The Avatar:
The Avatar is a stand-in for you as a player.
This figure essentially acts as a Hero but with additional benefits applied.

Heroes:
Heroes are the corner stone of your war band.
They have increased survival chances, can use most weapons you find and will improve their abilities quickly as you play the campaign game.

Followers:
Assorted hired hands, henchmen and minions, Followers can fight bravely and can progress in the game, but they are assumed to have less initiative and less skill.
As such they tend to be somewhat less permanent.
Followers can occasionally progress to become Heroes themselves.

Hangers On:
A Hanger On is the lowest of the low:
Country yokels, gutter rabble, prison in-mates and whoever else you could scrape together.
They are the most limited characters and typically only matter as far as adding a few bodies in a big fight.

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Each figure in your war band is rated in the following ways:
*Agility
*Speed
*Combat Skill
*Toughness

Agility determines when the character acts during the turn. It’s also used for some challenges.

Speed is straightforward: How far can you move each turn, measured in tabletop inches.

Combat Skill is fighting ability.

Toughness is resilience to injury and harm.

Skills
Characters will tend to pick up an array of Skills as they adventure.
These generally work by adding a bonus to a relevant roll or activity.

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All characters start with the following basic profile:
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Generating Heroes
We define a Hero character as someone with some experience already under their belt,
whether from ability score improvements, skills or other resources.
To generate a Hero, roll on each of the four tables below, using a D20.
If you are crafty, roll them all at the same time and read them left to right.
Or simply assign a die to each column as you see fit though this may produce characters that
are a little too good.


For each Skill, roll once on the table below.
Rolling a Skill you already posses allows you to choose any from the table.


Two of your Heroes may be given a Quality weapon of your choice.
Any additional Heroes may be given a Basic weapon.
No more than two Heroes may have a missile weapon.
Any Hero given a missile weapon may also carry a Light weapon as well.
You may outfit one Hero of choice in Full Armor and one Hero of choice in Partial Armor.
Any remaining Heroes will begin the campaign with Light Armor.
One Hero may begin the game with a Shield.
One Hero may begin the game with a Helmet.
The Hero generation table may offer you additional weapons.
These are in addition to what is received above and may be of any type desired.

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Followers
The typical war band is accompanied by a couple of Followers.
These are generic soldiers, mercenaries and scoundrels that have agreed to help you out of
loyalty, ambition or the promise of coin.
In game terms, Followers have the basic profile and do not begin the game with any ability
score improvements.
One of your initial band of Followers will be slightly more talented however.
Roll on the Skill table above to determine what Skill they begin the campaign with.

To determine the nature of your Followers, roll on the table below.

One of your Followers may be given a Self Bow and Light Weapon, the rest will have a
Standard Weapon or Light Weapon as you see fit.
One of your Followers may wear Light Armor.
The rest will wear your choice of Militia Armor or No Armor.

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OPTIONAL Unusual Backgrounds

1-5 Big guy
A hulking brute. Maybe not the brightest.
+1 Toughness
Cannot Dash. Cannot ever increase Speed.
Can only wear armor purchased specifically for them.

6-10 Guild thief
A professional thief with a bit extra in their sack.
+1 Agility.
Begin the campaign with a roll on the Loot table.
Refuses to wear any armor that adds up to more than 1 Armor point.

11-14 Nomad wanderer
This traveler is far from their tribal home.
PATHFINDING Skill. +1 to Combat Skill when using a Self Bow or Longbow.
Refuses to wear Full or Knights armor.

15-17 Fey blooded youth
They say the wild folk sometimes mingle with a young lad or lass when the fancy takes them.
Suffers no movement reductions in forest or water features.

18-22 Aging veteran
Experienced but at a price.
+1 Combat Skill.
-1 Speed and cannot raise Agility by more than +1.

23-27 Born with promise
They were always a quick learner.
Add +1 to Flash of Insight rolls as a Follower.
As a Hero, reduce the XP required for each Improvement Roll by 1.

28-31 Blessed by the gods
You’ve seen people walk away from things nobody could.
When rolling for post-game Injuries, if the roll ends in 0 or 5 (20, 25, 30 etc.) the character miraculously avoided harm and suffers no equipment damage.

32-36 Errant knight
A noble soul looking to right the wrongs of the land.
Begins game with Fine Full Armor and a Fine Bastard Sword.
Refuses to use ranged weapons under any circumstances.

37-40 Devout priest
It never hurts to have a god or three on your side.
The party receives a +1 to rolls to receive blessings in the village.
+1 to overcome Toughness in melee combat against Undead and Fey.

