Peasant Killer - Red Sand Black Moon AAR

I decided, now that RSBM has been finalized, to start my own gladiator. Here's his story so far...

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Tomas is the born bastard son of a Border Kingdom Duke. The Border Kingdoms is one of the nations of Talomir, the fantasy setting for THW products. Upon the recent death of his father, the Duke, the Duke's eldest son, Charles, inherited the title. His first order of business was to cut Tomas off from his monthly stipend and kick him out of the castle. Having no rights or choice Tomas moved to the town and quickly saw his meager savings, two bottles worth, disappear. Toadying off a local bar wench for the last ten days he has now found himself out of her favor. Not wanting to work or join the army he has decided to take up the honorable gladiator trade. Not as a permanent thing of course, just to make ends meet.

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Seeing how Warrior Heroes - Armies and Adventures, Rally Round the King, Joust and the upcoming Warrior Heroes - Legends all use the same background and share common mechanics, I decided to make a back story and go into detail on my gladiator. I plan on using the monthly upkeep from RSBM and run Tomas in a campaign. hopefully, he will have a long life and can make it from rules set to rules set!

I start by choosing his country of origin, then work through the ten minute character creation. Here is Tomas's Gladiator Roster Sheet. 

Tomas Roster Sheet 

The first page lists his abilities, weapons, etc while the second page tells his brief history. Now that we have some background and info, on to his first match! Perhaps an Orc, Troll, seasoned fighter?

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Tomas could hear the snickers as the match was announced. Opponents are drawn at random and Tomas's first opponent was an average size Peasant armed with spear, shield and leather armor. Tomas couldn't help but notice the fellow seemed a bit afraid.

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Holy crap! In RSBM opponents are drawn at random based on dice rolling and the Locale that the match is fought in. Tomas would be fighting in a dingy dirt floor arena surrounded by timber outside of town. As the Border Kingdom is considered a Fringe Locale the opponents aren't always the best. Tomas has a 12 Rating. This is a value defined by his Attributes, Signatures, Armor, and Weapons. The Peasant was a whopping 6!

This would be a no win situation for Tomas. Worse case is the Peasant gets lucky and wins, in which case this whole thing was a waste of time on my part, or best case Tomas wins and doesn't get any Fame Points as he's supposed to win. At least he'll collect 100 Gold Talos, a month's upkeep in a Fringe Locale. With any luck he can attract a "Toad" who will provide food and lodging for free if Tomas let's him hang around with him. In any case, let the match begin!

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The match took about fifteen minutes and that was with taking pictures. Tomas won easily, as he should have. I thought of fighting another match but there is little to gain. His opponents would be lower Rated so no Fame Points could be collected. If he could only collect money might as well head to a Second Tier Arena and double his earnings.  I decided to stop and decided where Tomas would continue his career. The nearest Second Tier Locales would be south to Treyine or east to the lands of the Dark Elves. Both would take a month to reach. I decided Tomas would head east.

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As Tomas stopped to collect his winnings he heard a familiar laugh from behind. It was his half-brother, the Duke and the Lady Alise.

Artwork by Sade

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Earlier I mentioned that RSBM also ties in with Rally Round the King, the big battle rules from Two Hour Wargames. Here's how...

In RRtK there is a chance of a contested Succession and a civil war occurring. Talomir is a land of many mercenaries and, not so coincidentally, if you formally Retire from the arena in RSBM, with 100+ Fame Points "you have enough popularity, fame, and fortune to be King".  Or even a Duke?

Hey, I know it's a long shot but everyone needs a goal.

Look for RSBM in the next few days.