Modify Unit
By Tim Nutting
Okay, this action was in response to a few of my player's
wanting to make their own special units (in one case we came up the stats
for the Rangers of the Erebanien). These are home brew and work fairly
good, I think, but I'm definitely open to suggestions on this one (I was
going to push it through to Dragon, but there's been some problems there).
DM's: It does have the potential to unbalance the game if overly used.
Solution: Attack the PC who uses this as a realm action (his army is cut
in half for the action round... just ask my PC
regent of Medore/Illien.)
Modify Unit
| Success: |
10+ |
| Type: |
Domain, Realm |
| Base Cost: |
Special |
Several regents across Anuire have their own cadre of elite units particular
to each domain. For example, Gavin Tael, Baron of Ghoere, has the Iron
Guard of Ghoere. Mhoried has the Guardians of the Mhor. The Imperial City
has its own specialized infantry, the Royal Guard, of the highest caliber.
This action allows a regent to make a special unit for his domain. The
action begins with the mustering of a unit to train. After that, the regent
spends a domain action to begin modification of the unit. The unit is considered
undergoing training, and not available for use in wars that break out on
the same action round. Training costs 1 RP and .5 the muster cost of the
unit in question, and can perform one of the following effects:
Add a Hit: By putting the soldiers through rigorous physical training,
the regent adds 1 Hit to the unit's number of Hits on the War Card. For
figuring the new combat values subtract 1 point from the previous attack
values. If the unit's melee drops to zero by doing so, a hit may not be
added. Note that Move, Defense, and Morale remain the same.
Add a Morale Icon: Loyalty training and other techniques would allow
the unit to add another pip to it's Morale entry. If the unit already has
all three icons, then the Morale is at maximum. Note that some training
techniques are more insidious than others, and a canny enemy can turn this
against the regent in question, perhaps by insinuating that the training
involves hate campaigns against certain races, or that the troops are brain-washed,
or some other false (?) accusation.
Add a Special Ability: Perhaps the hardest of the options of the DM
to adjudicate, this allows the regent to add a new ability to the unit's
capabilities. For instance, pikemen are especially effective against charging
units and cavalry, while the Warband of Markazor ignore all F and R results,
and Scouts are able to see into the next province to catalog enemy troop
movements.
Increase Attack Rating: This option affects one of the unit's attack
ratings, or adds a new attack rating at level 1.
For example, improving the quality of the knight's swords would increase
their melee rating by 1, while upgrading the lances would improve their
charge. By following the third option, training and outfitting knights
with spears or short bows would give them a missile rating of 1 (as in
the case of the Guardians of the Mhor).
Note that this option only allows one improvement in one mode of attack.
Increase Defense: By upgrading the armor type, or improving the quality
of existing armor, the regent improves this unit's defense rating by 1.
The regent must have access to the type of armor he wishes his troops to
be outfitted with.
For example, the improved chain mail of the Vos and the Khinasi is not
readily available in Anuire, so the regent would have to acquire 200 suits
to upgrade standard infantry units. (That could be very expensive indeed).
Units with high defense ratings already can only be improved by 1 point
unless another type of armor of better quality exists.
For instance, the Anuirean knights are already outfitted with field plate
and barding for their horses. Improving the armor would give them a 1 point
adjustment. The only way a regent could expand beyond this is to improve
the units to full plate armor, and then improve that.
Increase Move: This option trains the unit to move 1 point faster.
How this is performed is up to the player and DM. Cavalry could receive
better horses, a knights armor might be made lighter in weight, infantry
could be required to undergo rigorous physical training, etc. Units similar
to scouts, who already move very fast afoot, could only be improved by
adding mounts of some kind. This option would also allow the addition/replacement
of mounts with a different kind.
For example, if the regent had sufficient numbers of flying steeds of some
variety, he could outfit a unit with them and train the unit in the steeds's
use. Flying units automatically have a maintenance cost of 3 GB per turn.
Upgrading units to cavalry instantly gives them a base maintenance of 2
GB per turn.
Once the regent has decided how to improve a unit, he makes his success
roll. If he wishes to improve his chances, he must spend 1 GB for each
pip increase rather than 1 RP (with the exception of Morale improvements).
If the improvements are successful, the regent now has a new type of unit,
with new maintenance and muster costs. Maintenance costs increase according
to a variety of factors. For every three abilities improved or added, 1
GB of maintenance extra is required. Changing mounts types (horses to hippogriffs,
giving Scouts horses, etc.) does not count as an improvement for maintenance
considerations, as these modifications already carry a cost. Muster cost
is increased by 1 GB for every two improvements made. A mount change is
included here, as it costs more to obtain the necessary mounts. Flying
units must have access to the necessary number of mounts already (which
may require an adventure for the regent).
In some cases, it might be possible to use these rules to circumvent expensive
unit muster costs. Therefore, training a unit to the equivalent level of
an already superior unit costs a minimum amount equal to the superior units
muster costs. (Upgrading Cavalry to Knights costs the muster cost of Knights,
minimum.) If the cost of advancement exceeds that of a similar units muster,
then it stands. The regent's domain must also match the necessary requirements
for mustering similar units, regardless. For instance, a regent must have
a province (4) to be able to muster knights. This is the same for any unit
that equals or exceeds a knight. The regent should begin with a suitable
unit to modify.
Advancing cavalry to Ghoere's Iron Guard is a bit ridiculous, the regent
in question should begin with knights for the advancement. Once the unit
has been modified to the regent's satisfaction, he may now muster similar
units for the modified muster/maintenance costs. Finally, this action may
become a realm action by modifying any number of the same type of units
under the regent=92s command. Training for each unit must be paid, and
success number modification must also be paid separately.
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