A Lesson in Morale (and Lessons!
)
VERY CREATURE IN EXISTENCE HAS SOME
level of morality, so what better than to
gamify it! In Creature Couriers, the typical
allignment system is still very much in
place, however it is now able to be
impacted by players and their actions, as well as each
others! Morale may exist as a singular player’s stat, or
represent the group as a whole (in Creature Couriers,
the latter is true).
Party Morale, as it will be known as for the rest of this
section, exists on a scale of one to seven, the average of
a neutral party being four. Various different bonuses
and deficits will come as a result of you and your party's
actions. However, you may discuss with your DM as you
see fit in the case of you feeling the bonus/deficit does
not allign with your character's personality, ideals,
bonds, or flaws (whether you've written them down or
not). The excuse should be good and obviously within
reason. For instance, if the party is at morale rating of
one, its unlikely *you* will ever be at a six. This is very
rare to work, however any good DM is willing to listen
to their players. They are at your whim, after all.
Morale Levels and their Effects
Morale Level Effect
1 Negative Change of Alignment + Sanity Roll
2 Disadvantage on wisdom saves + checks
3 Increased difficulty of charisma checks
4 No effect
5 Decreased difficulty of charisma checks
6 Advantage on wisdom saves + checks
7 Proficiency in a stat of your chosing
These effects stack in the direction they are going, for
instance if you are at a two, you have both disadvantage
on wisdom saves and checks and increased difficulty on
charisma checks. Higher-end effects are temporary.
Something else of note is that through campaigns,
people have varying levels of knowledge and
information. Sometimes a party can vary from someone
with a total lack of common sense within the world,
while the other is a university professor! It's in
everybody's best interest (and the moral thing to do)
that knowledge is not withheld in the party, yes, but how
do you game-ify it?
During times of rest, typically between adventures
and expeditions, your smartest player may devote their
time to holding a Lesson for a member of the party that
is less knowledgeable. This will not increase their
intelligence score, however they gain the power to do
some combination of the three (pick 2).
Studied Abilities
Bonus Times Per Long Rest
Reroll Ones 1
Advantage on a relevant check 3
Profficiency bonus in desired skill 2
These may be exchanged for one another during long
rests as you don your thinking cap and review your
flashed cards. Part of this system also relies on some
player honesty. If you were learning about the history of
a given country, you probably aren’t better at
intimidation. Ask your DM if it makes sense, talk shit
out! Regardless, when under any effect that decreases
your intelligence score for the duration, you lose these
bonuses said duration. These do not fall under memory  
(which is typically Wisdom-based), as you are likely still
figuring these things out and keeping them at the front
of your brain for the minute.
If you cannot already tell, this is effectively my
response to the Lucky feat, which while I don't
necessarily dislike, can get on my nerves a bit from a
flavor perspective. If someone is using their level-up to
be able to simply be lucky, that just doesn't really make
sense to me. A level up marks a sense of growth in a
character, not simply getting luckier. Lessons show that
this character is making active moves to better
themselves and using gained knowledge to their
advantage without just shoving that into a stat. Player
actions often deserve higher rewards in my mind.
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