Commensalist
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Description
In a world that is gone to ruin and decay, Commensalists are dolls who focus on the good that they can find. Sharing a warm meal, the smell of freshly cooked meat, the smiles on everyone’s faces. There are some who would oppose this noble goal, calling them sick and mad. That a Commensalist is no more than a cannibal feasting on stolen flesh. There is little place for semantics in this world, but there is still flesh to be shared with those still live.
Commensalists are dolls who focus on their allies and friends. While anyone may enjoy a warm meal, it is up to the Commensalist to make sure that they do not leave themselves vulnerable, lest they fall prey to other hungry bellies.
Playing a Commensalist
Commensalists are designed around keeping their Sisters, themselves included, sane and effective, at the expense of physical damage.
This can come in the form of defensive abilities like “Prime Cuts” or “Fall off the Bone” that mitigate stronger attacks by healing their Sisters or negating secondary effects.
Or it can show it self in the form of “Warm Meal” or “Beautiful Cannibals” that aims to stave off madness at the expense of breaking parts, allowing the Commensalist and her allies to trade physical well being for mental stability.
Regardless of how a Commensalist is used, her Sisters will be eager to pay their pound of flesh.
New Terms
This position features no new terms and should integrate fully with the base Nechronica experience.
Skills
| Flies to honey | |||||
| Timing: | Action | Cost: | 3 | Range: | Special |
| Effect | A Sister may break up to 2 basic parts. For each part broken this way, she chooses one Sister to move 1 towards her. The same Sister may be chosen more than once. | ||||
| The delightful smell of fresh meat on a hot day rekindles emotions even the dead thought they’d lost. | |||||
| Prime Cuts | |||||
| Timing: | Damage | Cost: | 2 | Range: | 0 |
| Effect | Whenever a Sister in range breaks at least 3 parts due to a melee attack or an attack with the dismember property, she may remove a point of madness. You may use this multiple times per round. | ||||
| In this mockery of what used to be the world, butchered meat is still a delicacy. | |||||
| Fall off the Bone | |||||
| Timing: | Auto | Cost: | 0 | Range: | 0 |
| Effect | Whenever a Sister is hit with a Blast attack or an attack with the Explosive property, they may break 2 basic parts to negate one effect of the attack other than damage. | ||||
| It takes a skilled grill-master to keep meat from burning when subjected to intense flames. If it is taken off the heat at just the right time, it falls right off the bone. | |||||
| Warm Meal | |||||
| Timing: | Auto | Cost: | – | Range: | – |
| Effect | Whenever a Sister rolls a critical failure on a conversation check, they may break a basic part. If they do, treat it as a normal failure. | ||||
| The wrong words can cause hurt feelings but even through the thickest of tears one can recognize sacrifice made in their honor. | |||||
| Smiling faces, messy hands | |||||
| Timing: | Check | Cost: | Special | Range: | 0-1 |
| Effect | A Sister in range breaks a basic part. If they do, Support 2. | ||||
| A warm day, good food, cries of happiness from a better time. Who would not fighter harder to bring back those times? | |||||
| Hurry to Dinner | |||||
| Timing: | Auto | Cost: | – | Range: | – |
| Effect | The first time each Sister breaks a part because of a friendly non-attack maneuver, they receive -1 to the Cost of their next Action (minimum 1). | ||||
| When dinner is served, children hurry to finish their chores. | |||||
| Beautiful Cannibals | |||||
| Timing: | Rapid | Cost: | 0 | Range: | – |
| Effect | Each Sister may break a basic part. Each one who does may make a conversation check with one of their Sisters in range 0. | ||||
| Since the dawn of time, sharing food has been a way to express love and affection. That tradition carries on, even now. | |||||
Balance Tweaking
Different campaigns may require varied balance considerations due to varying play styles and game focuses among different groups. If you find that a Commensalist is either over- or under-performing in your games, here are some suggestions to adjust the balance accordingly.
Your Commensalist is Over-Performing
- Should your Commensalist be too effective at keeping her Sisters alive, consider changing Fall off the Bone‘s cost from 2 parts to 3. This should allow enemies to make better usage of attacks with secondary effects.
- Smiling faces, messy hands is a very effective support maneuver. If it’s being too effective, try reducing the range from 0-1 to 0, so that the Commensalist must expose herself to danger to aid her allies.
- One problem that can arise is a Commensalist negating a lot of damage using Prime Cuts. If this ends up being the case, consider removing the ability to use this maneuver multiple times per round, so that damage becomes more permanent.
Your Commensalist is Under-Performing
- If your Commensalist is struggling to make an impact on her Sister’s madness, consider adding a +1 to the conversation check from Beautiful Cannibals. This should allow her to have a larger impact.
- While the Commensalist is designed around protecting her Sisters, she won’t be able to do so if her Sisters get too far away from her.. If your Commensalist is struggling with range, consider allowing Flies to honey to break 3 parts, instead of just 2.
- If the Commensalist’s Sisters are withstanding both damage and madness well on their own, she can struggle to find a niche to thrive in. If this is the case, consider changing Hurry to Dinner to trigger after each part broken is part of a friendly non-attack maneuver, instead of just the first. This will allow your Commensalist to showcase her value and encourage allies to make use of her abilities!
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