Building Dark Ages Warriors

sir_pudding · 10-11-2011, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yorunkun

Characters will be built on 100 points, with up to 50 points in disads;... At least one third of all points will have to be reserved for non-combat skills.

It's going to hard (if not impossible) to make dedicated professional warriors with those conditions, IME.

fredtheobviouspseudonym · 10-11-2011, 11:32 PM

1.) You could easily add a variety of superstitions -- any dark wood is full of mankilling demons; the ocean is a living thing and needs the occasional sacrifice. Note that the "fair lady" of "London Bridge" was a reference to the early custom of embedding a human sacrifice into at least one pier of any newly-constructed bridge.

2.) Depending on when in the Dark Ages you set your campaign religious views could be an issue. Lots of Saxons and Scandinavians would be pagan and even lots of the officially-Christian types in Western Europe have more trust in their forefathers' now-hidden beliefs than in the White God. [IIRC Charlemagne, the first Western Holy Roman Emperor, crowned by the Pope, had four wives. At once. No one apparently wanted to call his attention to the official rules . . . ]

Even within Christianity there's lots of deviation. You had the Celtic and North Saxon (IIRC -- I forget the official name) churches and Rome was busy sending papal legates out to combat error and heresy. This doesn't even mention the East-West split that existed hundreds of years before the official division in 1054.

3.) Fighting men were one of the few groups that could get around. The Byzantine Varangian Guard apparently started in the 900s but I'm sure that there were predecessors and you certainly could make some up -- the records from that time aren't exactly complete. Normans in the Mediterranean Basin began as mercenaries for Byzantium but wound up seeing more profit as independent entrepreneurs, fighting their own former employers. (That's corporate division with a vengeance.)

4.) Comments on weapons & armor -- I expect Dan Howard is quite right that there was little if no use of leather in the records in Western Europe at that time. I would argue, however, that given the diversity of makers & users perhaps some oddball area or even individual in Western Europe might have been more prone to making armor out of cowhide -- not like the latter is wholly scarce & was certainly used for other things (harness, thongs to tie wagons together, et. al.)

The Saxon/Scandinavian scrimasax was pretty well known -- a very cheap knife or sword & various GURPS sources have covered it. I'd guess that other areas in Western Europe might have created similar weapons that were not well recorded. You might well have a gaming session around getting a fancy pattern-welded sword -- that in fact turns out to be a forgery (a cheap blade sold as a limousine model. Historians have found references to such). Perhaps a wealthy warrior has discovered his hot-rod sword was bogus and wants a group of guys to track down the seller and get back the purchase price -- if not in gold than in odd bodily parts.

In Western Europe, it would be pretty standard for warriors to have not only hand-to-hand weapons skills but weapon throwing -- Spear & Axe. As armor improved & got more common after c. 1050 these skills faded, as the chance of a serious injury to the opponent would get pretty small. Characters from a herdsman background might well have Sling skill -- young boys would often tend flocks and you have to discourage wolves or feral dogs. Slings & stones are a lot cheaper than bows and arrows.

If you want to get the feel for the Code of Honor of a West-Europe Dark Age warrior band I'd suggest reading the "Battle of Maldon." While impressed levies wouldn't have it not just the high-tone nobility adhered to such; any professional warrior should have such a Code, and if not, then either a Stigma or a Secret. Turning coward on the battlefield could well get you killed by your own side, if any survived.

5.) Non-combat skills -- various livelihood skills would be common in those who were not born to a warrior family -- agronomy (thinking 3rd edition), animal handling, perhaps craft skills at low-level for farmers & higher levels for those with an artisan background. Singing, gambling, boat handling (lots of West Europe has lakes/rivers, even for those far from the coast), running & jumping & wrestling were, IIRC, common sports of the young. Fewer would have Riding. I'm not sure how the Boxing would be common -- unless you count it as some relic of Greco-Roman wrestling.

I think that while professional singing/recitation would be the province of skalds or bards there might be room for some low level of amateur performance. I have an image of some rain-soaked unfortunates slogging down a soggy road from Nowhere to Who Cares and the leader says, "Jorich, you've got a decent voice. Give us a tune."

