Design Phase 1
Rafal's Crossbow is a bit of a mystery. Where did his father get it? How has Rafal kept it maintained? Why is it so effective? Rafal insists that there is no grand story behind it. His father was a hunter, who bought the crossbow from a travelling merchant. Rafal was careful with it, and had parts replaced by skilled craftsmen whenever necessary. The efficacy is totally normal, crossbows are just very powerful and often unexpected, and that's all there is to it.
To prove that there is nothing mystical about his crossbow, Rafal has ordered that we produce more of them. Just between you and me, I'm not expecting them to turn out just as good as his personal model, but even a knockoff is liable to be a very deadly weapon.
As demonstrated by Rafal's exploits against the black knight, the humble crossbow serves as out 'equaliser' against those pesky heroes. The ability to punch through most armour, accurately and without much training necessary makes them particularly ideal for our forces (Especially since most plucky heroes use something like a sword.). By devoting effort into manufacturing and acquiring these weapons, we can level off the playing field for the little guys effectively to give the Tales pause.
Difficulty: Hard
Roll: (5+2)-1=6, Average
The mechanists stood at the table, watching carefully as Rafal maintained his signature weapon. A dwarven trapmaker disassembled his personal crossbow in sync, checking for differences in the two models. Ten minutes later, Rafal restrung his weapon, and carefully set it on the table. "Any questions?"
A moment of silence filled the air, and then the dwarf spoke up, "So, just make a normal crossbow then?"
Rafal blinked behind his helmet. "Yes, like I said. My crossbow is perfectly normal. People just have bad aim."
The dwarf shrugged. "Okay."
Weeks later, the first crossbow came out of the forges, branded with a golden B, and sporting a detachable reloading crank. It handles about as well as normal crossbows do, but the stylized Bookbinders sigil keeps people inspired in battle.
Crossbows: (1 Material/5 Units): Fairly average crossbows made by Camelot's smiths. Comes with a stylish, gilded B to boost morale.
Crude, simple and effective, a club reinforced with a band or two of iron around the head is a weapon that is simple and effective at what it does, and cheap to maintain and create. Given the bands of iron, it's likely these clubs would be particularly effective against fairies. Furthermore, our ogre comrades and shorter folk have cudgels more suitable to their size)
Difficulty: Very Easy
Roll: (4+1)+2=7, Average
Felix the bandit watched the two children walk through the woods in their strange clothing. He hadn't seen people dressed like this before, not even in Wonderland, so he was intrigued. Perhaps they had some money on them. Besides, the crew hideout could use some servants.
"Blimey, what do you think this place is, sis?" The boy asked his sister as the two approached Felix's hiding spot.
"I dunno, but we're not back in Neks For anymore," she replied just as Felix jumped out and cracked her in the gut with his iron-banded club. The brother tried to run, but he wasn't fast enough, and caught a club to the side of the head, just hard enough to put him on the ground. As Felix loaded the two foreigners' tied up forms into the cart in the woods, he chuckled to himself. These clubs worked good.
Iron-Banded Cudgels (1 Material/50 Units): Simple and devilishly effective, these clubs work as good weapons to beat tales into submission. Works for any size unit.
Kobolds are small, reptilian humanoids. They were frequently 'employed' as servants in large homes/businesses, as kobolds are compelled to obey the orders of a human who performs the proper rituals (eg feeding them at the right time, saying certain cryptic phrases, and notably never giving them clothing). Such kobolds deeply resented their lot, but were powerless to prevent it. Some managed to escape, by tricking their owners into performing a ritual incorrectly. Others managed to avoid being captured in the first place. These 'wild' kobolds made their homes in caves and mines, where they built traps to keep humans at bay.
The enslavement of kobolds was made illegal upon Rafal's ascension. Not because Rafal felt pity for them, but rather because he found the silly rituals involved offensively fantastical. Additionally, Rafal had use for some kobolds as Bookbinders; those with a talent for building traps and setting up ambushes. By providing them with proper clothing, they can no longer be controlled by rituals (unless the clothing is taken away).
They rarely stand more than 90cm, and are typically scrawny in build. They are weak, and not extremely fast or agile either. However, their manual dexterity is considerable, and they are fast workers. They are not especially skilled crafters, but they have a knack for creating traps of all kinds- spike pits, tripwires, caltrops, etc- even if they look a little crude, one cannot argue with results. They are also reasonably skilled at stealth, and well trained in finding suitable places for an ambush, where enough of their small bows and pickaxes ((BYOS)) will kill just as surely as larger weapons.
