[Long][House Rule] On the use of OGL Horror's Ties in Conan

[Hyena]

Ties are one of these nifty role-playing mechanics that made me buy OGL Horror last February. I think they are a great incentive for players to go beyond the classic 'boundless wanderer' style and define things they really care/stand for. I intend to use them instead of allegiances.

A quick reminder for those not owning the OGL Horror book : each players gets 5 Permanent Ties to allocate between things his PC holds dear. The objects of these Ties may be persons, locations, causes, etc. but must be external elements the GM can threaten. A PC may allocate more than one Tie to a particular object. If the object of his Tie(s) is threatened, the PC get 1d10 per Tie per adventure to add to any attack roll, damage roll, skill check made while defending it. PCs have also 1 Temporay Tie representing the character's current goal. While originally designed for horror gaming, I thing Ties would be appropriate in Conan. After all, we all can imagine Conan going ballistic when Belit's life is threatened. I do not say they could be used as they are in Conan, though. I'm going to use this modifications :

Allocation. Players are not required to allocate Permanent Ties at character creation, they can do it during the game.
Severance. Players may 'sever' a Permanent Tie at will : the character is changing his priorities. But the severed Permanent Tie won't be back for reallocation before a year after severance, and a character won't get more than one Tie/year back.
Failure. If the character fail to protect the object of a Permanent Tie(s), the Tie(s) is severed and the character suffer a Curse-like penalty until he gets back the Tie. For instance, if the character fails to prevent his 3-Ties beloved from being killed, he'll be suffering from a -3 curse during the next year, a -2 curse during the following year and a -1 curse during the third year. A character can alleviate or eliminate this penalty by taking appropriate actions : bloody vengeance, swift justice, penance etc.
Sorcerers may trigger the Rule of Obsession by allocating permanent Ties. Scholars level 1-4 allocating more than 4 Ties are considered as sufferring from Obsession, as are Scholars level 5-8 allocating more than 3 Permanent Ties, scholars level 8-12 allocating more than 2 and so on...
A character's Corruption score will be deducted from his number of Ties. Unallocated Ties go first. In the case of allocated Ties, the character is considered having voluntarily severed the Tie except he won't get it back before a year after he has reduced his corruption score.

The Temporay Tie will follow the same Allocation, Severance and Failure rules than the Permanent Ties, except the 'retention period' is only three monthes. Also, Temporary Ties like 'kill them all and take their stuff' will be actively discouraged.

 

[GhostWolf69]

Sounds really cool friend.

I always like ways to "force" your players to give their character more... well character. This way they get system perks for it... hmmm that ought to work for my powergaming pals... =)

Thanks for the tip.

/wolf

 

[Iron_Chef]

This is great! Mind if I add it to my Conan GM's Guide thread? Or you could post it there yourself if you prefer. Again, thanks a lot for taking the time to not only make us aware of this rule, but also to modify it for Conan.

 

[Hyena]

Sounds really cool friend.

I always like ways to "force" your players to give their character more... well character. This way they get system perks for it... hmmm that ought to work for my powergaming pals... =)

Thanks for the tip.

/wolf

I've been in love with this kind of mechanics since Pendragon's Passions. This one has the additionnal benefit of giving players some indirect input in the campaign, since it is understood the GM will go after their Ties.

I'm starting to think OGL Horror is a good toolbox. I've considered using their shock (sanity) system, but abandoned the idea : this system can't be used as a substitute for Corruption (two different things), would make Conan rule-heavier and may not be genre appropriate. I'm gonna give a hard look the the Conspiracies chapters now. It's about statting conspiracies, cults, organizations etc. : might be useful.

 

[Hyena]

This is great! Mind if I add it to my Conan GM's Guide thread?

Not the least ! I'm too lazy to do it myself though, so just make a silly mention of my name like 'One more house rule thanks to you friend Hyena' or whatever you like...

Again, thanks a lot for taking the time to not only make us aware of this rule, but also to modify it for Conan.

Bah, I'm a compulsive tinkerer so no need to thank me : it's not as if I could help it anyway ! Keep in mind this has not been playtested for the moment. It's a roleplay tool with symbolic system effects so it shouldn't be an issue, but the possibilty of a nasty surprise can't be excluded.

 

[GhostWolf69]

I've been in love with this kind of mechanics since Pendragon's Passions. This one has the additionnal benefit of giving players some indirect input in the campaign, since it is understood the GM will go after their Ties.

Yes I've seen other variants as well, but Pendragon was extremely good at it. Other examples (of varying quality):

ShatterZone, that actually used a deck of cards, some of them with writen plot twists and/or recourses in the form of contacts, friends. Some of the twist included advesaries, enemies and such as well.

A similar deck of cards, actually exists (or rather existed) for "separate" purchase... the company producing this is long since gone I would imagine, so I wonder if you could find it now though. I havbe one! 8)

Over the Edge, had a similar thing where you picked enemies and connections to help the DM create plotlines.

Ars Magica, where you not only created your own character but rather an entire covenant, including servants, grogs, and so on, and it's relation to the locals and everything. I actually participated in a group at one time that had over 90pages of material purely player created. The DM had a blast just reading it through and creating plotlines on top of that.

/wolf

 

[GhostWolf69]

Actually.... I just had a silly thought:

I could take any ordinary deck of cards, you know with club, spades, hearts etc. and make a list-table.

Have each card correspond to a specific list entry that explains what that card should do. (This list can be copied from the Fantasy Deck I have at home.) And if you all printed the list you could use it wth just an ordinary deck... hmmm

Anyone interested?

