Beta 2 is off to Adam for sanity check before we send it out, hopefully this weekend. Adam's travelling so it may be a little later, we'll see.
That's it for the Beta 2 news, on to the thing that he mentioned to me: in Beta 2 we added a system for the party but I'm not really sure it's the right system for the party. So let me start off by sharing a bit of my thinking so far, a few general ideas, and then I'd like to hear what a party of adventurers means to you.
Our goal here is to make The Party an element of play, not just people Bonded together. The Party comes into play as these adventurers really become a group, not just 1-to-1 connections between people.
There are a few different ways I can see The Party's role. At least a couple of these are in what I sent to Adam, if you're wondering:
Party as Record: The Party can have a sheet for tracking hirelings, party loot, etc. Nothing too fancy, but it brings those things into a shared playspace.
Party as New Character Tool: The party can be a way of bringing in new characters after your first (or second, or third) dies. The Party can have a level, new characters come in at that level. (Bonds take care of a lot of this too, but I like this solution for replacement character levels.)
Party as Collective Advancement: The party, since it is an entity itself, could end up with advancements much like individual players. Stuff like "you're now employed by a magical college." The exact way of presenting it could vary: it could be as simple as saying just that, it could require an extra explanation (like "they have work when you want it and can usually find a job worth any specific payment you ask for"), or it could be a full blown move ("When you make yourself available for work with the magical collegeā¦"). This could cover classic high level stuff like castles as well. And, as usual, prescriptive and descriptive: the GM can just use the list as inspiration for rewards.
Party as Relationships: The party could be a reflection of how and why the group works together. It could have a feedback effect on being competitive, cohesive, loyal, all that. These could even be stats that modify certain rolls or play into their own set of moves.
With all these in mind what we have currently brings the party in to play as characters reach level 2, so it adds no time to character creation (this is important to us). The thing is, we're not really sure it does the things that people think of when they think of a party of adventurers.
So, the question to you all: When you think of a party of adventurers, what role does the party play? Is it just a convenient way to refer to all the characters at once? Or does some noble hear of this party and decide to offer it her patronage?