Difficulty: Easy
Roll: (6+6)+1=13, Cutebold
When Rafal first liberated the Kobolds, there was widespread uproar, and more than one former Kobold owner was put in the stocks for disrespecting the King's men. Once it was over, however, a question arose: where we're all these newly freed Kobolds to go? The mountain clans had come out of hiding with the news (and gifts of clothing), but the stylish dark red Tunics wouldn't give the new citizens food and housing.
So, Rafal kindly and selflessly offered to give the Kobolds a home to stay in, a support for the mountain clans. Employment. Recruitment numbers are way up, and the mountain clans have even donated several spools of twine and bundles of stakes for their comrades joining up. Furthermore, the cute Kobolds just can't stop working. They've fortified our mountain home with more alarm systems than we could have thought possible. Given pickaxes, they're invaluable for expanding the cave network, too!
1 Being/Unit, 50 Kobolds/Unit
Equipment: trapmaking equipment, light pickaxe/light hammer/hunting bow (BYOS)
Grenda is an ancient ogre, even by the standards of the cave living ogres. She is so old that she was the very origin of the tale of Trolls turning to stone in sunlight. Using her magic, she will create an outer armoured shell of stone, gravel and dirt around herself making herself rather difficult to kill as any wound in the armour is repaired within second by the ground she lays her feet on, Combined with her rather prodigious size and strength eve for an ogre, Grenda was a menace for many an ancient village, stealing goats and sheep for her dinner in the dead of night. Any wound dealt to the soft mud of her armour was healed in seconds and strikes upon the stone and gravel did worse than nothing, merely blunting the blades and ruining their edges.
When Grenda was rather slow on her nightly escapades, the farmers would be shocked as her earthy hide is revealed in the coming light instead of the flesh one would expect. Many a farmer would commiserate to their friends while deep in their cups, leading to the legend that trolls turn to stone in the sunlight.
Being old enough to birth such a legend, Rafal found Grenda to be an interesting story, and quickly convinced her to joing his inquisition through a bribe of goats, apprentices, and as many cows as she could ever hope to eat. Even at her advanced age, Grenda is more than capable of Crushing knights underfoot with her powerful stone outer shell and her ability to lob boulders formed straight from the ground.
Difficulty: Normal
Roll: (2+4)+0, Average
"Are you sure about this, Rafal?" Asked the knight, looking at the herd of cattle behind him on the trail.
"I wouldn't buy half the town's livestock if I wasn't." Replied Rafal, tying his horse to a tree. It was a good warhorse, and he had no intention of losing it. The other knights had already tied their horses up, and the herd moved down the trail, Rafal leading by several hundred paces.
As they left the foothills, Rafal heard a whistling in the distance. Smoothly stepping to the other side of the road, Rafal nodded in appreciation as a small boulder crashed into the path where he had been standing. Retrieving the horn from his belt, he spoke loudly into it, "Grenda, we come with food."
A loud
thud rang out in the distance, and Rafal motioned the herd forward. Before long, they arrived at Grenda's cave, a well-hidden hole in the mountainside a good ways off the main trail. Grenda stood tall by the cave, imposing in her signature stone skin. "What are you doing in my home, Rafal?" She asked, grumbling in a threatening tone.
"You know my name. I feel honored," Rafal replied, bowing motioning for the others to follow suit.
"Your name has made itself known to me for quite some time now. The others speak of you," she said, moving to the cows and starting to usher them inside. Some tried to back away, but were gently prodded with stones poking up from the earth.
"Then you know the other half of my offer - you will have willing apprentices, to teach your craft to."
Grenda paused at the entrance of her cave. "So long as they find their own caves, I welcome the company."
"It's a deal?"
Grenda grabbed another cow by the neck and laughed, a gravelly, low laugh. "You wouldn't have gotten here if it wasn't."
Character: Grenda the Troll Face
A mighty, ancient ogre with stone skin armor, minor geomancy, and excellent aim. Deployable to combat missions only, unless there's livestock around to snack on.
Disgruntled Villains (B1/M0/50 Units) - a motley assortment of wronged pirates, bandits, and lawmen. Equipped with a variety of shoddy ranged and melee weapons. BYOS. (Bring your own sword)
Kobolds (B1/M0/50 Units): Cute little trapmakers and miners, wielding trapmaking equipment, and a light pickaxe/light hammer/hunting bow (BYOS)
Crossbows: (M1/5 Units): Fairly average crossbows made by Camelot's smiths. Comes with a stylish, gilded B to boost morale.
Iron-Banded Cudgels (M1/50 Units): Simple and devilishly effective, these clubs work as good weapons to beat tales into submission. Works for any size unit.
Author
Topic: Fight for the Woods - Bookbinders (Read 3845 times)