Grogs Chapter Four: Grogs in Stories

See Also

• The Ars Magica Reference Document
• The Grogs Open Content page
• The Grogs product page on this wiki

Chapter 4: Grogs in Stories

Ars Magica Fifth Edition is a game about magi first and foremost, with companions also being important in generating and contributing to stories. Grogs are usually an insignificant third in the order of importance. This chapter is concerned with getting grogs more involved in stories, and with making them more than just a bunch of Combat Totals.

Putting Together Your Team

A good grog captain knows that it is not sufficient to pick your best warriors when heading out on an expedition with the magi. While the grogs might be most called-upon for fighting, it is important to have a full complement of skills to best support the mission. Having the right team provides the grogs with roles in which they can be of more use to the magi. The liber gregis identifies five basic roles that should be fulfilled in any group leaving the covenant. This is not to say that every group of grogs should consist of five individuals; one grog could easily possess the essential skills of two or more of these roles. Furthermore, the team can be supplemented with standard warriors who fulfill no special role within the team.

The limit to the size of any group is determined by the designated leader. An individual can only lead a band of grogs as a trained group equal in size to his score in the Leadership Ability. Another important consideration is the choosing of a vanguard. The temptation is to pick the turb's best warrior, but this might exclude other essential members from the trained group, since there can be no more than a 5 point difference between any of the Combat Totals (Initiative, Attack, Defense, Damage, and Soak) of the best and the worst warriors in a trained group (ArM5, page 172). It is common practice for the drill sergeant of a turb to ensure that all his soldiers are trained to an equal level.

The names used for each of the five roles described later derive from the liber gregis; different covenants might have specific job titles for certain grogs, bands of grogs who are trained to fill specific roles, or else have no official recognition of the difference, yet still choose an adventuring party based on the needs of the magi. Some magi never even bother to learn the names of the grogs with whom they adventure, but instead simply use their titles.

Commanding Larger Groups

A leader can usually only have a number of men under his command equal to his Leadership score. However, larger groups can be handled through having the leader include subordinates in his command, who each command their own men. For example, a Dux with a Leadership of 4 commands 3 soldiers and an Optio. The Optio has a Leadership of 3, and he therefore commands another 3 soldiers. The effective size of the trained group is 8. There are disadvantages behind indirect command. Firstly, any Leadership rolls made by the overall leader to affect the entire group (such as those under Advanced Group Combat, later) have Ease Factors 3 higher than normal. Secondly, issuing commands that affect the whole group takes up the leader's whole action, although the subordinates can relay the commands as a "free" action.

Dux, the Leader

The leader is the individual who has been trained to coordinate a band of soldiers in combat, and an essential feature is a good score in the Leadership Ability. A leader is also often selected by the magi based on his intelligence, his loyalty, and his ability to speak Latin — or at least, have a language in common with most of the magi present. In addition to commanding the grogs in combat, the leader is often in charge of the day-to-day running of an expedition: coordinating the purchase or gathering of food; organizing the stops on the way; and maybe even planning the route. Perhaps most important is the role of liaison with the magi; all orders to the grex come via the leader.

Sounds Familiar?

The team structure suggested here is a common trope in modern literature and visual media, called the Five Man Band (the Hero, the Lancer, the Tough Guy, the Smart Guy, and the Chick). This timetested formula gives a spread of skills to a relatively small group of individuals. It is also a useful shortcut for your players who might subconsciously recognize the trope even if they are not consciously aware of it. Admittedly, the Five Man Band is a cliché, but clichés are appropriate for grogs, who are supposed to fill a support role rather than be the main figures in the action.

Optio, the Second in Command

The optio is the right-hand man of the dux. His principal role is to ensure that the orders of the leader are carried out, and to assume that role if the leader is incapacitated or killed. The optio should have the second-best Leadership score in the unit. With respect to his other abilities, the optio is often chosen to complement the abilities and skills of the dux. For example, if the leader is a superlative swordsman, then the optio might be a scout or an archer. The personality of the optio is often a contrast with the dux as well: a hardbitten disciplinarian leader is often coupled with a charming second who is much loved by the troops; likewise, a charming and smooth leader who works well with the magi often has a stern taskmaster as optio. His role is rarely combined with that of the vanguard except in small bands. It is common to combine the roles of optio and signifer.

Antesignanus, the Vanguard

The antesignanus literally stands before (ante) the standard (signum), and is the vanguard in any group of warriors. Another name for this role is the duplicarius, referring to the tradition of awarding the vanguard double pay and rewards, due to the danger inherent in his role. Vanguards are not necessarily the best warriors, but are often the toughest, and Virtues such as Enduring Constitution, Rapid Convalescence, and Tough are the mark of a good antesignanus.

It is generally considered a bad idea for the vanguard and the leader roles to be combined in a single individual. Placed as he is in the forefront of any battle, the vanguard is the most likely individual to be wounded or killed, and if the vanguard is also the leader of the troop, it dissolves into an untrained group immediately.

Immune, the Specialist

In the Roman army, the immunes were a class of legionary who possessed specialized skills, which made them exempt from normal duties such as labor and patrol. The liber gregis recognizes the importance of specialists in a troop, and sensibly suggests that the immune must be chosen according to the nature of the expedition. The most common immune is a chirurgeon; a turb that does not have access to basic first aid is in dire straits. However, like the Roman immunes, there is often a place for skills such as military architects, artillerymen, weapons instructors, carpenters, hunters, and trumpeters. Grogs with Supernatural Abilities such as Second Sight are usually immunes. If an immune does not have basic combat skills, he cannot be a member of the trained group.

Signifer, the Legate

In the Roman legions, the signifer carried the signum (standard) of the troop, a spear bearing commemorative medals of the battles they had fought, and topped with an open hand signifying the oath of the legion. It is the rare covenant that carries a standard on an expedition, but the signifer often bears the other responsibilities of his Roman predecessor, being responsible for distributing the soldier's pay and keeping a record of their savings, and maintaining morale. In short, the signifer takes care of the internal tensions of the troop, and is often chosen based on his social skills, particularly Folk Ken and Carouse. As a consequence, he often acts as the spokesman of the magi when dealing with mundanes. The signifer is occasionally taught how to read and write, so that there is at least one member of the troop who can receive written orders and interpret signs. Like the immune, the signifer is still one of the covenant's warriors, and receives basic training as a soldier.

Equipping the Grogs

Grogs are expected to be ready for anything, and carrying the correct equipment is the essence of good preparation. However, the benefits of equipment are often downplayed in Ars Magica Fifth Edition — this is not a game in which you load up on dungeoneering gear, since magi are considered to be above such things. They assume, as do their players, that the grogs have everything they might need. This section discusses the use of such equipment, and expands on the concepts of Load, Burden, and Encumbrance.