DanHoward · 10-12-2011, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredtheobviouspseudonym

4.) Comments on weapons & armor -- I expect Dan Howard is quite right that there was little if no use of leather in the records in Western Europe at that time. I would argue, however, that given the diversity of makers & users perhaps some oddball area or even individual in Western Europe might have been more prone to making armor out of cowhide -- not like the latter is wholly scarce & was

Domesticated cattle was smaller and had thinner hides than today. The only domesticated leather suitable for armour would have to come from from oxen and some parts of the horse. Neither was cheap in that part of Europe. The further east you go the more common and less expensive leather is. There is a passage in Tacitus saying that some German tribes couldn't pay their tribute in the normal manner and had to give the hides of "wild beasts for military use". This seems to suggest that skins from their domesticated animals were unsuitable for military use. They did have leather armour, but it was rare and only worn by the wealthy. Mail, scale, and layered cloth seem more common but even these were reserved for the wealthy.

Cuchulain is said to be wearing 27 cneslenti. Old works translate this as "hide tunics" but it is more likely describing a garment made of 27 layers of linen. The word "leinte" is a likely derivative of "linen". IIRC his chariot driver had leather armour.

Lord Carnifex · 10-12-2011, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanHoward

Cuchulain is said to be wearing 27 cneslenti. Old works translate this as "hide tunics"

Is there any chance that those are multiple layers of softer, thinner leather from local cattle or even sheep?

Anders · 10-12-2011, 03:16 AM

Fantasy has a professional warrior for 75 points. Martial Arts has one for 100 points. It's not easy but it's doable.

sir_pudding · 10-12-2011, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Fantasy has a professional warrior for 75 points. Martial Arts has one for 100 points. It's not easy but it's doable.

Neither of which has 1/3 of the point total in non-combat skills.

~~Figleaf23~~ · 10-15-2011, 09:00 PM

Core:
Knife DX+2 [4] (Long Knife, Wt=1.5, $120)
Fast Draw:Knife DX [1]
Feint [2]
Spear DX+1 [4] (Spear, Wt=4, $40)
Grip Mastery: Spear [1]
Shield DX+2 [4] (Lt Shield. Wt=2, $25)

Options:
Throw (Spear) DX +2 [4] (Spear)
Throw (Knife) DX+2 [4] (Cheap Throwing Dagger x4, Wt=1, $32)
Sling DX [4] (+20 bullets, Wt=1.5, $30)
Brawling DX+1 [2]
Professional Skill (Soldier) IQ [2]

The core package is only [16], $185, Wt 7.5.

If you take the whole package, you get a broadly competent Low-tech combatant for 32 points, $247, and 10lb. Drop it in to a non-fighter build like a thief, or a merchant, or healer and you can consider yourself tough.

Or drop Sling, and use the package as the secondary competencies of an archery specialist or ranger. Or Drop Spear throwing and use it as the secondary competencies of a Staff specialist.

Or drop something to DX +1 and take a Fine Long Knife $480 as Sig Gear [1] (TL3) plus a Weapon Bond [1].

Yorunkun · 10-17-2011, 08:30 AM

Hello again,

had a busy weekend, with lots of back and forth regarding the campaign. We've agreed on a set of character generation guidelines, which I'm including below in case anyone is interested. These aren't final yet, but pretty close ... and pretty detailed. I've even included the perk-limitations as suggested.

Hal et al. were of course right on Illiteracy and Innumeracy. We've agreed that they are common disadvantages, but that they WILL count against the disadvantage-limit. The same goes for the following mandatory disadvantages (the idea is to keep the number of social/personal disadvantages low):

- Duty (oath-sworn to warlord, 5 pts)
- Social Stigma (in the campaign proper, characters will be foreign mercenaries; a tiny minority group in an unknown land, so 10 pts)
- Code of Honor (Soldier, 10 pts)

Comments welcome, as ever. My questions:

Is the disad-limit too strict now, given that 25 points are already pre-spent?
Am I right to exclude Judo, Karate and Sumo Wrestling?
What would an iron age warrior's code of honor look like?

