OK, time to steal the Icon Relationship Rolls from 13th Age (the Archmage Engine) to DCC RPG. In case you’re wandering what I’m talking about, check my 1st post here.
Icons are
basically 13th Age’s way of dealing with factions. In that game’s
standard campaign setting (The Dragon Empire), the Icons are the highest-level
NPCs of the world, its movers and shakers. All PCs in 13th Age are
linked through their backgrounds to 1-3 Icons, already at 1st level.
Usually this relation is through proxies, groups and followers of an Icon, but
because 13th Age is all about high fantasy, it isn’t that rare for a
1st level PC to actually have met and interacted with a powerful
Icon (it’s already a cliché in 13th Age community the idea of PCs
that are bastard children of Icons – especially the Emperor, the Diabolist or
the Archmage).
Icons are an
excellent way to “ground” the PCs in the intrigues, plots and events of the
setting. Instead of placing those NPCs as distant characters, forever busy with
ineffable agendas, 13th Age links the PCs directly to them. And the
PCs are not random wanderers and tomb raiders, but character linked with the
most powerful and influential forces in the world.
The Icons are
thus used as building blocs for the setting and also as a great tool to build
adventures/campaigns. Each PC starts with 1-3 points of Icon Relationships. These
relations can Positive (the PC is an ally of the Icon), Negative (the PC is an
enemy of the Icon) or Conflicted (it’s complicated; for example: the PC is a
hero, but from a bloodline known to serve an evil Icon). Because the PCs pick
Icons at the beginning of the game, the GM knows which NPCs the players want to
see in their games. At my table, for example, there is a lot of points invested
in The Three – the villainous blue, black and red great wyrms of the Dragon
Empire – so I knew that the party would be interacting and facing lots of
draconic foes and themes.
OK, how does
an Icon Relationship works? At certain times – usually at the beginning or end
of a session/adventure – the PCs roll 1d6 for each Iron Relationship in their
character sheets. Each ‘6’ means that the PC gets a special advantage due to
his/her relationship with the Icon. Each ‘5’ means an advantage, plus with a
complication (to make it clear, the PC must still get good stuff).
What is an
advantage exactly? In 13th Age that usually means a one-use magic
item (potions, runes, oils etc.) or maybe a true magic item if you PC is
running low on them. An advantage could also mean some NPC help in a scene or
maybe an extra clue/information, or even a bonus to a specific challenge. However,
the 13th Age Core recommends that Icon advantages should be
narrative in nature (a good place to pick ideas for Icon advantages is by
reading D&D 5E’s Backgrounds, especially their special features… things
like military rank, access to temples, secret hideouts, alternative identities…
all are great examples of benefits derived from Icon rolls).
 |
| Big Emp, so metal! |
So, an
example: you have 2 Dice of Positive Relationship with the Archmage (the uber-spellcaster
of the Dragon Empire) and 1 Negative Relationship with the Emperor (the awesome
and probably dragon-rider Melnibonean ruler of the aforementioned Empire). First,
that basically means that you have connections and are in good standing the
Archmage; at the same time you’re on wrong side of the fence with Greatest
Human Nation of the world. Why? I don’t know, that for your PC background. At
the beginning of the session you’re lucky and roll a ‘6’ for the Archmage and a
‘5’ for the Emperor. That means your PC has 1 advantage with the most powerful
mage in the world and 1 advantage with complications regarding the fact that
the Dragon Empire doesn’t like you. What could that mean? Well, it depends on
the PC’s level, background and the adventure itself. If you’re our usual
low-level dungeon-crawler adventurer, that ‘6’ with the Archmage could mean you
found a chest warded by agents of the Great Wizard that only you can unlock –
by opening it you find some valuable healing potions. That ‘5’ with the Emperor
could mean you found an unlikely ally in the dungeon – an evil humanoid that also
deeply hates the Empire! Because this is a ‘5’, you only get his help if the
party can help him face a rival tribe of humanoids.
 |
| Elminster here is your drink buddy. |
If you like
improvisation, then you’ll roll Icon Relationships at the start of the game
session or adventure; if you prefer to plan the results ahead, then it’s best
to use Icon rolls at the end of the session (then you’ll have the time to write
all those benefits in the next session). There’s a lot more to the Icon subsystem,
especially if you hunt for material created by the 13th Age
community, but those are the basics.
