Jester hired sword

I am having a thought about making a Jester hired sword. Mostly because I really want to do that kind of model But it will need some rules.

I am thinking stats that are mostly alike the ordinary stats, I don't have a rulebook here right now and it doesn't matter to much exactly what stats it has, the fun thing is to make up special rules. So please help me out and come up with cool jester like special rules, the more the merrier We won't use all of them, I just want many things to choose from...

The first thing we came up with is: Everyone gets -1 to hit the jester both in close combat and on shooting, this due to the jesters crazy moving and whirling coat that makes it hard to hit any vital parts.

Special weapons:

Kings scepter.

Juggling balls. -1 strength, range 8", 1= knocked down, 2-5= stunned, 6=ooa

Almost everyone should be able to hire the jester, maybe not elves since the jester isn't cool enough for them

Upkeep: 10 + 2D6

Another cool rule would be that the jester wanders between the warbands, if you pay the upkeep it stays during the next battle but if you don't it wanders to the next warbands and tags along, and if you don't pay upkeep for one game it makes bad stuff instead of good stuff, after one game you can get rid of it by not paying it and it goes on to the next warband...


So give me your suggestions...

Hope this suffices. I always aim to include as much as the original posters concept where possible whilst creating something realistic and fun for everyone.

Jester

Cost: unknown
Upkeep: unknown
XP/warband rating modifier: unknown

M4 Ws2 Bs3 S3 T3 W1 I4 A1 Ld7

Equipment: Juggling balls, club

Juggling balls: D3 shots a turn 8" range. models will only be taken out of action on a roll of "6".

Inspiring: The jugglers dirty jokes and tricks inspire those around him to great feats. All friendly models within 6" add +1 to their LD.

Skills: Step aside, Dodge

The fickle nature of comedy: one day he may be making jest of your arch enemies leader, the next he may be eating in their camp. If taken out of action the jester must roll a dice and consult the table below;

1: The jester leaves the warband after receiving his pay and joins the warband that took him out of action.

2-5: The jester, though a bit upset about being hurt, continues loyaly with his warband

6: The jester is enraged at being injured by the enemies. The next time he is in a warband fighting against the one which took him out of action, he requires no pay.

There already are rules for a jester. He was a Daramatis Personae that came out about the same time as Carnival of Chaos, Mad Markus, the Dark Jester.
I have the .pdf file of him if you would like me to email it to you. He is really fun to play but can only be hired by Carnival of Chaos or Possessed warbands.
I'll see what I can do about posting a picture of him tomorrow.

playtable wrote:

He is really fun to play but can only be hired by Carnival of Chaos or Possessed warbands.

Answered the reason why the OP wanted a new one yourself mate

Oh man, trick juggling balls would be awesome.

SMOKE BOMB!

How about some kind of taunt special rule, where an opponent within 8" has to pass a leadership test or charge him on the opponent's next turn?

Given that his stats aren't top notch, so you might not normally want people to charge him, you could also give him a stick-horse that counts as a spear, making that ability much better.

Also, some sort of evade ability like the Pit Fighter pursuers would be cool.

[quote="Myntokk"]
Given that his stats aren't top notch, so you might not normally want people to charge him, you could also give him a stick-horse that counts as a spear, making that ability much better.
quote]

Ah yea, like that old bretonnian peasent jester? not a bad idea .

mrbretonnia wrote:

Ah yea, like that old bretonnian peasent jester? not a bad idea .

Yep, that's exactly the model I had in mind when reading the first post.

This is what I came up with!

--THE JESTER--

M4 WS3 BS4 S3 T4 W1 I4 LD9

The Jester may choose from speed and combat skills when he levels up.

Skills: Dodge, Step Aside, Ball Fighter ( Knife Fighter )

Not afraid: Due to his prolonged stay in Mordheim, he is not the old market square jester he used to be. He is a bit unstable in the head and automatically passes all leadership tests.

--Equipment--

The Jester's Juggling Balls: This set of multicolored juggling balls seem innocent enough at first glance, but are ,in fact, much heavier than they look. The jester can throw these quickly with great precision to fend off his enemies. These count as throwing knives, and the Jester can use his Ball Fighter ability to throw up to 3 in a turn.

The Horse: This is a horse head on a stick, but inside the stuffed horse head is a deadly spear tip. This weapon counts as a spear and grants the Jester +1 Initiative in the first round of combat due to the surprise spear tip hidden in the toy.

--Special Ability--

I have three different abilities here, please give input on which one (or combinations) should be used.


Insult: The jester has lost a normal sense of humor, and now makes jokes at the expense of others! The Jester may nominate one enemy model within 12" of him that he can see. This model must pass a leadership test or move his full movement towards the jester, charging him if able.

Unpredictable movement: Nobody can tell what The Jester will do next! When a model charges The Jester, The Jester may make an initiative test, if he passes then the charge fails and counts as a failed charge.

