Splatbook*

PULL TOGETHER

When you set a community to work on improvements, to secure new resources, or to make major repairs, spend whatever the GM says is required (time, materiel, Surplus, etc.) and roll +Population: on a 10+, the job gets done; on a 7-9, pick 1:

  • It gets done, but other work doesn't; reduce Fortunes by 1
  • It gets done, but the work is shoddy, crude
  • It gets done, but there's a consequence (bad blood, an injury, a threat unearthed, etc.)
  • There's an unforeseen cost, requirement, or challenge; address it and the job gets done

The PCs might have the village Pull Together in order to:

  • Complete a steading improvement
  • Complete some other project (per Make a Plan)
  • Bolster the entire village in advance of some other steading-level move (like Deploy or Seasons Change)
  • Repair damage to an important resource or fortification
  • Build new buildings, secure new resources, undertake significant new public works, etc.

The village doesn't need to Pull Together to plow the fields or plant crops or bring in the harvest, or to fix leaks in the granary roof. But if the granary roof collapsed in a heavy winter storm, then they'd need to Pull Together to fix it.

People of the community need to be willing to work on the project at hand. Folks will gladly pitch in rebuild the granary roof. But digging a reservoir down by the (haunted) Stream? The PCs will need to do some convincing.

If the PCs have a hamlet Pull Together, they roll with disadvantage. If they can get a town or city to Pull Together, they roll with advantage.

Each project requires time (days, a week, a month, a season, or multiple seasons), during which the village can't Muster or Pull Together again. If a project requires multiple seasons, the village must Pull Together (and roll) once per season.

Projects might also require Surplus (to feed folks who'd otherwise be producing food) and/or materiel (timber, textile, etc.). If the village doesn't already have these things, then the PCs must acquire them, perhaps via Trade & Barter. Such resources are used up as the project is completed.

Refer to the steading improvements for example requirements.

Whoever takes the lead, rolls the move. In general, have them roll as the project gets underway and let the result inform how things go. But if the PCs have the village Pull Together and then head out on an expedition, wait until they'd learn of the results before having them roll.

On a 10+, the job gets done! Maybe have each PC involved describe part of the process. Or ask the players if they want to Keep Company as they work.

On a 7-9, the player who rolled makes the choice. They can confer with other players, but the final choice is theirs.

If "the job gets done but other work doesn't," then reduce Fortunes and ask what's being neglected. Portray NPCs as getting grumpy about it.

If "it gets done, but the work is shoddy, crude," make a note of it. Weave the substandard work into your descriptions and the GM moves you make. Maybe write it up as a threat (like a MacGuffin or maybe even an affliction).

If "it gets done, but there's a consequence," think about the NPCs involved, the risks inherent to the project, the impact it will have (both intentional and not). Maybe write up a new threat, or have an existing one advance towards impending doom. To be clear, though, this choice doesn't prevent the project from getting done. And while the PCs can mitigate a consequence, they can't prevent it.

If there's "an unforeseen cost, requirement, or challenge," then present the PCs with a problem that prevents the job from getting done. It should be fairly focused, something that can be solved with a little diplomacy, ingenuity, expense, or at most a quick expedition (save genuine crises or adventures for a 6-). If the PCs solve the problem, the job gets done.

On a 6-, look to your threats and your homefront moves. Establish badness, probably something that interrupts the job and prevents it from getting done. Maybe work can resume if the PCs deal with the interruption, but maybe the job is scuttled and progress is lost.

Rhianna has recruited about 20 folks to go cut timber for the summer, but they only agreed if she sent her crew up with them. "Okay, here's the plan," she says. "They'll use a wayside as a camp, fill the wagon, and send it home. By the time the wagon gets here and back, they'll be ready to load up another shipment. Repeat. And my crew can work in pairs: two out hunting, two resting, two on watch or patrol."

I remind her that this will cost 1 Surplus and 1 Fortunes (because so many folk will be away from home for so long). She updates the steading playbook and rolls +Population, with a +1 bonus for Tor's blessing and advantage from Logistics. Alas, she still gets a 5.

I decide to announce trouble. "Weeks pass. The first few shipments come down without a hitch. But the fourth shipment comes back early, light on timber with Reese—y'know, Llewellyn's kid—and like three others, all shameful and scared looking. And Andras is in the back, unconscious and pale with this nasty, crudely bandaged wound."

Rhianna asks what the hell happened, and I reply in Reese's shaky voice. "Something's... out there. In the hills. I ain't seen it myself, but Terrwyn did. And Elios! A beast with three eyes, and a big horn, and... well, folks won't work no more. Eira and your boys been tracking it, but, well, it got Andras. She had us draw lots to see who'd bring him home, and, well, we got lucky."

The PCs sort things out with the logging camp. They kill the hagr, appease the shaksa, and poor Cadi (who stirred up the damn thing, along with Iwan) is the only one who got killed. Still, they've lost a few weeks and folks are spooked, so I tell them the requirements. "If you stick around to manage things for the summer, you can try to finish on time. You'd have to Pull Together again, but it won't cost any additional Surplus or Fortunes. You do it?"

Rhianna agrees, and rolls, and this time gets an 8. "Ugh... I just really want this to be done, and Fortunes is already +0. I guess there's a consequence. What is it?"

I tell her that she doesn't notice, but Iwan's been acting differently. "Weird, even. Like, not shaken up or remorseful about his part in this at all. He's almost, I dunno, happy? Excited? Regardless, you're too busy to notice and anyhow, who pays Iwan any mind?" (And I make a note to turn Iwan into a threat, a wildcard to start but he might escalate to become a villain*.)*

The Seasons Change to autumn and Rhianna is keen to get the palisade built. They've got the timber (from the summer's logging camp), a competent engineer (Vahid), and plenty of supplies from last year's trip to Gordin's Delve. The only step left is to Pull Together.

"It'll take a month or so, and 1 Surplus," I tell them. They just got an unexpected bounty, so they spend that Surplus. And the "month or so" doesn't cut into harvest, it just prevents folks from working on other projects or Mustering.

Rhianna goes to roll, but Vahid is the engineer and I think he's the one who should make the move. "Can I Aid, though? Vahid might be the engineer, but I'm good at bossing folks around." She sure is, and she sure can. Vahid gets to roll with advantage.

On a 10+, I'd maybe use Keep Company to create a montage of the palisade going up. And on a 6-, I'd probably have the crinwin attack, stealing supplies and tools and throwing things into chaos.

But Vahid gets a 7, and picks "an unforeseen cost, requirement, or challenge." I still consider a crinwin attack, but that's more of a crisis than a challenge. Instead, I use "distrust of the PCs" (an affliction*) from my homefront threats, and have it cause stubbornness.*

"Folks get to work and in just a week, the palisade starts to take shape. That's when Glenys shows up, with Owain and Tegwen and a few others in tow. 'So we're just going to wall ourselves off from the world? And for what? The crinwin climb trees, don't they? How's this gonna keep 'em out? It's foolishness!' Others grumble along and nod, and work stops, folks waiting to see what happens. What do you do?"