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Some people may have been drawn to Allies of Majesty because they are intrigued by the setting, only to find that the game system is a little more detailed than they prefer when it comes to RPGs. Have no fear! Tools like the Assistant, and the full Ally Companion app are intended to make the game flow smoothly. These tools shoulder the burden of the math and tracking, but some play groups may want an altogether lighter game experience.

We want you to stay and enjoy the setting that brought you here! Tweak the rules and homebrew things to your liking. Ultimately, the goal is flexibility. What do the people at the table want out of the gaming experience? Below are a few ways to speed up gameplay. Playing with these options may not feel great to fans of war game and board game enthusiasts, because they are used to clear and detailed results. On the other hand, these suggestions or other tweaks may be just what is needed for a group who just want to participate in a casual story with a group of friends. 

The following are some suggestions of ways to tweak Allies of Majesty for a simpler and more cinematic flow:

  • Use a theater of the mind style instead of miniatures and measuring.

  • Handle character Turns by using Turn Markers.

  • Reduce Actions Points to 4 AP every Turn.

  • Keep the maximum number of Spiritual Effects and Songs lower.

  • Adjustments can be estimated by the Host.

  • Damage can be estimated by the Host.

Use a theater of the mind style instead of miniatures and measuring. Gathering and setting out terrain and miniatures can be time consuming, even if it is fun. The same is true of measuring and referencing distances. For some people these things just get in the way of the story. Quite a few RPGs are played as theater of the mind where everything takes place in the groups’ corporate imagination and is narrated by the Host and the players. Distances and Ranges become generalities. Use your imagination and the Host’s verbal descriptions to consider how far away another character is. If unsure, ask the Host clarifying questions like, “Am I close enough to that enemy Warrior to Strike with my sword?”

Handle character Turns by using Turn Tokens. At the beginning of each Cycle, give each character 1 Turn Token for every 7 Speed they have (rounded up). (Ex. 13 Speed = 2 Turn Tokens. 14 Speed = 2 Turn Tokens. 15 Speed = 3 Turn Tokens.) Have each character take a Turn in order of decreasing Swiftness. After a character finishes a Turn, they should discard one of their Turn Tokens. After every character has had a Turn, if any characters have more Turn Tokens than others, let them take an a Turn, discarding another Turn Token. After that, each character that still has a Turn Token takes another Turn in order of highest Swiftness to lowest and if any characters that still have Turn Tokens have more Turn Tokens than others, let them take another Turn. Repeat this process until no characters have Turn Tokens, then start a new Cycle.

Reduce Actions Points to 4 AP every Turn. Character Turns can be made quicker by reducing the number of things they can do each time it is their Turn to 4 AP. 4 AP is enough for each character to Strike at least once or perform multiple quicker actions. This reduced number of Action Points is more similar to other RPGs and take less time to complete.

Keep the maximum number of Spiritual Effects and Songs lower. Resolving and tracking the effects of Spiritual Effects and Songs can take a lot of time and mental energy. One way to reduce this time is by limiting the number of Spiritual Effects or Songs a character can be using at the same time. Limit Ministering Spirits to using no more than 3 Spiritual Effects at once. Limit Minstrels to singing no more than 1 Song at a time. This reduction should help with balancing because Warriors and Messengers are directly affected by the reduction of total AP each Turn.

Adjustments and damage can be estimated by the Host. If one character has an advantage in the compared stats, give them 1 Adjustment. If they have a strong advantage, give them 2 or 3 Adjustments.

Damage can be estimated by the Host. Treat percentage changes as minor boosts or reductions instead. If a character has 4 Hits in a Strike and has 6 Force, you could probably guess this would be 20-something damage off the top of your head. If there would be would be a boost of 20%, maybe bump that up to 30. If it would lose 20%, maybe knock it down to 20. If you are more concerned with telling a story over doing math, these results will be close enough. Not pausing to determine an exact numbers in every instance can save a lot of time and help the Host and players to remain in a creative frame of mind over a technical one.

These are a few keys to making playing using these options run more smoothly.

Remember that the Host and players are all imagining everything. Sometimes one or both may forget something or have imagined something differently.

The Host is the ultimate determiner and so feel free to ask the Host clarifying questions. Using theater of the mind puts some new things upon the Host, but also offers the Host a lot of freedom.

If you think the Host might not have accounted for something, ask the Host once if that information may make any difference. If the Host affirms they did account for the information, don’t continue to ask about the same things each time.

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