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Author Topic: Ghost Archipelago House rule suggestions/ideas  (Read 1273 times)

Offline GNT

  • Schoolboy
  • Posts: 7
Ghost Archipelago House rule suggestions/ideas
« on: March 24, 2020, 06:09:12 PM »
I this age of lockdowns and “The Great Pause” I thought I would post a series of Ghost Archipelago House Rules up for discussion. These are ways that I am thinking about changing the rules to suit my desires. One of the great things about Frostgrave is that many of us altered the rules and instead of being chastised for those actions Joseph McCullough and the Osprey Crew encouraged them. I hope that this becomes a means of starting like conversations on how we want to make GA ours…
 
Crewmen:
 
As the Heritor gains fame and his/her exploits throughout the islands become wider known he can hire more specialists. At 3rd level he can hire 5 specialists, at 6 he can hire 6, and at 9 he can hire 7, and finally, at 12 he can hire the full 8… A warband can never have more than 8 specialists.
 
Hiring new specialists while at sea is difficult at best however, but as the Heritor travels the isles, she often comes across lost, wounded or stranded crew members of warbands that have met with unfortunate fates. Therefore, all warband specialists can only be hired at random and a Heritor must roll randomly to see what specialists can be hired upon the death of a warband member. Note: most upstanding Heritors would not dismiss a crew member as this would mean certain death for him or her. Their value as loyal seamen should remain extreme. This random hiring can be circumnavigated by paying the 200 gc and returning to the mainland as normal. Hiring Natives is still possible, but they may leave the warband as described in the rules. If desired, standard crewman can always replace a dead crew member at any time.
 
Note: any randomly determined specialist still ahs to be hired at the mentioned rate. A Heritor can decide to include all or none of the specialist mention in the supplements prior to rolling randomly.
 
Why: I have made this change as I like to have all my warband members come alive and have individual value. Naming each specialist also increases in-game tension as one certainly does not want to lose a named crew member. I also like the challenge it brings to have to paint more warband members and that is more easily done for me with a bit of roleplaying. I get to figure out how that person looks and how he/she works with the other crew members. Further, forcing a random roll causes a bit of shopping as I look for a miniature that will fill that role. Shopping imho is part of our hobby and thus having my rules give me a built-in chance at doing that allows more out of game fun. With that said, the randomness creates the illusion that the Heritor is finding stranded members of other warbands or individuals that have braved the Ghost Archipelago on their own. Regardless, this allows for more story telling in my wargame and that brings me no small amount of joy.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2020, 07:59:40 PM by Westfalia Chris »

Offline GNT

  • Schoolboy
  • Posts: 7
Re: Ghost Archipelago House rule suggestions/ideas
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2020, 07:05:20 PM »
After a brief discussion via the Ghost Archipelago FB page, and a read of Joe’s ”High Level Heritors” article in Spellcaster #5 I still have to say I personally like my random Specialist idea the best. That said, my group will modify our rules with Joe's table, but change the table to have 5 specialists at 10th level, 6 at 15th, 7 at 20th and 8 at 25th... All of these will have to be hired at random unless the Heritor makes a trip back to the Mainland..

Offline GNT

  • Schoolboy
  • Posts: 7
Re: Ghost Archipelago House rule suggestions/ideas
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2020, 06:47:05 PM »
Also posted on the GA FB page ...

Today I would like to continue our discussions on house rules for GA and first I would like to turn to the Injury and Death section of the rule book but in particular the “Close Call” result in the Survival Table. I find Close Call a bit on the harsh side. Joe has made getting treasure in GA a bit harder than in the Frozen City and I agree with the choice and think I understand why. That is - to slow the power advancement of our Characters. But ALL the items? I think instead our house rules will call for a loss of “A Randomly determined item that he/she was carrying”… Thoughts?

Secondly, after reading the “Traps in Ghost Archipelago” article in Spellcaters #2 I will most definitely be adding those rules to my games. Frankly, they are an incredibly smart and evocative set of rules making that are perfectly sculpted to add to my games. A must imho. They absolutely add a level of pulp action that make them an essential addition. Further, the scenario “The Dead Keep It” (also in the same issue) plastered a huge smile across my face. What an amazing little scenario - perfect to spend these days without an AdeptiCon to go to…

I hope to post about the adventure in the next few days…

Offline GNT

  • Schoolboy
  • Posts: 7
Re: Ghost Archipelago House rule suggestions/ideas
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2020, 05:26:03 PM »
The GA FB community had no opinions on the “Close Call” result in the Survival Table nor the use of “Traps in Ghost Archipelago”... In my games I will move forward as above...

Offline GNT

  • Schoolboy
  • Posts: 7
Re: Ghost Archipelago House rule suggestions/ideas
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2020, 05:30:21 PM »
Next up, I would like to ask the community what everyone thinks of, and what experiences you have had, with the Counting Treasure table on page 68. I have heard that it is a bit frugal … Do you think that it needs to be boosted to offer up more treasure per roll? I have no experience with the table however, so don’t know what others have experienced only what I found from online discussions about the table itself… Love to hear your thoughts…

Offline GNT

  • Schoolboy
  • Posts: 7
Re: Ghost Archipelago House rule suggestions/ideas
« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2020, 05:25:50 AM »
It has been a bit since I returned to my Home Brew GA Rules and thought I would post my final house rule change to the GA rules set... As you know Heritor abilities are currently determined either by choosing or by rolling on the Random Heritor Ability Table. While this might be good for NPC Heritors I find one too easily manipulated for the power gamer and the other too random.

Instead, I propose a system that is based on genetic and cultural determination. To do this a player first chooses his/her Heritor miniature. That miniature is then shown to her group of gamers (whether that be one person or many) and those players play the role of the Crystal Pool, genes and culture and determine what powers the Heritor would have dependent on the look of the miniature itself. This should come with a story if possible and the reasons why each ability was picked. This then allows the player to build his character's story and move forward to adventure!

Thoughts?

Offline Bloggard

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 3458
Re: Ghost Archipelago House rule suggestions/ideas
« Reply #6 on: May 27, 2020, 10:01:12 AM »
great thread - which I'd missed completely.

like that last idea re: Heritor: genetic/ cultural determination very much.

I think you'd need a good gaming circle (both in terms of numbers and attitude) for it to work in practical terms?
Otherwise perhaps easier for the player to do the same for his/ her own miniature - with other players getting 'editorial' rights if necessary?

I think all of your ideas / changes are excellent, and very much in the spirit in which the rules are presented in the author's own words.
GA is perfect material for house-ruling and changes, and rather than that being seen as an issue, I think it's a strength.

Hope to hear more from you on this.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2020, 11:30:39 AM by Bloggard »

Offline GNT

  • Schoolboy
  • Posts: 7
Re: Ghost Archipelago House rule suggestions/ideas
« Reply #7 on: May 28, 2020, 02:17:38 PM »
Thank you Bloggard and glad you like the posts. The Heritor power suggestion does suppose some other player sophistication and should only be offered as an alternative to the other methods when you have nice mates (not too nice though) 🙂 Or when you have a non-biased third party... Editorial rights would be a good fix too :)  The goal for the player, however, would be to choose a miniature that looks like it would play to one’s style of gaming.... It leads to some interesting and sometimes unduly long shopping experiences ...

Joe’s rules are indeed gloriously made to manipulate and that is one of the joys of reading his creations. A world that you get to build and someone to help you walk through it.

Thanks again,

Teras