SECT MANAGEMENT

These are very rough rules I have been dabbling with for management of sects. It is part of a manuscript for a PDF. The rules below are by no means the final rules and description entries for the tables are incomplete (though I think in most cases their meanings are obvious without descriptions). This is going to change a lot as many of these numbers are just initial selections to test and rework in playtest. I arrived at my baselines by putting an Excel doc with all the core book sects for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate and getting a clearer overview of the numbers of members by rank for each sect. 

I am posting this here because I hope it may be useful to people who are in need of such tools. 

CHAPTER TWO: SECT MANAGEMENT 

Art by Jackie Musto 

The chapter explores building and managing sects. Devising such a sub-system has proven one of the bigger challenges of Ogre Gate, in large part because the campaigns are dictated more by facts on the ground than an abstract set of guidelines or procedures. However the need for sect management is still something that often arises. While I have tried several methods over the years, this chapter offers the two I am most satisfied with. The first is a simple, sect development and disciple gaining by level approach (as you level you gain disciples and the sect grows). The second method is a point-buy approach that allows players to build sects by purchasing disciples and other sect features.  

Please feel free to modify these or create new approaches. The a management of sects very much depends on what you are trying to accomplish and emulate in the campaign. I personally tend to use looser methods, but when it becomes important to quantify these are the kinds of approaches I use. 

 

A more open third option is described at the end of this section. It is more fiscally based.

 

GROWING SECTS AND DISCIPLES BY LEVEL 

 

Using this method every character will attract disciples over time. These are personal disciples. To determine how many personal disciples a character may have, add their Command+Persuade+Deception+2. If they do not have ranks in these they can still get 2 Disciples. Personal Disciples are loyal to their teacher provided they are well treated and given training. A disciple’s loyalty may shift if they feel they are not being adequately tended to. Individual disciples with bad personalities can also become disloyal for other reasons. 

 

When characters reach rank 5 have them roll on the following table. They should roll again each time they level: 

 

DISCIPLE TABLE I

Roll 1d10         Result

1                      2 Qi rank 0 disciples 

2                      1 Qi rank 1 Disciple

3                      2 Qi rank 1 Disciples  

4                      3 Qi rank 1 Disciples 

5                      1 Qi rank 2 Disciple 

6                      2 Qi rank 2 Disciples 

7                      10 Qi rank 0 disciples 

8                      5 Qi rank 1 Disciples 

9                      3 Qi rank 2 Disciples 

10                    Roll on Disciple Table II

 

DISCIPLE TABLE II

Roll 1d10         Result

1                      20 Qi rank 0 Disciples 

2                      10 Qi rank 1 Disciples 

3                      1 Qi rank 3 Disciple 

4                      6 Qi rank 2 Disciples 

5                      2 Qi rank 3 Disciples  

6                      1 Qi Rank 2, 5 Qi rank 1 Disciples 

7                      4 Qi rank 3 Disciples 

8                      50 Qi rank 0 Disciples, 5 Qi rank 1 Disciples, Qi rank 2 Disciples 

9                      10 Qi rank 2 Disciples 

10                    1 Qi rank 4 disciple 

 

 

When the party forms a sect, they should establish a leader. Then they can combine all of their disciples under one organization (ideally with each PC personally overseeing their disciples as sub-chief of the sect). In addition, once the sect is formed the group may roll on the above tables once per year to add to their numbers. 

 

BUILDING SECTS BY POINTS

 

A player who reaches level 5 can become a sect leader (this can happen earlier but few will be respected enough before this level to lead a sect). Your level determines how many points you have to build a sect. 

 

 

SECT LEADER LEVEL                POINTS

5                                              21

6                                              31

7                                              41

8                                              51

9                                              61

10                                            71

11                                            81

12                                            91

 

COSTS

 

DISCIPLES 

Qi Rank 0                                 10 for 2 (can only buy ten at a time)

Qi Rank 1 Disciple                   1

Qi Rank 2 Disciple                   3

QI Rank 3 Disciple                   6

Qi Rank 4 Disciple                   10

Qi Rank 5 Disciple                   15

Qi Rank 6 Disciple                   21

 

BASE INCOMES

5,000                                       Default

10,000                                     6

20,000                                     10

30,000                                     15

50,000                                     21

 

BASE HEADQUARTERS 

Encampment                           2

Storefront                               4

Courtyard House                     6

Manor                                     10

Fortified Manor                      14

Temple                                    18

Fortress                                   21

 

MAX DISCIPLES

 

	MAX DISCIPLES
Sect Leader Qi Rank	Max Disciples per Qi Rank
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
5	400	25	20	15	1	0	0
6	800	50	40	30	4	2	0
7	1,400	60	50	40	6	3	1
8	2,800	70	60	50	8	4	2
9	5,600	80	70	60	10	5	3
10	11,200	90	80	70	12	6	4
11	22,400	100	90	80	14	7	5
12	44,800	110	100	90	16	8	6

 

MAX DISCIPLES

These are how many disciples the sect can have based on the sect leader’s Qi rank. You can exceed these amounts but whenever your sect numbers exceeds them, the Sect Leader must make a Leadership Roll against TN 8 that season to avoid internal strife. 

