"Characters in TSATF" Topic

Gentlemen,

I've been playing a bit of TSATF recently and comparing it to some other skirmish sets, mainly Legends of the Old West and Sharpe Practice.

I think I'm happiest with TSATF, but one of the things I've missed is some of the roleplaying element present in those other two games. In TSATF one leader is much like another – while Sharpe Practice "big men" can have a little more individuality.

Has anyone experimented with adding characteristics to TSATF?

Regards,

Conrad

You can do anything with TSATF. I don't think you really need to add characteristics, just use figures as individuals and it works fine.

What's stopping you from adding it yourself?

The last time I did a Wyoming Massacre game using TSATF, I added the stipulation that the settlers not only had to survive, but their political careers after the war would depend on their behavior on this very battlefield.
That changed things radically. Instead of a foot race back to Forty Fort, there were suddenly extraordinary feats of bravery and derring do!
The settlers actually drove the Tories from the field. And this with no extra chrome or rules.

And let's not forget the Victoria Cross rule. Use it, modify it, have bonuses for being mentioned in dispatches, etc.

One of my British units has on roster Privates Mulvaney,
Learoyd and Ortheris.

I've played in a game where there was a correspondent
named Kipling.

My friends and I add characteristics to leaders or certain characters. In a game Jeff Baumal ran he used Gunga Din and gave him the ability to heal or kill wounded soldiers. In my Search for the Ark game I used Alan Quartermaine, gave him 4 askaris and the African Queen, and special characteristics. I don't give regular soldiers characteristics, but a leader or a British sgt. like colour sgt. Bourne at Rorke's Drift. No reason why you can't.

One of the nice things about Larry's rules is that they're not restrictive. They're a great framework upon which you can hang all sorts of personalized bits.

What's stopping you from adding it yourself?

Fair's fair, he did say 'I've been playing a bit of TSATF recently', and such adjustments are best with some real experience.

Good suggestions, of course.

'…just use figures as individuals and it works fine' doesn't add '…some of the roleplaying element…'

It's a fair question, and most everyone else actually took a stab, greater or lesser.

Good at them.

Doug

I name my leaders above platoon level (adding a name tag to the figure).

Just having a name out there can affect how you play.

In my current game based on Escario's column (Spanish American War), Col. Ruiz joined up with a unit and immediately became a causality (highest leader present). This was much like the actual event.

After the game ends, I roll for each causality figure to determine the final result (back in action, sick list, died of wounds).

I do have one figure with special characteristics – Captain Quigley, the leader of my mounted Natal Native Contingent. He gets a "sniper" bonus to both mounted and dismounted firing.

As others have said, TSATF is easy to modify for special figures and characteristics. After all, it is patterned on Hollywood movies, especially Gunga Din.

Jim

What Winston was saying in his Wyoming Massacre example was that the players themselves did all the role playing that was needed.
It didn't hurt that the games are played within 2 miles of St Cecilia's Little League field where the Massacre allegedly took place. So, all we locals are steeped in the story.
You can't swing a dead cat by the tail without hitting a street named for one of the participants.
A wounded leader who was wounded again (I ruled that a second wound killed him) was proud to "die", since he got a whole town named after him, not just a street or golf course.

My point is that you don't NEED "characteristics". A fun scenario with victory conditions helps.

There are a limited number of things you can use to differentiate players in the TSATF period. We can't exactly let Colour Sergeant Bourne cast fireballs, or give William Butler the Evil Eye.
Hmmm… That gives me an idea or two.
A TSATF Dungeon crawl?

One thing that did add character while not being not being tied down to stats were the special events in The Sword in Africa (part of the 20th Anniversary edition). One particular example was how an Italian officer kept wandering off and falling into quicksand. It was completely random and unscripted, but it made an otherwise straightforward game memorable.

Tragic. Why can't St. Cecelia's parents behave themselves, and let the kids play ball?

What I have done…

1. Make the character an individual

2. Decide if he gets leadership ability or not. ( So he can attach to leaderless units)

3. Give him an automatic +1 or +2 in hand to hand combat.

4. Give him a ranged attack from the chart or create a special one to show he is exceptional. (i.e. a very deadly gunfighter with dual pistols at close range.)

5. Decide if he has any exceptional abilities like scouting with a slightly better spotting range.

6. Decide if he can serve on an artillery crew.

7. Decide if he can serve on a ship crew.

8. Give him Hollywood style hit points, he can take 3 wounds before being incapacitated. A kill card means he is still dead.

As my buddy Nick has stated we have on rare occasions used special characters in some of our historical fiction games. When we ran "The Wind And The Lion" we gave the main leader characters some special abilities like ignoring the first wound or kill and an extra +1 for melee, firing, and or moral. We didn't want to alter the game but also didn't want to loose the Raisuli or Mrs Pedicaris,etc too quickly in the game. The games flowed well and it gave them the extra Hollywood feel and effect we were going for. We've had Flashman and Gunga Din amongst others make occasional appearances. PM me and I'll send the stats.
Cheers,
JB

In my game Search for the Ark, I gave the Ark, and its bearers, special characteristics to take into consideration the mystical factor. I also gave the Harem some special characteristics, like not letting westerners who enter to leave. My female harem guard also had characteristics. Jeff and I try hard to maintain the historical aspects of the game, but characteristics add a little fun.

Not that hard to incorporate special characters. But not like in SP. I don't like having too much role playing in my games. I hosted a game Saturday using "The Sword in North Africa" I had three French and one American Archaeologist in it.

Two were armed with pistols, one with two pistols and one with a French Rifle. The head Archaeologist was named Illinois Jones and he fought as a French Officer in combat. But that is the extent of the role playing for me.

Not hard to make it more dramatic. Just not my style. By the way all three Archaeologist died. I think these rules are much more fun than SP.

I've had Zulu games where the Prince Imperial (Louis Napoleon) was a special figure, with some abilities like other Leaders and Key figures and it was an objective for the Imperial player to both allow the Prince to gain glory BUT not get nailed.

Recently, Young Lt. Winston Churchill has been popping up in my games on the Northwest Frontier, trying to get mentioned in despatches (the British player gets extra VPs if Winston shoots or defeats foemen but woe to him if Young Winston is lost!) It's even more fun if your special characters are played by a third party, with his own victory objectives to fulfill that might be at variance with the rest of his side.

You can easily craft all sorts of special cases and characters and secret objectives to lend some role-playing twists to a basic game.

Or combine elements of TS&TF with a Pulp Skirmish game like Pulp Alley -- I've been using the Pulp Alley rules for historical scenarios and they adapt well to this sort of game, esp. if the new "Gang" rule is employed to bring larger numbers of figures into play.