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Vitruviansquid
2012-05-14, 04:52 AM
Preface:

As of right now, Warband (better name pending) is supposed to be a complete and playable game, though slim on features and untried in balance. In light of this, I invite you to criticize it not as a work in progress, but as a finished product - leave no stone unturned just because what you think is under there is already under construction. As well, since I have until now never looked to someone else for input on this game, I'm sure that a few sections of the game would be relatively incomprehensible or poorly organized. I'm especially interested in suggestions for sections that need to be re-worded or rearranged, or if some kind of easy notation system (a la DnD 4e's powers) is needed. Aside from that, feel free to suggest areas in the game that merit expansion.

The Players and their Roles

Warband requires three types of players:

One GM who runs the game, writes the quests, and narrates the Cycle.

Three Lords who lead other players and must post frequently and consistently. The Lord is a player who owns a Hall and rules a territory. He/she leads a number of Retainers militarily and politically to perform great deeds, go on raids, defend their territory, and so on. From this position of power, the Lord may order Retainers to set out on particular Quests, demand the aid of Retainers in battles, and distribute battle loot and honors to Retainers. It is the Lord’s duty to ensure the loyalty of his/her Retainers by ruling fairly and awarding loyal service. Ultimately, the Lord’s goal is to become the strongest and most prestigious among the three Lords in the game, qualities that will be determined by the Retainers’ votes (with more honorable Retainers having more valuable votes) at the end of the

At least fifteen Retainers, regular players of the game who embark on Quests. The Retainer is a soldier who is bound to serve a Lord out of personal loyalty, friendship, familial ties, or purely mercenary motives. All Retainers belong to a maximum of one Lord’s Hall, and serves that Lord’s cause. If a Retainer belongs to no Lord’s Hall, he is unable to gain any Honor (though he may lose it) until he joins another Lord’s Hall (with that Lord’s permission). It is the Retainer’s job to gain Honor points by serving a powerful and worthy Lord and doing mighty deeds under the direction of that Lord. The Retainers’ ultimate goal is to have the most Honor at the end of the Cycle. Each Honor point that a Retainer has at the end of the Cycle also allows him/her to cast a vote for the best Lord to determine which of the three Lords ultimately win.

The gameplay roles and duties of the GM, Lords, and Retainers will be explained in the following, as they come up over the course of the game.


Starting the Game as a Lord:

The player who plays as the Lord must choose one of the three Lord traits. No two Lords may have the same Trait, so they are claimed on a first come, first serve basis. All Lords are assigned 5 random Retainers when the game begins.

Lords traits

Warlord – Once per Turn, you may add 1 to the number of wounds your retainers cause for the purpose of battle resolution, as long as you declare so before the battle is totally resolved.

Trickster – Once per Turn, you may reroll a die that one of your Retainers rolled for any reason. You must take the rerolled result.

Administrator – For every two Quests your retainers complete in a Turn, gain 1 Wealth. Round down.


The Lord player must then choose one of the following starting Treasuries for his Hall.

Set 1:
1 Sword
1 Chain Armor
2 Wealth

Set 2:
1 Drab Cloak
1 Round Shield
1 Golden Ring
2 Wealth

Set 3:
1 Horse
1 Rune Stone
1 Bow and Arrows
2 Wealth

Finally, it is customary for a Lord to give his Hall a name, a la Valhalla or Heorot.

During gameplay, a Lord’s character sheet should be posted at the end of every post he/she makes and will look like this:

Lord’s Name:
Hall:
Retainers:
Treasury:


Starting the Game as a Retainer:

The player who plays as a Retainer must choose 1 Good Trait and 1 Bad Trait from the following lists

Good Traits

- Esteemed: You begin the game with +2 Honor
- Vicious: Retainers you defeat in a Duel lose -1 Honor extra.
- Brawny: Once per Cycle, you may opt to stay on the Quest instead of drop out when you end a battle Wounded.
- Bold: You gain +1 Honor extra for successfully completing any Quest with a party smaller than the Battle Difficulty level.
- Wanderlust: You lose no Honor for doing the Abandon Lord action during any Court phase.

