Sunday 31 July 2016

Party Position

While BREAK!! isn't super rigid about it, there is a bit of a procedure while moving through Dungeons and other Adventure Sites. Part of it is how you're moving through the place (Carefully, Quietly, or Quickly, naturally) the other is how your party is set up. Both have a small set of rules, but the latter is what's being talked about here.

So far this has worked out well - it's part of my ongoing effort to avoid "dump stats" by making the whole party benefit from haveing more than one character having a high Insight Aptitude and it also means when important stuff happens people already know where they were probably standing.

I've been writing my players most common formation on a little index card (with the scouts off to the corner) - I think actually having a seperate little party sheet with symbols for each position would be cool, but I'm working poor Grey hard enough as it is.

Party Position

While not quite as drilled or rigid as a military formation, you and your fellow adventurers likely have a sense of where you all should be while travelling somewhere dangerous. Even if you are not in the exact place suggested by your position, you are still concentrating on the task that comes with it.
  • If there are not enough party members to have a Point, Examiner and Vanguard, one person may opt to take multiple positions. Doing so means that Character has a Snag on all Insight Rolls related to their position(s).
  • Multiple party members may take up the same position once there is at least one person in the Point, Examiner and Vanguard positions.

Point
You are at the front of the party, keeping an eye out for approaching enemies and protecting the other members from sudden danger.
  • The party may use your Insight Aptitude to detect any unknown dangers, such as an approaching ambush or hidden trap if there is no one in the Scout Position.
  • If the party sets off a trap or is faced with some similar danger (a wave of magic energy, rolling boulder, or an arrow launched from a device connected to a trip wire, to name some examples) you may forgo any chance to dodge the effect to shield the rest of the group from it.

Examiner
You are in the center of the party, looking for noteworthy features or any other interesting things one might miss on a cursory glance.
  • The party uses your Insight to notice important room features such as hidden doors, gems in the eyes of a statue or magical sigils on a dungeon wall.
  • This only comes into effect if the party moves quickly through a room rather than take the time to stop and search through it.

Vanguard
You are in the back of the party, acting in a way similar to the Point but in reverse: You watch for ambushes and can protect the party against attacks from behind. You also have the best chance to retreat - not that you were thinking of doing that or anything.
  • The party uses your Insight to detect any dangers from behind - such as pursuing enemies or oddly oriented traps.
  • You may retreat at the start of combat or other perilous situations (assuming it originates at in the front part of the party) and avoid it entirely if you can find a place to run or hide.

Scout
You are actually a bit ahead of the rest of the party, moving quietly while looking for potential foes, traps and other perils.

  • You may opt to make your Deftness Check for stealthy movement (x.x.x) separately from the rest of the party, or even if the rest of the party is not attempting to do so.
  • The flip side is that if you are caught, you are on your own for at least one Turn ( it may be longer if the rest of the party is very far away or otherwise held back!)
  • Assuming you communicate with them via hand signals or otherwise, the party uses your Insight to detect hidden dangers, such as approaching ambushes or traps.