Kith¶
- Kith:
/kiTH/ (noun) One’s friends, acquaintances, and relations.
A Hero’s Kith describes the people and organizations the Hero knows and can turn to for help.
Organizations bought as part of the Hero’s Kith have an anchor who is Hero’s primary contact inside the organization.
Heroes can use members of their Kith as Boons when they are present, agree to help, and they have a relevant skill set. A Hero looking for a way past a guard could add their tier 2 familiar, a Companion, as their Possibility Boon for example.
Sometimes it is enough just to know someone or be part of an organization. A Hero trying to talk his way into a posh party could drop a name or mention their membership and use that Kith as part of their Attribute Roll Strategy.
Membership, friendship, or a flock of convenience is a two-way road. Sometimes it’s the Hero who is being called on to render aid or help with some problem.
A Kith Boon is one of three types:
Companion: A person or group that travels with the Hero.
Ally: A person or group that the Hero has a history and generally shared goals or some kind of understanding.
Contacts: These are people the Hero has met, they may even have shared goals, but the Hero hasn’t invested in that relationship or perhaps the person is just unreliable.
A player can spend xp and upgrade a Contact to an
Ally or an Ally to Companion during play.
Downgrading is also possible. Either direction
requires some sort of in-game justification.
Heroes start the game with up to two Contacts.
Kith Tier¶
A member of the Hero’s Kith has a maximum tier set by the maximum impact they could have. A Galactic Overlord is going to be able to impact much more than a Local Bartender in the same game. In most games the Galactic Overlord could reach tier 3, while in that sort of game the Local Bartender would probably be stuck at a maximum of tier 1.
As with any Boon, the Hero could only spend the
xp to acquire the Galactic Overlord at tier 1.
For whatever reason when the Galactic Overlord
provides help to the Hero, it’s considerably less
aid than they could provide.
The maximum tier is set by what the Table thinks is appropriate for that NPC in that Game. If necessary, the GM can make the final determination.
Contact¶
Cost: 0xp
These are people or groups that the Hero only has a fleeting relationship with. They may share a goal or outlook, but there is little shared history or earned trust.
Most NPCs that the Hero encounters could be developed into Contacts. It takes more than just seeing them on a street, but if the Hero exchanges phone numbers or whatever is the equivalent in the game, could be considered a Contact.
Unlike normal Kith Boons, Contacts can’t usually be used as part of a Hero’s Strategy. The GM is free to make exceptions if it makes sense in the fiction or if the Hero did something, such as a Maneuver to be able to use the Contact.
Ally¶
Cost: 5xp per tier
These are people who will normally answer the Hero’s call in most circumstances and will usually take time to provide a reasonable amount of help. Allies trust the Hero and will usually take on faith that they are trying to do something worth doing.
However, they do have their own lives and do something for a living, probably something the involves deadlines, so they aren’t about to drop everything and follow the Hero across the country, or possibly even the city, without a good reason.
Example Allies
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Companion¶
10xp per level
Companions are almost always with the Hero. When the Hero decides to board a spaceship for Alpha Centauri, their Companions are there with them.
The Hero and their Companions have been through a lot together, there is a lot of earned trust and shared history. They are deeply involved in each other’s lives and usually don’t need much justification to meet the Hero in a dark alley at 3am, or bend whatever rules are needed to cover for the Hero.
They are flawed and make mistakes, but to the degree possible, they’ll have the Hero’s back.
Example Companions
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