Dragon Warriors
1
House Rules 1: Warriors and Combat
The following pages are a revamp of my original house rules for warriors
and combat, adapted for the new edition of Dragon Warriors.
This document is intended to be a work of non-profit making fan
appreciation and is not meant to challenge any copyrights and/or
trademarks. These rules additions are not official and the current
copyright owners of the Dragon
Warriors RPG at the time of writing are Serpent King Games.
The Warrior Professions
Knights Knights are basically professional warriors who share the same combat
style and attitude to fighting.
Despite their name, knights can be of any social class; but despite this,
I believe social class should still play a strong part in their concept. With
this in mind, the following rules addendum presents four distinct
versions of the knight profession, the 'Knight Errant'; the Knight Patrician; the Knight Equestrian'; and the 'Knight Vulgaris'.
All four knight packages use exactly the same game mechanics, apart
from the knight's starting special abilities. The special ability package detailed in the rulebook now refers
to the knight Errant, which represents knights of any social
background who decide to wander the land in search of fame and
adventure.
A player character wishing to
become a Knight Patrician needs to roll 'Nobility' on the knight's
'Background Table' in the main rule book. Player character Patricians are
assumed to be a low ranking members of the nobility, probably a
cousin or a younger sibling to the family's true hair, and therefore has
little prospect of inheriting any real
wealth or power, forcing them out into the world to forge their own
destinies.
A player character wishing to
become a Knight Equestrian needs
Dragon Warriors
2
to roll 'Gentry' on the 'Background Tables'. The Gentry are non-
commoner households that provide nobility with their attendant knights.
The heads of such families are often given stewardship of small keeps
and villages.
Player Character 'Knights Patrician' and 'Knights Equestrian' can be
assumed to have been 'officially'
knighted, and may use the title 'Sir'.
A player character who becomes a
Knight Vulgaris, is assumed to be a military trained commoner, used primarily as an armoured foot
soldier.
The Knight Errant Errant knights are romantically
thought of as low ranking members of the Nobility who have chosen to
go questing in search of honour, fame and fortune. Knights Errant are
in fact far more likely to be military
trained commoners who; for one reason or another, find themselves
without employment, wandering the land in the hope of providing for
themselves.
Most errant knights would therefore
have had some campaign experience prior to 1st Rank, resulting in a set
of well rounded abilities, and some half decent equipment; probably
looted from the battlefield.
A Knight Errant is initially equipped
with plate armour, shield, dagger, lantern, flint-and-tinder, backpack,
25 florins, and a sword or morning
star.
The starting Special Abilities for
Errant Knights are:
Armour Expert; Ride Warhorse; and
Track.
The Track ability reflects the Errant Knights experience of living rough on campaign, and it can therefore be assumed to also include basic
outdoor survival skills, such as setting up a camp, finding shelter,
building a fire, and basic campfire
cooking.
The Knight Patrician Knights Patrician are military trained nobles who forgo the Track ability in return for 'Wealth and Status. Like all other knights however, Patricians
still gain the Armour Expert, and Ride Warhorse abilities.
The ability 'Wealth and Status affords the knight a certain level of
deference and respect from any NPCs of a lower social status, when
within their own kingdom. It can
also be helpful sometimes, when travelling abroad in similar feudal
cultures.
Being of high birth, Patricians are expected to follow the knightly code of chivalry, and to swear an oath of
fealty to another knight or noble of higher social status. Patricians are
also entitled to carry a personal Coat of Arms to identify themselves on
the battlefield. The Patricians status is usually evident from the knights general bearing and behaviour, from his or her coat of arms, and from the
quality of his or her equipment.
Knights Patrician are initially equipped with plate armour, shield,
dagger, lantern, flint-and-tinder, backpack, 25 florins, a Warhorse
Dragon Warriors
3
with saddle, tack and harness, and a sword or morning star.
This starting equipment can be assumed to be of the highest quality and worth 50% more than their
normal counterparts.
In addition to the knight's usual starting equipment, the Wealth and Status ability also gives the Patrician a surcoate and banner;
displaying his or her personal coat of arms, as well as items of fine
clothing, various pieces of jewelry,
and other small trinkets (all together worth an additional 5d6 Florins).
This 'wealth' represents the knights status in society, and should not be
bartered away lightly.
