WotA Tutorial 3: Campaign Aspects and Reincorporation

Now that the Wrath of the Autarch kickstarter is in full swing, I thought I would discuss some other aspects (heh) of the kingdom building game that might be of interest to Fate Core players. In particular, how Wrath of the Autarch handles aspects that have impact at different timescales.

If you haven't heard of Wrath of the Autarch, check out the kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/295104591/wrath-of-the-autarch-a-kingdom-building-game

Aspects at Different Timescales

A Sunrider Visits Her Clan's Ovoo

Wrath of the Autarch has aspects which occur at three distinct timescales: minor advantages, mission aspects, and campaign aspects. As well as having varying timescales, the longer lived aspects typically have a more central role in the campaign.

• Minor Advantages - These are very short lived transient aspects, similar to boosts. They can be created as an action during either the challenge phase or the final conflict. Usually, minor advantages are not written down. Furthermore, they don't last beyond the end of the creating player's next turn.
• Flanked, Embarrassed, Hidden
• Mission Aspect - Mission aspects are created during the challenge phase as an action. They last until the end of the current mission (the end of the season). As such, they tend to be harder to create. Mission aspects are usually created during the challenge phase for use during the conflict.
• Wolfsbane, Heinrich's Password Convention, Curio for the Prince
• Campaign Aspect - Campaign aspects are created during the challenge phase as an action. They're written down on the Stronghold sheet and last the entire campaign (or until they're no longer applicable).
• Sword of Kynian, Contact within Autarch's Spy Network, Angry Hearts in Burgan Vale

Create Advantage as Scene Creation

Creating mission and campaign aspects is a bigger deal than creating minor advantages. These aspects can't be created during a conflict and can't be created if a character is in a challenge scene. Instead, the creation of these sorts of aspects is handled as their own scene. The Stronghold player who wishes to create the aspect sets the scene on their turn, then uses the appropriate skill to see if they're successful.

The opposition for creating mission aspects is equal to the difficulty of the mission. The opposition for creating campaign aspects is two higher than the mission.

Example: Rebecca is playing Varys, the silver tongued sorcerer from Aben's Hollow. He is deep within the Imperial library at Northkeep, looking for a particular book of Secrets. "Varys is trying to find the Whispers of Kynian, famed for revealing the secrets of the mind. I'd like to create a campaign aspect."

The mission difficulty is 4, so the opposition to create a campaign aspect is 6. Varys is using his Lore skill, which is 5. Rebecca gets a +2 on the check, success! She writes down the aspect Whispers of Kynian on the Stronghold sheet with one free invoke.

Reincorporating Campaign Aspects

By virtue of writing these aspects down on the Stronghold sheet, they become reincorporated over the course of the campaign. This is a particularly nice feature for Wrath of the Autarch given that there is no gamemaster. Typically, reincorporation of thematic content is one of those elements that gets forgotten without one strong driving force. By writing campaign aspects down they become important and explicit.

The Autarch player also sometimes is able to create campaign aspects to reflect negative situations - such as Angry Hearts in Burgan Vale. During a related mission, the Stronghold players could attempt to deal with this as an overcome action.

WotA Tutorial 2: Challenge Scenes

Challenge Scenes

During the challenge phase, the players work together to craft challenge scenes that drive towards a climactic conflict (the conflict is the final part of the mission). The Autarch player may add additional complications to challenge scenes - making them more difficult to resolve. The players need to complete one challenge per Stronghold player, and they only have three exchanges to do it! Failing to do so in the given time gives the Autarch player additional fate points for the conflict. The challenge phase is also an opportunity for the Stronghold players to make longer term plans in the form of campaign aspects.

The Stronghold players each take one of two actions during the challenge phase: resolving a challenge scene (Overcome) or creating aspects (Create Advantage). Wrath of the Autarch uses three types of aspects: minor advantage, mission, and campaign. The challenge phase is the only time mission and campaign aspects may be created. Creating mission and campaign aspects may only be done when heroes aren't in challenge scenes (creating mission and campaign aspects involve short scenes of their own).

Conquering North Oaks

For this example, Steingrimr the Noble Barbarian, Aine the Headstrong Ranger, and Arild the Hollow Eyed Assassin are attempting to wrest the neutral region North Oaks from the necromancer Malthias. This is a Conquest (Skirmish) mission with a difficulty of 3 - fairly easy as these things go. Let's go through one exchange of action! Each Stronghold player takes a turn in any order they wish.

Creating a Scene

If a hero isn't already in a challenge scene, they may create a new scene as part of their action. Aaron, playing Steingrimr, decides to create a scene. A fate card is drawn and used to create the scene.

