I had this idea for a new Fallen Empires playbook: the Beastmaster. It’s still pretty half-baked, but despite liking what I’ve got so far I’m not really sure what else to do with the concept. So I figured maybe comments, critiques & suggestions would help keep me moving on it:
The Beastmaster, a Fallen Empires playbook:
Name:
– Dar, Maax, Tal, Zed, Sacco, Tils
– Kiri, Bonta
Stats:
– Cool +2, Hard =0, Hot -1, Sharp -1, Weird +2
– Cool +2, Hard +1, Hot =0, Sharp -1, Weird +1
– Cool +2, Hard +1, Hot -1, Sharp =0, Weird +1
– Cool +2, Hard -1, Hot +1, Sharp +1, Weird =0
Beastmaster Moves:
• Beastly Companion: You have a companion, detail it. When you want it to perform a specific action roll +cool. On a 10+ it does it, on a 7-9 there is a cost. On a miss the action imperils you or the companion. Otherwise it will act according to its nature, though never in a way to intentionally imperil you or itself.
o Self Sufficient: Each beast costs -1 Keep (minimum of zero) at the beginning of a session.
o Through Their Eyes: Your bond with your beasts is such that with concentration you can view the world through their senses (one companion at a time). If you Read A Person or Situation from this perspective, roll +weird.
Equipment:
– A hand weapon (scimitar, woodsman’s axe, hunting spear).
– Coin or goods worth 2 Keep.
– Clothing suitable to your look, which may include light armour (1 armour).
Beastly Companions: (tricksy=, savage=, fast=, tags)
Choose one of the below, then assign +1 & =0 to it’s other two stats.
– Avian (fast +2)
– Sneak (tricksy +2)
– Large predator (savage +2)
Why isn’t weird the primary stat, and cool or hard the secondary?
Christopher Wargo because Beastly Companion is their base move, & that uses +cool. The other two moves are, at the moment, optional. So cool seemed the best for primary with weird secondary.
Oh yeah, I get that part of it. My comment should have been something along the lines of ‘Beastly Companion ought to be a weird move instead of cool.’ That’s how I read the movie, at least — Dar’s a weirdo with a weirdo link to animals. It’s not his level-headedness that allows him to see through their eyes, right? It’s because he was sucked out of his mother’s womb and born from a goat.
Good playbook so far, other than that. Might benefit from one of those ‘when you go dashing in without a plan’ kind of moves….?
Christopher Wargo ah! Understood. That decision was because there are already two/three Playbooks that primary weird, & despite it being basically my only inspiration I didn’t want this to just be the Dar Playbook. But a playbook you could build Dar from.
Daredevil could be an interesting move.