The Grog Pack

The liber gregis lists the essential equipment that should be carried on expeditions. Beorhtric demanded that each grog should carry in their pack or on their person the following equipment:

• Five paces of hawser (stout rope)
• Flint and tinder
• A lantern and two candles
• A woolen blanket
• A leather flask filled with ale, or two parts water and one part wine (another flask filled only with wine is allowed, with the permission of a magus)
• Scraps of cloth and leather, and leather thongs, for bandaging wounds and repairing clothing
• A small flask of oil and sharpening stones to care for weapons and armor
• A heavy cloak
• An entrenching tool, either a mattock or a shovel (for digging latrine pits or burying the vanguard)
• Strong thread and a bodkin for making repairs
• A leather cup, a metal bowl, and a skewer for eating
• A quantity of food (consisting of hard baked biscuits, cheese, dried salted fish or meat, flour meal), sufficient to support the grog for the number of days ordered by a magus

Any other equipment that the grog or a magus deems necessary for applying the other skills that the grog possesses must also be included. Any personal acquisitions must be transported in the grog's own pouches.

Furthermore, distributed among the grogs in the group are:

• Waterskins, food, eating utensils, woolen blankets, and leather tarps for tents for use by all magi present
• Several empty sacks and pouches
• One set of pots and pans for cooking
• Two grappling hooks
• Two lanterns and three flasks of oil
• Ten paces of thin rope
• A saw and axe for preparation of firewood

The gear that each grog carries must be arranged so that a large majority of the load can be dropped at a moment's notice in emergency situations. The classic manner is to suspend the pack from the tines of a forked pole carried on one shoulder. For long expeditions, pack-grogs or animals should be considered.

If the covenant follows the recommendations of the liber gregis, then each grog pack imposes a Load of 4. However, this load need not be taken into account for most situations like combat, since it can be discarded without using the grog's action in a round.

Encumbrance and Ability Use

Encumbrance should penalize most physical activities, such as running, jumping, hiding, and moving silently. Encumbrance also subtracts from any fatigue rolls. However, under certain circumstances, a heavily encumbered character should be at an even greater disadvantage particularly for climbing, swimming, and balancing. In such situations, use Burden rather than Encumbrance as a penalty to Ability rolls, to represent the additional penalty imposed by carrying a lot of extra kit.

Equipment Bonuses

Grogs often carry equipment to assist in the execution of their tasks. This optional rule permits certain pieces of equipment to make these tasks easier. Equipment can offer a reduction in the Ease Factor for a given Ability roll, but only if that equipment is not essential to perform the task. For example, a craftsman does not gain an equipment bonus to his Craft: Wrought Iron from using a hammer or anvil, and a crook cannot use Legerdemain to operate a lock without using the various picks and levers of his trade. However, virtually any sort of climbing is easier if a rope is at hand. Usually, no piece of equipment can assist in all uses of a single Ability, but equipment can often provide a bonus in a specialty. When a character uses equipment, the storyguide should determine whether it offers minor or major assistance. Minor assistance subtracts 1 from the Ease Factor, whereas major assistance subtracts 3. Only one equipment bonus can be gained for each roll. The following table gives some examples of equipment bonuses (in order of Ability). Naturally, the storyguide should equally impose a minor or major penalty to the Ease Factor for using substandard, shoddy, or damaged equipment.

Minor Equipment Bonus:
–1 to Ease Factor

Major Equipment Bonus:
–3 to Ease Factor

Encumbrance and Load

The Encumbrance system of Ars Magica Fifth Edition (page 178) is purposefully abstract, but it can be used to approximate weight. Broadly speaking, 1 point of Load equates to 7 pounds of weight. However, unwieldy or unbalanced objects might have a Load one point higher than their weight might suggest — a good example of this is the long spear (ArM5, page 176). Based on this measurement, a 100-pound human is equivalent to a Load of 15, or a Burden of 5.

The maximum practical weight a character can carry is that Load that inflicts an Encumbrance of –5, which is equivalent to a Burden of (Strength + 5). This is the weight that a character can lift over his head. A character can lift a Burden of (Strength + 7) off the ground, and can push or drag a Burden of (Strength + 12). See the nearby insert for an expanded Encumbrance table. Using a pulley to assist in lifting a load adds 3 to the character's effective Strength. Using a lever to assist in pushing a load also adds 3 to the character's effective Strength. If more than one character shoulders a load, then combine the weight that each can carry alone.

Exempli gratia: Paul the grog has a Strength of +2. He can carry a maximum weight equal to a Load of 28 (Burden 7); this translates to approximately 196 pounds. He can lift 315 pounds off the ground (Burden 9), and drag 735 pounds (Burden 14). The story demands that the characters push a stone block aside. The storyguide judges this to be equivalent to an Individual of Terram, and therefore weighs over 4100 pounds (see Insert). It will take six grogs as strong as Paul to shift the stone block. If they each had a crowbar, then it would only take four of them.

Equipment Bonuses

Equipment	Ability (Specialty)	Assistance
Whip or crop	Animal Handling (obedience)	Major
Map	Area Lore (planning route)	Major
Astronomical tables	Artes Liberales (astronomy)	Minor
Rope	Athletics (climbing)	Major
Pole (at least 10 foot)	Athletics (distance jumping)	Major
Fine wine	Folk Ken (getting information)	Minor
Flickering light	Concentration (meditation)	Minor
Good clothing	Charm (making good impression)	Minor
Guild badge	Guild Lore (gaining favors)	Minor
Makeup	Guile (disguise)	Minor
Bird Lime	Hunt (birds)	Major
Concealed blade	Legerdemain (slitting pouches)	Major
Watchglass	Medicine (diagnosis)	Minor
Cantled saddle	Ride (resisting charge)	Major
Flawless Crystal	Second Sight (see regio boundaries)	Minor
Lampblack	Stealth (hiding)	Minor

Expanded Encumbrance Table

Total Load	Weight (Lb)	Burden	Total Load	Weight (Lb)	Burden
0	0	0	91	637	13
1	7	1	105	735	14
3	21	2	120	840	15
6	42	3	136	952	16
10	70	4	153	1071	17
15	105	5	171	1197	18
21	147	6	190	1330	19
28	196	7	210	1470	20
36	252	8	231	1617	21
45	315	9	253	1771	22
55	385	10	276	1932	23
66	462	11	300	2100	24
78	546	12	325	2275	25

All four-footed beasts increase their Strength by half again for the purpose of determining Encumbrance and weight. Note that pack animals and horses usually have Strength scores beyond the normal human range: a courser has a Strength of +4, and a destrier has a Strength of +6 (see Realms of Power: Magic, page 142, or the Book of Beasts, freely available from Atlas Games' website). A destrier can therefore take its rider (Load 21), his armor (Load 6), his lance, mace, and heater shield (Load 7), and a full grog pack (Load 4), and still be unencumbered (Burden 8, effective Strength 9).

1 Point of Load = 7 pounds

Maximum Practical Weight:
Burden equal to (Strength + 5)

Lift off Ground:
Burden equal to (Strength + 7)

Push or Drag:
Burden equal to (Strength + 12)

Using a Pulley:
+3 to effective Strength when lifting

Using a Lever:
+3 to effective Strength when pushing

Pack Animals:
1½ x Strength when calculating Encumbrance

Roles in Stories

This section describes a number of ways in which grogs can be involved more in stories. It is divided into sections that describe the duties a grog might be asked to perform for his masters. Each section has story elements rather than story seeds; these are fragments of stories, rather than seeds in their own right. By focusing on some of the minor day-to-day hazards and annoyances posed to the grogs on an expedition, you can highlight some of the issues of the Middle Ages, and provide a richer roleplaying experience. However, be careful not to detract too greatly from the point of the expedition, and don't get sidetracked by these issues if you are building tension in your storyline.

