ability is kind of coming off as an uber-Devil’s Bargain. Narrative cost for narrative reward, and you only have so much past to burn.
Okay, so the player is the one who decides what to sacrifice (narrative payment), and the GM gets to say what that means in the game (mechanical payment). That was not clear to me before, although looking back I get it. Maybe it goes without saying that the thing you sacrifice has to lead to the success you want, but then again I misread the ability, so maybe not.
I definitely like the ability a lot.
Thanks! Burning your past is moderately similar to using Traits in Hollowpoint – I can feel that game bleeding in on this one. The more I try to attach specific rules to this ability, the less I like the result. I’m gonna leave it here and work on more playbooks. My crews really came together once I got through that first one and could contrast, I’m hoping the same will happen for playbooks.
http://scottparkillustration.tumblr.com/
Of interest here, this guy did drawings of famous fictional cars as Mad Max Vehicles.
To say anything further would be pointless. 🙂