Bad Traits

- Covetous: You lose -1 Honor whenever a Court Phase passes in which your Lord gives at least one other Retainer of the Hall a piece of Rare Retainer Equipment and did not give you anything.
- Wasteful: If you spend 3 continuous Court Phases as a member of a Lord’s Hall, that Lord loses 1 Wealth. If your Lord does not have at least 1 Wealth to lose at the end of your 3rd Court phase in his Hall, you instead lose a piece of Equipment of your choice.
- Cowardly: You have -3 Valor for the purpose of resolving Duels.
- Cursed: You have -2 Resistance
- Clumsy: You may never use either a Horse or a Warhorse.

The Retainer must then generate his/her stats by adding 3 points in any configuration to the following stats, each of which starts at 0:

Valor, Aim, Guile, Sorcery, Resistance


Next, the Retainer must pick a religion of either Old Gods or New Faith.


Next, the Retainer has 3 Wealth to buy starting Equipment. Note that Retainers may obtain more Equipment distributed by their Lord over the course of the game. Any of the Retainer’s Wealth not spent at character creation disappears.


Next, the GM assigns each Retainer randomly to one of the three Lords such that each Lord is served by five Retainers.

Finally, the Retainer must set his/her Default Tactic to use in Battles.

The Retainer’s Character Sheet during play will look like this, and should be posted at the end of every post he/she makes:

Retainer’s Name:
Hall:
Traits
Equipment:
Valor:
Aim:
Guile:
Sorcery:
Resistance:
Honor:
Default Tactic:


The Religions:

Each Retainer in the game has a religion, whether of the Old Gods or the New Faith. Lords, likewise, should decide upon their views on the religions for roleplaying purposes, though there is no space on their character sheet to denote their religion because there are no mechanical effects for a Lord's religion, strictly speaking. Being of one religion does not necessitate any level of fanaticism, but rather denotes how a character views his/her world and place in it. At the same time, the New Faith has only very recently penetrated the land, so that while there are strongholds of one religion or another dotting the land, there is also a high degree of mixing between the two. While religious hostility is not unknown, the two groups have not yet started to see each other as irreconciliably different, so Halls often have mixtures of Old Gods and New Faith Retainers.

Characters of the Old Gods (sometimes called, "The Pagans") believe in a world created and inhabited by countless nature spirits, the strongest and most influential of which are gods. These spirits interact daily with men and women in every aspect of life, from providing or withholding harvests, allowing success in courtship or warfare, and even causing the sun and moon to rise and fall. Yet, people are not always at the mercy of the nature spirits. A person of sufficient knowledge, power, or charm can either convince or force the spirits to do their bidding, thus gaining powers called magic. Characters who believe in the Old Gods see magic as simply esoteric, not "supernatural." To them, the presence of fairies, dragons, and other fantastical creatures are evidence of a world which cannot be totally known by humans. While they may fear such creatures for their destructive or mysterious natures, they do not consider them intrinsically evil.

Characters of the New Faith (or, "the Faithful") believe in a world created by a single deity who separated good from evil and existence from nothingness. While beliefs about the true nature of the God of the New Faith run the gamut, with different individuals privately believing Him/Her to be male or female, essentially good or uncaring, understandable or totally inscrutable, the New Faith is theoretically united by a single Church that enforces doctrinal orthodoxy and have only begun to proselytize the land in the past 200 years. It proclaims a God is that male, all-good, all-powerful, and able though reluctant to intervene in the world. Believers of the New Faith tend to avoid attributing any mysteries of the world, such as magic or fairies to supernatural or inexplicable causes. Because of their belief that the world was created by a singular divine intention, they tend to think of phenomena that Old Gods followers were describe as "magical" as either very rare or clever tricks, not yet understood by potentially understandable by men, or as manifestations of demonic forces - that is, creatures created by God who have turned against Him/Her.

The Pace of the Game:

The entire game takes place over a Cycle, which starts on a Saturday and consists of five real-time weeks, each week being a "Turn." A "Turns" consists of a Court Phase and a Quest Phase, with a Court Phase at the beginning of the game, and an additional Court Phase at the end in which Retainers vote for which Lord they believe should win (see: Court Phase) The specifics of the Court and Quest Phases are explained in the following.