Sentries

Duty watches are described in Chapter 2. There are eight watches in a day, each lasting three hours. Each duty watch is usually shared between one or two men, and they spend one watch on duty, followed by three watches off duty or free. When on expedition, there is no distinction between day patrol and night patrol; when not on duty, grogs are expected to sleep if it is nighttime, or be off duty during the daytime.

Weight of Common Materials

MATERIAL	WEIGHT OF 1 FT3	NUMBER OF FT3*
Beer or wine	64 lb	6
Dirt	94 lb	270
Gemstone	235 lb	6/10000**
Gold	1180 lb	1/10***
Iron	490 lb	1
Fresh leaves or vegetation	20 lbs	27
Olive oil	57 lb	62
Silver	655 lb	1/10***
Stone	155 lb	27
Water	62 lb	622
Wheat	50 lb	27
Wood	37 lb	27

\* in Target: Individual

\** 1728 Individuals in a cubic foot

\*** 10 Individuals in a cubic foot

For humans and animals, the Size characteristic is a good indicator of weight. A +1 increase in Size doubles the weight, +2 points of Size is a fivefold increase in weight, and +3 points of Size is a tenfold increase. The inverse is true when reducing points of Size.

SIZE	WEIGHT
-4	5 – 10 lb
-3	10 – 22 lb
-2	22 – 46 lb
-1	46 – 100 lb
0	100 – 215 lb
+1	215 – 465 lb
+2	465 – 1000 lb
+3	1000 – 2150 lb
+4	2150 – 4600 lb

The usual pattern of the day is that the troop is on the road by the beginning of the forenoon watch, although occasionally the magus orders an early start, which means the camp is roused at the start of the morntide watch, and leaves soon thereafter. A group travels for about nine hours; at the end of the foredusk watch, the dux usually orders a stop, although if a town, inn, or village is within reach, they may push on for a couple more hours. Grogs are expected to bunk down before the nighttide watch.

The dux is in charge of determining watch rotations and sentry duty. Sentries are usually only placed when an expeditionary party is stationary; when on the road, all grogs are expected to be in a constant state of alertness. However, if traveling on horseback or with wagons, the usual watch rotation can be maintained; soldiers quickly learn to nap whenever they can, and can even do so while in the saddle.

The dux or his optio keeps track of the passing of the watches nevertheless, so it is clear whose turn it is to take sentry duty when the group stops for the night. Dodging sentry duty is a popular pastime among grogs, and they come up with inventive reasons why they should be exempt, or why it is not their turn.

Story Elements: Sentry Duty

It may seem like a cliché, but nighttime is the best time to spring an ambush on a group of characters. The attackers hope that most of their opponents will be asleep, and that the sentries can be bypassed or taken by surprise. Distracting a bored sentry with seemingly innocuous sounds or sights presents an opportunity for the grog to make Personality Trait rolls (see later) — does he err on the side of caution and wake the magi despite the potential punishment that will follow, or does he allow his curiosity to get the better of him? Sentry duty in faerie auras can be particularly distracting; satyrs might entice him into a drinking match, or nymphs might try to seduce him. Or perhaps it was all a dream...

Sentry duty can be especially important when dealing with intelligent and magical opponents. If a wizard knows he has interlopers in his woods, he can eavesdrop on their conversations and learn the names of the magi. Once the troop has moved on, he then has simply to search the campsite (or the latrine) for an Arcane Connection, and he has a pretty hefty Penetration Total against that magus. Alert sentries tend to discourage this behavior by chasing off those who might lurk at the fringes of a campsite.

Guards

Providing protection from the various natural and supernatural hazards of Mythic Europe is the stock in trade of a covenant's grogs. By their very nature, magi tend to get themselves into dangerous situations, whether it is from raiding a griffin's nest, being beset by goblins in a haunted forest, or from a mob of peasants armed with pitchforks and torches. Guards usually use the Defenders maneuver in combat (ArM5, page 173, or else the optional rule for Defenders as Interceptor in Lords of Men, page 122) until their masters are safe from harm, after which time they can switch to more offensive maneuvers.

However, guard duty need not be as simple as acting as a meat shield in combat. Magi tend to be less physically able than most grogs, and not all are capable of using magic to compensate for their lack. Consequentially, relatively easy tasks — jumping over pits, climbing trees, fording rivers, and even riding horses — tend to pose more of a challenge to them. It is the grogs' duty to bring their masters home alive, and this includes preventing them from falling down cliffs, drowning, or being crushed under an avalanche.

Grogs must therefore often come up with novel solutions to compensate for their masters' physical ineptitude. It is the principal reason why rope takes up a substantial weight in the grog pack (see earlier), because it can be used in a number of ways. Rope makes climbing easier (and more importantly, falling less likely), and can also be used to prevent characters from being swept away when crossing swiftly flowing rivers.

Story Elements: Guards

A broken landscape, with slabs of rock crushed and flung into weird angles by geology or mystical forces, is perhaps the biggest impediment to movement, and one where grogs really come into their own. Crossing such a landscape requires a great deal of skill: leaping chasms, climbing rock faces, and dodging falling rock. Fatigue rolls need to be made at regular intervals. This might be fine for soldiers who have Athletics around 3 or so, but less able characters need a lot of help.

Underwater adventures are another example of where grogs can come into their own. Improvising spells that allow free movement under water is even harder than those to help one climb or balance, and so if the only way in to the Cave of Wonders is an underwater entrance, the magus will have to rely on his grogs to get him safely inside.

Combat situations can be made more challenging if combined with environmental hazards. As well as increasing the number of botch dice, hazards such as narrow cliffside paths, steam geysers, swamps, crevasses, and so forth can require characters to make rolls (usually Dexterity + Athletics) each round to avoid whatever dangers they pose.

Camp Duties

When on an expedition, grogs and their masters may need to spend many or most of their nights sleeping under the stars. This may be because the magi wish to avoid the attention of towns, or because they have been unable to secure a place to stay, thanks to The Gift. It may be simply that the expeditions take them deep into the wilderness.

When not on sentry duty, grogs are assigned a number of tasks around camp. The first order of business is always preparing tents for the magi. An area must be located — preferably among young trees — and cleared of vegetation. If the camp is simply an overnight stop, then these tents tend to be simple bivouacs designed to keep off the worst of the weather, made by slinging a tarpaulin over a rope strung between two trees, and securing the four corners off the ground. Where there are not enough trees, a corner-bivouac can be constructed by attaching the rope to a tree and the ground, and covering it with a tarp. Fresh-cut vegetation keeps the mud off the floor, and a bed of springy boughs with a blanket covering them is sufficient. If rain is expected, then a channel is dug around the tent to divert the runoff. For longer stops, the grex usually carries proper tents with sides to keep out the wind. Carrying tent poles is very unusual; suitable staves are provided by nature. The grogs usually sleep uncovered, unless the weather is inappropriate, in which case a tent is erected to house them all.