 

INFORMATION NETWORKS, INFLUENCE, AND ESCORT RANKING

These each start at 0d10 and you have three ranks to spend however you wish to start (You could put 1d10 in each; or 3d10 in one, or 2d10 in one and 1d10 in another, etc). These can increase as a result of a project 

 

Information Network: This is a d10 dice pool rolled against a TN to see if you can obtain information. It always functions at your present rank within your area of influence, but decreases by 1d10 the further out of range you extend. 

 

Influence: This is how easily you can influence local officials, constables, local guilds, and other important people. 

 

Escort Ranking: Your ability to safely move goods. This is just your roll to avoid running into trouble. If trouble is encountered then you need to roll a dice pool based on the sect members involved and those interfering. 

 

LEADERSHIP

Add together the Sect Leader’s Command, Deception and Persuade. This produces the sect’s Leadership score. It can be used for a number of things but mostly it is used to prevent internal conflict when the sect exceeds its Max Disciples. Should the max be exceeded, so long as it does so, the sect leader must make a Sect Leadership roll against TN 8 to avoid internal problems. On a failure, roll on Enemy Present column of the sect table that season. 

 

ADVANCING DISCIPLE RANKS 

You must devote time to training disciples. This counts as a project and you can only advance 10 Disciples at a time 

 

FAVORED DISCIPLE
At any given time, you can devote special attention to 1 disciple, having them travel with you. They earn XP with the rest of the party

 

BASE INCOME

Sects have a base income of 5,000 spades a month. This can be increased when you build your sect or raised as a project in a season by increments of 10,000 each season. 

 

SPENDING INCOME

Generally it is assumed your income is spent on things like projects, so there usually isn’t a need to track for those kinds of expenditures (as this is factored into you breaking even each season). But you can still spend money on specific things if you have the resources. You will not need to roll for such projects (for example building an irrigation system so you can make rice fields). But the GM will tell you the cost and the number of seasons it will take to complete. And in exceptional cases the GM may request that you invest a specific amount of income before a project can start (for example a massive undertaking like a trap filled tomb for the master when he dies). 

 

TIME INCREMENTS

Managing a sect is dealt with seasonal increments of time: Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer and Late Summer. During a season you can focus on a particular project such as recruitment, building, training, etc. However the seasons must wait for events in the game before they can pass. If the players have retired to sect headquarters they can wait out a seasons but with each passing season you must roll on the Sect Tables to see if anything develops. This table is rolled on whether you wait out a season or not. If you are out adventuring then you still roll, just using the appropriate column to do so.

 

Every Sect has a standard Income. It is assumed they break even unless income results arise on seasonal sect roll

 

SECT ROLL TABLE ONE
Roll 2d10	Sect Leader Present	Junior Leadership Present	Senior Disciples Present	Enemy present
2	Two Projects succeed	Project Succeeds	Loss of revenue	Catastrophe
3	Project Succeeds	Project Succeeds	Earn Standard Income	Loss of revenue
4	Project Succeeds	Earn Standard Double Income	Alliance starts breaking down	Alliance breaks down
5	Earn double income	Earn Standard Income	Golden Opportunity	Alliance Breaks down
6	Earn Standard Income	Alliance Opportunity	Stability	Stability
7	Alliance opportunity	Golden Opportunity	Stability	Stability
8	Golden Opportunity	Sect Grows	Sect Declines	Sect Declines
9	Stability	Stability	Sect Declines	Sect Declines
10	Stability	Stability	Tension within Sect	Sect Declines
11	Stability	Stability	Tension within Sect	Violence within sect
12	Sect Grows	Tension within sect	Tension with other Sect	Violence within sect
13	Disciple with Qi ranks seeks to join	Tension with other sect	Tension with Other Sect	Skirmish with other sect. New Enemy
14	Escort Services Requested	Locals seek help	New Enemy	Attacked by enemy
15	Locals seek your help	Escort Services requested	Attacked by Enemy Sect	Attacked by Enemy
16	A master or sect seeks your help	New Enemy	Attacked by Enemy Sect	Manual, Treasure or Artifact stole
17	Income Growth	1d10 Disciples Attacked by a non-enemy sect	Manual, treasure or Artifact taken	Hostile Breakaway faction forms
18	New Enemy	2d10 Disciples Attacked by enemy Sect	Unwanted imperial attention	Hostile Breakaway Faction Forms
19	1d10 Disciples attacked by enemies	Assassination attempt at sect HQ	Breakaway Faction Forms	Headquarters attacked by multiple enemies
20	2d10 Disciples Attacked by enemy Sect	Faction forms in sect	Major Betrayal	Headquarters attacked by imperial forces

 

SECT STAT BLOCK 

 

NAME OF SECT

Leadership:

Allies:

Enemies:

Numbers: 

Location:

Information Network: d10

Leadership: 

Influence: 

Escort: 

Attack: 

Revenue: 

 

MANAGING RESULTS

For the most part, results from the above tables should be dealt with naturally in place, choosing outcomes that match based on what is going on in the campaign and what the players are trying to do. However feel free to use the guidelines below. 

