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[Let's Read] Brancalonia: Spaghetti Fantasy Setting
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8327341" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/qflPR30.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>This chapter houses a collection of new rules to better emulate Brancalonia’s Spaghetti Fantasy vibe. Some of which are used to round out character creation, which we’ll cover as they come.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Setting Rules</strong></p><p></p><p>Beyond the new player-facing material in the prior chapter, there are some new broader rules in play. First off is that Brancalonia has fallen far from the heights of the Draconian Empire. The silver piece is the standard unit of currency rather than the gold piece, with costs of equipment appropriately changed. What would be 1 gp in other sourcebooks is 1 sp in Brancalonia. Most equipment is Shoddy, meaning that when rolling poorly during its use it breaks down or otherwise malfunctions in an immediately inconvenient way. Non-shoddy versions of items, animals, and such cost 10 times more. While it’s covered in Chapter 3, given how often we’re talking about money and to showcase the expensive nature of Misdeeds, we’ll discuss how currency is altered. The Copper Piece becomes the Silver Piece equivalent, Iron Pieces replace Electrum Pieces and are equivalent to 5 Silver Pieces, and Gold Pieces are also known as Big Pieces due to their prestigious nature.</p><p></p><p>Another changed aspect of the game are the rest mechanics, aka the Knave’s Rest. Short rests take 8 hours to do, while long rests take 7 days. Long rests are typically done after a mission when the Knaves are back at their headquarters or safehouse known as a Den, and long rests typically precede the new Rollick phase.</p><p></p><p>Speaking of which, Rollick reflects a general period of downtime when a Band of Knaves relax after a hard job’s work. Long rests should take place between medium or short length adventures, and not taken “on the job” unless the adventure in question is lengthy. A Rollick Sequence goes through several phases: the Band marks down their newfound wealth and equipment, they have the choice to improve their Den’s foundations via Grandluxuries or obtaining Favors for the next job, and engage in Revelry which provides a random table of shenanigans and their outcomes between adventures. Afterwards, everyone’s Misdeeds, Bounties, and Notorities are modified based on past actions, everyone makes preparations and purchases for the next job, and the GM rolls for the Band’s Job Hazard.</p><p></p><p>A Den is an all-purpose term for a location that the Knaves can use as a safe respite and can take all manner of forms along with some examples. Every Den begins with (and can gain) Grandluxuries, high-quality goods and services which can grant upgrades and various benefits to PCs before embarking on their next job. Grandluxuries come in levels ranging from 1 to 3 and cost time and gold pieces to upgrade, and for new PCs their starting Den should have 2 Grandluxuries, usually at level 1 each or a single level 2 one. The Grandluxuries provided are Black Market (can buy and sell equipment on the black market, gain access to magic items), Cantina (free days’ worth of rations at start of every job, recover more Hit Dice/exhaustion/inspiration during long rests), Distillery (start play with 1 flask of a special kind of alcohol detailed in Chapter 3), Forge (ignore Shoddy quality of items equal to Forge level, repair broken items, unlock sealed containers, gain access to non-Shoddy weapons and armor), and Stable (can borrow animals and land vehicles for a job).</p><p></p><p>A Band of Knaves can have more than one Den, although upgrading multiple Dens quickly gets expensive.</p><p></p><p>Favors are just that, and reflect specialized services a Knave can call upon between jobs. Every Knave gains 1 free Favor per Notoriety bonus and must spend 100 GP after that. There are 7 Favors provided: Ransom (company frees a hostage, be it a PC Knave or someone else), Evasion (get someone out of jail), Expert Companion (gets a specialist to come along for a particular task for the next job), Barratry (cover up a Misdeed before it gets registered in the Kingdom’s records), Safe Travels (safe transportation to or from any region of the Kingdom), Information (gain valuable information about a job/place/person/object/lore), and Borrowed Grandluxury (receive one extra Grandluxury’s benefit among those available to their Den).</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Misdeeds, Bounties, and Notoriety</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/FN93Tmc.