TryhardLM
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Joined: Sat 25 Sep 2021, 14:01

Councils - My House Rules

Fri 15 Oct 2021, 07:17

These are my house rules for Councils. I put them together after reading a previous thread (credit to gyrovague) about how the mechanics for Councils don't offer interesting choices. By the rules as written, you just choose your best skill and roleplay as best you can. Roll, rinse, and repeat.

In contrast, these house rules are meant to add interesting choices and more robust mechanics.

They won't be ideal for everyone, but they're fun for me. I haven't checked the balance of anything or how well it would scale, so be warned.

Council Procedure

1. List Primary Goals, Secondary, Goals, and Services
Before the Council, establish what the heroes want.
Players set their Primary Goal, the bare minimum thing they need to achieve from this Council.
Players brainstorm a few Secondary Goals, things that would be nice on top of the Primary Goal.
Players also list some Services they could provide that the audience won't ask for but that might sweeten the pot for the audience (like how Pippin didn't need to volunteer his service to Denethor).
Secondary Goals and Services will work like bargaining chips later, so players might want to put each of these Goals and Services on separate index cards.

Example:
A hobbit Messenger named Tobold Tunnelly arrives at the Prancing Pony to meet Balin. Everyone's talking about how Balin is recruiting adventurers to search for missing dwarves who were seeking more passes through the Misty Mountains. Tobold learns from listening to the crowds gossip that Balin wants any survivors returned to Bree along with the remains of any dwarves who perished.
Tobold is about to have a Council.
He sets his Primary Goal as being paid well enough to live comfortably for a year for each missing dwarf he delivers alive -- and half a year's wages for each dwarf whose remains he delivers.
His player writes it on an index card just so it's clear to everyone what he wants to achieve.
He writes his secondary goals on cards too:
  • Get an extra pony from Balin
  • Get an introduction to Gandalf, along with Balin's recommendation for Gandalf to use Tobold for future adventures
  • Get a one-of-a-kind magical treasure from Erebor.

Next, the player writes down the Services he might be willing to offer without Balin asking for them:
  • Tobold might offer to return any dwarf-made treasure he discovers to Balin for consideration.
  • He also might offer to deliver any news/letters Balin might have to any people along the way. (Tobold is a Messenger, after all.)

Tobold can't think of anything else without actually talking to Balin, so we move on to the next step.


2. Set Resistance
The LM tells the players if their Primary Goal will be considered Reasonable (3 successes needed), Bold (6), or Outrageous (9).
Optionally, the LM might mentally note if certain Secondary Goals would raise the Resistance or if some Services would lower it, but it is usually best to just wait until the players actually bring these items up during the Interaction.
Players can decide during the Council which Secondary Goals and Services they want to mention.

Example:
The LM tells Tobold's player that his Primary Goal is Reasonable. This will help us determine the Time Limit.
For now, this is all that the LM tells the player.
(Optional) The LM mentally notes that Tobold could even ask for that extra pony without raising the Resistance.
What would raise the limit to Bold, however, would be asking for an introduction to Gandalf with Balin's recommendation. That wizard is hard to find, and Balin might not want to recommend Tobold, depending on the details when Tobold returns.
The LM decides that if Tobold asks for that, then the Resistance rises to Bold, UNLESS Tobold offers one of the two Services he listed.
Getting a one-of-a-kind magical treasure from Balin would certainly raise the limit to Bold as well, the LM decides, UNLESS Tobold offers the Service of giving Balin any dwarvish artifacts he finds.
If Tobold asks for both an introduction to Gandalf AND a piece of magical treasure, then the Resistance would be Outlandish, the LM decides.
To lower this Resistance back down to Bold, Tobold would need to offer BOTH Services he listed -- returning any dwarvish artifacts AND delivering some news/letters along the way.


3. Gifts
Before the Council, the Company may decide to bring a gift (if circumstances allow) as a show of goodwill.
If the heroes don't share the recipient's culture and don't know what kind of gift to offer, they may make an Insight, Scan, or Lore test to find out or recall what kind of gift to give to recipients of the relevant culture.
The LM may decide that the recipient would want something the Company has or want something else that they could find or make.
The Company may make a gift with a successful Craft roll if they have the parts for the gift.
Gifts are more likely to be received well and be considered high quality if they:
  • Honor the specific recipient in some way
    Have great utility
    Have great worth.
To give a gift, a player must describe how they present it at some point during the Introduction or Interaction.
If the gift is accepted, the LM grants 1, 2, or 3 bonus success dice to the Goodwill Pool. (See the next step for rules on the Goodwill Pool.) The quality of the gift determines the bonus.

