A Few Alternate Warband House Rules

[Gen. Lee Losing]

So, I am just starting with Frostgrave and I am getting my buddies involved. One thing they mentioned that was holding back their enthusiasm was the lack of demihumans in the rules. Now, we all know that the rules are meant to be generic. But I got to thinking that maybe there could be very simple generic templates that can be layered on a warband to make them Dwarf, Elf, or Orc.
So here is my attempt at just that. (I hope posting house rules here is alright…)

Dwarf Warband
All models in a Dwarf Warband have a -1 to their Movement and a +1 to their Armor. Dwarves are not nimble or quick, but their hardy physique is reliant to damage.

Optional Rule: Dwarf Wizards
While dwarves are just as capable in becoming wizards as any other race, some dwarf cultures frown on magic. In these cultures, the Dwarf Wizard has a very different training. To represent this, the Dwarf Wizard only knows a total of Four (4) spells. These are selected freely from the Schools of Enchanter and Thaumaturge. The Dwarf Wizard counts both schools as his primary school. All other schools count as Opposed Schools. The Dwarf Wizard may buy Leather Armor for 10gc (increasing his Armor value by one) in addition to the other gear allowed to wizards.

Elf Warband
All models in an Elf Warband have -2 to their Health and +1 to their Fight and Shoot. While their light frames are frail compared to other races, elves obtain great skill in their long lives.

Orc Warband
All models in an Orc Warband have -1 Will and +1 Fight. While orcs can be dim, they are renown fighters.

I’d love any feedback on these. I believe they are balanced, but I am not an expert on the game yet. So I bow to the forum’s wisdom on this. Thanks!

[Gen. Lee Losing]

I also kicked around an idea of a more militant leader of a warband. Again, I’d love feedback on my house rules.

Soldier of Fortune Warband
While primarily wizards brave Frostgrave to plunder its vaults, such riches inevitably attract others looking for wealth. The Soldier of Fortune Warband is lead by a Captain. The Captain is assisted by a magic user. This will either be an apprentice dismissed by his master, a self taught hedge mage, or a caster without great potential. Use the rules for an apprentice. Select spells as normal. When the Captain gains a level and selects Improve Command, the apprentice may either select one spell for improvement or learn a new spell. If the Captain improves a Stat, then the apprentice improves as normal.

Captain
M4 / F+5 / S+1 / A12 / W+2 / H16
A Captain has five slots for items. The Captain starts with Mail Armor and either a Hand Weapon or a two-handed weapon. The Captain may buy a Shield, a Dagger, a Bow, a Crossbow, or a staff for 5gc.

A Captain does not gain spells, but may issue Orders. These are far less powerful than magic, but the discipline drilled into his warband can be called upon in dire times. These commands act as spells that can only affect Soldiers of the Captain’s own warband. A Captain does not take damage from failed attempts.

Orders
Rally to Me! (10) – Line of Sight – Nominate one Soldier currently under the effect of a Blinding Light, Mind Control, Petrify or Slow spell. This Soldier may immediately make Will save at +1 to overcome its effects. This does not count as part of the Soldier’s activation.

Press Forward! (14) – Line of Sight – Nominate one Soldier currently in battle. That Soldier may fight with a +1 in the next combat. If the Captain fails to give this command by 10 or more, the Soldier fights with a -1 in the next combat, due to confusion.

Bring Him Down! (14) – Line of Sight – Nominate one Soldier armed with a Bow of Crossbow. That Soldier may fire his weapon at +1 Shoot in the next Soldier Phase. If the Captain fails to give this command by 10 or more, the Soldier Shoots as -1 instead, due to confusion.

Get up and Fight! (14) – Line of Sight – If using the option Wounded rules, select one Soldier that is Wounded. That Soldier will no longer suffer the effects of being wounded. If the Captain fails by 10 or more, the Soldier instead believes he is dying and suffers 1 wound.

[racm32]

I like the soldier of fortune warband though i think you need a few more orders, maybe a couple that effect more than one target. Could also have one where he nominates a target and all units get s bonus to hit it, just as an example.

[pws]

I will try them, I  like the idea to expand the warbands.

[Fencing Frog]

Interesting thoughts on the orders. 

[gary42]

Very nice, simple ideas!  There has been quite a bit of talk of a non magic leader!  Your Captain skills are great!  Let's add to em'!

"Charge!"  +1 to all initial melee combats within 3".
"Taunt"  Force nearest opponent (If they fail a will roll) in line of site to charge into melee.

I bet there's more!

[Gen. Lee Losing]

Thank you everyone for the feedback. Let me know if you use these in a game!

