Building an Organization

Home>Tabletop Games>System-Agnostic>Organizations System

Each organization has the following traits, and a number of build points based on the table below:
 * Newly founded: 10 × axes
 * Years old: 15 × axes
 * Decades old: 20 × axes
 * Centuries old: 25 × axes
 * Millennia old: 30 × axes
 * Since time immemorial: 40 × axes

Scope
Scope is an organization's Attribute. It reflects the general scale of its actions, and is involved in all actions it takes. As the organization's only Attribute, all Skills are added to or keyed off of Scope. Scope starts at Base and costs 10 build points to raise by one category.
 * Base: An informal gathering or local club.
 * Low: A group with little power, spread across a city.
 * Standard: A group with moderate power, and the ability to use it.
 * High: A powerful organization, possibly a government.
 * Very High: A conspiracy spanning centuries that influences events across the setting.
 * Legendary: The largest mover and shaker in the setting.

Axes
Axes are the domains in which an organization has influence. Each axis has the following traits:

Skills
An organization has two Skills on each axis: Force and Stability. Each Skill starts at Base and costs 5 build points to raise by one category.

Force
Force represents the organization's ability to influence others: its armies, its strength, and its ability to inflict Trouble. Force is used in external actions, especially those meant to damage another organization.

Stability
Stability represents the organization's ability to maintain itself: its internal structure, its administration, and its general cohesion. Stability is used in internal actions, especially those meant to deal with Trouble or Crises.

Personnel
Like general Personnel, axis Personnel are an important resource (see the Resources section). Unlike general Personnel, they represent specialists dedicated to one particular axis: soldiers, bureaucrats, or the like. Many actions have a cost in Personnel, which can be paid in either general or axis Personnel; in addition, axis Personnel can be assigned as Staff to help prevent Crises from forming and stave off collapse.

Each point of axis Personnel costs 1 build point.

Threats
An organization faces two kinds of threats on each axis: general Trouble and specific Crises.

Trouble
Trouble is a rating describing the general problems the organization is facing. It does not penalize most checks on its own, but it can cause problems: either causing the organization to collapse or spawning Crises.

Trouble starts at zero.

Crises
Each Crisis is a unique problem that an organization faces. Crises can cause more Trouble to develop, and many produce other difficulties as well; they are detailed in their own section.

An organization begins its existence with no Crises.

Resources
An organization has several resources that it can use when taking actions. Each resource is divided into two numbers: a permanent value and a temporary value. When a resource is spent, the amount is subtracted from the temporary value. At the start of each organization turn, the temporary value is set to the permanent value.

In addition to spending the costs of actions, an organization may spend points of resources to gain a bonus to a check. The number given is the total of points spent across all categories. Some actions say that a particular resource is persistent; this means that half of the amount spent (including any granted by previous actions) is applied to the first identical action taken next turn.

Focus
Each organization has Focus: a measure of direct leadership attention available. This is based on the leadership; its permanent value is three times the number of leaders. Focus cannot be increased with build points, and distracted or busy leadership may not apply the full number of points.

Focus may be spent in place of general or axis Personnel.

Funds
Each organization has Funds: a measure of the money and material it has to spend. Funds starts at zero, and each point of Funds costs one build point.

Personnel
Each organization has Personnel: a measure of the people it has available. Personnel has both a general rating (representing adventurers, factota, and other people with broad talents) and a rating on each axis (representing specialists with narrow training). Each point of axis Personnel costs one build point, and each point of general Personnel costs a number of build points equal to the number of axes.

Leadership
An organization's Leadership are, simply put, the characters that lead it. Each leader grants the organization three points of Focus, but inflicts one die of Trouble at the start of each turn.

Platform
An organization's Platform is its high-level goals. The Platform is composed of Planks, each of which is a goal and a reward. The organization begins play with three Planks, and can gain more by completing them.

Planks are detailed in their own section.

Assets
An organization's Assets are its special abilities. By default, an organization has no Assets, but it can purchase them with build points or earn them by completing Planks.

Assets are detailed in their own section.