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>It’s inevitable that Knaves will run afoul of some big shot or get chased out of town. Reputation matters and word spreads; such things are subjective, for some of the most famous Knaves cannot risk walking the open streets undisguised without town guards and bounty hunters descending upon them. There are three different values that determine a Knaves’ overall reputation. Misdeeds are actions and crimes frowned upon by lawful society: they range from nuisances and petty crimes to greater crimes (mostly of a financial nature) including treason and espionage. More classically villainous crimes such as torture, plague-spreading, and the like aren’t listed as options for character generation due to the fact that Knaves are supposed to be “lovable rogues.” Misdeeds that become known add to a character’s Bounty Value, ranging from 2 to 20 gold pieces depending on the severity (or up to 1,000 for a table of Misdeeds earned during play, covered in the next chapter). At character creation players choose a number of Misdeeds equal to 3 + their PC’s level to be known and “unpaid for,” giving them a starting value, or roll randomly on a convenient d20 table. Bounties can be paid off during a Rollick phase, as the Royal Bounty Agency updates the Kingdom’s records to show that a former scoundrel has paid their debt(s) to society. Otherwise, PCs with an active Bounty on their heads risk said Agency sending people after them during jobs to bring them to justice. And yes, bounty hunters do have their own stats, but we’ll cover them in the appropriate bestiary chapter.</p><p></p><p>Notorieties represent how well-known an individual Knave is among their peers and the Kingdom at large. Higher Notoriety encourages more respect from fellow Knaves and admirers of the lifestyle, and fear from others. A Notoriety Bonus ranges from 0 to 3 and is based upon their current Bounty Value, along with six titles (Cheap Bounty, Bounty Fella, Old Bounty, etc) with a brief description of how they’d be treated in the Kingdom. Said titles also inform how likely others are to report them, how far law enforcement and greedy third parties will go to catch them, and other such inconvenient risks. In terms of game mechanics, Knaves can add their Notoriety bonus to appropriate Intimidation and Persuasion checks, and the higher their Notoriety the more extreme a Job Hazard is likely to be (d100 table, roll twice and keep lowest/highest for low or high scores respectively). Notoriety is determined by their current Bounty, which seems a bit counterintuitive. You’d assume that a Knave’s reputation will carry far for actions even if they have their dues paid.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Hide Outs and Job Hazards</strong></p><p></p><p>This section is pretty brief. Hiding Out is an action a PC can do during a Rollick phase in lieu of Rest and Revelry activities, basically avoiding notice. For every week they apply a -3 modifier to the next Job Hazard, and is cumulative with other PCs doing the same action and other conditions that would affect this. There doesn’t seem to be any downsides to this, beyond perhaps certain PCs missing out on adventures or time-sensitive job offers.</p><p></p><p>A Job Hazard represents mishaps, old grudges, and other complicating factors which can show up to make a Band’s mission tougher than usual. The GM rolls on a d100 table and adds the combined Notoriety Bonus of each PC along with any appropriate modifiers based on past actions. There’s a lot of possibilities, ranging from peasants recognizing the PCs and blowing a whistle/ringing a bell/etc to bring attention to them, someone with a grudge seeking revenge against the party, another company taking the same job, a company member trying to steal from/betray the company, etc.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Brawl</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/SRIJE6F.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The Kingdom, and the various dive bars Knaves frequent, is a rough and tumble place. But while things can get violent, there are socially-recognized levels of degree between blowing off steam, pre-arranged duels, and outright murder. Brawls fall into the first category and reflect a special kind of combat. Albeit optional, they can be used to simulate tavern brawls and more slapstick kinds of fights where the stakes aren’t life-or-death. Brawls are treated like typical combat, but with changes to hit points, damage, movement, and alternate abilities in lieu of ‘active’ class features (passive class features such as Unarmored Defense still apply). In lieu of Hit Points, everyone has Whack Levels: at 0 Whack you’re uninjured, but every level imposes a cumulative -1 AC until you’re KOed at 6 Whacks. Typical attacks are Beatings (proficiency bonus + Strength modifier) that deal 1 Whack, but there exist special moves that require the use of a move slot (like a spell slot) which refresh at the end of a Brawl. At 1st level a character has 2 move slots and gains 1 more every odd-numbered level. Other benefits are gained via leveling up, such as a General Move at 3rd and 5th level, Heroic Ignorance at 2nd level (use a character of choice when making a Beating), Iron Jaw at 5th (spend a move slow to remove a condition as a reaction), and an Ace in the Hole special ability at 6th level.