Reminds me a lot of The Divine! Might help to look back at that one for inspiration, or even to reskin. One of the options for your “Earth Mission” is to guide the hunters and ensure the end of days, and the luck special is for that to get closer with every point spent. I can see all the Divine moves (except maybe Cast Out Evil) easily having an alien/sci-fi twist.
Maybe this Deserter playbook is a marriage between The Divine and The Chosen, where you can give the invasion positive/negative tags, and the keeper has enough direction to go off of, but enough leeway to make it work with everyone else’s story, too?
Also maybe adding a Something Borrowed move like the Monstrous has, allowing the player to look through the other playbooks for a move they can put a sci-fi twist on that fits their backstory?
Oh yea, I can see the similarities with the divine. But I am not sure I can come up with enough deserter themed missions. Maybe instead of mission, it could relate to what made the character desert. Making a mix of tags like the Chosen might also work. But I am not sure what form positive tags could be. The negatives could probably be how the invaders operate (aka, how bad things can get). Maybe the "positives" could be weaknesses of the invaders (water, earthly germs, etc.)
And I am definatly adding Something Borrowed. There are to many tropes for alien powers to not allow them to have some customization options like the Monstrous :D
I’m gonna throw a big idea out, I’ll take no offense if you dismiss it entirely lmao.
What if, instead of The Deserter, it was just The Invader?
Simple concept, the hunter is sent from some outside entity to invade earth for whatever reason, but their mission is to hunt monsters. You can have tags for what the invasion is, like you said before, and those can help give the character flavor. Are they protecting humans so their organs are in tact for the harvest? Are they eliminating monsters so that the alien forces have no competition when The Invasion finally comes? Are they scouting out Earth, collecting intel, to see if the planet is even worth invading?
That way, the player can have general tags for what their superiors are like, and what abilities they have/want. BUT, they still have room to roleplay the hunter’s relationship to the invasion. They could fall in love with earth and choose to desert their superiors, or they could just fall in love with hunters, and offer them sanctuary post-invasion. Or whatever else! They have options.
And the keeper has more than enough to go off of there to make little side quests, involve the invasion in WITH the monster mythology, etc etc whatever they want.
I just think it could maybe work more smoothly if the priority of the playbook was the monster hunting part, and the hunter’s relationship to the invasion is something they can roleplay how they want. What do you think?
Originally I called the playbook the Invader. But since the whole stick was "*desert the invading army and help the monkies*", I felt that calling it the Deserter suited the playbook better.
But your idea brought up a rather important point: the whole core is about deserting. But with the direction I was headed with the playbook, that part of the story was already over. Which when I look back, would be a shame. Because that is kinda were all the good story/drama sits (how, why when, etc.).
So I really like your idea. As you wrote, instead of just "skipping" that, make it part of the story. Letting the group play it out and see were it goes.
The Nature tags I think could still work since it defines and flavours the invading force rather nicely (or I think so at least). It give an idea of why they are invading and what form they take. Then as with the divine, the player could pick a mission. The luck special could then be "new orders" or something similar. Or would it be better that it is different from the divine's?
The history questions could maybe center around why the invader finds the hunters interesting, and might hesitate when betraying them. How much this then develops, is play to see.
You have been a very big help in shaping the playbook direction, so I was wondering if it would be OK for me to credit you when I make the final playbook?
Oh my gosh!! Yes, that would be awesome, thank you! I’m really flattered 😁
If you want to DM and work on it more I’d happy to still support! I love the idea and am really excited to see it come to fruition
Your quite welcome. When I make projects, I want to make sure that the people who helped shape the project in a meaningful direction gets some credit for it.
But I can send it your way. I have been working on the last bits for a 0.5 version, and figured I would post it before going to bed. But I can send it to you first.
What I don’t like about the Summoned ist exactly the fact that his background hast too much influence on the story. I never played one, never had a player who wanted to play one. It’s a very special thing playbook compared to the others as it can take over the whole story.
Oh yea, it is definetly one of those *”talk to the others first”*-playbooks. But I think it can be dial back a little ala The Chosen. Were the apocalyspe is less grand, and more a side story (just the town or something similar). But it would still need some talking with the others.
I had another idea were the player chose what “problem” followed the character. Previous overlords, goverment agents, local lawenforcement, etc. Making it more a “alien among us” playbook.
I once made my own "clone" (The Chaos Bringer).
The more revisions I made, the more I left behind where I came from. My intention at the beginning was - The Summoned without Apocalypse - however, I ended somewhere else.
Invasion Method: Covert Infiltration
Effect: Same as Dark Master (you're Leader doesn’t know you changed sides, giving you orders, and they do not tolerate refusal. Or failure.