The Court Phase:

The Court Phase takes place on Saturday and Sunday and represents the time when the game's players are all gathered at their respective Lords' Halls to interact with each other. This is the time when players are generally meant to roleplay their relationships with other members of their Hall and is the time when they may interact in a political setting.

The Lord's actions during the Court Phase:


During the Court Phase, the Lord may do the following actions. These actions are the only mechanical ways in which the Lord may affect the game during the Court Phase, though nothing stops the Lord from roleplaying or giving orders to his/her Retainers. These actions are done by declaring so at any time in any Court Phase.

Exile Retainer: A Lord may deny the service of any Retainer currently in his Hall by exiling him/her. Exiling a Retainer forces that Retainer to seek another Lord to serve and reduces his/her Honor by -3.

Distribute Loot: A Lord may use his Wealth to purchase Equipment for its listed price and distribute any Equipment in his Treasury to his Retainers. Any Retainer who gains a piece of equipment this way also gains +1 Honor for each individual piece of equipment.

Feast: A Lord may hold a Feast by spending 1 Wealth (you may not spend equipment as Wealth) for each Retainer in his service. Each Retainer gains +1 Honor.

Confer Great Honors: Every Court phase, a Lord may Confer Great Honors to a maximum of 1 Retainer in his/her Hall. That Retainer gains +3 Honor. A Lord may not Confer Great or Lesser Honors on a single retainer more than once a turn.

Confer Lesser Honors: Every Court phase, a Lord may Confer Lesser Honors to a maximum of 2 Retainers in his/her Hall. That Retainer gains +1 Honor. A Lord may not Confer Great or Lesser Honors on a single retainer more than once a turn.

Pardon Abandonment: (See Retainer’s Actions during Court Phase – Abandon Lord)


The Retainer's Actions during the Court Phase:


Likewise with the Lord, a Retainer may only do the following to affect the game mechanically, and do these actions by declaring them at any time in the Court Phase (except for Duels).

Abandon Lord: A Retainer may choose to leave a Lord’s service at the cost of some Honor. Normally, the Retainer loses -3 Honor for leaving his/her Lord. However, the Lord whose Retainer left may pardon the abandonment, restoring up to 3 Honor (Lord’s choice) to the Retainer.

Swear Fealty: A Retainer who is currently Lordless may apply to join a Lord’s Hall during the Court phase. A Lord may deny a Retainer’s request to enter his Hall, leaving that Retainer Lordless again.

Initiate Duel (Saturday only): A Retainer may initiate a duel against another Retainer from any Hall for any reason. The results of initiating a Duel depends upon how the other party responds. In order to give the other player time to decide how to respond, a Duel may only be initiated on Saturday, the first day of the Court Phase. Furthermore, a Retainer may only initiate one duel per Court Phase.

Decline Duel: A Retainer against whom a duel has been initiated may Decline the duel and lose -1 Honor (the duel initiator gains no Honor). Both Retainers involved may then participate in the subsequent Quest phase. (A Retainer who fails to respond to a Duel initiation before the Quest Phase begins is assumed to have Declined it)

Accept Duel: A Retainer against whom a duel has been initiated may Accept the Duel. The GM rolls 1d3 to decide how the duel will be fought, with 1 being Valor, 2 Guile, and 3 Sorcery. When the duel’s method is determined, the two Retainers involved in the Duel each roll 1d6 and add their Valor, Guile, or Sorcery, whichever one was rolled for. The Retainer who gets the higher value gains +1 Honor, the Retainer with the lower value loses -1 Honor. On a tie, neither Retainer gain or lose Honor. The loser of the Duel may not participate in the next Quest Phase.