</p><p></p><p>Participants can also use Stage Props, typically improvised weapons to impose benefits during an action or move, after which said Prop is destroyed. Common Props represent small handheld objects that can add +1d4 to an attack roll, +2 AC vs a single attack, or do a Beating as a bonus action. Epic Props are larger objects with greater effects and take an action to pick up rather than a bonus action (unless you’re a Morgant), and do +1 Whack on a hit, inflict the stunned condition, can hit two targets at once, or add +5 AC vs a single attack.</p><p></p><p>We have 5 tables of actions characters can take during a Brawl: thi include General Moves (things anyone can do), Magic Moves (which I presume only spellcasters and Gifted can do, the book doesn’t specify), Class Brawl Features (a class-specific Move), and Ace in the Hole (a powerful class-specific move usable only once per Brawl). The moves include a diverse assortment of actions, bonus actions, and reactions that impose various conditions and/or Whacks, or special features like transforming a Common Prop into an Epic Prop, granting advantage/disadvantage to a nearby target, hitting multiple opponents at once, and other things.</p><p></p><p>There are Stray Dangers, conditions imposed by the GM during a Brawl, usually up to 3 during a single Brawl but once per round. They can include things like slippery beer covering the floor, flying stools and objects that can stun, a rolling barrel that can impose 1 Whack and knock people prone, and so on.</p><p></p><p>Our section concludes with two sample stat blocks for members of angry Mobs (simple but numerous) and Heavy Hitters (stronger-than-normal brawlers) for Brawls. There’s also a half-page list of gentlemen’s agreements for Brawls that are socially accepted in most areas of the Kingdom: don’t use weapons or strike to kill, anyone found unconscious in an inn (or similar establishment) or 10 steps outside can have their possessions taken by the owner as compensation for damages, and a Brawl’s ‘winning team’ may take a single trophy from the losing side, such as a Memorabilia, a coin, or a Celebratory Slap in the Face:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dive Games</strong></p><p></p><p>Taverns, inns, shops, and other such places frequented by Knaves and travelers are frequently host to people whiling the hours away with various games and sports. Four new types popular in the Kingdom are provided, along with rules for simulating play. They include Poppycock (card games), Barrel Beating (everyone puts loot into a sturdy barrel and contestants take a drink for every shot with a ranged weapon they take; whoever breaks the barrel wins the contents), Brancalonian Buffet (competitive eating), and Poorman’s Carousel (two teams of two people engage in jousts with brooms and armor made from pots and pans, one person the “knight” and the other the “horse”).</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Revelry</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/jmg0NU6.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>While the more serious Knaves invest their funds back into their Dens and companies, all too many are more than happy to use their wealth to live it up. PCs who choose to spend one week in Revelry during a Rollick phase must do so in a nearby settlement, and can spend a certain limit of gold pieces based on the community’s size. A 1d20+Notoriety Bonus+gold piece is rolled and compared to a d20 table of events. They range from positive to negative consequences, with the better results being the higher ones. They include such outcomes as getting robbed, owing a favor/debt to a local criminal figure, having a duel challenge issued to you, ending up with a windfall of cash, or finding a strange item in your pocket.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> I like the rules for Brawling, although I have yet to test them out in play; they seem versatile and fun enough to have enough options given the lack of typical combat options, and races and classes getting special Moves and features adds for ways to make PCs feel and fight differently in what is effectively an unpredictable and chaotic throwdown. The use of Dens and Grandluxuries as upgradeable headquarters is a cool idea, if a bit simplistic in comparison to some other “domain/stronghold building” systems I’ve seen for 5th Edition. Revelry, Notoriety, and Job Hazards provide for a good means of showing how the PC’s actions have consequences due to their growing fame and mischief without being grueling punishments. Grandluxuries, Favors, the ability to buy off Bounty Values, and non-Shoddy upgrades all give desirable things for PCs to spend money on between adventures, which is rather lacking in core 5th Edition.</p><p></p><p>I am not as fond of the altered Rest and Shoddy Equipment rules. First off, while the sample adventures in this book and the supplemental Macaronicon tend to be on the shorter side of things, the elongation of rest periods to “per day and per job” heavily favors short rest-based classes and features. Secondly, Shoddiness rules are just like Critical Fumbles, which in practice inconvenience PCs more than NPCs. Although Brancalonia is a bit more of a humorous setting and I can see such things being a faithful emulation of slapstick humor, in practical terms this means that many party members will favor cheap equipment that they can easily buy non-shoddy versions of to avoid said Fumbles. It’s a lot easier to afford a non-Shoddy Mace or Pike than a non-Shoddy Scimitar or Greatsword.