4. The Goodwill Pool
This dice pool represents, well, the goodwill between the heroes and the audience. It is essentially temporary Hope points that expire when the Council ends.
Start a pool of extra success dice that can be spent on any roll during the Council.
Add/Subtract dice for the following:
  • Add 1d for each point of Valour that the hero with the highest score has.
  • Add 1d for each point of Wisdom that the hero with the highest score has.
  • Add 1d if the Company is (at least seemingly) arriving from a place the audience admires.
  • Subtract 1d if the Company is (at least seemingly) arriving from a place the audience fears or shuns.
  • Subtract 1d if the Company is openly carrying weapons in violation of custom or courtesy.
  • Once any gifts are presented during the Introduction or Interaction, add the appropriate number of dice to the pool. (See those rules above.)
You can spend more than one die from this pool at a time during the Council. All unspent dice are lost after the Council.

5. Strategy Roll
Insight or Lore can be rolled to learn which skills during Introduction and Interaction are high risk and/or high reward.
The LM can set the risk and reward levels for Skills randomly or by choice.
  • Skills that are likely to work particularly well with this audience earn a bonus die (+1d to the roll).
  • Skills that aren't very likely to work well with this audience cost a penalty die (-1d to the roll).
  • Skills that the LM believes would forge a bond between the heroes and audience can earn +1d to the Goodwill Pool upon success.
Using the guidelines above, LMs can add interesting decision points by:
  • Giving a penalty die to the heroes' best Skill but also telling the player that succeeding on that roll would add 1d to the Goodwill Pool
  • Giving a player's second or third best Introduction Skill a chance to add 1d to their Goodwill Pool if successful
Don't overuse any strategy, of course. The goal is to add interesting decisions and to reward risks. Don't try to make all choices completely equal; that's just erasing choice entirely.

A successful Strategy Roll, using Insight or Lore, reveals:
  • One Skill that would have a bonus or penalty die in the Introduction
  • One Skill that would have a bonus or penalty die in the Interaction
  • For each Success icon rolled, one more Skill that would have a bonus or penalty die in the Interaction.
LMs should write each piece of information gleaned from the Strategy Roll on an index card so that the players can remember the bonuses and penalties.

6. Time Limit
I personally dislike the rule that heroes who make an Outrageous request would actually get MORE chances to roll during Interaction than heroes who make a Reasonable request.
If anything, people run out of patience faster when asked for outrageous things.
Here's my alternative:
  • The Time Limit is 6 for Heroes whose Primary Goal request is Reasonable (requiring 3 successes).
  • The Time Limit is 5 for Heroes whose Primary Goal request is Bold (requiring 6 successes).
  • The Time Limit is 4 for Heroes whose Primary Goal request is Outrageous (requiring 9 successes).
Note: Secondary Goals and Services aren't taken into consideration here. It may seem like it would be too easy to succeed with a Reasonable Primary Goal, but players can use any extra rolls after they succeed on the Primary Goal to pursue Secondary Goals, which might increase the Resistance from Reasonable to Bold or even Outrageous if they're not careful. Now we have a sense of pushing one's luck, and I personally like the tension and fun of that decision.

You can also increase your Time Limit with the Introduction Roll. (See below.)

7. Introduction Roll
You still mainly choose between Awe, Courtesy, and Riddle for your Introduction, but:
  • If the roll is a success, raise the Time Limit by one plus the number of success icons.
  • If the roll is a failure, lower the time limit by one.
The Company may present any gifts now or during the Interaction.

8. Attitude
Just as the core rules say, the LM sets the audience's Attitude as Friendly, Open, or Reluctant.

9. Interaction
Expressing Goals and Offering Services
If the Company hasn't done so already, they must express their Primary Goal during the Interaction.
They may choose whether or not to pursue their Secondary Goals or offer their Services.
Players should try to work any Goals and Services they choose to express into their roleplay during the Interaction.
The Company may also present any gifts at any point during the Interaction.

Adjusting the Resistance Level
When the Company makes a request from their Secondary Goals, the LM might decide to raise the Resistance level, which lowers the Time Limit by 1 for each level it rises.
When the Company offers any Service, the LM might decide to lower the Resistance level, which raises the Time Limit by 1 for each level it lowers.

Skill Tests
Many of the rules for Interaction are still the same as they are in the core rules. I won't copy those here.
In these house rules, though, each Skill has a special benefit and/or condition. These changes should make for more interesting decision points.