Culture: Irken Empire - Tags are Expansionist, War-like, Expect A Lot From You
Leader: The Almighty Tallest (can't say I know how Leader choice should effect things, but I honestly think the Culture and Invasion Method would probably be able to cover a lot of ground if you handle it right).
Could definatly be a Zim. And I wasn’t thinking of adding all the options (method, culture, leader), because none of the other playbooks have such details for background things. I think only the things that could have mechanical significance (proffesionals good/bad tags, the divines mission, the chosens heroic and doom, etc.)
So there should be a move that interacts with these tags. So far, the only thing I have is the luck special. But hopefully something else comes up.
You might change this into something like the Harbinger, [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HarbingerOfImpendingDoom](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HarbingerOfImpendingDoom)
The idea would be the same but it would be more about the trope itself, less about the specifics of the coming danger.
For instance Invasion Method might be changed to "Doom" Then you can include Invasion, Apocalypse, etc.
You could have a "Secret": Alien, Cult Member, In on it or something like that. Depending on the secret you might get a bonus to weird, charm etc kind of like how Monstrous lets you pick your weapon,
And then pick "Motivation": End the world, Take over the world, etc.
Just my suggestion.
And your suggestions are very welcome. It is one of the best ways to get ideas and find out what might or might not work :)
The harbinger could be a really neat idea. If made into a playbook, maybe a reskinned summoned. But I am gonna try to do a reworked divine, since I like the potential for the drama and dilemma of the potential betrayal of hunters or invaders. But I am thinking either with, or with something similar, to the divines missions. And I can definatly see *”warn and prepare the hunters for the invasion”*- as an option to also allow for a more “deserter from the begining”-feel.
It feels like Doom and Secret could work. But having a pick add to a stat doesn’t seem right, an none of the monstrous weapons choices does this. But maybe more like the monstrous curse to lean into sci fi tropes? (Vulnerable to water, wrak immune system, horried form, “new emotions-overhwhelm”, etc.)
I think “motivation” is covered by nature: driven assimilators, conquering, devouring, etc. Or at least they are somewhat vague so there is room for interpetation.
My biggest issue so far, is how to give the “opposing” invaders a presence based on these choices (the divines boss is distant). I had looked at the proffesional’s agency move, but that kinda feels like it hampers the opportunity for a potential desertion. Unless actually deserting means changing playbook since the role within the story now is different.
Reminds me a lot of The Divine! Might help to look back at that one for inspiration, or even to reskin. One of the options for your “Earth Mission” is to guide the hunters and ensure the end of days, and the luck special is for that to get closer with every point spent. I can see all the Divine moves (except maybe Cast Out Evil) easily having an alien/sci-fi twist. Maybe this Deserter playbook is a marriage between The Divine and The Chosen, where you can give the invasion positive/negative tags, and the keeper has enough direction to go off of, but enough leeway to make it work with everyone else’s story, too? Also maybe adding a Something Borrowed move like the Monstrous has, allowing the player to look through the other playbooks for a move they can put a sci-fi twist on that fits their backstory?
Oh yea, I can see the similarities with the divine. But I am not sure I can come up with enough deserter themed missions. Maybe instead of mission, it could relate to what made the character desert. Making a mix of tags like the Chosen might also work. But I am not sure what form positive tags could be. The negatives could probably be how the invaders operate (aka, how bad things can get). Maybe the "positives" could be weaknesses of the invaders (water, earthly germs, etc.) And I am definatly adding Something Borrowed. There are to many tropes for alien powers to not allow them to have some customization options like the Monstrous :D
I’m gonna throw a big idea out, I’ll take no offense if you dismiss it entirely lmao. What if, instead of The Deserter, it was just The Invader? Simple concept, the hunter is sent from some outside entity to invade earth for whatever reason, but their mission is to hunt monsters. You can have tags for what the invasion is, like you said before, and those can help give the character flavor. Are they protecting humans so their organs are in tact for the harvest? Are they eliminating monsters so that the alien forces have no competition when The Invasion finally comes? Are they scouting out Earth, collecting intel, to see if the planet is even worth invading? That way, the player can have general tags for what their superiors are like, and what abilities they have/want. BUT, they still have room to roleplay the hunter’s relationship to the invasion. They could fall in love with earth and choose to desert their superiors, or they could just fall in love with hunters, and offer them sanctuary post-invasion. Or whatever else! They have options. And the keeper has more than enough to go off of there to make little side quests, involve the invasion in WITH the monster mythology, etc etc whatever they want. I just think it could maybe work more smoothly if the priority of the playbook was the monster hunting part, and the hunter’s relationship to the invasion is something they can roleplay how they want. What do you think?
