Mercenaries of Mundus-Opinions Needed-Come take a look!

[Polybius]

Added some more info under Items & Equipment, Company (company ledger, reputation, morale etc.)

Can everyone look at the combat section and tell me if they understand how it works?
Also taking ideas for feats and commander traits. Thank you all!

[Slamurai]

As a fan of Glen Cook's Black Company, I'm super down for this.

However, I'd like to make a proposal. As written, the RP seems to be very small-scale; most companies probably won't exceed 20 or even 10 men. Personally, I'd be more interested in a slightly larger scale; in the realm of controlling small, private armies.
I don't want to derail the initial system, but if other players are also more inclined towards a bigger scale, then I might suggest instead of hiring and equipping single individuals, we replace them with formations of men, and any equipment or upgrades they receive can be treated as unit-wide. The possibility for RPing interaction between key characters can still be there, while players can control companies with a little more substance and bearing on the setting.
Again, if popular opinion leans toward the single-man, small-scale, then I've got no problem with it; but I'd really be more invested in a RP with more bodies where our actions carry more weight.

Examples:

Rather than hiring one warrior with a fine-condition sword, I hire a unit of X warriors with fine-condition gear.
or I upgrade a unit of X scouts to skirmishers, and give the whole unit the Y feat.

The CON/DEX/WIS stats could represent the respective strength of a body of men, rather than a single man.
The HP system could represent casualties in the units, and fighting could still be done in a grid, with letters representing formations. Not much would have to actually change, mechanics-wise.

[Gunther]

@Aristo Although, I agree, I also would like to see larger formations, I believe it is @Polybius' intent to build a combat resolution system that will work, first with a smaller force of a half a dozen to two dozen people. Once he and a group of us feel comfortable with that, we can see about exploring larger formations.

[Gunther]

Can everyone look at the combat section and tell me if they understand how it works?

@Polybius

Still not much to go with yet. I am accustomed to much more complex rule systems. You've kept it very basic, but haven't seen any numbers yet.

Commanders should inspire their men; increase morale and the desire to fight.
They should possess some skill to Rally broken or disheartened soldiers who may have lost the desire to stand and fight.
Commanders should be good at navigating across country or maybe at sea, if that is where their experience lies.

[Polybius]

As a fan of Glen Cook's Black Company, I'm super down for this.

However, I'd like to make a proposal. As written, the RP seems to be very small-scale; most companies probably won't exceed 20 or even 10 men. Personally, I'd be more interested in a slightly larger scale; in the realm of controlling small, private armies.
I don't want to derail the initial system, but if other players are also more inclined towards a bigger scale, then I might suggest instead of hiring and equipping single individuals, we replace them with formations of men, and any equipment or upgrades they receive can be treated as unit-wide. The possibility for RPing interaction between key characters can still be there, while players can control companies with a little more substance and bearing on the setting.
Again, if popular opinion leans toward the single-man, small-scale, then I've got no problem with it; but I'd really be more invested in a RP with more bodies where our actions carry more weight.

@Aristo

Interesting. So your main concern is that you won't impact the world in any major or significant way? I guess all I can say is trust my worldbuilding to present those opportunities. Besides plenty of small bands of intrepid warriors have altered the course of the worlds they occupy. The Fellowship of the Ring. Those crazy vikings in The 13th Warrior. Every final fantasy game ever.

Large scale battles are great-and there will be plenty of them in this game with opportunities for all. But open warfare with large armies is simply not something that happens all the time (in the world of Mundus or real world history). To break the monotony of war, rest, train, war I want to give a variety of missions, guarding, searching, dungeon delving, assassinating, scouting etc. Small scale simply presents more opportunity for my world and your characters. Does that make sense?

[Polybius]

@Aristo Although, I agree, I also would like to see larger formations, I believe it is @Polybius' intent to build a combat resolution system that will work, first with a smaller force of a half a dozen to two dozen people. Once he and a group of us feel comfortable with that, we can see about exploring larger formations.

@Gunther

Oh absolutely. I also want to make a system that anyone can just pick up and alter quite easily for a different setting.