The Quest Phase

The Quest Phase takes place on Monday through Friday and represents the war seasons in which mighty people do mighty deeds. The Quest Phase begins on Monday with the GM presenting the Lords with all the possible quests that they may send Retainers to do. The Quest Phase continues through Friday with the Retainers’ attempts to complete their Quests, at which time some Lords may use their traits to intervene. (see: Playing as the Lord)

A Quest is a task which Retainers accomplish to increase their Lord’s wealth and prestige and their own Honor. Whether it is a raid on a foreign land, a campaign to slay a monster, or a search for a magical item, all Quests entail roleplay, adventure, and Battle segments that Retainers must solve using their statistics, wits and reasoning. Because of the proximity of the three Lords’ Halls, the same Quests tend to be available for every Hall. There are exceptions in the case that a Quest arises from decisions made in a previous Questing or Court Phases (for instance, a Lord’s failure to complete a Quest building watchtowers on his territory on one Quest Phase may lead to a quest on the next Quest Phase in which only that Lord must fight off marauders on his land.)

What is a Quest?

All Quests are presented by the GM as a number of components:

Title: Titles are mainly there to give all players some common way to refer to a Quest.

Objectives: A one-paragraph description of what tasks the Quest entails.

Battle Difficulty: A difficulty rating predicting the number of Retainers recommended to successfully complete a likely number of battles in the Quest. Depending on the decisions the Retainers make during the Quest, the Quest may require more or less difficult battles than the Battle Difficulty implies.

Max Honor Loss/Gain: Two numbers, presented as –X/+Y, fixing the maximum amount of Honor a Retainer could earn by completing a Quest or lose by failing at it. Note that not all Retainers on a Quest are guaranteed to be allowed to get or lose the maximum amount of Honor. (For example, the maximum honor gain may be +4, but only one Retainer may ever get +4 for that Quest while all other Retainers can only gain +3, even if they perfectly complete it.)

Max Booty: A number fixing the maximum amount of wealth worth of items a Lord may gain by having his/her Retainers complete a Quest.

Conditions: A section naming any miscellaneous information that has an impact on the quest or determines who may embark on the Quest.


Embarking on Quests:

In order for a Retainer to embark on a Quest, both the Retainer and his Lord must consent to his/her being sent on that Quest. Normally, this means the Lord makes a post assigning his/her Retainers to quests he/she wants completed, and then the Retainers confirm that they will go on the Quest. However, since this would be a logistical headache most of the time, Lords are allowed to give consent for Retainers to choose their own quests and Retainers are allowed to post giving consent to go on which ever Quest their Lord assigns them to, halving the number of posts required to send a Retainer on a Quest. The key rule here is that both parties must give their consent in a way the GM can see, but it does not matter how they give it.

For examples, a Lord may assign each Retainer individually on Quests, declare all Retainers can choose their own quests, declare that each Retainer must pick a different quest on a first-come-first-serve basis, allow a Retainer to assign other Retainers for him, or whatever – as long as the GM can read a post that tells him unambiguously who is being consented to go on which Quest.


Making Decisions in Quests:

Every Quest consists of a series of problems and/or Battles, the outcomes of which depend on the statistics and decisions of the Retainers on the Quest. Because the game's Turns are paced by the week, all Quests are guaranteed to be solvable in at most 4 days if the Retainers on the Quest post once per day (leaving 1 day of leeway before the next Court phase, just in case). This is achieved by the GM providing a number of suggested decisions to Quest problems, each of which is guaranteed to move the plot forward (though possibly toward failure). It is always possible to get either the Max Booty or Max Honor Gain from a Quest by strictly following the GM’s suggested decisions. Retainers may also make different decisions than those suggested in the course of solving a Quest, but they may never get more than the Max Honor Gain or Max Booty from a quest through non-suggested decisions. All collective decisions are made by the votes of the Retainers currently on the same Quest. Whenever the Retainers are presented with a decision to make, they have 24 hours to input their vote. Those who made no post showing their opinion are assumed to have abstained and will follow the majority (if the votes end in a tie and the Retainers or their Lord had no arrangement as to who wins ties, I will give the win to the first vote cast to the tying decisions). If no opinions are given during that time, the first Retainer to make post regarding the collective decision gets his/her way and the Quest will not continue until someone makes a post. If a Retainer wants to do something regardless of the others’ votes, that decision must be declared during the 24 hour period in which Retainers voted.

For example, Alice, Bob, Carol, and Dean are all on the same Quest.

