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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Bandits and Buccaneers

After thinking about bands of heroes as monsters (and the basis for the man-type monsters listed in M&T,) I thought it's finally time to write up a Liber Zero version of that monster.

Hero Band (Extraordinary Human)

up to 12; 4 dice, Move 6, Medium Armor + Shield, possible magic items

Adventurous warriors sometimes found roaming the wilds. Every hero in the band will personally lead 25 or more normal men (1 die each.) Large groups will have more powerful leaders: halve the number of heroes to get the number of leaders (+1 hit dice) and halve it again for the number of commanders (double normal dice.) For each leader type, 5+ on 1d6+1 means one extra hit die.

For each hero, leader, or commander, roll a d20 three times for armor, shield, and sword. If the result is less than the hero's dice, the armor, shield, and sword are magical.

The listed armor is for the heroes themselves, and their leaders/commanders. Only 1/6th of their followers will have metal armor, the rest being in Light Armor, plus a shield for those who aren't archers or using two-handed melee weapons.

Roll 1d6 and add the number of commanders: on 5+, there is a wizardly adviser of 4+1 dice. On 7+, the wizard has 5 dice. Roll a d20 three times for up to three magic items: one each of wand/staff, ring, or miscellaneous item.

Roll 1d6 and add one-third the number of commanders: on 5+, there is a religious leader of 6 dice. Roll a d20 three times for up to three magic items: one each of an appropriate weapon (not a sword,) armor, or shield.

Split bandit forces into half mounted, half unmounted. Half the bandits on foot will have bows or crossbows, while half the mounted bandits will be on light horse (and half of those will have bows.) All the bandits wearing Medium armor will be on medium warhorses, and all the bandit heroes, bandit leaders, and bandit commanders will be on heavy horses. Bandits will never be Lawful.
Water-borne bandits are Buccaneers and will not have mounts or metal armor. Only a third of the buccaneers will have crossbows.

A more violent band of bandits or buccaneers will definitely be Chaotic and will have +1 to morale. These will be dedicated enemies of civilized people and may intend to overthrow kingdoms or wreak vengeance, instead of merely taking wealth by force.

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