So, I had a different name for this team originally, but with @Godai’s permission, I am going to be changing it.
Please meet:
History’s Mysteries (With Archie and Eleanor)
Members: Archie the Adventurer, The Artificer, Runesword
Story: The story of History’s Mysteries begins with Archibald Hapsbury, intrepid explorer and media personality. He’s been exploring all sorts of ancient places and mysterious ruins, and he organized a whole TV show about it. As part of that show, he put out a call for a co-host, and his team eventually decided on Eleanor Dulac – she and Archie have an antagonistically friendly relationship, with Archie interested in the beauty of the places he sees and Eleanor gushing over their historical and cultural significance. It tested very well with focus groups.
Everything got a lot more complicated when the pair ended up in a fight against a dangerous pack of wights off the coast of England, and the battle awakened Sir Teylor from their ancient slumber. Teylor joined the fray, and has only since begun to understand what the modern world is – and the addition of a third cast member has sent ratings through the roof. Everyone loves the interaction between these three, and merchandise is flying off the shelves – which means more money for conservative and ecological protection, and more delves into the deep!
Will the adventures of these three heroes remain pure, or will the lure of fame and fortune draw them from their respective desires? Only time will tell…
Qualities:
I’m noticing a trend and it may be my fault. There’s a lot of combat skill on this team, really good understanding of magic, history, and technology, and some okay social skills, but once again pretty limited deductive and investigative ability outside of ruin-diving, which they are very good at.
Of course, with only three members History’s Mysteries are more limited than your average team, but it still works. A fourth member acting as the crew’s manager, working behind the scenes and investigating, would probably round them out well.
Powers:
Two bricks and an ornithopter isn’t a bad mix. Archie has a lot of close-up versatility, Eleanor has a lot of cool stuff and some good ability to handle the ruin-crawling aspects of the job, and Teylor is a radiant energy-absorbing swordmaster which is always nice in mystical places.
In Action Scenes:
In Green, none of History’s Mysteries are that strong, with d6s and d8s to draw on, but they make do. Archie is pretty defensive from the get-go, or can go fully flexible and take multiple different actions at some effect. Runesword can powerfully hinder and maybe attack, or just go for strong attacks, and Artificer can Hinder groups of enemies to set them up or do hit and run tricks to divert attention away from her.
In Yellow, Archie starts to shine, setting up long-term boosts and chewing through groups of enemies. Runesword shifts focus to the environment, and pulls apart enemies who’ve been boosting, while defending the others if needed. And Artificer also sets up big boosts, and then uses her boosts to make area attacks. Notably absent – Artificer getting a lot of boosts from her allies, which is a bit of a shame; Archie can give her something while doing other things, but there aren’t any really strong boost-buddies to overcharge her Abilities.
In Red, Archie uses his defensive skills to protect Eleanor and Teylor, while rapid-fire burning through his health. Teylor shifts to be aggressive, creating a strong bonus for themselves and then unleashing overwhelming attacks that knock themselves down in the process. Finally, the Artificer can drop her ornithopter on a group or focus on overcoming the challenges of the probably now-in-danger ruins.
Overview:
Three-person teams are a bit rough. What this team could really use is someone with a lot of Boosts and some decent healing, who can offer support to the others. Specifically, they could use Refuge, who would be a massive effectiveness boost, provide Archie with solid healing in Red to help him defend better, and also balance out the team by being good in green. But I needed someone to be my three-person team, and I think this showcases a decent example of one.
Narratively, I really like History’s Mysteries, and they could sustain a campaign pretty effectively.