GM: You find a gang of three ogres on the road, blocking your path. It looks like they set up a roadblock and are robbing travelers who come by. You may:
A: Attack the Ogres from ambush, gaining a tactical advantage dependent on your collective Guile.
B: Attempt to evade the Ogres by casting a spell of cloaking dependent on the Sorcery of the party's best sorcerer.
C: Pay the ogres’ toll (lose items worth X wealth or over, X being the number of Retainers in your party.)
D: Attempt to threaten, cajole, convince, or otherwise speak to the Ogres. Make clear what you want to say in your post and how you say it.

Alice: I vote we attack the Ogres. Option A

Bob: I think we should evade the Ogres. Option B.

Carol: If my character takes another hit, I need to drop out of the quest. I don’t care what the other players vote, I’m going to try to evade the Ogres regardless of the party and I’ll cast the cloaking spell on anyone else who wants to. I’m going with Option B, but if another option gets voted in, I’ll try to evade anyways.

Dean: I fear nothing and no one! I’ll attack the ogres! Option A

Result: Alice, Bob, and Dean attack the ogres from ambush (2 votes for A, 2 votes for B, but Alice voted first, giving A primacy in tie-breaker). Carol attempts to cast a cloaking spell on herself and evade the Ogres.

Finally, note that while a Lord mechanically has no say in decisions made during the Quest phase, there is likewise no restriction on the Lord reading his/her Retainer's decisions in a Quest. It is further assumed that the Retainers' deeds during a Quest will eventually reach back to their Lords.


Resolving Quests

All Questing ends on Saturday, when the Court Phase begins. Any Quests that are incomplete (due, for example, to delayed posting on decisions) are considered to be cut short and generally failed. At the time Questing ends, the GM makes a post detailing the Honor gains and losses for each Retainer who participated in a Quest, and the gains or losses of their Halls, as well as a summary of the conclusion of each quest.

Battles within Quests

Battles, armed confrontations between groups of Retainers and/or NPC’s, always occur in two rounds and take two real-time days to resolve. When a battle begins, whether by NPC’s attacking the Retainers or by the Retainers’ decision to attack an enemy, the GM resolves the first round of combat with the Retainers’ using their Default Tactic. After the first round is resolved (all dice rolls and combat resolutions are done by the GM), the Retainers are given a 24 hour period to decide whether they want to keep using their Default Tactic or switch Tactics. If a Retainer does not post during that 24 hour period, he/she is assumed to stay with his/her Default Tactic.

Tactics and Fighting:

Tactics: Characters fight mainly by choosing the correct Tactic for the round. Tactics always determine three things in a round of combat – who your character attacks, who attacks your character, and the order in which your attack is resolved. The Tactic you may use is determined by what equipment you have (equipment will say which Tactics they allow), but all Retainers may always use the Passive tactic.

The order in which combat is resolved is as follows for each tactic:

1.Charge
Target priorities: Melee > Charge > Flank > Skirmish > Magic > Passive
Attack: Valor +1d6
Defense: Valor +3
Special Rules: The Attack value for Charge attacks against anyone using the Melee Tactic are rolled as (Valor +1d8) instead of (Valor +1d6)

2.Flank
Target priorities: Flank > Skirmish > Melee > Magic > Charge > Passive
Attack: Valor +1d6
Defense: Valor +3
Special Rules: None

3.Melee
Target priorities: Charge > Melee > Flank > Magic > Skirmish > Passive
Attack: Valor +1d6
Defense: Valor +3
Special Rules: Subtract -2 to the Attack value of Melee attacks against anyone using the Charge Tactic.

4.Skirmish
Target priorities: Skirmish > Magic > Melee > Charge > Flank > Passive
Attack: Aim +1d4
Defense: Guile +2
Special Rules: Add +3 to the Attack value of Skirmish attacks against anyone using the Magic Tactic.

5.Magic:
Target priorities: Magic > Melee > Skirmish > Flank > Charge > Passive
Attack: Sorcery +1d6
Defense: Resistance +3
Special Rules: None

6. Passive
Target priorities: N/A
Attack: N/A
Defense: N/A
Special Rules: Any Retainer may always choose to use the Passive Tactic during any round of Battle.