While some grogs are seeing to the tents, others are preparing a fire: gathering tinder, firewood, and curb stones. Suitable branches to support a cook-pot are trimmed, and water is usually put on to boil. All grogs take a turn at cooking, and most can produce a basic meal. Characters with the Survival Ability know which plants yield nutritious food, and gather wild vegetables, herbs, nuts, and fruit throughout the day to eat during the evening meal. Characters with the Hunt Ability might obtain fresh meat, but to avoid being caught for poaching, they usually just set snares for birds or small game.

If the camp is to persist longer than a single night, grogs are set to digging latrine pits, and constructing tripod frames to support washing bowls, spits, and other camp furniture.

Trail Food

The following is typical of what grogs eat when away from home. Most of the ingredients are brought with them or gathered from the wild. Any leftovers are eaten for lunch on the next day.

Bacon: Smoked and dried, often very fatty. Used in stews.

Baked Eggs: Eggs from domestic fowl or hedgerow birds; pierced and baked in embers.

Camp Stew: Dried meat boiled in ale with leeks and whatever vegetables have been brought or found. Thickened with flour or stale bread.

Chiches: Dried chickpeas roasted in the embers, then stewed.

Eels: Caught overnight in a submerged bag with the mouth propped open; eaten smoked for breakfast.

Girdle Bread: Flour and water mixed into dough, cooked on hot rocks or twisted around a skewer.

Gruel: Oats and water as a thin porridge. Only eaten when supplies are low; the oats are usually those brought for the horses.

Hedgehog: Thickly encased in clay and baked in the embers; the spines remain in the clay ball when opened.

Pease Pudding: Dried peas cooked until thick. Often eaten cold next day.

Stewed Fruit: Berries and hard fruit are hardly ever eaten raw.

Waufres: Flour, eggs, and cheese, mixed together and fried as cakes. For a rare treat, drizzled with honey.

Wortes: All manner of green vegetables, herbs, and leeks.

Guides and Messengers

Magi are much less likely to be aware of local geography, roads, and settlements than their grogs. As a consequence, the planning of journeys is often left to grogs; the magus simply announces where he wants to be and when, and the grogs do the rest of the work. Long distance travel typically focuses around itineraries, or an ordered list of towns to visit. At each town, local knowledge is called upon to find the correct roads to the next town on the itinerary. It is important to learn the crossing points of rivers, the presence of decent roads, and the locations of settlements for overnight stops and resupplying with food in each locale; the itinerary might be annotated with such features, if the journey is expected to be repeated. Maps are generally too large and valuable to take on the road, and are generally only useful for planning the itinerary.

Story Elements: Camping

Grogs are relatively experienced at setting up camps, but doing so in bad conditions in a hurry could lead to all sorts of errors. Perhaps the main grog tent is put on top of a badger sett, and they do not appreciate the company. The fire pit might attract salamanders from the logs, or the rushes used on the floor of the magus's tent could be infested with ants.

Gathering food can present hazards as well. Soldiers rarely pass up the opportunity to gather honey, but there is no accepted way of gathering this sugary treat safely. This could be a comical interlude, or develop into something more dangerous if the bees decide to attack in force. Traveling in unfamiliar habitat could be dangerous; a poisonous plant could resemble an edible foodstuff found closer to the covenant, or the herbs could be tainted by the supernatural aura they have grown in.

A group of armed individuals in woodland might attract attention from nobles or their representatives, who assume the group are poachers (of course, this could easily be true).

The Area Lore Ability is used for all sorts of navigation rolls, and is essential for both planning routes and correctly following them. City & Guild, pages 82–83, provide some Ease Factors for locating significant landmarks such as inns, hospices, roads, fords, bridges, and so forth. A character planning a new journey of more than a week can reduce the travel time by 10% if she succeeds in an Intelligence + Area Lore roll of Ease Factor 12.

Grogs are often used as messengers for the magi. They may be sent as couriers to other covenants if the matter is urgent and a redcap is not due for a while. They may be sent ahead of a troop to inform their destination of their imminent arrival, or to arrange accommodation in a foreign town. Grogs might also be sent back home: to impart vital information to the covenant, to ask for reinforcements, or to carry wounded comrades out of harm's way.

Travel Speeds

The table that follows indicates the best speeds (in miles per day) achievable with different modes of transport. Note that these are the best speeds: poor roads, severe weather, and frequent stops can substantially reduce these times. Furthermore, these are average best speed, since the presence of an inn or hospice might encourage characters to stop early for the day, or push on for a couple of hours more. Characters on foot, on horseback, or traveling by coach can fatigue themselves to travel further in a day; the horses are also fatigued by the same amount as their riders. Groups travel as fast as the slowest individual in the group.

If speed is of the essence, a character can push himself even more. A character on foot can cover a number of miles in a day equal to 15 + (2 x Athletics) on good roads. If he is traveling cross country or through wilderness, subtract 5 to 10 miles per day. This figure assumes that the character is minimally encumbered, and costs the character two Long-Term Fatigue levels, one lost halfway through the day and the other at dusk. As long as he gets a good meal and a night's sleep, he can do the same on the next day. However, there is a limit to how long a character can keep up this pace; after a number of days equal to his Athletics Ability, the character only regains one Fatigue level each night of sleep, so every subsequent day he accrues an extra Fatigue level. If the character is encumbered, subtract the Encumbrance from his Athletics Ability before calculating distance traveled.

Travel Fatigue

MODE OF TRANSPORT	TYPICAL DISTANCE W/O LONG-TERM FATIGUE	TYPICAL DISTANCE W/ LONG-TERM FATIGUE
Foot	15	20
Horse	30	40
Cart or Wagon	15	n/a
Coach	18	24
River Vessel*	15	n/a
Small Sailing Ship**	50	n/a
Galley (sails and oars)	80**	n/a

\* Add the speed of the river if heading downstream

\** Over 24 hours of travel

On horseback, a character can cover a number of miles in a day equal to 30 + (2 x Ride) on good roads, subtracting 10 to 20 miles per day for cross-country or wilderness. The character and the horse suffer from Fatigue loss as described earlier. If the horse is encumbered, subtract its Encumbrance from the character's Ride Ability (see Equipment, earlier, for the Encumbrance of horses). If a character lacks the Ride Ability then he is limited to 20 miles per day, and always loses one Long-Term Fatigue level. If the character is able to change horses he can travel faster; each change of horse in a day allows the character to travel an additional (2 x Ride) miles that day. However, there must be a minimal amount of time between changeovers — these speeds assume that the horses are ready and waiting for riders. If the grog has to locate and purchase a suitable horse, he can probably achieve a maximum of one change per day; if they are ready and waiting at the appropriate locations he can manage up to three changes. Skilled couriers on horseback have sometimes managed to travel 90 miles in a day, by pushing their horses to breaking point and having a steady supply of fresh horses.

Boats and ships can be powered by sails or by oars. Sailed vessels operate in coastal waters and across seas, whereas rowing vessels can also navigate rivers and lakes. Sailed vessels typically operate all day and all night. If traveling downstream, a rowboat adds the speed of the current to its total speed, which is typically three miles an hour. Rowers can usually manage to row for 10 hours each day, but if going downstream, the boat can also float at the speed of the river when not being rowed, as long as someone steers it.

