As character fight alongside, heal and interact with each other, they gain friendship levels, allowing them to aid each other in battle. There are five levels of friendship, starting at ally and working up to soulmate. Character progress through these levels by gaining points in a variety of ways. The benefits of friendships only occur when characters are standing adjacent to each other, though at Soulmate level, the range is increased by 1.
- If two characters attack the same enemy. For instance, if Synbios attacks a goblin, and then Dantares attacks it, they would earn 1 friendship point between them. Then, if Masqurin came along and attacks the goblin also, she and Dantares would gain a shared friendship point.
- If a character kills an enemy wounded by another Force member. For example, if Synbios then attacked the aforementioned goblin once more, this time killing it, he and Masqurin would gain 2 friendship points. Dantares, on the other hand, would not gain any points here, as he is neither the last one to attack or the one inflicting the kill.
- If a character restores hit points or cures a medical condition (such as paralysis) on another character. Say if Synbios had been injured by an enemy knight, he and Grace would gain a friendship point if she cast Heal on him. Much would be the same if a worm then attacked Grace, paralysing her, and Masqurin removed it by using an Antidote Herb.
- Successfully casting Confuse, Slow, Sleep or Weaken on an enemy count as a melee attack for gaining friendship points. As you cannot kill with these spells, the friendship gain will always be 1.
- Characters can also gain friendship points with each other outside of battle. This can be done via interaction and role playing. The exact amount of points awarded for this is determined by the Game Master.
- Points can only be lost should a character die in battle. Should this happen, the character in question loses 10 friendship points with every other member on the Force. Friendship points cannot go into negative numbers, however.
Alternate rule!
Given the different rules in a forum play format game, something less punishing can be used. When a character dies, they enter a Shaken status. Whilst under this status, a character does not benefit from existing friendship bonuses, nor do they gain new points. This lasts for 5 battle turns, or a period of time outside of battle determined by the GM.