</p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we learn where the Bounty Kingdom gets its name with Money and Equipment!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8327341, member: 6750502"] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qflPR30.jpeg[/img][/center] This chapter houses a collection of new rules to better emulate Brancalonia’s Spaghetti Fantasy vibe. Some of which are used to round out character creation, which we’ll cover as they come. [center][b]Setting Rules[/b][/center] Beyond the new player-facing material in the prior chapter, there are some new broader rules in play. First off is that Brancalonia has fallen far from the heights of the Draconian Empire. The silver piece is the standard unit of currency rather than the gold piece, with costs of equipment appropriately changed. What would be 1 gp in other sourcebooks is 1 sp in Brancalonia. Most equipment is Shoddy, meaning that when rolling poorly during its use it breaks down or otherwise malfunctions in an immediately inconvenient way. Non-shoddy versions of items, animals, and such cost 10 times more. While it’s covered in Chapter 3, given how often we’re talking about money and to showcase the expensive nature of Misdeeds, we’ll discuss how currency is altered. The Copper Piece becomes the Silver Piece equivalent, Iron Pieces replace Electrum Pieces and are equivalent to 5 Silver Pieces, and Gold Pieces are also known as Big Pieces due to their prestigious nature. Another changed aspect of the game are the rest mechanics, aka the Knave’s Rest. Short rests take 8 hours to do, while long rests take 7 days. Long rests are typically done after a mission when the Knaves are back at their headquarters or safehouse known as a Den, and long rests typically precede the new Rollick phase. Speaking of which, Rollick reflects a general period of downtime when a Band of Knaves relax after a hard job’s work. Long rests should take place between medium or short length adventures, and not taken “on the job” unless the adventure in question is lengthy. A Rollick Sequence goes through several phases: the Band marks down their newfound wealth and equipment, they have the choice to improve their Den’s foundations via Grandluxuries or obtaining Favors for the next job, and engage in Revelry which provides a random table of shenanigans and their outcomes between adventures. Afterwards, everyone’s Misdeeds, Bounties, and Notorities are modified based on past actions, everyone makes preparations and purchases for the next job, and the GM rolls for the Band’s Job Hazard. A Den is an all-purpose term for a location that the Knaves can use as a safe respite and can take all manner of forms along with some examples. Every Den begins with (and can gain) Grandluxuries, high-quality goods and services which can grant upgrades and various benefits to PCs before embarking on their next job. Grandluxuries come in levels ranging from 1 to 3 and cost time and gold pieces to upgrade, and for new PCs their starting Den should have 2 Grandluxuries, usually at level 1 each or a single level 2 one. The Grandluxuries provided are Black Market (can buy and sell equipment on the black market, gain access to magic items), Cantina (free days’ worth of rations at start of every job, recover more Hit Dice/exhaustion/inspiration during long rests), Distillery (start play with 1 flask of a special kind of alcohol detailed in Chapter 3), Forge (ignore Shoddy quality of items equal to Forge level, repair broken items, unlock sealed containers, gain access to non-Shoddy weapons and armor), and Stable (can borrow animals and land vehicles for a job). A Band of Knaves can have more than one Den, although upgrading multiple Dens quickly gets expensive. Favors are just that, and reflect specialized services a Knave can call upon between jobs. Every Knave gains 1 free Favor per Notoriety bonus and must spend 100 GP after that. There are 7 Favors provided: Ransom (company frees a hostage, be it a PC Knave or someone else), Evasion (get someone out of jail), Expert Companion (gets a specialist to come along for a particular task for the next job), Barratry (cover up a Misdeed before it gets registered in the Kingdom’s records), Safe Travels (safe transportation to or from any region of the Kingdom), Information (gain valuable information about a job/place/person/object/lore), and Borrowed Grandluxury (receive one extra Grandluxury’s benefit among those available to their Den). [center][b]Misdeeds, Bounties, and Notoriety[/b] [img]https://i.imgur.com/FN93Tmc.png[/img][/center] It’s inevitable that Knaves will run afoul of some big shot or get chased out of town. Reputation matters and word spreads; such things are subjective, for some of the most famous Knaves cannot risk walking the open streets undisguised without town guards and bounty hunters descending upon them. There are three different values that determine a Knaves’ overall reputation. Misdeeds are actions and crimes frowned upon