Prev   Next   Contents

Roguish Roles

"I did not come here to speak of poetry," said the aristocrat. "I desire the death of a man. Is that not your craft?"

"It is, indeed," said Nistur. "Truly, I am a poet, hut these times are unkind to one who seeks to exercise the divine gift, so I must have a means to earn my bread. I choose the ancient and most honorable vocation of the assassin."

- A client to Nistur the Assassin,
Murder in Tarsis

The DRAGONLANCE: FIFTH AGE game is designed with a flexibility intended to facilitate the creation of any type of hero appropriate to the setting and a Narrator's campaign. Roles help players get a handle on their character type at the start of play, to complete the package of a fully denned hero. From there, the hero will grow and change as he takes his part in the Narrator's story.

While the hero creation system in the FIFTH AGE boxed set introduced roles briefly, this supplement, like Heroes of Steel before it, elaborates on the concept with guidelines and sample roles.

Defining Roles

Some roles can be defined most simply by requiring maximum or minimum ability scores or codes of a hero. After all, a Knight of Solamnia should have a fairly high Strength score and code to conduct himself as a proper warrior.

However, creating roles for rogues, thieves, and covert members of underground resistance movements can call for a somewhat different approach. Degrees of wisdom and strength matter less to a hero of defiance than his cunning, his knowledge about the world, and his place in society.

For this reason, this chapter initially defines most roles according to a hero's social status. A person with a social status of a peasant (2) is not likely to be an ambassador or courtier, while someone with a social status of royalty (9) probably won't wind up a street urchin.

The SAGA hero generation rules (Book of the Fifth Age, Chapter One) defines nine different social levels derived from a hero's wealth score. To determine the proper roles for their heroes' social status, players should consult the chart below, which divides the status levels into three social classes. A roguish hero can play any of the roles allowable for his class.

Wealth    Social Status    Class
1    Slave    Lower
2    Peasant    Lower
3    Commoner    Lower
4    Tradesman    Middle
5    Guildsman    Middle
6    Gentry    Middle
7    Aristocracy    Upper
8    Nobility    Upper
9+    Royalty    Upper

Social status does not govern all the roles in this chapter, however. Some are defined by the hero's race or background, while a few others are open to all heroes. Regardless, a hero's role must always suit his demeanor and nature. For instance, the role of a spy would be a poor match for a hero with an honest nature. Matching a hero's role to his demeanor and nature is more important than score, code, or social status requirements.

Using Roles

The roles in this chapter are offered as suggestions only. They are not intended to lock heroes into set molds but instead to heighten the enjoyment of the game and further support role-playing efforts.

Therefore, it cannot be stressed enough that players should feel free to define their own roles, based on what kind of heroes they want to play or upon their favorite DRAGONLANCE characters. If Narrators think of ways to improve the sample roles in this chapter for use in their games, they may combine them, modify them, or use them as models from which to construct their own unique roles.

Lower-Class Roles

Heroes with the social status of slave, peasant, or commoner may not have a wealth of riches at their disposal, but they can often place themselves in the perfect position to collect information as valuable as any dragon's hoard.

The Barmaid

A barmaid works in an inn or tavern serving the customers. Those who frequent the establishment might consider her a friend - at least someone to whom they can vent their frustrations - while less savory persons who only happen by the establishment occasionally may view her as a potential sexual conquest. These heroes enjoy the unique position of keeping tabs on virtually everything happening in the community. Tika Waylan from the DRAGONLANCE Chronicles first appeared in this role.

Note: Although servers in taverns and inns are typically female in the DRAGONLANCE setting, males can assume this role as barmen.

Role-Playing

Barmaids are used to dealing with a wide variety of people, from friendly guardsmen and locals to abrasive mercenaries and obnoxious drunks. They can skillfully switch from one emotion to another, depending on who they are interacting with, in order to gain information or another favorable result.

Requirements

As their job revolves around interacting with others, barmaids must have a Presence code of "C" or better. Further, they cannot have a Strength code higher than "C," as barmaids typically do not have the time it takes to become weapons masters.

Advantages

Everyone has to eat and drink sometime, and the common room of the local inn remains the central meeting point in many towns across Ansalon. This gives barmaids the unique ability to keep track of law enforcement activities and underworld movement alike, just by seeing who's meeting with whom and how often. They also can identify the comings and goings of strangers to the area and gather all kinds of interesting tidbits while serving drinks or wandering the common room - patrons, viewing servers as just another part of the scenery, often forget themselves and continue sensitive conversations while the barmaid stands nearby, absorbing every word.

Barmaids become adept at dealing with people on a variety of levels and in a variety of situations. Whenever they interact with a character in a non-combat situation, any card played for actions to put on a false face (appear to the character as seductive, angry, friendly, frightened, or any other suitable emotion) is automatically considered trump. In melee combat - a bar fight, for instance - any card played for the barmaid to wield an improvised weapon becomes trump as well. (See Heroes of Steel for details on improvised weapons such as chairs, tankards, or Tika's famous skillet.)

Heroes who begin work in a tavern or inn can adopt this role during play.

Disadvantages

Although working at a community's central gathering point has its advantages, it has its drawbacks also, particularly for a hero leading a double life - simple barmaid by day, daring rebel by night.

Whenever the hero encounters someone who frequents her inn or tavern in another setting, she must perform a Reason action to recognize him before he notices her. (This action's difficulty depends on how often the character has seen the hero.) If the player fails at this action, the character recognizes the barmaid, as follows:

- If she failed her target action score by 1 or 2 points, she looks vaguely familiar to him, but he isn't sure where he's seen her before.
- Failing the action by 3 to 7 points means the character knows that she doesn't belong here.
- Missing by 8 or more points tells the character exactly who the hero is and where he's seen her before.

The actions the character takes upon recognizing the hero will vary depending on the circumstances. A quick-thinking hero might be able to bluff her way out of the situation.

The "Loyal Servant"

A hero with the "loyal servant" role works in the household of a high-ranking or wealthy enemy, so he can watch his foe's plans develop. More often than not, employers trust this hero implicitly, even if he is secretly a prime source of information for those who oppose them.

Although the hero might not know how to use a sword properly, he leads a life more dangerous than most frontline soldiers. Not only does he risk being discovered as a traitor, but the loyal front he presents may make him a target for those who would hurt his master. Anyone who courts opposition from both the villains and those loyal to his own cause is truly playing a dangerous game.

Role-Playing

The "loyal servant" always seems friendly toward his master, as well as the family and any visitors to the house. Eager to please them, he always tries to stay one step ahead of their needs. This is only a facade, though. His friendliness gets him close to the action, and his desire to remain one step ahead of those he serves makes him appear indispensable.

Further, if a hero with this role is ever caught eavesdropping, or perhaps tailing a villain who recently visited his master, he has a fair chance of bluffing his way out of a potentially bad situation. Characters are prone to believe even a mildly convincing story that comes from their faithful servant.

Note: Because a "loyal servant" becomes familiar with virtually every detail of his master's life, the Narrator has an opportunity to give a villain a sympathetic side. For example, an oppressive, corrupt lord may be enacting his foul plots to protect his wife and child, whom he loves very much - he may even be a very gentle and loving parent. Another employer might beat his wife, torture prisoners routinely, and force his young son to perform weapon practices until the boy drops from exhaustion. In both examples, the villain may see his "loyal servant" as an assistant and a confidant. Each situation generates dilemmas that can create interesting role-playing situations.

Requirements

It takes mental stamina to seem friendly toward, supportive of, and subservient to those one actually opposes (and perhaps even despises), so heroes with this role must have Spirit and Reason scores of at least 4.

Advantages

Heroes who act as servants become adept at eavesdropping, as well as listening for approaching footfalls while searching through documents on the master's desk. Any cards played for such surreptitious actions are considered trump.

A hero can acquire this role during play, however he must have had some prior acquaintance with his employer to establish the bond of trust.

Disadvantages

Beyond his immediate circle of secret allies outside his master's household, a "loyal servant" hero has difficulty convincing those who share his true sympathies that he is on their side. Whenever trying to deal with "good guy" characters, the hero must perform an average Reason (Spirit) action, opposed by the leader of those he seeks to convince of his true intentions. Mishaps might involve the hero being dismissed, imprisoned, or even attacked, depending on the situation.

