Leadership
In Raiders, you play as the leader of a band of marauders.
But instead of running your organization from afar, your character must eat, drink, deal with potential insurrections, and engage in combat.
Succession Or Permadeath
Because your character exists within the world, dying is a possibility. Depending on your game settings, this will either result in your game ending, or one of your raiders taking up the mantle of command instead.
They will become your new character, meaning you can play for as long as you wish if you have at least one raider still surviving.
Leadership Points
Because the player is a unit like the rest of the raiders under your command, your character will gain experience points from activities in the wasteland and level up. However, your character will also have a second set of exclusive attributes to level up as well that will provide direct benefits to the leading of your organization.
These attributes include the following:
Negotiation: Lowers the costs of bribing away enemy parties sent to attack you.
Intimidation: Increases the amount of fear you gain from raider activities. Fear is used to extort resources from enemy settlements and caravans.
Determination: Increases the weight capacity of your raider party.
Organization: Reduces the construction time of hideout buildings and fortifications.
Logistics: Increases the unit capacity of your party and garrisons.
Subterfuge: Reduces the amount of infamy gained from raider activities. Infamy determines the fortification level of settlements, as well as the strength of caravan guards and mercenary parties sent to kill you.
Mobilization: Increases the movement speed of your party.
Cruelty: Decreases the movement penalty of your party from captives.
Charisma: Increases the morale gained by the activities of raiders in your party.
Intuitiveness: Increases the amount of experience both you and your raiders gain from combat and other activities.
Greed: Increases the amount of loot and chips (currency) gained from combat.
Promotions
You have the choice of promoting two of your followers to the ranks of Lieutenant and Sergeant respectively. Promoting a follower will provide them with combat and discipline bonuses – however, the downside to promoting a raider is that it might empower them to challenge you for the mantle of leadership…
Leadership Duels
Occasionally, if morale drops within your organization, you will be challenged to a duel. This can only happen however if you promote a raider to either Lieutenant or Sergeant.
If your character is challenged to a duel, it will be a one-on-one fight to the death with the challenger. If your character perishes, your game will either end or leadership will be passed to the new victor where you will continue playing.
Burden of Command
I hope this provides some insight into the extra layer of gameplay I instituted into Raiders. You are not a god-like leader, looking down on your organization from afar...instead you are a character living in the world that must fight, eat, deal with insurrections, plan for successions, and more!
