Timely coordination (teamwork)

You can precisely Время your teamwork.

Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls and skill checks made as part of readied actions triggered by one of your allies who also has this черта. When you and an ally who also has this черта are attempting to overcome separate simultaneous obstacles as part of a heist or infiltration (see page 127), you also gain this +1 bonus on attack rolls and skill checks.

 

TRUE ХИТРОСТИ

Время spent learning the mystic arts of маскировка has given you интуитивный into the anonymity of the everyday.

Предпосылки: Cha 17, Маскировка 17 ranks, master маскировка master ninja trickUC or master of маскировка advanced плут talent, ninja level 10th or плут level 10th.

Benefit: When using the master маскировка master ninja trick or master of маскировка advanced плут talent to take on the appearance of a specific individual, you can fool Прорицание Магия and effects designed to locate the subject of your маскировка as per the каратель’s any guise† social talent. In addition, you gain a +10 bonus on Блеф checks to act like that individual.

 

UNIMPEACHABLE HONOR

Your Верность to your principles and your allies makes acting against them unthinkable.

Prerequisite: Стальная Воля.

Benefit: Whenever you are under the effects of a Обольщение or Принуждение Эффект and would be compelled to take an Действие that violates your fundamental nature, explicitly violates the strictures of your religion, or would be an act of an alignment that directly opposes your own (for instance, a Хаос or Зло act if you are Принципиальность good), you gain a +4 bonus on any saving throw or opposed Charisma check to resist that Приказ or Сломать free from the effect. Whenever you are compelled to attack an ally, you take a –4 penalty on your attack rolls and damage rolls.

 

WALKING SLEIGHT

You’ve developed your Навыки at picking up items while on the move.

Предпосылки: Легкая Рука, Ловкость рук 5 ranks.

Benefit: You no longer take the –20 penalty for attempting a Ловкость рук check as a сопутствующее действие. You can attempt a Ловкость рук check as a основное действие in the middle of your сопутствующее действие.

Normal: You can attempt a Ловкость рук check as a действие движения only by taking a –20 penalty on the check.

 

WILLING ACCOMPLICE

Your well-placed support can Помощь friends and allies in maintaining their most precious secrets.

Предпосылки: Cha 13, Блеф 3 ranks, Проницательность 1 rank.

Benefit: As a основное действие, you can attempt a Блеф check to Помощь another’s Маскировка check. In addition, when attempting such a check to Помощь a каратель ally in maintaining that ally’s светский облик (see page 9), a successful check grants that ally a +5 bonus instead of the

95

 normal +2.

 

MASTERING INTRIGUE

Keep that dandy-slicer of yours handy,” Shardra whispered.

“Some of the folks in here are pretty rough company.”

“So I see.” Quinn glanced sidelong at a one-eyed dwarf who could probably count his teeth on his fingers. Shardra caught the look and laughed. “Him? Nah, he’s a big puppy. These are dwarven mercs, Quinn. A missing eye, a nasty scar—around here, those are your resume. No, the ones you have to worry about are the ones with no scars at all. It means either they’re just that good, or else they’re protected by something even scarier.” Quinn raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess—this is the part where I note that you don’t have any scars, and you say ‘Exactly.’”

Shardra smiled. “See, this is why I enjoy working with you.”

 MASTERING INTRIGUE

Any adventure can contain Стихии of intrigue, and even the most combat-filled dungeon crawl often benefits from Сломатьing up the Действие with more nuanced encounters as a change of pace. Because it’s less confrontational than physical combat, intrigue acts as a counterpoint to battles, and serves to highСвет and strengthen a campaign’s high- octane moments, helping tension to build Замедлениеly and естественная броняly and creating satisfying storytelling moments.

All references to “an intrigue-based game” in the following section apply to a game that incorporates any amount of intrigue, from one with a splПраха of deviousness to a full-on political thriller.

 

INTRIGUE SYSTEMS

This chapter consists of new subsystems, new rules, and advice to add robust Стихии of intrigue to your game.

Influence: This rules system measures how characters gain influence and reputation with various organizations. Rather than boiling a social interДействие down to just a skill check or two, influence creates a back-and-forth that plays out over a longer scene. It provides concrete rewards for engaging with such groups, which can be customized to f it your game.

Heists: This sections presents tips on organizing and Running heists, such as Running a con or penetrating a set of complex defenses to steal an object, rescue a person, or attain some other goal. This section also discusses the similar topic of infiltration.

Лидерство: Expanding upon the Лидерство черта, this section offers ways to incorporate Лидерство into the game so the PCs can attract hirelings and other followers. Discover advice on how Лидерство works in an intrigue- based game, and the role that cohorts and followers can take on in such campaigns.

Nemeses: To amp up the dramatic thrusts and parries of an adversarial relationship, the nemesis system adds nasty stratagems an enemy can employ against the party. This section also includes Внушениеs for how to escalate the animosity, as well as specific strategies and XP rewards.