The Street Performer

A fixture of seedy towns like Port o' Call on the New Sea and large cities like Gwynned in Northern Ergoth are street performers. They dance or play their instruments on corners and in plazas, hoping someone will reward their efforts with a few copper pieces. Men and women in equal numbers become performers; most heroes with this role can both play and dance.

Street performers are young: between 17 and 25, typically. They often work in pairs-one musician and one dancer - although sometimes larger groups join together in troupes to perform more elaborate works. The musician usually plays a flute or a drum, or some other easily portable instrument, while the dancer(s) gracefully performs traditional routines ranging from the pseudo-religious (such as the famous "Mishakal's Lament") to the erotic (like the popular Ergothian dance "Huma and the Silver Dragon," performed by one male and one female dancer). There are hundreds of kinds of dances, inspired by everything from the ceremonies of Plains barbarians, to the lurching stumbles of drunken goblins, to the majestic flight of the kingfisher.

Some of the best street performers are asked to perform at the parties of merchants, and even the rare noble. This is how they make most of their living - they use their street routines to attract attention to their skill. Others provide private entertainment or companionship for lonely travelers who can afford such luxuries; these performers generally focus their repertoire around more exotic or erotic dances. A rare hero with this role makes his living entirely by performing on the street.

Street performers move in a wide variety of social circles and enter the homes and rooms of any number of rich and powerful people. It is not at all uncommon for them to act as lockouts for thieves - with prearranged musical signals used as warnings - or for performers to "case" lavish homes for burglar associates.

Role-Playing

The street performers of Ansalon are some of the land's greatest musicians and dancers, and they know it. While pampered nobles might play at making music and bards use music as an excuse to spin tall tales of trips to the moon, street performers live the craft of dancing and creating music. Thus, when it comes to conversations about music and dance, these heroes seem quite haughty and inflexible in their opinions - except when speaking to a potential customer.

Note: Many street performers eventually go on to become bards, honing their crafts to the point where they get tired of the snobbish attitudes and the abuse of the upper classes. Further, the life of a bard is less physically taxing than that of a street performer. (See the bard's description on page 19.)

Requirements

Street performers get by on good looks and grace, not to mention a pleasant personality when dealing with an individual who might pay them for one night's work what they otherwise would make in a week. To adopt this role, a hero must have Presence and Agility scores of at least 4, with codes of "C" or better in each. Further, street performers must have Spirit codes of at least "C," as they genuinely put their heart and soul into their craft - even if many augment their income with the occasional less-than-respectable activity.

Advantages

Street performers excel both at playing instruments and dancing - unless the player's concept for his hero limits him to one or the other. Therefore, actions they attempt for playing small, portable instruments (Dexterity actions) or dancing (Presence or Agility actions) are always considered trump.

In fact, normally street performer heroes succeed at actions related to their craft automatically. They need only play cards when performing under the pressure of unusual circumstances - such as a command musical performance before Malys or a special dance atop the merlons of a battlement. Narrators might also call for card play when the dancer or musician wants to copy a work he has seen or heard performed once or when he decides to make something up on the fly.

Finally, a particularly charming street performer might be able to subtly extract information from an unwary lover. On a successful easy Presence (Reason) action, the character inadvertently lets something slip.

A hero with the proper background can acquire this role during play.

Disadvantages

Street performers never enjoy a trump bonus for Presence actions to deal with middle- or upper-class characters. Although the rich folk of Ansalon's cities frequently draw upon these heroes to entertain at parties, they look down upon them at the same time, viewing them as having loose morals and no dedication to anything but money and maybe their so-called "art." In their prejudice, they believe that "serious" artists would not be forced to live in tenements or sleep in alleyways.

In other words, the wealthy don't mind using the street performers when convenient, but they don't want to be bothered with them at other times.

The Street Urchin

Ragged, unwashed, and on the edge of starvation, street urchins are living examples that life on Krynn is not fair. Many of these children have been abandoned by uncaring parents. Some have become lost in the chaos of this invasion or that, and still others are orphans with no relatives to raise them. A few of these lucky children find a caring soul to raise them properly, like Tika Waylan found in Otik Sandath, owner of the Inn of the Last Home during the War of the Lance. However, most street urchins must just survive as best they can. The more adventurous of these are the stock from which heroes are drawn.

Marsi, introduced in the adventure Heroes of a New Age in the FIFTH AGE boxed set, epitomizes the street urchin.

Role-Playing

More so than any other heroes, street urchins display their natures clearly, as the harsh realities of the world hammer them into shape. Whatever their natures and demeanors, most urchins liave learned to take care around strangers and trust only those they know well. Likewise, they help only those they know well - unless the assistance will buy them some food, clothes, a couple of coins, or a warm place to sleep. Not greedy or self-centered, street urchins just want to survive. And the best way to survive on the uncaring streets is to help your friends so they will help you.

Street urchins tend to get involved with adventuring and covert activity - freedom fighting, spying, and thieving - for a number of reasons. Some like the pay. Others admire someone involved in such ventures, a role model or someone who reminds them of their parents. Perhaps the lifestyle is simply a way to keep their bellies full. The player of a street urchin hero must decide, with help from the Narrator, why his hero decides to accompany the adventuring group.

Note: As heroes, street urchins are still coming into their own. But, like all children, they must grow up.

Once the hero has accrued five total quests (or has reached the age of eighteen, whichever comes first), he must abandon the street urchin role and all that comes with it. He remains on good terms with the characters from his network of friends (see "Advantages"), but they no longer seem as willing to lend him assistance - he's an adult now and can take care of himself. The hero must at this time adopt a new role, one that has grown out of his experiences during his quests.

Requirements

A street urchin may not begin play with more than three completed quests and should be younger than eighteen years of age. Further, the player of such a child hero must create a small tale to explain any ability codes higher than "C" at the start of play. (For instance, a kindly old mystic taught him the ways of the spirit before cruel city guards killed her.)

Advantages

Street urchin heroes have three things going for them: They know the streets of their town like the back of their hands, they have a network of friends they can draw upon for protection and support, and they spend much of their time beneath the notice of adults.

When they need to lose pursuers or just find a place to rest in their home city, street urchins can attempt the action below:

Find a Hiding Place
Difficulty: Easy (4)
Action ability: Reason
Opposition ability: None

Comments: Success at this action means the street urchin recalls a good hiding spot nearby for himself and his companions. To determine how far away it is, the Narrator turns over a card from the Fate Deck. A One means the heroes make it to safety in one minute, while a Ten indicates the trip takes a full ten minutes.

The suit of the random draw might indicate the nature of the journey to the hiding place: Shields would allow safe passage, while Arrows would engage the heroes in a running battle along the way. The Narrator might instead let the card's suit determine the nature of the hideout or tell whether someone is already there: A Moons card links the spot to the powers of sorcery, while a Crowns card could let the group slip into a castle or manor house.

Mishap: The heroes' enemies have followed them to the hideout.

Besides their knowledge of the city's secret nooks and crannies, street urchins have a network of friends and supporters they can draw upon for information and help. These folks range from other street urchins to street performers and kindly merchants. Few of these characters will endanger their lives for the hero, but they will lie for him, attempt to delay someone chasing him, and perhaps even hide him.

Many characters, both Good and Evil, see street urchins only as living refuse on the city streets. In their arrogance, they find such heroes barely worth notice. Therefore, street urchins can potentially gather all kinds of tidbits of information, as adult characters speak more freely around them - even fail to notice their presence.

Finally, street urchins frequently have to live off what they can steal. Therefore, they enjoy a trump bonus when attempting Dexterity actions that involve pilfering small items or picking pockets. (See the "Pick a Pocket" action in Appendix Three of the Book of the Fifth Age in the FIFTH AGE boxed set.)

Disadvantages

Most heroes enjoy the limited protection that being a semipublic figure grants. However, this is not the case for the anonymous street urchins - few characters outside the urchin's network of friends will care whether he lives or dies. Therefore, any enemies a street urchin might make during his adventures will feel free to take their revenge with impunity.

