Grim Turnipson

You are a mailed knight on a king’s errand, a greedy brigand loyal to no man, a wild bear-skinned wanderer with an empty stomach, or a stout man-at-arms armored by a merchant’s gold.

Of all the classes, warriors have the best attack bonus, the highest hit points, and the most potential for extra attack actions.

Hit points: A warrior gains 1d12 hit points at each level.

Weapon training: A warrior is trained in the use of these weapons: battleaxe, club, crossbow, dagger, dart, flail, handaxe, javelin, lance, longbow, longsword, mace, polearm, shortbow, short sword, sling, spear, staff, two-handed sword, and warhammer. Warriors wear whatever armor they can afford.

Alignment: Warriors can follow one of several paths based on their alignment, which in turn affects their title. Royal warriors, employed by nobility, are lawful. Lawless warriors, fighting merely for profit or carnage, are chaotic. Wild warriors, natives of the barren steppes or deadly forests, are neutral or chaotic. Hired warriors, loyal to a cause, a man, or simply the fattest purse, can be lawful, neutral, or chaotic.

Attack modifier: Unlike other classes, warriors do not receive a fixed attack modifier at each level. Instead, they receive a randomized modifier known as a deed die. At 1st level, this is a d3. The warrior rolls this d3 on each attack roll and applies it to both their attack roll and their damage roll. On one attack, the die may give him a +1 to their attack roll and damage roll. On the next attack, the die may give him +3! The deed die advances with the warrior’s level, climbing to d7 by 5th level, and then higher up to d10+4 at 10th level. The warrior always makes a new roll with this die in each combat round. When the warrior has multiple attacks at higher levels, the same deed die applies to all attacks in the same combat round.

Mighty Deed of Arms: Warriors earn their gold with pure physical prowess. They swing across chapels on chandelier chains, bash through iron-banded oaken doors, and leap over chasms in pursuit of their foes. When locked in mortal melee, their mighty deeds of

arms turn the course of battle: a brazen bull rush to push back the enemy lines, a swinging flail to entangle the beastman’s sword arm, or a well-placed dagger through the enemy knight’s visor.

Prior to any attack roll, a warrior can declare a Mighty Deed of Arms, or for short, a Deed. This Deed is a dramatic combat maneuver within the scope of the current combat. For example, a warrior may try to disarm an enemy with their next attack, or trip the opponent, or smash him backward to open access to a nearby corridor. The Deed does not increase damage but could have some other combat effect: pushing back an enemy, tripping or entangling him, temporarily blinding him, and so on.

The warrior’s deed die determines the Deed’s success. This is the same die used for the warrior’s attack and damage modifier each round. If the deed die is a 3 or higher, and the attack lands (e.g., the total attack roll exceeds the target’s AC), the Deed succeeds. If the deed die is a 2 or less, or the overall attack fails, the Deed fails as well.

Refer to the Combat section for additional information on Mighty Deeds of Arms (see page 88).

Critical hits: In combat, a warrior is most likely to score a critical hit and tends to get the most destructive effects when they do so. A warrior rolls the highest crit dice and rolls on tables with more devastating effects. In addition, a warrior scores critical hits more often. At 1st through 4th level, a warrior scores a crit on any natural roll of 19-20. The threat range increases to natural rolls of 18-20 at 5th level and 17-20 at 9th level. See the Combat section for more information on crits.

Initiative: A warrior adds their class level to their initiative rolls.

Luck: At first level, a warrior’s Luck modifier applies to attack rolls with one specific kind of weapon. This kind of weapon must be chosen at first level and the modifier is fixed at its starting value – neither the weapon nor the modifier changes over the course of the warrior’s career. The weapon type must be specific: longsword or short sword, not “swords.”

Action dice: A warrior always uses their action dice for attacks. At 5th level, a warrior gains a second attack each round with their second action die.