Miles per Day (Foot):
15 + (2 x Athletics) on good roads

Miles per Day (Horseback):
30 + (2 x Ride) on good roads

For Each Change of Horse:
+ (2 x Ride) miles per day

Fatigue Cost:
2 Long-Term Fatigue levels

Story Elements: Guides and Messengers

Tension can arise between grogs and magi over planning a route. For example, the grogs might desire to travel south by way of an inn famous for its ale (or its women...); however, the magi may ask for the quickest route, which would place them at the tavern at lunchtime. There is no way that the magi will want to stop for the night with half the day still available for traveling. How long can the grogs delay the group with mishaps — a false start down the wrong road, a thrown shoe on one of the horses, a loose axle pin on the cart — so that they reach the inn conveniently close to the end of the day? And will the magi even notice?

Likewise, a local grog might plan a route which avoids the vicinity of the haunted lake without explaining why. If the magi demand that the group goes the shortest route, they might suffer rebellion or even desertion, such horrors does the lake hold in the minds of the men.

Soldiers are often superstitious, and might desire to make a side trip to visit a local shrine, or pay respects at the place where a former grog is buried.

Sending grogs out to carry messages is a great way of initiating a grog-only story (see Chapter 3), or it may simply be a single event in a larger story. Messenger stories are better if small groups of grogs can be sent out rather than a single individual. Messenger stories often involve an element of speed. If the magi discover that their covenant or an ally is under immediate threat, then it might be a dash to warn them. A character injured on a mission might be in urgent need of a chirurgeon, but the best one in the region might be several days away. In such situations, even the simplest of obstacles — a cart with a broken wheel, a fallen tree, a washed-out bridge — can add to the dramatic tension of the situation.

Representatives

One of the biggest obstacles that magi face is their difficulty in communicating with non-magi. The Gift surrounds them like a cloud, causing everything they say to be taken in the worst possible light. Their very presence engenders mistrust, which is only compounded by the innate suspicion that is often felt toward strangers. As a consequence, grogs can find themselves at the forefront of negotiations with mundanes on behalf of their masters. Of course, this is a role often taken on by competent companion characters as well.

Bribery is an excellent way to loosen the tongue of a recalcitrant peasant; this can be overt (jingling a pouch of coins in front of the peasant's face) or more subtle (offering to buy him a few jars of ale, or buying some of his craft, no matter how awful it might be). When providing a bribe, one should keep in mind that only townsfolk have any great use for coinage — in much of rural Mythic Europe, barter is the main form of commerce. This being said, there is a subtle art in offering the right amount of bribe. If one offers too little, the local will be offended. If one offers too much, the local might become doubly suspicious, or even mark the character as a rube or future mugging victim. As a guide, a day laborer earns about one Mythic Penny per day, and needs the equivalent of a Mythic Pound every year to feed himself and his family. A professional earns two to five times as much, depending on trade and ability. However, most mundanes in Mythic Europe live within their means, and savings are a foreign concept associated with avaricious behavior. A bribe equivalent to a day's pay grants a Minor equipment bonus (see earlier), whereas a bribe equivalent to a week's pay grants a Major equipment bonus.

Gaining Information

The local populace often has information that is needed for the successful completion of a mission. The troop could spend weeks scouring the hills in search of the lair of a dragon and still not find it, while a few words with a yokel could provide them with the information they need in minutes. Locals are often suspicious of strangers; this is particularly true in rural areas where most individuals never leave the village they were born in, and less true in cities, where new folk come in every day. An average Communication + Folk Ken roll is usually sufficient to get an individual to talk, but increase the Ease Factor by the local's Suspicious Personality Trait.

Negotiation

Grogs are often required to make purchases for their master, since The Gift results in vendors hiking their prices as soon as the magus approaches their shop or booth. Purchases made with currency can normally only be made in a town or city; some example prices can be found on page 144 of City & Guild.

The Bargain Ability can be used to negotiate a good price for expensive or bulk items. Not all items can be bargained for; vendors of food very rarely reduce their prices unless a lot of food is bought at once, for example. Bargaining usually takes place with artisans, where the true value of their goods is strongly associated with the skill of its maker or the rarity of the item. First, determine the actual value of the goods; this is usually twice the cost to the seller, but in cities or crises, inflation might drive the price even higher. The buyer can attempt to determine the value by making a Perception + Bargain roll, with an Ease Factor of 9. If the goods are particularly common, or the buyer has a Craft or Profession Ability related to the goods to be purchased, subtract 3 from the Ease Factor. If the goods are especially rare or unusual, then add 3 or more.

Next, make a Communication + Bargain roll for the buyer, and one for the seller. The seller's roll should be made in secret; if it is greater than that of the grog, then the seller is not prepared to reduce the price to less than the value. Otherwise, the seller will settle for 10% less than the value for every 3 points or fraction that the grog's roll exceeded the seller's. Regardless of how good the buyer's Bargain roll is, the sale price is never less than half of the initial value.

Now that the storyguide knows how much the seller will accept, she can either assume that this is the price secured by the grog, or else roleplay the negotiation with the player. When negotiating, the seller is likely to initially ask for a price higher than the actual value of the goods. The seller will eventually go as low as the calculated price, but the grog doesn't know how low this is, and may settle at a higher price instead. He may make a Perception + Folk Ken roll to try to detect when the seller is getting close to a price he is prepared to accept; this is opposed to the seller's Presence + Guile roll.

Appraise Value of the Goods:
Perception + Bargain + simple die; Ease Factor 9 (usually)

Bargain Roll:
Communication + Bargain + simple die for the buyer and seller

Lowest Final Price:
Value of goods – 10% per 3 points (or fraction) that the buyer's Bargain roll exceeds the seller's (minimum limit: 50% of value)

Gain Bargaining Advantage:
Perception + Folk Ken + simple die of buyer versus Presence + Guile + simple die of seller

Purchasing Supplies for Travel

A perennial problem with extended travel is the lack of fresh provender. A village is an excellent opportunity to restock with long-life ingredients, and also to buy fresh produce that will last the next few days of travel. Eggs, vegetables (particularly leeks and onions), bread, butter, and grain are the most commonly purchased goods; meat is less readily available, but a village might be persuaded to part with its precious supplies of bacon and fresh meat for the right price. Villagers are more reluctant to sell produce in the winter and spring, when food is at a premium, and more likely to do so in the autumn.

Be aware that there is a limit to the amount of excess food that a village has. They likely have obligations to provide fresh produce for their lord, and so must reserve the greater part of their harvest for him. They have little use for coin in the short term, since neither they nor their lord can eat money. Towns are a better prospect for resupplying; here, there is a food service industry specifically tailored to the production of food for sale. With respect to prices, in a town, a loaf of bread costs about half a Mythic Penny, a chicken can be bought for about a Mythic Penny, as can a pound of cheese, two dozen eggs, ten salted herring, or a gallon of best ale. Broadly speaking, it costs a Mythic Penny to feed a grog for a day, if you are buying rather than growing his food.

