The Old World - Grim and Perilous Beta v3

Tier Henchmen Lieutenant Specialist
Tier 4
(31+ Total
Renown)
The party may spend 2 Renown
to hire a minion group consisting
of 3 Henchmen. Choose one
primary and two secondary
characteristics. Henchmen have
4 ranks in the primary, 3 ranks in
the secondary characteristics and
2 ranks in the rest. Choose four
combat or general skills (that
are not based on Intelligence),
those skills are now Henchmen
skills. Henchmen have wound
threshold equal to 4+Brawn and
equipment determined by the
GM.
The party may spend 1 Renown
to upgrade all allied Henchmen
from tier 3 to tier 4.
The party may spend 5 Renown
to join a Lieutenant that is a
Rival with 4 ranks in two selected
characteristics and 2 in the
rest. The Lieutenant has 3 ranks
in four different skills. Those
skills may be combat or general
skills (that are not based on
Intelligence). The Lieutenant
has a wound threshold equal
to 9+Brawn and equipment
determined by the GM. As per
GM's discretion, the party may
choose two rank 1 talents, one
rank 2 talent and one rank 3
talent for the Lieutenant. The
Lieutenant has also 1 rank in the
Adversary talent.
The party may spend 8 Renown
to join a Specialist that
is a Nemesis with 5 ranks in
one selected characteristic,
4 ranks in one other characteristic,
and 2 in the rest. The
Specialist has 4 ranks in four
different skills. Those can be
any skills including combat
and magic skills. The Specialist
has a wound threshold equal
to 10+Brawn, strain threshold
equal to 10+Willpower and
equipment determined by the
GM. As per GM's discretion,
the party may choose three
rank 1 talents, two rank 2
talents and two rank 3 talents
for the Specialist.
likely to choose influence or money over ideals.
In general, we advise not to bother with it too
much and unless necessary, just assume that
allies get what they want during the course of
adventures. This avoids bookkeeping and puts
greater focus on the actual action and story.
Party Tension Meter
An adventuring party consists of people from
various backgrounds, with different goals and
social standings. It's therefore inevitable that
there will be a clash of wills, temperaments,
and opinions, leading to misunderstandings,
selfish ambitions, and disagreements. To reflect
the growing friction between members of
a party during the course of their adventures,
each party archetype has its own party tension
meter. It's a specific kind of threat indicator
and, with some exceptions, follows the general
rules for threat indicators described in
the chapter "The Grim World of Perilous Adventure,"
page XXX. Each party tension meter
has two activators. The first reflects the effects
of increased stress and the heavy atmosphere
within the party. The second marks the moment
when tensions between party members
reach a climax and must be defused. The team
suffers the consequences, but at the same time
clears the air. Then the process starts again.
Advancing a Party Tension
Meter
As mentioned before, the party tension meter
works almost identically to threat indicators,
with a few exceptions. First of all, the
party tension meter is never removed from
the game. Secondly, you shouldn't advance
this kind of indicator unless absolutely necessary.
Most of the time, advancements will
come from spending threats, but, as always, it
should fit the narrative. For example, bounty
hunter Klaus makes a ranged check to shoot an
orc engaged in combat with Ulrika, the knight.
The check is successful, but it generates hh.
The GM decides to spend it to advance the party
tension meter by two segments, as the bolt
misses Ulrika by just an inch. Klaus' recklessness
will certainly affect their mutual trust.
Additionally, the party tension meter should
also be moved when:
• There is a major disagreement between
party members or one player acts in opposition
to the rest of the group. Clashing
views and goals can be a very interesting
axis of adventure and lead to great scenes.
The problem arises when the party starts
having unproductive disputes or begins
to act against each other and the group
is starting to get heavily involved in PVP.
Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between
an interesting discussion and a conflict,
so applying this rule requires a bit of
sensitivity and should not be overused, especially
when your group's style of play is
very conservative and focused on detailed
166 The Old World: Grim and Perilous