by lawful society: they range from nuisances and petty crimes to greater crimes (mostly of a financial nature) including treason and espionage. More classically villainous crimes such as torture, plague-spreading, and the like aren’t listed as options for character generation due to the fact that Knaves are supposed to be “lovable rogues.” Misdeeds that become known add to a character’s Bounty Value, ranging from 2 to 20 gold pieces depending on the severity (or up to 1,000 for a table of Misdeeds earned during play, covered in the next chapter). At character creation players choose a number of Misdeeds equal to 3 + their PC’s level to be known and “unpaid for,” giving them a starting value, or roll randomly on a convenient d20 table. Bounties can be paid off during a Rollick phase, as the Royal Bounty Agency updates the Kingdom’s records to show that a former scoundrel has paid their debt(s) to society. Otherwise, PCs with an active Bounty on their heads risk said Agency sending people after them during jobs to bring them to justice. And yes, bounty hunters do have their own stats, but we’ll cover them in the appropriate bestiary chapter. Notorieties represent how well-known an individual Knave is among their peers and the Kingdom at large. Higher Notoriety encourages more respect from fellow Knaves and admirers of the lifestyle, and fear from others. A Notoriety Bonus ranges from 0 to 3 and is based upon their current Bounty Value, along with six titles (Cheap Bounty, Bounty Fella, Old Bounty, etc) with a brief description of how they’d be treated in the Kingdom. Said titles also inform how likely others are to report them, how far law enforcement and greedy third parties will go to catch them, and other such inconvenient risks. In terms of game mechanics, Knaves can add their Notoriety bonus to appropriate Intimidation and Persuasion checks, and the higher their Notoriety the more extreme a Job Hazard is likely to be (d100 table, roll twice and keep lowest/highest for low or high scores respectively). Notoriety is determined by their current Bounty, which seems a bit counterintuitive. You’d assume that a Knave’s reputation will carry far for actions even if they have their dues paid. [center][b]Hide Outs and Job Hazards[/b][/center] This section is pretty brief. Hiding Out is an action a PC can do during a Rollick phase in lieu of Rest and Revelry activities, basically avoiding notice. For every week they apply a -3 modifier to the next Job Hazard, and is cumulative with other PCs doing the same action and other conditions that would affect this. There doesn’t seem to be any downsides to this, beyond perhaps certain PCs missing out on adventures or time-sensitive job offers. A Job Hazard represents mishaps, old grudges, and other complicating factors which can show up to make a Band’s mission tougher than usual. The GM rolls on a d100 table and adds the combined Notoriety Bonus of each PC along with any appropriate modifiers based on past actions. There’s a lot of possibilities, ranging from peasants recognizing the PCs and blowing a whistle/ringing a bell/etc to bring attention to them, someone with a grudge seeking revenge against the party, another company taking the same job, a company member trying to steal from/betray the company, etc. [center][b]Brawl[/b] [img]https://i.imgur.com/SRIJE6F.png[/img][/center] The Kingdom, and the various dive bars Knaves frequent, is a rough and tumble place. But while things can get violent, there are socially-recognized levels of degree between blowing off steam, pre-arranged duels, and outright murder. Brawls fall into the first category and reflect a special kind of combat. Albeit optional, they can be used to simulate tavern brawls and more slapstick kinds of fights where the stakes aren’t life-or-death. Brawls are treated like typical combat, but with changes to hit points, damage, movement, and alternate abilities in lieu of ‘active’ class features (passive class features such as Unarmored Defense still apply). In lieu of Hit Points, everyone has Whack Levels: at 0 Whack you’re uninjured, but every level imposes a cumulative -1 AC until you’re KOed at 6 Whacks. Typical attacks are Beatings (proficiency bonus + Strength modifier) that deal 1 Whack, but there exist special moves that require the use of a move slot (like a spell slot) which refresh at the end of a Brawl. At 1st level a character has 2 move slots and gains 1 more every odd-numbered level. Other benefits are gained via leveling up, such as a General Move at 3rd and 5th level, Heroic Ignorance at 2nd level (use a character of choice when making a Beating), Iron Jaw at 5th (spend a move slow to remove a condition as a reaction), and an Ace in the Hole special ability at 6th level. Participants can also use Stage Props, typically improvised weapons to impose benefits during an action or move, after which said Prop is destroyed. Common Props represent small handheld objects that can add +1d4 to an attack roll, +2 AC vs a single attack, or do a Beating as a bonus action. Epic Props are larger objects with greater effects and take an action to pick up rather than a bonus action (unless you’re a Morgant), and