Post by urzamightstone on Aug 14, 2019 18:42:16 GMT
Hello everyone!!!
A while ago, in the old forum, I started a Mercenaries mod inspired by the Black Company books. I made several posts with lots of ideas i was testing. Then last year of law school and the Bar exam happened and I had to stop working on it. But i am back now.
This thread will serve as the main source of info/updates and feedback for this mod. It will also be where i will release the final version in a PDF format. All ideas and constructive criticism are always welcome. Also, any volunteers who wish to join this project, please use this thread or my email (ploutonas777@gmail.com) to reach out.
Main ideas so far:
Suggestion- Your background: You are a cut-throat veteran soon to turn Mercenary. Life is all grey and you are neutral. Your first few campaign turns you will spend as part of an army- or soon to be dead army. You will face some enemies, lose some followers, and your remaining party of loyal followers will be the only survivors. Basically, you will run for it and live to fight another day because it will be hopeless. Just pick some figures, pick your team of 4 or so of which will survive, and play a few unfair rounds, trying to get as many enemies before they force you to run.
Rule changes:
Campaign Turns are Daily, not monthly, upkeep costs and wages are paid every week. Time can be “skipped” if Mercs have a Base.
Wages are paid to every NPC you hired after your first band- you still have to provide for this band and pay them as per regular WHL rules.
Mercs May Leave if not paid: Actual Mercs, must be paid. How much?
A total of Talos =their reputation +1 for each encounter they participated in OR just their reputation if they were idle.
Warning: Unpaid Mercs WILL leave you, as per WHL rules and Keeping it Together tests, where they will count as having poisoned minds, or even turn hostile if unpaid for several weeks, resulting in a burglary or robbery encounter with defectors as enemies. And if they just leave- you are not off the hook… As with NPCs in THW games, they may appear as an NPC you have history with. They may want to get even. Or just take your place as a leader. And they may have company…
Keeping it together and Mercs: Once every month (but never more than once a month), or once every 10 encounters a Merc participated in -whichever happens first- a Merc will roll as normal in the Keeping it together table, applying all modifiers as per the WHL rules.
Exception: Mercs who become loyal will never leave and but will still need to be paid what they are owned.
Loyal Mercs: those who “buy” into your ideology or believe in the outfit. How do they become loyal? They must pass 2 keeping it together tests successfully ( i.e. must be with you 2 months or participate in 20 encounters). Then these are official outfit members. Those folks will stick around until the end. Good or bad.
New Mechanism- Infamy rating, increasing or decreasing based on how well you do. Failing a contract will have penalties to this value, while succeeding will increase it slowly. Typically, Contracts reward
1, 2 or 3 points, depending on duration. Long term contracts grant Infamy per week of employment, 1 for each encounter where the Patron was benefited in any way, but can only keep this if the contract is completed.
Having enough infamy will qualify the outfit for contracts worth much more than regular contracts. Specifics still in development.
Contracts: 2 main types, similar to how objectives are generated in Future Tales and other THW games, but with more detail.
Short term contracts: steal/recover/locate an item, break in/liberate/clean out a building or Dungeon, rescue/assassinate/track or follow target person/group, escort and protect person or group, guard location for X turns, and sabotage operations or target building.
Long term Contracts: enlist with a wealthy and powerful patron, performing any of the tasks usually performed under short contracts above, but for only this employer, for additional pay for loyalty. This works like joining the army in Warrior Heroes Armies and adventurers, but will be customized to be more generic so it can be adapted to WHL rules or other THW rules.
Special rules for Long term Contracts: Patrons can move to other locations, and if they move, you must follow providing protection.
Roll a D6, on 1-3 Patron stays put, on 4-5 he moves within the province going through 2 (roll D6, 1-2) or 3 (3-4) or 4 (5-6) wilderness areas before arriving to a city or village.
On a 6, the patron will move to another province altogether- and so must you. Roll once for the available provinces, disregarding the province you are in, and the patron will go there. To get there, the same rules as above for traveling within the province will govern how many areas must be traveled through in order for the patron to reach his destination.
In either case, your job will be to protect the Patron until he/she or they arrive safely to their destination, having encounters along the way with the possibility of robbery/raid encounters as the only involuntary encounters. These will be determined as normal.
A patron may move every week but if he stays put, you can do as you please unless you are in the middle of a contract already. But be mindful- when the patron moves, you must follow, in whatever shape you and your party happen to be. IF they move without you, and they die, you have failed the contract and will lose several infamy points….good luck finding another long term contract.
