An Extra for Charge to add both narrative structure and mechanical benefits to the group of characters represented by the players. - By David Haslem

Overview

The group of players is referred to in this extra as a party. This group has a separate party sheet which tracks details of how they are perceived by the world around them, as well as maintaining party-level danger and progress clocks. The party sheet can represent things such as their “HQ” or “Ship”. It can also be used to represent relationships with important factions or specific NPCs.

Example

The play group wants to tell the story of a small band of resistance fighters that want to rebel against an evil space empire. They decide they want to start their story with a stolen prototype spaceship and not much else. They have some ideas for characters and they know they want to start on an out-of-the-way space station.

Party Details

The party sheet tracks details about the party, in much the same way as character sheets have details about the character. Much like with the character sheet, these details might offer narrative liberties to allow the party to take certain actions. Additionally these details have a disposition which might be positive, negative, or neutral. The disposition impacts any rolls related with the detail on the party sheet. Supporting details are collected into four categories, summarized under four broader details called key concepts. If the majority of details under the key concept are positive (or negative), the disposition of the key concept also becomes positive (or negative). The disposition of the key concept works the same as supporting details, but at a broader scope, impacting all rolls related to the category.

Example

The party decides on the following to start their party sheet to represent the story they came up with: Authority, representing the evil empire, with a key concept of “Enemies of the Kabraxian Empire”, and two negative supporting details of “thorn in the side of the regional governor” and “falsified spacecraft registration” Assets, with a key concept of “scrappy band of fighters ready to fight” and positive supporting detail of “recently ‘liberated’ state-of-the-art spacecraft”. Allies, with a key concept of “nobody likes the Empire”, a positive supporting detail of “Maven, a bar owner friendly to rebels” and a neutral supporting detail of “dock workers tired of Empire soldiers pushing them around”. Adversaries, with a key concept of “enemies of my enemies are my friends?” and a single neutral supporting detail of “Jebralt, the sketchy arms dealer”. Because all of these key concepts are still neutral in disposition, the party will only receive advantages or disadvantages to rolls when dealing with the specific supporting details listed. Authority will become negative if it gains one more negative supporting detail - the team will have to keep a low profile and take care of that "falsified spacecraft registration" if they want to prevent being put into desparate situations every time they roll against the Empire.

Party Danger and Progress Clocks

In addition to key concepts and their related supporting details, the party sheet also has a progress and danger clock. If an action roll results in a consequence, the GM can evaluate marking the danger clock on the party sheet to represent a complication that might affect the group later. This clock tracks a generally deteriorating position in society - loss of assets, adversaries growing more hostile, or alliances shifting. Similarly, the progress clock is available for when significant events happen in a session that might improve the party’s position. When any of these clocks are filled, they are cleared and one of the supporting detail changes. If the danger clock fills, this change is generally for the worse. If the progress clock fills, the change is generally for the better.

How the Party Sheet Impacts Rolls

Details on the party sheet can offer mechanical support in addition to their narrative impact. When key concepts or supporting details have a positive disposition, any rolls related to them can receive a bonus to effect or position. Negative disposition impacts rolls in a similar way. In a pinch, the ticks on the progress clock can also be used as a substitute for momentum.

Concepts and Details

Designer Note

Key Concepts and Supporting details can be a way for game designers to help drive the kinds of stories that make sense in their setting. The categories provided below are intended to be a generic starting point that can be made setting specific - renaming them per setting is an easy customization to set the right mood! Further structure can be added to the supporting details to drive home key points in the setting, for example, asking players to choose a specific adversary and ally from a list of available world forces. Starting positions for these key details can help further drive a story for the group of players to build on. A crew looking for their first big score might not have a lot of assets or allies, but they probably aren’t big enough to be on anyone’s radar as an adversary either. A resistance group against a repressive regime might start in a horrible position against authority, but have a larger list of allies to lean on.

Both supporting details and key concepts are details as described in Charge's Character Creation rules. Supporting details should be specific people, places or things, such as specific world forces, while key concepts are more wide-reaching. Like with character creation, details on the party sheet are facts about the party that can be used for story telling. They also offer narrative liberties, potentially giving players permission to take certain actions. While the GM will have the final say, the entire party should have a chance to help develop and decide on these details at character creation. Much like character details, there will also have the chance to change these over time through play.

