DariusSolluman/BuildingAnArmyExample
Okay. Here, I'm gonna walk through some sample armies being built.
The first is a conscripted Dragon, being pressed into the Realm's service. The second is a purely Dragonblooded Fang, training as an ultra-elite unit. The last is a volunteer Talon, being put together in the Scavanger Lands. In all cases, the army builder has an Intelligence of 2, a Charisma of 3, a Manipulation of 4, a Lore of 2, a Performance of 3 and a Bureaucracy of 4
The Conscripted Dragon
First, we're conscripting a Dragon- that means it'll have a total of 18 HLs (A regular army would have 21, but a conscript army lacks the -0 HLs). So, that's 9 HLs to recruit, and 9 to train.
Since we're conscripting, there's no roll to make- just numbers to crunch. A hundred square miles of Realm terriority can provide 10 HLs of conscripted troops in a month, so it'll take one month to get the recruits needed. No roll needed- they peasants are brought to the training camp.
Next, they have to go through Basic Training. There's no hurry, so they're trained easy for a month. At the end of the month, the Commander rolls his Manipulation+Lore (6), getting a 1, 3, 6, 8, 9 and 10. Given this was a month of training, that's a Difficulty 1 roll, and so is easily made. 4 HLs 'heal' in the nasant army, bringing it to (9+4) 13 total.
Suddenly, word reaches the commander that the situation is far more pressing and the troops are needed now. He pushes training down to two weeks, at which he makes another Manipulation+Lore check. Spending a Willpower on this roll, he rolls a 2, 4, 7, 7, 8 and 10. With the Willpower, that's 6 successes- however, the Army only had 9 recruited HLs, and so the total HLs gained from Basic Training caps out at 18- fully primed and ready to fight.
While they're still in training and not yet drawing pay, the army will cost Resources 4 (the Base Cost of a Dragon is 4) each month. Once they're out and fighting, this rises to 5, as the troops are drawing Regular Pay (Base Cost +1). Each month he can try an Intelligence+Bureaucracy check at Difficulty 4 (The base resource cost of the army)- success, and the total cost drops to just 4 for that month.
The Dragonblood Fang
First, and most importantly, a Dragonblooded Fang has to have a cool name. The Commander settles on the Deadly Viper Gang, not realizing how close he's come to mocking Kill Bill.
Given that a Fang is only five strong, we'll assume that the Commander has personally recruited them, and therefore no roll to recruitment is happening. They start with all their Recruit HLs- all two of them.
Training the Deadly Viper Gang would normally require a month, but the Commander feels confident enough to push that up to just two weeks. At the end of two weeks, the Commanders makes a Manipulation+Lore (6) check against Difficulty 3. He rolls a 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9- under the difficulty. Cursing as the Fang fails to gel in the short time, he begins anew, again trying for two weeks. This time, he rolls a 2, 5, 7, 9, and 10- four succeesses. More than the difficulty, and again, more HLs than the Fang would have. They've now gone through Basic, but the fun's just starting.
The Deadly Viper Gang's Stats before training\\ -0 / -1 / -2 / Broken\\ Communication: +8\\ Training: +2\\ Equipment: +2\\ Spirit: +2
The Deadly Viper Gang begins it's real training now. At the end of a month of advanced drills, the Commander again rolls Manipulation+Lore against a difficulty of 1 (the Command size of a Fang). He passes easily, and the Deadly Viper Gang get's a +1 bonus, using it to get one -1 HL and two -2 HLs. The next set of drills takes 2 months (the next total bonus will be +2), is still at difficulty 1, and still easily passed. This next +1 is applied to their Training, adding 2. Three months pass, and they have another +1; this is applied to Equipment. +3 is as good as a Mortal Fang could get- but these are Dragonblooded! They're just getting started.
