Discussion: Heroes as Lieutenant Dice

The Concept: The chip are down, things look dire, the player heroes are in rough shape. Suddenly, Darkwatch arrives to turn the tide! Heroes make cameos all the time in comic books. How can we represent this in SCRPG?

The Original Idea: Taking my lead from Stolen Legacy, the GM has the option to call in [Spoiler] as a d12 Lieutenant in the final fight, who alternates between Attack and Boost actions. Can we expand this to cover all heroes, and if so, can we agree on a system to implement it?

The Unknown: This could all be covered in the Core Book, and we’ve never seen it discussed. So this could all be pointless theory crafting, but hey, that’s what we're here for, right? So, ideas? 

Um they do it in Urban Infestation btw

Adding to the confusion. In Stolen Legacy, it’s a Hero as Lieutenant that shows up. In Urban Infestation, it’s Heroes with Preset Abilities in the fight. I really hope they clarify this in the Core Book.

I don't think it should be consistent, personally. :-) 

Every situation will necessitate something different. We may want NPCs to address a challenge separate from the action, and in those situations it should be constructed in a way to make that moment as dramatic as possible (as we see in Infestation). In other situations, we might want to have them just aid the PCs in combat, in which case it should be specific for the character's abilities, the situation, etc. And in some situations, we'll want them directly contributing to the combat, where we'll want their size, effects, and details to be appropriate to the character. 

SCRPG is a very flexible and versatile system. If we start creating rules around how it needs to be consistent for things like this, I think we'll lose one of its greatest strengths. Having examples of how to do this would be great, though, so folks understand what's possible and how it might work, but I personally don't think an official system to manage it would be good. 

Doesn't stop us from discussing how it might work, though. :-D 

I was behind on the Letter’s Page (new baby), and just listened to Editor’s Note #28, where they mention rules about this in the Core book, so crisis averted?

The point of RPG rules at all is consistency, so that decisions can be made on an informed basis by players.

Flexibility at the cost of clarity only works for a subset of players and GMs.

Excess flexibility means a harder learning curve for players and GMs, as well

Maybe, but I don't think this is an "excess of flexibility." We just haven't seen the rules yet.

Having options doesn't mean there aren't rules, and it's kind of silly to assume the rules are poorly made when the game isn't even out yet.

If you want a specific answer soon Christopher and Adam are doing an episode about the RPG in a few weeks and you should get questions in for that by the 23rd at latest.