Zooming in and out

Each key concept is a detail that focuses broadly on the position of the party in an important category. Narratively they zoom out and share more of the big picture. Key concepts are wide-reaching - they create an assumed default for anything related to that category that isn't already a supporting detail. Supporting details add color to key concepts by zooming in on specific people, places, or things related to the party in some way (for example, a relationship with a specific world force). The four key concepts describe the party's standing in the following categories:

• Assets - This represents the available resources of the party, including money and any available equipment.
• Allies - This represents allies to the party, which might be specific key contacts or whole organizations ready to back the party.
• Adversaries - This represents the adversaries of the party, which could be specific powerful enemies or a whole civilization bent on your destruction.
• Authority - This represents the party’s relationship with authority - how much they have, or how much those who have it like (or dislike) the party.

Examples for each key concept and related supporting details are available further on in this document.

Dispositions

Supporting details have either a positive disposition (good for players, +1 to key concept), or a neutral disposition (+0 to key concept), or a negative disposition (bad for players, -1 to key concept). These dispositions can be used to alter the position of a roll. Disposition can alter the consequence rating of a position, and might be directly used by the GM to help set the position of a roll when it makes sense. The collection of supporting details for a key concept can be converted to a numeric score between -4 and +4. The overarching key concept is considered neutral until the majority of supporting details are negative (score less than -2), or positive (score greater than 2) - changing the disposition of the key concept to match. When the key concept changes disposition it should be rewritten to represent the change in fortunes for the party. In cases where supporting details or key concepts have conflicting dispositions that both might impact a roll, they will end up cancelling each other out to a neutral disposition.

Party Creation

At the start of a campaign, the party should generally start with each key concept at -1, 0, or +1 with one or two supporting details written for each concept. This keeps the play group from having to do too much planning up front and offers room to expand as the story goes. This can be pushed further to create interesting balances that fit the story the play group wants to tell.

More Examples

1. Assets

This represents the available resources of the party, including money and any available equipment. A positive key concept might be something like “a well funded and equipped organization”, while a negative one might be something like “a ragtag group that’s always behind on their rent and looking for a big score”. Positive (+) Supporting Details Positive supporting details for assets might include a fancy ship with the latest equipment, access to large banking accounts, or a secret stash of gold doubloons. Neutral (0) Supporting Details Neutral supporting details for assets might be equipment or assets that come with drawbacks - the party might have a ship that’s constantly in need of repair or have access to a loan that will definitely come with strings attached if the party tries to use it. Negative (-) Supporting Details Negative supporting details for assets might be a big loan that the party can never quite pay off, or a broken down ship that will cost more than it’s worth to repair.

2. Authority

This represents how people in power feel about the party, or, depending on the game how much power the party has. A positive key concept might be something like “leaders of a thriving business empire”, while a negative one might be something like “considered enemies of the kingdom”. Positive (+) Supporting Details Positive supporting details for authority might include a group of freedom fighters ready to follow your lead or a being the king’s go-to problem solvers. Neutral (0) Supporting Details Neutral supporting details for authority might be an easily bribed bureaucrat willing to look the other way for now, or a legal decree that could end up causing trouble for the party. Negative (-) Supporting Details Negative supporting details for authority might be the captain of the watch out to get you or a bounty on everyone’s heads for their latest crime.

3. Allies

This represents people that might be willing to help the party, or who have reason to be connected with the party in some way. While typically positive sounding, negative dispositions could be used to represent obligations or relationships turned sour. A positive key concept might be something like “lots of powerful allies”, while a negative one might be something like “everyone expects our help whether they deserve it or not”. Positive (+) Supporting Details Positive supporting details for allies could be people or groups that are both friendly to the party and have the means to be helpful. Neutral (0) Supporting Details Neutral supporting details for allies could be people that are willing to help but don’t have the means or maybe a group that hasn’t decided for sure whether the party is worthy of being helped. Negative (-) Supporting Details Negative supporting details for allies could be people that you’re connected to that cause more trouble for the party than they might be worth, or estranged relationships.

