Party Card –

This is to explain a proposed new Action Card I am testing at table to replace the Party Card.

First off I like the idea of something binding group together, a “character sheet for the group” not just “a sheet for each PC”. Some other games have done this with “the spaceship you’re all on”, the “magical covenant you belong to” both which you buy features for as for your PC and both of which give you individual benefits etc. but I like WFRP going further with a mechanic that is “ways you help each other, or annoy each other”.

Breaking down the Party Card’s elements and reasons I’m revisiting it (many tables apparently just drop it):

- Party Tension doesn’t feel like it – the track builds slowly and the result is that a “trigger point” where negative effects are felt doesn’t “feel” inherently connected to what made tension reach that point. The idea of tracking inter-PC tension is a fun one but I feel this one ends up feeling like “arbitrary negative consequences” when they do fall.

- Party Special Ability overlooked – perhaps some tables are better at this than mine.

- Sharing Talents either overlooked or over-used in a way not roleplayed (how often as it been relevant in any way to narrative why someone is better lucky than good rather than just constantly dipping into it) – this is a nice one mechanically though it becomes very mechanical as opposed to being a real reflection of “taking advice/inspiration from a comrade” etc., so I want to keep and if anything increase the focus on inter-PC interaction being the key to getting this mechanical benefit.

- Fortune Pool overlooked – a reward for good roleplaying to get more fortune points is fine idea though I admit I’m usually caught up in running game, while I form impressions during play I really only “grade performance” after the fact and the principle here is "reinforce good play on the spot". I give access to freeform die outcome possibilities for assigned boons etc. only with roleplay which is probably enough roleplay oomph mechanically.

So instead, each Player has a single Basic Action Card, the name varies by the Party Card, Glory Hound being this groups and has the information on it that puts it more in Player hands.

This would be a basic card you get starting out for free.

In this case: Glory Hound Party

Card traits are “Basic, Reaction, Rally”, Recharge is !, Type is Support, same on both sides (so only one side really)

(not on card but note: as reaction this can be used whenever the triggering factor applies and as a reaction it is in addition to regular action).

You can you slot a talent to it you are have not slotted to career card, by which you make it potentially “party affecting” (which includes yourself still). As with Party Cards, switching out this talent is free in narrative time and takes a manoeuvre in encounter time. Only one of the two types to talent your group card would have permitted can be slotted (the custom card says which they are).

Standard Effect: Add zero recharge tokens to invoke [Party Special Ability] (which is printed on the card, in this case the recover stress/fatigue when succeeding on check where fortune point spent).

(e.g., perhaps use this card as the placemat for your fortune points to recall when spending them they have this possibility)

Alternative Effect: Add 4 recharge tokens to invoke the slotted Talent to this Card so anyone can benefit from it during the round it is invoked (though as usual if it exhausts then really only one person can once).

(while this is recharging you can’t use the Party Special Ability as you only exemplify one aspect of being in a group at a time, at time being there for the team does cost you; 4 is also the # of tokens on an exhausted ability so no fiddling different tracking).

- the fact it recharges compensates a bit for letting every hero have opportunity to share talents, but I like letting every hero do this - why should only a couple of heroes do this at once?

- In play you have to think ahead to still to choose what to slot, you can still benefit from it, and someone else is not as likely to recall what you can do as you are.

There are new generic chaos star effects on single and double chaos stars that reflect the "party stress downsides" of the tension meter - these chaos stars can only be invoked on failures (failure + chaos star not too likey, but the effects generally are nastier than a single chaos star effect).

Some effects in the game either increase party tension or disable a party talent slot.

When these come up I will replace those effects with something else. In the case of disabling a talent slot, which means one fewer shared talents, such as when someone is suffering a particularly nasty disease that makes working together harder ("stay over there and don't breath on me"), I will likely rule that the character in question can't "share their talent" or "benefit from a shared talent" instead.

Comments welcome.

So far, players were happy with the switch, agreeing with the view of party card as "nice try but not cutting it".

Hm, that's a pretty cool idea and I'd have preferred it if the game had originally done it like that. The party function would probably have seen a lot more use that way.

Personally I don't like creating and printing out my own cards because they look a bit shabby, so I probably won't use it, but the idea is great.

The Strange Eons freeware does a pretty good job of leting you create custom cards. If you have a colour printer, or access to one, slipped inside a card cover, it's pretty much the same as other cards.

i like the idea. did you create the card using strange eons? i don't see anything in there to address your tendency to ignore rewarding the players with additional fortune points for great role play. or are you abandoning the party pool of fortune dice?

Yup created with Strange Eons.

No replacement for party fortune pool:

- I'm generous (when it's earned, so perhaps stingy really) with fortune dice on well described actions and sometimes just give one to player for their pool when they roleplay well but there's no action to modify;

- When die outcomes aren't assigned by cards, I allow freeform outcomes of them if roleplayed well.

So I feel that does enough to rewards roleplayng and aid players' odds.

care to put up an image of the card? either here or on your blog?

I will eventually (have to edit it to cut the blank side etc.)

It's up on my blog now.

so the universal effects are for any test? (i.e. not specifically a test to do with the party card or slotted talent).

Yes, any failed test. They apply as on of the GM choices Amon others on action or location etc cards. They are appropriate whe the failure is something others counted on such as first aid etc.