[Mazes & Minotaurs] Colony generation

This is a set of house rules for generating a small ancient Greek group of colonists. I wrote it for our Mazes & Minotaurs campaign that takes place during the era of Greek colonization. It can be used to quickly generate the small community the adventurers are leading to a new land, like we did at the beginning of our first session.

The colony

The size of the colony depends on the average Personal Charisma of the adventurers: it shows how many people they managed to attract to join the undertaking.

Avg. Personal Charisma	Population	Warriors	Specialists
6 or less	40	8	1
7-8	60	12	2
9 or more	80	16	3

The colony is made up of 60% men, 40% women, mostly young to middle-aged. There is a small number of children (5%) who can only do light work. All members of the colony can farm, hunt, fish, trap. Most members know a common trade like pottery, tannery, woodworking and can provide everyday materials and tools. The colony also includes a non-adventuring 2^nd level Priest of the colony’s patron god.

Specialists

Highly skilled non-adventuring retainers. They can be used as back-up characters.

1	Master artisan. Creator of exquisite goods, and capable of organizing a workshop for the production of rare, valuable objects (jewelry, fine wares, painted pottery, carved ivory, sculpture).
2	Blacksmith. A tradesman skilled in smelting ores and producing high-quality metal tools and weaponry.
3	Rhapsode. Composes epic poems about the adventurers’ exploits, granting a 5% bonus to experience awards. A zero-level Lyrist with 4 Power points (regenerate over a full week).
4	Engineer or Architect. Skilled in construction, and perhaps even invention, of complex tools, machines, buildings, the organization of labor.
5	Symposiarch. The Master of Ceremonies… knows all the rules and nuances of feasting, how to select wine and how to dilute it, what games to play, how to bring people together over drinks. Useful for diplomatic events; also opens up the option of carousing for bonus experience points (and complications).
6	Herbalist. This specialist can provide non-magical healing to the colonists, and also brew various potions & poisons!

 

The colony at war

The colony has a number of trained warriors (see table above), who can be taken out to adventures. Losing too many meatshields henchmen will lower the overall morale of the community. As a last resort, up to 70% of the colony can be mobilized to fight (as zero level fighters) – either to defend the settlement, or to achieve an important cause.

More random tables for colony customization after the jump!

Random tables

These random tables can be used to flesh out the colony.

Patron deity & Head priest/ess

	Gods	Goddesses
1	Zeus	Aphrodite
2	Hermes	Hestia
3	Ares	Hera
4	Poseidon	Athena
5	Apollo	Artemis
6	Hephaestus	Demeter

 

Beliefs / Convictions

(the result of this roll is kept in secret from the players and can lead to in-game conflict)

1	Nobles are all tyrants in the making and not to be trusted.
2	Sorcerers are not to be trusted, they dabble in unknown forces.
3	Barbarians and foreigners are not to be trusted.
4	Priests are just parasites and charlatans.
5	There are traitors amongst our ranks.
6	The adventurers are NOT TO BE TRUSTED. They are only in it for personal gain and will be our downfall.

Pride

1	We are favored by the gods. We brought a statue of our patron god with us. The face is of carved ivory and gold; the garments are painted with the purest purple.
2	We are the descendants of a great hero (Herakles / Theseus / Perseus / one of the Argonauts) and we have this ancient weapon to prove it.
3	We are superior and we always get what we want. That chest of fine jewels in the cargo hold? That’s one of the things we wanted.
4	We are people of honor and always keep our word. Our reputation is known amongst all Greeks, and perhaps amongst other nations as well.
5	We always provide for our families. The bond with our loved ones gives us strength even in the hardest times.
6	We are honest, hard-working farmers and come next spring a bountiful harvest will be our reward.

 

Ancient Greek names

	Female	Male
1	Phile	Aristarchos
2	Sophia	Isidoros
3	Aspasia	Pantaleon
4	Kallistrate	Nicanor
5	Areta	Glaucus
6	Metrodora	Heliodoros
7	Hermione	Myron
8	Agathe	Hippokrates
9	Calliope	Anthenor
10	Hyppolita	Iphidamas
11	Cydippe	Teophrastos
12	Penelope	Simonides
13	Cassandra	Lykos
14	Theris	Theodoros
15	Hypatia	Prokles
16	Smerdis	Alexandros
17	Helene	Nikephoros
18	Krateia	Theron
19	Cleopatra	Diogenes
20	Despina	Zeno