New Domain Turn Actions

[Zero]

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)

To those heavy hitters out there reading this, I'd really like some
feedback on this.

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 ½ 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’ 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 unit’s 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’s command. Training for each unit
must be paid, and success number modification must also be paid separately.



Another "Response to Players" This one can REALLY unballance the game
unless you are prepared for the sudden influx of MacGuyverisms bound to
happen. Once again, I'd like some input on what you all think.

Research Technology Success: 15+/20+
Type: Domain Base Cost: Special
The regent may improve the level of technology affecting one item in his
domain. This is a broad action, basically allowing the regent’s sages to
research new technology.
The regent may either improve existing technology, or invent new
technology. Improving an existing item costs 1d4 GB to research, inventing
new devices costs 2d4 GB. Improvements might be a better windlass for the
heavy crossbow, or better arrowheads, while an invention would be the
creation of gunpowder.
Work proceeds at a rate of 1 GB per action round. As inventions are a
completely new device, research proceeds at 1 GB per domain turn. Success
rates are 15+ for improvements, and 20+ for inventions. Regents may
improve success rating by spending Gold Bars in place of Regency.
All of this assumes that the regent has the necessary minds to come up
with the improvements. For example, improving the ballista would require
an engineer skilled with it, while creating betteer longswords would
require a master weaponsmith. So is it with researching new technology.
Gunpowder, suggested above, would require an Alchemist (or just chemist) to
research the chemical components.
Research Facility: This is a catch-all term for a new type of structure
the regent may build to facilitate inventions. The exact details of the
building are left to the player and the DM, but due to the nature of the
building, it costs 150% of a similarly constructed building using the build
action, and work proceeds at 1d4 GB per domain turn. The facility requires
1 GB of maintenance per domain turn, similar to a castle. The effect of
such a facility is that it allows the research to proceed at a greatly
advance rate. Rather than proceeding at 1 GB per action round, research
progresses at 2 GB per round. The rate is doubled for inventions as well.



The Evil DM who plans the Fall of Anuire (in my game anyway)
Tim Nutting


zero@wiredweb.com

[Robert Harper]

At 11:25 PM 5/7/97 -0700, you wrote:

>actions snipped - assume you all read them the first time<

Glad to see some suggestions for new domain actions, especially those
players tend to ask about.

I agree there should be an action for training up the effectiveness of
units, including acquiring better weapons, armour etc.

However, an action to invent items/technologies would change the rate of
technological advance in a campaign severely. Applied across all the NPC
regents, after a decade......

What I would suggest is letting a low technology area use a Domain action to
acquire and replicate a technology that already exists elsewhere in the
campaign for their own benefit. I think existing actions (Espionage,
Diplomacy) can serve this purpose.


__________________________________________________ _________________
| |
| We ask ourselves if there is a God, how can this happen? |
| Better to ask, if there is a God, must it be sane? |
| |
| Lucien LaCroix |
|_________________________________________________ __________________|

[DURKS95@aol.co]

In the game that I'm in if we want a special unit we must make a temple up to
level 4. Then the unit can be made. It's cost is usually 4 muster/2 maintain.

The Red Spider
Better than the rest

[greyhavn@creative.ne]

I think "Research Tech" could be subsumed by the "Research" action (just
expand it to allow non-magical study by anyone with the proper skills &
equipment for what their trying to do). In my campain I have one PC who
has used this action for inventing the mobile-block printing press
(admittedly working from the assumption that it had yet to be developed).
I also agree that GM's should highly regulate the use of such actions,
perhaps requiring several such successfull months (or years) spent
developing such improvements (take a look at how long it took to invent
such technologies in our own world and what knowleges & tools had to be
available first). Certainly such inventions as gunpowder & early firearms
will have a heavy impact on how wars are fought, certainly giving an
advantage to whoever got it first.

Grendel Todd