Also, please take a look at the four character sheets I have so far.

Thanks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Character-Generation Rules
All characters are built with 100 CPs, and up to 50 CP in disadvantages (including quirks). Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills designated as cinematic or supernatural or applicable to TL3 or above are not available.

Likewise, basic attributes must follow the guidelines for a realistic campaign; i.e.:
- HP may not exceed ST by more than 30%
- Speed may not be increased / decreased by more than 2 pts
- Move may not be increased by more than 3 yds

Characters’ age should be around 25 +/- ten years. Characters must be male.

The characters native language and culture is Saxon; illiteracy (a disadvantage worth 3 points) is common but does count against disadvantage limit. Other languages spoken in the campaign are Brythonic and Irish (which default to each other at -2), Latin and Pictish. Of these, only Latin and Brythonic will be available at the start of the campaign, and only at broken level (1 point). Characters cannot take variant TL or cultural familiarity dis/advantages.

Starting wealth is $750 (silver pieces, for convenience). Characters cannot take Wealth dis/advantages, but may increase their starting wealth in 1 CP / 75$ increments for up to 10 CP (the equivalent of Comfortable at 10 CP, for twice starting wealth).

Characters may take Status, Social Regard or Reputation, but only with the limitation of “among Saxons”, and not for more than +/- 5 points. Status of 1 would be the son of a famous warrior or lesser warlord, negative status would be the son of a serf out to prove himself.

Characters cannot take Rank, as they start out as oath-sworn members of a war-band.

Characters cannot have allies, contacts, enemies, dependants or patrons.

Advantages
Characters cannot take cinematic, exotic or supernatural advantages such as Arm DX and ST, Damage Resistance, Enhanced Defenses and Enhanced Move, Extra Attack, Rapier Wit, Striking ST and Trained by a Master. Furthermore, the following advantages are also not available because they are not suitable to the setting, plot or play-style: Claim to Hospitality, Clerical Investment, Gadgeteer or Gizmos, Luck (and it’s opposite, Unluckiness) and Serendipity.

Houserule: In place of Luck, all players may spend one CP to buy one re-roll, once per roll. They must take the re-roll’s result. This only affects their own rolls, not those made against them.

Given the frequency of combat, the following advantages will be particularly useful and are recommended: Acute Senses, Combat Reflexes, Fearlessness, Fit, Hard to Kill/Subdue, High Pain Threshold and Rapid Healing. The Weapon Master advantage is available, but only for weapon-and-shield styles.

Perks: Shield-wall training (1 pt) is mandatory, Teamwork is suggested but requires a total of 20 points invested in combat skills (see “Skills” below).

Disadvantages
The limit is 50 points. This includes negative attributes and mandatory disadvantages, as well as Illiterate or Innumerate. It also includes Quirks.

Mandatory disadvantages are: Duty-Oath-sword to warlord (5 pts), Code of Honor-Soldier (10 pts) and Social Stigma (foreign mercenaries in an unknown land; tiny minority, 10 pts). Other disadvantages of the same type as these are not available.

Characters cannot take cinematic (Destiny, Secret etc), exotic or supernatural disadvantages (Weirdness Magnet), nor those pertaining to a different kind of setting (i.e. Non-Iconographic, Xenophilia) and to age or disease (Chronic Conditions, Short Lifespan, Terminally Ill). Unluckiness is also not available.

Further, they cannot have any disadvantage that would render the character unfit to serve in a war-band, such as Blindness and Deafness, Combat Paralysis, Cowardice or Fearfulness, Lame or similar disfigurements. If the character incurs any of these during play, he will be retired.

Suitable and/or common disadvantages include Bad Temper, Berserk, Bloodlust, Bully, Callous, Compulsive Carousing or Gambling (requires at least one point in related skill), Illiteracy in your native language (3pts), Dyslexia (house-rule: reduced to 5 pts), Impulsive, Innumerate, Intolerance, Overconfidence, Sense of Duty (adventuring companions) and minor Vows.

