Has anyone ever used, or better yet had their players form one in GH? My players are in the midst of toying w/ the idea as to participate in the upcoming campaigns along the Wild Coast that I've turned the middle portions of Slavers into.
There's a lot of really interesting information on the formation of companies, and company vs company battle, in The Black Company sourcebook by Green Ronin publishing.
Actually I did have one campaign start up a free company. Basically they recruited a small number of men at arms and hired themselves out as mercenaries for the Furyondian against Iuz. They never did realize they expended more treasure than they earned(Darn those Knights of the Heart are smart)... But it did teach them some valuable lesson that commanding forces was alot tougher than running an adventuring party. Eventually they did settle down and establish a castle near the Yatils. Then they just made a retainer the castellan to maintain the men and fortress. It was cheaper than paying long term disablity care for him...
Last edited by Fallon on Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
Hi all -
Tiernan, I don't understand your post. The title is Free Companies. Then you ask "has anyone ever sued, or better yet had their players form on in GH?"
I'm assuming you're asking if anybody has "pursued" the creation of a Free Company in GH - maybe per canon sources or from a DM/Player stand point.
I only gather this from JohnD's post about the Black Company. But I'm just not understanding your question enough for me to to be able to know what it is that you are asking.
With George as our DM, one of my PC's did create a Free Company. There was Akwazishun, Ink. that was headed by Loc-Nar (yes, from Heavy Metal fame) a pacifist. This was back in 90-94. His two partners where Hack and his brother Slash (played by Kevin and Dale). We had saved some olves, who gave us some minor goods. Upon entering Narwell, the guards asked us our business for entering. I said we were selling olven goods. The guard asked for our business name and one of the "bright boys" spelled it just as it sounded - to them. Thus, the Ak, Ink. Trading Company was founded. We didn't just sell our loot from bodies but we'd trade with other places as well.
After getting to about lvl 14-ish (AD&D2e) the "Bright Boys" died, but I was able to build a city outside of Veluna. A Small trading city. I wish I remembered the name.
In another campaign 2e, Mercury the Masked Warrior (he wore a red mask), a halfling warrior formed the Masked Warriors mercenary unit. He was based off a Ral Partha mini. He reached level 17. I still have some of my print outs and such for the Masked Fort I designed. This was located around the Sea Princes area from one of the UK modules (I don't remember which ones). There I had several small baracks and other fort like areas (like smithy's, stables, etc.). I had several units of foot soldiers (each was a color, and members wore a mask of that color). There was the Green Hydra's, Black Minotaurs, Blue somethings and another group. There was a mounted unit as well as an archery unit. They were called the Will-o-Wisps and their cry was "Yer fightin' in the shade of our arrows." They wore yellow masks. I know where the binder is, just not interested in getting into it for more info (esp. if it's not what your looking for).
In a very short lived campaign, another PC was hired in Hardby to find an olven noble that was lost. He was captured and taken by slavers. As an olman human, I was darkskinned. I painted and pictured Aksis almost as dark as a drow. Thus, when we came upon a group of slavers (without the nobleman), we were able to convince them I was a drow and they should abandon their captives. I freed them all, but we convinced two to stay with us as "slaves." We were able to find the slavers market and sold our "slaves." We followed them and freed our "slaves" as well as the others that had been bought. We did this several times and eventually found the olven nobleman.
So if "mercenary companies" like that is what you're asking about, I hope that helps. If not, please make your question a little clearer.
Be Well. Be Well Companied.
Theocrat Issak _________________ Theocrat Issak
I had a PC who mustered a mercenary company in the Free City of Greyhawk using 1E/2E rules and then marched on Narwell. He got together about 800 soldiers IIRC and set himself up as ruler there until a rebellion left someone else in charge.
It worked well for creating new story opportunities as far as I remember but details are sketchy as it was about 19-20 years ago.
