Looking for some help coming up with a crew special ability. I am tossing around ideas for a pseudo-medieval hack with some dark fantasy elements (Game of Thrones-ish level of magic) partially inspired by the upcoming Shadows of War video game. Its about companies of warriors situated in an area of internecine conflict between powers large and small. In this imagining, the Cult playbook becomes the Dedicated. A warrior company modeled off historical military religious orders. I want one of their crew special abilities to reflect intense martial training, as their dedication to their faith inspires them to train longer and harder than most. Trouble is, I keep coming back to something that amounts to +1d or +1 effect in combat. This seems problematic to me because it is 1) uninspired, and 2) seems like it would almost be a must have in a game about warriors. I don’t want to create a playbook ability so good that essentially every crew is going to want to veteran into it. Any ideas appreciated.
Looking for some help coming up with a crew special ability.
Looking for some help coming up with a crew special ability.
I don’t have any ideas here, but I would say that one way to get around the problem of a “must-have” ability is to make all of them must haves. I can do think of about 15 abilities in Blades that feel absolutely essential, or at least always useful. They’re all must haves, but you only get one to start, so it’s an interesting decision.
A good point, but the issue is complicated by this specific setting. A lot of the awesome crew abilities from standard Blades map well to the hack, and they are just as useful in the hack as they are in standard Blades. But, in a game about warriors, an ability that amounts to “+1 fighting stuff” is hard to beat. It would be like an ability in standard Blades that gave +1 to crime.
Well, you’ve answered your own question there I think. An ability that gives +1 to crime in Blades doesn’t make any sense, because there’s no “Crime” ability. Characters have Actions and Stress, Crews have Heat and Rep and Coin and Cohorts. Special abilities tie into that stuff.
It seems to me that you need to drill deeper into what the characters actually do in the game and that will direct you toward what the special abilities can do. For instance, I’d expect a Blades hack that’s mostly about combat to have a lot of actions that are about, rather than basic Blades, which abstracts most combat stuff to Skirmish. So you can have special abilities that increase your effectiveness in doing combat in a certain way, rather than just “combat” in general.
Also, I’d think about what you mean when you say “dedicated martial training”. To me, that suggests not only combat effectiveness, but teamwork, discipline and focus. So maybe have an ability that makes you better at teamwork actions (think the Bravos ability Blood Brothers). Or maybe you have some sort of Morale system and make them more effective at maintaining morale.
Or make it situational. Shield Wall. Feigned Retreat. Field Engineers. Tunnel Fighters. Ambush! Indefatigable.
Thanks for the comments. A teamwork based ability is a good idea. I may do one for them as well. In this case, I am going for a more individual feel. The idea being that having a driving purpose can inspire someone to work harder and stay focused longer so as to develop their skill faster and/or improve it to greater heights. Think Jedi. The Force helps them, but they are also extremely dedicated and so become extraordinarily skilled. I definitely thought of using the situational idea. If the ability was teamwork based it becomes relatively easy…give a bonus when in a Shield Wall. The individual feel I want is making it harder for me to come up with a satisfying mechanical solution.
One could absolutely give +1 to crime in Blades. There is no specific disguise mechanic or action, yet Cloak and Dagger gives +1d when using a disguise. Point is, such a large portion of the game involves actions related to crime that giving +1 to it would become a “must have” ability from a mechanical standpoint. Similarly with fighting in this hack idea. I can’t just say, “you train really hard and so are better at fighting, take +1d when fighting, or consider yourself +1 Tier in combat.” Hence where I am coming up short.
One a related note, I actually don’t think the actions need much modification. John’s action set gives fully four actions besides skirmish that can be used quite well in combat: Hunt, Prowl, Finesse, and Wreck. They just require specific situations to be useful. If those situations are not present, one gets stuck skirmishing. Also, Survey/Study are arguably essential skills for someone involved in battles.