The Patrician's starting abilities
are:
Armour Expert;
Ride Warhorse; and Wealth and Status.
The Knight Equestrian Knights Equestrian are military
trained Gentry who are primarily used as cavalry during times of war.
As a result of this, they forgo the Track ability in return for 'Mounted Combat', which gives a +1 bonus to armour bypass rolls when fighting
from horseback with any hand to hand weapon. Like all other knights,
Equestrians still gain the Armour Expert, and Ride Warhorse abilities.
Like Nobles, Equestrians are
awarded a certain level of deference
from those below them in station. They are also expected to follow the
knightly code of chivalry, and swear allegiance to another knight or noble
of higher social status. Unlike Patricians however, Equestrians do
not start with any extra wealth or possessions.
Equestrians may be entitled to carry a personal Coat of Arms with the
referee's permission, and depending on the character's background story.
Knights Equestrian are initially equipped with plate armour, shield,
dagger, lantern, flint-and-tinder, backpack, 25 florins, a Warhorse
with saddle, tack and harness, and
a sword or morning star.
The Equestrian's starting abilities
are:
Armour Expert;
Mounted Combat; and Ride Warhorse.
The Knight Vulgaris Knights Vulgaris are commoners who have been trained in the knightly
arts and as they are used primarily
as armoured foot soldiers, they forgo the 'Ride Warhorse' ability in
return for 'Forage' (as per the new Hunter's Ability found in the 'Player's
Book Preview').
'Ride Warhorse' now joins the other
abilities that become available to Knights from 8th rank or higher.
Knights Vulgaris are basically professional soldiers and
mercenaries, and are rarely expected to swear a lifelong oath of
fealty, or abide by the code of Chivalry. In times of peace, they are
usually released from service, and
often become Errant Knights.
Knights Vulgaris are initially
equipped with plate armour, shield, dagger, lantern, flint-and-tinder,
Dragon Warriors
4
backpack, 25 florins and a sword or morning star.
The Vulgaris' starting abilities are:
Armour Expert;
Forage; and Track.
Forage
A skilled forager is an expert at finding sustenance in the wilderness.
He must make a Perception roll, and beat a difficulty number assigned by
the GM. The GM then rolls an appropriate die to determine how
long the forager takes in finding the food and water. The three basic
levels of foraging ability by any terrain are:
Type TN Time
Fecund 8 1d3
Fertile 12 1d3+3
Desolate 18 1d3+6
The result of the die roll indicates
how many hours it takes for the forager to find a days food and water for a number of people equal to half the foragers Rank.
The Knightly Code of Chivalry
The knightly code of chivalry determines the behaviour expected
from noble born knights, and includes: performing noble quests;
defending to the death any item or person placed in their charge;
showing courage and enterprise; obeying their rulers and liege lords;
showing respect for their peers; honouring those who are above their
station; demanding respect and
obedience from those who are
below; scorning those who are lowly, ignoble, ill-mannered, coarse, or
crude; performing military service for their liege lord when called upon;
and showing courtesy to ladies.
Characters may not necessarily
choose to follow the knightly code of chivalry, but unless they pay it at
some lip service, they will lose respect from their peers, and this
situation will remain in place until the Patrician can make amends.
Barbarians In the original Dragon Warriors game, Barbarians did not
automatically gain the 'Track' ability and in my original house rules, I
differentiated between the different barbarian cultures by deciding
whether they got Berserk or Track as a starting ability. To maintain
game balance, I am not changing the new rules for barbarians, so they
continue to get both abilities.
Barbarian characters however do
need to identify the culture from which they have come. As many
early campaigns are likely start in
Albion, an ideal homeland would be Thuland (and possibly some of the
more isolated regions of Cornumbria).
Dragon Warriors
5
Barbarians are initially equipped with full mail armour, dagger, lantern,
flint-and-tinder, backpack, 6d6 florins, and a battleaxe or a two-
handed sword.
Special Abilities for Barbarians are:
Berserk; Ride warhorse; and
Track.
Barbarians do not get the 'Armour
Expert' ability, but can wear any armour up to a suit of full mail
without suffering any combat
penalties. They are unused to fighting in plate armour however,
and must suffer a -2 penalty from ATTACK and DEFENCE if they ever
wear it.
