Sunday, November 14, 2021

Wyrd of the Week: Broc

 Broc: An Animal Lineage for The Hero’s Journey, Second Edition

Badgers are curious creatures. In many tales they are portrayed as kindly or even polite to woodland travelers
who offer them courtesy and respect Yet other stories speak of a terrible ferocity that becomes all consuming
when thesee burrowing mammals are cornered or their cubs are threatened. Both are equally true and on rare
occasion a badger will find itself drawn to a strange visitor from beyond their forest home or in the company of
woodland dwellers like elves or even halflings. This gives rise to their natural curiosity and spurs them to
adventure, setting them apart from their kin. Known as Brocs, they travel alongside heroes and adventurers whom
they take up as a surrogate cete or clan. Rabidly defending their new family, they become surprisingly hardy allies
to the rare few who have been offered the friendship of a diminutive but tenacious Broc.

Table 1-1: Broc Attributes

Attribute

Dice Pool

Might

1d6+2

Finesse

1d6+12

Resolve

1d6+12

Insight

2d6+1

Bearing

2d6+1

Weal

2d6+6


Table 1-2: Broc Archetypes

Archetype

Level Limit

Bard

--

Burglar

3

Knight

--

Ranger

5

Swordsman

--

Warrior

4

Wayfarer*

3

Wizard

--

Yeoman

7

*See The Hero’s Companion, pg 23-26


Broc Lineage Abilities

Ferocious Nipper: Like other animal lineages, Brocs are incapable of wielding weapons in combat regardless of what is normally permitted to them by their archetype. In addition, they cannot wear armor or use shields. Fortunately, their thick fur provides them a natural Reduction Value of 1. When engaged in combat they are quite furious in spite of their small size, becoming more so if a battle lasts for an extended period. Badgers fight using a combination of their ferocious bite, which inflicts 1d6 damage or attacking with one of their clawed paw which inflict 1d4 points of damage. Because they cannot wield weapons, Brocs may spend any Myth Points they earn to add Aspects to their natural weapons.


Mad Badger: If a Broc dedicates themselves to battle, they become a whirling dervish of claws and fangs. On any round in which a Broc has made a successful melee attack with their bite attack or one of their two claw attacks then on the following round they make one additional attack with one of those three weapons. If they make two successful melee attacks on the second combat round, their fury grows and they can make three attacks on the third round of combat. These attacks must be made using their natural weapons and the same natural weapon cannot be used twice in a single combat round. This means a Broc can make a maximum of three melee attacks in a single combat round when so enraged: a single attack with their bite and one attack each with their claws. Once a Broc has achieved a state of rage where they are capable of making three attacks per combat round they remain able to do so until all of three melee attacks made in a single round miss. At this point, the process starts over again if a Broc remains in melee combat.


Sharp Claws, Sharp Senses: Brocs may use their claws to burrow through soil and other soft materials at the rate of excevating one five-foot cubic area after an hour of dedicated work. Their keen sense of smell and sharp hearing also means their normal chance to be surprised is a 1 on 1d12. They are also capable of seeing clearly in low light conditions, such as moonlight or starlight, but are still blind in complete or magical darkness.


Tiny and Agile: Because of their small size and natural agility, Brocs have a +5 bonus to their Defense. They have the same Movement as Humans and Elves. They may also climb trees and other natural surfaces, but may only do so when moving at Cautious Movement.


Tenacious Survivor: Brocs receive Advantage on all Saving Throws made to resist Grievous Wounds and heal one additional point of Endurance each day when recovering Endurance through natural means.


Languages: Brocs can understand the languages of humans, villar, and mammals that dwell in forested regions such as squirrels, bears, elk, and the like. Their speech is limited, however, and they cannot verbally communicate with humans or most other sentient species. Strangely enough, they are able to converse with the villar as well as other forest-dwelling mammals.


Brocs and Professions

Brocs do not normally have a profession (see page 13 of The Hero’s Journey, Second Edition) and almost all are Unskilled. If the Narrator wishes to allow Brocs to have a profession, then they should reference Table 1-3: Broc Professions. Regardless of their profession, Broc do not begin play with any equipment or gold.


Table 1-3: Bucca Professions

Roll (1d100)

Bucca Profession

Farmer

1-5

Forester

6-70

Gambler

71

Navigator

72-24

Unskilled

75-100


You can buy The Hero's Journey, Second Edition and all its supplements on DriveThruRPG.com! If you're looking for more Animal Heritages then check out the Rover, a loyal canine, in The Hero's Companion or our supplement dedicated entirely to playing furry and feathered friends, Of Beasts Brave and True!