Creating a Challenge Scene

A challenge scene is composed of:

• A difficulty (the result of the card plus the mission difficulty)
• Allowable skills for resolving the scene (found by looking at the appropriate Challenge list)
• (Sometimes) Stress taken when resolving the scene (suns)
• (Sometimes) Additional time needed to resolve the scene (moons)
• Heroes in the scene

Challenge Scene Details

The first three dice on the card are used to determine which entry from the Skirmish Challenges list to use. Looking at the Skirmish Challenges list, the result for this card is the On the Run, which must be resolved using Fighting and Survival. The phrase On the Run is used to help inspire a theme for the challenge scene. In addition, the moons (additional time) and suns (stress) help inspire the narrative of the scene. Scenes flow together, taking into account the mission, campaign aspects, and other influences to help craft an interesting narrative.

The difficulty of this scene is 6 (mission difficulty of 3 plus 3 more for the result on the card) - not very easy! The two suns and one moon indicate it's both stressful and time consuming. Aaron decides that the scene involves a bone golem Malthias' has constructed chasing the heroes through the dense woods. The giant beast is chasing them from their encampment, attacking with a massive club, bashing tree limbs and hero limbs along the way. The heroes are attempting a controlled withdrawal, trying to escape the beast.

Since Aaron drew the card, Steingrimr must be in the scene. The other characters may be in the scene at their option. Heroes in a challenge scene may not create mission or campaign aspects (only minor advantage may be created while in a challenge scene), so occasionally it's worth not joining in a scene. However, this is an all hands on deck situation, so both Aine and Arild are with Steingrimr!

Steingrimr Attacks (Resolve Challenge)

It's Aaron's turn (he drew the card). He may either create an advantage or try to resolve the challenge. The moons must be removed before the challenge may be successfully completed. The opposition for this task is equal to the number of moons (one). Usually this is easier, but it makes the scene take longer.

Steingrimr is a warrior, with a Fighting of +4. Aaron decides to try to remove one of the moons using the Resolve Challenge (Overcome) action rather than creating an advantage. He gets a -2 - for a total of +2, success!

Additionally, every time the resolve challenge action is taken, the hero takes all of the suns on the card as physical or mental stress (up to the player). Steingrimr waits behind a tree, lunging out and smashing the beast! It hits him back, Aaron marks the second box on Steingrimr's physical stress (from the two suns). This buys the group more time to retreat, but the beast takes its toll!

Aine Provides Cover Fire (Create Advantage)

Aine's player, Shawn, decides to lay down defensive fire to buy time for Arild to find shelter from the beast. This takes the form of a Create Advantage action. Only minor advantages may be created while in a challenge scene. Furthermore, only other characters in the same scene may utilize these minor advantages. The difficulty to create a minor advantage is two less than the mission difficulty (in this example a mere +1, since the mission difficulty is 3).

Shawn decides to use Marksmanship to create an advantage. Any appropriate skill may be used for the creation of advantages. Skills used for resolving a challenge are restricted to those on the challenge list (in this case Fighting and Survival). Aine's Marksmanship is +4, and Shawn gets a result of +1 for a total of +5. Success with style!

Shawn creates the aspect Covering Fire, giving it two free invokes from success with style.

Arild Finds Shelter (Resolve Challenge)

Finally, Arild must take an action. With the two free invokes, Geoff, Arild's player, decides that Survival might be a good way to find a path out of these woods and away from the bone golem. The difficulty is +6 to resolve the challenge scene. Not so easy, but armed with the free invokes from covering fire, Arild has a much better chance of success.

Arild's Survival is +3. Geoff initially gets a -3, ouch! Using one of the free invokes, Geoff re-draws, getting a +2, much better! The total is now +5. Using the other free invoke to add +2 to the result, the result is +7, success! However, Arild must take two stress from the two suns on the challenge scene from using the Resolve Challenge action. Geoff marks off the second box on Arild's mental stress track.

Also, because the difficulty of the opposition was higher than Arild's Survival skill, Geoff may mark off one skill advance box for Survival. When a character has three skill advances they may improve their skill rank. Skills only advance this way during the challenge scene, not during the conflict.

While Aine keeps the beast at bay, Arild studies the landscape carefully. His trained eyes spot a narrow cave entrance on the side of a hill. The heroes rush towards it, escaping the beast! Geoff marks off Arild's second mental stress box (from the two suns) - the close call impacted Arild's nerves!

WotA Tutorial 1: Trading for Fun and Profit

This is the first in a series of posts designed to highlight the kingdom building game Wrath of the Autarch through examples of play. For a general overview of Wrath of the Autarch, see here: http://grue-fodder.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-is-wrath-of-autarch.html

The beta rules can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/frontiergamedesign505

Stronghold Upkeep

The first part of every session is dedicated to Stronghold Upkeep: applying ignored threats, gathering resources, trading with other factions, feeding the population, and building developments. Developments are sort of like stunts for the Stronghold. They may improve the Stronghold's ability to wage war or they might grant access to better resources for all of the heroes associated with the Stronghold. This tutorial focuses on the process of getting resources and using them to build developments.

