Some of you queried how to handle exotic troops, such as wyverns or dragons or who-knows-what, in ACKS D@W. Here's some rules that wll go into the final rulebook!
Exotic Mercenaries
From time to time, characters might hire exotic types of mercenaries, such as high-level adventurers, fantastic creatures, or trained animals. The nature and type of exotic troops available is strictly at the Judge’s discretion. The Judge should adjust or amend the availability of exotic mercenaries based on his particular campaign setting. In a savage and pre-historic world, packs of trained sabre-tooth tigers might be available; in a steampunk setting, golem mercenaries might be available.
To determine the number of exotic mercenaries available, find the row for “Exotic” mercenaries on the Mercenary Availability tables. Divide the number available by 2 to the power of the level of the character or HD of the monster type (round to the nearest whole). To determine the monthly wage for exotic mercenaries, cross-reference their level or Hit Dice on the Henchmen Monthly Fee table (ACKS p. 51). When determining the availability and wages of creatures with special abilities, add the number of * to the number of HD it possesses.
EXAMPLE: In ancient legends, flights of lammasu served the Auran Empire’s legions. The Tarkaun decides he wants to raise a unit of lammasu for his legions to prove he has restored the Imperial glory of old. The Judge decides this is reasonable given the context and history of the Auran Empire campaign setting.
The Judge first checks to see how many lammasu are extant in the empire. The Judge consults the Mercenary Availability by Realm Size table and cross-indexes “exotic” and “empire”. He sees there should be 5,500/HD2 exotics available. Lammasu have 7+7*** HD. Because they have three special abilities (* by their HD), lammasu will be treated as 10 HD monsters (e.g. three HD higher) for purposes of availability and wages. 2 raised to the 10th power is 1,024, so there are (5,500 / 1,024) 5.37 lammasu available, rounded to 5.
The Judge then determines how expensive lammasu are to hire. Consulting the Henchmen Monthly Fee table in ACKS, he notes that 10th level henchmen cost 12,000gp per month. Therefore the unit of 5 lammasu would cost 60,000gp per month. The Tarkaun reconsiders whether the empire is that glorious…
Mercenary Availability by Realm Size | ||||||||
Mercenary Type |
Continent |
Empire |
Kingdom |
Principality |
Duchy |
County |
|
|
Exotic |
70,000/2^HD |
5,500/2^HD |
1,350/2^HD |
325/2^HD |
75/2^HD |
17/^2HD |