I strongly recommend The Free Companies supplement from Mongoose for its d20 Conan RPG. Literally everything you, or your players, need to build and run a Free Company is provided:
Codes of Conduct
Unit Types
Fortifications
Skills and Feats Specific to Fre Companies
Types of Duties and Assignments for Free Companies
Types of Encampments
Mercenary Contracts
Looting (Corpses, Farms and Cities)
Seiges and War Machines
War Magic and Alchemy
Battles (Small, Medium & Large) and Ambushes anf How PCs can afect the outcomes
Adventure Seeds (in detail)
Example Mercenary Commanders (in detail)
Example Free Companies (in detail)
Mixed Class Free Companies
New Mercenary Base Classes
This is the best sourcebook on mercenary companies and campaigns I have ever seen, beggering all others. A lass, my players are strongly anti-military, so I have only been able to get limited use out of this book. It cries out for a campaign exclusively devoted to a mercenary company. _________________ GVD
The Ivid the Undying has mercenary companies chapter near the back of the supplement. GH has eluded to a rich mercenary heritage; Aerdy, Keoland, Baklunish States all mention the use of mercenaries. Perranland and Yeomanry hire military units to other nations as "professional mercenaries".
I strongly recommend The Free Companies supplement from Mongoose for its d20 Conan RPG. Literally everything you, or your players, need to build and run a Free Company is provided.
GVDammerung, I'm curious as to how this supplement compares to the old AD&D Battlesystem supplement or the Heros of Battle D&D3.5 supplement. Is the game mechanic easy to map over to D&D? Do characters leading units gain xp when their unit wipes out another unit, and do they take damage when their unit takes damage?
I strongly recommend The Free Companies supplement from Mongoose for its d20 Conan RPG. Literally everything you, or your players, need to build and run a Free Company is provided.
GVDammerung, I'm curious as to how this supplement compares to the old AD&D Battlesystem supplement. Is the game mechanic easy to map over to D&D? Do characters leading units gain xp when their unit wipes out another unit, and do they take damage when their unit takes damage?
Don
The AD&D Battle System was much more of a wargame or mass combat resolution system. The Free Companies accessory for Conan is some of that and much, much more (see my original post for details of what else is included).
Within the Free Companies accessory there is a mass combat resolution system but it is a small part of the whole. The majority of the book involves roleplaying aspects of mercenary companies, of which mass combat is one part.
Within the confines of mass combat, units can either include PCs or be lead by PCs. In either case, a unit's military cohesion is its most vital characteristic, determining how well the unit fights in whatever manner it fights (another topic) and when it can fight no longer. There is an MC Resolution table that indicates what happens, everything else being equal (which it may not be depending on the battlefield conditions and the specific units and their capabilities involved), when units clash. The PCs actions can influence the MC before and after a resolution.
For example, two equivalently equipped and capable infantry units go toe to toe on a perfectly flat, dry field with no wind or percepitation and with the sun directly overhead and say both have equal MC. On a purely mathmatic level, this is likely a draw to be determined by random chance in the form of a die roll. However, say each unit has a standard.
Before a resolution, PCs might declare they are going to attempt to fight their way to the enemy standard and capture it. This would be roleplayed and if successful, the enemy unit MC would be negatively impacted from the loss of the standard.
Alternatively, after resolution, say the friendly unit is forced to retreat and subsequently routs. The PCs might declare they are going to seize their units standard and rally their routing unit. This would again be roleplayed.
Either activity - seizing the enemy standard or rallying their own troops would be a dramatic action that would impact MC. The Free Companies has guidelines for how to handle such dramatic actions with the idea that players will attempt such, rather than rely more purely on the mass combat resolution mechanic.
In this way, the Free Companions mass combat system is simpler than that of the Battle System but more tuned to players rollplaying within combat.
If you just want to resolve battles between units, the Battle Sytem is superior (or better yet use the D&D War Machine rules that are better still!). If you want more roleplaying in your mercenary unit combats, I think The Free Companies is clearly superior - but you will sacrifice detail for that. The Battle System is also superior for handling monsters, like dragons, in combat as the Conan RPG is much more attuned to man on man combat. You can modify The Free Companies to account for dragons etc. but you would have to do just that.
I guess the three questions to ask would be:
1) How detailed do you want your mass combat?
Battle System = More Detail
Free Companions = Less Detail
2) How much roleplaying do you want to occur during mass combat?
Battle System = Less roleplaying
Free Companions = More roleplaying
3) How frequently "fantastic" (dragons, elementals, giants etc. on the mass battlefield) is warfare in your campaign?