Targeting your enemy:

Whenever a Retainer or NPC attacks, he/she sees which enemy he/she actually attempts to hit according to his/her Target priority, determined by which Tactic he/she is using. For example, if Alice (Charge) attacks Bob (Flank) and Carol (Skirmish), Alice would hit Bob because Flank is a higher priority target for the Charge tactic than Skirmish.

If two or more enemies are using the same Tactic targeted by an attack, the GM assigns all viable targets a number and rolls a die to randomly determine who gets hit. For example, if Alice (Magic) attacks Bob (Skirmish) and Carol (Skirmish), the GM would randomly determine whether she attempts to hit Bob or Carol.

Dealing Damage:

Once the target of an attack is determined, the attacker’s Tactic determines what values to compare to see whether the target is hit and for how much damage. All Attack values use the stats of the Attacker and all Defense values use the stats of the Defender so, for example, if Alice (Charge) attacks Bob (Magic), Alice’s Attack value is her Valor +1d6 and Bob’s Defense value is his Valor + 3. If Alice’s Attack value exceeds Bob’s Defense value by at least 1, Bob takes 1 point of damage. For every 3 more points that Alice’s Attack value exceeds Bob’s Defense value, Bob takes an additional point of damage (so if her Attack value was 4 and Bob’s Defense value was 1, Bob takes 2 points of damage).

Taking Damage

When a Retainer takes damage over the course of a battle, consult the following steps to determine the results of being hurt. Damage is cumulative over the course of a Quest.

Fresh > Hurt > Bloodied > Wounded > Injured

Fresh: You have yet to suffer damage. There are no ill effects associated with being Fresh.

Hurt: You have suffered 1-2 points of damage. There are no ill effects associated with being Hurt.

Wounded: You have suffered 3-4 points of damage. If you end a battle Wounded, you must drop out of any Quest you are currently on (other Retainers from your Hall may continue the Quest without you).

Injured: You have suffered 5 or more points of damage. When you become Injured, you may not fight in the next round of Battle, if there is one. Furthermore, if you end a battle Injured, you must drop out of any Quest you are currently on (other Retainers from your Hall may continue the Quest without you). In addition, you must rest on the remainder of this turn as well as the next turn, and cannot participate in any Quests or Battles.

Note: The above is only applicable to Retainers. NPC’s may have any number of Damage levels defined in any way. Typical NPC’s, though, die after taking their second point of damage.


Resolving the Battle:

All battles are over in 2 rounds, unless one side may no longer fight. Battles are won by the side which inflicts the most points of damage over those 2 rounds, unless all of one side dies or becomes Injured or opt to retreat (Retainers may do this by having everyone set their tactic to Passive) after the first round, in which case the other side wins. On any given Quest, the GM may set special victory or defeat conditions for any given battle.

Loot and Equipment:

While Retainers do have base statistics, most of their ability to handle challenges in the game and complete their quests are dependent on their equipment. By default, all equipment that a Retainer obtains on a Quest are property of their Lord, going into their Lord's Treasury. Retainers can only use equipment from their Lord's treasury once the Lord has distributed it to them in the Court Phase.

The number in parenthesis next to every piece of basic and advanced equipment is its price in Wealth. Note that equipment may not normally be sold for Wealth. Rare equipment have no prices associated with them and may not normally be bought. Note also that a Retainer may only ever use one of any item at a time, unless otherwise specified. If a Retainer has two or more of the same item, only one of the item provides its bonus.



Basic Equipment:

Iron Spear (1): A sturdy iron spear; the primary weapon of most warriors on foot or horse.

You may use the Melee tactic in Battles. Gain +2 Valor.

Bow and arrows (1): A short bow made of Yew or Oak and a quiver of arrows fletched with falcon feathers.

You may use the Skirmish tactic in Battles.


Runestone (2): A stone the size of a man’s fist. It has been carved all around with runes evoking the powers of the Old Gods.

You may use the Magic tactic in Battles if your religion is Old Gods. Gain +2 Sorcery


Great Helm (2): A thick iron helm that covers a warrior’s head entirely.