Skills
Only skills appropriate to the tech-level and cultural environment of the European Dark Ages are available. In particular, fighting styles from other parts of the world and cinematic, magical or fantastic abilities (Enthrall, anything requiring Unusal Backgrounds or Trained by a Master ) are not available.

Furthermore, the following skills will be unavailable at the outset for meta-game reasons, but will become available as the game progresses: Area Knowledge, Current Events, Geography and Heraldry (characters are leaving their homes behind and setting out for the unknown).

House Rule: Fast-Draw is considered a technique of the respective weapon skill and can be improved as such.

As full-time warriors and members of a war-band, characters must acquire the following mandatory skills:

Soldier – at least one point
Hiking – at least one point
Shield – at least level 12
Spear – at least one point
Thrown Weapon: Spear – at least one point

A level of at least 12 must be reached on a one-handed melee Weapon such as Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Knife, Spear or Shortsword.

At least one point must be spent on either Boxing, Brawling or Wrestling; other unarmed combat skills are not available.

In total, at least 10 CP must be spent on combat skills. Characters must also take the Shield-wall Training perk; this represents their basic training. For access to the teamwork perk, which represents longer membership in this war-band, characters must spend at least 20 CP on combat skills.

Suitable and common non-combat skills are all physical abilities, like Climbing, Jumping, Lifting, Riding, Running, Swimming, Stealth, Throwing and Tracking; as well as the more common social skills Carousing, Dancing, Gambling or Games, Savoir Faire (only available type is high society – for use with chieftains and leaders of a war-bands), Singing and Public Speaking.

Specialist characters should also consider skills such as Camouflage, First Aid, Gesture, Interrogation, Intimidation, Knot Tying, Search and Survival. Characters with Status or aspiring to a leadership role may also consider higher levels of Savoir Faire and Public Speaking as well as Diplomacy, Leadership, Strategy, Tactics and Teaching.

Suitable background skills include Animal Handling, Farming, Fishing and Gardening as well as Carpentry, Crewman (Seamanship), Leatherworking, Masonry, Merchant, era-appropriate Professional Skills and Smith.

Techniques
Techniques from the Basic Set as well as from Martial Arts are available, provided the prerequisite skill is known to the character. Styles are TBD.

DanHoward · 10-12-2011, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Carnifex

Is there any chance that those are multiple layers of softer, thinner leather from local cattle or even sheep?

No. The word is derived from a root that means "linen", not a term for "leather" or "skin".

Infornific · 10-12-2011, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

It's going to hard (if not impossible) to make dedicated professional warriors with those conditions, IME.

Depends on the meaning of "one third." Presumably characters are not expected to spend 50 points on non-combat skills. So I'd assume that means 1/3 of points spent on skills go to non-combat abilities.

So go with:

ST 12, DX 12, HT 12 - 80 points

Say, 25 points in Characteristics and Advantages - maybe Per 11, Fit and Combat Reflexes.

That leaves 45 points for skills - 30 combat, 15 non combat. 12 points will get you a primary weapon and shield at 14 leaving 18 points to round out combat abilities. Another 15 points allows a lot for Scrounging, Survival, Climbing, Swimming, Fast Talk, etc.

That leaves a fairly elite veteran - a bit one dimensional in expertise but that's to be expected. Rules suggest 50-75 for ordinary professional fighter types. This isn't that far above it. Figure an ordinary pro fighter will be around 11 in Attributes and 12 in combat skills while bandits and levies will be lower. Remember in a fairly realistic Dark Ages campaign a lot of people will have a little combat skill but few will be dedicated professional warriors.

