OOC Discussion

Okay, if I take Common Auran as my intelligence bonus language I think that will make things easier. Charles, would you buy a Jutlandic interpretor starting with Jutlandic and buying Rornish, Old Rornish, Common Auran, and Elven with a proficiency?   I'm basing this on the fact that Rorn used to be a colony and is adjacent to Argollë.

Depends on how many are pulling wagons. A platoon of cavalry is 15 horses (60 is a company), but I don't think we're going to have 15 people who can actually all fight from horseback.

I would also doubt 15 is a problem in must terrain. 60 on the other hand?

Is there anything floating around on the site for Gnomish names in the Auran Empire setting?

Gnomish seems to be a derivative of Elder Futhark so going with the runic version of a swedish name is how I went with my gnome hench.  Linked below is a compliation of inscriptions of men who departed for Byzantium post 850 AD that I mined for inspiration.

https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/gunnvor/varangian/

Oh, that's awesome, thanks!

Are we still moving forward with this?  I'm still in.

Should we also get some normal soldiers or do we want to take the keep all by ourselves?

I think that depends on who is holding the keep already.  If it's a bunch of orcs, we could probably do it by ourselves.  If it's a military force, we may need soldiers.

I think we should run with a smaller crew and scout it and invest in more men in the event it has a large garrison.  Since we will have a sizable group even without a large contingent of followers.

A couple of questions.  Can we share spells among our troupe?  How are we going to be starting?  Are we just meeting or has the company already been formed?

Shure we have quite a few people but considering the distances:

  1. In the last settlement nearest Caergwyncarreg (24 miles away, Market Class VI)
  2. In the last city nearest Caergwyncarreg (168 miles away, Market Class IV)
  3. In the capital of Rorn (312 miles away, Market Class II)

and that a Market Class of IV doesn’t offer that many mercenaries per month it could mean we would have to walk pretty far if the garrison turns out to be larger…

I'd suggest outfitting as if we expect a properly sized force to be holding the keep:

-) It's a 4x as long trip (to, from, to from) to go scout lightly and then come back to recruit

-) If the garrison we encounter is understrength, the show of force may make things easier.

-) If we win the fort with whatever force we bring, we'd rather it be properly garrisoned that instant

-) Soldiers can be utilized as labor for repairing the keep with the Engineer we bring with us.

Worst case is we end up not needing them for several reasons and just let them go. 

Infantry in-hand is worth two in the recruitment tables, as they say.

 

We ought to expend some time/resources finding out as much as we can about the keep and it's supposed domain before we head out, and I'd like to have my three characters do just that:

-) How long has it been abandoned?

-) How long was it active?

-) Any records available in this large settlement we're at? (Histories, taxes, descriptions, gazeteers, etc...)

 

I would suggest bringing 5-7 skirmish scale units. Something along the lines of 2-3 cheap expandables for losses (castle assaults are tough!) 2-3 heavy Infantry to hold the castle (maybe even veterans?) and 1-2 light riders for scouting.

These are all great points.  You've won me over.

Skirmish scale being like 5-10?  

Ugh sorry, not "skirmish" but "platoon" scale...

 

Platoon Army Size: 120 – 600 troops

troops per unit: 30 infantry, 15 cavalry

Commander: 5th level 

Lieutenant: 3rd level 

Alright.  We currently have about 15k to work with.  I'd personally like to spend no more than half of that on the first months wages and food since there may be unforseen costs once we get there.  You guys think kitting out a group of mercs for about 7-8k sounds appropriate?  Additionally, if we already have the men, the starting position may as well be the close village.  That way we can do some limited intel gathering on a population that has probably had some contact with the keep.  If someone wants more complete tax or legal records then perhaps the closest city is more appropriate.

Around 8k would get us roughly 90 light infantry and 60 heavy infantry. Together with the 15 Horse Archers I already got I think we should be fine!

Yeah we could get a couple month out of them for 8k.  What gold amount do you guys typically assume for iron rations for hirelings?  I made this budget assuming 2 of 6 possible for just the proposed infantry soldiers.
 
540gp Heavy infantry (90 men * 6gp)
720gp Light infantry (60*12gp)
1200gp Iron rations 1 month (2gp*150men*4 weeks)
 
2460gp per month for the infantry.