 

Alliance Opportunity: An opportunity to form an alliance presents itself. This is not guaranteed and the specifics should vary depending on who wishes to work with your sect. Most likely they will ask for terms, with both sides needing to give and take. An alliance opportunity is very easy to lose if mishandled. 

 

Disciples Attacked By Enemy Sect: Pick a random enemy and randomly throw 1d10 or 2d10 members from that sect against them. Make opposed Sect Attack rolls to see who wins.   

 

Disciple With Qi Rank Seeks to Join: A new disciple has heard of your sect’s reputation and wishes to join. To determine their Qi rank roll 1d10: 

1-3       Qi Rank 1

4-5       Qi Rank 2

6-7       Qi Rank 3

8          Qi Rank 4

9          Qi Rank 5

10        Qi Rank 6

 

Earn Standard Income: You gain your income in spades 

 

Earn Double Income: You gain twice your income in spades 

 

Escort Services Requested: A sect, government official, merchant, individual/family or wealthy local magnate seeks help transporting a person or thing of value. If your sect serves as bodyguards and transports the goods, you can earn money or grow your reputation. 

 

Income Growth: Your revenue increases by an increment of 10,000 spades 

 

Stability: Nothing changes and this is usually a good thing.

 

Golden Opportunity: This is just a chance for some big gain in reputation or something specific the sect needs. It could also be income on top of revenue (for example if the sect is involved in banditry, a shipment of smuggled goods will be known to pass through a given area, or if the sect is righteous, a group of notorious outlaws may have been spotted nearby). 

 

Locals Seek Your Help: Locals need help dealing with a threat (a local bully, bandits, corrupt official, monster, etc). This is a sign that you are well respected and have influence. There is usually little to know physical reward but it’s good for your reputation 

 

New Enemy: Your sect gains a new enemy in the form of another sect or a powerful master (higher than Qi rank 6) 

 

A Master or Sect Seeks Your Help: A high rank Master or another sect needs your help with a task. While this is not an alliance opportunity, they will owe you a favor if you succeed. 

 

Project Succeeds: This simply means you complete a project you began. It could be a project related to something physical like a building or field, but it could also mean something more nuanced like an elaborate mercantile arrangement. This can also be a project of training your men so they increase in Qi rank. You can improve rankings in Influence, Information Network, etc by 1d10 as a project. 

 

Sect Grows: Your sect grows by one of the following increments (your choice): 25 Qi Rank Zero,  10 Qi Rank 1, 5 Qi Rank 2,  2 Qi Rank 3, 1 Qi Rank 4. 

 

Two Projects Succeed: The same as Project Succeeds except instead of completing one project, you complete two. 

 

THE OPEN APPROACH 

Using this approach there is no system constraining sect growth, it is only constrained by the players own actions and resources. Using a more freeform style like this means tracking the sect, its resources and responding to actions the players take in a fair way. For example if they put on a demonstration in Mai Cun and kill 20 of Lady 87’s men, its fair for them to be able to recruit some worthy followers. It still may be a good idea to randomize the power levels. I tend to do things like a d10 roll sculpted to the level of the party or level of the party’s leader to determine those kinds of details. And the GM also needs to put together a spread sheet to track revenue, spending, assets, etc. This can get very detailed and requires additional work (asking the players to track their resources can be useful option here). It is also useful to audit this document occasionally to make sure you are accounting for all recent campaign developments. This sounds boring but if done well can be very rewarding for your group. 

 

As an example, Hei Ling and Iron Tiger wander into Mai Cun and get into a brawl with many of Lady 87’s men. Though outnumbered, they manage to handily defeat the 87 Killers, wounding nearly 12 men in the public streets. This will surely incur a grudge but it will also likely boost any recruitment efforts they make. Iron Tiger sees the opportunity and tells everyone watching they should come and train with Hei Ling if they want to learn real kung fu and not the silly games taught at Mai Cun Manor. The GM thinks about it, decides though luck was a huge factor this was also a truly tremendous display. He asks Iron Tiger’s player to make a Command or Persuade roll, which he succeeds. Hei Ling is Qi rank 5, so the GM quickly scribbles a table to roll for recruitment and has Iron Tiger’s player make the roll. 

 

The table is as follows:

1-3       3d10 Qi rank 0

4-5       2d10 QI rank 1

6-7       1d10 QI rank 2

8-9       0d10 Qi Rank 3

10        0d10 Qi rank 4

The player rolls a 6, so he gets 1d10 Qi rank 2 martial experts to join them.