This is Day 2 of a five-day series of posts about Lost Fools of Atlantis that I’ll be releasing weekly on Wednesday.
Each post examines an aspect of the game or introduces new rules.
I loved the social conflict rules in Tenra Bansho Zero, a Japanese RPG, where you roll to see what your characters’ initial reaction to GMCs are and then use their social skills to move it from a bad reaction to a more favourable one. This is an attempt to include that in Lost Fools.
Upon meeting a named Game Moderator Character (GMC) for the first time, the player rolls a D20 to determine their Avatar’s reaction based purely on first impressions.
| Roll D20 | Avatar’s Reaction to the GMC |
| 1 | The worst possible reaction. Among other nasty things, the Avatar believes that the GMC is their sworn enemy. |
| 2-5 | They form an instant dislike of them, and they firmly believe they are up to no good. |
| 6-10 | They are suspicious of them. The Avatar feels the need to find out more about them. |
| 11-15 | They feel Neutral about them. The Avatar is happy to take them at face value and have dealings with them. |
| 16-19 | They instantly like them. |
| 20 | Wow, the Avatar believes that the GMC is really nice and is desperate to be their best friend. |
After you roll for your Avatar’s reaction, you can modify it either up or down if any of the following cases apply.
- If the Avatar is in the same faction or from a movement controlled by the Avatar’s faction, you can add +5.
- Conversely, if it’s a Faction or movement that is working in opposition to your Faction, you must take away -5 from the result.
- If you have a relevant social method, you can raise or lower it by the ranking so that the Avatar’s reaction is more in line with how the player wants to roleplay it out.
Note, you cannot modify the Avatar’s reaction with any of the above cases if you rolled a natural 1 or 20.
The reaction is fixed once any applicable modifiers have been applied to the dice roll.
What happens next?
The game recommences, and the player plays their Avatar’s reaction to the GMC, and they respond in kind. Players are free to try and manipulate the GMC using their Avatar’s Social Methods, but their Avatar’s reaction is their initial starting point for any social interaction with the GMC.
*Note: don’t use this system with Mooks, or Extras as I call them in Lost Fools. Let the players decide their Avatar’s reaction.
Next Wednesday, Day Three, The Bosworth Incident, After Action Report.
Has this post piqued your interest in Lost Fools of Atlantis?
