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 2nd 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
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. |
|
|
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 |
I love it!
ReplyDeleteM&M is such an underrated game; glad to see it getting some love.
Cheers!
DeleteYeah, I like it a lot too, I think I commented on your review on it at some point :) Since then our group "finished" the Maze of the Bull King, played some of our DM's homebrew adventures, and now I've assumed Maze Master duties for a historical/mythical adventure.