Bag of Tricks!: Once a game The Jester may toss out a colorful pouch, what's in it is anybody's guess! The pouch has a range of 8' and suffers no penalty for movement or cover (He can just lob it over you see!), if the pouch hits his intended target, roll a D6:

1 - The bag bursts into confetti and The Jester has a good laugh, no further effect.

2- The bag of tricks bursts open to reveal a net! Treat the model as if he was hit with a net from The Jester. (Consult the Mordheim Rulebook for net rules)

3- He's keeping scorpions in there! The bag of tricks flies open to show that it is full of venomous scorpions! The target takes d3 s3 hits.

4- It was full of volatile chemicals! The model catches flame! (Follow the rules for being set aflame in the mordheim rulebook)

5-Flash bomb! All models within 5', except The Jester, are blinded for their next turn! They may do nothing on their next turn and move d3 inches in a random direction!

6- A little ditty plays from the Bag of Tricks, mimicking a Jack in the Box. Before the model can get away, the bag explodes! The model takes a S5 hit and all models within 4 inches take a S4 hit!

Please tell me what you think! Maybe the bag of tricks could be used twice a game? Or unlimited? I'm not sure.

Or hell, we could give him all the skills and make him a dramatis personae.

Or... wait...

My friend has informed me he should juggle fish.

what a GREAT idea... Now I need to revamp him!

The bag is cool! Once per game is enough
- Perhaps scorpions should deliver S1 hits if against a venom-immune model.
- I think the area of effect of the jack-in-the-box is too wide. D3" is much better.

I don't like very much insult and the horse however.

I would treat juggling balls as an ability rather than an equipment, letting him throw D3 of them each round (i think the randomness should be the peculiar trait of the jester).


For the profile i would say -1BS but 2d6I (pretty high average initiative)

OMG I knew that you guys were great but I couldn't imagine how great!!!!

Figgy, I LOVE your rules for it, and well, in my opinion he could just as well be a dramatic personae and have all of the skills because they are cool all af them

"The model takes a S5 hit and all models within 4 inches take a S4 hit!"

Should maybe be even clearer by writing: The model takes one single S5 hit, just to make sure that none of the rulebitches can't interpret it at any different way

And of course he have to juggle with fishes, I didn't think about that but it is a great suggestion.

I really like the stickhorse idea... It is really funny and that is all what this was supposed to be

Playtable: I would love that jester rules to, it would be really fun to see what it looks like... My mail is: helle_33@hotmail.com You could also catch me at msn at that adress...

Now the only thing left to do is price him?? And decide which warbands should be able to hire him... I have absolutely no idea how to set a fitting price on characters, I haven't played mordheim for so long, I have only painted for a long time Converting and painting are my passion But what I really want is that the price for it should vary (as I said in my original post) something like 10+2d6 gc (depending on what would be fitting)

Haha, as usuall Imbued was logged in when I am posting Of course I was the one that posted the above //Trulsa

I think 10+2d6 seems perhaps just a tad too cheap, since that will put his hire fee in the 12-22gc range and, with all of those abilities, he's actually pretty good!

Do you want him to have a variable hiring fee, upkeep fee, or both?

I guess I would suggest something around 25 (or 20+2d6) to hire, 10 (or 3d6) upkeep.

D3 balls per turn is good, i like the randomness. Maybe include fish in the bag of tricks instead.

I
think my version of the jester (which I will revise soon) should have
two of the three listed abilities. (thanks for all your comments!) and
should be priced at around 35gc to hire with a 15gc (or slightly
higher. Perhaps an extra d6 for randomness) upkeep cost.

I
don't like the idea of making a powerful sword for a cheap cheap price.
I like to keep my own houserules to around the power level of the core
Mordheim rulebook.

Figgy wrote:

I
think my version of the jester (which I will revise soon) should have
two of the three listed abilities. (thanks for all your comments!) and
should be priced at around 35gc to hire with a 15gc (or slightly
higher. Perhaps an extra d6 for randomness) upkeep cost.

I
don't like the idea of making a powerful sword for a cheap cheap price.
I like to keep my own houserules to around the power level of the core
Mordheim rulebook.

Yikes! I hadn't payed close enough attention to the statline you gave him. In light of that your prices sound more appropriate (so for variable prices, 25-30+2d6 to hire, 3d6 or 5+2d6 upkeep?). For a DP those stats seem appropriate, though.

For a more generic jester HS, and therefore (likely) a non-combatant prior to his hiring, I was envisioning a statline closer to:
M=4
WS=2
BS=3
S=3
T=3
W=1
I=4
A=1
LD=7

Oops. I actually meant to have him t3!

I like his WS and BS tho. Being in mordheim (and surviving) makes ones skilled!

Oh, I didn't mean that he should have 10+2D6 in hire fee, I just said that as an example,... Somewhere around 20-30 + 2D6 seems pretty good...

Honestly this is the guy I think of when I think of a Mordheim insane jester...

Clopin! Leader of the gypsies..