-1 to all Attack rolls made against you.


Round Shield (1): A painted oaken shield.

-1 to all Attack rolls made against you.


Drab Cloak (1): A dark brown or green colored cloak used to blend into the environment.

Gain +1 Guile.


Holy Symbol (1): A brass amulet in the shape of a wheel, holy to the New Faith.

You gain +2 Resistance if your religion is New Faith.


Horse (3): A light, shaggy horse to carry a warrior from one fight to the next.

You may use the Flank tactic in Battles.


Advanced Equipment:

Warhorse (6): A massive stallion bred and trained for war.

You may use the Flank and Charge tactics in Battles.


Golden Ring (4): An exquisite ring of beaten gold.

Gain +4 Honor when a Golden Ring comes into your possession. Lose -4 Honor when a Golden Ring leaves your possession.


Sword (3): A formidable steel blade for a true man/woman of worth.

You may use the Melee tactic in Battles. Gain +2 Valor.
You may not use a Sword and a Magic Sword at the same time.


Chain Armor (3): A triple-layered hauberk painstakingly crafted from thousands of links of iron.

Negate the first point of damage you take in every Battle.


Rare Equipment:


Magic Sword: A truly mighty blade of legends. Such fierce and storied weapons have their own names and personalities.

You may use the Melee tactic in Battles. Gain +3 Valor.
You may not use a Magic Sword and a Sword at the same time.


War Horn: A meticulously carved ivory war horn that can be heard for miles around.

Add +1 to the number of wounds your side caused for the purpose of battle resolution for any battle you participate in.


Dragonscale: The scale of a fire-breathing worm wrought into an amulet. It is an item of immense magical power, said to render its bearer immune to fire.

Add +2 to your Sorcery and +1 to your Resistance.


Falcon Totem: A statuette of a horned falcon, an animal holy to a God of the Hunt. It is carved from priceless sacred heartwood.

If your religion is Old Gods, you and all friendly combatants of the Old Gods receive +1 to Aim and Guile in any combat you participate in.


Holy Relic: A shred of clothing from an exemplar of the New Faith.

If your religion is New Faith, you and all friendly combatants of the New Faith receive +1 to Valor in any combat you participate in.


Magic Grail: A magic cup said to have miraculous healing powers.

At the end of any battle, you may destroy the Magic Grail to end that battle as if you had taken no damage. Wounds you incurred during the battle are still counted for battle resolution.


Tips for Players

It is highly recommended for Lords to delegate Quest assignments to their Retainers if the Lord foresees an extended period in which he/she is unable to post. For Retainers, not so much, as a Retainer could be injured or lose items/Honor as the result of certain Quests.

Highlight, bold, underline, italicize, or separate important, game-related decisions in your posts! It is highly important that everyone understands what you are doing in mechanical terms, even if you think you’ve made it clear through RP descriptions.

Using private messages to discuss strategy and decisions with other players is encouraged. Retainers who wish to leave their Lord are especially encouraged to arrange for another Lord to be ready to accept them into his/her Hall prior to doing so. Lords are also encouraged to scout and bargain for powerful Retainers.

Build your character around the Tactic that you find most comfortable in terms of risk and reward. Melee is the most dominant tactic, dealing heavy damage to Magic and Skirmish users because of how easy it is to get a high Valor score. Because Melee users tend to need to maximize their Valor at the expense of other stats, Magic users can inflict heavy damage on Melee opponents as long as those Melee opponents cannot attack the Magic user. Skirmishers tend to have trouble killing other Skirmishers, making Skirmish the safest tactic but also the least rewarding, unless enemies have anyone with the Flank tactic. Both tactics requiring horses (Flank and Charge) are very powerful, and should generally be used as often as possible.

Invest in protection! No matter how many of your allies are using the same tactic as you, there is a chance that all the enemies’ attacks against that particular tactic could be targeted at you in a round.

Vitruviansquid
2012-05-14, 04:53 AM
This post reserved.

Vitruviansquid
2012-05-14, 05:24 AM
Post also reserved, just in case.