Mighty Deeds in Action

The mechanic for Mighty Deeds of Arms was designed to encourage exciting stunts by ambitious warriors in the tradition of literary heroes. The goal was to create a rules system that encouraged situation-specific freedom without creating a lot of cumbersome rules. The author’s original expectation was that this system would be used for disarms, parries, and other traditional combat maneuvers, but in actual playtesting the Mighty Deeds of Arms have been exciting and unpredictable. It’s clear now that the system encourages creative actions, and the author believes it works best with creative warriors who devise interesting attacks. Here is a selection of actual Mighty Deeds of Arms performed by real players in real games, all of them declared on the spot in the midst of a grand adventure. Refer to the Combat section for more information on executing Mighty Deeds in play.

• When fighting opponents on a staircase, the character used a sword to stab an opponent and then lever him over the edge of the staircase. Later, the same character tried attacking the foe’s legs to knock him over the edge.

• When facing a carven image with eyes that shot laser beams, the character used a mace to smash out the carved eyes (and thus disable the laser beams). In another game, a different player tried a similar attack to stab out the eyes of a basilisk and disarm its hypnotic gaze.

• When fighting a flying skull that was out of melee reach, a character leaped from the back of an ally into a flying lunge that brought him within reach of a melee swing at the skull.

• When hurling flasks of burning oil at a giant toad, the warrior aimed for the toad’s open mouth to throw the oil down its gullet.

• When fighting enemies arrayed in a single-file line, a character hurled a javelin and tried to spear both of the front two enemies. The warrior impaled the first enemy, then speared the second, in effect pinning the second enemy to their ally’s corpse.

• When fighting a chaos beast with a scorpion tail, a character attempted to chop off the tail.

Table 1-10: Warrior

Table 1-11: Warrior Titles

Militant warriors of the feudal lands serve their lords by maintaining

Militant Orders

the rule of law, and, more specifically, the rule of their monarch’s

law. These warriors belong to knightly orders that serve their lord,

their state, or their ideals. Your warrior may belong to such an order.

Membership typically entails an oath to support the goals of the

order and defend your fellow members, a pledge to provide service

to the order’s crusades when necessary (typically one or two full

weeks out of every year or upon extraordinary circumstance such

as war), and a tithe or dues of up to 10 gold pieces each year.

Membership in an order is reserved for noble warriors with

steel weapons. Common footmen with their wooden spears and

homespun clothes do not belong to knightly orders. Wildmen

may be members of a totem-tribe where they fight in the style

of bear, wolf, eagle, or other creature.

These are the best-known knightly orders.

Fraternal Company of the Black Swan

A fraternal order of knights charged with cleansing a war-torn region of demi-human raiders. The company succeeded, and continued in peacetime as an ongoing society. All black swans must possess a war horse trained and equipped for mounted combat. Members display a black swan with red beak and feet on a white field.

Order of the Golden Spur

Order of Saint Stephen

This is an honorific society ruled by the highest-ranking cleric of the land. Knights who have distinguished themselves in the service of the church may be offered the chance to petition for membership in the Order of the Golden Spur. Petitioners must complete a great act of service to the church: for example, recovering a lost relic or defeating a chaos champion. If accepted as a member, the knight receives a medal and the right to wear a golden spur.

An order founded by the grand duke to defend their lands in the tradition of valiant Saint Stephen, who died in single-handed combat against the giants. The order’s emblem is a cross and they stand in staunch defense of all the grand duke’s lands.

Enterprise of the Green Shield with the

White Lady

This chivalric order of twelve knights and their squires is led by the most senior knight. Each knight serves for five years and, inspired by knightly ideals, must defend women suffering any form of/ oppression, thievery, or dishonor. Their symbol is self-explanatory.

Order of the Dragon

An association of high-born knights founded with intention to crush the pernicious deeds of the perfidious enemies of law and the followers of the evil dragons. The order is sponsored by the king, who serves as presiding officer, and all members display a dragon sigil on their shield.