[Shorticus]

Forgive me if I say something dumb. I'm incredibly sick and have a massive headache to boot.

Order your men in combat by filling in 'lines'. You may have any number of men in each line, and as many lines as you wish. When building your attack squad, remember that outside of feats that say otherwise, units will attack the first enemy they come into contact with and deal attacks and damage simultaneously.

So, let's say I know my warband is gonna be larger than the enemies I'm facing. Let's also say I want to envelop them and hit from all sides. Example:

0000000000
0000000000
0000000000

0000000

Where blue = melee fighters, orange = archers or mages, and red = the enemy? This way when the enemy gets hit in melee, they quickly get surrounded by the melee fighters.

[Polybius]

Forgive me if I say something dumb. I'm incredibly sick and have a massive headache to boot.

<Snipped quote>

So, let's say I know my warband is gonna be larger than the enemies I'm facing. Let's also say I want to envelop them and hit from all sides. Example:

0000000000
0000000000
0000000000

0000000

Where blue = melee fighters, orange = archers or mages, and red = the enemy? This way when the enemy gets hit in melee, they quickly get surrounded by the melee fighters.

@Shorticus

In this case yes, that seems to be what would happen. But in game you might now always know how enemy forces are deployed, or how many. Something I'm struggling to reconcile is the tactical aspect with the amount of GMing I need to do. A contract card might look something like this:

Contract

Tyne-Brethna Caravan Guard
Employer: Guild Master Korma Fadwic (Fadwic Trade Consortium)
Reputation: 0+
Enemies/Danger: Low. Lightly armed bandits.
Pay: 40g upon completion.
Summary: Mercenaries needed to guard a caravan carrying food, iron ore and fabric from Tyne to Brethna. Bandits have increasingly attack trade caravans along the Old Stone Roads.

---

Post battle report might look something like this:

Caravan Guard

Success!
Casualty Report: (your guys)
Joe Bob, Human Militia -1 HP Wounded
Slim Pickins, Human Scout -2 HP K.I.A

Slim Pickins equipment was recovered from the battlefield.
(+1 Poor Equipment)

Payment Received: 40g

[Shorticus]

That's very good info. Thanks. So, we're not going to know what the enemy's formations look like (usually) until after the battle itself?

Also, let's talk about the Kingdoms. Malaph Kar looks like a place where monsters aren't KoS. What about Praeda? The Free Cities of Maleah? I'm willing to wager that Malaph Kar and MAYBE Praeda are the only places monsters can chill before their reputation goes high.

Finally, I noticed ogres mentioned in Malaph Kar. Are those enemy-only, or might those be recruitable in a company's very distant future?

[Polybius]

1.That's very good info. Thanks. So, we're not going to know what the enemy's formations look like (usually) until after the battle itself?

2.Also, let's talk about the Kingdoms. Malaph Kar looks like a place where monsters aren't KoS. What about Praeda? The Free Cities of Maleah? I'm willing to wager that Malaph Kar and MAYBE Praeda are the only places monsters can chill before their reputation goes high.

3.Finally, I noticed ogres mentioned in Malaph Kar. Are those enemy-only, or might those be recruitable in a company's very distant future?

@Shorticus

1. That's the way it's going to work at this point.
2. Right. Malaph Kar is monster friendly.
3. NPCs of different races will be available for hire with the right reputation.

[Slamurai]

Large scale battles are great-and there will be plenty of them in this game with opportunities for all. But open warfare with large armies is simply not something that happens all the time (in the world of Mundus or real world history). To break the monotony of war, rest, train, war I want to give a variety of missions, guarding, searching, dungeon delving, assassinating, scouting etc. Small scale simply presents more opportunity for my world and your characters. Does that make sense?

@Polybius

I suppose so, yes; but there's also no reason why those kinds of missions can't be done by a few, key handpicked elites from a larger force. I could have, say, my best scout commander and a few men, plus a spy/assassin character go and observe enemy positions or raid a camp, while the rest of the army does something else.