Once the hero is known to have played a role in fouling up a character's carefully laid plans, any Presence action involving that character must always be at least daunting. A mishap at such an action means the character has tired of the street urchin's meddling and will try to murder him, either personally or through minions.

The role of street urchin must be part of a hero's original background; one cannot acquire it during play.

Middle-Class Roles

The middle classes of Ansalon include tradesmen, guildsmen, and landed gentry - common workers who often lead very uncommon lives.

The Guild Thief

Many thieves across Ansalon belong to a widespread guild, described in the sidebar on the next page. The behavior of these guild thieves is governed by the organization's Articles of Conduct, a code that contains almost three hundred points. All these guidelines feed into four main principles, however:

- Practice one's craft honorably.
- Steal only from those who have more than they need.
- Harm only those who would harm you or the defenseless.
- Defy oppressors.

Usha learned the ways of a Palanthas guild thief in Dragons of Summer Flame.

Role-Playing

A guild thief, ever proud of his ancient profession, sees no insult in someone calling him a thief. These heroes usually follow in the footsteps of their parents and have trained since childhood to enter the family occupation. Guild thieves are expert locksmiths, masters at building and disarming small mechanical traps, and almost as stealthy in cities as elves are in woodlands. Although they freely admit they rob, cheat, and steal, these heroes target only those who deserve such treatment according to their guild's Articles of Conduct.

Guild thieves tend to refer to themselves as "eveners." They seek out the extravagantly rich and teach them the folly of showing off their wealth by taking it from them. They identify those who would take away the freedoms of others and free the oppressed from their yoke by punishing the oppressors. In the process, guild thieves invariably gain for themselves a bit of wealth or power, thus making everyone a little more equal. Hence the nickname "eveners."

Many of these heroes hope to make life on Ansalon more pleasant for everyone in the long run - to reach a day when no one actively seeks to better himself without thought or concern for his fellow beings. Members of thief guilds consider themselves needed now more than ever before, and their devotion to bringing freedom to Ansalon grows stronger every year.

Note: Guild thieves frequently adopt false roles, either to infiltrate the their foes' organizations or to conceal the fact that they make a living by stealing from and tormenting the powerful of Ansalon. (See "False Roles" on page 28.)

Requirements

Guild thieves train from childhood to serve as equalizers between the haves and the have-nots. Therefore, each guild member must have at least a "B" code in one or more of the following abilities: Dexterity, Reason, or Perception. This is not to say that guild thieves are all master marksmen or hedge-wizards (although many are). Instead, these code minimums indicate that years of practicing their trade have given guild thieves a high degree of manual dexterity from lockpicking or a keen mind from building and disarming intricate mechanical traps.

Further, guild thieves must have a nature derived from a card with a value of 5 or less.

Advantages

Guild thieves receive an automatic trump bonus when performing any thieflike actions that rely on Reason, Perception, or Dexterity. Examples include picking pockets, climbing walls, searching for traps, and picking locks. A hero might also include interpreting clues and interrogating a witness or rival, if the Narrator agrees.

Further, these heroes know a special sign language called "hand talk," which only other guild thieves know.

A hero with the proper connections can acquire this role during play.

Disadvantages

Most guild thieves act cocky and self-assured and seem possessed by a strong sense of purpose. This combination can lead them to act rashly, despite a general nature to the contrary. When- ever confronted with a blatant example of injustice or oppression (for example, a jewel-bedecked merchant throwing water in the face of a beggar who asked for a drink, then proceeding to beat him), the hero must attempt a challenging Reason action to resist taking immediate steps to stop the abuse, heedless of any danger that might arise from lack of planning.


Thief Guilds

Thief guilds in Ansalon are an ancient tradition, dating back to the early days of the Ergothian Bmpire almost three thousand years ago. During the Age of Dreams, Emperor Ackal II attempted through law to limit the exploration and looting of ancient ogre ruins to the empire's growing ruling class. (See Chapter Four for details of Ergoth's history.) When adventurers banded together to defeat this unjust law, the emperor's sheriffs took to calling their unions "guilds of thieves." In time, that's indeed what they became.

As corrupt Ergoth began to rot from within, the adventurers turned to banditry. By the time of the Rose Rebellion, which sundered the empire, the thief guilds had become a greater source of woe to citizens than were dishonest tax collectors and insane governors. However, deep in the guilds' mire of corruption were men and women of good hearts. Their names have long since been forgotten, but their legacy lives on. During or shortly after the Rose Rebellion, the thief guilds began to return to principles more in step with their founding precepts. Two millennia later, the thief guilds remain staunch opponents to dictatorial forces everywhere on Ansalon.

The Guilds Today

In recent times, thief guilds have evolved to hold a specific place in society - not only in Ergoth, but across the continent. During the War of the Lance, for instance, many famous freedom fighters in dragonarmy territories belonged to thief guilds. The most renowned of these is the Silver Fox of Flotsam, an aging half-elf who now sits on the ruling council of that beleaguered city.

The guilds today are governed by Articles of Conduct dating from around the time of the Cataclysm, when the thieves of the day fought the oppression of Istar's Kingpriest. These Articles define guild thieves' behavior according to the ancient Ergothian tradition: to protect the common man from the abuses and excesses of his "betters."

In many places, however, the notion of thief guilds is not one the folk of Ansalon care to envision: Thieves just want to rob whomever they like whenever they feel like it, commoners believe. Thus the guilds have become semisecret organizations in nearly every realm of Ansalon - except for Ergoth, where the organization remains more or less an institution. These covert thief guilds, autonomous chapters of a single organization, operate with a secrecy few other large groups can manage. Some examples of their activities include the following:

- The Thief Guild of Flotsam remains a strong supporter of the ruling coalition of goblins, gnolls, humans, and kender constantly trying to rebuild the city.
- Sanction's guild members have thrown in their lot with the Legion of Steel.
- Members of the Palanthas Thieves' Guild play a constant cat-and-mouse game with the Dark Knights, while robbing both them and the agents of Khellendros the Blue.

Guild thieves get along relatively well with the Legion of Steel; in fact, many people work actively for both factions. Members of both parties can usually set aside the philosophical differences between the ancient Ergothian ideals and the Legion's more modern principles when it is clear they seek the same goal.

A strong enmity exists between the guilds and the Solamnic Knighthood, however. The rivalry remains first a traditional one: Legends hold that it was guild members who opened Vinas Solamnus's eyes to the Evil of the empire he then served, yet the guilds receive no credit in historical accounts of the Rose Rebellion. Secondly, guild members take great exception to the Solamnics' penchant for proclaiming themselves symbols of moral virtue - a morality that they've forced upon other peoples time and again.

Scholars who have studied both the Solamnic Measure and the guilds' Articles of Conduct have found similarities leading them to suspect the documents have common roots. As citizens of Ergoth founded both organizations in order to further justice in Ansalon, this conclusion is perhaps not surprising. However, both guild members and Solamnics take great exception to the comparison and continue to oppose each other's pursuits.


The Merchant

From the Ergothian isles to the forested domain of the Green Dragon Beryl, commerce and trade have remained an important part of life in Ansalon. Even in this dark and chaotic time - dragons claiming large swaths of the land. Dark Knights once again trying to subjugate the populace, and new weather patterns making sea travel in the west nearly impossible - the merchants of Ansalon continue to ply their trades. By covering their caravan routes, merchants spread goods and knowledge and make cultural contacts across Ansalon.

At the same time that merchants enjoy a spot at the center of activity in a town - their business - they frequently find reason to travel far and wide in search of trade goods. Often they even carry news from distant lands and may even spy for the lords of a particular realm.

The dwarf Sonnus Ironmill, a Haven merchant, personified this role in the novel Steel and Stone.

Role-Playing

Merchant heroes are generally motivated by whatever will earn them money. Other factors may influence them as well, but without profit, merchants can't keep their businesses going. Therefore, any political sympathies they may have must take a back seat to maintaining their livelihood.

