Heavy Gear RPG: Player Narrative Control
Heavy Gear Fourth Edition aims for a combination of open ended rules with well defined game effects. Anything the player imagines can be a Skill, Trait, or equipment and those rules get applied in the same simple ways. Heavy Gear 4e When and how they get applied though is up to a process called Lobbying.
The Player Lobby
Players are expected to ask to use Traits or Skills in different situations. Sometimes, this will mean finding a way to argue why their trait should help them – or hinder them. Remember that you only get XP when you take a challenge on a roll. This process is meant to be collaborative and two-way. Just as a player might argue their Advantage might uniquely help them in a situation, the Director can argue an Adversity might hurt them unexpectedly as well. Of course, you can define a Skill or Trait very narrowly to avoid the need to discuss, which can be helpful for mission critical skills.
If you can play your character in a way that gives screen time to your fellow Team mates, lobbying can also reward you both. Players are encouraged to lobby for each other, comboing their traits. For example, two characters are making rolls to pass through an enemy checkpoint while undercover. A character with “Quirk: Compulsive Button Pusher” could activate it for a challenge on their roll. They could then role-play the effect of getting a rise out of a teammate with the “Adversity: Hothead”. This then activates the Adversity and the other player gets to roleplay how they try to stay calm (or fail to), taking a challenge on their own roll. Both players get to play their characters in a fun scene, they both get XP on the skill they used, and both get to refresh an exhausted trait which can be activated for a bonus d6 later in the same session.
Lobbying applies to Skill and equipment use as well with the Similar Skills rule. A player might argue that their “Gunnery: Autocannons” skill could be used to make a simple repair on a broken autocannon, and the Director could allow the skill to be used at a small penalty.
While Directors don’t need to approve a skill use that is way outside of reality (say a character that wants to use their Electronics: Civilian Communications Equipment skill to hack a defense satellite) they are encouraged to allow players to be creative and let a clever plan work.
Customized Equipment
Equipment in 4e adds bonuses to skill tests. It is generally bought in sets called Rigs and Kits. Each Rig and Kit is tagged to a specific skill, but if the tools could be used for another skill, they will still give part or all of the bonus. An entire category of equipment – called gadgets – exists to account for any clever tool a player can come up with, from prospector tools that could be re-used to find land mines, to a personal DJ kit that could be repurposed to a voice amp to give a bonus when coordinating an emergency response.
Of course, this isn’t the entirety of equipment rules. You will find every piece of equipment from previous games represented in one way or another, many with additional rules beyond a gadget tag. Pre-built rigs and kits are there for players that don’t want to spend the time making their own gear. For those that do though, there are customizations that allow you to play the way your character would. In fact, there is enough customization of vehicles, weapons, and equipment offered that we will cover it in a future article.
Edge and Challenge
Another way players Lobby is with Edges and Challenges. These are things that might help a character (or hinder them) that are not neatly included in the rules. Edges provide +1d6 while Challenges give -1d6. For example a character might argue that they have maneuvered to a position where the sun is in their opponent’s eyes, granting them an Edge. Similarly, they could say that they are so shaken up from the sudden betrayal of an NPC that they take Challenge on their next roll (and get the XP that comes with it.)
Narrating Success (or Failure)
In Fourth Edition, the Director is encouraged to let a player describe the results of their skill test successes. This can help the director while assigning damage, or allow the player to show off the unique way their character would solve a problem. This also applies to failures. The player generally knows the way their character should be presented in the story better than the Director. All players can suggest the outcome of a failure, helping to craft the story even when events are not going their way.
Failing Forward
This brings us to a critical concept in Heavy Gear Fourth Edition, Failing Forward. Unless a roll is REALLY bad, failing to beat the difficulty of a task does not mean the character failed to accomplish it. For example, a computer savvy character might be trying to break into an enemy database and steal the location of a hidden base. Success means they get the data without being caught. But failing the roll doesn’t mean no data. Instead, it can mean that they still get the data, but tip off the enemy forcing them into a sudden hacker duel to avoid their identity being revealed. Failing on a roll to climb a cliff could mean you still make it up… but that your backpack fell off half way up.
The “all one roll” concept is closely aligned to this idea. Having to make the same roll over and over again is dull. Rolling just once, and taking the result – come what may – keeps the game moving and lets the plot have twists and turns. Failure should be seen as a gateway. It’s a way to add drama and tension to the story while still keeping things moving.
