Safari Expediationary Entourage

Safari Expeditionary Entourage

v 0.1 4-Aug-2011 by Balrog the Buff (with input from Redhammer)

Noblemen always will find new heights of decadence and entertainment. Some noblemen have experience in the various armies of the Old World and wish to continue to use their skills while retiring from the profession of war. These noblemen occasionally form groups and head out on Safari. Their goals are varied: trophies, fame, fortune, pride; but in the end they are in the Southlands and going to enjoy their time, no matter who gets in their way.

Designer Note: the Safari Expeditionary Entourage is a bit anachronistic, but the idea seems just too fun to not include. If you really want there is nothing stopping you from changing Nobleman to Noblewoman, or Lad to Lass. Just thought Lad and Nobleman sounded more fun than Noble or Young Person…

SPECIAL RULES
Well Supplied: Safari members have +1 to rarity rolls when trying to find any black powder related items or Halfling Cookbooks. The Safari warband may purchase guns for the reduced costs listed even after initial creation.

Well Maintained: Safari warband members take great care of their guns. Any warband member who rolls a misfire on a blackpowder weapon ignores the result on a 3+. Obviously this only applies when using blackpowder misfire optional rules.

Trophy Takers: Whenever a Safari warband member takes an animal with the Large Target special rule out of action they receive an additional 1 experience and d6 gold. This mostly represents the decrease in cost of living due to all the free meals, cigars and drinks they get for telling the story and showing off the trophies.

Choice of warriors
A Safari warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 gold crowns which you can use to recruit and equip your warband. The maximum number of warriors in the warband is 15.

Professional Hunter: Each Safari warband must have one Professional Hunter: no more, no less!
Noblemen: Your warband may include up to two Noblemen
Lad: Your warband may include up to two Lads
Hunting Dogs: Your warband may include up to five Hunting Dogs
Porters: Your warband may include any number of Porters
Bodyguard: Your warband may include up to Five Bodyguard


Starting experience
A Professional Hunter starts with 20 Experience.
A Nobleman starts with 8 Experience.
A Lad starts with 0 Experience.
All Henchmen start with 0 Experience.

Skills:
Professional Hunter: Academic, Combat, Shooting, Strength, Special
Nobleman: Shooting, Combat, Academic, Special
Lad: Shooting, Academic, Special


Hunter equipment list
Hand-to-hand combat weapons
Dagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1st free/2 gc
Mace# . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 gc
Axe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Spear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Halberd# . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 gc
Two Handed Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc


Missile weapons
Pistol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/20 gc
Dueling Pistol* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20/40 gc
Blunderbuss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 gc
Crossbow# . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 gc
Handgun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 gc
Tusker Gun* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 gc
Hunting Rifle* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 gc

Armour
Buckler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Toughened Leathers# . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Helmet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Light Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 gc
Heavy Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 gc

Miscellaneous Equipment
Pith Helmet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Spare Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc

* Indicates Heroes only
# Indicates Bodyguard only

Porter equipment list
Hand-to-hand combat weapons
Dagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1st free/2 gc
Mace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 gc
Axe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Spear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Two Handed Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc


Missile weapons
Bow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Pistol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/20 gc
Crossbow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 gc
Handgun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 gc

Armour
Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Helmet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Light Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 gc




HEROES
1 Professional Hunter – 60 gc
A Safari is led by the most experienced hunter among them. Often this leader is hired by the nobles to help ensure they have the most enjoyable excursion possible.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 4 4 3 3 1 4 1 8
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Hunter equipment list.
Special Rules: Leader, Big Game Hunter, Prideful, Important
Big Game Hunter: Professional Hunters have already successfully hunted most of the dangerous creatures in the Southlands and no longer suffer Fear from animals.
Prideful: Professional Hunters suffer Hatred of animals. As long as the Professional Hunter is in combat with an animal the warband must pass a Ld test in order to Voluntarily Rout.
Important: Due to the nature of the Safari warband if an ‘Important’ model is taken OOA they count as two models towards rout tests, but not voluntary routing. If the Leader is killed the new Leader gains the Important special rule as well if they did not already have it.