10-11-2011, 11:32 PM	#2
fredtheobviouspseudonym Join Date: May 2007	Couple of points -- 1.) You could easily add a variety of superstitions -- any dark wood is full of mankilling demons; the ocean is a living thing and needs the occasional sacrifice. Note that the "fair lady" of "London Bridge" was a reference to the early custom of embedding a human sacrifice into at least one pier of any newly-constructed bridge. 2.) Depending on when in the Dark Ages you set your campaign religious views could be an issue. Lots of Saxons and Scandinavians would be pagan and even lots of the officially-Christian types in Western Europe have more trust in their forefathers' now-hidden beliefs than in the White God. [IIRC Charlemagne, the first Western Holy Roman Emperor, crowned by the Pope, had four wives. At once. No one apparently wanted to call his attention to the official rules . . . ] Even within Christianity there's lots of deviation. You had the Celtic and North Saxon (IIRC -- I forget the official name) churches and Rome was busy sending papal legates out to combat error and heresy. This doesn't even mention the East-West split that existed hundreds of years before the official division in 1054. 3.) Fighting men were one of the few groups that could get around. The Byzantine Varangian Guard apparently started in the 900s but I'm sure that there were predecessors and you certainly could make some up -- the records from that time aren't exactly complete. Normans in the Mediterranean Basin began as mercenaries for Byzantium but wound up seeing more profit as independent entrepreneurs, fighting their own former employers. (That's corporate division with a vengeance.) 4.) Comments on weapons & armor -- I expect Dan Howard is quite right that there was little if no use of leather in the records in Western Europe at that time. I would argue, however, that given the diversity of makers & users perhaps some oddball area or even individual in Western Europe might have been more prone to making armor out of cowhide -- not like the latter is wholly scarce & was certainly used for other things (harness, thongs to tie wagons together, et. al.) The Saxon/Scandinavian scrimasax was pretty well known -- a very cheap knife or sword & various GURPS sources have covered it. I'd guess that other areas in Western Europe might have created similar weapons that were not well recorded. You might well have a gaming session around getting a fancy pattern-welded sword -- that in fact turns out to be a forgery (a cheap blade sold as a limousine model. Historians have found references to such). Perhaps a wealthy warrior has discovered his hot-rod sword was bogus and wants a group of guys to track down the seller and get back the purchase price -- if not in gold than in odd bodily parts. In Western Europe, it would be pretty standard for warriors to have not only hand-to-hand weapons skills but weapon throwing -- Spear & Axe. As armor improved & got more common after c. 1050 these skills faded, as the chance of a serious injury to the opponent would get pretty small. Characters from a herdsman background might well have Sling skill -- young boys would often tend flocks and you have to discourage wolves or feral dogs. Slings & stones are a lot cheaper than bows and arrows. If you want to get the feel for the Code of Honor of a West-Europe Dark Age warrior band I'd suggest reading the "Battle of Maldon." While impressed levies wouldn't have it not just the high-tone nobility adhered to such; any professional warrior should have such a Code, and if not, then either a Stigma or a Secret. Turning coward on the battlefield could well get you killed by your own side, if any survived. 5.) Non-combat skills -- various livelihood skills would be common in those who were not born to a warrior family -- agronomy (thinking 3rd edition), animal handling, perhaps craft skills at low-level for farmers & higher levels for those with an artisan background. Singing, gambling, boat handling (lots of West Europe has lakes/rivers, even for those far from the coast), running & jumping & wrestling were, IIRC, common sports of the young. Fewer would have Riding. I'm not sure how the Boxing would be common -- unless you count it as some relic of Greco-Roman wrestling. I think that while professional singing/recitation would be the province of skalds or bards there might be room for some low level of amateur performance. I have an image of some rain-soaked unfortunates slogging down a soggy road from Nowhere to Who Cares and the leader says, "Jorich, you've got a decent voice. Give us a tune." Last edited by fredtheobviouspseudonym; 10-11-2011 at 11:44 PM.

10-12-2011, 03:16 AM	#5
Anders Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Gothenburg, Sweden	Re: Building Dark Ages Warriors Fantasy has a professional warrior for 75 points. Martial Arts has one for 100 points. It's not easy but it's doable. __________________ “When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius Author of Winged Folk. The GURPS Discord. Drop by and say hi!

