An idea for Hardholds

So I thought of this idea a while back but never put it down onto 'paper' before and finished it last night. I was wondering what y'all thought about it. It's an additional hardholder guide and it also doubles as a front for MC's if the players all or mostly live within an NPC controlled hardhold. It has rules for affecting fortunes and moonlighting within the hold. This gives the Hocus, Operator and really any other playbook who moves into those moves a greater investment in seeing the holding prosper. Let me know if you have any suggestions or constructive critques. Thanks!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/15zx4smkhdajwgl/Hardhold%20Clocks.jpg?m

and before anyone asks, yes I stole this concept from the Battlestar Galactica board game. :)

*edit* forgot to add into the document that all clocks begin play at 9:00 and any clock that reaches 0:00 send the hardhold into absolute pandemonium! (ie. the holding starts burning down, the entire populace begins attacking one another for what few resources remain, the holding's gang starts killing anything that moves and move to execute the hardholder. not pretty stuff)

When a place on a clock says +/- to another clock, is that a one-time effect that kicks in when you reach that point, or is it a modifier that you lose when you move to a higher/lower place in the clock? I feel like it should be the second, so that, say, yo-yoing between 6 and 9 o'clock on Food doesn't tank your Morale. Does that make sense?

I like it, especially if there's actually a Hardholder in play. I sort of feel like if there isn't a Hardholder, maybe people didn't want to deal with making sure everyone's needs are met, so it'd be a read of your group about whether stuff like this needs careful tracking or whether it should just be a general "Water is scarce, people are desperate, the NPC hardholder might hire the Gunlugger to go secure some more." Although I suppose that if there isn't a Hardholder in play, only the descriptive part of countdown clocks come in to play, and it might give you a sense of what else goes wrong when X runs out.

Since the bonus/penalties to other people's rolls only come in at the very ends of the clock, I'm not sure they'll add much investment, per se; they're not likely to be good citizens enough to push it to the bounty side, and I'm not sure a -1 is much of an incentive beyond what people already have to prevent their society from collapsing.

When a place on a clock says +/- to another clock, is that a one-time effect that kicks in when you reach that point, or is it a modifier that you lose when you move to a higher/lower place in the clock? I feel like it should be the second, so that, say, yo-yoing between 6 and 9 o'clock on Food doesn't tank your Morale. Does that make sense?

You had it right the second time. The affected clock only suffers the penalty or gains the bonus while the primary clock is at that segment. When the primary clock is increased or decreased the affected clock loses the bonus or negative.

I like it, especially if there's actually a Hardholder in play. I sort of feel like if there isn't a Hardholder, maybe people didn't want to deal with making sure everyone's needs are met, so it'd be a read of your group about whether stuff like this needs careful tracking or whether it should just be a general "Water is scarce, people are desperate, the NPC hardholder might hire the Gunlugger to go secure some more." Although I suppose that if there isn't a Hardholder in play, only the descriptive part of countdown clocks come in to play, and it might give you a sense of what else goes wrong when X runs out.

This is most definitely a move most utilized while a hardholder is in play. But like you say, it would be helpful guide to seeing how when actions effect a resource in a hold how that action has a ripple effect beyond what they expected. For example, if the brainer accidentally kills the holds only doctor than the population will suffer one segment because their overall health has decreased and that can affect morale and increase the likelihood of disease and death within the holding. I personally plan to use it as a descriptive countdown system when no hardholder are in play.

Since the bonus/penalties to other people's rolls only come in at the very ends of the clock, I'm not sure they'll add much investment, per se; they're not likely to be good citizens enough to push it to the bounty side, and I'm not sure a -1 is much of an incentive beyond what people already have to prevent their society from collapsing.

This is an excellent point. I will edit the clock segments so that bonuses to other playbooks and moves come into play early and hence make them more accessible and attainable.

I think I will take out the 0:00 condition. I think getting things to 3:00 is bad enough and allows the MC and PCs to react approriately. Besides, there's nothing like it in the rules so why add new things is it's not needed.