0-2 Noblemen - 35gc
Noblemen are the heart and soul of a Safari. Or at least they are the source of initial funding. Without them there would not be the expedition to begin with. These nobles from the Old World are out for exploration, adventure, and the thrill of hunting beasts few others have before.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 4 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Weapons chosen from the Hunter equipment list.
Special Rules: Important
Important: Due to the nature of the Safari warband if an ‘Important’ model is taken OOA they count as two models towards rout tests, but not voluntary routing. Noblemen are important as they are the ones paying for the expedition after all!

0-2 Lad - 15gc
Sometimes young men accompany safari expeditions in search of glory, fame and adventure. Other times they are dragged along by their fathers or guardians. The Southlands are dangerous for inexperienced youth and tends to harden these men quickly. If they survive.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 6
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Hunter equipment list.

HENCHMEN
0+ Porters -15gc
Safari expeditions have to carry a lot of gear. Cooking equipment, books, tents, chairs, food supplies, ammunition, spare clothing among others. Porters are the men paid to transport equipment and provide manual labor for the expedition.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 6
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Porters equipment list.
Special Rule: Strong Back
Strong Back: Porters who get LGT may always choose the Strength skill list as one of their two choices even if not normally available.

0-5 Bodyguard - 30gc
As the Southlands are a dangerous dark place to visit many expeditions hire several bodyguards to protect the party. As Safari work does not pay as well as looting and pillaging the men hired by safari expeditions tend to actually be honest hardworking bodyguards, loyal to their employers. The excellent food helps too.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Hunter equipment list.
SPECIAL RULES
Protector: Once per turn, if not in melee and within 2” of an ‘Important’ Model the Bodyguard may make an Initiative test to attempt to place himself in the way of an incoming shooting attack made against that ‘Important’ model. This test is rolled after a successful hit roll is made. The Bodyguard is moved to base contact with the ‘Important’ model and is hit instead.

0-5 Hunting Dogs - 15gc
Noblemen often bring several hounds along on Safari to hunt alongside.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 4 0 4 3 1 4 1 5
Weapons/Armour: Teeth, and stinky breath.
Special Rules: Animal, Does not Gain Exp
Animal: Dogs are animals…
Does not Gain Exp: While they can be trained, Hunting Dogs do not benefit from experience points.

SPECIAL SKILL LIST
Bow Hunter – The hero has decided to up the ante on his hunting skill. He may now use bows of any kind and always counts as having Hunting Arrows. When using Trophy Taker special rule he rolls 2d6 for the bonus gold. In addition when taking this skill the hero hand crafts a Longbow that he will never sell or give away. The hero must always try to bring a bow of some type with him to a battle.

Houndsmaster – The hero has taken a fondness to the Hunting Dogs in the warband and has begun to take great care of them. Dogs within 6” of him may use his Ld. In addition, once per after battle phase, a Dog may reroll the serious injury chart.

Patient Hunter – If the hero did not move he may select his shooting target at will, rather than closest model.

Driver – The hero is immune to fear caused by animals. If the hero would be able to charge an animal he may instead ‘drive’ the animal. The animal immediately tests on Ld or flees as per a failed all alone test. The hero may not move but may shoot/cast spells etc normally.

Camouflage – Models attempting to locate the hiding hero halve their detection range. This only applies if the hero did not move on his last turn.

Blade Hunter – This hero has balls of gromril. When using a dagger or sword the hero adds +1 to injury rolls on animals. In addition the hero suffers ‘Hatred’ of animals and is immune to fear.

‘Gone Native’ - (Lad only) this may only be taken once per Lad. The Lad is now able to select skills from the Combat, Strength or the Ubuntu Special Skill lists. If the Lad chooses the Ubuntu list he now is a -1 to find rare items as every culture thinks he is crazy, but he gains the ability to use gear from the Ubuntu equipment list in addition to his own. Note that he is NOT Ubuntu so may never find and use Ubuntu Warrior Regalia or Poison Darts. Henchmen that gain Lads Got Talent may not select Ubuntu Special Skills.