Arranging Accommodation

While inns and church-run hospices are found between major cities and along trade routes (see City & Guild, page 81), more isolated regions are devoid of such institutions, and travelers have to rely on the hospitality of peasants. At the very least, basic Christian charity usually allows a group of travelers to seek shelter in a barn, grainstore, or chapel, and a few pennies might buy them a hot meal.

Slightly more comfortable is accommodation in the byre; a shelf is placed above the livestock so that people can benefit from the heat given off by the animals. During the winter, the whole village might sleep in the communal byre above the village's plow-oxen. However, with magi around, the byre is rarely a sensible option; The Gift spooks animals as much as it does humans, and sharing a shed with a magus and several oxen is not a recipe for a quiet night.

The best accommodation on offer in a village is to share a bed with a householder and his wife; depending on the number of children they have, there may be room for one or two extras.

To arrange a place to stay, make a Communication + Folk Ken roll, using the Ease Factors in the following table. If the peasants have had the opportunity to talk with the magi, then the social penalty of The Gift applies to this roll even if it is being made by a grog. Bribes modify this roll in the normal fashion.

ACCOMMODATION	EASE FACTOR
Barn	3
Byre	6
Shared Bed	9

Translation

It is not uncommon for magi to join a covenant in a region where they do not speak the vernacular language. This may be as simple as having difficulty with the local dialect, or as complete as no understanding at all. Magi rarely find time in their busy schedules to learn new languages — anyone important can speak Latin anyway, and grogs can always be used to translate. Many grogs learn a smattering of Latin, and some become quite fluent. Given their opportunities for travel, they may also pick up foreign languages as well, and covenants occasionally employ a grog who is good with languages specifically for this purpose.

A character with a Language Ability of 2 or less needs to make Communication + Language rolls to get his point across, and an Intelligence + Language roll to understand what is said back. The Ease Factor varies according to the level of complexity of the subject matter, but a 6 is normally sufficient. Characters with Language Abilities of 3 or more need not make these rolls for everyday conversation, but may need to for more complex concepts. If the two speakers have more than one language in common, they can reduce the Ease Factor of communication and understanding by three, since they can substitute words in the other languages where they don't know the word in the main language.

Unless she is fluent (Language Ability 5 or better), use of a character's social Abilities is limited by her Language score. So a maga issuing orders in French (where her Ability is 3) cannot make full use of her Leadership 4 Ability, and must act as if she had a Leadership of 3. However, she could freely communicate her instructions to her grog captain, who, as a native French speaker, can issue her orders with no penalty using his own Leadership Ability.

As one travels further from home, one encounters changes in language which might make conversing difficult. A native speaker knows his own language at a score of 5, and may have a specialty in his own dialect, for an overall score of 6. He can sometimes communicate with a speaker of a different language, depending on how closely related the two languages are:

SITUATION: Same language, different dialect
PENALTY: –1 penalty to both speakers

SITUATION: Closely related languages
PENALTY: –2 penalty to both speakers

SITUATION: Distantly-related languages
PENALTY: –3 penalty to both speakers

For example, a speaker of French (Norman) can talk with a native of Paris who speaks French (Orleanais), with a –1 penalty. He can talk with a native of Provence with a –2 penalty, since French and Occitan (the language of Provence) are closely related. He can even communicate basic information with speakers of Castilian, at a –3 penalty.

Story Elements: Representing Magi

Using grogs as the interface between the magi and the rest of the world is an excellent way to get grogs involved in stories. A grog with no social Abilities is often better than a magus with some social Abilities and The Gift; even if their effective scores are the same, the magus' very presence makes people uncomfortable and suspicious.

If grogs are responsible for all social interactions, only the grogs are aware of the content of those conversations. This has several roleplaying applications. If the magi habitually leave grogs to deal with mundanes, you might want to make a clear separation between player and character knowledge. If a grog is ordered to ask a peasant what he knows about the ruined castle, then take the player to one side and deliver the peasant's rambling account of the legend. That player now has to relate the legend to the others, as if he were the grog reporting back. Any mistakes should not be corrected, but the player can ask for his grog to make easy Intelligence rolls to fill in details like names.

If a grog is given a pouch of money and asked to purchase something, he may take advantage of the general unworldliness of magi, and take a "commission" or "finder's fee." A particularly audacious manner of doing this is under the magus' very nose, if he does not speak the language. Let the grog's Personality Traits guide this sort of behavior.

Personality Traits

Personality Traits are largely a descriptive statistic in Ars Magica Fifth Edition, used as a guide to roleplaying a character, rather than actually deciding what they do. However, grogs often have less well-developed personalities due to their role in the game, and they will undoubtedly act differently under the control of different players. As a consequence, the troupe may decide to make greater use of Personality Trait rolls when determining the actions of grogs.

Each character begins with at least three Personality Traits that range from –3 to +3 (ArM5, page 33). Most grogs should have a Brave and a Loyal Personality Trait. The Loyal Trait is assumed to represent their loyalty to the covenant, although they may develop different loyalties to different organizations or individuals. The Loyal Trait is also used as a measure of the impact of The Gift on non-magi (see Growing Used to The Gift, later). If a character has a Personality Flaw, then she could be given an additional Personality Trait that matches that Flaw. This trait should have a value of +3 (for a Minor Flaw) or +6 (for a Major Flaw).

Several resources for Ars Magica Fifth Edition have provided lists of possible Personality Traits. Realms of Power: The Divine Revised Edition, page 40, has an insert relating Personality Traits to religious virtues and vices, and discusses which traits oppose which others. Art & Academe, page 40, discusses the relationship between complexion and Personality traits, and provides further lists of possible traits linked to the preponderance of the humors.

Making Personality Trait Rolls

To decide on a character's actions using Personality Trait rolls, add the Personality Trait to the result of a stress die, and compare the result to the table on page 19 of Ars Magica Fifth Edition. Pay special attention to the trait rolled and its sign. For example, a character with a Cowardly +2 Trait who is asked to make a Brave roll effectively has a Brave –2 Trait. If a character fails a Personality Trait roll, then he must temporarily act in a manner determined by the circumstances (that is, the storyguide). A character who lacks a Personality Trait is considered to have a score of zero. Usually, a single Personality Trait is applied to any given roll; use the most appropriate, or the highest. A grog with an applicable Personality Flaw does not usually need to roll; a Major Personality Flaw takes virtually all control from the player under applicable circumstances, whereas a Minor Personality Flaw should determine his actions in lieu of a Personality Trait Roll, but not to the exclusion of reason.

A common experience for grogs is to be under the influence of conflicting emotions. A sentry on watch might be tempted by his Lazy Trait to just go to sleep, but this is opposed by his Need to Please. A normally Brave soldier might be challenged by his Fear of Fire. A grog might be torn between his Loyal to Covenant and his Loyal to Friends Traits. When this happens, make the Personality Trait roll as usual, but modify the Ease Factor by the score in the opposing Trait. This modification might make the Ease Factor harder or easier, depending on the situation.

Exempli gratia: A grog is confronted by a fire-breathing dragon, which requires a Brave roll. If a magus orders him to engage the dragon, the character's Loyal trait is subtracted from the Ease Factor, since the more loyal the grog is, the easier this roll is. If the character has a Fear of Fire, this Trait should be added to the Ease Factor for the Brave roll, since this fear discourages his natural bravery.

