Morale & Loyalty are Distinct: Test Them Separately
MORALE & LOYALTY
Morale tracks fighting courage and willingness to endure hardship for personal and corporate profit, prestige, and survival. Loyalty tracks faith in and compliance with the instructions of leaders - in this case, the PCs. Each is rated 1-10 and they may be checked separately or together.
In combat, only test when severe misfortune seems immanent and likely.
The severity of the consequences of failing a test may be tied to the loyalty or morale of a force. Those who love you, but who have failed in the last extremity, will behave differently than those who hate you, and have mutinied at first opportunity.
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MOR TST: Fighting to death against beastly or merciless foes when surrender is impossible or unacceptable. Resisting, in the moment, horrors previously beyond imagination.
- d10, <= MOR: S)Remain steadfast F)Disregard orders to adopt apparently safer course of action
- If MOR fails in combat, a leader may adjust their intentions to move forward and engage the enemy in front of their forces: If they put on a good show, LOY may be rechecked next round. Conversely, failure will induce rout.
LOY TST: Resisting corruption by competitors or the temptation of mutiny, brought on by adverse circumstances or the hope of greater profit. Can be tested with advantage if a credible appeal to law may be made, or if forces took a sufficiently grave oath.
- d10, <= LOY: S)Remain loyal F)Leave service/sell out/Negotiate settlement &c
MORLOY TST: Combat against negotiable enemies where both courage and loyalty are tested. Test for each.
- S MOR, S LOY: Stand and fight
- S MOR, F LOY: Faith in leadership fails: Adopt safer course of action or stop combat to negotiate settlement.
- F MOR, S LOY: Courage fails. Flee to next room.
- F MOR, F LOY: Rout
DISCUSSION
Bret Devereux makes distinction we should emulate between morale and cohesion. I conceded I use the words somewhat differently, nevertheless:
- Low morale and low cohesion: Rout/desert &c.
- High morale but with weak cohesion: "its most common expression are units at the beginning of a war that despite being highly motivated ‘for the cause’ nevertheless fall apart quickly when the fighting starts"
- Low morale but high cohesion: Units act in concert, but unpredictably to their commanders: Perhaps refusing to advance, perhaps retreating or mutinying, perhaps sacking Antwerp.
Joseph Manola's thoughts on discomfort could be modeled effectively in this way.