Hope Springs Eternal

It is the Spring of Year 3. The Stronghold of Aben's Hollow plans an Alliance mission to visit the Gravewood, their ally, beseeching them for aid in the coming battle with the Empire. Luckily, there were no threats at the end of last season, so all their regions are available to them. Aben's Hollow controls the following regions:

• Obsidian Wood - 1 food, 2 timber, 2 mana
• Echo Lake - 2 ore, 1 luxury
• Tarrydale Farms - 2 food
• Green Vale - 1 food, 1 ore
• North Oaks - 1 timber
• Totals: 4 food, 3 timber, 3 ore, 2 mana, 1 luxury

A Fickle Harvest

The first step is to gather six sided dice for each available resource. It's easiest to use different colors of dice for each type of resource.

Gather resource dice: 4 Food, 3 Timber, 3 Ore, 2 Mana, 1 Luxury

After all the dice are gathered, they are rolled by the spotlight player to determine the specific amounts of each resource available. Rolling the dice represents all the fickle supply issues that can impact seasonal harvest and usage. Each session a different spotlight player is featured. (The spotlight player has additional importance besides managing resources for the session.)

Roll dice: Food: 5,3,3,2 Timber: 4,2,1 Ore: 2,2,2 Mana: 5,3 Luxury: 3

Tactical or Strategic Development Building

Each development has resources requirements and possibly other developments that must be built first. When building a development whole dice must be assigned to reach the resource total. The values on the rolled dice may not be split up.

It's best to look at what developments are desired, and then decide whether to get the one that is really desired (thinking strategically) or try to optimize the rolled dice to get as much as possible (thinking tactically).

For the current mission Aben's Hollow is on (Alliance), either Trade Relationships or Arts and Entertainment would be nice. They could also prove useful in the future as well. Another really nice development that Aben's Hollow wants is the Mana Forge given they have lots of spellcasters associated with the Stronghold.

Aben's Hollow doesn't have enough luxuries to get either of these

Unfortunately, Aben's Hollow only has 3 luxuries total, which is too low for either of these. They also only have 7 timber, which is too low for Arts and Entertainment.

Aben's Hollow could pick this one up

Mana Forge is available and useful. Most likely they could get this and something else.

Wheeling and Dealing

What to do if you want more resources? Trade! There are five minor factions in the game, and they each desire and give different resource dice. The particulars of the trade are based on the disposition with the faction. Disposition ranges from -6 to +6. The higher the disposition, the better allies they are and the better the trades are going to be. (High disposition also might allow access to military units and powerful artifacts from the faction.)

Aben's Hollow has the following dispositions with minor factions:

• Gravewood: 2
• 1 luxury die for 2 timber dice
• Sunriders: 3
• 2 mana dice for 3 food dice or
• 1 mana die for 1 food die
• Lily Manor: 1
• 2 food dice for 1 luxury die

The Stronghold may trade with each minor faction only once each season, by placing the number of required dice onto the faction trading chart, and taking the number of dice of the appropriate type. The dice given by the faction are rolled immediately and added to the pool of dice. There is a strategy in trading away the lower valued dice and using the resources the faction gives back to build developments that couldn't otherwise be built.

Aben's Hollow could get a luxury dice from Lily Manor that could be used to build the Trade Relationships development. They'll need a little luck, though, needing to roll a 4 on the dice they get to reach a total of 7. 

Before they do that, though, they could take their mana dice (either 1 or both) and trade them with the Sunriders to get more food dice. That would mean no Mana Forge, though, because they wouldn't have enough mana. But those food dice would give more options when trading with Lily Manor - wheels of commerce spin!

Give two mana dice to get three food dice

Instead of trading 2 mana for 3 food, Aben's Hollow could also trade 1 mana for 1 food. It's not as good of a rate, though, and it doesn't look like the single mana die will be useful for anything.

New food dice are rolled (5,2,1), mana dice are gone

The dice are rolled: 5,2,1. Not great. The 2 and 1 food die are traded to Lily Manor for 1 more luxury die. This is rolled and... 4! Trade Relationships is now possible to get!

Allocated resources for Trade Relationships

All that remains are food dice - 5,5,3,3,2.

The Power of a Luxury Based Economy

One other use for luxuries - they can be spent to re-roll any of one type of resource die. There aren't any left over after this, but this is a powerful use for luxuries. Luxuries are hard to come by!

Feeding the Masses

Finally, an amount of food equal to twice the number of regions must be spent to feed the people.

Aben's Hollow controls 5 regions, so they'll need to allocate 10 food or suffer stability loss. Luckily, they can put the two 5 dice and exactly meet the requirement, with the 3,3,2 food dice left over!

Leftover Resources for Spotlight Fate Points

Two resource dice may be spent to give the spotlight player an additional fate point to start the mission.

Aben's Hollow is left with three dice. Two of those could be used to give the Spotlight Player one additional fate point for this mission. Alternatively, an infantry unit could be mustered for 6 food. The Spotlight Player decides it would be better to muster an additional unit rather than get one fate point.