Armorer – The hero is able to produce a single powder horn of Superior Blackpowder each battle. It must be used that battle, or is lost. It may never be sold or stored. The supply produced is not large enough to handle a Tusker Gun however.


SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

Tusker Gun – 100 gc – Rare 12 (Rare 8 for Safari)
Strength: 5
Range: 30”
Special Rules: Concussion, Heavy Impact, Large Recoil, Armor Piercing, Expensive, Reload
Concussion: 2-4 Are Stunned similar to Clubs
Heavy Impact: Models hit (whether wounded or not) must pass a Strength test or be knocked down. Large models are not knocked down but halve movement next turn if the test is failed.
Large Recoil: Tusker Guns are so large and powerful that a model using one may never move and shoot, even if a skill would normally allow them to.
Armor Piercing
Expensive: Ammo for the Tusker Gun is not cheap. It is a common item that costs 5 gold per battle.


Pith Helmet – 5 gc Common (Safari only)
Protection: A Pith Helm provides limited protection from impacts compared to a helmet. It works in the same way but only on a 6+.
Comfortable and Shady: Pith Helms are much more pleasant to wear than a steel helmet in the sweltering heat, blistering sun, or muggy jungles of the Southlands. A Pith Helm does not give penalties due to environmental conditions. It also prevents the penalty to BS from Bright Sun.
Light: Pith Helm does not count as armour for purposes such as drowning, casting, etc.

Spare Load – 10 gc (Safari only) One Use Only
A hero may use this by not moving, shooting or participating in combat for one entire turn, to reload a fired blunderbuss. A hero may only carry one Spare Load at a time.


And for completeness these are the special Southlands additional skills:

General Skills (May be taken by any hero that meets the requirements, if any)
~Animal Training: The hero may now take Beastmastery skills.

~True Grit: (Leader Only) The leader is either so tough or has so much sheer willpower that from now on they roll twice for serious injuries and choose which they want to take.

~Miraculous Healing: The hero has found a powerful magical healer, drank a potent potion, received excellent medical treatment, or another similar occurrence. The hero may miss one battle to remove one permanent injury they have suffered. This may only be taken once ever per warband at a time, so if the healed model leaves the warband then the warband is eligible to take this again. Injuries ‘repaired’ with a peg-leg, hook hand or other similar piece of equipment may not be healed in this manner.

~Live off the Land: The hero no longer counts towards warband size for selling of treasure. (Yes I know this is not very powerful, but it is still there if a player wants it)

~Rigorous Training: The hero trains rigorously and may roll on the Hero Advancement chart again rerolling any further New Skill results. (This allows a hero who does not want to take another skill to gain a stat instead, but only once)

~Greasing some Palms: The hero may throw a little money around in order to help them find rare items. If they fail a rarity roll they may immediately pay 2D6 gc to reroll their rarity test, this may only be done once per after-battle sequence.


Beastmastery
~Carefully Trained: The hero’s pet may immediately roll on the henchmen advance chart, rerolling any lads got talent results. This may only be taken once and the advance must be rerolled if the hero ever obtains a different pet (Replacing a fallen pet etc.)

~Mark of the Beast: The hero has earned the Mark of the Beast and commands respect from animals of the Southlands. The hero may now purchase a single pet from the Pet list. Any pet of the same type as the current pet within 6” may use the hero’s leadership.

~Animal Healer: The hero’s Pet is only killed on a 1 instead of a 1-2.

~Animal Slayer: The hero causes Fear to animals and has a 6+ dodge save against animals’ attacks. The hero may never take or use any other Beastmastery Skills ever again.

~Strike as One: If the hero and his pet are in base contact with the same foe in melee, one of them may choose to forego his attacks to allow the other to reroll any failed to-hit rolls. The attacks are made at the initiative of the slower of the two. This may not be used if either the hero or his pet are knocked down or stunned.

~Close Bond: If either the hero or his pet are taken OOA the other one becomes Frenzied and Hates the model that took the other OOA until the end of the battle.

