Crossroads MVP

Rumours

Rumours

Characters and the world are typically understood through rumours. Whether these are true or false is often uncertain and may even change over the course of the campaign.

Even a false rumour can be powerful if others are led to believe it might be true...

Character Rumours

Characters are known to the world through the rumours spread about them. The more well-known the party is, the more likely other people are to know their rumours.

Creating Rumours

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Make 3

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Connections might spread rumours about you based on your past experiences.

Allies might sing of your victories while Enemies might spread tales of your cruelties or defeats. Rivals might spread rumours of your ruthlessness or lack of etiquette.

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Characters can add new Rumours using Fate Dice. When doing so, the Character spends a Fate Die and describes the rumour and how or why it spread.

As with other Changing the Fiction actions, the player should roll and the Rumour might be changed slightly by the GM.

Using Character Rumours

Character rumours should be used as part of a character . Instead of making a solid background, a character should have a number of rumours that may or may not be true.

When meeting a character, there's a possibility that they've already heard one of the rumours for that character and this might affect how they treat the character.

World Rumours

When rolling, give Rumours and characters can choose one to see if it's true or false.

Using World Rumours

If a character rolls [k], they may be presented with a number of rumours regarding the information they are looking for. Depending on the level of success, they might be able to know which of the rumours are true or false, or even choose to make a rumour true.

Typically, there should be two or three rumours given, and should be a mix of positive and negative, with some true and some false. After rolling, players can choose to reveal the truth of one rumour, or even choose to make a rumour true.

############Success, pick 1/2 rumours and know if true or false, 0 GM picks and says, -1 nothing

Sometimes, the GM might even ask the party to make Rumours for an area, character, or item, and then the GM might decide what rumours are true.

World Rumour Examples:

1 − The party enter a new area and roll [k] to see what they know about the area. The GM presents the rumours: "Local dragon", "lost relic", and "strange curse".

Scoring a Partial Success (0), they're told that the "Lost Relic" rumour is true, and they choose to search for more clues to find it.

2 − The party meets a minor Lord and the Noble wants to see what they know about the Lord, his family, or the estate. The GM presents three rumours ("Illegitimate child", "Ties to a Cult", and "Incredible wealth") and the Noble rolls [k].

Scoring a Success (1), Charlie asks for the "illegitimate child" rumour to be true so they can use that against him. The GM lets the party make their own rumours regarding the child, and then the GM can choose if any of those rumours are true.

Types of World Rumours

— Monster Rumours

When fighting a monster, the players might recall certain rumours about the creature.

— NPC Character Rumours

When meeting an important character, the characters may recall certain rumours they might have heard about them.

— World Setting Rumours

When discussing the world, there might be rumours of places the characters haven't visited, that they would need to travel to in order to learn the truth.

— Campaign Rumours

The players may hear rumours of stories or plot hooks for adventures.

— Artifact Rumours

The players may hear rumours of stories or plot hooks for adventures.

False Rumours

If a rumour is false, it need not be ignored. Maybe it might not be fully true, but elemnts might be correct. Maybe the lord isn't secretly a vampire... but he is a diabolic cultist. Maybe there's no curse over the family, but instead an enemy has been working against them and causing these "curse" effects. Maybe there's no secret legendary sword... but there's still a mystery to follow, and adventure to be had, and a strange shrine with a reward of its own.

Using False Rumours

Next Step

After understanding Rumours, you can move on to the section.

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