10-15-2011, 09:00 PM	#7
~~Figleaf23~~ Banned Join Date: Apr 2008	Re: Building Dark Ages Warriors Core: Knife DX+2 [4] (Long Knife, Wt=1.5, $120) Fast Draw:Knife DX [1] Feint [2] Spear DX+1 [4] (Spear, Wt=4, $40) Grip Mastery: Spear [1] Shield DX+2 [4] (Lt Shield. Wt=2, $25) Options: Throw (Spear) DX +2 [4] (Spear) Throw (Knife) DX+2 [4] (Cheap Throwing Dagger x4, Wt=1, $32) Sling DX [4] (+20 bullets, Wt=1.5, $30) Brawling DX+1 [2] Professional Skill (Soldier) IQ [2] The core package is only [16], $185, Wt 7.5. If you take the whole package, you get a broadly competent Low-tech combatant for 32 points, $247, and 10lb. Drop it in to a non-fighter build like a thief, or a merchant, or healer and you can consider yourself tough. Or drop Sling, and use the package as the secondary competencies of an archery specialist or ranger. Or Drop Spear throwing and use it as the secondary competencies of a Staff specialist. Or drop something to DX +1 and take a Fine Long Knife $480 as Sig Gear [1] (TL3) plus a Weapon Bond [1].

