Infección por Gonococo

Term

Complexity

Type

GM Notes

grows from this failure. This is totally fine; in fact it can be very cool. Such dramatic if inevitable failure could even result in its own rewards if the PC learned some- thing valuable from his lack of success.

reWards

Goals are great for player motivation and helping the GM figure out how to tailor a game for his group, but that shouldn’t be all they’re good for. A successfully achieved goal should give the PC some reward. What this benefit is depends on the goal in question.

Usually a goal has a reward written into it or clearly implied. Want to locate your father’s sword? Well, the reward for doing so is probably getting that sword to use yourself. Want to reclaim your family’s reputation and lands? The holdings and elevated status are clearly what’s gained from success. Titles, reputation, and other such rewards are common for achieving many rewards, especially if important NPCs in the setting hear of the PC’s success.

Experience is also a common reward, and can even be awarded for goals failed or abandoned, provided this happens in a way that implies the character grew and learned from his experiences. These map roughly to the GM’s table for experience point rewards on p. 38 of the Set 1 Game Master’s Guide: Easy, Average, Hard. However, if a goal takes a long time to complete or has a lot of elements to it, multiple or larger experience rewards might be in order.

In some cases, special abilities might also be awarded for completing a goal. For example, a warrior who seeks to study with a famous swordsmaster might learn her mentor’s special battle form that makes certain combat stunts cheaper or adds damage or other effects to certain attacks. As a rule, GMs should avoid giving out abilities like this if they just duplicate talents or class abilities, as those are learned from general experience; such abilities should be unique to the goals achieved.

side effeCts

Of course, completing a goal can have its downside. Killing the noble who murdered your family might be really satisfying, but it’s bound to result in the PC making some enemies. Even mostly positive goals come with new troubles. For example, reclaiming your ancestral castle is great, but it will likely result in the PC being thrust into a world of politics, intrigue, and the pressures of rule.

While these might be problems for the PC, it’s not a bad thing for the player or the game. New problems lead to new opportunities for roleplaying and adventure. Whole campaign arcs can be spun off of the problems that arise once a major goal is completed.

Realms and

Organizations

As characters grow in power and influence in the world of Thedas, they may find themselves in charge of impor- tant institutions. These might be lands bestowed upon them by a king or other noble. It might be a business, knightly order, or secret society. In Dragon Age, all these realms and organizations use the same general rules to determine their capabilities and ability to affect the world around them. These rules are abstract and favor speedy play over minute details.

orGanizational

statistiCs

Each organization, group, or realm has a number of abilities that represent its power and resources in various areas. These are rated on a scale similar to PC ability scores, with –2 or worse being very poor and 4 or greater being exceptional. Most organizations will have scores in the 0 to 5 range, though those with exception- ally powerful or weak aspects will have ability scores above or below this range. There are five abilities for realms and organizations: Might, Wealth, Influence, Intrigue, and Magic.

In addition to these abilities, there are four other secondary abilities organizations have; Structure, Stability, Focus, and Scope. Structure represents how well put together an organization is, making it harder to destabilize or undermine. Stability represents how much damage can be done to an organization before it collapses into ruin and chaos. In character- oriented terms, Structure is akin to an Armor Rating and Stability to Health. Focus works like a character’s focus and reflects specialized traits that help an orga- nization perform certain tasks. Various focus examples will be described shortly. The fourth ability, Scope, is a measure of the group’s size and is discussed in the following section.

MIGHT

Might represents military power, armed guards, and other things an organization can use to attack others or defend its holdings from physical assault. Might need not be a dedicated or standing garrison; a merchant house with a long-standing contract with group of mercenaries would use its Might to reflect this. Large noble houses and military orders tend to have high Might.

WEALTH

Wealth represents the buying power and riches. Stores of gold, valuable goods, and significant assets all help

determine Wealth. Note that this score represents assets that can be actively used in play; a noble house whose riches are mostly tied up in long-term investments or with significant expenses might have a low Wealth. Merchant houses and noble houses with many hold- ings usually have high Wealth.

INFLUENCE

Influence is a measure of political power. Allies in various kingdoms, secrets with political value, and friends among influential groups like the Chantry or Templar Order are included in Influence. Like Wealth, Influence only represents what an organization can throw around to make things happen; an ancient noble house with few modern allies might be respected and yet still have low Influence. High Influence is possessed by many large and successful organizations with noble houses and merchants often having exceptionally high scores.

INTRIGUE

Intrigue is all about intelligence gathering, secrets, and underhanded operations. Whereas Influence tends to happen out in the open, Intrigue is what goes on in the shadows and behind closed doors. Spies, little black tomes full of dirty secrets, and similar resources

help determine Intrigue. Public organizations with no hidden arm such as most city watches and small town governments have low Intrigue. Conversely, secret orders or covert organizations attached to more public entities have high Intrigue, as do many criminal orga- nizations.

MAGIC

Magic determines the mystical resources. Potions, spellcasters, enchanters, and magic items all contribute to an organizations’ Magic. It can also represent access to materials used in enchantment and potion-crafting like Elfroot or Lyrium. Many organizations not focused on magical study or resources have low Magic, though many do have a mage on retainer or some enchanted items around to help protect them from mystical assault. Magic-heavy organizations such as the Circle of Magi and apostate factions have high Magic.

SCOPE

Not all organizations are created equal. A small-town bandit gang might be a big deal among the settlements in a region, but they pale in comparison to the might of the Orlesian Empire or even a medium-sized syndicate from a major city such as Kirkwall. Some of this differ- ence in power is represented in other ability scores, but

there is also Scope. Scope is rated in four categories: Local, Regional, National, or World. It determines how wide the organization’s reach is, and acts as a bonus when trying to affect things smaller than themselves. Local covers a town or small city, Regional covers part of a nation or a large city like Denerim or Kirkwall. National deals with everything within the borders of a nation like Nevarra or Orlais, while World is reserved for kingdoms and other organizations who can affect large areas of Thedas with their power.

BuildinG

a PC

orGanization

Unless the PCs inherit or take over leadership in an existing organization, they will want to generate their organization’s abilities. There are three ways to do this.