As an alternative, the Games Master might decide that certain barbarian
cultures will have different starting
abilities, for example Forage. If this is the case, I would advise that if
Berserk is replaced, it should be with an 8th Rank Knights ability and that Bloodrage be also replaced when the character reaches 8th Rank. This
rule change suggestion should not really affect Barbarians from
Ellesland.
Thanes and Hunters Details of the 'Thane' Profession can be found in 'Ordo Draconis',
winter 2010 (Vol: 1/No: 2). It offers an alternative version of the
Forage ability and a new ability of Carouse. Knights Vulgaris may
select Carouse instead of Forage if they wish, and Barbarians may
select it instead of track.
Forage (by Stephen Dove and Lance Melville):
A skilled forager can always find food for himself and 1d4 other people (player
rolls each day), provided he is in a terrain that is similar to that of his
home area (grassland, mountains or swamp: to be chosen at character creation). He moves only at half-speed
whilst foraging, and in winter, a forager can feed only himself.
Carouse (by Stephen Dove and Lance Melville):
A skilled carouser spends much of their
lives in taverns, inns, and mead-halls, and have earned a well deserved
reputation for drinking vast quantities of mead, ale, cider and whatever else they can find, buy, loot, or steal. A skilled
carouser can drink everyone else under the table as a favourite game to see
who will be the last man standing. Strong drink is a mild poison that causes unconsciousness if a character
fails a Strength check. After three drinks, each character makes a
Strength Check on 2d6. For each drink thereafter, add a 1d6 to the dice roll.
Skilled carousers gain a +4 to Strength Checks for the purpose of resisting strong drink.
The Hunter Profession can be found in the Players Book Preview document from Serpent King Games.com
Dragon Warriors
6
Barbarian Backgrounds Thuland
The people of Thuland are not completely uncivilized, in fact they
have a highly developed early feudal society. The warriors of this land are represented as Barbarians rather than Knights, because this
reflects their temperament and fighting style better.
Thulanders are very similar in culture to the Norse, and are tall and
fair-skinned, often with red or blond hair. Thulander characters are
assumed fluent in their native language of 'Vasic'; and in my early
campaigns, should take 'Elleslandic'
as a second language at intermediate level (near fluent, with
a strong accent).
Cornumbria
The inhabitants of Cornumbria (as
well as Ereworn and Glissom) are
the original native peoples of Ellesland, who dominated the whole
island in ancient times, before being forced into the fringes by the
invading Selentium Empire.
Nowadays Cornumbria is an
independent and civilised feudal kingdom, whose warriors are usually
best represented by using the Knight's profession. However, in the
more remote and inaccessible highlands of Cornumbria, the old ways still predominate, and it is here that Cornumbrian Barbarians
still call home.
Cornumbrian Barbarians are very similar to highland warriors, and are
tall, fair-skinned, and often red haired. Cornumbrian Barbarians are
assumed to be fluent in their adopted language of 'Elleslandic',
and in my early adventures; should either take 'Vasic' as a second
language at intermediate level, or the lost Cornumbrian language of
Lughwyd' at basic level (please note that spoken Lughwyd is a dead
language, and Cornumbrian barbarians will not be able to
improve their fluency in this language beyond the few words and
phrases that have been passed down
by their elders).
Dragon Warriors
7
House Rules for Combat
Aimed Attacks In my campaigns, attackers may
target specific locations such as the head, arms or legs by applying a +4
penalty to the attack roll. If the roll fails, then the attack misses, if the
roll succeeds, then that specific body part is hit.
If a successfully hit body part is un-
armoured, then no armour bypass
role is made, making helmets suddenly useful in Dragon Warrior
campaigns.
Critical hits still automatically bypass armour as usual, and in the case of
head hits, will effectively destroy the helmet in the process.
Helmets In my campaign there are three
distinct types of helmet, Great Helm, Helmet and Coif.
Great Helms
Great Helms are large heavy metal
helmets with a visor giving face protection. They are bulky and offer
limited vision though small eye slits and ventilation holes.
Great Helms offer an AF of 5 with the visor down, but only AF: 4 with
the visor up or missing.
Great Hems incur a -3 (-2 for knights) penalty to the characters Attack and a 6 (-2 for knights) penalty to Defence when the visor is
worn down due to restricted vision.
