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How would you simulate a great team leader like Cyclops and Captain America in 5th edition?


dean day

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  • 2 weeks later...

In Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan, during the final battle Spock notes that Khan's tactics indicate "two dimensional thinking".  It's a great moment, and also something that's extremely difficult to simulate in a tactical game sense.  The problem is that doing so would require both the GM and the player to have a incredible grasp of the game's combat rules, to the point that the GM could make intentional mistakes, that the player then recognizes, and knows to attribute to the NPC villain and not to the GM.  Khan made the mistake, not Ricky the gamemaster, and the mistakes fit a particular pattern.

 

A situation like that is the domain of the Tactics skill.  "Spock, make your Tactics roll."  "I got a 9.  Made it by 5."  "Awesome.  You notice that when the Reliant moves, it isn't taking advantage of the Z axis like a normal ship would."

 

These are just the natural limitations of player/GM interaction.  At some point, you just need the GM to tell you when your character would know something that you don't.  I think the "natural leader" abilities of certain characters would somewhat be the same.  I don't know that we need a specialized power to simulate that.  The GM just needs to make your points spent on Tactics and Teamwork actually worthwhile.

 

Let's say that Leader Guy has a 30 Presence, +10 Pre defensive only, Tactics 15-, Teamwork 15-, and 4 Overall levels with all combat.  He also has 3D6 of positive Reputation as a powerful leader.  His mutant power lets him create an energy shield, which he can throw at people.  How do we use his leadership abilities in the game?

 

The X-Vengers is a team of superheroes, led by Leader Guy.  Iron Badger is a Canadian inventor with razor sharp claws coming out of his super-suit.  Russian Red is a femme fatale assassin with telekinesis and martial arts.  Snowman transforms into a giant ice monster when he gets angry.  And Weatherman is a robot that can control the weather.  Left to their own devices, the X-Vengers will each select a target, put their levels into OCV, and blast away.  Most of the time, that's enough to win.  They each go when their Dex comes up, and attack using fairly straightforward methods.  Each X-Venger might have a special trick they use if direct blasting doesn't work, but they tend to stick to their initial target and hammer away.

 

When they are overmatched, or can't solve their problems with brute force, that's when they call on Leader Guy.  Leader Guy has a 30 Presence, so more than any of the other characters, he is unlikely to be affected by Big Bad Guy's Presence Attacks.  Even if Big Bad Guy rolls really well, Leader Guy's higher Presence means he will be the first to recover.  Then he can use his own Presence Attack (with a +3D6 bonus for his Reputation) to inspire his teammates to action.  "Let's go get 'em, guys!"  This allows the team to recover earlier than they otherwise would.

 

When he makes his Tactics roll, Leader Guy is going to be able to identify problems in the villain team's movement and positioning.  "They're standing directly under those high tension power lines," says the GM.  Hint hint.  He can also make a roll to analyze how the bad guys have their combat levels allocated (this might require Analyze Combat, if you're using that skill).  "Weatherman, they've got their levels in defense, an ice slick will drop their DCV!"  And by making his Teamwork roll, Leader Guy can give other people some bonuses.  Maybe somebody gets +1 or +2 to hit when they follow Leader Guy's plan.

 

I think the important part is that Leader Guy holds action, seeing how the battle unfolds, and acts as a commander rather than running in and beating up somebody himself.  While Leader Guy certainly can fight, his leadership skills come into play when he's dedicating himself to that role.  Instead of bashing somebody in the face on Segment 12, he instead holds action and watches to see how his teammates fare.  Anybody who looks like they need help will get his attention.

 

That's how I would do it, anyway.  It's not just a character build.  It's also how the character is played.

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