Lanathar |
So I intend to run the Rebellion game as written to begin with to see how it works
My players have just reached the point where the Rebellion launches
I have some questions / areas where I am a little confused:
- Team Managers : I assume these can only be PCs? Or can they also be key NPC allies?
- Recruiter role : Multiple are allowed. But is it game breaking for multiple NPCs to be recruiters? In this case Laria and Rexus from the start? My thoughts were that one NPC could be a recruiter but if they want more than one then the others have to be PCs...
- On that note I assume Laria is recruited by you aiding her with the Tengu and Rexus because automatically?
- The text on Laria's benefit says "as long as" she is a member. Is there a way she would stop? I assume only if she dies?
- Unique teams - do they count toward the maximum? They will ultimately be underpowered because many can't be upgraded. But it seems a shame to get rid of them as they are more likely to have story behind them (at least as written)
- You lose 1d6 supporters minimum in the upkeep phase. My group start with 3 because of events at the protest. It seems a real shame for them to arbitrarily lose them at the start. (I think i might skip this attrition for the first turn since it doesn't make a lot of sense)
Thanks for any help
master4sword |
- Team Managers : I assume these can only be PCs? Or can they also be key NPC allies?
Pretty sure managers should be PCs; otherwise the players are giving control of their teams to NPCs. It's a small thing, but teams should probably remain in the hands of the players.
- Recruiter role : Multiple are allowed. But is it game breaking for multiple NPCs to be recruiters? In this case Laria and Rexus from the start? My thoughts were that one NPC could be a recruiter but if they want more than one then the others have to be PCs...
As written, only certain NPCs can be officers (and none of them join for a very long time); that said, it wouldn't be gamebreaking to allow allies to be recruiters, as it'd simply increase the number of supporters gained with each Recruit Supporters action, allowing the players to spend less time recruiting and more time doing more interesting actions.
- On that note I assume Laria is recruited by you aiding her with the Tengu and Rexus because automatically?
Pretty much.
- The text on Laria's benefit says "as long as" she is a member. Is there a way she would stop? I assume only if she dies?
Pretty much only if she dies or the players somehow push her away in roleplay.
- Unique teams - do they count toward the maximum? They will ultimately be underpowered because many can't be upgraded. But it seems a shame to get rid of them as they are more likely to have story behind them (at least as written)
Unique teams don't count towards the maximum number of teams.
- You lose 1d6 supporters minimum in the upkeep phase. My group start with 3 because of events at the protest. It seems a real shame for them to arbitrarily lose them at the start. (I think i might skip this attrition for the first turn since it doesn't make a lot of sense)
"During your very first week, skip the Upkeep phase and proceed directly to the Activity phase." From the rebellion rules in the player's guide. Knew I'd seen it somewhere, wanted to track it down to be sure, but yes, no upkeep in the first week.
Latrecis |
I think Master4sword has it correct. I'd add a couple observations:
1. I'd avoid NPC's as recruiters unless you have less than 4 pc's. Note - the officer bonus for multiple recruiters stack so each pc gets to add his/her level to the number of supporters gained (through Recruit Supporters action.) With 4 pc's, that's +8 supporters on top of 2d6 (assuming your pc's are level 2.) One good roll - for instance my pc team that rolled a 10 - is going to add a lot of supporters quick. My group, even with losing some via attrition, is very likely going to jump from level 2 to level 4. And that isn't even factoring in the bonus supporters they get for dealing with the tooth fairies. I don't think that's a big deal, if current pacing holds they will only be "stuck" at level 5 for a turn or two before they finish Book 1.
2. Stricly speaking only two NPC's (that I can find) are able to be officers (and Laria and Rexus aren't on the list.) And being an officer (including Recruiter) doesn't actually curtail or limit a pc's actions. It's assumed that the pc's are "running" the rebellion in the hours and days in which they are not directly engaged in more traditional pc activities (rescuing, exploring, dungeon crawling, mystery solving, etc.)
3. Read each unique team's entry carefully - some, such as the Fushi sisters are a bonus team and do not count toward max team limit. However others, which are at least "named" such as Forvian Crowe's freedom fighters (Sallix Salt Works) do count.