Note: A merchant's vulnerable spot is his business. The Narrator can use threats to his establishment to generate adventures - anything from a smuggling mission to avoid unfair taxes to a battle against thugs trying to collect protection money from the heroes. The Narrator also can change the face of the game by dealing a crippling blow to the merchant's business, causing the hero's wealth score to fall 2 points until he rebuilds his livelihood, a process that leads to more adventures.

Requirements

Merchant heroes must have Perception, Presence, and Reason scores of 3 or higher to even hope to conduct successful business transactions.

Further, a merchant may not have derived his nature from a card with a white aura. This type of hero must remain somewhat cold-hearted to keep his business profitable.

Advantages

The primary advantage of playing a merchant hero is that he owns a small shop or possibly a caravan business. Together, the Narrator and the player should establish the nature and size of this business, as well as its number of employees and their personalities. This business can serve as a cover for the hero's secret activities or as a central meeting point for the heroes and their allies. The group can easily make contacts here.

Additionally, merchants always receive a trump bonus for actions involving trade, bartering, appraising, or haggling (usually Presence actions opposed by the character's Reason). This advantage can neutralize the racial Presence disadvantage for minotaurs, elves, half-elves, and dwarves.

A hero with appropriate resources can acquire this role during play.

Disadvantages

Once again, because merchants concern themselves primarily with profit, they rarely bother with such sentimentalities as charity work or similar compassionate goals. Therefore, merchants never receive a trump bonus to Presence actions for a charitable or selfless goal.

The River Pirate

The massive Vingaard River has long served as a major trade vein in north-central Ansalon. And, of course, with commerce come thieves. Along the Vingaard, these thieves have sprung up from their Solamnian roots into a unique culture - that of river pirates.

Most river pirates live and die on their boats; these vessels represent to members of this culture what farms mean to Solamnian peasants. Unlike said peasants, however, pirates are strongly independent, recognizing no leader higher than the matriarch of a family. Basically, each riverboat operates independently, although families with more than one vessel support each other in times of need. Occasionally, two or three generations may live on the same boat, as pirates tend to marry at an early age. However, the community will not treat pirate heroes as adults until they have become masters of their own riverboats.

From their base in the ruined town of Vingaard, the pirates tax merchants plying the Vingaard River between Kalaman and points south. Most traders would rather pay the tariffs than risk attack.

Role-Playing

The independent-minded river pirates all respect the matriarchs of their families, as well as the matriarchs' husbands. However, these heroes have no use or patience for those who try to lord over others based on the false authority conveyed by titles or by the steel-shod weight of armed force.

With the coming of the Great Dragons, river pirates - like all peoples - face an even greater force of repression. Though they levy no armies against the dragons, they operate several "underground" routes leading from the realms of Khellendros and Fenalysten to free lands. Further, ships carrying supplies or troops meant to oppose a dragon lord often fall under the protection of every riverboat along the way. (Of course, the vessels still are subject to tax.)

Considering their free-spirited nature, though, not all river pirates oppose the dragons. Many remain neutral, some hire themselves out to the highest bidder, and others pretend to take a side, all the while serving as secret moles. It's never easy to identify a riverboat's pirate crew as friend or foe.

This fact has led many powerful folk - both Good and Evil - to label the river pirates a complication that ought to be removed. Even their dedication to exterminating the undead river pirates of Nightlund has not offset this troublesome reputation. (See Nightlund's entry in Chapter Two of Dusk or Dawn in the FIFTH AGE boxed set for details.)

Requirements

River pirate heroes - neither the purest nor the vilest of individuals - should have a nature derived from a card with a red aura.

Advantages

Since they grew up on riverboats, these pirate heroes enjoy a trump bonus for all actions relating to operating a vessel on the relatively calm waters of a river. True, the Vingaard stretches to more than a mile wide at points, so it can get quite choppy. However, the nautical skills of its pirates cannot rival those of sea barbarians or mariners when it comes to the open sea.

Disadvantages

Due to their untrustworthy reputation, river pirate heroes never gain a trump bonus for Presence actions to deal with people outside their own culture.

In addition, those not born into the culture of the Vingaard river pirates cannot acquire this role during play.

Upper-Class Roles

The upper social classes - members of the aristocracy, nobility, and royalty - comprise a fairly small segment of the cross-section of Ansalon. Still, many of their number involve themselves in subtle opposition to the forces of Evil, while others, remaining true only to themselves, sometimes stand against the forces of Good.

The Ambassador

Few people generally want to wage war. It is a costly activity, both in lives and in steel pieces, and by its end, whatever the parties fought over likely has been destroyed or severely devalued. Now that gods no longer remain to spark wars, free realms seek more and more to avoid conflicts with each other - and especially with the Great Dragons. This altitude has led to an increase in exchanges of emissaries among governments and multinational fighting forces, like the Knights of Takhisis or the Legion of Steel.

The ambassador hero dedicates his life to serving his realm Or cause through words rather than deeds. Of course, few heroes are all talk and no action; ambassadors specialize in underhanded exploits, such as spying, thieving, kidnapping, or even murder. Such duplicitous heroes, particularly those in the service of Dragon Realms, can smile while getting ready to backstab those at the negotiation table.

Role-Playing

While ambassadors believe in the cause or nation they support, most have enough experience to realize that alliances shift and political outlooks change. Therefore, in public they express their personal opinions very carefully. They always appear thoughtful and polite, even to individuals who oppose their own stance. Masters of oratory, ambassadors usually consider physical conflict the last option when it comes to resolving differences. Further, these experts at character reading can sometimes even spot a foe claiming to be a friend.

Requirements

Ambassador heroes must have a demeanor derived from a card with a red aura. Additionally, they need at least a "C" code in Presence.

Advantages

Ambassadors enjoy a trump bonus when engaging in negotiations with heads-of-state, lords, or military officers (Presence or Reason actions, depending on the circumstances).

In addition, ambassadors may attempt the action below while conversing with a character or hero to figure out what he is really thinking:

Discern True Thoughts
Difficulty: Varies
Action ability: Perception
Opposition ability: Reason

Comments: Success at this action gives the hero an insight into another's true intentions and feelings by observing his body language. The difficulty depends on the hero's distance from the subject:

- Easy (4) at melee range.
- Challenging (12) at near missile range.
- Daunting (16) at far missile range.

Naturally, the hero must be able to see the character in order to attempt this action. Narrators may increase the difficulty to account for dim lighting or other visual obstructions.

Mishap: The subject senses the hero's suspicions and may react with varying degrees of annoyance.

Heroes with appropriate backgrounds may adopt this role during play.

Disadvantages

Ambassadors never enjoy a trump bonus for Presence or Reason actions to interact with lower-class individuals (wealth of 1 to 3). Such "common" folk have seen too much hardship from smooth-talking nobles like the ambassador to easily trust anything he says.

The Fop

Even in a world as harsh as Ansalon has become in recent centuries, some men and women manage to grow soft inside their fancy mansions and walled palaces.

Fops are decadent, silly hedonists who pose a great source of annoyance to warrior nobles. They don't care about politics and nebulous notions like "right" and "wrong" Instead, fops worry about fashions, social gatherings, and writing poetry - which they recite frequently, whether their audience wishes to hear it or not. They often engage in trysts for the romance of it, and they keep a perfumed handkerchief nearby to ward off any offending odors.

Heroes who adopt this role are actually cut of much sterner stuff than it would seem at first. They adopt this pampered, useless air merely to make potential enemies think them harmless. In actuality, the mask of the fool hides a keen mind, well-honed skills, and dedication to the cause he supports.

Role-Playing

Fops tell lots of tasteless jokes, brag about famous people they've met, and find reason to recite bad poetry on almost every occasion. They swoon often and frequently faint when someone levels threats at them, waving their perfumed handkerchiefs theatrically as they slump into a nearby chair.

In all, the fop is a comic figure - except when it comes time for real action. Then the hero seems to transform into a grim, amazingly skillful individual whom opponents invariably regret having tangled with.

Requirements

Fops are highly capable heroes hiding behind a veil of incompetence. Thus, such heroes cannot have any ability scores lower than 5, and at least four of their codes must be "B" or better.