My thought, what if it’s still related to martial combat but has to do more with the Command action? This is essentially a martial zealot, yes? Maybe they get +1d to command others to follow the word of their god? Or intimidate those who go against the word of their god? Maybe as a trade off they get -1d on resistance rolls against following the orders of their superiors? Something like that?
Does this work??
Combine the abilities from the Cult and Bravos. That is, take the ones that make sense from the Cult and beef them up with the Bravos ones you like. The staunch belief stuff sounds like Conviction, or Zealotry. Note as well that with Conviction on there, they would have safe source of relief (stress-wise) should they specify “military devotion with meditation on the religious precepts” as part of what constitutes “Worship.”
Blended with Fiends and War Dogs your thing is coming together I think. I wouldn’t worry about the training devotion thing; it’s there, and gets a boost from the Prowess Training upgrade, plus a reflavored Elite Thugs upgrade (Elite Warriors probably) which you are probably already doing
Part of what you want might also make the Sacred Sites thing less important, so decide whether you think a holy war should be the thing (and if not, keep Hunting Grounds to shift it more clearly away from that). Either way, just make sure your first XP trigger matches the 4 types of operations they choose from at the bottom of the crew sheet.
TL;DR: maybe you are overthinking it. The game will help you get partway there; the players will get you the rest of the way.
Just as an idea for the name possibly “Fervor” and it could have more to do with their blind faith in their training and religion. Essentially, they take less stress when adding 1d to their roll. Fairly new to the game but that’s what jumped to mind.
Instead of approaching it from the angle of “What’s the result of their extra training?” you could instead look at it as “How do they get their extra training?” An exp trigger like the Hound’s Vengeful, for example, could be fun (though it doesn’t represent training, necessarily). Or perhaps something like the Spider’s Calculating, except limited to training actions.
It could be “when you train, gain +1 exp” (maybe limited to once per downtime) or “members may train the same track twice in one downtime” (if you make it unlimited, someone spends 16 coin and becomes a god overnight, which would be ridiculous. but then again …). Or some combination of any of the above. It would allow the crew to advance faster, instead of showing the results of them already having advanced. Might take some balancing to avoid becoming a must-have, but it’s not a flat +1d.
I could totally see something like “Due to dedication to the faith, during downtime one member of the crew may take +1 downtime action to train, receiving +1 exp. This may be in a track already trained this downtime.” being a thing.
Maybe they are especially trained to fight against this famous heretics warriors and they’re very good against them/those who fight like them?
I appreciate all of the comments. Rather than reply to each individually, I thought I would just post the special abilities list I came up. The first special ability is my initial solution to the original question. NOTE: Attune is mentioned. I still haven’t decided if that action will remain, and if it does, it will not relate to the ghost field, as that is not present in this hack.
Choose a favored operation type:
Acquisition: Procure and honor a holy relic.
Consecration: Capture and sanctify a holy location.
Mission: Convert the ignorant to the faith.
Cleanse: Subjugate heretics who oppose the faith.
From Dawn till Dusk: Your elite warriors are dedicated to perfection and have honed their fighting techniques to perfection under harsh training conditions. When you fight using Finesse from a desperate position, take +1d and +1 effect.
Power of Faith: When you use Battle or Raid plans to target a higher tier faction, take +1d on the engagement roll.
Faith is War: When you’re at war (-3 faction status), gain +2 Rep per score and PCs still get two downtime actions, instead of one.
Zealotry: Your cohorts have abandoned their reason to devote themselves to your faith. They will undertake any service, no matter how dangerous or strange. They gain +1d to rolls against enemies of the faith.
Conviction: Each PC gains an additional vice: Worship. When you indulge this vice take +1d. If you overindulge your new clarity of purpose will assist any one action roll you make—from now until you indulge this vice again.
Chosen: Each PC may add +1 action rating to Attune, Study, or Sway (up to a max rating of 3).
Patron: When you advance your Tier, it costs half the coin it normally would. Who is your patron? Why do they help you?