More to follow.
Best,
UrzaMight
A while ago, in the old forum, I started a Mercenaries mod inspired by the Black Company books. I made several posts with lots of ideas i was testing. Then last year of law school and the Bar exam happened and I had to stop working on it. But i am back now.
This thread will serve as the main source of info/updates and feedback for this mod. It will also be where i will release the final version in a PDF format. All ideas and constructive criticism are always welcome. Also, any volunteers who wish to join this project, please use this thread or my email (ploutonas777@gmail.com) to reach out.
Main ideas so far:
Suggestion- Your background: You are a cut-throat veteran soon to turn Mercenary. Life is all grey and you are neutral. Your first few campaign turns you will spend as part of an army- or soon to be dead army. You will face some enemies, lose some followers, and your remaining party of loyal followers will be the only survivors. Basically, you will run for it and live to fight another day because it will be hopeless. Just pick some figures, pick your team of 4 or so of which will survive, and play a few unfair rounds, trying to get as many enemies before they force you to run.
Rule changes:
Campaign Turns are Daily, not monthly, upkeep costs and wages are paid every week. Time can be “skipped” if Mercs have a Base.
Wages are paid to every NPC you hired after your first band- you still have to provide for this band and pay them as per regular WHL rules.
Mercs May Leave if not paid: Actual Mercs, must be paid. How much?
A total of Talos =their reputation +1 for each encounter they participated in OR just their reputation if they were idle.
Warning: Unpaid Mercs WILL leave you, as per WHL rules and Keeping it Together tests, where they will count as having poisoned minds, or even turn hostile if unpaid for several weeks, resulting in a burglary or robbery encounter with defectors as enemies. And if they just leave- you are not off the hook… As with NPCs in THW games, they may appear as an NPC you have history with. They may want to get even. Or just take your place as a leader. And they may have company…
Keeping it together and Mercs: Once every month (but never more than once a month), or once every 10 encounters a Merc participated in -whichever happens first- a Merc will roll as normal in the Keeping it together table, applying all modifiers as per the WHL rules.
Exception: Mercs who become loyal will never leave and but will still need to be paid what they are owned.
Loyal Mercs: those who “buy” into your ideology or believe in the outfit. How do they become loyal? They must pass 2 keeping it together tests successfully ( i.e. must be with you 2 months or participate in 20 encounters). Then these are official outfit members. Those folks will stick around until the end. Good or bad.
New Mechanism- Infamy rating, increasing or decreasing based on how well you do. Failing a contract will have penalties to this value, while succeeding will increase it slowly. Typically, Contracts reward
1, 2 or 3 points, depending on duration. Long term contracts grant Infamy per week of employment, 1 for each encounter where the Patron was benefited in any way, but can only keep this if the contract is completed.
Having enough infamy will qualify the outfit for contracts worth much more than regular contracts. Specifics still in development.
Contracts: 2 main types, similar to how objectives are generated in Future Tales and other THW games, but with more detail.
Short term contracts: steal/recover/locate an item, break in/liberate/clean out a building or Dungeon, rescue/assassinate/track or follow target person/group, escort and protect person or group, guard location for X turns, and sabotage operations or target building.
Long term Contracts: enlist with a wealthy and powerful patron, performing any of the tasks usually performed under short contracts above, but for only this employer, for additional pay for loyalty. This works like joining the army in Warrior Heroes Armies and adventurers, but will be customized to be more generic so it can be adapted to WHL rules or other THW rules.
Special rules for Long term Contracts: Patrons can move to other locations, and if they move, you must follow providing protection.
Roll a D6, on 1-3 Patron stays put, on 4-5 he moves within the province going through 2 (roll D6, 1-2) or 3 (3-4) or 4 (5-6) wilderness areas before arriving to a city or village.
On a 6, the patron will move to another province altogether- and so must you. Roll once for the available provinces, disregarding the province you are in, and the patron will go there. To get there, the same rules as above for traveling within the province will govern how many areas must be traveled through in order for the patron to reach his destination.
In either case, your job will be to protect the Patron until he/she or they arrive safely to their destination, having encounters along the way with the possibility of robbery/raid encounters as the only involuntary encounters. These will be determined as normal.
A patron may move every week but if he stays put, you can do as you please unless you are in the middle of a contract already. But be mindful- when the patron moves, you must follow, in whatever shape you and your party happen to be. IF they move without you, and they die, you have failed the contract and will lose several infamy points….good luck finding another long term contract.
More to follow.
Best,
UrzaMight