Sunday, November 7, 2021

Wyrd of the Week: Heroic Advancement

 In a traditional legendarium player characters increase in power through earning Experience Points. However, some may find this system of character progression to be a bit thin on flavor, so presented below is an alternative method of character advancement that is more in fitting to the themes of The Hero's Journey, Second Edition.

Heroic Advancement

Instead of earning Experience Points, a character can opt to gain levels through Heroic Advancement. Though this method requires less number crunching at the table, it requires both players and Narrators to do a bit of prep work before being implemented. 



When using Heroic Advancement a few additional steps are needed during character creation. During character creation, each player selects one Personal Goal for their character and one Ideological Goal. A Personal Goal is exactly that: It's something that the individual character would like to accomplish personally. This has to be something significant and that will require the character to overcome a reasonable series of challenges, but is within the realm of tangible possibility. Examples in fiction might be Frodo Baggins at the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring and his personal goal of "Get the Ring to Rivendell" or Luke Skywalker at the beginning of Star Wars with his goal of "Save Princess Leia." Personal goals are always tangible, concrete, and definable.

After determining a character's Personal Goal, the player should then sit down and think about the character's Ideological Goal. This is typically much larger in scale and will seem nigh impossible to achieve. To continue the previous example, Frodo's Ideological Goal might be "To Protect the Shire from the forces of Mordor," while Luke Skywalker's might be "To return Anakin Skywalker to the Light Side of the Force." Both of these are monumental, nigh-impossible tasks. More important, there is no defined or set path to go about accomplishing them. They are open ended and in spite of their difficulty, there could be many means by which they could be accomplished.

After determining a character's Personal and Ideological Goals, the players should talk among themselves and each player then selects one other character in the party and describes how that other character's Personal or Ideological Goal is important to them and why they want to see the other player character accomplish that goal. This is called a Bonded Goal. In short, what is important to you friend matters to your character. Sam wants to see Frodo get the Ring to Rivendell because he wants Frodo to be safe and wants to return home. Ben Kenobi wants Luke to return Anakin Skywalker to the Light (even if he thinks its impossible) to help him overcome his own terrible failures during the Clone Wars. Characters in The Hero's Journey are not going on that journey alone. They're in it together.

Finally, the group as a whole should agree on a Group Goal. This is a single unifying goal that every character at the table in is invested in seeing accomplished. In the case of Frodo, the Fellowship of the Ring is invested in bringing the Ring to Mordor and seeing it destroyed. In the case of the Heroes of the Alliance, they all want to see the Empire overthrown and the Republic restored.

Whenever a character accomplishes a Personal Goal or an Achievement Goal, they earn one Achievement. Whenever a friend accomplishes a Bonded Goal an Achievement is also earned. Finally, if a Group Goal is accomplished, then everyone in the group earns three Achievements. As Achievements are earned, characters advance as detailed on the table below and earn all the normal benefits that come with gaining levels of experience.

Whenever a character accomplishes a Personal or Ideological Goal, they should collaborate with the Narrator and the other players between sessions to select a new one that is appropriate to the continuing narrative of the legendarium. If a friend accomplishes their Bonded Goal, then the player is under no obligation to select a new Bonded Goal, though it is encouraged. When a Group Goal is accomplished, then all the players and the Narrator should sit down and discuss what the next Group Goal is going to be as it is likely a driving force in the greater story and context of the legendarium. Another option is to simply not select a new Group Goal and bring a legendarium to its natural conclusion at the end of that particular story.

Goals, whether Personal, Ideological, Bonded, or Group, should never be easy or simple to accomplish and should always be appropriate to the unfolding narrative and nature of the legendarium. Personal Goals are typically the smallest in scale, with Ideological Goals being larger, and Group Goals being grander still. This system of character advancement relies heavily on player and Narrator collaboration and a good deal of trust between all parties involved. It's an in-game reward for good collaborative play and engaging storytelling. As such, it is up to the players and the Narrators to agree upon what exactly qualifies as a Goal.

Level

Achievements

1

0

2

1

3

3

4

6

5

10

6

15

7

21

8

28

9

36

10

45

The Hero's Journey, Second Edition and its supplements can be purchased on DriveThruRPG.com