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] 

SOLDIER

Skill: 1. Artisanry, 2. Diplomacy, 3. Farming, 4. Philosophy.

Starting Items: A waxed bag of posca or sharbat, a pouch of itrion or flatbreads, a muscle cuirass (medium), and choose either: a spatha (medium), wooden shield and pilum (heavy, thrown); an akinakes (light), spear (medium), wicker shield and recurve bow (medium) with two dozen arrows; or a xiphos (medium) and sarissa (massive). You also carry two Instruments of War.

You are the citizen-soldier, the sacred heavy infantry, the unscrupulous mercenary, the loyal armiger. Gone are empires of old and their vast professional armies. The warriors of this blighted age are found in tight-knit warbands, fighting alongside family, friends and lovers as they spit in the face of death.

+1 to hit and damage per template.

A: The Chosen, Rain Or Shine, +2 slots
B: Doratismos, +2 MOVE
C: Standard Bearer, +2 HRTS
D: Hetaîros, +2 SAVE

As a Soldier, 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

THE CHOSEN
Fair and good are those who fall fighting in the front rank, dying for the fatherland. So long as you are wielding a longer weapon than everyone else in a combat, you automatically win intiative.

You can also sunder shields to protect adjacent allies from attacks. 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. Once per day, you can nap for a turn to clear your inventory slots of any conditions and heal [templates] HP.

DORATISMOS
War is all about waiting for an opening. When you see one, strike. Once per round, when an ally strikes an enemy within your reach, you can make a melee attack against them. 

STANDARD BEARER
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.

INSTRUMENTS OF WAR (1d12)

1. Oil. A copper canteen, not for water, but for high-proof olive oil. Sharp, delicious and flammable. Excellent for cooking, bathing, fueling lanterns and much much more. 1 slot.
2. Silphium. A pouch containing perfumed herbs outrageously popular across Urth and condoms made from goat intestine. +1 reaction (plus immunity to venereal diseases and pregnancy). 1 slot.
3. Wine. A skein of unmixed wine. Barbarically strong. +1 reaction if you offer a drink. 1 slot.
4. Grapnel. 100' of good rope with an iron hook. Excellent for scaling fortifications. 2 slots.
5. Caltrops. A bag of sixty cheap, lightweight and horribly effective spikes. Ten can cover a 5'x5' square, inflicting 1 damage and halving the movement of anyone who steps on them. 2 slots.
6. Dolabra. A ubiquitous entrenching tool - one part pick, one part sledgehammer and one part axe. Excellent for building or breaking things. A -1 heavy weapon, in a pinch. 2 slots.
7. Parachute. A spider silk parachute. If you fall from a height 100’ or more, you can activate your chute to avoid falling damage. If it’s a shorter drop, you must SAVE to do so. Used by forces with access to flying monsters or machines, like paraphalangites or firmanauts. 3 slots. 
8. Ratite. A lightning-fast feathered lizard, popular among skirmishers and mounted archers. (3 HD, AC as leather, x3 movement, 8 morale, +2 to hit, peck 1d6).
9. Destrier. A genetically engineered warhorse well-armored and bred for bravery in combat. (3 HD, AC as chain, x2 movement, 10 morale, +2 to hit, trample 1d8+1).
10. Siphōn. A handheld bellows that sprays burning goo for 1d6 damage in a 20' line, SAVE to negate (and to avoid being set on fire). Takes a minute to reload after being fired. Start with three charges. Used by the northern Diadochi to fend off shoggoth incursions. 2 slots, charges are 1 slot.
11. Baghdad Battery. A ceramic battery worn on your back. If hooked up to a weapon, it can be discharged to deal +1d6 damage and a HRTS roll versus being stunned. Can be recharged by a waterwheel within an hour, or immediately if you get yourself struck by lightning. Used by the Storm Lord Keraunós and his copper-clad phalanges of fanatic armigers. 3 slots.
12. Natrium. A spearhead of strange silvery metal coated in wax. If exposed to water it explodes for 2d6 damage in a 5' radius, SAVE for half. People stabbed by it don't get a save. Used by the eastern Satraps, whose arid deserts offer no source of water but the blood of their foes. 1 slot.

Gavin Hamilton