I recently tried "Broken Worlds" - an RPG set in the weird setting of the "Kill Six Billion Demons" webcomic, using Powered-by-the-Apocalypse mechanics.

https://killsixbilliondemons.com/ksbd-rpg/

One of the playbooks is "The Boss", which uses a group of minions. Below is from the playtest doc. The published version is similar but I don't have a copy on hand.

QuoteStrength in Numbers
 You are the boss of a large gang of lackeys of questionable morality. Detail your
gang and some of its members to your GM and name it.
 Choose 1 main racket for your gang. This is how your gang makes its living:
 - Extortion and 'Dues'
 - Mercenary work and 'Protection'
 - Smuggling and other 'Business'
 - Thievery and 'Acquisitions'
 - Trading in goods of 'Acceptable legality'
 Your gang completely lacks any semblance of discipline, brains, or bravery, but they love each other very much.

 At any point, you have about 10-15 of these total bastards hanging around,
protecting you and doing your dirty work. You'll always have about that many no matter
what or how many you lose (they'll come out of the woodwork eventually). If they all get
wiped out, revolt, or if you get totally separated from them for whatever reason, you lose
the ["group"] tag and the use of your gang-based moves until you rest and can get them
back.

Think about your gang as an extension of yourself.. Members of your gang can
separate out and perform tasks for you, but when they do, they are handled much like
other npcs. Similarly, you can separate from your gang, but can't command them
effectively if you do. You and the gang are basically synonymous.

When you're with your gang and commanding them, you gain the [group] tag, so you
deal +1 damage to non-group targets and take -1 damage from them. When you
separate from your gang, you lose this tag. Your gang doesn't function effectively
without you commanding them (they're a bit thick), and if your gang needs to perform a
task separate from you (for example, guarding an area while you split from them) a Dirty
Work move will determine how well they do. Otherwise use your statistics to represent
the gang.

 Your gang fights with a motley assortment of weaponry and styles. They might even
all fight with the same weapon (there's a reason they call them the Axe Gang). Decide
what weapons they have.

Thanks again to you both for the suggestions and I'll check them out as well!   

Quote from: RNGm on February 28, 2025, 08:22:33 AMThanks again to you both for the suggestions and I'll check them out as well!   

You literally just described Paranoia.  You are trapped in a Logan's Run world with an insane computer and a bunch of clones ready to take your place when your party members betrays/kills/disintegrates you.

Quote from: honeydipperdavid on February 28, 2025, 03:50:18 PM

Quote from: RNGm on February 28, 2025, 08:22:33 AMThanks again to you both for the suggestions and I'll check them out as well!   

You literally just described Paranoia.  You are trapped in a Logan's Run world with an insane computer and a bunch of clones ready to take your place when your party members betrays/kills/disintegrates you.

It's been 25+ years since I last looked at Paranoia but I don't recall playing multiple clones simultaneously as a standard thing but rather in sequence as your character dies.

BESM has 'companions' which have independent stats from what I recall.

Not what you're looking for.

Quote from: JanDevries on February 25, 2025, 10:59:53 PMAlbedo: Platinum Catalyst does this.

It does alot of things... badly.

4e D&D Gamma World allows you to create a PC that was a humanoid shaped swarm of smaller critters/things. A human shaped swarm if kittens! They could split up if had the right powers.

Not what you want but that came to mind right off.

White Wolf's Aberrant super hero RPG though does have powers that allow you to split up into multiple entities or just duplicate yourself.

TSR's Marvel Superheroes RPG could allow for it. Messy, but could be done.

I will be totally surprised if there is not at least one in Rifts!

AD&D allowed for playing multiple PCs at once to fill out a party as needed. BX and OD&D as well. Not sure on 2e. 3e is a bit too complex for that. But 4e's board game focus would certainly allow for it.

Honestly any RPG can handle playing more than one PC to one degree or another.

Quote from: Omega on March 01, 2025, 01:36:06 PM

Quote from: JanDevries on February 25, 2025, 10:59:53 PMAlbedo: Platinum Catalyst does this.

It does alot of things... badly.

The ship fights are improved on at least, aren't they? In the earlier versions you could die really easily in air combat.

Quote from: D-ko on March 02, 2025, 07:46:41 PM

Quote from: Omega on March 01, 2025, 01:36:06 PM

Quote from: JanDevries on February 25, 2025, 10:59:53 PMAlbedo: Platinum Catalyst does this.

It does alot of things... badly.

The ship fights are improved on at least, aren't they? In the earlier versions you could die really easily in air combat.

That was the whole point. Combat across the board was highly lethal in the original 2 editions. Moreso than even 1st ed Shadowrun.

Quote from: RNGm on February 24, 2025, 10:21:18 PMI'm curious if there are games folks know of where you can play more than one character as part of a single build as part of the normal rules.  I'm referring to a creature that has full intelligence and skills that can be roleplayed differently to the "main" character as an mostly independent entity and scales/advances equally with the characters level.  I'm not referring to having an animal companion that is basically more like living gear or an NPC "flaw" like a helpless dependent that you mostly need to protect in games that allow them.  Some examples from popular culture and gaming might be Wily Kit and Kat from the Thundercats, the trio of blind witches/hags from the 1981 Clash of the Titans film, or even Merry/Pippin and Frodo/Sam from LOTR.

The closest I've seen personally would be a Pathfinder Summoner with an Eidolon if you choose a humanoid style Eidolon that plays differently from the main character.

You know, if you're willing to scale this idea up, it could make for an interesting wet navy/space navy kind of game where your "character" is the key officers and their crew members who are on the different sections of the ship, hmmm.

Prowlers and Paragons:



Of course, you don't necessarily need specific rules - the GM can just allow people to create and control multiple characters. In that case, those who choose not to should be provided with some sort of benefit to compensate.

Alternate method : Play a group of Minions as per the Summoning power rules. Rather than being summoned by a particular character (although you could do that as well), you play the minions themselves. Of course, you would have the normal amount of Hero Points to allocate to yourself(selves) so that they are more effective than typical Minions would be.

Quote from: Banjo Destructo on March 03, 2025, 05:12:17 PM

Quote from: RNGm on February 24, 2025, 10:21:18 PMI'm curious if there are games folks know of where you can play more than one character as part of a single build as part of the normal rules.  I'm referring to a creature that has full intelligence and skills that can be roleplayed differently to the "main" character as an mostly independent entity and scales/advances equally with the characters level.  I'm not referring to having an animal companion that is basically more like living gear or an NPC "flaw" like a helpless dependent that you mostly need to protect in games that allow them.  Some examples from popular culture and gaming might be Wily Kit and Kat from the Thundercats, the trio of blind witches/hags from the 1981 Clash of the Titans film, or even Merry/Pippin and Frodo/Sam from LOTR.

The closest I've seen personally would be a Pathfinder Summoner with an Eidolon if you choose a humanoid style Eidolon that plays differently from the main character.

You know, if you're willing to scale this idea up, it could make for an interesting wet navy/space navy kind of game where your "character" is the key officers and their crew members who are on the different sections of the ship, hmmm.

I actually have a system like that for my game, which is essentially 1600s fantasy buccaneers.  If the player party controls a ship during a naval action, they take the roles of pilot, gunner, carpenter, marine lieutenant, captain, and others.  They each have a crew complement assigned to their function and control the group as a whole.  It looks good, but I haven't had a chance to test it yet.