Bolstered Companion

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Bolstered companions come in a variety of forms. They may be a floating indigo orb, a shadowy wraith lurking two steps behind you, or an experimental software that could go haywire at any moment. What makes them bolstered companions is their passive presence, increasing in power until they come to your aid or fail spectacularly.

Companions often can be bolstered by any member of a party, as that member takes action to strengthen its capabilities. The companion can be called upon to help, at which point its power level resets. However, at any moment the companion might erupt explosively, either literally or figuratively, with ensuing complications.

Prototype-63

Prototype-63, or "Prote" for short, is an autom discarded by Colin Pendergras for being too finicky. Anyone could turn the large clock winding key on his back, but Prote's spring-powered engineering often disastrously set off his bluestone. With enough turns, Prote could lift impossibly heavy loads or jump great distances. However, it was more common to see him puffing out noxious blue smoke, juggernauting relentlessly forward, or otherwise going completely haywire.

The Friendship Knot

The Friendship Knot is an uncommon magical bracelet created by the minds at Sick of this Shit, Inc. These adorable friendship bracelets come in an assortment of vibrant or pastel colors and promote teamwork amongst edgy, loner criminals. Each rehabilitated criminal on a mission could be issued a friendship knot. To increase its arcane power, a magically, randomly determined pair of the criminals would need to hold hands. While a single pair hand-holding held almost no magical capabilities, its exponential increase with each pair pressured the whole team to join in the team-building exercise. Then, to promote agreement, all members of the knot must release hands simultaneously to unleash brilliant evocations. Teams that accidentally broke hands non-simultaneously or couldn't fulfill the a randomly determined pairing due to a lack of hands have been reported as returning "medium well" to "well done." Friendship Knots are particularly recommended for groups of mariliths.

Time-pressured instances of combat are not ideal for joining several hands quickly. SotS Inc. recommends to the group who wishes to use the Friendship Knot in combat to pre-emptively have 3-4 pairs of hands always held.

Behind the Screen

A GM chooses how best to realize the bolstering. It is recommended that each individual power boost increases the odds of failing, and that the threat of failure is constant. This can introduce a fresh mechanic to the game and give an increased sense of tension. Below are a few ideas of how this might be implemented:

• stacking cards, Jenga blocks, dice (grabbed blindly from a bag) or other unstable objects in the center of the table. Intentionally knocking over the tower utilizes the companion, accidentally knocking it over at any point is an explosion.
• declaring a character name as taboo. With each success, another name is taboo. Descriptions, sufficiently different nicknames, and other workarounds may be deemed fine, but speaking a taboo name (in or out of character) causes an explosion. Perhaps this represents fey magic, true names, or dark powers.
• rolling an ability check with an increasing difficulty class. If at any point a d20 rolls the number of successes or less, the companion explodes. E.g., after 1 bolstering success any natural 1 causes an explosion. After 2 successes, any natural 1 or 2 causes an explosion, etc. Perhaps this represents gambling habits or gods of fate and fortune.
• setting up a chain of dominoes in the middle of the table. Add another domino to the chain bolsters. Knocking over the dominoes intentionally utilizes the companion, knocking over the dominoes accidentally at any point is an explosion.