Of Blood And Bronze (GLoG Class: Fighter)

Giovanni De Min

When I was a lad, my mother said
"You dry your tears and go to bed,
I know my son will travel far,
Born beneath a shooting star."

In after years, my father said,
As he pulled my hair and knocked my head,
"They mustn't whimper at a scar,
Who're born beneath a shooting star."

A mage I met, and the mage he said,

"I see for you a future red,

Fire and riot, raid and war,

O born beneath a shooting star."
The Claw Of The Conciliator [11-12] 

HOPLITE

Skill: 1. Artisan, 2. Diplomat, 3. Farmer, 4. Philosopher.

Starting Items: A waterskin of posca, a package of itrion cakes, a muscle cuirass and helm (medium), a spatha or xiphos (medium), an aspis or scutum shield and either: three javelins (medium, thrown); or a gastraphetes (heavy, 150' range) with a dozen bolts. You also carry a Weapon of War.

You are the citizen-soldier, a volunteer warrior who musters to fight for their home in times of war. Gone are empires of old and their vast professional armies. You are all that stands between your people and the encroaching dark. You fight alongside family, friends and lovers, spitting in the face of death.

+1 to hit and damage per template.

A: Phalanx, Rain Or Shine, +2 HRTS
B: Doratismos, +2 MOVE
C: Vexillarius, +2 HRTS
D: Hetaîros, +2 SAVE

As a Hoplite, you have proficiency with all weapons and armour. You also have the ability to sunder shields to negate all damage from an incoming attack. Magical shields can also be sundered, reducing their bonus by -1 each time, to absorb spell effects or magical attacks.

Peter Paul Rubens

PHALANX
Fair and good are those who fall fighting in the front rank, dying for the fatherland. You can wield a heavy polearm in one hand and a shield in the other without any penalty.

You can also sunder shields to protect adjacent allies from attacks. Furthermore, when you sunder a shield to stop an AOE attack against yourself, you extend protection to all adjacent allies.

RAIN OR SHINE
Years of ruck marching and sleeping it rough have hardened you against discomfort. You can fall asleep at will, even while standing up or wearing armour. If you are knocked out by magic or drugs, you remain standing and do not drop any of your equipment. After midday lunch, you can nap for a turn to clear your inventory slots of any conditions and heal [templates] HP.

DORATISMOS
Fighting in formation is all about waiting for an opening. When you see one, strike. Once per round, if an adjacent ally attacks an enemy, you can immediately make an attack against that same foe. You can make this attack regardless of whether your ally succeeded in their attack or not.

VEXILLARIUS
You are that which binds, the rock to which others anchor themselves. While your allies can hear and see you, they add your [templates] to their HRTS, SAVE and morale.

HERTAÎROS
The bond between comrades in arms runs far stronger than blood. When you gain this template, choose your closest ally, confidant or lover. While you can hear and see them, you halve all damage taken. 

If your companion falls in battle, you must spend a season in mourning and seek bloody vengeance against all those responsible. This isn't a narrow category, e.g. if they died during a siege, you must raze the city to the ground. Only then can you choose a new companion and regain use of this template.

WEAPONS OF WAR (d6)
You can forgo rolling on this table to instead just start with a heavy spear.

1. Xyston. A lightweight medium lance, wielded by the cavalry who support phalanxes. You also start with a Terror Bird, lightning-fast feathered lizards popular as mounts for skirmishers (2 HD, AC as leather, 8 morale, +2 to hit, claws d4/d4 or bite d6).
2. Sarissa. A massive pike too large to wield with a shield. Hard to use indoors, but fortunately the middle unscrews. You can disassemble it into a 10' pole and heavy pike with a minute's effort. 
3. Sasumata. A heavy forked polearm that inflicts no damage on a hit, instead pinning an enemy in place. They can still make attacks, but can't move and are automatically struck by attacks.
4. Fire Lance. Actually a heavy steel tube. Can't make attacks, but can spray burning goo. Used by northern Diadochi to fend off shoggoth incursions. 2d6 damage in a 10' cone, SAVE for half (and to avoid being set on fire). You start with three charges, each a slot. You can brew a new charge with a day's work and access to a latrine, mass grave or lots of rotten vegetables.
5. Lightning Rod. A light copper spear with a rubberised grip, hooked up to a Baghdad Battery strapped to your back (3 slots). The battery holds three charges, which can be discharged on a successful hit to inflict +1d6 damage and a HRTS roll versus being stunned. The battery regains a charge everyday, or you can recharge it fully by getting the spear struck by lightning.
6. Tuning Fork. A bizarre medium polearm covered in vibrating metal prongs. Does no damage on a hit, but instead attunes itself to the target's resonant frequency for a turn. Subsequent attacks automatically deal damage without rolling to hit. Deals double damage to structures.

Gavin Hamilton