[Basic] Skill of the week: Leadership

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Hum, we seem to have a difference here. Most players I know don't like the idea of being in charge, because it raises the ghastly possibility of being held responsible for other players' actions.

I love playing the Leader. Even of the other characters, both the Authoritarian type and the Laid-Back type.

I also love being the anti-authority-does-their-own-thing-rebel-without-a-clue types.

Does the need for minions happen often for you? It's really rare for games I've played: we might acquire them for assistance with a search, for example, but almost never for combat.

It's variable for my games. Some games have been very Ally/Hireling heavy, others have nary seen one.

[Pseudonym]

I was musing over the thought of what skill penalties one might use when leveraging leadership, assuming that Leadership +/-0 is the adventuring Case:

• +10 or automatic when congratulating a direct report or colleague on a promotion and remembering to recognize their contributions.
• +5 When being asked who is the best person to fulfill a position in a workplace you have acclimated to over several months.
• +1 When leading people to a suspected mutually beneficial situation (Or, alternatively, complementary skill for a negotiation ability in like manner-- or vice versa, +2 if using a negotiation skill in a complementary manner) [Hey pal, we've come to liberate this slave camp, but you need to work with us if we are to have any chance of success]
• 0 When leading people into a dangerous situation [But hey, there are armed guards outside, if you guys lose, it might be better that we aren't culpable]
• -1 If there is no tangible benefit, and the call to action seems more like a hassle [And we do get agreeable room/board]
• -5 if the call to action seems to immediately work against the best interests of those that you are attempting to lead, or if in light of a crushing demoralizing situation or demonstration [Remember what they did to Heathcliffe when he tried to escape last month? Gods almighty, I'm still trying to forget!]
• -10 If you come from a position with no leverage and working against someone who holds all the bargaining chips. [I must admit that you lay the groundwork for an impressive ethical argument against slavery, but my orders are to kill the insurgents on sight, you are the last man, and I don't want to get in trouble.]

Dungeon Fantasy has straightforward mechanical benefits for it. The part that gets me tied up is when to use Administration versus Leadership... which reminds me of some classes I was required to take for work explaining the difference between a "leader" and a "manager." And in that context, a good "Administrator" is able to do a good job when everything is going right, and a good leader is able to work against chaos and uncertainty. Administration makes sure the trains run on time and everyone is paid; Leadership rescues survivors if the train goes off the rails, outperforms the other rail companies, or invests in the automobile and other forms of public transportation.

[RogerBW]

I've mentioned before that when I run a demo game that lists an obvious leadership position among the available PCs, that's usually the last one to be signed up for. This seems to be much more common in the UK than in the USA.

Certainly I agree that many players don't like to be told what to do. I think the best way to allow Leadership to shine is to have NPCs that the PCs can use it on.

Generally I play with groups of four or five players, where the cost of having one person not shooting or casting a spell or otherwise doing something violent tends to outweigh the morale/etc. bonus. Again, NPCs would help.

[ArchonShiva]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

If that's too powerful, and I suspect that it will turn out to be, you could also allow 10+Reputation as a Complementary Skill Roll to Leadership.

It's probably reasonably fair to add Reputation when rolling to motivate people to follow, but not when Leadership represents efficient coordination.

[Anders]

I could definitely see Public Speaking as an adjunct skill to Leadership.

And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

[jason taylor]

Napoleon used to get dossiers from regiments he intended to visit so he could address soldiers in a folksy manner pretending he remembered something about their earlier career.

[Engurrand]

In my campaigns I have allowed Leadership rolls for a variety of not-necessarily-cannon things:

-To shout "stop" to a crowd, or even to an individual as long as that individual is at least neutral in their reaction level.
-As a complimentary skill to any activity which would benefit from group coordination. EG - two PCs have tracking, a third has leadership. The leader to give both trackers a +1, while the tracker with the worse skill rolls to give the one with a better skill a +1, for a likely net bonus of +2 to the better tracker.
-Any time there is a question as to whether or not one of the PCs can remember the plan they made together, (as long as the leader was clear at the time).
-To evaluate the loyalty of minions.
-As a regular contest against a jailer's loyalty with one roll made per week, and each PC success reducing the loyalty by 1.
-To show a political leader that my party can handle his problem.
-As a substitute for ship-handling in a scenario when the first mate had that skill, and the 'captain' just needed to inspire the crew with where to go.
-as a substitute for IQ when making hiring rolls to build a team.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by ArchonShiva

It's probably reasonably fair to add Reputation when rolling to motivate people to follow, but not when Leadership represents efficient coordination.

I agree with that.