4. Adversaries

This represents people or groups that are against the party, or possibly even harsh conditions & impending doom. While typically negative sounding, positive leaning dispositions could represent friendly competition or forces of nature that can be treated as both friend and foe. A positive key concept might be something like “with friends like these, who needs enemies?”, while a negative one might be something like “hunted by nearly everyone”. Positive (+) Supporting Details Positive supporting details for adversaries could be people or groups that might still help the party if they were in mortal danger, sworn enemies that are comically bad at their jobs, or maybe enemies that don’t yet realize the party exists. Neutral (0) Supporting Details Neutral supporting details for adversaries could be enemies that have bigger fish to fry and consider the party beneath them, or powerful desert sandstorms that can be used to the party’s advantage if they can survive. Negative (-) Supporting Details Negative supporting details for adversaries might include powerful enemies sworn to destroy the party, or impending doom of an inbound asteroid.

Danger and Progress

Designer Notes

The pace at which the supporting details of the party change can be a dial for changing the feel of the game, especially in games where additional mechanical benefits are offered for building up positive supporting details. By default, the intended pace is an average of no more than one detail changing per session.

The party sheet holds two clocks which fight against each other, one dragging the party down, and the other pulling the party up. By default, both of these clocks have eight segments.

Ticking the Danger Clock

As the PCs take risky or even desperate actions, there will be times when those actions will result in big consequences. When that happens, the party can evaluate if that consequence should be applied to the danger clock of the party sheet. As it has long-term implications, this option should not be taken lightly - no more than a couple of times per session is probably a good rule of thumb. Marking the danger clock as a consequence adds segments to the equal to the consequence rating.

Example

The party is in a spaceship being chased by multiple authorities (supporting detail “falsified spacecraft registration”). They need to make a quick, clean getaway to get medical equipment to a dying friend. They are in a desperate position - their pilot rolls a 5, indicating success with a consequence. The play group suggests they get away but they’ve pushed their ship to its limits (supporting detail “state-of-the-art spacecraft”). The GM agrees - they can take the consequence on their party sheet instead of risking the life of their friend.

Filling the Danger Clock

When the danger clock fills up the players should decide, based on recent events, what makes the most sense in the storyline:

• Add a new supporting detail - the disposition of this detail should generally start at neutral. Note supporting details should all be specific, unique details that tie back into the fiction that are expected to show up again.
• Downgrade the disposition of an existing supporting detail (moving from positive to neutral to ** negative**).
• Remove or replace an existing neutral supporting detail. If all the spaces that make sense are taken or negative, consider whether recent events might have completely supplanted an existing supporting detail. This could be a good fit for story elements that have served their purpose or didn't really get much play.
• Create a new immediate threat - the GM exposes a danger and threatens the players with a negative supporting detail unless they complete a mission to prevent it.

Example

The danger clock fills from the strain placed on the starship engines racing to help a dying friend. The party decides it makes the most sense to downgrade the Assets supporting detail “state-of-the-art ship” (+) to “damaged ship” (0).

Ticking the Progress Clock

Generally players should be given a chance to advance the progress clock a couple of times per session - this can be as the result of completing a project and/or as a reward for successful completion of a mission.

Example

Saving a person in need has completed a story arc for the players. The GM grants them a milestone and two progress on the party sheet. One player has a long term project to find allies and rolls successfully during downtime, adding two more.

Burning Progress

The segments of the progress clock can be used as a shared pool of momentum. Players may decide to sacrifice their long term goals for a short term boost and spend filled segments of the progress clock as momentum, on a one-for-one basis.

Example

The party is running from an enemy in their spaceship. It’s not fully repaired yet (supporting detail “damaged ship” (0), but they have been working toward that goal. The pilot says they’re going to have to give it everything they’ve got - the mechanic curses under his breath and agrees - they erase one progress from the progress clock as momentum to allow the mechanic to assist and add an extra die to the pilot’s roll.

Filling the Progress Clock

When the progress clock fills up the players should decide, based on recent events, what makes the most sense in the storyline:

• Add a new supporting detail - the disposition of this detail should generally start at neutral. Note supporting details should all be specific, unique details that tie back into the fiction, so this is a good chance to promote NPCs to recurring characters, or lean into interesting bits of the story.
• Upgrade the disposition of an existing supporting detail (moving from negative to neutral to positive).
• Remove or replace an existing neutral supporting detail. If all the spaces that make sense are taken or positive, consider whether recent events might have completely supplanted an existing supporting detail. This could be a good fit for story elements that have served their purpose or didn't really get much play.
• Create a new immediate opportunity - the GM exposes an opportunity and offers the players with a positive supporting detail if they complete a mission to obtain it.

