Pioneer Companion Clusters

The past couple of posts had lots of ideas but no executions or suggestions.  I lost my internet due to some outside factors, and that gave me time to work without its distractions, and that produced some excellent ideas for handling NPC groups in the context of this expedition.

First, stop thinking of each NPC as an individual entity.  Instead, think of NPC clusters, groups of people who have a pre-existing relationship who are entering into the expedition's company.  The people interested in traveling far away from civilization and probably never seeing it again are of a specific sort, and the list is tailored to groups of that ilk.

1: a fairly self-sufficient or desperate person
2: A pair of competent individuals, or two folk drawn together by circumstance and seeking out of their particular situation.
3+: Family groups, seeking a better life elsewhere.

I'll further detail the different clusters for each size, but I wanted to present some cluster interaction rules which might be useful outside of this context.

Roll Charisma for each cluster, representing how sociable and likeable the group is as a whole.  Add the number of children in the cluster to the final result, and then determine the resulting score modifier.  Double it to determine the number of strong feelings the cluster engenders from other clusters.  Then, roll a d20 against the cluster's Charisma to determine whether the feeling is positive or negative (rolling over for negative, rolling under for positive), with the recipients determined randomly.

For example, a family of 3 (two parents, 1 kid) rolls a Charisma score of 16.  We add 1 for the kid, which is 17.  In LotFP, this gives a modifier of +2, so the family inspires strong feelings from 4 other clusters of NPCs.  Rolling the d20, we get 3, 5, 19, and 12.  We interpret this to mean that 3 other clusters view the family well, but another cluster views the family poorly.

The party is also a cluster, and for the purposes of this relationship web, use the median value of all the characters' Charisma scores.  Clusters that like, or feel neutral about, the party are under their control, as long as they act in good faith and are competent leaders.  Clusters that dislike the party are under the DM's control - not to become enemies of the party (all involved recognize that the success of the whole venture requires cooperation between the different groups), but they will grumble and look to take control of the group away from the party, if possible.  By making a meaningful, personal sacrifice, the party can attempt to change the opinion of a cluster that dislikes them.  After making the sacrifice, the character involved can make a Charisma check to influence them.

This might play out in any number of ways - a family might be quite nice, but they have a brat of a child who is insufferable and obnoxious.  Perhaps there is a very competent ranger in the company, but her brother is a drunken lout who can't do much of anything, forcing the ranger to spend most of her time helping him out.  Either way, that one person makes it hard to appreciate the cluster's company.

While clusters are happy to separate as needed for short-term tasks (the group needs to clear a tree from the trail, for example), for long-term or obviously dangerous tasks, roll a d4.  If the result is higher than the number of people in the cluster, someone from it will volunteer for the task.

Lastly, here's a table documenting the different types of clusters that can be recruited for the expedition.  The levels listed are a guideline.  As you can see, most of the people on  this trip have few skills (the families are likely all farming stock, and so would be knowledgeable about plants, planting, housekeeping skills, etc.

Size	Category	Level	Description
1	Ranger	2d3	Hunter, explorer, trapper
1	Criminal	1d2-1	Seeking new life or escaping old crimes
1	Former Soldier	Ftr 2d4	Retired, looking for quiet place to die
1	Non-inheriting child	0	Lacking trade or prospects
2	Professional Partnership	varies	Pair of hunters or master and disciple
2	Siblings by blood	0	Might have tradeskills
2	Odd Couple	0	Unusual pair, united by circumstances - 2 criminals, 2 ex-soldiers, something else
2	Romantic couple	0	Want to start a family
3	Family	0	2 parents, 1 child
3	Family	0	1 parent, 2 children
3	Family	0	2 parents, 1 grandparent
4	Family	0	2 parents, 1 child, 1 grandparent
4	Family	0	2 parents, 2 children
4	Family	0	1 parent, 3 children
5	Family	0	2 parents, 3 children
5	Family	0	1 parent, 4 children