The Old World: Grim and Perilous

tion of any ability increases the overall cost by
Renown point (second activation costs Renown,
the third and so on).
Stand Together
Sometimes a party can't let internal disagreements
distract them when important goals
are at stake. Therefore, when the effects of the
Party Tension Meter are about to activate, they
may spend Renown to ignore them. If it is
the effects of the final segment, Party Tension
Meter is reset as normal.
Supporters, Allies,
Associates
During the course of their adventures, PCs
may find themselves in need of allies or just
extra hands to work. The fame resulting from
reputation significantly helps find those willing
to join the group. This can be especially
important for archetypes such as Seekers of
Knowledge, The Company or Soldiers of Fortune,
but any party could use a helping hand.
Allies can be divided into three general categories:
Henchmen, Lieutenants, and Specialists.
• Henchmen are rank and file members of
your party and their strength lies in numbers.
Most of the time they will function as
minions so there is no need to give them
names or personality.
• Lieutenants are the party's best and most
trusted henchmen. They follow the Rival
profile, so they should have a name, personality
and defined Strength and Flaw Motivations.
They usually bring muscle to the
party, but they can have their own goals and
may serve as a quest givers and important
parts of the adventures.
• Specialists are skilled characters that can
fill certain gaps in skills the party is lacking.
They can be valuable contacts, craftsmen,
medics, merchants, rich promoters
or wise mentors. Similarly to Lieutenants,
they typically use the profile of a Rival (although
the strongest may even be a Nemeses!),
but unlike the Lieutenants, they
usually keep themselves away from the
center of action, supporting the team with
knowledge, information, contacts, and
skills.
Recruited characters are considered party
members, which means that the effects of
party abilities referring to party members also
apply to these NPCs. However, they do not apply
to other characters who are only traveling
temporarily with the party and whose inclusion
did not involve spending Renown. For the
purposes of party abilities, groups of henchmen
are considered as a single party member.
Who the party can specifically hire or convince
to join depends on their Total Renown, but the
general rule is that Henchmen can be acquired
by spending Renown, a Lieutenant , and a
Specialist Renown. For more guidelines on
creating allies, see Table : Mercenaries and
Allies. After purchasing an ally, you should determine
with the players how the new individuals
joined the party. Did recent successes attract
new recruits to the mercenary company?
Or did their gang conquer the territory of an
enemy group? Or perhaps a local blacksmith
agreed to give party members priority in orders
and a large discount in exchange for gaining
notoriety through cooperation with such a
distinguished group? Also remember that in
some cases, the addition of new allies may not
make sense. Recruiting a new person in the
middle of the sea may be really difficult. Although
wait... is that not a drifting castaway?
Losing Allies
Allies are faithful members of the party or its
devoted supporters. This does not mean absolute
loyalty and can be lost if the party acts in
a way that dramatically endangers the ally, is
open treachery or (in the case of lieutenants
and specialists) blatantly violates their Motivations.
In such a situation, the ally can simply
leave or even turn against the party!
Another, more mundane situation in which an
ally can be lost is their death.
Regardless of how the party loses the ally, the
Renown points spent on them are lost forever.
Ally Upkeep Cost
It would be naive to think that allies join the
party completely selflessly. For some, the reward
will be fame, fulfilling a duty, or advancing
a personal interest. However, there are also
those allies who will expect financial compensation
or a share of the loot. Since it is difficult
180 The Old World: Grim and Perilous