GUARD (#9/31, #37/365) [POT]
SKILL: See below
STAMINA : See below
ATTACKS: 1
WEAPON: See below
ARMOUR: See below
DAMAGE MODIFIER: None
HABITAT: Towns, Dungeons, Ruins, Plains
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-6
TYPE: Humanoid
REACTION: Neutral
INTELLIGENCE: High
In a world as dangerous as Titan, the GUARD is a staple feature, whether it be protecting merchant caravans, watching from towers and city walls, or patrolling a distant corner of the dungeon. There is even a favoured children's game called 'Guards and Goblins', which is played especially during the Children's Festival of Kakhabad and Ruddlestone.
To determine the type of Guard encountered, chose from or roll two dice on the table below:
First Roll Second Roll Guard Type SKILL STAMINA Weapons Armour Army Type
1-3 1 CARAVAN GUARD 7 7 Sword Spear Longbow, Leather Cuirass Small Shield, Watch
Notes: CARAVAN GUARDS are employed to protect merchant convoys as they traverse the wilderness. They will be mounted on Riding Horses, Camels, or riding on Oxen-drawn wagons or carts, depending on terrain. Caravan Guards may be mercenaries working one trek at a time, or they may be bound to a particular merchant guild or family through a contract or ancestral connection.
1-3 2 CASTLE GUARD 8 8 Sword, Large Shield Chainmail Hauberk, Soldier
Notes: CASTLE GUARDS are well-trained guards tasked with protecting the castle, keep or fortress of a powerful noble or other high-ranking personage. They will form the majority of that fastness's guardforce, defending the gates and walls against direct attacks.
1-3 3 CITADEL GUARD 8 8 Polearm, Plate Armour, Soldier
Notes: CITADEL GUARDS are tasked with guarding the central keep of a large castle or palace, remaining in place for long periods of time while maintaining perfect concentration. Citadel Guards are usually stationed permanently at the fortress they are guarding, while Royal Guards will follow their liege from keep to keep as they tour the lands of their domain.
1-3 4 CITY GUARD 7 7 Spear Sword, Small Shield, Chainmail Cuirass, Watch
Notes: CITY GUARDS represent the local Watch of a port or city, tasked with maintaining the peace and catching wrong-doers. A city on Titan could be expected to have from fifty to over one hundred and fifty such guards, depending on size and location. For example, Port Blacksand has around 160 City Guards both patrolling and stationed around the city. Their wages would be paid by the city's ruler, with expected donations from various guilds and temples to 'help out'.
1-3 5 DUNGEON GUARD 8 8 Sword, Large Shield Chainmail Hauberk, Soldier
Notes: The DUNGEON GUARD could be one of two designations. They could be employed in the dungeons of a lord's castle, guarding valuable or dangerous prisoners, archives and records, the wine cellar, the treasury, and so on. Or they could be employed within a ritualistic complex of catacombs, such as the Dungeon of Justice on the borders of the Desert of Skulls, or Baron Sukumvit of Fang's Deathrap Dungeon, used in his annual bloodthirsty Trial of Champions tournament. Here, Dungeon Guards would be tasked with patrolling the subterranean halls and monitoring the state of the dungeon, dealing with unwanted monsters, catching escaped dungeon slaves, responding to local Trial, Maze, or Dungeon Master requests, etc.
1-3 6 MARKET GUARD 7 7 Spear Sword, Small Shield Leather Hauberk, Watch
Notes: This guard is employed to watch over market fairs, trading bazaars, souqs and the like. In rural areas they will be attached to a merchant, or group of merchants, as they do their rounds of hamlets and villages in the hinterlands. In larger towns and cities the MARKET GUARD will be a member of the regular Town or City Guard. In any case, their role is prevent theft, ensure fair trade, inspect merchants' passes, and so on.
4-6 1 ROYAL GUARD 8 8 Greatsword, Plate Armour, Soldier
Notes: ROYAL GUARDS are highly-trained troops who protect princes and princesses, kings and queens, and emperors and empresses. They may be local soldiers with a fanatical zeal towards guarding their head of state, or they may be foreign mercenaries, auxiliaries from abroad paid in coin to protect a despot from the machinations of his own court, army, or other ruling elite. Northman Barbarians from Allansia are particularly favoured as Royal Guards by the rival factions of Bakulan, for instance.
4-6 2 SLAVE GUARD 8 8 Scimitar, None, Soldier
Notes: SLAVE GUARDS are captives employed mainly by wicked southern despots, such as the High Priestess Leesha of the Lost City of Vatos. They are strong and muscular, and usually armed with a razor-sharp scimitar. Slave Guards are fanatically loyal to their liege.
4-6 3 TEMPLE GUARD 8 8 Polearm, Plate Armour, Soldier
Notes: TEMPLE GUARDS are ceremonial warriors, tasked with protecting a particular holy site or shrine. Their weapons and armour will likely be inscribed with the holy symbol of the god the site is consecrated to, and the guards tabards and capes will be the same as the god's sacred colour.
4-6 4 TOWER GUARD 8 8 Crossbow Sword, Chainmail Cuirass Small Shield, Watch
Notes: TOWER GUARDS specialize in missile combat using crossbows, and are stationed in towers, keeps, forts and the like. They are often mercenaries, hired from Glimmering Sea city-states, or the Arrowhead Archipelago, or even Dwarfs, for their skills in arbalestery.