ENHEARTEN
Benefit: If you succeed, gain 1d on your next use of LORE or INSIGHT. (You've raised their spirits; now you can more easily connect your goal with prophecy or try to discern how to convince the audience of your goal.)

INSIGHT
Benefit: If you succeed, gain 1d on your next use of COURTESY or AWE. (You've read the audience's emotions; now you can more easily practice the appropriate manners or impress/intimidate them.)

PERSUADE
Benefit: If you succeed, gain 1d on your next use of AWE or LORE. (You've shown them the weakness of their stance and maybe the strength of yours; now you can more easily connect your argument with your personal worthiness or some ancient prophecy.)

RIDDLE
Condition: If RIDDLE was used successfully for the Introduction, gain 1d on this roll.
Benefit: If you succeed, gain 1d on your next use of INSIGHT or COURTESY (You've intrigued them with riddles or put together hidden information from what they said; now you can more easily read their emotions more closely or practice the appropriate manners to lower their guard.)

SONG
Benefit: If you succeed, gain 1d on your next use of RIDDLE or ENHEARTEN. (You've shared the right song and gotten their attention; now you can more easily share a riddle from your culture or raise their spirits.)

COURTESY
Condition: If COURTESY was used successfully for the Introduction, gain 1d on this roll.
Benefit: If you succeed, gain 1d on your next use of SONG or RIDDLE. (You've shown them respect; now you can more easily share a song or a riddle from your culture.)

AWE
Condition: If AWE was used successfully for the Introduction, gain 1d on this roll.
Benefit: If you succeed, gain 1d on your next use of ENHEARTEN or PERSUADE. (You've impressed them; now you can more easily raise their spirits or advance your argument.)

LORE
Benefit: If you succeed, gain 1d on your next use of PERSUADE or SONG. (You've recalled important prophecy; now you can more easily advance your argument or perform a related song.)

10. Random Events
(Credit to Lucasse for making the original version of this table. I have modified it a bit to fit my taste.)

Between each Skill test of the Interaction step, roll for a Random Council Event -- news/messages, opposing counselors, etc.

Roll a Feat Die for Events (Make the roll Favoured if the audience has the Friendly Attitude. Make the roll Ill-Favoured if the audience has the Reluctant Attitude.)
  • Gandalf Rune - Fortune smiles: The council receives heartening tidings, a prophecy is recollected that backs the Company’s quest, or a traditional celebration happens to occur at the same time that lifts everyone’s spirits. Everyone regains 1 Hope, and a free success is gained towards matching the council’s Resistance.
  • 10 - Support from Unexpected Quarters: Someone important in the council vouches for the Company’s request, or some news changes things in favor of an agreement, or even the host recalls an argument in the Company’s favor. A free success is gained towards matching the council’s Resistance.
  • 9 - Extra Time: An opportunity for a display of skill; increase the Time Limit by 1.
  • 3-8 - Unexpected Resistance or Objection: Someone in the council is taking an antagonistic position, or some news or mishap harms the Company’s argument, or simply a strong counterargument comes up. The Time Limit is lowered by 1 unless a PC spends 1 Hope and is next to make an Interaction roll that directly addresses the event.
  • 2 - Temptation: A random hero is tempted to act upon their Shadow path in a way that would benefit the Company's success in this Council. If the hero chooses to do it, the Company gains an automatic Success toward matching the Resistance, but they also gain the appropriate amount of Shadow.
  • 1 - Fell Tidings: The council receives grim news, or a dark omen seems to condemn the Company’s quest. PCs gain the appropriate amount of Shadow points for the event if applicable (see the rules for Shadow in the book), and the Time Limit is lowered by 1 unless the heroes spend 1 Hope each.
  • Eye of Sauron - A hero causes a dangerous accident, or an unexpected threat/attack reinforces the risk of assisting the Company, or disagreements lead to a mood so heated that blades are drawn recklessly; a random Hero AND audience member are Wounded. The Council ends in Disaster unless each hero spends 1 Hope AND a hero successfully applies first aid to the injured audience member using Healing immediately. This roll counts against the Time Limit.

