So, our Grand Campaign is getting awfully close to the Anarchy Period. Once we get there, it looks like two things will be going on most every year: 1) the player knights will be paying so much tribute that they'll be Impoverished; 2) there will be plenty of opportunities for the player knights to get work as a mercenary. Which leads me to the following questions:

Is it dishonorable for a Vassal Knight to work as a Mercenary?
How much do you get in exchange for being a Mercenary?
Do you get paid if your side loses?

So, our Grand Campaign is getting awfully close to the Anarchy Period. Once we get there, it looks like two things will be going on most every year: 1) the player knights will be paying so much tribute that they'll be Impoverished; 2) there will be plenty of opportunities for the player knights to get work as a mercenary. Which leads me to the following questions:

Is it dishonorable for a Vassal Knight to work as a Mercenary?


Yes, unless he has his lord's permission.
And while I am sure that reasons can be discovered for doing so, normally, no.
A vassal knight is a very important man,


How much do you get in exchange for being a Mercenary?


A mounted sargeant earns £1 per month. (see Book of Manor)
In the Uther/Anarchy Period, a knight earns the same (both of them being classed as milites.)



Do you get paid if your side loses?



Officially, yes of course!
These are knights and lords who live by their Honor, and they would always live up to their debts!
Stiffing fighting men of their due is very much a bad thing for a warrior leader!

Although of course, really, it depends
If your side suffers a Decisive Victory, you should be happy to escape with your life.
You are still owed the money by whomever promised to pay (who may be dead or captured), and good luck collecting it from a lord who has lost his army, and is suffering whatever consequences from that.

You should expect to be paid even in an indecisive loss.
After all, he really does live by his honor, and may want to hire you again.
Troops that fight poorly will be paid--it's the agreement. but the lord, having lived up to his end, will be free to say bad things about them.

Mercenaries are responsible for all their own upkeep. They are not paid in advance. they are routinely not paid during a campaign, even though they need that money to eat, feed horses or replace them, etc.

So, what DO they do then for money?
Find someone weak, then raid, pillage and plunder them mercilessly. (Don't forget the manors of those traitorous knights who plot against the Countess...)
Adventures offer opportunities to get rich quick, and to earn favors owed from others.
Or, sometimes all it takes is selling your soul to a foreign princess of incredible beauty, for a promise to do... something.

Your lord might send you off to help someone, and if successful, rewards might be due.
Or catch that white stag, with the silver bells on his year-round antlers, who pays ransom.

FYI,

Here is the table that I use in my game for when someone goes off as a mercenary for hire, a free lance.

After the year is up, roll his Mercenary Destiny.

Mercenary Destiny Table
1d6 Fate
1 Squire returns to report knight’s death.
2 Knight is horribly maimed, 2d6 Stats Lost
3 Knight returns healthy, broke
4 No News
5 Knight returns with £2d6
6 Knight returns with £3d6+5

That's a really brutal table.

Bear in mind that there's a difference between being a lowly mercenary and "accepting gifts" in return for military service lending your sword to a worthy cause.

Yeah, IMO too brutal.

No other solo table has a PK death based entirely on a simple d6 roll with no chance for the player to influence the result.

Yeah, IMO too brutal.

No other solo table has a PK death based entirely on a simple d6 roll with no chance for the player to influence the result.


I do like the table; but, wouldn't use it for a PK. I would only use it for an GM character that goes off to be a mercenary (e.g. a vassal of a player banneret.) For a PK I would try to actually play the year out as a mercenary.

I'm pretty sure that just showing the players that table would turn them off the idea of hiring out as a mercenary for extra cash.

Into the Forest Sauvage it is, then!

(it's interesting that you only get 1 libra per month for being a mercenary, but the chart lets you get so much more money out of the random pillaging as you go by.)

When you know your job is only a short-term one, you don't always behave your best. When I worked in a factory, I took slightly longer breaks than I should have; a mercenary might take the opportunity to brutally pillage certain villages that technically belong to his employer.

When you know your job is only a short-term one, you don't always behave your best. When I worked in a factory, I took slightly longer breaks than I should have; a mercenary might take the opportunity to brutally pillage certain villages that technically belong to his employer.


There is some truth to that. In one place I worked, the company was in financial trouble and started playing games with our paychecks in order to keep money in the bank for a few more days to earn a little more interest. By the time the chain closed it's doors, I was long gone, but was hearing from my ex-coworkers how much product they were helping themselves to in lieu or lost wages. Even the store managers started to mark software down and buy it at a high markdown.

Yeah, IMO too brutal.

No other solo table has a PK death based entirely on a simple d6 roll with no chance for the player to influence the result.



Sorry, I'd not use this for a pc, just npcs.

Even for PCs though, it's good because it gives me an idea of how much they might be able to get from plundering.

Even for PCs though, it's good because it gives me an idea of how much they might be able to get from plundering.


I have some material on this.
I'll see if it's in shape to post.

Looking at that table, as has been said it might be extreme for players, as listed, but with a couple of small modifications...

Mercenary Destiny Table
1d6 Fate
1 Squire returns to report knight’s death. (Knight isn't actually dead, just apparently so - he may be a prisoner, recovered only by paying a ransom, or may turn up in a year or two, or may be lost)
2 Knight is horribly injured, make an aging roll
3-4 Knight returns healthy, broke
5 Knight returns with £2d6
6 Knight returns with £3d6+5

It could be fun expanding this table into a d20 roll, with many and varied horrible possibilities.

I'd make it a solo, personally.

I'd make it a solo, personally.


Me too.

fg,Thijs

Yeah, IMO too brutal.

No other solo table has a PK death based entirely on a simple d6 roll with no chance for the player to influence the result.



Sorry, I'd not use this for a pc, just npcs.



Oh. :-[ That's different. ;D