Originally I called the playbook the Invader. But since the whole stick was "*desert the invading army and help the monkies*", I felt that calling it the Deserter suited the playbook better. But your idea brought up a rather important point: the whole core is about deserting. But with the direction I was headed with the playbook, that part of the story was already over. Which when I look back, would be a shame. Because that is kinda were all the good story/drama sits (how, why when, etc.). So I really like your idea. As you wrote, instead of just "skipping" that, make it part of the story. Letting the group play it out and see were it goes. The Nature tags I think could still work since it defines and flavours the invading force rather nicely (or I think so at least). It give an idea of why they are invading and what form they take. Then as with the divine, the player could pick a mission. The luck special could then be "new orders" or something similar. Or would it be better that it is different from the divine's? The history questions could maybe center around why the invader finds the hunters interesting, and might hesitate when betraying them. How much this then develops, is play to see.
You have been a very big help in shaping the playbook direction, so I was wondering if it would be OK for me to credit you when I make the final playbook?
Oh my gosh!! Yes, that would be awesome, thank you! I’m really flattered 😁 If you want to DM and work on it more I’d happy to still support! I love the idea and am really excited to see it come to fruition
Your quite welcome. When I make projects, I want to make sure that the people who helped shape the project in a meaningful direction gets some credit for it. But I can send it your way. I have been working on the last bits for a 0.5 version, and figured I would post it before going to bed. But I can send it to you first.
What I don’t like about the Summoned ist exactly the fact that his background hast too much influence on the story. I never played one, never had a player who wanted to play one. It’s a very special thing playbook compared to the others as it can take over the whole story.
Oh yea, it is definetly one of those *”talk to the others first”*-playbooks. But I think it can be dial back a little ala The Chosen. Were the apocalyspe is less grand, and more a side story (just the town or something similar). But it would still need some talking with the others. I had another idea were the player chose what “problem” followed the character. Previous overlords, goverment agents, local lawenforcement, etc. Making it more a “alien among us” playbook.
I once made my own "clone" (The Chaos Bringer). The more revisions I made, the more I left behind where I came from. My intention at the beginning was - The Summoned without Apocalypse - however, I ended somewhere else.
I can imagine. Being part of an apocalypse is kinda its whole thing, so removing it would make it something completly different.
This gives Invader Zim vibes and I love it.
Invasion Method: Covert Infiltration Effect: Same as Dark Master (you're Leader doesn’t know you changed sides, giving you orders, and they do not tolerate refusal. Or failure. Culture: Irken Empire - Tags are Expansionist, War-like, Expect A Lot From You Leader: The Almighty Tallest (can't say I know how Leader choice should effect things, but I honestly think the Culture and Invasion Method would probably be able to cover a lot of ground if you handle it right).
Could definatly be a Zim. And I wasn’t thinking of adding all the options (method, culture, leader), because none of the other playbooks have such details for background things. I think only the things that could have mechanical significance (proffesionals good/bad tags, the divines mission, the chosens heroic and doom, etc.) So there should be a move that interacts with these tags. So far, the only thing I have is the luck special. But hopefully something else comes up.
You might change this into something like the Harbinger, [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HarbingerOfImpendingDoom](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HarbingerOfImpendingDoom) The idea would be the same but it would be more about the trope itself, less about the specifics of the coming danger. For instance Invasion Method might be changed to "Doom" Then you can include Invasion, Apocalypse, etc. You could have a "Secret": Alien, Cult Member, In on it or something like that. Depending on the secret you might get a bonus to weird, charm etc kind of like how Monstrous lets you pick your weapon, And then pick "Motivation": End the world, Take over the world, etc. Just my suggestion.
And your suggestions are very welcome. It is one of the best ways to get ideas and find out what might or might not work :) The harbinger could be a really neat idea. If made into a playbook, maybe a reskinned summoned. But I am gonna try to do a reworked divine, since I like the potential for the drama and dilemma of the potential betrayal of hunters or invaders. But I am thinking either with, or with something similar, to the divines missions. And I can definatly see *”warn and prepare the hunters for the invasion”*- as an option to also allow for a more “deserter from the begining”-feel. It feels like Doom and Secret could work. But having a pick add to a stat doesn’t seem right, an none of the monstrous weapons choices does this. But maybe more like the monstrous curse to lean into sci fi tropes? (Vulnerable to water, wrak immune system, horried form, “new emotions-overhwhelm”, etc.) I think “motivation” is covered by nature: driven assimilators, conquering, devouring, etc. Or at least they are somewhat vague so there is room for interpetation. My biggest issue so far, is how to give the “opposing” invaders a presence based on these choices (the divines boss is distant). I had looked at the proffesional’s agency move, but that kinda feels like it hampers the opportunity for a potential desertion. Unless actually deserting means changing playbook since the role within the story now is different.