Savage Wednesday: Bennies & Mouse Guard
Our campaign using Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer’s Edition continues this Saturday with Miami school children John, Bin, Ganke, and Mario transformed into fantasy heroes in a frontier region of the world of Aysle. This next game session marks our first full-blown foray into the rules-(more-or-less)-as-written. The kid characters were created with a modified set of rules. The fantasy characters were not.
Last Savage Wednesday post, I talked a bit about Aysle’s Laws of Observation, Magic, Honor, and Corruption. Those rules will be in play, of course, and we’ll also be spending and earning Bennies for the first time. Bennies have all their standard uses: reroll any Trait test, Soak damage, recover from being Shaken, et cetera. Heroes earn Bennies the usual ways as well: doing clever things, advancing the plot, great roleplaying related to Hindrances, and so forth.
The guidelines indicate that most players “should get one or two extra Bennies” per game session. With systems that use things like Bennies, I often forget about awarding them. I’m considering putting two to three Bennies per player in a bowl, sticking the bowl in the middle of the table, and letting the players handle the lion’s share of the Bennie awarding.
I also want to implement Beliefs, Goals, and Instincts from Mouse Guard. These three aspects of a character are specific means by which Bennies can be earned. I might tie them to Experience Points as well, but I’m still mulling that option.
Beliefs
“A Belief is a code or ethical stance. It’s a snapshot view of how your character thinks. Sometimes you’ll act in accordance with your Belief, sometimes you’ll act against it” (Mouse Guard, page 42).
A Belief lets the other players know what a character is most like. It signals what sorts of themes or activities the player wants to include in the game. A well-written Belief tells what motivates a character. It tells what higher purpose guides the character. A Belief should balance between being too general (“I must help people.”) and too specific (“I must help only women and children who beg me for assistance.”). Sample Beliefs from Mouse Guard help illustrate the principle:
“A guardmouse needs to be able to think with her head and act with her heart.”
“A guardmouse never gives up no matter what the danger.”
“The best solution is always found at the point of my sword.”
“It’s not what you fight, but what you fight for.”
In each case, the Belief indicates a course of action with the potential for conflict when the Belief is challenged. For example, the second Belief above most obviously presents the choice between continuing on a hopeless path and dying, or else giving up and/or retreating, which might also have serious negative consequences.
A character’s Belief can change at the beginning or end of a session, and this represents a change in worldview that ought to result from events during the game session.
Goals
“At the beginning of each session, write a Goal for your character. A Goal is some action or deed you want to accomplish in that session” (Mouse Guard, page 44).
A Goal is always something appropriate for the current session and the character’s duties as a hero. Of course, a Goal must be something possible to accomplish during the session. Any Goal has states an action and a target, and should probably include a condition as well. For example:
“I must find evidence that will determine if the grain peddler is a traitor or not.”
“I will protect [character] and [character] on this patrol.”
“I will show [character] and [character] that I am a valuable member of the patrol.”
“I will discover why [someone’s] communications from [location] have stopped.”
A Goal must include an imperative (“I will” or “I must”, for example) and a specific action verb with a target. Session Goals are written once the players know what the focus on the session is. One player’s character must have a Goal that addresses the session’s main focus. Each player gets one Goal per session. Unaccomplished Goals at the end of one session are rewritten at the start of the next session.
Instinct
“Your character’s Instinct represents a gut reaction or ingrained training. It represents something that he does naturally, without even really thinking abou it” (Mouse Guard, page 47).
To write an Instinct for a character, think of action or reaction, and then “turn it into a statement that includes always, if/then or never” (Mouse Guard, page 48). An Instinct has to be something that a character can accomplish quickly. An Instinct is what a character is most likely to do when a split-second decision is needed, and characters tend to follow their Instincts even in situations where they might not be appropriate. Some more examples:
“Always consult [character] when trouble arises.”
“Always draw my sword at the first sign of trouble.”
“If there’s work to be done, always offer to help.”
“Never delay when on a mission.”
An Instinct does not dictate how a character must act. A character can resist his or her Instinct, but there is no reward for doing so. An Instinct can also change, but a player may only write a new Instinct for his or her character at either the beginning or the end of a game session.
Bennies
A hero earns a Bennie for accomplishing a Goal, for acting in a difficult situation in which his or her Belief is challenged, and/or for following his or her Instinct. Since it may be the case that a Bennie earned from accomplishing a Goal is not earned until near the end of session, I’m considering one of two options: either the Goal Bennie carries over to the start of the next session or the Goal Bennie converts to an Experience Point. I’m leaning more strongly to the former option than the latter.
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