I understand your intent better. One thing to consider mechanically: a seven point scale is very granular, yet the decision you ask the GM to make isn’t. That seems like a disconnect.
Freebooters on the Frontier 2e Discussion
Yeah, I see what you mean. I’m certainly open to other approaches, if you have any ideas. A less granular scale? Itemization of each of the 0-6 levels? E.g.:
0: trivial
1: remarkable
2: uncanny
3: inexplicable
4: supernatural
5: wondrous
6: miraculous
Not the best set of adjectives, but you get the idea.
1 Like
This isn’t a criticism, just clarification. Just in terms of mechanics, is the -0 to -6 there to offset the cleric’s ability to spend favor?
I started with the idea of favor as the Cleric’s class currency, and then thought about how it would interact with asking for aid from a higher power. It followed that the bigger the ask, the bigger the potential cost, so I guess the answer to your questions is yes.
2 Likes
How about you group them like this?
0: Trivial. Parlor tricks - blow out a candle, make a chair shake, etc.
1-2: Remarkable. Cure illness, summon light or a needed item from thin air
3-4 Supernatural. Make water flow from a stone, cure blindness, regenerate a limb
5-6 Miraculous. Revive the long dead, split the Red Sea, host of divine warriors
Still may be too much text for your game… I will think on it.
If you want to go with inscrutable or fickle, I guess you could make it d8-2 Hubris… 
3 Likes
That’s a great idea for how to structure it. Part of the challenge is fitting the text onto the playbook page, which is why it’s so succinct in its current form, but this is making me want to find a way to incorporate a more descriptive scale without making things feel too cramped. I will give it a go!
3 Likes
Does anyone know if there’s a Funnel World character generator out there?
I know of this one for Funnel World villagers, which is not the same as the Freebooters Funnel, but might do the trick?
EDIT 1: Haha, I see now that you are the first responder on that linked post!
EDIT 2: This generator would work, you would just need to change the damage dice to reflect the weapon used instead of using 1d4 across the board.
1 Like
that was 4 years ago! I barely remember March 2020…
3 Likes
Hey Jason, I noticed in the text you have formalized the process of “failure means a GM move” that goes implied in most PbtA. I think that’s great.
Why not follow on Monsterheart 2’s path and also call Judge Moves “Judge Reactions”? I’ve noticed from a lot of players that there is some confusion between player moves and GM moves, since they work completely differently, and this new naming scheme really helps in practice.
4 Likes
A question on rolling up followers:
The “specialist” background fits oddly with any of the competences.
If you have a specialist with any competence other than brilliant, the -2 tags means 0 tags. With zero tags, what are they specialized in? The Do Their Thing move relies on tags to roll quality so it feels like a mismatch.
If you have a specialist + brilliant, then the +1 to quality is negated and only the -2 tags has any effect. I think I am fine with this because I guess in the fiction, it indicates that they are less well rounded than a typical “brilliant” character because the myopic focus speciality.
I think I would recommend specialist be -1 tags or if there was a way to make it that all specialists only have 1 tag.
Also, 6- on Give Orders currently says mark XP. I assume this is should be removed?
2 Likes
Thanks for the notes, @warrenfs – I haven’t gone over the follower moves in a long time, and I need to make another pass soon. I will take your suggestions into account!
1 Like
Hmm, that’s an interesting idea, @Froggy. I am resistant to changing that particular term due to common understanding of its meaning within the PbtA subculture, but I agree that it makes it less accessible/comprehensible. Right now I lean more toward offering a clear explanation of the difference between PC and GM/Judge moves than bringing in a different term, not least because the first thing on the Freebooters list of when to make a Judge move is, “when common sense dictates,” which is more proactive than reactive.
3 Likes
I just finished a playable draft of an adventure for Freebooters written in a more “classic” style. You can download it here.
If anyone has the time or inclination to read and/or run this adventure, I would love to hear feedback.
