Chellenges and mechanics

Challenges were added and mechanics have been fleshed out more.

Some rules:

• 3 players + GM
• Create your character. (Name, skills, beesonality.)
• Pick a starting point.
• Advance to an adjacent cell that hasn't joined your cause (you can move freely in the cells that have joined your cause).
• Face the challenge. You can use the actions you have creatively to solve the problem. Remember, your goal is to make the bees in the cell support your revolution.
• When at least 3 of the first floor cells have joined your cause, you can start tackling the second floor. But, it is recommended that you make around 6 of the first floor cells join you before that. But, it's your call.
• When at least 2 of the second floor cells have joined your cause, you can start challenge the queen. But, it is recommended that you make around 3 of the second floor cells join you before that. But, it's your call.
• The GM should reward creative solutions and discourage using the same solution repeatedly. Gossip spreads through the colony, and cells may become ready for your bs.
• Both the score thresholds and the rewards are guides, not limitations. Your players came up with such a good solution that was better than expected? Maybe they deserve a better reward. Or the contrary, if they messed up big time.
• For example, in a challenge, if a player decides to use a physical skill (e.g. sting) to solve the problem, they should roll a d12 and add their Physical to their result. They are victorious only if they go over the threshold.
• Each player can preform one action in each cell (three actions in total). If the cell joins the players' cause, they get the reward. If not, they have to leave the cell. If they failed badly and it makes sense that they were hurt, they take damage (1 dmg) depending on who was most in risk.
• Each bee has 3 life points. If all of the bee's stats are +1 or -1 away from the others (e.g. 1, 2,1 but not 1,2,3) that bee gets a +1 to total life points. If they have the same number in all of their stats, they get +2.

Basic challenges:

• A1 - Mites:
  • Description: A group of Varroa mites are getting close to the eggs and larvae in this area. The workers need help to keep the brood safe!
  • DCs: Physical: > 6, Mind: > 4, Sociality: > 5
  • NPCs/Events: 
    • Hungry bee: She thinks that the best solution to the mites is to implement them into the diet of the colony. It’s just more efficient! (This will make bees sick. Doesn’t work.)
    • Nurse bee: Traditionalist. Clean the bees and prevent the mites from biting in the first place. Willing to throw an infested bee out of the hive to save the rest. (S>5)
    • Hippie bee: In connection with nature. She thinks that mites need to eat too, and that they aren’t harmful if they are treated with respect. (She’s wrong. The mites might kill the babies and adult bees if they are left unchecked.)

• A2 - Contaminated honey:
  • Description: Something is wrong with the honey in this area. The workers say that someone may be messing with it. It smells weird and it may be making some bees sick.
  • DCs: Physical: > 5, Mind: > 4, Sociality: > 6
  • NPCs/Events: 
    • Leader: Trying to keep the group calm. Pretends to taste the honey and says that it’s fine and that some bees are just overreacting (Check, M>7). (Convince, S>6)
    • Sick bee: She says that she got sick after eating honey, but seems hesitant about it.
    • Tainted honey: (M>4) Yeah, this is definitely contaminated. (M>6) But it seems that the newer honey is not. (M>8) Feed the new honey to the sick bees and get rid of the tainted one.

• A3 - Forced labor:
  • Description: A group loyal to The Queen seems to be overworking others in this area.
  • DCs: Physical: > 4, Mind: > 6, Sociality: > 5
  • NPCs/Events:
    • Leader: Acts like she’s ok with the queen envoy’s actions, (Check, M>6) but she wants to rebel (Convince, S>5).
    • Queen’s envoy: He’s a very serious drone. Very strict in following the hierarchy and loyal to the queen. He’s not immediately hostile, but asks the players to leave, “you are not welcome here”. Can be convinced to leave this cell peacefully. (Convince, S>10, P>6)
    • If battle: A) P>4 or M>6; B) P>5 or M>7.

• A4 - Vulture bees:
  • Description: There's a small group of bees, making honey and doing their day to day stuff. But they aren't from the colony; they are a different kind of bee.
  • DCs: Physical: > 6, Mind: > 5, Sociality: > 4
  • NPCs/Events: 
    • Vulture bee leader: Is friendly to the players, but refuses to leave. Says they helped build this formerly abandoned cell. They are remaining neutral in your revolution. (Convince, S>4 or P>6 or M>9)
    • Horrified worker: She tells the party that she saw that these bees were making honey with rotting meat. They must be evil!
    • Vulture honey: Darker color, sweeter, makes other bees sick.