As you can
see, it’s ridiculously easy to change Icons to Organizations, Churches,
Nations, Cults, Clans etc. (I would dearly love to use them in Planescape, to
represent the Planar Factions of Sigil) Because the Icon Subsystems is so
modular, it can be imported to other RPGs without any modifications (And I’d
would run Planescape for AD&D 2nd, of course)
For DCC RPG
Icon
Relationships are a great way of giving more flavor and versality to the Patron
Bond spell, especially for non-spellcasters. Allow those bonded to a
Supernatural Patron to gain Relationship Dice with their otherworldly masters.
Here’s a suggestion for the spellcasting table:
|
Spellcasting Check
|
When Cast on Self
|
When Cast on Other*
|
|
12-13
|
As written.
|
Ignore the
part about the Luck check. Instead of that, you gain 1 Relationship Die roll/week
with your Patron.
|
|
14-17
|
Besides the
usual benefits, you gain 1 Relationship Die roll/week.
|
Ignore the
part about the Luck check. You now have 2 Relationship Dice rolls/week with
your Patron.
|
|
18-19
|
Besides the
usual benefits, your Patron grant to you a total of 2 Relationship Dice rolls/week.
|
Ignore the
part about the Luck check. You now have 3 Relationship Dice rolls/week with
your Patron!
|
|
20-23
|
If any of
your Relationship Dice comes up with a ‘1’, the enemies of your Patron take
note of you (you lose Luck, suffer a mishap, an extra encounter etc.). Yes, that’s a bad thing, spellcasters
already have a lot of mojo with invoke patron.
|
As above (3
Dice and ignore the part about Luck) and you can choose to reroll 1 of your Relationship
Dice. However, if the reroll is a ‘1’, the enemies of your Patron take note of
you (you lose Luck, suffer a mishap, an extra encounter etc.).
|
|
24-27
|
Besides the usual benefits, you have 3
Relationship Dice rolls/week.
|
Ignore the
part about the Luck check. You now have 4 Relationship Dice rolls/week with
your Patron!
|
|
28-29
|
As written.
|
As above (4
Dice and ignore the part about Luck), but you gain 1d3 extra points of Luck
each time a Relationship Die shows a ‘6’ (besides the usual effects of the
Die).
|
|
30-31
|
Besides the
usual benefits, you have 4 Relationship Dice rolls/week.
|
As above,
but you can reroll any of your Relationship Dice. If any ‘1’ shows up you’re
screwed.
|
|
32+
|
Besides the
usual benefits, after rolling, chose 1 of your Relationship Die. You gain the
result as extra Spellburn points.
|
Ignore the
part about the Luck check. You now have 5 Relationship Dice rolls/week with
your Patron!
|
*I usually
interpret this as “casting this spell on a non-spellcaster”, that’s why I
granted him/her more Relationship Dice. If that isn’t the case with your group,
use the “When Cast on Self” part of the table, but always a step worse (if the
Spellcheck Result was 28-29, use the 24-27 entry).
On the table
above, where you read “per week”, you can instead use “per adventure/module”.
The basic
premises are the same: if you roll a ‘6’, your Patron will help you in a small
way. For example: you gain 1d3 Luck Points, you find a potion/scroll/one-use
magic item, a helpful bit of information regarding the adventure (maybe about a
trap, a monster or a secret passage), a friendly contact, a temporary hireling
etc.
If you roll a
‘5’, you get the same thing, but your Patron is more demanding or there’re
strings attached to the “gift”. For example, you find a lesser magic item, but
it’s cursed/stolen; your party is healed but your Patron will revoke the effect
if you don’t find that special artifact until midnight etc.