11. End of the Council
See the rulebook for these rules regarding if the heroes have success, success with woe, failure, or disaster.
Last edited by TryhardLM on Fri 15 Oct 2021, 19:38, edited 3 times in total.
 
gyrovague
Posts: 591
Joined: Tue 28 Apr 2020, 16:52

Re: Councils - My House Rules

Fri 15 Oct 2021, 07:33

Four things stand out to mere here:

1) Incorporating Gifts into the process. Gifts are such a thematic element.
2) The general idea of the "Goodwill Pool". Although I grouse about Hope 2.0, I actually like the idea of having some frequently-replenished d6's to sprinkle around, I just wish it were something other than the Hope mechanic. This is a nice variant to the old Preliminary Roll.
3) The way that different skills empower subsequent skills. There's a sort of circular, roshambo aspect I like. Although if I went this route, I might add one dimension of complexity: successful rolls might empower two other skills, but failed rolls would inhibit two skills (maybe the same two? not sure.). Even your version might be too complex/fiddly for TOR, but I still like it.
4) The idea of the random events table, just to keep things unpredictable
 
Dunheved
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Re: Councils - My House Rules

Fri 15 Oct 2021, 08:53

I have to applaud the thoroughness and detail in this monster post. Your name is well earned TRYHARDLM!

And thank you for the rationale you offer for your thoughts. It's easier for me to understand it.
 
TryhardLM
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Joined: Sat 25 Sep 2021, 14:01

Re: Councils - My House Rules

Fri 15 Oct 2021, 16:47

I appreciate the feedback!
I also think something for the Goodwill Pool besides Hope 2.0 would be better.
And I like the idea of failing some rolls leading to a worse chance of others succeeding.

Adding to all these excessive rules, I'm considering a variation on Stances from the combat rules somehow.
They could be called Approaches or maybe something more flavorful.
  • Using a Guest's Approach, as Frodo might when meeting people at the Prancing Pony, would award a bonus with Song and Courtesy.
  • Using a Sage's Approach, as Elrond might during a Council, would award a bonus to Lore and Persuade.
  • Using a King's Approach, as Thorin might when addressing Lake-town's people, would award a bonus to Awe and Enhearten.
  • Using a Rogue's Approach, as Strider might at the Prancing Pony, would award a bonus with Insight and Riddle.
Each hero could choose their approach right after Introduction.
Switching between approaches would have some sort of cost, perhaps a chance to change the audience's Attitude from Friendly to Open or from Open to Reluctant.
 
gyrovague
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Joined: Tue 28 Apr 2020, 16:52

Re: Councils - My House Rules

Sat 16 Oct 2021, 06:42

I've had time to reflect more on this.

While in theory I like the idea that a successes/failures at different skills affect the direction of the conversation, and thus lead to certain other skills being more or less advantageous, I think that in practice what it means is that there is still a deterministic "best" skill at each turn, it's just that only players who memorize the rules will know what that best skill is. And I don't that's necessarily the right design target.

One design constraint with 2E is that TNs are fixed/known, and while "secret TNs" are a topic worthy of Internet debate, I do think there's value to saying, for example, "This NPC respects power but despises indirection and sophistry, so Awe is more effective than Riddle." Except that it gets more interesting if the PCs don't automatically know this, and have to discover it, either within the Council or by doing their homework beforehand.

Furthermore, I would love it if the terrain could shift in the course of the Council, but again in ways that have to be discovered. So the aforementioned NPC's heart might soften with a Great Success (or better) at Song, at which point Courtesy suddenly becomes the go-to skill.

But, again, given that TNs are known, as are dice pool modifiers, it's not clear to me how you do this neatly and elegantly.

I suppose one way of doing it would be to keep the total number of successes secret. Then you could assign "success modifiers" to the NPCs, e.g. a -1 modifier would mean that a success becomes a failure, and a great success becomes a normal success. Now when the player succeeds at Song, the LM can narrate that the NPC nods with minimal requisite politeness, but seems eager to get back to the topic at hand. The players get the hint, "Oops...song was the wrong thing there." Notes on the NPCs can indicate what those modifiers are, and what events will change those modifiers. E.g., "The king is generally unimpressed with bravado (-1 to Awe), but if the heroes mention defeat Old Grizz the Ettin, that changes to +1 for the remainder of the Counil."

I dunno, whaddya think?. I don't think I love that solution. Too fiddly.
 
Dunheved
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Re: Councils - My House Rules

Sat 16 Oct 2021, 08:50

It reads as if a bit more variety in the outcomes is more exciting or dramatic, making the gaming experience (even) more satisfying.
If the L'M decides, in advance, on the personality or the aims of those being spoken to, then the L'M can count use of a particular skill as a double success, or a zero success, even if theTN is reached.