Great Helms also incur a 3 penalty to perception in regards to sight and
sound when a visor is down, but only to sound when the visor is worn
up.
Helmets
Helmets are usually open faced, and
do not impede the wearers movements and awareness. Helms
can be made of boiled leather or metal, and they offer an AF: 3 for
Leather, and an AF: 4 for metal.
Coifs Coifs are hoods made of chain or leather, and like helmets; they are
less restrictive then Great Helms. Coifs are thin and flexible and do not
offer good protection. They are however discrete, and can be hidden
under hooded robes. Coifs offer an
AF: 1 for Leather, and an AF: 2 for chain.
Health Points In my campaigns, characters become unconscious on reaching 0
health points and die on reaching 6 (rather then 3 in the rules.
I will however be using the
Permanent Damage Table for characters when they reach 3 health points or less, making combat dangerous, but less lethal.
Permanent Injuries Table 2d6 Injury
2 Severed arm or hand. Roll 1d6:
1. Left hand
2. Right hand 3. Left arm just below
elbow 4. Right arm just below
elbow 5. Entire left arm
Dragon Warriors
8
6. Entire right arm
3 Loss of eye. Roll any die, even
number = right eye, odd number = left eye. Characters attack and defence have a 1 penalty when in mle combat
(ranged combat is unaffected); reduce perception score is by
2.
4 Injured joint; Reflexes score is
reduced by 1.
5 Injured muscle; Strength
score is reduced by 1.
6-8 Scar; reduce Looks score is d by 1.
9 Lame; character can no longer run (if rolled again, treat as
Severely Lame).
10 Head injury. Roll 1d6:
14 Reduce Intelligence score by 1
56 reduced Psychic Talent score by 1
11 Severely lame; character can no longer run; walking
movement is reduced by 1d3m; evasion and stealth are
reduced by 1.
12 Severed leg or foot. Roll 1d6:
1. Left foot
2. Right foot 3. Left leg just below
knee 4. Right leg just below
knee 5. Entire left leg
6. Entire right leg
If critical hit results in -3 health
points or less, and the subsequent permanent damage roll results in a
head wound, any head armour is bypassed and the character is
instantly killed.
If the head wound was caused by a normal hit, and head armour is
worn, no permanent damage is incurred, but the character is
unconscious for the remainder of the battle.
Variable Damage In Dragon Warriors, each weapon
does a set amount of damage.
Depending on the preference of the players, I may use the optional
variable damage system presented in the rulebook.
Regular Damage Variable Damage
Die
2 1d3
3 1d4 4 1d6
5 1d8
6 1d10
Languages In many initial campaigns, Knights are likely to be from Albion, and will
be fluent in their native language of 'Elleslandic'. Both Knights and
Barbarians from Cornumbria will also be fluent in Elleslandic, whereas
Barbarians from Thuland will be
fluent in their native language of 'Vasic'.
Unless you have access to the main rulebook, assume for now that
Barbarians will have a second language at intermediate level
(almost fluent, with a strong accent).
For those whose first language is not Elleslandic, their second language
should be.
Dragon Warriors
9
Living in the Lands of Legend
Many initial adventures are likely to
begin in the westernmost lands of Baron Aldred's fief:
Ashmore
A town near the border of
Cornumbria.
Axbridge
The most Westerly township of Baron
Aldreds fief.
Coronach Marsh
The marsh appears to be a
wilderness home to charcoal
burners, peat farmers, and outcasts.
The Marsh is plagued by snakes.
Scardic
A large town in Baron Aldreds Fief.
Igham
A village in Baron Aldreds Fief.
Villagers do not travel far into Igham
wood (which is south of the village).
It is believed that if you are caught
in the wood after nightfall, you die
before
morning.
Hesards Ford
A Small Village.
Norham
A small village.
It is believed that the 'evil' fog that
surrounds 'Hobbs Dell shrouds the lair of 'Gardener Jack'.
Pillaton
A large village.
Trefell
A small village.
Saxton
A large village.
Karickbridge
A small market town.
Gullys Inn
An Inn and way station for travelers.
Osterun Abby
A Large Monastery for the True faith.
Dragon Warriors
10
Top Related