4-6 5 TOWN GUARD 7 7 Spear, Sword, Leather Cuirass Small Shield, Watch
Notes: TOWN GUARDS represent the local Watch of a township, tasked with keeping the peace and apprehending wrong-doers. A medium-sized town such as Hamelin or Silverton could be expected to have around twenty to thirty such guards, whose wages would be paid by the local lord or council of guilds.
4-6 6 VILLAGE GUARD 6 6 Spear, Small Shield, Militia
Notes: VILLAGE GUARDS represent a peasant militia tasked with keeping peace in the hamlet. Likely there would be no permanent garrison, but ten to twenty Village Guards could mobilize from among the locals in times of trouble.
If five or six Guards are encountered, one will be a GUARD SERGEANT with +1 SKILL and +2 STAMINA bonuses added to the regular combat scores given above. Two or more squads of Sergeants and the Guards under their command, will be led by a GUARD LIEUTENANT (sames scores as a Guard Sergeant, with one extra weapon chosen from any of the weapons listed on the Guard Type table above. All squads Guards in a particular area (city, castle, temple, etc.) will be led by a CAPTAIN OF THE GUARDS (or Guard Commander), who will have SKILL 10 STAMINA 12 and the same weapons and armour as any of the Guards they lead.
These details, as well as those of the Heroes Companion's chapter 4 on Holdings and Dominions, helps establish a breakdown of a Guard unit as needed.
For example, in a small village there may a guard force of 10 Village Guards (villagers with some basic training), 1-2 Guard Sergeants representing retired soldiers or hunters, and a Guard Captain who may be a local adventurer or representative for the domain the village pays fealty to.
By contrast, for a large city like Port Blacksand, the black-clad Guard contingent could be broken down as follows:
Port Blacksand City Guard
Commander: Captain Balgrath (see Blacksand, p. 48). A tall, tattooed, muscular individual who keeps his charges in order by wielding an enormous bullwhip at all times.
Imperial Guard: Elite x 80 (1C, 3L, 8S). Mainly Ogres and Trolls, such as Fatnose, Sourbelly, Blackboil, Crackjaw, Foulbreath, Stinkbottom, Yellowfang, and other names that strike fear into the general Port Blacksand populace. The Imperial Guard protect Azzur's Palace, but when off duty may be found wandering the streets harassing travellers and cityfolk alike. Their leaders will be extremely strong and powerful examples of their type.
City Guard (Wall Division): Soldiers X 200. One overall Captain, with a Lieutenant helper, overseeing three divisions: Gatehouse Division (one overall Captain with a Lieutenant helper, overseeing five Gatehouses (Fisher Gate, Main Gate, Field Gate, Weaver Gate and Gallows Gate), each Gatehouse has 20 Castle Guards (1C, 1L 2S (one per tower) per gatehouse), Watchtower Division (one overall Captain with 2 Lieutenants (one for each side of the river), 5 Sergeants (one for each stretch of wall), and 40 Tower Guards on or off duty at 29 watchtowers along the city walls), and Palace Division (one overall Captain with 2 Lieutenants, one for the Palace Gatehouse (with 2S, one per tower), and one for the Palace Wall watchtowers (with 2S overseeing five watchtowers each), and 30 Citadel Guards (one at each watchtower and twenty at the gatehouse)).
City Guard (Blockhouse Division): Watch X 160. One overall Captain and two Lieutenants (one for each side of the Catfish river) overseeing six blockhouses (Northside: Harbour District (Harbour Street), Execution Hill (Gallows Street); Southside: Fish Market District (Herring Road), Temple District (corner of Temple Street and Wool Street), Merchant District (Key Street), and the Noose (Thread Street)), with each blockhouse having 25 City Guards (1C, 1L, 3S per blockhouse).
City Militia: Militia X 400 (1C, 4L, 20S). Includes adventurers, mercenaries, bodyguards, local ruffians, volunteering cityfolk, and so on, organized into four platoons, with each platoon having five squads of twenty militiamen.
When encountered, different types of Guards will be doing different things. A Caravan Guard will be on escort duty, for example, while a Citadel Guard would be manning a guardpost. To determine what any given Guard or group of Guards could be doing, choose from or roll two dice and consult the table below:
First Roll Second Roll Guard activity
1-3 1 Conducting a raid
1-3 2 Travel between posts
1-3 3-4 Guard duty
1-3 5 Off duty
1-3 6 Chasing criminals
4-6 1 Fighting gangs/monsters/rivals
4-6 2 Checking papers and passes
4-6 3-4 On patrol
4-6 5 Escort duty
4-6 6 Accepting donations to the Crippled Guards' Fund
We have already learned above of the notorious Port Blacksand City Guard. Other infamous examples of Guards from Titan would have to include the imposing Captain Cartoum of Mampang Fortress, who commanded the Archmage's chaotic forces of Beastmen, Birdmen, Black Elves, Mucalytics, Mutant Goblins, Red-Eyes, and renegade Sightmasters, among others, with great authority. Equally villainous, though not thankfully successful, was the cowardly Captain Vatchik, who attempted to betray the city of Kaad that he had sworn to protect, to the Elimite forces of Sargon the Dark. Not all Guards are of course bad, the Salamonian City Guard for example are noted as striving for Amonour, the same as that fair city's knights, and indeed, truly honourable City Guards have been knighted by King Salamon LVII.
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