Growing Used to The Gifted

As previously explained in ArM5, people do not get used to The Gift. They can get used to a Gifted individual, however, and regular positive interactions eventually allow a person to ignore the negative social consequences generated by that character's Gift. Covenants implies that it takes 15 years for an average resident of a coven to ignore the social penalty of the Gift (see Familiarity, page 40), although altruism and rewards might shorten this substantially, and providing the grogs with better than average living conditions and pay can shorten it further still. The social penalty of a magus' Gift is usually applied to any sort of situation roll that involves loyalty, but Covenants introduces the concept of Prevailing Loyalty, which is added to any Loyal Personality Trait rolls instead of the magus' social penalty. Prevailing Loyalty begins as the average social penalty of a covenant's magi, but can increase (or decrease) according to factors such as the length of time that magi and grogs have associated with one another, and the attitude of the magi toward the grogs during that time. An individual grog begins with a Loyal Personality Trait that is up to 3 points different from the turb's Prevailing Loyalty.

For a more complex, but perhaps richer, system, each grog could have a separate Loyalty score for each magus in the covenant — or at least for those magi with whom he has regular contact. These Loyalty scores fluctuate in a similar manner to Prevailing Loyalty. Thus, if Ignatio the Shield Grog has regular, friendly contact with Tillitus of Bonisagus, his initial Loyal +2 might develop into two Personality Traits, Loyal to Covenant +2 and Loyal to Tillitus +3. Consequently, Ignatio has an effective Loyal 0 when dealing with Tillitus (taking into account his –3 penalty for the Gift), compared to Loyal –1 with the other magi of the covenant.

Advanced Group Combat

Group Combat is an important concept in Ars Magica Fifth Edition, and the principal role of grogs in many stories. The rules in this section expand the Group Combat rules in ArM5 to add a bit more tactical depth. Feel free to use group combat when it makes sense, or have characters fight independently whenever drama or troupe preference dictates. These rules were first printed in Chapter 9 of Lords of Men.

The Leader's Actions

A group leader can make one command-related die roll per round without using his action for that round. The leader acts at the same point in the combat sequence as the rest of the group. In cases where it matters whether the group acts first, or the leader makes the Leadership roll first, the leader gets to decide the order in which the dice are rolled.

If the leader (or any member of the group, for that matter) wants to remain in the group, but do something other than attack, that's permissible. Simply don't count that individual as part of the group when calculating the group's combat bonus or resolving Damage. For example, if a group of two grogs plus a leader is fighting, and the leader chooses to spend his action doing something else besides attacking (say, casting a spell), then the group's combat bonus would be capped at +X (instead of +Y), and when the group hits, it only would inflict Damage two times, not three times.

Morale and Discipline

These optional rules somewhat weaken the effectiveness of groups, but they make the role of the leader more important. A leader becomes significant even in an untrained group.

Effective group tactics require both discipline and morale. In battle, both of these will be tested.

Discipline

A Discipline roll is required whenever the group is tempted to break formation, either because the group is executing a tricky maneuver or because the enemy seems vulnerable (tempting the group's members to pursue them). Discipline rolls do not take an action to make. If a Discipline roll fails, the group temporarily becomes Disordered.

Group Discipline:
stress die + Leader's Presence + Leader's Leadership

If everyone in the group has a positive Loyal personality score, the group gains an additional bonus equal to the lowest Loyal score among the members.

Example discipline Ease Factors are given below:

EASE FACTOR: 3
EXAMPLE EVENT: Group moves across difficult terrain.

EASE FACTOR: 6
EXAMPLE EVENTS: Group runs (without charging); Or, enemy Disengages (without routing); Or, group changes between melee and missile combat.

EASE FACTOR: 9
EXAMPLE EVENTS: Enemy routs; Or, group Disengages.

Morale

All groups need to make morale rolls when bad things happen to them on the battlefield. Morale rolls do not take an action to make. A group that fails a morale check becomes Disordered. If the group is already Disordered and then fails a Morale check, it routs.

Group Morale:
stress die + Leader's Pre + Leader's Leadership

If everyone in the group has a positive Brave personality score, the group gains a bonus to the Morale roll equal to the lowest Brave score in the group.

Example morale Ease Factors are given below:

EASE FACTOR: 6
EXAMPLE EVENTS: Taking wounds from missile fire when having no missiles of its own; Or, charged by approximately equal force.

EASE FACTOR: 9
EXAMPLE EVENTS: Charged by obviously superior force; Or, ambushed or attacked from rear; Or, all members of group reach Wound Penalty of –3 or worse; Or, the vanguard or leader killed, Incapacitated, or disabled by magic.

Disordered Groups

A group that fails a Discipline or Morale check becomes Disordered. This is a bad state of affairs that leaves the group vulnerable in combat.

• A trained group that is Disordered functions as an untrained group. If it fails a second Discipline check, it functions like a Disordered untrained group.
• An untrained group that is Disordered can't attack effectively: only half its attacks (round up) can hit, and the others automatically miss. That is, instead of inflicting damage once per member of the group, it only inflicts damage half that many times (round up).
• If a group that is Disordered fails a Morale check (but not a Discipline check), it becomes Routed.

Routed Groups

A routed group has lost its will to fight and attempts to Disengage from all opponents and flee to safety. Once Disengaged from the enemy, it's not uncommon for the members of a routed group to scatter.

A group can become Routed if it is already Disordered and then fails a Morale check.

Rallying a Group

If a group becomes Disordered or Routed, the leader may attempt to rally it as an action. Rallying improves a routed group to being merely Disordered, or restores a Disordered group to normal status.

Rally a Group:
Presence + Leadership + stress Die

The Ease Factor to rally a group depends on whether the group is Engaged in combat, and how many casualties it has taken. A casualty is a member of the group who has a Medium or worse wound, or is unconscious or unable to fight due to magical effects.

Example Ease Factors to rally a group are given below:

EASE FACTOR: 3
EXAMPLE EVENT: Group is not engaged in combat.

EASE FACTOR: 6
EXAMPLE EVENT: Group is taking enemy missile fire.

EASE FACTOR: 9
EXAMPLE EVENT: Engaged in melee.

EASE FACTOR: 12
EXAMPLE EVENT: Routed and being hotly pursued.

EASE FACTOR: +1 to Ease Factor
EXAMPLE EVENT: Group has sustained casualties.

EASE FACTOR: +3 to Ease Factor
EXAMPLE EVENT: Group has sustained 50% casualties or more.

Groups With No Leader

Ordinarily, a group that loses its vanguard or leader splits into individuals (see ArM5, page 173). Under these optional rules, a group that loses its vanguard or leader can still fight, though it is likely to become Disordered.

A group with no vanguard can't attack, but uses the Defense score of its best member. The leader of a group can designate a new vanguard in the middle of battle. If successful, this takes effect immediately, and the group's future rolls are based on the new vanguard's statistics. The leader can automatically choose a new vanguard (no roll required) if the group spends a round without attacking or defending.

