Locations have three types of Aspects (Defining, Points of Interest, and Location), two Abilities (Threat and Resources), and an optional Location Stress track.
Aspects
Defining Aspect
Every location has some overall theme, tone, purpose or other fact about it that defines it. Examples would be Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy or Meeting Place of the Tribes.Points of Interest
A point of interest is a location within the location that is somehow important or noteworthy. Points of Interest often have their own zone maps or location write-ups. Points of interest may initially be hidden, requiring an assessment before they can be entered or utilized. Example Points of Interest include Theren's Den, Junks, The Red Gaol, etc.
Location Aspects
Locations may have additional Aspects that further describe inhabitants, services, threats, or other features. Examples include, "The Watch", "Haunted by ghosts", etc.
Abilities
Threat
Threat represents the inherent danger of traversing the Location. Threat has a Specialty Aspect describing the nature of the danger - it may be a pack of wolves, treacherous terrain, unusual weather or any other imaginable danger. Very safe areas will have a Rank of -1. Every time a character enters the Location, they must roll an Ability appropriate to the Threat versus a standard roll, modified by the Threat rank. The difference is the amount of stress the character takes.
Resources
Resources represents the availability food, items for scavenging, raw materials, etc. in the location. It has a Specialty Aspect that describes the type of Reward - examples include Bountiful Food, Fresh Water, or Untouched Ruins. Reward is added to any rolls for Scavenging; the Specialty Aspect (if known) can also be tagged to get an appropriate effect.
Location Stress
This is an optional stress track. It reflects the amount of attention that those who act out of place within the location receive, and how the residents react. The number of stress boxes varies depending on the size of the location, how easy it is to appear out of place or offend, etc. A good rule of thumb is each level of Consequence should have stress boxes equal to the number of Points of Interest in the location; this is because it is harder to attract attention in larger, busier locations. Once stress boxes are determined a list of various actions that PCs might take that would get attention in the location is created, along with how much stress each action inflicts.
When a character does something that is on the list, that amount of stress is checked off the Location Stress track. Note that these generally add up. If a character is "Revealing themselves as Fallen in the open" (+2), "Acting disorderly" (+2), and "Stealing From a Stall" (+3), the stress inflicted on the Location Stress track is 7. The Consequences will represent what the reaction within the location is.
For example, a market may have the following Consequences:
Rude Stares and Muttering (Minor)
Refusal to buy or sell (Major)
Arrested by the Watch (P) (Severe)
Attacked by the Watch (P) (Extreme)
If the market only has two stress boxes per Consequence, the above example would get them arrested.
Next up I will be working on a location map for Vimary.
1 comment:
After some thinking and Tonpa's questions on the Voidstar board, there's a few changes I would make to this as written.
First, Locations are a type of Zone. Threat and Resources are assigned to non-Location zones; Location stress is assigned to Locations. The idea of "Points of Interest" becomes unnecessary. Furthermore, the number of stress boxes for each Consequence level for Location Stress do not have to be equal; they are assigned according to what the GM thinks works best. Finally, Threat is applied for every round that the characters stay within the zone. Exactly how long a "round" is depends on the scale.
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