Group followers

A follower with the group tag represents multiple individuals who share stats and often act as one. The Marshal's crew is the most obvious example. Other groups include the posse of villagers that the PCs recruit to deal with the crinwin, or the trio of wraiths bound to that tattered mantle (the one adorned with teeth).

Members of a group have the same tags, max HP, armor, damage, instinct, moves, and cost. They hold a common pool of Loyalty, but each have their own current HP. They typically Outfit with the same gear.

The PCs and Rhianna's crew have tracked the giant spiders through the Fae paths to an ancient ziggurat in the Great Wood. They think Nia is inside. The crew each have 8 HP and are carrying a & bow with bronze arrows, a & bronze hatchet, & thick hides, and two undefined & They currently hold 1 Loyalty as a group.

The PC who leads a group follower will often direct it to act as a whole. If this leads to the group triggering a player move (per Order Followers), then the player rolls once, applying bonuses (and/or disadvantage) based on the tags shared by the group.

Rhianna says, "I signal my crew to sneak up and get in position. I want them covering us as we approach." She's Ordering Followers, having them Defy Danger (the danger is, they get noticed or even ambushed). She rolls for them, adding +1 for their stealthy tag, and gets a 7. When a group follower makes a move and suffers some sort of consequence, you can have that consequence affect the group as a whole, or individual members of the group.

I opt for a lesser success. "Okay, they slip forward and get into position, all except for one of them. They're half-way to the ziggurat, and looking down, like they're stuck on something. Oh, crap, you realize it's a web! And if they keep tugging at it like that, the spiders are sure to notice."

When a member of the group first stands out, then flesh them out to whatever level of detail makes sense at the moment. Give them a name, a memorable trait, and maybe an extra tag. Ask questions about them. Take notes, or have the player do so!

I ask Rhianna which of her crew got stuck, and she decides that it's one of the heretofore undefined members. She looks at her Crew insert, which has potential names, tags, and traits. "Um, Glaw. He's small, like short and scrawny, and I think he's too serious. A bit of short-man syndrome going on." She adds him to her insert.

"But he's a veteran hunter, right? So why do you think he's sorta freaking out right now?"

"Oh, I think he's often the butt of the crew's jokes, and he just knows they aren't gonna shut up about this. So he's not like, panicking. But he's on the verge of cussing up a storm."

When a PC directs an individual member of a group, they can trigger moves as if they were a follower themselves. The group's tags and moves apply, plus any unique tags or moves they have as an individual.

Rhianna creeps forward and helps Glaw cut himself free, Defying Danger herself with a 10. I then offer an opportunity and point out a tall, thin tree that leans over the clearing. It'd be a tricky climb, but offer a clear view into the hole on the ziggurat's roof. "What do you do?"

"It's tall and skinny, you say? Sounds like a good job for someone… small. I have Glaw climb it. 'No need for the others to know about the webs, eh? I'm, uh, glad you spotted this tree and called me over.' I wink." She's asking him to do something dangerous, but I think she approached it really well. I see no reason for him to resist.

"He looks up the skinny tree and nods, then drops his bow and extra gear and starts climbing. I think he's Defying Danger again; he risks falling, or making a lot of noise." We look at his tags and decide that either stealthy (from the group) or small (his personal tag) could apply, but that still means just a +1 bonus.

Rhianna rolls an 11, so Glaw scurries up the tree, peers in, and comes back down without problem. He's pale as a sheet, though. "Nia's in there, yeah. She's… she's standing stock-still, just staring at this… tapestry? Of like a huge spider. And the tapestry's kind of… rippling. It's… it's real creepy."

A group follower holds a common pool of Loyalty, which can be spent to affect either the entire group or individual members. The group's cost usually needs to be paid to the group as a whole, but if the player thinks it's valuable to spend Loyalty on one member of the group, they can!

Glaw just saw something creepy and supernatural, and Rhianna's crew has an instinct of "to hew to tradition and superstition." So, I show a downside and tell Rhianna that Glaw is clearly shaken, on the verge of panic. It's just him, though. "What do you do?"

"I put a hand on his shoulder. 'Nia's in there, and she's one of ours. I'm going in with the Blessed, and Vahid, and Caradoc. But I need you sharp out here." I ask whether she's Persuading him to stay cool or spending Loyalty to have him overcome fear. "I'll spend the Loyalty. I'm not risking a 6- here." The crew only held 1 Loyalty to start with, and now it's gone. But Glaw will hold steady!

Each member of a group has their own HP, and they take damage and lose HP individually. If multiple members of the group take damage at once, roll damage separately for each member and deduct it from their current HP.

The Mother-of-Spiders sends a wave of arachnids after the PCs as they flee the ziggurat with Nia. Rhianna's crew provides cover fire (Aiding the PCs as they Struggle as One), but that draws the attention of the swarm.

Rhianna yells for them to run for the waystone. We all agree that they're Defying Danger. Rhianna rolls +0 (none of their tags apply to an outright sprint) and, alas, gets a 2.

"That's not good," I say. "To start, they each take 1d8 damage." Rhianna rolls a 1, 4, 5, 5, 6, and 8, less 1 each for the crew's armor. "So, Glaw didn't take any damage? Well, he catches up to y'all, but you hear the others cry out. Vahid, you glance back and see Hari get tackled. What do you each do?"

Members of a group usually Outfit with the same gear, but the player can have individuals load up with different items if they're willing to do the extra bookkeeping.

Likewise, the PC can direct one crew member to Have What They Need and add an item to their inventory, without the rest of the crew each producing the same item. Keeping track of this is the player's responsibility, though!

In general, don't worry about small items or which member is carrying exactly how many uses of supplies. The players can track this level of detail if they really want to, but it's rarely worth the effort.

Vahid chases off the spiders by using his Fear of the Flame arcanum. Rhianna goes back and drags Hari out of there. Everyone makes it back to the waystone, where Thornthumb the spriggan has been waiting for them.

Before heading back through the Fae paths, Blodwen tends to Hari, restoring his HP and stabilizing him, but he's still paralyzed. Rhianna has Lowri turn his 2 undefined & into a roll-out litter to carry Hari. She writes "& litter (Lowri)" on her crew's inventory list.

She then has the rest of her crew each turn one undefined into unity supplies, for 20 uses total (five followers, 4 uses each). The four PCs then Recover, as do the four followers who are down HP, using bandages and whisky and food that the followers brought with them. The followers have 12 uses of supplies left.

Rhianna could decide that Glaw and Eira used up all their supplies and now each carry only five & total, but it doesn't really matter at this point. If it becomes important later (like, if one of the crew members gets separated from the group), we can decide then who was carrying what.