1dX Wednesday: 1d10 Complications

Everyone loves lists, especially if you can roll on them!  1dX Wednesday is where I will record the lists I use at my gaming table and what they are for.

I knew for the system that I run at my and my player's table, A Crucible for Silver, I wanted the setting to be similar to the Black Company book series or the Schlock Mercenary webcomic: that of a mercenary company going from job to job, earning money, and exploring more of the world. Some other influences include the video games XCOM, XCOM 2, and Battle Brothers. I wanted the players to be attached to their characters but also to be willing to create new ones and play around with more than one character at a time.

The Company Step was my answer to how I was going to achieve this. The Company Encounter and Complications Table were two tables that were integral to also make this happen as they were the stick to keep the players moving and not just keeping in one place too long.

1. Roll on the complications table.
2. Roll on the complications table and gain a new mission contract from a client.
3. Gain a new mission contract from a client.
4. An ongoing complication resolves itself.
5. Nothing happens
6. Company payday. The players may take an extra play action for a character with no Company Encounter Table Check.

The complications act like a faction turn for me and cause the Company additional difficulties and I tend to create PbtA clocks to handle them. Mission contracts act as one-off options for the players to send one character on, to gain a special ability. That character must be out of one player session and that player makes a new character or uses a different one for that session. Getting a party action without the risk of a Company Encounter Table Check is all upside for the players, exactly how payday should feel for a member in a mercenary company!

The Complications Table I took from: https://www.paperspencils.com/the-haven-turn/ and adapted it to better fit the setting I was wanted to evoke.

1. A rival mercenary company has moved nearby
2. A war breaks out between two factions.
3. An alliance between two factions is formed.
4. A plague.
5. An assassination
6. The company is having legal action brought against it.
7. New faction or religion.
8. Civil war in a faction.
9. Natural disaster
10. Extra-planar/world event.

I use this to set up faction conflicts and regional and higher threats. Super fun stuff and it actually ends up being very smooth in practice. These two tables make up one small, but important, gear in the system I use for my downtime. 

I will be going further into the Company Step on Friday and looking at what really makes that system tick for our table.

What does everyone else do for their downtime?

If you enjoyed this I would recommend checking out my system: A Crucible For Silver. It is currently free in its alpha form but I may eventually create a paid form of it.