If you want a
more universal approach to Relationship Rolls consider linking the Dice to
major factions of your DCC RPG campaign. What factions? Well, if you don’t have
any, try those implicit in the Core Rulebook. For example:
At the Cleric
Class…
- The
Churches of Law (the gods Shul, Klazath, Ulesh, Choranus, Daenthar, Gorhan,
Justicia and Aristemis);
- The Old
Gods (Ildavir and Pellagia);
- The
Mysteries of Balance (Amun Tor and other philosophies);
- The Dead
Gods (Cthulhu and his ilk from the Void);
- The Cults
of Chaos (Ahriman, Azi Dahaka, Bobugbubilz, Cadixtat, Nimlurun and Malotoch).
At the Thief
Class…
- The Mob
(time to work for the Godfather of Thieves);
- The Beggar
King (the disposed, the pariah and all their all-seeing spies);
- The Warren
(leaders of the poorer wardens/districts and underworld of cities);
- The Twelve
Spider-Assassins (a clue: there’re more than 12).
At the
Warrior Class…
- The Order of
the Dragon (high-born monster-slayers);
- The Order
of Saint Stephen (protectors of pilgrims and the realms of Man);
- The
Fraternal Company of the Black Swan (guardians of the borders, used to fight against
savage humanoids and demihumans);
- The
Enterprise of the Green Shield with the White Lady (a romantic and chivalrous
order);
- The Order
of the Golden Spur (templars!).
At the Wizard
Class…
- C’mon! Look
at all those cool and dark Patrons!
The Dwarf,
Halfling and Elf Classes are factions into themselves in my opinion.
 |
| I'm sure I'm not the only one reading those wonderful boxes after each class! |
Note that
theoretically there’s nothing forbidding a Warrior from having 2 Relationship
Dice with the roguish Mob, for example. Especially if you consider that option
of Positive/Negative/Conflicted Relationships.
Each PC that
survives the Funnel starts with 1 Positive Relationship Die and 1 Negative/Conflicted
Relationship Die (to make things interesting). The PCs gain a new Relationship
Die at 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th
level.
You might be
wandering how to use Negative Relationships? Well, there’s that old proverb: “The
enemy of my enemy is my friend”. If you roll a ‘6’ with a Negative
Relationship, that could mean that you get help from a monster to defeat
another monster. A ‘5’ could mean that your new “friend” wants something in
return.
If you use
Relationship Rolls during the sessions and run out of ideas, remember that DCC
RPG already has a generic reward to use: Luck Points! When in doubt, if a PC
rolled a ‘6’, grant him anything from 1d3 to 1d6 Luck Points, explaining it
through his Relationships. For example, a Warrior with 1 Relationship Die with
the Elves/Positive (either he’s a half-elf or was raised by them) rolls a ‘6’,
but the Judge is out of ideas. Well, the Judge could describe a Tuk-Man or
Sprite showing up to guide the Warrior through the next encounters. The
Tuk-Man/Sprite’s effect is represented by the extra Luck Points.
If you want a
third option for Icon Relationship Rolls, here it is: use them to map factions
in an Adventure/Module. It’s the same thing but on a smaller scale. For
example, let’s imagine a dungeon populated by an evil druid cult, goblins and
kobolds (yup, I’m talking about the Sunless Citadel). The entire PC party can
gain 1 Relationship Dice at the end of a session for every faction they meet.
So, after meeting a few kobolds and helping them, the party gains 1
Relationship Die (Kobolds/Positive). Later, they face the goblins and, at the
end of the session, gain another Relationship Die – this time it’s 1
Relationship Die (Goblin/Negative). I suggest capping this at 3-4 Relationship
Dice. The result of the rolls can represent hirelings from a faction, supplies,
sidequests etc.
For Pathfinder RPG
Most of the
ideas above (except the Patron spell) can be used directly in either Pathfinder
or D&D 5E.
In Pathfinder
you already have a lot of subystems for organizations, contacts and
reputations, so the GM will have to think if the Icon Relationship Rolls are
necessary. They can be a good alternative as a “lighter” take on factions for
Pathfinder. Maybe you can link the Relationship Die effects to Hero Points, or to
bring extra NPCs from the Gamemastery Guide or the various Codices.
For D&D 5E
For D&D 5E things are simpler. You can grant each PC 1 Relationship Die, linked to their Backgrounds at 1st level, and grant a new Die every time their Proficiency bonus goes up
No comments:
Post a Comment