Legwork Guide

NEW: Legwork Workshop 1 (Legworks, When, Where, How, and Why to do It, and Legworking with Your Martial PC)

What Can Legwork Do?

Legwork is similar to sitting down with your GM at tabletop and saying, "Those goblins were really suspicious. Can I find out more about that?" It is primarily a conversation with your GM.

Legwork is often used to:

1. Gather information
2. Let staff know what you’ll be doing in response to a situation and/or plot
3. Alert staff that you and a group of others have come up with a plan to deal with some problem and wish to schedule a scene (DMs are not required to give scenes, though they may arrange one; in addition, some legworks may be resolved within the queue, not dissimilar to a PbP; this usually depends on the amount of time the DM has, as well as the details of the plot)

For example:

===============================| View Job 63 |===============================
   Bucket: LEG                              Due On: Sat Aug 15 06:51:02 2015
    Title: Investigating the woods     Assigned To: OtyughHugger
Opened On: Tue Aug 11 06:51:02 2015         Status: Yellow 
Opened By: Grubbar
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grubbar added on Tue Aug 11 06:51:02 2015: 

Grubbar overheard some of the Dranei threatening to start a riot at the Dragon's Den. Not wanting to see violence break out (that he didn't start), Grubbar would like to inform the owners ahead of time. After, he'd like to find out what he can about them, and if they were hired. To do this, he'd like to confer with other local guides and see if any of them were hired lately, to show the Dranei local hunting spots, and so on. If they had, what can they tell him about the visitors? Did they say anything while drunk? What coinage did they pay in?

He has Influence among the local druid's union, and would like to use this to contact local guides.

=============================================================================

Anyone may use legwork, and should. Remember, final battles may only be 10% of the adventure. The rest is the epic journey across Mordor, and countering Sauron's influence. Don't be left out.

What do I Include?

1. What are you wanting to accomplish? This helps staff understand your goals, so open with this.

2. How is the PC trying to accomplish these goals? For example:

Example: Going to a tavern to encourage anti-Dranei sentiment

Example: Speaking with your contacts about the things they know about (see the influence and organization RPP spends!)

Example: Speaking with the tavern owner whose house was recently burned down.

3. Who would you like to include on the legwork? While this is not always something you'll want to do, there are advantages to seeking help, and DMs appreciate it, too.

Important: Including others is useful. For example, if you'd like to interview the temple of Daeus, you'll find it advantageous to bring a Daeusite with you. Having someone onboard with connections to the group you're talking with gives you better results. If you're a rogue with a +20 diplomacy, they'll talk with you--but it's not in their interests to provide full disclosure. The same if you were asking around the Arcanists'.

...and so on. Any character may do any of these things. Especially by working with others.

What if I'm a Martial PC?

Martial PCs are made to do legwork. No, really, they are. Consider these classics:

The battered soldier lowers his rifle...then fingers the woodcutter's tool in his pocket, reminding him of happier times. Its cut surfaces he begun years ago, before dad had come in. Before he'd heard about his brother.

A guard serves with blade and armor, yet in her spare time is a champion chess player, and student of war strategies.

A barbarian lost her younger sister to a flash flood. Afterwards, there was no trace. Since then, she's determined no one will get lost. She possesses ranks in survival and k/geography, and RPP spends in profession/guide. She follows Gilead and is known among the wild for the ability to find the hardest cases, even in a rainstorm. She possess the scent rage power, though that leaves plenty of room for hitting things and a good HP soak. Profession/guide helps her reputation among others with similar interests, and scent and survival let her find anyone. So long as she's involved in the wilds, she doesn't need diplomacy. She gets by on raw, rugged talent and determination brought on by a lost sibling.

These fields of expertise are added in by authors, animators, and storytellers to define a PC. By delving into our characters, we add depth as well as give them a means to explore the world. It's done by fantasy authors all the time, and it's just one tool in a character's arsenal. In addition, all of these concepts are possible without sacrificing combat utility. The third example begins to show you how.

How can you make these concepts sing? Check out our Legwork Workshop, that talks about exactly these issues. ...and how to rock at legwork...even with "only 2 skill points per level."

What does Legwork Get Me?

• Involvement in plots
• Behind the scenes information
• Greater character development

...and more! Remember, a final combat may only be 10% of the adventure. This is more and more true the higher level you go.

Things Not to Do

1. Forget that Tenebrae is a team game.
2. Demand scenes from the DM (they may be busy or have a lot on their plate; or, the LEG may not need one in the greater scheme of things).
3. Forget to state your goals.

Finally, remember that skills like diplomacy and intimidate are useful, but not cure-alls. Someone threatened with intimidate is likely to report it, and diplomacy is more limited than under 3.5. This actually means that legwork can shift the advantage towards creativity and connections in many cases.

Legwork for PrPs

Maybe you're running, and wanted to offer your players the opportunity to explore further? Maybe you're in a scene, and thought something was really cool? Or, maybe you're a runner and would like to make it more evident to your players that there's more to do if they'd like to explore?

Use the +event/leg #=<message> command to autocraft a LEGwork queue for your PrP. It automagically adds all of your confirmed players to the queue, and sends them an @mail to let them know it's there.