/wolf

 

[Hyena]

Actually.... I just had a silly thought:

I could take any ordinary deck of cards, you know with club, spades, hearts etc. and make a list-table.

Have each card correspond to a specific list entry that explains what that card should do. (This list can be copied from the Fantasy Deck I have at home.) And if you all printed the list you could use it wth just an ordinary deck... hmmm

Anyone interested?

/wolf

What's on this list and how are we supposed to use the cards exactly ?

One thought before we go too far : we're d20 GM, we're not supposed to talk about narrativist stuff in the open. Shouldn't we hide in some dark corner ? It would be embarrassing if some bearded narrativist ayatollah learnt we don't statisfy ourselves with our gamist/simulationnist things and set a torch-and-pitchfork mob on us... :wink:

 

[GhostWolf69]

Shouldn't we hide in some dark corner ?

Is that an invitation? 8)

Here is how this works:

1. You give each player 3 cards at the start of the game.
2. They get to keep these cards until they play them, meaning they are kept and stored with their carachter sheet.
3. The cards should be kept secret, even from the DM.
4. To see what a card does if played you check the list.
5. Once a card is played you let the player in cooperation with the DM (strange concept, huh?) define exactly how it affects play and current events in game along the guidelines given in the list.
6. Each time you distribute XP, you take the oportunity to award new cards to the players.

Example card effects according to list:

Queen of Spades

"One of the minor female NPC's you encounter is actually an old girfriend/aquaintance. You parted as enemies and she will take this opportunity to make life misserable for you in every way possible. Present the backgound story to your DM and play it out. Since this card is bad but not catasrtophical you gain 200xp for playing it."

(Just picked that one from the top of my head, the list could be as elaborate or short cut as needed. And awards can differ depending on how bad/good the player makes it. Just to give you a general idea.)

/wolf

 

[Hyena]

Is that an invitation? 8)

My my my, we're feeling presomptuous today, aren't we ? No it isn't. Not until you've done something about that raw marinated fish breath of yours, Fenris !

Here is how this works:
***SNIP****
(Just picked that one from the top of my head, the list could be as elaborate or short cut as needed. And awards can differ depending on how bad/good the player makes it. Just to give you a general idea.)
/wolf

Now, this sounds like good fun for all the family ! It's a bit redundant with the Fate rules, but it could be a real stimulant for players' imagination. I'm definitely interested in getting a complete list. I would probably give only one card since I'm going for a limited game and I'd probably use Fate points for costs/rewards instead of XP but I'm in anyway.

 

[GhostWolf69]

I'll dig through my drawers and boxes to see if I can find that ancient deck... I'll be back.

/wolf

 

[jcw8705]

Another useful 'forced' roleplay tool I have found is the Hubris/Flaw rules from 7th Sea D20 (Swashbuckling Adventures). You pick a Hubris/Flaw and once per game the DM or another player can call your Hubris/Flaw into effect. The players who take one end up with a bonus feat, while the GM ends up with a means of forcing a character to act more 'in-character' as described. For example, if someone takes vengeful, then you could force them to take vengeance on an NPC who wronged them, even if killing that NPC might cause the party far more problems than it solves (i.e. killing the King's 'noble' advisor and ending up on the run for it).

 

[GhostWolf69]

I did a minor search (taking 10) at home... and I can't figure out where this deck of mine if right now... in fact, I might have thrown it away. Or it is deep down in the basement in some carboard box with long forgotten games and other stuff... probably the later.

Why don't we all work together and make up our own list?
We can take turns posting a card and its text here in this thread!
My Queen of Spades was the first.
Anyone is welcome to hop in!

/wolf

 

[GhostWolf69]

Some directions:

Make Clubs and Spades the negative cards.
Make Hearts and Diamonds the possitive cards.
Try to make event of the card at a level coresponding to the value of it.
Aces High would be life changing catastrophic/marvelous events.
And the two of clubs would be a minor penalty of one roll, cause of something.

What do you think?

/wolf

 

[Yokiboy]

Ties are one of these nifty role-playing mechanics that made me buy OGL Horror last February. I think they are a great incentive for players to go beyond the classic 'boundless wanderer' style and define things they really care/stand for. I intend to use them instead of allegiances.

Hi Hyena, that sounds like an interesting system, and very fitting to Conan, perhaps even moreso than the mentioned Allegiances rule.

Have you checked out Unknown Armies though? There use of Obsessions and Passions is excellent, and I have yet to see an UA character that didn't seem alive somehow.

In short here's how it works. You are not boring. You are an obsessed, passionate individual with a distinctive personality. The Obsession is what you live for, the meaning of your life, it is how you understand the world. You do want to pick something original and useful, as it does offer in game benefits in the form of an Obsession Skill. You pick one skill (all skills in UA are up to the player/GM to design, there's no skill list) as your Obsession Skill, and any time you use it you may flip flop the d100 result (i.e. if you roll 74 you can turn it into 47 instead, switching the "ones" and "tens" dice).

The Passions rule your life, in a very real way, they're the foundation of all the "logical" and "rational" decisions you make as a human being. Basically your chosen Passions are your character's hot buttons. You pick a Fear Passion, a Rage Passion and a Noble Passion. Any time your Passions come into play they allow you one re-roll or flip flop, but just once per session.

There's also a ton of other cool stuff in the game, which is a real masterpiece among RPGs, such as Trigger Events, the Personality system, and the absolutely brilliant Madness rules and their Stress Checks.

TTFN,

Yokiboy