Advantages

Most characters (even most heroes) consider fops mere bubble-heads. People act less cautious around fops than they otherwise would - even regarding activities they wish to keep secret.

Ideally, the Narrator should let clues slip at moments appropriate to the story. To determine randomly whether a character gets careless around a hero he views as a buffoon, the player can draw a card from the Fate Deck: A card with a white or red aura means the hero gains some useful information - the character makes a revealing comment or leaves evidence relating to his activities where the fop can find it. A black-aura result, on the other hand, indicates the character keeps his wits about him. Turning over the Ten of Dragons might mean the character becomes suspicious of the hero, perhaps beginning to suspect that his foppishness is just an act.

Disadvantages

Just like the villains do, most potential allies consider fop heroes just empty-headed fools. Should the fop reveal his true capabilities, of course, the ally will never doubt him again.

However, if the hero lets too many people in on his secret, word of his duplicity will get out. Eventually, so many people will learn of his facade that villains will act particularly careful around him. Therefore, if the hero shows his true nature to anyone but a select few other heroes and characters, he loses the role's advantage.

Heroes cannot acquire this role during play unless they have just moved to a new realm where no one knows them.

The "Staunch Supporter"

Since the Second Cataclysm, events have swept up Ansalon in wave upon wave of change. Dynasties have toppled and entire nations have vanished. Often, nobles and royals find them selves cast aside, landless, penniless, and hunted. Others have managed to roll with the punches, retaining their holdings and social standing by immediately becoming vocal and active supporters of the new regime - even that of a dragon or the Dark Knights.

The "staunch supporter" sticks close to the realm's ruler, quick with advice and even quicker to suppress even the slightest whisper against the regime. The ruler, depending on his nature, may view such a hero as either a sycophantic lapdog or as a loyal adviser, worthy of both friendship and trust.

One might think these men and women have traded in their principles for wealth and comfort. However, those who adopt this role actually have made deception a way of life. They have put everything on the line for their principles by pretending to be all that they are not.

The Qualinesti Speaker of the Sun, Gilthas, exemplifies this role.

Role-Playing

This hero always seems friendly toward his overlord, ever eager to please and assist him. This is only a facade, though. His friendly appearance stems from his desire to stay close to the action, so he can secretly thwart the lord's plans.

Requirements

It takes a fair amount of mental stamina to act friendly toward those one actually opposes - perhaps even despises. So, heroes who adopt this role must have Spirit and Reason scores of at least 4.

Advantages

A "staunch supporter" always enjoys a trump bonus when dealing with the servants and minions of the ruler he supposedly supports.

Disadvantages

This hero has difficulty convincing those who share his true sympathies that he is on their side. Whenever trying to deal with the "good guys," the hero must perform a challenging Reason (Spirit) action, opposed by the leader of those he seeks to convince of his true intentions. Mishaps range from potential imprisonment to an attack, depending on the situation.

Heroes cannot acquire this role during play unless they find themselves in the circumstances of entering a realm with a new government.

Other Roles

Not all roguish roles depend on a hero's social status. Some are open primarily to heroes of a certain race, while others can apply to any hero at all.

The Bard

Where learned men such as those in Astinus's order of Aesthetics in Palanthas devote their lives to chronicling the major events of history in books, the bards of Ansalon wander from village to village collecting songs and local folktales. Historians concern themselves with kings and truth, while bards pay more attention to the common man and ripping-good yarns.

Bards - an important but seldom recognized part of society - rarely appear in big cities like Palanthas or Solanthus. They leave those stomping grounds to the younger street performers, and hence often go unnoticed by "authoritative" (and urban) historians.

Ansalon's bards come in many different stripes. In the desert land of Khur and the polar Icewall Glacier they often serve as tribal shamans as well as storytellers, lending a moral significance to most of their tales. Bards ofAbanasinia and the Plains of Dust specialize in romances and love ballads. Many popular songs of the last fifty years revolve around the War of the Lance, a time now viewed as an age of grand heroism.

In Solamnia, the Estwilde, and among minotaurs and goblins, the bards - generally former street performers - specialize in supposedly historical sagas filled with exaggerated accounts of heroic deeds. Kender and gnomish bards create tales and songs even more fantastic. Popular kender tunes include:

- "Toede of Flotsam," which chronicles a trip to the Abyss and back, supposedly taken by the aging hobgoblin general-turned-poet-philosopher-ruler;
- "Go for the Toe," the tale of how Hero of the Lance Tasslehoff Burrfoot defeated the Chaos god by stabbing him in the big toe; and
- "The Kender Cleric of Chemosh," a tale of a kender hero who bluffed his way in and out of Sanction at the height of the Dark Queen's power during the War of the Lance.

Bards in Ergoth and Saifhum study at bard colleges (see sidebar, next page), where they learn something from the repertoire of all the other bardic types.

The elf Quevalin Soth, mentioned in Chapter One of Dusk or Dawn, is one of Analson's best-known bards.

Role-Playing

Bardic heroes can be varied as the songs they sing. The most famous bards can command hundreds of steel pieces for a single night's performance at a lord's party, while others wander the countryside, telling tales in exchange for food and a place to sleep. All of them, however, share a love for storytelling and an almost insatiable curiosity about legendary sites, fabled heroes, and current events.

Almost without fail, these heroes love to gossip even more than old maids. For this reason, small, isolated villages welcome them with open arms, viewing their tales as news - even if they hold only a fraction of truth.

Generally speaking, these heroes have gregarious and outgoing personalities. No bard has ever been known to turn away an eager audience unless he had pressing business elsewhere. Even the richest, best-paid bards give spontaneous performances to children on street corners or entertain a village of poor peasants for free. A bard's life is all about the telling of the tale, and the wonderment, sorrow, or amusement that goes hand-in-hand with it.

Note: As bards travel from place to place, groups like the Legion of Steel often recruit them to carry messages from cell to cell.

Requirements

To sing their songs and tell their tales with passion, bards must have a minimum Spirit score of 4. In addition, they require a Presence score of at least 5 to hold an audience's attention.

Advantages

As inveterate travelers and lore-lovers, bards most likely know a little bit about every important or mystic place on Ansalon. While visiting a significant site, a bardic hero enjoys a trump bonus to any Reason action he attempts to recall stories or songs he's heard about the place (the Narrator determines the action's difficulty).

Additionally, these effective storytellers can hold an audience virtually in thrall with their tales:

Enthrall an Audience
Difficulty: Varies
Action ability: Presence
Opposition ability: Perception

Comments: Succeeding at this action while telling a story or performing a song means that characters within earshot become absolutely engrossed. During the performance, they fail to pay attention to minor events around them - such as heroes sneaking into an off-limits room, picking pockets, or quietly abducting someone at the edge of the crowd. The Narrator determines the difficulty according to the circumstances. The listener who would be hardest to distract (highest Perception, acute senses, etc.) provides the opposition.

Mishap: The listeners find the bard's rendition unappealing or in poor taste. Their exact reaction depends on their disposition before the performance started. Friendly characters merely chide the hero, while hostile ones may attack him. Narrators can determine the listeners' reactions using the aura of a random draw from the Fate Deck.

Heroes with the proper training can adopt this role during play, although those from Ergoth or Saifhum should first attend their realm's bard college.

Disadvantages

Like their kindred spirits, the street performers, bards are frequently looked down upon by the rich and powerful. Although these heroes may perform at parties and festivals - sometimes for enormous sums - many Ansalonians disapprove of their lack of roots.

Consequently, bards never enjoy a trump bonus for Presence actions (other than when performing) involving those with a wealth of 8 or higher.


Bard College

Ergoth is one of the few realms where bards receive formal training beyond a mere apprenticeship. The small Bard College, dating back to the days of the Quevalin dynasty, still stands today in the town of Lancton.

For many centuries now, the Bard College has admitted no more than ten students at any one time. As part of the six-year program, students commit to memory hundreds of legends, songs, and epic poems and become proficient in a variety of musical instruments.