do +1 Whack on a hit, inflict the stunned condition, can hit two targets at once, or add +5 AC vs a single attack. We have 5 tables of actions characters can take during a Brawl: thi include General Moves (things anyone can do), Magic Moves (which I presume only spellcasters and Gifted can do, the book doesn’t specify), Class Brawl Features (a class-specific Move), and Ace in the Hole (a powerful class-specific move usable only once per Brawl). The moves include a diverse assortment of actions, bonus actions, and reactions that impose various conditions and/or Whacks, or special features like transforming a Common Prop into an Epic Prop, granting advantage/disadvantage to a nearby target, hitting multiple opponents at once, and other things. There are Stray Dangers, conditions imposed by the GM during a Brawl, usually up to 3 during a single Brawl but once per round. They can include things like slippery beer covering the floor, flying stools and objects that can stun, a rolling barrel that can impose 1 Whack and knock people prone, and so on. Our section concludes with two sample stat blocks for members of angry Mobs (simple but numerous) and Heavy Hitters (stronger-than-normal brawlers) for Brawls. There’s also a half-page list of gentlemen’s agreements for Brawls that are socially accepted in most areas of the Kingdom: don’t use weapons or strike to kill, anyone found unconscious in an inn (or similar establishment) or 10 steps outside can have their possessions taken by the owner as compensation for damages, and a Brawl’s ‘winning team’ may take a single trophy from the losing side, such as a Memorabilia, a coin, or a Celebratory Slap in the Face: [center][b]Dive Games[/b][/center] Taverns, inns, shops, and other such places frequented by Knaves and travelers are frequently host to people whiling the hours away with various games and sports. Four new types popular in the Kingdom are provided, along with rules for simulating play. They include Poppycock (card games), Barrel Beating (everyone puts loot into a sturdy barrel and contestants take a drink for every shot with a ranged weapon they take; whoever breaks the barrel wins the contents), Brancalonian Buffet (competitive eating), and Poorman’s Carousel (two teams of two people engage in jousts with brooms and armor made from pots and pans, one person the “knight” and the other the “horse”). [center][b]Revelry[/b] [img]https://i.imgur.com/jmg0NU6.png[/img][/center] While the more serious Knaves invest their funds back into their Dens and companies, all too many are more than happy to use their wealth to live it up. PCs who choose to spend one week in Revelry during a Rollick phase must do so in a nearby settlement, and can spend a certain limit of gold pieces based on the community’s size. A 1d20+Notoriety Bonus+gold piece is rolled and compared to a d20 table of events. They range from positive to negative consequences, with the better results being the higher ones. They include such outcomes as getting robbed, owing a favor/debt to a local criminal figure, having a duel challenge issued to you, ending up with a windfall of cash, or finding a strange item in your pocket. [b]Thoughts So Far:[/b] I like the rules for Brawling, although I have yet to test them out in play; they seem versatile and fun enough to have enough options given the lack of typical combat options, and races and classes getting special Moves and features adds for ways to make PCs feel and fight differently in what is effectively an unpredictable and chaotic throwdown. The use of Dens and Grandluxuries as upgradeable headquarters is a cool idea, if a bit simplistic in comparison to some other “domain/stronghold building” systems I’ve seen for 5th Edition. Revelry, Notoriety, and Job Hazards provide for a good means of showing how the PC’s actions have consequences due to their growing fame and mischief without being grueling punishments. Grandluxuries, Favors, the ability to buy off Bounty Values, and non-Shoddy upgrades all give desirable things for PCs to spend money on between adventures, which is rather lacking in core 5th Edition. I am not as fond of the altered Rest and Shoddy Equipment rules. First off, while the sample adventures in this book and the supplemental Macaronicon tend to be on the shorter side of things, the elongation of rest periods to “per day and per job” heavily favors short rest-based classes and features. Secondly, Shoddiness rules are just like Critical Fumbles, which in practice inconvenience PCs more than NPCs. Although Brancalonia is a bit more of a humorous setting and I can see such things being a faithful emulation of slapstick humor, in practical terms this means that many party members will favor cheap equipment that they can easily buy non-shoddy versions of to avoid said Fumbles. It’s a lot easier to afford a non-Shoddy Mace or Pike than a non-Shoddy Scimitar or Greatsword. [b]Join us next time as we learn where the Bounty Kingdom gets its name with Money and Equipment![/b] [/QUOTE]
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[Let's Read] Brancalonia: Spaghetti Fantasy Setting
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