The Deadly Viper Gang's Stats at +3\\ -0 / -1 x2 / -2 x3 / Broken\\ Communication: +8\\ Training: +4\\ Equipment: +4\\ Spirit: +2
Four months pass, and the Commander manages to blow the training roll. Cursing, they repeat the four months of training, and add the newest +1 to Spirit, increasing it by 2. Five months, and another +1 to Training. Six months, and another +1 to Equipment, bringing the total bonus to +6.
The Deadly Viper Gang's Stats at +6\\ -0 / -1 x2 / -2 x3 / Broken\\ Communication: +8\\ Training: +6\\ Equipment: +6\\ Spirit: +4
Seven months of intense training pass. +1 to Communication, increasing it by 4. The last two training periods take 8 and 9 months respectively, and both bonuses go to the -1 / -2 x2 HLs.
The Deadly Viper Gang's Stats at +9\\ -0 / -1 x4 / -2 x7 / Broken\\ Communication: +12\\ Training: +6\\ Equipment: +6\\ Spirit: +4
The Deadly Viper Gang has trained for (1+2+3+4+4+5+6+7+8+9) = 59 months; nearly four straight years. In the end, these five Dragonblooded will hold their own against a full Talon for quite some time, and would mow through a Scale. Beyond that, they strike with a terrible speed- acting as if they were one mind with five blades at the ready.
Now then, maintain the Deadly Viper Gang. As a Fang (Command 1), they have a Base Resource Cost of 1, which can be reduced to 0 with a monthly Intelligence+Bureaucracy check at difficulty 1. As far as pay goes, they require +1 Resources the first seven months (1 month of Basic Training, 6 months of Supplemental Training at Regular rate), +2 Resources the next 15 months (19 months at Elite Rate, being that they are +3 or higher), and +3 Resources for the remainining 24 months (24 months of training at Supernatural rate, being that they are +6 or higher). Fully trained, the Deadly Viper Gang will cost Resources 4 per month, although careful accounting can bring that down to Resources 3.
The Volunteer Talon
First, we'll need to recruit the troops. Let's presume we're recruting in the Riverlands, and have a difficulty 2. There's a total of 12 HLs in a Talon, so that's 6 to recruit.
The first month, we make a Charisma+Performance (6) check at difficulty 2, rolling 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 9. That's three successes, and so three levels are recruited.
Next month, we hand the inital training off to a helpful pal with identical stats, and both recruit and train at the same time. The Basic Training roll is Manipulation+Lore (6) and gets a 1, 2, 6, 6, 7, and 10, while the Recruitment roll gets a 1, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Three HLs are gained through turning recruits into soldiers, and the Recruitment roll adds 2 more HLs. That brings the total to 8 of 12, with 5 levels recruited and 3 trained.
Next month, continuing with the same arrangement, the Basic Training roll gets a 1, 2, 5, 6, 6, and 9, while the Recruitment roll gets a a 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 10. The Training roll only adds one HL, and the Recruitment roll would add 6- but it maxes out at just one more, bringing the total number of recruited HLs of troops to 6, the trained HLs of troops to 4, and the total HLs to 10.
Next month, there's just Basic Training to finish off. One last Training rolls nets a 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. That would add 5 HLs, but again, we reach the cap of HLs that can be added, bring the army all the way up to 12 HLs, fully armed and operational.
Given the lack of pressing need, the Talon drills for an additional month, trying to improve their Training some. After one month (their total bonus with be +1), they roll Manipulation+Lore (6) at difficulty 3 (A Talon is Command 3), getting 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10. This beats the difficulty, so the +1 bonus is applied to their Training, raises it by 2.
Five months after beginning to raise them, the Talon is ready to march, better trained than many forces of similiar size.
Maintaining the Talon is fairly simple. The Base Resources Cost of the Talon is 3, and it can be reduced to 2 with a monthly Intelligence+Bureaucracy check at difficulty 3. That's all that's required till the Talon has finished with Basic Training, at which point they'll expect Regular Pay- raising the Resources cost by +1.