Although the foundation of this training program is centuries old, the school's Master Bards convene to update the curriculum every twelve years. They drop songs and legends that have become so widespread even the buffoons that pass for goblin bards can recite them accurately and add several that have emerged during the decade just past. The result is an ever-growing repertoire that preserves ancient tales without growing stagnant.

With Ergoth re-emerging as a cultural center, other realms may well attempt to create colleges that follow this model. Istar attempted to do so in the century before its destruction and, in fact, allowed only those bards formally trained at schools approved by the Kingpriest to give public performances. Such past efforts ultimately failed, however, as free-spirited bards refused to limit themselves to an accepted canon of works. Even some Ergothian bards reject their own college but, much like thief guilds (see page 12), it remains a part of their culture.

Some travelers note with surprise that the cheerful, independent mariners of Saifhum have a bard college in their capital of Sea Reach whose organization mirrors the Ergothian model (though the curricula differ). Scholars call this institution a holdover from the years just after the first Cataclysm, when Ergothian expatriates arrived in the Blood Sea to settle this isle alongside the surviving Istarans already there.


The Con Artist

Certain individuals are gifted with the ability to offer convincing theatrical performances, to lead the masses, or to make profound arguments on the strength of their personality alone. Some such folk become entertainers or politicians, using their skills at least partially to benefit others. On the other hand, some choose to use their talents for purely selfish means. These individuals become con artists.

Con artists make their living by creating scams, playing sleight-of-hand tricks, and preying on the superstitions of the ignorant. These tricksters devote themselves to swindling up a fortune, copper by copper. Sorcerers dislike their phony magic tricks, mystics take offense at their false spiritual claims, healers resent their fake salves, warriors distrust their underhanded ways, and thieves hate them for using their con games to steal from them.

Tika Waylan Majere's father, Alleran Waylan, was a con artist who targeted only rich lords.

Role-Playing

Happy-go-lucky sorts at heart, most con artists view the world in the context of what they can squeeze out of it. A rare few focus their efforts only on those who can afford to lose their money, such as lords in their opulent palaces, but most five little or no thought to whom they con. Of course, these con artists stand at the top of their fields and often spend hundreds of steel pieces to plan a heist that will net them thousands of steel pieces. These elite can pick and choose their targets at leisure. As con artist heroes represent the cream of the crop, most of them are too big to take a peasant's last copper.

A discussion of staging cons appears in Chapter Two.

Requirements

Con artists must have a Presence code of "B" or better to seem trustworthy while running their cons. Additionally, they cannot have a nature drawn from a card with a white aura. Even the most conscientious con artist, one who targets only other blackguards, isn't that sensitive toward others.

Advantages

Heroes with this role have a way of making others feel at ease, easily earning their trust. Con artists enjoy a trump bonus to any Presence action they attempt to convince a mark they really are selling bottled dragon breath - or whatever their con of the day. (This benefit cancels out racial disadvantages regarding Presence actions.)

Inspired heroes can acquire the role of a con artist during play.

Disadvantages

Once characters discover what the con artist does for a living, they will find it hard to trust him again - this may apply to other heroes, too. When dealing with characters wise to his games, the con artist receives no trump bonus for Presence actions. (Races that normally do not receive a trump bonus to Presence actions involving other races instead suffer a -3 action penalty for such actions.)

The Displaced Noble

With all the upheaval Ansalon has seen in recent years, many nobles and royals have found themselves stripped of land and tide. Some of these people are kind-hearted folk who refused to submit to evil overlords, while others are greedy oppressors forced to flee in the face of peasant uprisings. Many such displaced nobles hope to some day reclaim their land and tide. Others just try to adjust to their new lot in life while keeping themselves and their families safe.

The dark elf and former Silvanesti Queen Alhana Starbreeze is an example of a displaced noble in the Fifth Age.

Role-Playing

A hero with this role once enjoyed a much better station in life. He frequently attempts to issue orders to those now "above" him and occasionally may even act imperious with other heroes. More often than not, the hero quickly realizes his mistake and apologizes. As he has seen everything his family owned taken away, he wants to make sure to keep what few comrades and allies he has left.

Note: Many displaced noble heroes - like the woman pictured on page 17 - choose to assume one of the upper-class roles described earlier as a false role (see that section on page 29).

Requirements

Heroes with this role may not have a wealth greater than 6. Once, they might have had a higher score, but those days are gone. The player and Narrator can either choose the hero's former social status or determine it through a ran- dom draw from the Fate Deck:

- Card value of 1 to 2: Aristocrat (7).
- Card value of 3 to 4: Nobility (8).
- Card value of 5 to 6: Royalty (9+).
- Card values above 6: A wealth score equal to the face value.

Advantages

The hero still has a few highly placed sympathizers in the region he or his family used to rule. The Narrator and player should define these sympathizers, who can offer any reasonable aid to the hero and his friends as long as it doesn't endanger them or their status.

In addition, regardless of his current standing, the hero gains an automatic trump bonus when assuming the guise of an individual of his former social status.

At the Narrator's option, the displaced noble ultimately can regain his lost social status. Accomplishing this goal should be the result of several quests.

Disadvantages

Just as some folks want to help the hero, others want him dead. At least once per quest, the displaced noble should come face to face with an agent of his enemies, or perhaps find some sign of their continued interest in destroying him. This need not turn into a combat scene - it might not even be a life-and-death situation - but it should feel tense and threatening. A hero's enemies may range from nobles who betrayed him to peasants once oppressed by his family.

A hero may adopt this role during play only if circumstances in the campaign robbed him of his birthright.

The Handler

Of all the types of kender, one is admired above all by his fellows. The kender themselves don't really have a name for such an individual, except perhaps "role model" or "hero." The rest of Ansalon, however calls him a handler.

Moreso than any others of his race, this hero always seems to know when to seek adventure, where to find neat stuff, and how to extract himself from trouble. He is truly a kender's kender.

Most even-tempered individuals know kender don't steal purposely - they just forget what is and isn't theirs. As with all kender, curiosity and an insatiable hunger for new experiences motivate handlers to action. They prove more capable than most kender at satisfying their curiosity, however: It is a rare lock or magical ward that a handler can't get around. Once he sets his heart on obtaining an object, he invariably will get his hands on it - unless something more interesting comes along, of course.

Role-Playing

While kender handlers live to purloin, they do not purloin to live. Unlike thieves and bandits, handlers do not act out of greed, but out of curiosity. The more forbidden and protected an item is, the more curious the handler becomes.

Once he has obtained and examined it, however, he often loses interest. Thereafter, he may absent-mindedly lose the item or pass it along to friends with an interest in such things. (This is why the Legion of Steel makes a concerted effort to befriend kender: One never knows when a handler might tire of a set of secret battle plans he has secured from a Knight of Takhisis.) A handler has absolutely no interest in the financial value of an item. An ornate brass-plated clay statue will hold his attention far longer than a priceless but boring raw diamond.

Tasslehoff Burrfoot was a notorious handler. (Just ask anyone who ever met this legend what he lost!)

Requirements

Although not all kender are handlers, all handlers are kender. As only true or afflicted kender may adopt this role, they must meet the basic requirements for that race, as outlined in Chapter One of the Book of the Fifth Age. Additionally, in order to be a handler, a hero must have a score of 8 or better in both Agility and Dexterity.

Advantages

Regardless of his actual background, the hero is considered nobility (wealth 8) when interacting with kender who know him - they try to please him in pretty much any way they can. He also enjoys a trump bonus for Presence actions directed at such kender.

Whenever the handler meets a new group of kender, his player turns over a card from the Fate Deck to see whether they recognize him. (Any kender who recognize him treat him as detailed above.) Drawing a card with a white aura means the new kender know him by sight. A red aura indicates that they recognize his name, while a black aura suggests that they are unfamiliar with him. Of course, handlers who don't want to be recognized can disguise themselves with average Reason (Perception) actions. They can also attempt average Presence (Perception) actions to deny that they are who the new kender think they are.

Handlers also receive the advantages listed for their race in Chapter One of the Book of the Fifth Age.