• A5 - Sick:
  • Description: There is a group of workers that are not feeling very well. Their bellies hurt. The others are trying to help them.
  • DCs: Physical: > 7, Mind: > 4, Sociality: > 5
  • NPCs/Events: 
    • Sick bee: She can't say much. She thinks that maybe the water that was sprayed on them while out working made them sick.
    • Worker with an idea 1: Kill the sick bees to avoid spread. (P>7) (No idea if it spreads.) (To know if it spreads, M>7) 
    • Worker with an idea 2: She has seen other sick bees being cured with medicinal honey, but she doesn't know how to make it. (M>4)

• A6 - God:
  • Description: There seems to be a class in this cell, and they are debating. Some support the belief that the creator is a giant plant-creating worker bee, the Springbringer. Others support the belief that the creator is the human that blesses the queen each week, the Beekeeper. 
  • DCs: No threshold necessary. A good discussion should be fine. 
  • NPCs/Events: 
    • Professor: She seems to be neutral, (insight, M>6) but it’s really a hidden Human-God believer.
    • Planter Bee-God supporter: Flowers give us all we need. Plants grow thanks to God's wishes. The human exploit us, and curses us with the evil smoke.
    • Human-God supporter: We can see the human. We can see how the human marks the queen. The human keeps us safe, and takes some of our honey in return.

Advanced challenges:

• B1 - Monarchy or anarchy:
  • Description: There is a disagreement between the workers in this cell. They don't agree with the Queen's reign, but a group thinks they should just start laying eggs as workers and the other side wants to simply raise a new queen.
  • DCs: Physical: > 8, Mind: > 8, Sociality: > 6
  • NPCs/Events: 
    • Leader of the laying eggs group: Calm and firm. Stubborn. Her heart is in the right place, but hasn’t thought things through.
    • Leader of the breeding new queen group: Irreverent and aggressive. A follower of tradition. She would be antagonistic towards player princesses as she wants to raise the next queen.

• B2 - Giant hornet:
  • Description: A Giant Hornet is attacking the colony!
  • DCs: Physical: > 10, Mind: > 7, Sociality: > 6
  • NPCs/Events: 
    • Giant hornet: It doesn’t seem a bee can reason with her. High probability of damage to player’s life points.
    • Old worker: If approached she may (S>4) give the players a plan: All the bees in the cell surround the hornet and buzz until the hornet is cooked alive.
    • Leader of the cell: Confused and scared. She is trusted by the bees in this cell.

• B3 - Zombees:
  • Description: When you arrive in this area, you see a group of bees walking in circles, something is not right. When they notice you they attack! Oh, no! Zombees!
  • DCs: Physical: > 6, Mind: > 8, Sociality: > 8
  • NPCs/Events:
    • Drone: He’s currently trying to keep a small fly from making him a zombee. Not very useful. (But it shows the players that the flies are causing the bees to become zombees.)
    • Worker: If saved (P>6) she can give you a recipe for honey that may (M>6) de-zombeefy the bees.

• B4 - Queen agents :
  •  Description: This cell seems fine. No problems. There is a worker leader and a visiting drone from another colony.
  • DCs: Physical: > 4, Mind: > 8, Sociality: > 10
  • NPCs/Events: 
    • Leader: She is friendly and informative. Seems obsessed with the well being of the bees in the cell. (Perceive something’s wrong, M>8) She’s nervous, looking at a worker bee.
    • Drone: Will be friendly/flirty towards princess players, and defensive and a bully towards any drone player. (Will join or fight the players depending on the princess/drone situation) (Lower battle scores by 1)
    • Worker bee (Perceive, M>6): Seems off. Like some are afraid of her. (Perceive, M>10) She is probably an infiltrating queen agent. (Lower battle scores by 2)
    • If convincing (S>10) to join fails once, a battle will start after a second attempt. If it fails twice, the P should go up to 9. "The Queen sends her regards." If battle: A) P>6 or M>7; B) P>9 or M>10.

Also, updated values for the preset characters and for initial characters to balance the game (stats were too strong).