In the Black Company, there are thousands of individuals within the Company, but only several are actually named and given center-stage in the day-to-day of the story. The same thing can happen here, with hundreds of mercs in the backdrop doing battle, but having a handful of central characters do the heavy lifting in and outside of battle, going on missions, etc.
There are grand battles, but the meat of the story is the small-scale endeavors of a few key characters, who are part of the whole they represent. Yet, without the context of their thousand-strong company and the goings-on of the wider picture, their actions would be meaningless.

Without the greater host of men and the context it provides, you're left with a few brigands or strongmen, which doesn't feel like a true merc company, in my eyes; Just a street gang.

[Polybius]

<Snipped quote by Polybius>
Without the greater host of men and the context it provides, you're left with a few brigands or strongmen, which doesn't feel like a true merc company, in my eyes; Just a street gang.

@Aristo

Ah well. I don't know what to tell you then. It is what it is.

[Shorticus]

You've compared the companies in this story to heroes akin to the Fellowship of the Ring (at least at later levels). I'm also noting that a high level hero has literally 5x the HP of a lower level one. So I'd like to ask: does HP represent a mixture of skill and toughness, or does it represent one or the other? Are 4th level characters comparable to Aragorn and other heroes in terms of combat ability?

(This is for writing purposes.)

Also, will you be defining what sort of cities each city on the map is and/or telling a bit more about them as time goes on?

[Polybius]

1.You've compared the companies in this story to heroes akin to the Fellowship of the Ring (at least at later levels). I'm also noting that a high level hero has literally 5x the HP of a lower level one. So I'd like to ask: does HP represent a mixture of skill and toughness, or does it represent one or the other? Are 4th level characters comparable to Aragorn and other heroes in terms of combat ability?

(This is for writing purposes.)

2.Also, will you be defining what sort of cities each city on the map is and/or telling a bit more about them as time goes on?

@Shorticus

1. Not exactly. Level 1 D&D characters are assumed to simply not run ranting an raving in fear when they encounter goblins, kobolds and other baddies. Your characters are fantastic, that's for sure, more capable than your average country bumpkin, but in the world of Mundus, there are literally hundreds of powerful characters. In Middle Earth, I think it's assumed that Aragorn is 1 in a million or something and magic is rare and extremely powerful-direct contradictions to my Core World Assumptions. I'm not sure if you can draw direct comparisons between a Lvl 4 Warrior and Aragorn.

2. Details concerning game mechanics will be filled in. Flavor text, lore etc. can be filled in by players and adopted by others (including myself) to suit your RPing needs.

Thanks for the Q's as usual Shorticus, greatly appreciated.

[Shorticus]

And thanks for the answers as usual. I'm looking forward to this RP. I'm still trying to figure out if I pigoen-holed myself too much by making the Nightlurk Warband anti-orc.

May I send you a PM with the lore tidbits I had in mind concerning my company?

[Polybius]

And thanks for the answers as usual. I'm looking forward to this RP. I'm still trying to figure out if I pigoen-holed myself too much by making the Nightlurk Warband anti-orc.

May I send you a PM with the lore tidbits I had in mind concerning my company?

@Shorticus

Certainly. Any pigeonholing attempts will be derailed by me.

[rush99999]

Any pigeonholing attempts will be derailed by me.

@Polybius

What's pigeonholing?

[Shorticus]

<Snipped quote by Polybius>

What's pigeonholing?

@rush99999

Pigeonholing is basically when you're giving something really rigid restrictions. In my case, I was worried that I was restricting myself too much by playing anti-orc goblins.

Your concept isn't pigeon-holed at all, if that's what you're worried about. Bandit hunters can still do other kinds of contracts, and being anti-bandit doesn't limit you very much (if at all) in terms of what you can do.

[Polybius]

<Snipped quote by Polybius>

What's pigeonholing?

@rush99999

What Shorticus said. Essentially I'm saying I will use my god-like powers to give you all the opportunity you need to succeed in the game world. The most important thing in game mastering is to say 'yes and..' as much as possible.

[rush99999]

Brawler
Brawlers protect your Home Office when your men are asleep or away on missions. They counter Thieves and Assassins.

@Polybius

I think this should be called a Guard instead.