[DRYH] NPC Assists

[Michael Loy]

Say we have a situation in which a PC is caught between a couple Nightmare factions, siding with one against the other.  In a conflict, he's assisted by one Nightmare against a crew of other Nightmares ... how's that work?  I was sort of thinking it'd be best to reduce the Pain pool a bit, since the task is theoretically made easier, but it was also suggested to add to Discipline, just as it's done when a PC aids another PC.

[iago]

Heh.

Your core question when it comes down to it should be, "How much does that hurt?" -- and set Pain based on that.

If the Nightmare "helping" is actually a way of saying "the ally Nightmare has more control over this situation than the PCs do" -- then I'd actually say it *increases* Pain.  Even if the enemy-Nightmares get knocked down a peg, that's to the ally-Nightmare's advantage, not the PC's.

If the ally-Nightmare is actually trying to give the PCs more influence over things, then I'd say it decreases Pain.

Dig?

[Michael Loy]

In this particular case, it's just a case of kicking some Nightmares' teeth in, but yeah - I read you.

[Michael Loy]

For the sake of clarity - the PC is starting the fight and the 'friendly' (for the moment) Nightmare may or may not be backing him up.  That actually remains to be seen.

[Noclue]

I'd add madness. Why should a nightmares assistance reduce pain or add discipline? It just makes sense that the cost of their help would be increased madness.