I haven't had time to read the rules but I chuckled at the concept and I like it.

Let me know once you do! It started as a joke then as my brother (Redhammer) and I were talking it over I realized it could actually work well. Armor is a bit rare in Southlands, but cover should not be as dense as Mordheim so I hope it will work out.

I like it. Only a few changes I would make:

Replace the Lads with Guides. You can't have a safari without some local natives who know the terrain and the game trails. Same stats, but ignore penalty for terrain and can deploy an extra 2D6 inches in. Or something like that. Maybe spots hidden models.

Live Off the Land: If it's not worthy of a skill, don't include it. How about, "always sell wyrdstone as one size smaller- cannot be smaller than 1-3"? For 1-3 stone, it's only a 5gc boost, but for 4+ it's 10gc a game. Have more than one model take it, you're raking in an extra 20-30gc a game.

Tusker Gun: You have the rule "costs 5gc a game". You never state what happens if they don't pay (easy to guess, but the more guessing, the more sloppy the rules sound.) You should also mention that the first game the gun is used, it comes with ammo.

By the way, I had the mental image of a Southlands Bald Rhinox as a possible animal to hunt. Don't know why, but it hit me as funny.

Guides are what I had originally. I'll have to figure that out. Maybe allow up to 2 of Lads/Guides. Or maybe at creation only Lads can be bought, after start only Guides.

Live off the Land is part of my Southlands General skill set. They are skills that can apply to any warband in the setting. If I allowed it to be one size smaller I would probably have to restrict it wouldn't I? With 3-4 models with it you would make a LOT more money especially with hoard warbands. You all have more experience with longer campaigns than I, would that be too unbalancing? Or fair since everyone can take it?

Tusker Gun: Ammo is supposed to use the same rules as the Swivel Gun, just only one option. And yes I intend for it to come with the first game's ammo. Thanks for pointing that out! I'll try to copy the verbage from the Swivel Gun, unless someone knows a more clear and concise way to state it?

Rhinox! Why did I not even think of Rhinos! Big Five of the Southlands: Tusker, Bald Rhinox, Buffalo, Lion, Jungle Beast (I know is supposed to be a Leopard but a leopard would not seem dangerous enough in the Warhammer world.) The Jungle Beast is basically an excuse to use my Carnifex. It makes the Thing in the Woods look cuddly.

Guides: Make more sense than lads. They're local boys taken under the Imperial wing.

Selling: Not really. Haggle gives you (effectively) 7gc per post game. This would grant 5gc for half of the games, 10 for the other half. If you have a (reduced) size of 1-3, and sell 7+, it gives you +15gc, but that would require a very small number of people or a LOT of people with the skill.

Actually, I think YOUR ammo idea is MORE concise.
"Owning the gun requires a 5gc upkeep after each game. This may be paid at any point during the post-game phase. 5gc will buy unlimited shots for that battle (thus, you don't need to pay for each bullet!) If you do not pay the upkeep, it will not work in the next battle. It will continue to not work until the 5gc is paid. A newly purchased gun comes with ammo for the first game it is used."

Leopard - hmm.... Leogriff?

0-2 Guide - 20 gc
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Porter equipment list.
Special Rules: Local, Native
Access to Special Skills and start with the Native skill (see below)
Local - May add/Subtract 1 from a die during exploration if not taken OOA.
Native - The Guide is able to select skills from one of the Beastmastery, Combat, Strength or the Ubuntu Special Skill lists. If the Guide chooses the Ubuntu list he now is a -1 to find rare items as he has turned his back on his culture and doesn't really fit in to outsiders, but he gains the ability to use gear from the Ubuntu equipment list in addition to his own. Note that he is NOT Ubuntu anymore so may never find and use Ubuntu Warrior Regalia or Poison Darts. Henchmen that gain Lads Got Talent may not select Ubuntu Special Skills even though a warband member knows them.

That work maybe?

Sure. Lower the Ld to 6, I think.