Replace a Vanguard in Combat:
Leader's Presence + Leadership vs. Ease Factor 9

A group with no leader automatically fails any future Morale or Discipline checks. A new leader can assume command automatically if the group spends a round without fighting (making no Attack or Defense rolls). Alternatively, a member of the group may assume command in combat; if successful, this takes effect immediately.

Assume Leadership in Combat:
Presence + Leadership vs. Ease Factor 9

If more than one character succeeds at this roll in the same round, the one with the highest total becomes the leader.

Injury and Death

Combat is sometimes an inevitable consequence of a story, and is the principal reason why magi employ grogs. However, injuries in Ars Magica Fifth Edition can be punishing; even minor wounds, while not immediately life-threatening, impose limits on activities, and there are no easily available magics for healing wounds. A minor encounter with a group of opponents can easily cripple the mission by wounding all of the grogs, and is particularly brutal on the vanguard.

If the characters are close to home, it might be possible to send the most wounded back, and have them refreshed with reinforcements. However, movement while injured can be painfully slow.

Battlefield Injuries

Wounds taken in combat can pose a major impediment to continuing an expedition. A character with more than a –2 Wound Penalty cannot make any swift or sudden motions, or travel at more than half the usual pace without risking his wounds worsening (ArM5, page 179). Even a –1 Wound Penalty prohibits strenuous activity without risking the wound. The Wound Recovery roll made to prevent a wound from worsening is fortunately modified by the Chirurgy Ability of any first-aider, which is why a cutter is a vital member of any grex.

A character with a –1 or –2 Wound Penalty can perform sentry duty, but cannot usually partake in most off-duty activities such as pitching camp. He cannot take double duties on watch without having to make a wound-worsening roll. A character with a more severe Wound Penalty cannot even perform sentry duty without putting pressure on his ailing body.

First Aid

First aid can prevent a wound from worsening for a short period of time, allowing the patient to get to a place of safety for the proper healing of his wounds. When tending a patient's wounds, a chirurgeon can make a First Aid roll against the Improvement Ease Factor of his patient's most serious wound on the Wound Recovery Table (ArM5, page 179). If this is successful, the patient is treated as one category higher with respect to Activity While Injured (ArM5, page 178). The effects of a successful First Aid roll last just one day, and cannot be repeated. A botched First Aid roll provokes an immediate Wound Recovery roll, and the patient receives no First Aid bonus. First aid can also start the healing process (see Art & Academe, page 61).

First Aid Roll:
Dexterity + Chirurgy + Recovery Modifiers (see Art & Academe, page 54) + Magical Aid + stress die vs Improvement Ease Factor

Magical First Aid

The 10th level Creo Corpus spell Bind Wound (ArM5, page 129) prevents any wound from worsening while in effect, and can be a life saver in many situations. Even low-level Creo Corpus spells can grant a modest, long-term bonus to Wound Recovery rolls, which includes those to avoid wounds worsening. Covenants commonly create an enchantment with one of these spells as a constant effect, at least to get the vanguard back on his feet. Endurance of the Berserkers (ReCo 15) negates all Wound and Fatigue penalties for a short time, but the average human can only be affected by this spell twice before it ceases to have an effect (ArM5, page 134).

A more powerful enchantment consists of a long duration Chirurgeon's Healing Touch (CrCo 20), which removes a wound entirely for as long as the character is under its influence (ArM5, page 129). However, this spell would have to be boosted to Sun Duration, meaning that it would inflict a Warping point every time it is used for the strong mystical effect (ArM5, page 168). Furthermore, it could only negate a Light Wound; more powerful effects would be needed for more serious wounds. Naturally, a magus with the ritual form of this spell and the vis spare can negate such a wound altogether.

The Death of a Grog

It is an uncomfortable truth that soldiers die; even more, they are expected to die. Their purpose, after all, is to place themselves between danger and their masters. Particularly lucky or skilled soldiers sometimes last long enough to start families, or even retire. Even luckier grogs get to live at covenants where the magi are either so peaceful or so formidable that the risk of death or serious injury is minimal. Yet for most turbs, the passing of a grog is depressingly frequent.

Some troupes prefer to play grogs as an expendable resource, and barely mark their passing. It is unlikely that the turb itself is so blasé about death. In the heat of the battle, they may not note the passing of their comrade, and even if they do, they will not dare to let it affect them. When the heat of battle has passed, though, they gather up the dead and mourn their loss.

The medieval attitude to death is a mixture of reverence and superstition. In Christian thought, a "good death" is at the end of a long life. The deceased is reconciled with the community and with God through the sacrament of Extreme Unction (or Last Rites), which spiritually prepares him for the journey to the next life. Most importantly, he has done penance for all his sins in this life, and received forgiveness. But soldiers hardly ever die in this manner. Christians fear the quick death, the mors improvisia, because it robs them of the opportunity to render themselves penitentially into a state of grace.

It is considered important for a cadaver to be physically clean as a symbol of the desired spiritual cleanliness, and the body of a fallen comrade is washed clean of blood and, if possible, wrapped in a clean linen sheet. Grogs often turn to the magi in the absence of a priest for Extreme Unction. As Latin speakers, it is often assumed that magi can perform priestly duties. Indeed, in dire circumstances, this sacrament can be performed by any baptized member of the Church; ordination is not a requirement. However, when performed by an ordained priest, Extreme Unction absolves the person from all mortal sins and protects the spirit of the deceased from supernatural effects for three days (Realms of Power: The Divine Revised Edition, page 75); this is usually sufficient time for the body to be buried in consecrated ground.

Grogs usually show a strong desire to carry their fallen comrade home. Tradition dictates that a body is buried in the same parish as his birth, but some covenants maintain their own graveyard for more far-flung members of their community. The inability to recover a body, or to return it home, is a painful thing, and grogs leave behind a fallen comrade with great reluctance. A magus suggesting that a body be abandoned is likely to provoke feelings of rebellion, and can result in the loss of Prevailing Loyalty (see Covenants, page 40). If the body must be left behind, it is important that it is buried whole, not burnt or dismembered, and the grave must be marked. The grogs may express a desire to return for the body at a later date, to ensure that it receives the correct burial rites. Curiously, the same reverence is usually shown for the dead even if an individual was disliked in life.

Remembrance

Grogs often institute some communal ritual to revere their deceased comrades. The liber gregis suggests that this is permitted, even encouraged by the magi. A roll of the fallen, displayed in a prominent place and ceremonially inscribed with the names of deceased grogs, is a good way to achieve this. Even if the grogs cannot actually read the honor roll, they know which names correspond to their particular friends, and know that they will not be themselves forgotten when death comes for them. The liber gregis also suggests that, once a year, on All Souls' Day (November 1), the magi lead a ceremony remembering the fallen, and pleads that covenants find the money to add the grog's name to the obituary of a local monastery, so that prayers will be said to speed his time in purgatory.

If a grog has left behind a wife or family, they will often be cared for by the troop. Any pension owed to the deceased individual devolves to them, and the other grogs often contribute what aid they can afford. It is not unusual for a close friend of the deceased grog to offer to marry the widow, so that she will be well-cared for and her children protected from poverty.

It is not necessary for every grog death to be played out in detail, but it is worth it on occasion, so that the grog can be remembered in death as much as he was in life.

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