4. I did not follow the rules explicitly for the first turn - I ran a partial Upkeep phase - specifically I let the pc's add money to the treasury if they so chose.
zimmerwald1915 |
As written, only certain NPCs can be officers (and none of them join for a very long time)
I'm quite sure this is an artifact of having multiple people write the AP volumes using slightly different text, and does not reflect the intent. Consider a game with only four PCs, the standard assumption with which APs are written. This would mean that two officer roles don't get filled until the rebellion is almost obsolete, which is patently absurd.
Latrecis |
The relevant text for my interpretation is here: (Hell's Rebels Player guide p. 23)
"The roles of officers are generally taken by PCs, although certain important NPC allies can serve as officers as well. Your GM has information on these NPCs. There are six different officer roles available, but the rebellion doesn’t need all six of these roles to be filled. You can have multiple identical officers, but note that with the exception of the Recruiter, the bonuses granted by officers don’t stack, so it’s best if each character takes on a different officer role."
I could find no other reference that gave limits on officers. Nothing in this says only one pc per role nor does it say only one role per pc. It explicitly states that multiple pc's can have the same officer role but that only one pc can provide the listed bonus for that role (presumably the best.) Except for recruiters. So it makes sense for most/all of the pc's to be recruiters and for the pc's to divvy up the rest of the officer roles based where they offer the best bonuses (or fit their character background, etc.) There is a case to be made for having secondary officers/backup officers in each role since changing officer roles takes a rebellion action and its possible the rebellion could lose an officer and need an associated org check prior to assigning a new pc to that role - they may not have an action to spare, etc.
Going all rules lawyer, there isn't anything to prevent all pc's from having all of the officer roles. Only the best bonus would apply. Certainly that doesn't seem consistent with the spirit of the rules but if we're going to consume the spirit, that seems to suggest that multiple pc's are "supposed" to be recruiters and they should split up the remaining roles as best suits their characters. Also there isn't anything that says a pc can't fill two different officer roles. So even with only 4 pc's (per AP standard assumption) all roles should be fillable - unless none of the pc's is a "good fit" for one of the roles.
Having multiple/all pc's serve as recruiters also provides justification for how various NPC's can find them throughout the AP. If you are a recruiter, you are a public face to the Silver Ravens (to some degree.)
roguerouge |
That all seems reasonable and well researched. At my table, just to be clear, it was one person per role except for recruiters. The PCs each filled an officer role, with named NPCs filling the gaps. Laria, Rexxus, and the Poison Pen are now recruiters. Morgar filled the last open officer role due to a rivalry event being rolled and the PCs just sort of shrugging and letting him take over as Sentinel.
BornofHate |
I run the Rebellion Rules but I have heavily modified them to make them more fun for my group. You can find my edits on the boards here somewhere.
Additionally,
I have recently made another modification: First, each team in the Rebellion can act once per week. Secondly, I reduced the number of actions the Rebellion has by half in case they need them for "No Team Required" Actions.
Honestly, I think the idea of running a Rebellion is cool and I want my players to have a blast with it. I want it to be fun and memorable, and I want them to remember it in future games and think: "Man, I wish we had a Secure Cache or Sabotage Action right now!"
There are a lot of tidbits that you'll see in the Rebellion Rules that actually hamper them, and there is nothing a team can do that will break your game. The Rebellion Rules will never 'win' Hell's Rebels and as long as the size of the Rebellion is at pace with what's recommended in the books, there won't be a problem with loosening the reins on most everything.
Latrecis |
That all seems reasonable and well researched. At my table, just to be clear, it was one person per role except for recruiters. The PCs each filled an officer role, with named NPCs filling the gaps. Laria, Rexxus, and the Poison Pen are now recruiters. Morgar filled the last open officer role due to a rivalry event being rolled and the PCs just sort of shrugging and letting him take over as Sentinel.
I should probably added my own details. In my group each pc has one role plus they are all recruiters. We have yet to discuss my revelation (upon reviewing the rules) that a pc might have multiple roles so they have left one role unfulfilled (4 pc's.) I don't remember which one - Partisan I think. I haven't yet had any of their allies take a leadership role because a) I'm trying to follow the rules until I see a need for improvement and b) Rexus and Laria already provide bonuses to the rebellion as allies. Laria's bonus already helps with recruiting.
We are very early on - they've only run a couple turns of the Rebellion (next up: Unsanctioned Excruciation.) Adding NPC's to the rebellion leader roles will make more sense (and be less likely to take focus off the pc's) later on when the rebellion has hundreds of supporters and several teams. Of course that's when NPC's eligible for leadership also show up (potentially.)