Example.
Beorn: nice and polite these wizards, but too smarmy for me = zero Success with Courtesy.
Beorn: slew the GREAT goblin, now that is impressive, wonder how true that is. If they stay here overnight, I can check that = double Success with Awe

Edit: so the players think both rolls succeeded for a total of two Successes, so far. In fact only one roll had any effect, but it was really positive.
 
gyrovague
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Joined: Tue 28 Apr 2020, 16:52

Re: Councils - My House Rules

Sat 16 Oct 2021, 10:30

It reads as if a bit more variety in the outcomes is more exciting or dramatic, making the gaming experience (even) more satisfying.
If the L'M decides, in advance, on the personality or the aims of those being spoken to, then the L'M can count use of a particular skill as a double success, or a zero success, even if theTN is reached.

Example.
Beorn: nice and polite these wizards, but too smarmy for me = zero Success with Courtesy.
Beorn: slew the GREAT goblin, now that is impressive, wonder how true that is. If they stay here overnight, I can check that = double Success with Awe

Edit: so the players think both rolls succeeded for a total of two Successes, so far. In fact only one roll had any effect, but it was really positive.
Great examples with Beorn.

I think there's something worth exploring in mechanics of the general form of: the NPC has likes/dislikes which will make some approaches better than others, and it's worth the players time to figure out what they are.

Given the new general dice mechanics/TNs in 2.0, the best "unknown" I can think of is the modifiers to successes.

And as to what those modifiers are applied to, the categories that occur to me are:
- Individual skills (e.g., "-1 successes to Awe")
- Skills grouped by Strength/Heart/Wits (e.g., "-1 successes to all Strength skills")
- Specific subject matter (e.g., "one-time bonus: double successes if killing goblins is mentioned")

I think if LMCs had a few such entries it would encourage some more interesting play, rather than just picking your highest skill each turn. That would (might?) be true even if the LM didn't keep the success count secret, because the players would know that a particular approach was more/less effective, but not which of those three categories was the reason. (E.g., "Was it -1 success because it was Awe, or because it was a Strength skill, or because we mentioned our ponies dying?")

Another way of structuring it would be to frame it in terms of the LMCs goals/preferences, with the "rule" (or suggestion) being that you subtract a success if an approach seems to contradict a goal/preference* and you increase successes** if it supports a goal/preference. Example:

Beorn
Bitter enemies with goblins and wargs
Loves and protects all animals
Wants to be left alone
Impatient

*Need a single word instead of "goal/preference"
**Increasing successes needs some finesse as a concept because you don't want to add +1 to a failure, which is why above I said "double successes". But that can be insanely powerful with a lucky roll.

Also, it's worth observing that this is all really along the lines of what Nialism was describing, but in a formal structure that could assist LMs who don't want to have to improvise or interpret broad/vague guidelines.
 
gyrovague
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Re: Councils - My House Rules

Sat 16 Oct 2021, 11:45

Ok, version 17.2:

1. LM has enumeration of goals/preferences as before
2. When a player makes a choice that either aligns with or contradicts those goals/preferences, as determined by the LM, the LM signals this by telling them to roll favoured or ill-favoured. (If the player is already using a favoured skill there's no extra bonus, but it's still a signal)
3. If an aligned attempt results in a gandalf the disposition of the LMC shifts toward more friendly, granting +1d on all attempts (by all companions) going forward.
4. If a contrary attempt results in an eye, the disposition of the LMC shifts toward less friendly, imposing -1d on all attempts (by all companions) going forward
5. Following such an aligned/contrary attempt, a player can opt to use their turn to make an Insight check, and if successful the LM reveals more information about why the attempt was aligned/contrary. ("Beorn seemed to take delight in hearing about bad things happening to goblins" or "Beorn doesn't seem to have much patience for people trying to impress them with their martial prowess.")

Edit: upon further reflection, I still don’t like the risk:reward model here. Back to work.
 
TryhardLM
Topic Author
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Re: Councils - My House Rules

Sat 16 Oct 2021, 22:12

Love the ideas that are coming up. They remind me of how the scenes in the books operate, and that's the point, after all.

I'd also agree that the branching Skills table in my original post isn't the right direction to take the design. I'm ditching that whole section. It's too much to track and not very true to the books either.

I also think we've hit the nail on the head: the real trick in making Councils fun will be finding the right risk:reward ratio and including surprises.