Pursuit: For long-laЖало chases that take several days, these new pursuit rules make the back-and-forth of such engagements fun and strategic, offering opportunities to gain edges over your pursuers or quarries.

Research: Obscure information lies hidden within great libraries and other repositories of знание. The research system gives a procedure for digging into the ancient tomes and gleaning those rare pieces of information.

Spells of Intrigue: Many spells cause problems with an intrigue-based game by enabling characters to easily detect lies, Обольщение creatures who have needed знание, or otherwise bypass social interactions. This section talks about these spells both in general terms and in specifics for certain prominent spells.

 

INTRIGUE ELEMENTS

The following Стихии are ingredients that can help add intrigue to your game. You can Использование a single element to introduce complications into an otherwise low-intrigue game or session, or put several of them together to weave a complex Паутина of intrigue throughout your campaign.

Even a group that’s primarily involved in dungeon- delving might get embroiled in a power struggle back in the town where they make their Домашняя base, or be stuck between two rivals who attempt to Использование the PCs as cat’s- paws. In a campaign that uses just one element for a bit of flavor, it’s important to incorporate that element on a regular basis—but not necessarily every session.

 

RELATIONSHIPS AND LOYALTY

In an intrigue-based game, interpersonal relationships are spotСветed, and serve a variety of different roles and purposes. The way that people’s reactions and feelings change with Время and interДействие is central to the plot in such a game, rather than something to ignore or skip through with a single roll. Relationships and loyalty can make their marks in a campaign in many ways.

Nonmonetary Rewards: Relationships with other characters and the perks and privileges granted by those relationships are fundamental rewards, equally or even more valuable than simple coin. The right friends can grant access to social events, give gifts, provide information, make problems go away, or выступление various other favors on a character’s behalf. Sometimes, a friendship can blossom into something more, and that can be its own reward.

Loyalties and Tension: All characters have their own agenda and loyalties, even those allied with the PCs. Characters act and respond to the events in the world around them in ways that serve their interests and match their worldviews. Some of the tension in such games comes from the uncertainty of how others воля act, particularly at a decisive moment when conflicting loyalties clash. Can the PC thieves trust their friend in the guard not to crack when her Приказing officer puts pressure on her, or воля she reveal what she knows? Воля the princess the PCs assisted in gaining the throne keep her promise to the PCs to grant asylum to ведьмаes now that she’s queen, or воля she backpedal to the more popular stance when the dukes threaten to secede? Воля a PC’s steОпекун cave to the crime boss’s threats against his kidnapped Семьи and secretly embezzle from the PCs, or воля he inform them and risk his family?

How NPCs react in these high-pressure situations also serves to characterize and humanize them. If an NPC sides with the PCs in any of these example situations, that NPC has made a powerful demonstration of loyalty to the PCs. If the PCs have been earning that loyalty as a reward, it воля serve as reinforcement of the PCs’ accomplishments. Either way, it’s likely to impress the PCs and bring them closer to the NPC. Even if the NPC buckles, it doesn’t make her a villain, and it could catapult her role into that of a reluctant adversary to the PCs with significant pathos.

Betrayal: In contrast to a former ally being forced by ситуативныйs and Conflicting loyalties to act against the PCs’ interests, nothing inspires hatred for an NPC quite like a Добро old-fashioned betrayal. Whether it’s an NPC who hires the PCs under false pretenses as a means of setting them up or a Личины ally who is providing information to the enemy, a traitor ups the stakes and provides a powerful emotional response.

Of course, betrayal is much more interesting if it’s the exception, rather than the rule. If NPCs betray the PCs too often, you undermine the campaign’s focus on relationships by making the PCs regret the efforts they took to build up alliances with NPCs and earn their loyalty. The exception to this guideЛиния is in a grittier, more cynical game where alliances are necessary to even survive but betrayal is the Состояние quo. When you’re Running such a game, it is critical that the players know this in advance, or at least shortly after the first Время they deal with the cynical and treacherous aspects of society. Even in such games, though the possibility of betrayal is ubiquitous and constantly on both the players’ and characters’ minds, not every relationship should end in betrayal, or it quickly loses its impact.

Hierarchies: Hierarchies are a structured system of loyalties, whether political, social, military, or another sort entirely. Progression up a hierarchy is a great way to Выслеживание the nonmonetary rewards in an intrigue- based game. Hierarchies are also an excellent source of interesting plotlines and Conflicting loyalties, from either direction on the hierarchy. Becoming a member of a hierarchy gives PCs a strong sense of belonging and reason to take actions and pursue an intrigue adventure. Enemies operating within a hierarchy make great opponents, as their membership in the hierarchy can be alternately a source of Сила and a vulnerability. If the enemy and a PC are both members of the same hierarchy, things can become particularly interesting, as both characters are empowered and constrained by their places in the system.