Battle System = Very fantastic, battles most often include major monsters
Free Companions = Less fantastic, most battles fought by units of men/demi-humans/humanoids (men equivalents)
On all three counts, I prefer The Free Companions but that reflects my campaign. YMMV
Oh! It should be noted that The Free Companions is a 3rd Edition/d20 game and a mild variant of d20 at that (not that there is any issue as between 3rd Ed and the Conan RPG, there really is not).
As for XP and damage, these are a result of roleplaying during the mass combat, not an automatic thing (unless you would decide otherwise). This would hold for leading or being part of a unit. The emphasis is again more on roleplaying and its consequences than on the mass combat as the focus. This also reflects the Conan stories where Conan's units get killed out from underneath him but he survives virtually unscathed to seek revenge or to move on. _________________ GVD
As for XP and damage, these are a result of roleplaying during the mass combat, not an automatic thing (unless you would decide otherwise). This would hold for leading or being part of a unit. The emphasis is again more on roleplaying and its consequences than on the mass combat as the focus. This also reflects the Conan stories where Conan's units get killed out from underneath him but he survives virtually unscathed to seek revenge or to move on.
So, if you are a general that leads an army in battle, but engages in no actual combat yourself, how is xp calculated? It sounds like you get no xp for the army battle, but only accrue xp when, afterwards, you infiltrate the enemy king's castle and behead him.
Thank you for your detailing of this product! Perhaps you could cut-n-paste what you just wrote into a product review. :-)
So, if you are a general that leads an army in battle, but engages in no actual combat yourself, how is xp calculated? It sounds like you get no xp for the army battle, but only accrue xp when, afterwards, you infiltrate the enemy king's castle and behead him.
More or less, yes. I will let the book speak for itself to this point:
“The real aim (of the system) is to allow for Player Characters, operating on the battlefield, to be part of and influence the outcome of the battle through using roleplaying, using the battlefield as a setting much as you would an ancient ruin or the shady streets of Shadizar. . . . The assumption is that the Player Characters are a cut above the rank and file on the battlefield and that their heroic actions will encourage those around them . . . keep the combat relatively personalized.”
. . .
“If the Player Characters command units on the battlefield, it may be that both they and the Games Master will wish to take the game away from roleplay and into tabletop battle. . . . If the number of warriors placed under the Player Character’s command is not too large, they can still work out their actions on the battlefield through normal roleplaying. The Player Character Actions section (ed. – too large to reproduce in the post) shows how to handle personal outcomes (ed. - and how to handle the roleplaying). In order to determine what happens to the warriors they command . . . use the Damage Ratio Table to determine how many of their subordinates are disabled or killed. This can be calculated over the battle as a whole (ed. – there are three types of battles –small (skirmish), medium and large, plus ambushes ), or for each individual and separate phase (of the battle).”
In sum, its not a wargame. Its not intended to be a system wherein PCs are Napoleon or Patton. Its ancient or early medieval warfare where the commander is an active combatant on the battlefield. Its King Leonidas personally fighting with his 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae. Its William and Harald personally leading their forces at the Battle of Hastings – William having his horse killed out from underneath him and having to rally his troops by getting up and taking off his helmet to prove he was still alive and Harald taking an arrow through the eye to decisively settle who would be king – and their feudal noble liegemen personally leading their retinues into the battle.
There is no XP award for the Eisenhower PC who plans the Normandy Invasion to great success but does not fight his way up the beach. To get XP, PCs must get their hands dirty or bloody to be more precise. Literally as the cliché goes – no guts, no glory – no blood and guts on your weapon and armor, no XP.
It’s a matter of what you want to reward, which is a matter of how you see the game. The Free Companions subordinates military tactics and grand strategy to personal combat and daring on the battlefield. It rewards the latter, not the former.
The Ivid the Undying has mercenary companies chapter near the back of the supplement. GH has eluded to a rich mercenary heritage; Aerdy, Keoland, Baklunish States all mention the use of mercenaries. Perranland and Yeomanry hire military units to other nations as "professional mercenaries".
The Bandit Kingdoms also has a rich mercenary tradition. In canon, the Johrase mercenaries were probably the second best and most trustworthy heavy mercenaries on the continent due to their rigid discipline and sense of honor (LN/LG). In addition, the various fiefdoms of the Combination could often find thugs-for-hire and other ne'er-do-wells to hire as mercs to augment their small armies (however, most of these would tend to be CN as that is the prevailing alignment in the region). See Living Greyhawk Gazateer for more info.
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