These items might do the trick:
  • Using the Random Events table.
  • Separating the Primary Goal from the Secondary ones so that the Resistance (and possibly the Time Limit) can change if the heroes make some new significant request during the Interaction. (I can already imagine the players fretting over whether or not asking for that one extra thing they wanted might raise the Resistance. "Do we want to push our luck?")
  • Letting the heroes find out before AND during the Council at least one or two Skills and/or Topics an NPC likes or dislikes, and making sure it matters mechanically.

This last item is done by including the Strategy Roll (in my original post) and by--(stealing this from gyrovague)--making rolls Favoured or Ill-Favoured when the hero uses a relevant Skill or touches on a relevant Preference.
  • Like gyrovague wrote, after players are told to make a roll Favoured or Ill-Favoured, they can then decide if they want to spend a turn of the Council rolling Insight to find out what exactly made that last roll so effective or ineffective.
Here's where I might try something different to modify the risk:reward model:
  • If the players figure out (through an Insight roll or simply clever estimation) which Skill or Preference exactly made a roll Favoured, they can act on that information by using that Skill or touching on that Preference again AND spending 1 Hope or 1 Goodwill. If they succeed on this subsequent roll that uses that Skill or Preference again, the audience's Attitude improves by one level (reluctant to open; open to friendly).
  • If the players use an Ill-Favoured Skill a second time or touch on an Ill-Favoured Preference a second time, the audience's Attitude worsens by one level (friendly to open; open to reluctant).

Now we have some decision points:
"Do we want to spend a whole turn rolling Insight to find out exactly why they liked that story I told?"
"Do we want to guess what they liked about it instead of rolling?"
"Now that we know they liked the story because it involved killing goblins, do we want to spend a Hope or Goodwill when we bring up killing goblins again? If we do and the roll succeeds, it will make Beorn like us more."

Also, I might still give that Approaches idea in my last comment a trial run in my home game. I like that it's a mechanical commitment for the player. Switching from one Approach to another can penalize them if they do it at the wrong time.

Here's what I have so far on Approaches:

An Approach represents your general attitude, demeanor, and tone during the Council.

Choosing Your Approach
  • Player-heroes choose their Approach before they make the Introduction roll.
  • Using a Guest's Approach, as Frodo might when meeting people at the Prancing Pony, gives the Player-hero a chance to gain a bonus to Song and Courtesy.
  • Using a Sage's Approach, as Elrond might during a Council, gives the Player-hero a chance to gain a bonus to Lore and Persuade.
  • Using a King's Approach, as Thorin might when addressing Lake-town's people, gives the Player-hero a chance to gain a bonus to Awe and Enhearten.
  • Using a Rogue's Approach, as Strider might at the Prancing Pony, gives the Player-hero a chance to gain a bonus to Insight and Riddle.
Player-heroes should consider carefully what Approach they select.
The Loremaster will secretly choose at least one Approach that would be especially effective (+1d to the included rolls) against the audience and at least one Approach that would be ineffective (-1d to the included rolls).
Player-heroes will discover which Approaches are especially effective or ineffective through play or the preliminary Strategy roll.[/list]

Changing Your Approach
  • A hero may change Approaches at any point during the Interaction, but there is sometimes a cost.
  • If a hero changes Approaches immediately after failing a Skill listed in their current Approach, there is no penalty. (People expect others to change their tactics when a plan isn't working.)
  • If a hero changes Approaches at any point after having succeeded on a Skill listed in their current Approach, they make the next roll Ill-Favoured because there is an off-putting effect of being mercurial and changing your tone/attitude when there doesn't seem to be a reason for it. (This rule prevents players from changing Approaches frequently just to pump up whichever Skill they're about to roll.)
I'm not in love with the way that last rule is worded, but I feel like the idea has potential. If your Council is going poorly, you can switch without penalty. If your Approach has been working, then switching it will penalize you. Is that one Ill-Favoured roll penalty worth the benefit of pumping up two other skills though? That's where we get an interesting choice.

EDIT: I weakened the bonuses from Approaches.
 
TryhardLM
Topic Author
Posts: 12
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Re: Councils - My House Rules

Sat 16 Oct 2021, 23:27

The more I think about it, the more I see why Francesco wrote:

"If the delivered speech touches topics that are relevant to the Company’s goal and that are deemed important by their audience, then the Loremaster can allow the Player-heroes to gain (1d) or even (2d) on their Skill roll" (107).

Those extra success dice can add more successes to your running total for the Council. In that way, they can sometimes help you more than having a Favoured roll would.

Maybe it would be better to keep that rule as it is instead of letting certain topics/preferences grant Favoured or Ill-Favoured. I don't know; I'm torn.

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