Example

The party is back at spacedock and has gathered enough progress to fill the progress clock. They collectively decide they would like to get the target off their back. They choose to improve the authority supporting detail “falsified spacecraft registration” (-), and rewrite it as “overhauled ship hides stolen past” (0). They haven't completely gotten rid of the mysterious origin of the ship, but it won’t put them in such disadvantageous positions any more.

Uses for Party Details

Designer Note

Certain games may pick and choose between the following options - while they do not add a large amount of complexity, using the full set of rules grants the players many additional options to see them through tough spots.

Details Affect Position

When dealing with a situation that directly relates to a supporting detail or more broadly relates to a key concept, the disposition of the detail (positive or negative) may be impact the position of the roll. In cases where supporting details or key concepts have conflicting dispositions that might impact a roll, they cancel each other out.

Improved Effect

When dealing with a situation for which a supporting detail or key concept could be a useful advantage, players may opt for +1 effect rather than an improved position. Which option is being used must be decided before the roll.

Losing Progress via Add Tension

Progress toward improving details can be burned as momentum. Taking this concept a step further - if it makes sense, the players might suggest downgrading the disposition of a supporting detail as a consequence to add tension if they don’t have progress to spare.

Dials

These rules can be adapted in a few different ways. Below are some ways to tweak them to better fit how the play group wants to use them.

No Clocks

Rather than track progress and danger on abstract clocks, the party might decide to update the party sheet whenever it makes sense narratively. Rather than keep track of additional clocks, the players can decide to update details This works best with the Attachment extra rules (for absorbing consequences) and Losing Progress via Add Tension (for offering benefits to rolls). The players can use long term projects to improve specific details on the party sheet directly.

More Clocks

Progress and danger are kept as abstract clocks to prevent the bookkeeping load of tracking a variety of complications and projects on the party sheet. If the play group wants to have more direct narrative ties to improvements and complications, they can track them individually as clocks and follow the same rules for danger and progress - damaging supporting details with consequences and taking on projects to improve others.

Detailed Disposition

To avoid getting too complicated, disposition is either positive, negative or neutral. It'd be possible to allow a range of values for disposition (for example from -4 to +4) to allow more nuance on given supporting details. If using this approach, you'd probably want to allow players to gain progress and danger more quickly, and only treat >+2 / < -2 as “positive” / “negative” for purposes of changing effect or position on rolls.

No Neutral Disposition

Neutral supporting details are often a mix of positive and negative traits and have no direct impact on rolls. You could avoid using them completely by:

1. Clearing negative supporting details rather than upgrading them to neutral.
2. Clearing positive supporting details rather than downgrading them to neutral.
3. Adding new details from progress and danger clocks directly as positive and negative, respectively, or by presenting opportunities and threats which will add supporting details based on how the party reacts.

Combining with other Rules

Attachment Extra

For some supporting details it may make sense to take damage directly to a supporting detail rather than mark a consequence on the party’s danger clock. In this case you might drop the danger clock completely and do damage directly to the details on the party sheet.

World Forces

An straightforward way for Powered by Charge games to make the party sheet easier to fill out is to define some world forces and allow players to pick some as allies or adversaries.

World Extra

The World extra offers options to help the GM plan the next mission. One of the three cards drawn could refer to a specific supporting detail to tie the adventure into the existing fiction found in the party sheet. To help tie to a specific key concept, Hearts are Allies, Diamonds are Assets, Spades are Adversaries and Clubs are Authority.

Goals Extra

Granting progress on the party sheet could happen when milestones or long-term projects are completed. Goals are another way to offer progress to players - allowing them to focus on specific supporting details to upgrade. In this case, no more than a few goals should be available at once.

Recap

Supporting details are party level details that offer narrative liberties and altered position or effect (if they are positive or negative). They relate to specific people, groups, places or assets that hold narrative weight for the party. Key concepts are 4 higher level details that supporting details are grouped into. Having three or more positive (or negative) supporting details makes the key concept positive (or negative), and can alter positions of all rolls related to that category. Supporting details can be upgraded or downgraded based on filling the progress and danger clocks, respectively. The danger clock might be filled as a consequence, while the progress clock is filled each milestone and as the result of long-term projects. Ticks on the progress clock can be burned as momentum on a one-for-one basis.