Disadvantages

While handlers are treated like heroes among their own kind, most other folk are less than thrilled with them. Once a handler has been identified as such by a community of nonkender, he no longer enjoys a trump bonus for Presence actions and he suffers a -2 penalty to all his action scores there. Furthermore, innkeepers and merchants will keep an extra close eye on the handler and overcharge him to make up for any items he has "handled" while in their establishment. Regardless of the handler's background, his effective social status falls to that of a peasant (wealth 2).

To see whether others recognize a handler for what he is, the player turns over a card from the Fate Deck. Drawing a Dragons card means someone in the community has either witnessed him "handling" or has, by a strange coincidence, encountered the hero elsewhere.

In most cases, recognition proves merely inconvenient for the kender and his friends - for instance, the local law follows them around during their visit. However, if the heroes find themselves in a town harboring a group of covert Knights of Takhisis, a clandestine circle of Solamnic Knights, or (worst of all) a gang of cutthroats about to conduct a major heist, the heroes may find themselves in grave danger: All three of these groups would rather not risk a handler, renowned for his ability to get at things hidden, getting wind of their activities.

Handlers also receive the kender racial disadvantages. Heroes can't adopt this role during play - handlers are born, not bred.

The Healer

For millennia in Ansalon, gods granted their priests the power to create miracles of healing. But at the end of the Age of Might, they sent the Cataclysm down upon the corrupt land. It took more than three hundred years for the gods to return, only to remain a scant thirty years before abandoning their world again - this time to save the people rather than punish them.

Thanks to the long periods without divine healing assistance, healers have become fairly common in Aasalon. Villages have at least one man or woman who can effectively treat injuries and cure certain ailments. Cities may have five, ten, or even a dozen such physicians. No army or mercenary company marches without its doctor.

These heroes range from dirt poor to filthy rich and from obscure in stature to relatively famous. Of course, they vary just as greatly in talent and skill. Some healers seem like true miracle workers able to heal any injury short of regenerating diseased organs, while others are merely incompetent fools whose cures often prove worse than the ailments.

Stunbog from the novel Murder in Tarsis exemplifies this concept of healer.

Role-Playing

Heroes with this role devote their lives to easing pain and suffering. Needless to say, some healers seem more selfless than others. Many heal the sick and injured to assuage guilty consciences, while others - always seeking to be well compensated - treat only the wealthy or those who pay in advance.

Requirements

Healers must attune themselves to the needs of their patients and have a working knowledge of common ailments and treatments. Therefore, heroes must have at least a "C" code in Perception and Reason to play this role.

However, healers may never have Strength and Dexterity codes better than "B." These heroes spend so much time healing wounds inflicted by melee and missile weapons, they have little desire to learn to use them with skill.

Heroes need not have access to the mystic sphere of healing for this role.

Advantages

For actions involving the treatment of injuries, wounds, and diseases, healers always enjoy a trump bonus (Dexterity actions to apply splints. Reason or Perception actions to diagnose an illness).

Disadvantages

More than most heroes, healers shy away from inflicting harm in combat. Therefore, they never enjoy a trump bonus when attacking an opponent to cause serious injury, either magically or with weapons. This disadvantage does not apply in nonlethal combat, however (as described in Chapter Three of Night and Day from Heroes of Steel).

A healer's in-depth training prevents most heroes from acquiring this role during play.

The Legionnaire Scout

Perhaps the least understood figures in the Legion of Steel are the Legionnaire scouts. Folks say that in the wilderness these heroes - expert woodsmen and trackers - can be found only when they wish it. However, they feel equally at home in urban settings. They can skulk in the shadows like murderous cutthroats or pass themselves off as merchants or locals with little effort.

These scouts serve as the eyes and ears of the Legion of Steel. Before the Order prepares an assault or establishes a presence in a new town, its scouts arrive on the scene. They skillfully note weak spots in an enemy's defenses, determine a local commander's or lord's secret advisers, and identify potential sources of support and recruits. They might pose as Knights ofTakhisis or some equally unsavory types in an effort to become intimately familiar with an enemy organization. These scouts face the challenge of making friends among the Legion's enemies, learning as much as possible about their plans, and then betraying them.

Role-Playing

Generally, Legionnaire scouts are withdrawn and private people. They don't make true friends easily because they tend to distrust others - those who regularly betray people find it hard to shake the feeling that someone's going to do the same to them. As long as the scout keeps everyone at arm's length, however, the betrayal will never come.

Requirements

Needless to say, a hero must belong to the Legion of Steel in order to play this role. The Legion requires its members to have a demeanor and nature drawn from cards with values of 6 or less. In addition, a scout cannot derive his nature from a card with a white aura.

As a full Legionnaire, a scout must have a reputation of Adventurer or above (less experienced Legionnaires are still in training). He should not have a wealth score beyond 5, as the Legion's goals do not involve amassing personal riches.

The scout must have scores of 3 or better in all his abilities, and a Perception code of no less than "B." Because this hero would rather skulk in the background than serve as a leader, he needs a Presence code of "C" at maximum.

Advantages

Every card played by a Legionnaire scout trying to conceal himself in an urban or forest setting is automatically considered trump. Additionally, the scout always enjoys a trump bonus to track an animal or an individual in natural surroundings.

The scout, more adept than most heroes at adopting facades, can acquire any false role he chooses, disregarding the normal limitations mentioned in the "False Roles section on page 29.

Like all Legionnaires, the scout must train an apprentice: a character of Unknown reputation with scores and codes each 1 point or rating below the hero's own. This character - essentially a second hero for the player - assists the scout in his Legion missions as part of his training until he becomes a Novice.

Heroes with the proper background may acquire this role during play.

Disadvantages

The slightly paranoid air about a Legionnaire scout makes him a less-than-inspirational leader. Thus, he may never gain a trump bonus for Presence actions that involve leadership attempts.

Having an apprentice has its draw- backs as well as its good points. The scout must support the apprentice out of his own wealth and is responsible for turning him into a fully trained Legionnaire. While he might not want to take the apprentice with him on the most dangerous undercover missions, he mustn't neglect him, either. When the Narrator deems the hero's overprotection is hindering his apprentice's training, the player must attempt an average Presence (Presence) action, opposed by the apprentice character, to prevent the youngster from quitting the Legion. Failure at the action means the scout's player must immediately turn over the top card of the Fate Deck and reduce his hero's Presence score by one-third the value of the card (rounded up), to represent his loss of face in the organization. Drawing a Dragons card means the hero loses a category of reputation as well. The Legionnaire scout faces the same random draw if he lets his apprentice die in the line of duty. A disadvantage of all Legionnaires is that their great rivals, the Knights of Takhisis, usually execute any members of the Legion they capture.

The Qualinesti Rebel

Since the Summer of Chaos, Qualinesti has been an occupied land. First, it was conquered by the Knights ofTakhisis, then by the Green Peril. The office of the Speaker of the Sun has become but a mouthpiece for the land's oppressors.

Many elves simply hope that time will wash away their hardships. Others fight back. Qualinesti rebels take up weapons to drive the enemy from their land - or at least make the occupation as costly and difficult possible.

Porthios of House Solostaran, one-time Speaker of the Sun, now leads a band of Qualinesti rebels.

Role-Playing

In the Fifth Age, one might encounter many different shades of the Qualinesti freedom fighter: the disgusted mother who lost a child to the abuses of the Dark Knights; the idealistic youth who wants to drive out the invaders so his people can act as masters of their own fate again; and battle-hardened veterans who have seen more brutality than any elf ever should. The two unifying elements among all these character types are their hatred for Dark Knights and dragons, and their desire to return Qualinesti to elven control at virtually any cost.

Requirements

As heroes with this role all belong to the race of Qualinesti elf or half-elf, they must meet the basic requirements for those races as described in Chapter One of the Book of the Fifth Age.

Advantages

Qualinesti rebels form part of an underground network of warriors and rogues dedicated to freeing the elves from bondage. Much of this network actually exists beyond the boundaries of Qualinesti, where elves and half-elves secure weapons and supplies they then smuggle into the nation.

This hero knows a variety of secret signs and recognition codes that allow him to contact other members of the resistance inside or outside of Qualinesti. He may contact any of his freedom fighter acquaintances automatically; the hero knows a number of resistance members equal to twice his total completed quests. (The Narrator and player should detail these contacts together).