As a pet peeve of mine, I'd have his Local say, "When rolling Exploration Dice for heroes, roll the Exploration die for the Guide separately. After rolling his die, you may modify HIS dice roll by +1 or -1. You may not alter the non-guide Exploration dice."

Thus, he's affecting HIS roll, not the others. With one guide, it's no big deal, but with TWO guides, it'll make a difference.

If you want to, you can add to "local" - you only gain this ability in Southlands, Araby, Khemri, and Lustria locations.

Awesome warband idea~!

0-2 Guide - 20 gc
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 6
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Porter equipment list.
Special Rules: Local, Native
Access to Special Skills and start with the Native skill (see below)
Local - When rolling Exploration Dice for heroes, roll the Exploration die for the Guide separately. After rolling his die, you may modify HIS dice roll by +1 or -1.
Native - The Guide is able to select skills from one of the Beastmastery, Combat, Strength or the Ubuntu Special Skill lists. If the Guide chooses the Ubuntu list he now is a -1 to find rare items as he has turned his back on his culture and doesn't really fit in to outsiders, but he gains the ability to use gear from the Ubuntu equipment list in addition to his own. Note that he is NOT Ubuntu anymore so may never find and use Ubuntu Warrior Regalia or Poison Darts. Henchmen that gain Lads Got Talent may not select Ubuntu Special Skills even though a warband member knows them.

I guess if you want a Lad, you could change Local to Enthusiastic!

Hmmm. Where are your rules for using a Hippopotamus?

Those savages from the Southlands must have worked out how to hand-rear water horses for use as aquatic cavalry!

Of course, as any Magic the Gathering player knows, there's always the legendary Phelddagrif.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Phelddagrif&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1024&bih=648&tbm=isch&tbnid=F_M41COjnmST4M:&imgrefurl=http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx%253Fx%253Dmtgcom/arcana/780&docid=oDppkhQrAw7fjM&w=800&h=600&ei=IZM-Ts_yJpHAgQfB6fmLCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=721&vpy=96&dur=874&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=153&ty=99&page=1&tbnh=144&tbnw=177&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0

Play testing of course will be needed, but i think the Guide is a nice character, but since the combat style of the warband is shooting I think I may do 1 Guide 1 Lad. Best of both worlds, and don't have to worry about having two people with the exploration bonus.

Awesome. Oh, you should probably add to the guide, "Foreigner: can never become warband leader."

Excellent stuff! This southlands project seems like plenty of fun - I might have to paint me a warband...

Ok. I also already have someone who is going to help me playtest it in our campaign starting next weekend!

Only thing with this warband is I am wondering if the full witch hunter style dogs for 15 gc is too good. We played one game so far and they seemed VERY strong even when against the close combat orientated types. I bet it will even out after a couple more games.

I am considering if fluff-wise as well as mechanics would be better to make the Hunting Dogs only ws and S 3 but make it so they can spot hidden models at double their initiative. I think that could make for a more hunting feel to the warband. Would consider upping the Dog cost to 20, but since they are animals and there are many sources of anti-animal stuff in Southlands I do not think it is necessary.

So the heroes set up firing positions with the Porters and bodyguard covering flanks or pitching in as they are geared, and they send the dogs out to sniff out hidden foes and then shoot them up.

Hmm. What if you keep the dog the way it is, and make the warband max size 12? You have two cheap units, so the potential for swarming is there.

Also, it fits the nature of the group- they have mighty weapons, but they're outnumbered by the natives. Also, it encourages the use of Hired Swords, which also fits the warband's style.

The reason I think the dogs are fine is that I happened to watch the old "Swiss Family Robinson" movie on tv last night. The family had 2 Great Danes... man, those things tore into a Tiger. Vicious. I wouldn't be surprised if they killed that poor animal. What looks like a big cuddly dog that an Old World hunter brings with him to the Southlands for fun could TEAR into nearly any animal they find.

Hmmm so what if then warband size was 12, but added a Safari Skill of Expert Chef. +1 warband max, does not stack with a halfling scout etc. (but does with a cookbook)

Eh, you could. Or you could just let them buy a cookbook like everyone else. They're not that expensive.