10-17-2011, 08:30 AM	#8
Yorunkun Join Date: May 2010 Location: Japan	Re: Building Dark Ages Warriors Hello again, had a busy weekend, with lots of back and forth regarding the campaign. We've agreed on a set of character generation guidelines, which I'm including below in case anyone is interested. These aren't final yet, but pretty close ... and pretty detailed. I've even included the perk-limitations as suggested. Hal et al. were of course right on Illiteracy and Innumeracy. We've agreed that they are common disadvantages, but that they WILL count against the disadvantage-limit. The same goes for the following mandatory disadvantages (the idea is to keep the number of social/personal disadvantages low): - Duty (oath-sworn to warlord, 5 pts) - Social Stigma (in the campaign proper, characters will be foreign mercenaries; a tiny minority group in an unknown land, so 10 pts) - Code of Honor (Soldier, 10 pts) Comments welcome, as ever. My questions: Is the disad-limit too strict now, given that 25 points are already pre-spent? Am I right to exclude Judo, Karate and Sumo Wrestling? What would an iron age warrior's code of honor look like? Also, please take a look at the four character sheets I have so far. Thanks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Character-Generation Rules All characters are built with 100 CPs, and up to 50 CP in disadvantages (including quirks). Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills designated as cinematic or supernatural or applicable to TL3 or above are not available. Likewise, basic attributes must follow the guidelines for a realistic campaign; i.e.: - HP may not exceed ST by more than 30% - Speed may not be increased / decreased by more than 2 pts - Move may not be increased by more than 3 yds Characters’ age should be around 25 +/- ten years. Characters must be male. The characters native language and culture is Saxon; illiteracy (a disadvantage worth 3 points) is common but does count against disadvantage limit. Other languages spoken in the campaign are Brythonic and Irish (which default to each other at -2), Latin and Pictish. Of these, only Latin and Brythonic will be available at the start of the campaign, and only at broken level (1 point). Characters cannot take variant TL or cultural familiarity dis/advantages. Starting wealth is $750 (silver pieces, for convenience). Characters cannot take Wealth dis/advantages, but may increase their starting wealth in 1 CP / 75$ increments for up to 10 CP (the equivalent of Comfortable at 10 CP, for twice starting wealth). Characters may take Status, Social Regard or Reputation, but only with the limitation of “among Saxons”, and not for more than +/- 5 points. Status of 1 would be the son of a famous warrior or lesser warlord, negative status would be the son of a serf out to prove himself. Characters cannot take Rank, as they start out as oath-sworn members of a war-band. Characters cannot have allies, contacts, enemies, dependants or patrons. Advantages Characters cannot take cinematic, exotic or supernatural advantages such as Arm DX and ST, Damage Resistance, Enhanced Defenses and Enhanced Move, Extra Attack, Rapier Wit, Striking ST and Trained by a Master. Furthermore, the following advantages are also not available because they are not suitable to the setting, plot or play-style: Claim to Hospitality, Clerical Investment, Gadgeteer or Gizmos, Luck (and it’s opposite, Unluckiness) and Serendipity. Houserule: In place of Luck, all players may spend one CP to buy one re-roll, once per roll. They must take the re-roll’s result. This only affects their own rolls, not those made against them. Given the frequency of combat, the following advantages will be particularly useful and are recommended: Acute Senses, Combat Reflexes, Fearlessness, Fit, Hard to Kill/Subdue, High Pain Threshold and Rapid Healing. The Weapon Master advantage is available, but only for weapon-and-shield styles. Perks: Shield-wall training (1 pt) is mandatory, Teamwork is suggested but requires a total of 20 points invested in combat skills (see “Skills” below). Disadvantages The limit is 50 points. This includes negative attributes and mandatory disadvantages, as well as Illiterate or Innumerate. It also includes Quirks. Mandatory disadvantages are: Duty-Oath-sword to warlord (5 pts), Code of Honor-Soldier (10 pts) and Social Stigma (foreign mercenaries in an unknown land; tiny minority, 10 pts). Other disadvantages of the same type as these are not available. Characters cannot take cinematic (Destiny, Secret etc), exotic or supernatural disadvantages (Weirdness Magnet), nor those pertaining to a different kind of setting (i.e. Non-Iconographic, Xenophilia) and to age or disease (Chronic Conditions, Short Lifespan, Terminally Ill). Unluckiness is also not available. Further, they cannot have any disadvantage that would render the character unfit to serve in a war-band, such as Blindness and Deafness, Combat Paralysis, Cowardice or Fearfulness, Lame or similar disfigurements. If the character incurs any of these during play, he will be retired. Suitable and/or common disadvantages include Bad Temper, Berserk, Bloodlust, Bully, Callous, Compulsive Carousing or Gambling (requires at least one point in related skill), Illiteracy in your native language (3pts), Dyslexia (house-rule: reduced to 5 pts), Impulsive, Innumerate, Intolerance, Overconfidence, Sense of Duty (adventuring companions) and minor Vows. Skills Only skills appropriate to the tech-level and cultural environment of the European Dark Ages are available. In particular, fighting styles from other parts of the world and cinematic, magical or fantastic abilities (Enthrall, anything requiring Unusal Backgrounds or Trained by a Master ) are not available. Furthermore, the following skills will be unavailable at the outset for meta-game reasons, but will become available as the game progresses: Area Knowledge, Current Events, Geography and Heraldry (characters are leaving their homes behind and setting out for the unknown). House Rule: Fast-Draw is considered a technique of the respective weapon skill and can be improved as such. As full-time warriors and members of a war-band, characters must acquire the following mandatory skills: Soldier – at least one point Hiking – at least one point Shield – at least level 12 Spear – at least one point Thrown Weapon: Spear – at least one point A level of at least 12 must be reached on a one-handed melee Weapon such as Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Knife, Spear or Shortsword. At least one point must be spent on either Boxing, Brawling or Wrestling; other unarmed combat skills are not available. In total, at least 10 CP must be spent on combat skills. Characters must also take the Shield-wall Training perk; this represents their basic training. For access to the teamwork perk, which represents longer membership in this war-band, characters must spend at least 20 CP on combat skills. Suitable and common non-combat skills are all physical abilities, like Climbing, Jumping, Lifting, Riding, Running, Swimming, Stealth, Throwing and Tracking; as well as the more common social skills Carousing, Dancing, Gambling or Games, Savoir Faire (only available type is high society – for use with chieftains and leaders of a war-bands), Singing and Public Speaking. Specialist characters should also consider skills such as Camouflage, First Aid, Gesture, Interrogation, Intimidation, Knot Tying, Search and Survival. Characters with Status or aspiring to a leadership role may also consider higher levels of Savoir Faire and Public Speaking as well as Diplomacy, Leadership, Strategy, Tactics and Teaching. Suitable background skills include Animal Handling, Farming, Fishing and Gardening as well as Carpentry, Crewman (Seamanship), Leatherworking, Masonry, Merchant, era-appropriate Professional Skills and Smith. Techniques Techniques from the Basic Set as well as from Martial Arts are available, provided the prerequisite skill is known to the character. Styles are TBD.