So I've noticed a disdain for the Party Sheet mechanics amongst some of you on these boards, and have been thinking about ways to expand it's usuability beyond sharing of talents and party tension.

Borrowing from Cubicle 7's The One Ring rpg and it's use of Fellowship and Shadow Points, I've decided to implement some additional mechanics to the Party Sheet to further enhance the idea of party stability and group support.

To do this, I will do away with the core mechanics of generating Fortune Points for the Party Sheet (i.e. adding Fortune to the Party Sheet when player's do something interesting). In it's place, the Party Sheet will generate Fortune Points under the following circumstances:

The Party Tension Meter is reduced to 0 (the far left of the meter) = a # of Fortune is added to the Party Fortune Pool = the # of PC's in the group (this only included Player Characters, no NPC's or hirlings). In my own game, this can be accomplished through successful travel, camping, and resting and carousing (i.e. all checks to accomplish these things are successful).

During Encounter Mode = A PC uses Assist/Distract or First Aid to help another PC = 1 Fortune is added to the Party Fortune Pool + 1 Additional Fortune for every 2+ Boons generated on the relevant skill check (if one is used), or A PC does something relevant to assist another PC (GM's discretion).

During Story Mode = A PC does something relevant to assist another PC.

These changes mean that the Party Fortune Pool is directly affected by how well the party gets along and sticks together.

The other facet to this mechanic is the GM's Corruption Pool, which harkens back to the Threat Tokens of Milton Bradley/Games Workshop's Advanced Heroquest game.

Whenever the party tension meter reaches it's final space (far right), not only do all party member suffer the usual stress, but a Corruption Pool Point is also generated. The GM may later spend these points whenever a PC rolls a Chaos Star on a check. This represents cracks in the party cohesion, and a loss of trust and support, much like the Shadow Points/Pool of The One Ring.

Regardless of these additions and changes, some things will stay the same. The GM may still hand out individual Fortune Point awards to players for good roleplaying, and Corruption points may still be aquired due to failed Willpower checks and the like.

To be continued:

In addition to the mechanics above, I'm currently working on a Party Sheet mat, that expands further the uses of the Party Sheet mechanics. It will have a space to put the Party Sheet, an area to collect Corruption Points, and a set of trackers that can be used to track food/water supplies and wealth (all of which are optional). There will also be slots on the side for socketing Hirelings/Henchmen/Follower cards (see Hurlanc's thread - http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=166&efcid=3&efidt=548165 )

Feel free to contribute ideas!

I don't think the tension metre went far enough.

Given how slowly the tracker advances in my games, I'm thinking of inflicting the lesser penalty on the tension tracker for each step they move along. But that's a personal choice and relevent really for GM's that don't move it all that fast.

My other mechanic I use is to replace on of the party talent slots with an insanity, relevent to the situation. Paranioa, niggling doubts, anything relevent really. The insanity remains until ALL players pay stress equal to the severity of the insanity. I like that one in particular.

Insanity on party sheet... Nice !