In the long run this will be fully-illustrated and offered as a PDF, with a print version as one of the Kickstarter stretch goals.
7 Likes
Was excited to check the Dropbox link yesterday and see some updated pdfs! I had lost track of how to watch this project after G+ rode off into the sunset.
Used funnel rules to build 4 characters and the village of Rainbow Junction on the edge of the Misty Jungle with my 8-year old.
My notes from the process were:
• it felt weird to roll and swap stats and then not just finish out hit points, carrying capacity, etc so we did those before traits and appearance
• text about how many times to roll (1 or 2) for a village’s problems seemed contradictory between Step 6 text and table heading
• the word “burn” as in burning a luck for an extra max HP wasn’t totally clear if it comes off your max or current (Burning abilities in leading the retreat and making camp text
• when rolling your hit points is this your max HP or is there such an idea as max for level 0? Maybe it doesn’t matter if a level 0 character doesn’t have healing moves? Was a little unsure as character sheet was just a single box if we should track HP as “x out of y”.
• any playtest funnel pitches yet? We did session zero today so I was going to read Leget Manor since it sounds like it can be used as a funnel, perhaps? Intro mentions level 0 villagers…
Including a pic of our village building, which was an absolute blast for us the way it guided the process and encouraged taking turns with each step!
I have to say I’ve always loved the idea of session zeros but with this system it actually feels like a game itself and not just the mundane bookkeeping or freewheeling yarn spinning that some games can make it.
5 Likes
Thanks for the notes, @ceekay – I just made another pass based on your feedback and uploaded it to the playtest folder.
I’ll make an adjustment to the playcard layout to make max/current HP more clear.
No official FotF2e pitches yet, but I’ve plugged the 4 from the original Funnel World into the current pdf just so people have something to use. They should work fairly well. You can also find 3 free funnel starters on DTRPG.
It looks to me like Rainbow Junction (which is AWESOME) could stand in fairly easily for the village in Leget Manor if you want to go that route. The Manor lends itself to more of an epic funnel, though, not usually a one-shot, although I have run it as such.
1 Like
Thanks for the reply @jasonlutes, I’m glad my notes were of some use!
We also used a second page of paper to write down notes about the map or fiction that we established. Probably not unusual for sessions like this either in the form of GM notes or index cards.
My favorite chain of collaboration was when my 8 year-old liked my name Crystal Pool, added the Ruby River and said the water was reddish. We didn’t have a reason why, but later he mentioned off-hand that there’s a lot of iron nearby. I said hey maybe the river looks red because of all the iron in the soil. Later we rolled anachronistic mounts and (after I explained what an anachronism was) he said ok they have motorcycles-no-wait-bicycles, so we decided they are made from the local iron and he added they have a special button to boost and go fast. It’s called Rainbow Junction because the mist hanging in the jungle creates near-constant rainbows. The default move in the 8 year-old playbook is definitely Spout Lore!
Also he rolled “notable gait and voice” for his carpenter and demonstrated a goofy walk and voice that had us both cracking up. These were such fun and memorable moments. 
Thanks!
4 Likes
Love the updated Villager creation @jasonlutes! The page layouts look nice with the tables sharing a page with their associated step, and coming out of the “mathy” steps with a series of rolls as you prepare to launch this hapless villager into a funnel. The “Burn an Ability” move is a helpful reference; it was something I think could be inferred, but it’s nice to have an explicit description to point to, especially for situations where players and GMs might read things differently.
2 Likes
Noticed a few typos: _ _
P. 4 “…Many of you knew me as a child, before I was sent abroa_d_. Two years it took for word of my father’s disappearance to reach me, but I stand before you now a mere _t_en days after hearing the terrible news…”
1 Like
@jasonlutes Is there a changelog for these new updates somewhere? Curious what’s updated in the rules themselves, besides the funnel stuff discussed above.
ETA: Sorry if the details are somewhere obvious and I’m missing it.
3 Likes