The Fool: a wildcard character

[knightkrawler]

You could rule that after rolling for MP/BP, the highest die reult has to be assigned to MP.

Yea that is nice. It creates variance in the BP/MP instead of a max 1 point difference.

I like this idea, too!

Can you run me through an example of it in practice?

Would it work like this?:

I roll a 1, a 6 and a 3.

I must assign the 6 to Mind Points since it is the greatest, but the remaining 1 and 3 can be assigned to Body Points, making a 4 Body Points/6 Mind Points character.

Question: If this rule is the case, do you think it's assumed the "any time your roll any number of dice" forced reroll rule would come into play during character generation, and the player could reroll the 1 if they wished?

Q2: Would the requirement of assigning the highest roll to Mind Points help offset the boon of subsequent forced rerolls?

note: in a previous draft of this character, his special ability was that once per round, the Fool could reroll any one die, even a die not belonging to him. I still like the idea, but saw how it might be hard to keep track of, since it could act as an interrupt, unless it depleted Mind Points or the like.

Re-roll only DURING a quest, not in character creation or between quests, I'd say.
If you roll a 1, a 3, and a 6, the 6 has to be assigned to the Mind point, with the rest you can do what you want.
Wanna start a game with 3 or even 1 Body point? Go ahead. 0 BP, 10 MP? OK, just be aware that you're dead before you can move or take an action even once.

Your first draft I actually like. It also wouldn't be difficult to keep track of, he just has to do it instantly before any roll effect for the other character's or monster's roll takes effect. The re-roll result has to be taken, and something, like a two-faced coin would be turned over to mark that the fool has used the Force Majeure. Of course, adjacency is a must (to not overpower this use in monster attack rolls).

I like it because it actually conveys what a fool is: someone who is supposed to entertain you, but other times just gets your balls in a tangle.
I would do it this way.

Also, you could write up a special rule for immunity against control spells. Specify which these are and specify a number of current mind points a hero needs to be immune. Then write or modify quests by giving one or any number of monsters these spells or some other ability that somehow can diminish mind points.
My Wraith, for example, takes mind instead of body points from a hero on a successful attack. That would be a way to make an immune hero (let's say 7 mind points) susceptible to control spells again.

[GimmeYerGold]

I like it because it actually conveys what a fool is: someone who is supposed to entertain you, but other times just gets your balls in a tangle.
I would do it this way.

This is partly what I was going for. Also I really like the idea of the Shakespearian fool, a person who operates outside the norm of society, and appears on the surface to be someone of minor consequence, but hold some special knowledge or ability above the main player.

The imagery of the tarot fool is especially on point:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fool_(Tarot_card)

This is someone with great potential, but how they use it is yet to be determined. Perhaps a "jack of all trades, master of none," a drifter, a wanderer. If the Paladin and Cleric have overlapping traits, but are distinctive enough to warrant individual classes, I feel the Bard and the Fool could have an analogous relationship, too. It's because the Fool hasn't chosen a path, that's what gives him his power, albeit, that power can be quite capricious!

[GimmeYerGold]

Here's a revision taking into account the helpful comments here:



This version keeps the "reroll any one die, even one not belonging to you" effect, but with a means to keep that power in check, via Mind Points.

Also, it encourages the player to not put all of their starting roll into Body Points, if they want to make ample use of their special reroll power.

To note, the "any time" use of the reroll is powerful, but to exploit it fully, (say, if the player wished to spend 2 or more Mind Points at once) the player would have to invest more points into Mind, and be more careful throughout the Quest, since it's likely their Body Points would be starting low.

If this is still too powerful, I would revise it by limiting the reroll to his own dice, and that of his fellow Heroes, not monsters' dice roll.

[knightkrawler]

Brilliant solution, right there, methinks.

[Anderas]

I think now it's perfect. poor guy who wants to test it and rolls a triple one.

[GimmeYerGold]

I think now it's perfect. poor guy who wants to test it and rolls a triple one.

Brilliant solution, right there, methinks.

thanks fellas!

[Showdown35]

Ya I like this version much better! Seems like it would be a riot to play with. Some quests he will be your beast, and some he'll just lay back and hide.

[Anderas]

There's one point, though...
i think the whole group should agree to use this guy.

If the owner of it rolls a 3, the quest might become super-difficult not only for him but for the entire group as they are effectively playing with one less hero;
same the other way round, if he rolls a 18, the entire quest might become easy for the entire group as they have the perfect doorblocker there.
As this is affecting the other heroes too, i think they all would have to agree.

[cornixt]

Seems a bit too much like adding Jar Jar Binks to the game.

[Daedalus]

Creative submission!

I wonder what happens when the last Mind Point is thoghtlessly spent. Does the Fool tragically meet his end, wander off for no reason until the next Quest, or does the dolt instead meander half aware in shock (1 movement die, 1 AD, 2DD)? Maybe a die roll should decide.