Further, if a freedom fighter wants to contact resistance members in unfamiliar areas, he can seek out favorable locations - a seedy bar in a city's elven neighborhood, for example - and use the secret signs. The player should then turn over the top card of the Fate Deck. If the value of the card he draws equals or falls below the hero's current Quests score, he has successfully contacted another resistance member. (The Narrator can use the card's aura, portrait, or inscription to determine the other freedom fighter's disposition.)

Qualinesti rebels also receive the advantages listed for their race in Chapter One of the Book of the Fifth Age. Elf or half-elf heroes can acquire this role during play.

Disadvantages

Freedom fighters lead brutal lives. They are engaged in a guerrilla war where neither side takes prisoners. And, on top of everything else, these elves often find themselves opposing their own neighbors or family members who chose to either support the Green Dragon or to remain neutral.

One cannot lead such a life and remain unaffected. After completing two quests in which the Qualinesti rebel has faced other elves in mortal combat, his nature undergoes a change. To reflect these harrowing experiences, the player must select a new nature for his hero from a card whose face value exceeds that of the card previously used. This rule simulates the progression many freedom fighters go through - they start out as idealistic souls but end up bitter and full of hate.

Qualinesti rebels also receive their normal racial disadvantages.

The Spellfilch

Recent years have seen the emergence of a new stripe of thief, who draws upon sorcery and mysticism to increase his thieving skill. From spells that make victims temporarily forget a robbery to castings that make walls as insubstantial as air, these spellfilches devote their arcane talents to helping them make a living off other people's property.

Role-Playing

The reasons for thievery vary from thief to thief; one might discover virtually as many different motivations as there are thieves. Heroes with this role generally focus their efforts on stealing from high-ranking Evil characters.

In general, thieves seem a self-assured bunch. However, the magical skill of a spellfilch usually makes him ten times as cocky as the average thief. Many of them leave "signatures" behind at the scenes of their crimes. For example, one infamous spellfilch known as the Ice Lady takes her name from the tiny, intricately carved ice figurines of an elf maiden she always leaves at her robbery sites.

These heroes generally know their limitations, but they invariably try to take charge of any group they join. A spellfilch knows he's the best there is.

Note: Most thieves do not steal from friends and allies. Realizing that everyone needs someone to draw upon in times of need, these heroes should never intentionally alienate those who could lend them such support.

Requirements

Spellfilches must have at least a "B" code in Reason or Spirit and a Dexterity score of at least 4.

Furthermore, the player must define his hero's "signature." It should be something small and relatively simple yet entirely distinctive, to show the world who committed the crime.

Advantages

Any card played for the hero to use a spell in thief activities - such as picking locks, disarming traps, and so on - is considered automatic trump.

Disadvantages

Due to their flamboyant nature, spellfilches tend to make enemies. One such enemy doggedly tries hunting the hero down. Although this character might not know what the hero looks like, he may nonetheless close in by following the trail of signature crimes. The Narrator and player should work together to determine this pursuer's identity.

Heroes can adopt this role during play only after previously playing a different roguish role.

The Thug

Thugs form the backbone of any criminal organization, but they also can prove violent and cunning enough to get by on their own. These folks literally would just as soon break your legs as look at you. While the common stereotype of thugs calls up images of unwashed, lower-class thieves, one might meet thugs of high breeding as well. However, they usually employ other thugs to do their dirty work.

Most thugs were bullies as children and now manage to make a living intimidating others. Most of them feel bigger and stronger while inflicting pain or suffering on a weaker victim.

Some thugs work as strong-arms for crime bosses. Even the relatively benign thief guilds have thugs in their ranks - without them, they might actually have to steal from Palanthian merchants rather than politely collecting their protection money. Other thugs prowl the back streets of Ansalon's cities in search of lost visitors, drunks, or others unfortunate enough to cross their path.

The rarest breed of thugs are those who embrace the criminal life because they have nowhere else to turn - adventurers down on their luck or warriors who were drummed out of their mercenary company or army. Generally, such circumstances produce the heroes who adopt this role, making a living the only way they know how.

Role-Playing

At his friendliest, a thug is loud, overbearing, and charming in a crude kind of way. When around someone he finds desirable, he is all hands (the same can be said of female thugs). Protests from the object of affection mean nothing to the thug, unless backed up by someone even tougher than himself. An angry thug, fearsome for an unarmed victim to behold, becomes all rage and fury.

Requirements

A thug must have a demeanor drawn from a card with a value of 6 or better.

Advantages

Thugs are very good at intimidating people. Facing a weaker opponent (one with a lower Strength or Physique score), a thug can intimidate with merely an easy Presence (Spirit) action.

Heroes can acquire this role during play, as long as previous role-playing matches the requisite personality.

Disadvantages

Most adventurers tend to look down upon thugs as bullying cowards. Should an honorable character (such as a Knight of Solamnia) see a thug threatening a weaker person, the character will challenge the hero to a duel. Even if the hero was beating up a con artist who had taken the last copper of a poor blind woman, the Knight may see only a poor victim.

If he wishes to avoid the conflict, the hero must succeed in a challenging Presence (Spirit) action to convince the Knight not to duel. The Narrator can dispense with this action if the hero had acted particularly vicious.

False Roles

In adventure fiction - fantasy and otherwise - heroes frequently pose as something they're not. Some conduct simple deceptions, such as bluffing a couple guards by claiming to be the new military commander. Others are more pervasive, leading a double life, even to the point where the hero's family thinks him a simple tailor when, in fact, he's the greatest spellfilch in the land.

Role-playing such deceptive heroes is no easy matter. Once a player writes "guild thief" or "Solamnic Knight" on his hero sheet, he tends to assume that all who meet him will automatically recognize his hero as such. Not true. In fact, deceptions form an important part of the Fifth Age, as many forces of Good have gone "underground." Players need to think a bit about this aspect of role-playing if they want to create heroes that are more than they appear.

Adopting a False Role

A hero can have many secrets. The biggest one of all might be his true role. An apparent Knight of Takhisis may, in fact, be a Legionnaire scout on a mission. The hero only has one role at any given time, but he gives the impression of a completely different one. The concept of a false role takes the duplicity inherent in roles like the "staunch supporter" and the "loyal servant" a step further.

A player can give his hero a false role simply by telling the Narrator that the hero will make an effort to pass himself off as something he's not, like the Legionnaire scout posing as a Knight of Takhisis in the example above. The Narrator should make a note of the false role and ensure that, from that point forward, characters in the adventure treat the hero accordingly. In addition, the Narrator and player can lead any new players joining the campaign (as well as their heroes) to consider the false role the true one.

Playing a False Role

Putting on a front can get complicated, as the player must remain ever mindful that he is role-playing a hero who is playing a role. Most heroes can play a false role convincingly only when it matches their own social class or is just one class removed from it. Clearly, a barmaid (a lower-class role) will not fool anyone into thinking her an ambassador (an upper-class role). The Legionnaire scout and displaced noble roles have special advantages that make them exceptions, but players should adhere to this general rule in the interest of maintaining believability.

Narrators will have to impose other logical limitations upon false roles, too. Few barbarian heroes can convincingly portray urban dwellers, and a native of equatorial Nordmaar cannot easily pass himself off as an Icewall Glacier local.

The trickiest part of playing a false role is knowing which role's advantages and disadvantages to take on. Since the hero hasn't actually acquired the false role in a strict rules sense but just pretends he has, what benefits and liabilities (if any) does he incur?

Players and Narrators should work together to answer this question, taking two things into account: whether the hero adopting the false role meets the requirements to fulfill that role and whether its inherent advantages and disadvantages grow from training or from public perception. For example, a hero posing as a barmaid might find characters sufficiently oblivious to her presence that she can eavesdrop on their conversations. A hero pretending to be a bard, however, does not automatically gain the bard's knack for knowing a little bit about every place he visits.

Playing a false role along with a false demeanor or hidden agenda can make a role-playing experience even more exciting. Chapter Three describes these optional rules.

Prev   Next   Up