41-43 Berserker
Possibly troll-blooded but who’s going to find their parents and ask?
When rolling for your actions at the start of the turn, you may assign a 6 to this character.
The character does not act. Next time they are activated they are Berserk.
Add +1 to all rolls to overcome Toughness and Armor (NOT cumulative with weapon bonuses)
and the character must move directly towards the nearest Enemy each turn.
The character may not Flee, use items or use a Shield for the rest of the battle.

44-45 Elfin wanderer *
The fey folk don’t often reveal themselves. When they do, it is always for a great purpose.
Begins game with a Longbow.
When using a Longbow add +1 to rolls to penetrate Armor and cannot run out of ammunition.

46-48 Traveling merchant
Not really the sort you’d expect on a battle field but having connections never hurts.
Party is offered an additional Trade item in town every campaign turn.
This item must be rolled first and is 1 Gold Mark cheaper than usual.

49-52 Driven crusader
Only fanatics and idiots never retreat.
+1 Will.
May never Flee from battle.

53-55 Witch slayer *
How did that line go in the holy book?
Unaffected by any form of sorcery or magic, whether benign or malign.
Player discretion applies as to what exactly is considered to be magic.

56-59 Craven
They who run away don’t get a share of the loot, but neither do those that get eaten by a bear.
If the character is a Hero, treat this as a Devout Priest instead.
Every time a Hero is knocked out, roll a D6: On a 1-2, the Craven character is removed from play and is assumed to have Fled.
If this character ever becomes a Hero, they become a Driven Crusader instead.

60-64 Quick learner
You only have to tell them once.
Make an immediate Flash of Insight / Hero Improvement Roll when the character joins the war band.

65-68 Wildpath ranger *
He’s one of them rangers.
SCOUTING Skill.
+1 Combat Skill when facing Monsters.

69-70 Dwarfen mercenary *
Very few of these around any longer. Never talks of home.
-1 Speed. -1 to Dash movement.
+1 Toughness. No movement or dash penalties due to armor.

71-73 Little folk *
You always wondered what happened if you gave them a magical ring.
If stationary, can throw a rock as a missile up to 9” range.
Whenever the party obtains food or alcohol, roll a D6 per dose/bottle/portion.
On a 1-2, the character wolfs it down immediately.
Remove the item from your inventory but if they are a Hero, they do earn +1 XP.

74-78 Scrappy survivor
Battered, bloodied but still clinging to life.
The first time the character would die, they miraculously survive and receive a Flash of
Insight/Hero Improvement roll.
This only ever happens once.

79-82 Daring scoundrel
It’s not technically a crime if you are this good looking.
Begin the game with a Pistol, Light Weapon and Fencing Sword.
May carry three weapons, provided it is these specific types.

83-85 Fated cavalier
An unassuming soul, always longing for a noble cause.
When a campaign ends, the cavalier will leave on a roll of 1-3 as they find a new cause.
However, unlike other characters that leave, they may be rolled for again in future campaigns.

86-87 Wolf-blooded
Not quite a werewolf, but it’s bad enough as it is.
Each battle roll 1D6.
On a 4-5 it takes place at dusk: +1 Agility. +1 Speed.
On a 6 it takes place at night: +1 Agility, +1 Speed, +1 Toughness, +1 Combat Skill.

88-91 Loyal ally
Hard to find decent folk nowadays.
This character will not leave voluntarily while the Avatar is in the war band.

92-93 Pledged to the old gods
Pacts as old as life itself ward their flesh.
Enemy archery is -1 to hit this character.
The character refuses to use any religious items and will never accept a blessing in the village.

94-96 Apprentice
Two for the price of one.
Add a Hanger On to the party at the same time this character joins.

97-100 Peasant hero
A local kid done good, eager to prove themselves. Inspiring stuff really.
When Followers roll to see if they retire due to Injury duration, count the duration as 1 lower than it really is

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Your Avatar represents you in the campaign.
* When creating the character, you may begin with 1 point each of Luck and Will, in addition to any you roll on the starting character tables.
* The Avatar may reject any Skill that the character would normally receive.
This is valuable in expansion campaigns that have negative Skills.
* For all purposes, the Avatar is considered to be a Hero.
* When making Improvement rolls, if the D100 roll is a double (33, 44 etc.) you may pick the advance.

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The Retainer
When you start a campaign, select a character to be the Retainer of your Avatar.
The Retainer is a faithful friend, servant, squire, minion or companion who would never dream of leaving your side.
They benefit from the following rules:
* They will never voluntarily leave your war band, though you may opt to retire the character yourself.
* If within 6” of the Avatar, they will be unaffected by any game rule that force them to flee or would paralyze or penalize them due to terror or fear.
If slain or retired, a new Retainer cannot be acquired until you begin a new campaign.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:10, Tue 31 Mar 2020.