Thanks for your feedback Hobb, it's really appreciated.

I like it. I would have implemented it in my last game, where the Hardholder enjoyed Civ-type games.

I would suggest: "At the creation of your Hold, ask any Maestro 'D if they move the Food up by 1 (Maybe they feed a lot of the people, maybe they're not about food, maybe they're too exclusive about who they feed)

Ask any Angel if they move the Population up by 1 (Maybe they contribute a lot to the hold's health, maybe they don't.)

Ask any Hocus if they move the Population or the Morale up or down by 1 (Maybe their ways are good for a content, baby-popping out society, maybe they tell people to stay pure or surround themselves with vermin.)

If they leave, change the stats accordingly."

I really like that idea evilseanbot. I will definately look at the other playbooks and incorporate that into this custom move. Thanks for the idea.

This is really neat.  I may start using it tonight for my ongoing game.

One question: the countdown clocks normally start at 0 and get worsse as they head towards 12.  Why did you chose to flip it?

This is really neat.  I may start using it tonight for my ongoing game.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

One question: the countdown clocks normally start at 0 and get worsse as they head towards 12.  Why did you chose to flip it?

This is a good question. I suppose I don't have a great answer except that these clocks are meant to represent quantities of food, water, health, etc and I felt that reverse the clocks made them more into a measurement than a countdown. Just made more sense to me in my head. There is no reason that you couldn't switch it around for your own purposes though.

Ok so here is my second shot at this. Made it a little cleaner and moved around various bonuses/negatives. Also added in the initial creation mechanic or specific playbooks adding/subtracting from the clocks. Opinions always welcome! Thank you.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AHHt2W2cqIluq78cYY2gX-tNQmAiCMwhlxOWgU627_A/edit

Looking good P-lorn!  Maybe do it up in a layout like a little pamplet/tri-fold?

Looking good P-lorn!  Maybe do it up in a layout like a little pamplet/tri-fold?

I'm not much for graphic design or layout but I'll see what I can do. It's a good idea.

How much do these things snowball? For example, if I lower Food from nine to six, that means Morale goes from nine to six as well (provided all the clocks start at nine). Will that, in turn, lower Food to three? With that interpretation, you can't really lower anything without setting of a chain reaction that results in the destruction of the hardhold. Pretty harsh!

The intention was for the clocks to snowball like in the example you've given. I will have to review the rule, consider the snowball/non-snowball options and maybe revise the clocks. Thanks for pointing that out Lukas.

I love this idea. I plan on using something similar I think... but instead of effects that lower the other clock, it might be worth having those be move triggers that might lower the clock or create more in fiction effects. So when the food runs outs instead of a -1 Morale / -1 Population it would trigger the Starving Move.

When the people are starving, roll +Barter Spent. On a 10+ You are able to keep just enough food coming in to stave off death and the people know your doing the best that can be done... mostly. On 7-9 there is some food coming, but things are getting worse. Choose one. On a Miss, choose two.

● Some of the population has fled or died or gone cannibal, -1 Pop
● The People of the hold are talking and they are not happy, -1 Morale
● An outside Threat sees your weakness, make a Hard Move.

So when the food runs outs instead of a -1 Morale / -1 Population it would trigger the Starving Move.

I love this idea. It's a lot more work than I had originally planned on, but that just makes it all the more worthwhile. :)

I'd love to see any other moves you come up with to add to this ruleset. ;)

Thank you.

Ok so version 3 is now in effect.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AHHt2W2cqIluq78cYY2gX-tNQmAiCMwhlxOWgU627_A/edit

Taking Lukas' concerns into consideration I can see how the clocks as I had them set-up would chain off of another way too much. So I've reduced the amount of bonus and negatives to other clocks and tried replacing those with wants and surplus instead.

I will definitely take weaverchile's idea and work on some custom moves to go along with certain segments on the clock. Thanks for all the valuable input and support, it's really appreciated.