07-10-2018, 06:22 PM | #11 | |
Join Date: May 2015
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
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ST 9 DX 9 armor IQ 14 Charisma (2), New Followers (2), Monster Followers II (2 + 2), Tactics (1), Master Physicker (2 + 2) Beginning character starts in a town, spends a couple of days wandering about looking for the best NPCs to make friends. Then spends time making friends with them, making 4/IQ rolls until he has 7 more characters to run. Likely to work on various monsters too. If GM'd well, it actually sounds like a cool/fun strategy to me, and is actually like what my players have often done (one party had about 20 NPC followers/allies at one point.), but not if done with a simple 4/IQ mechanic regardless of who you're enlisting. The problem is the unqualified "you can roll 4/IQ to take over anyone of your race and make them your character" mechanic, with no tips for new GMs about limits or ways to make that interesting and logical and not unlimited/gamey. |
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07-10-2018, 07:15 PM | #12 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
My college campaign did see New Followers used, as one player (Capt. Darvos) was intent on building an army to conquer a particular kingdom.
After a certain point, though, due to the limitations of the talent (see below), we sort of played it by ear, including, I believe, liberal interpretation of the Strategist talent. (I think. It was a long time ago.) The rest of the party were okay with being sort of "free" followers of Darvos, taking on more special forces type missions. Um, Howitzer? : New Followers does have a sort of "hidden rule" in it regarding trained animals: "A figure may have only as many followers and/or trained animals as HALF his IQ, rounded down." Even if New Followers is dropped, if there is a still to be a limit on trained animals, it should be included in the related section. Trained animals were also popular in my old campaign (Capt. Darvos had a war horse, of course, of course). Personally, I think the Monster Followers rule for basing number of followers on the creatures' ST should be applied to trained animals. I might change the formula to: animal's ST/5 (round up), up to the character's IQ. Roughly the same as ST/10 up to 1/2 IQ, but does away with the big gap in a ST 10 vs ST 19 animal companion. Last edited by Oneiros; 07-10-2018 at 07:18 PM. |
07-10-2018, 08:22 PM | #13 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
I don't recall using New Followers and Monster Followers, so I won't mind seeing them go. However, having the ability to have followers ( and trained animals) can be useful. Describing a method of using other talents, like Charisma, Sex Appeal, or Bard to convince NPCs to join you would be useful.
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07-10-2018, 10:28 PM | #14 | |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
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Putting them into "Supplement 1: Optional Rules" would be a good enough solution for me, provided it's either inexpensive or part of the KS Stretch Goals. (KS for SJG very often seems to be a "License for SJG to print money"... I know it's not, because SJ does NOT price for all the market will bear. And it's quite appreciated, and been historic as well as current. Rest assured, Mr. Jackson, we do notice it, and we do appreciate it. Especially the GURPS fans.) |
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07-11-2018, 09:57 PM | #15 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
Here's a question which occurred to me, while driving home from dinner out with friends this evening (funny what a belly full of all-you-can eat pasta will make you think about):
"If you were GM'ing a player with a "Dorothy" type character, would you consider The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), to be an adventure in which her "New Followers" talent played a key role in your refereeing the actions of the other key-NPC's (i.e. Lion, Tin Woodsman, and Scarecrow) ? And if so, how so? Thoughts? JK |
07-11-2018, 10:53 PM | #16 | |
Join Date: Jul 2018
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
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In a more serious vein, the way Dorothy attracts the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion is a potential example of how New Followers might work (a suggestion of companionship that is taken up more fervently than might be expected, and that results in unusual devotion to the suggester). |
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07-12-2018, 12:05 AM | #17 |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
I'm not entirely sure that's a valid consideration. If I recall correctly, each of the "new followers" she acquired went along with her for their own reasons (and benefit); the Cowardly Lion wanted courage, the Scarecrow wanted brains, and the Tin Man wanted a heart. That sounds to me more like gathering quest companions (additional PCs) who accompany someone who tells them where they can find a quest object (in this case, the Wizard of Oz) who can fulfill their desires, not the gathering of subordinates totally and exclusively dedicated to her cause.
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07-12-2018, 12:24 AM | #18 | ||
Join Date: May 2018
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
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I think the most effective leaders inspire their followers to act with their own initiative and take on the cause(s) as their own. Although I'm a programmer, I've participated in product sales for our company in the past and what Dorothy did could be considered sales. Here's a spot I just found from a page on "how to find a sales champion" for selling into an organization and I think there's a lot of overlap with Dorothy gaining companions: Quote:
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07-12-2018, 12:36 AM | #19 |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
`That's a false comparison though -- Gollum wouldn't have been helpfully telling them where they could go to find answers to their problems, he would have been knifing them in the back to see what they had in their wallets...
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07-12-2018, 12:39 AM | #20 |
Join Date: May 2018
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Re: New Followers / Monster Followers
That's kind of my point though. The helpful way Dorothy told them where they could go to find answers is New Followers in action...
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