Racm32, I like the idea of an Order affecting more than one model, but I’m struggling in balancing it.
Gary42, I combined your ideas with Racm32. I wanted to keep these as weaker than a spell, and there needs to be risks…

Strike As One! (16) – Line of Sight – Nominate one combat in which two or more Soldiers of the Captain’s warband are in combat. Those Soldiers may attack the same target with a +1 modifier.  If they cannot attack the same target, they may not be nominated for this Order. If the Captain fails by 10 or more, the nominated Soldiers instead strike at -1, as they fumble over each other.

Come at Me! (16) – Line of Sight – Nominate one enemy soldier, wizard, or apprentice that is within 1.5x its Move Value. That target must, in their next activation, move directly into combat with the Captain. Should the Captain fail this Order by 10 or more, the target may elect to still make the move and fights with +1 Fight and +1  Armor in the next combat until the end of its next phase, as the Captain’s wild gestures leave him open to attacks.

Go For the Eyes! (18) – Line of Sight – Nominate one Soldier. On that Soldier's activation, any roll of 19 or 20 counts as a Critical. If the Captain fails by 10 or more, any roll of a 20 is actually a miss.


How many Orders should a Captain start with? 3?

[racm32]

Just thought of another good order for out of game:

Rousing Speech: All soldiers get a +2 to there Will for the next game as the Captains words really motivate them. If failed by 5-10 the speech was poorly done and only frightened the soldiers giving them a -1 to Will. If failed by 10 or more the speech not only frightened the soldiers but the captain was so poorly spoken that the soldiers have lost faith in him, -2 to Will.

I think the number of starting orders should be based off the total number of orders we come up with.

[JamWarrior]

Has anyone tried these dwarf rules?  I keep seeing similar suggestions written up but I'd have thought -1 move over the whole band would be pretty crippling on the race for the treasure tokens.

[Gen. Lee Losing]

Just thought of another good order for out of game:

Rousing Speech: All soldiers get a +2 to there Will for the next game as the Captains words really motivate them. If failed by 5-10 the speech was poorly done and only frightened the soldiers giving them a -1 to Will. If failed by 10 or more the speech not only frightened the soldiers but the captain was so poorly spoken that the soldiers have lost faith in him, -2 to Will.

I think the number of starting orders should be based off the total number of orders we come up with.

Haha! I love it!

[ChaosChild]

Just thought of another good order for out of game:

Rousing Speech: All soldiers get a +2 to there Will for the next game as the Captains words really motivate them. If failed by 5-10 the speech was poorly done and only frightened the soldiers giving them a -1 to Will. If failed by 10 or more the speech not only frightened the soldiers but the captain was so poorly spoken that the soldiers have lost faith in him, -2 to Will.

I think the number of starting orders should be based off the total number of orders we come up with.

For some reason I flashed right to this after reading that description.

[racm32]

It kind of seems like an obvious one now.

Another out of game:
Training. Captain will give 1 on 1 training with 1 solider. A success will let the soldier "lvl up" to a different type for only half the cost (price of training equipment). Fail by 10 or more and tge soldier was injured and must miss the next game.

[hummus]

For simplicity sake what about for the captain you chose a base soldier, barbarian Templar etc as your starting captain, then he could advance from those stats during the campaign. This might also make him more themed.

[Philhelm]

Some things to consider:

Another poster here calculated the points that soldiers pay for their stats, either increased or decreased from a base profile.  Although obviously unofficial, his calculations seemed accurate as everything added up for the different soldier variants (although the elite soldiers paid something like a 30% bonus above what the stats would cost).  Fight was worth 10 points, while Shoot, Will, Health, and Armor were worth 5 points (if I recall correctly).  Regardless, Fight is easily the best stat, pound for pound, since it determines victory in close combat and is used to defend against ranged attacks and is inherently used to determine damage since damage = D20 + Fight + Damage Bonus - Opponent's Armor.

Orcs would clearly be the superior choice from a balance perspective.  I would trade 1 Fight for 1 Will, all day, every day.  I would suggest that Orcs be given +1 Fight and -2 Will or cost an additional 5 points.

The Elves would be somewhat problematic, since +1 Fight/Shooting and -2 Health would result in a 5 point bonus; however, most of the soldiers would not benefit from Shooting at all.

I like the idea of a "warrior" leader, but the Fight stat becomes problematic in my opinion.  Obviously, the warrior would need to start with a higher Fight value than the wizard, and it would make sense that he would potentially have more than a +5 maximum.  The problem is that, again, Fight determines combat victory, shooting avoidance, and melee damage, so a warrior with a Fight value of 6+ could potentially be dominant.  Of course, the counter is that wizards cast spells, but most of those spells aren't in the least bit reliable to begin with, failing almost half of the time depending upon the spell cast.