Just got back from GenCon, so this one is fuelled by jet lag.
In triple Ennie award winning smash hit Mythic Bastionland there are a number of effects that can cause Virtue Loss, wearing the Knights down so that they often aren't functioning at 100% and gently nudged toward actions that would restore each Virtue individually, or even allowing a Season to pass to restore them all fully.
But what if we wanted more grind? Could we ramp up that feeling?
As usual these are mostly untested variants, so use them at your own risk.
Grinding Landmarks
This is basically how Hazards already work. In short: you run into an obstacle and you either have a smart way around (often from a local guide), you turn back the way you came, or you pay d6 VIG to just power through.
An easy part to miss is that Hazards usually affect Vigour, but can also target other Virtues. There was a time back in development when Hazards always affected Vigour, but Curses and Ruins reduced Clarity and Spirit respectively.
I won't go into why that changed, but you could easily slip it back in if you want your Realm to feel more hostile. Treat Curses and Ruins exactly as they are now, but add in the respective d6 CLA/SPI loss.
Costly Actions
What about spending Virtue actively as a resource to get a little bonus?
Feats used to work this way, but the main example of this in the final rules is Galloping an extra Hex at the cost of d6 VIG loss to the steed. What ways could we offer for the Knights themselves to spend their Virtues?
Exert - Lose d6 VIG to treat a Gambit you perform as a Strong Gambit instead.
Commune - Spend a phase sleeping and lose d6 CLA to receive a cryptic dream from a known Seer.
Rally - Spend an action and lose d6 SPI to remove Fatigue status from one Ally.
If the Virtue loss from any of these actions takes that Virtue to 0 then the attempt fails.
I suspect these are broken but it's a fun idea to play with.
Bringing Back Burdens
Going without sleep and travelling at night are both "bad decisions" that cause CLA/SPI loss respectively. You could argue these sit in the same category as Galloping, paying a price to get more action, but they feel different to me and they affect the Knight directly, not their steed.
In this vain, I've been looking for an excuse to reuse the three Burdens that featured in an older version of the game, and their helpful SAD acronym.
Annoyingly they don't match up to the Virtues in that order, but let's roll with it.
Sorrow - Something bad happened.
Invoke when you're reminded of something awful that happened in the past.
Lose d6 SPI.
Examples: Visiting a Holding that they previously failed to protect.
Ache - Something bad is happening.
Invoke when the Knight is suffering a particularly hard time right now.
Lose d6 VIG.
Examples: Being forced to linger in especially unpleasant living conditions.
Dread - Something bad is going to happen.
Invoke when dark times are ahead and it's hard to see the glimmer of hope.
Lose d6 CLA.
Examples: Failing to stop a monstrous enemy, knowing it's now headed to attack a nearby Holding before they can get there.
Again, I think these have potential to go wrong, so use them carefully.
