Village Leader (title)

An official position associated with a small community of less than 1,000 persons. A village leader is a singular entity or one of a number of village elders who are permitted to establish local legislation for the village and surrounding environs, collect rents, collect taxes on behalf of the local lord and pass judgement upon petty and capital crimes committed by lesser persons residing in the community. Very often this extends to outsiders if the outsider cannot demonstrate their worth or status within the local land to be of importance. Where more than one village leader is present, majority vote decides matters.

To become a village leader, characters must apply to the local noble, monarch or emperor within the land in question. The character must own 100 acres of arable land, upon which must be located a house or shop of no less than 1,000 square feet in size. The character must dress and act outwardly in a dignified manner and must be able and prepared to pay a yearly stipend of 100 g.p. for the improvement of the community.

See Encounters

Tribes (social group)

When a clan reaches a certain size, the local food supply will not support so many persons. At this point, the clan separates into two or more groups, each of which move in their own directions. However, because of their organic formation, these clans continue to view each other positively, since many of them are direct relations. At different times of the year, when the salmon are running or when fruits ripen in known areas, the various clans of a tribe will gather together to exchange information, resources and members. They will turn to each other in times of threat. Large tribes will act to establish territorial claims.

In tech 6 or better regions, where food supplies are consistent and soil is good for agriculture, whole tribes will establish settlements where individual clans will dwell together. These settlements will raise some animals but will be more focused on raising crops than on livestock raising - since flocks must depend upon only upon local meadows and pastures.

Tribes will tend to spawn off bands who are rebellious against an agrarian lifestyle - very rarely are these bands considered a part of a given tribe.

In tribal settlements, because of their number, there will be a strongly organized group of leveled persons. Each tribe will typically consist of a chief, 2-8 elders and something like 3-12 warriors, strong men in the village who obey the chief and the elders and reflect what is seen as good and noble behaviour.

See Encounters

Traders (social group)

Describes those who act as merchandisers for objects and services that are made by others, as a conduit between artisans and the buying public. Traders do not make things, they buy and sell them. The vocation of a trader is to make profit - to ensure that they make more money from what they sell than the expenditure they are forced to make when they buy. Traders only appear in towns or cities, except under some circumstances: see below.

The status of traders varies from region to region; in middle to low development areas, between 7 and 11, traders tend to be seen as pariahs or parasites of of the social system - there is a distaste among some for those who do not create, but merely sell. In higher tech regions, where investment becomes more common and the raising of capital in order to create infrastructure becomes more important and respected, traders form an integral part of the region's power structure.

There are two common forms of trader: wholesalers, who deal mostly in raw materials, forming the chain between producers and storefronts; and retailers, who sell from a storefront directly to regular customers. A third type, the peddler, acts as a travelling vendor, occasionally dealing in wholesale goods while hawking goods along roads or in small towns and villages. In all three cases, the balance of goods that are bought and sold will not be manufactured items, but raw and natural goods: produce, staple crops, ores, fish, livestock, animal products and such. These are things that are not 'made' and therefore offer the highest rate of return between the producer and the market where they are sold.

Peddler Encounters

The role of a peddler is a solitary one, a dangerous one also, as to remain commercially viable a peddler must cover a wide territory in order to sell comparatively few wares. The wares themselves cannot be of much value, nor can the cart that peddler uses cannot tempt thieves. A too successful peddler is bound to attract too much of the wrong attention, only to thereafter begin again from scratch or fail to have the wherewithal to continue at all.

During the days, peddlers will be encountered on open roads, and near the village greens of small settlements; they will be very hard to find at night, as they will usually have some safe house along their routes where they can lock up their wares at night. In the open, peddlers will be very distrustful of strangers, especially those who express a willingness to look over their wares, as this is a common ploy to expose what valuables the peddler has. In a public space, the peddler is likely to be more forthcoming.

Peddlers will speak easily of the places where they frequent and will be a font of knowledge about the region, for those who are wise enough to recognize peddlers for this quality. Look for the following motivations in their behavior:

• Pressure to make at least some token purchase, preferably something of absolutely no use to anyone, that the peddler acquired while making a barter with a starving someone who possessed nothing else (most manufactured knick knacks a peddler has will be acquired this way).
• A strong resistance to letting a sale get away - food peddlers were often known as 'badgers.'
• Wares of lower quality than would be found in a town or city; armor that will work at one armor class lower than normally associated with a type; weapons that will break easily; all at the same prices one would find in a proper market.
• An acute willingness to participate in petty crime, so long as the peddler's association with the area isn't threatened; this would include things like a potential for fencing small goods, hiding goods or making introductions to less savory individuals the peddler is bound to know.
• A moderate taste or tolerance for gambling, vices and a willingness to dispense "street justice," meaning that a peddler might prove to be more vicious in defense than expected (use of poison, for example).

Many peddlers are one-time thieves or assassins who have withdrawn from their old ways or have been cast out. Appearances are deceiving. It is unlikely that a peddler would be above 3rd level, however.

Retailer Encounters

On the surface, these can resemble artisan encounters - however, a trader is likely to have a much wider view of the world, meaning that they are bound to recognize members of the player party for who and what they are. As such, while selling out of a storefront, a retailer will be more focused towards matching their wares to the particular needs of the customer. If a conversation does arise between the trader and a party member (see artisan for rules regarding this), expect the dialogue to differ. Expect the trader to:

• downplay any aspects of creativity or ingenuity that the players have adopted, stressing that a particular item or object for sale would serve the purpose much better (for a reasonable price).
• promote any stereotypes about race, region of orientation, religious orientation and so on when defining the character's intentions to buy anything, showing great surprise if the player does not conform to the convention.
• sell the idea that there is a simpler solution than taking the time to know or understand anything. For example, a trader will argue that a music box is the equivalent of any musical instrument, because it takes less effort to play.
• take a stance that anything that happens in the region fails entirely to take into account the special needs of the buying and selling community.
• treat any large purchase as a virtual bribe regarding any information about the community where the trader dwells (including the potential for giving away state secrets). Make the chance for a given trader to reveal such information a 1% chance per 10 g.p. spent; however, the money spent must be on wares - a trader will straight up refuse an obvious bribe. DM's prerogative what information is revealed, but it must be of substantial interest to the party!

On the whole, traders are less friendly and more profit-driven than artisans, as they exist in a highly competitive business (there are no guilds for traders and no commercial protection generally). They are prepared to abandon their residences if it proves profitable, as they regard money as more valuable than community. They are ready to 'buy' another community if need be. On the whole, then, encounters with traders will be founded on money. Traders will resent player characters who insist upon par when trying to selling items; player characters willing to take a few coins less than par will make a friend of a trader (who will then give them preference in future exchanges, particularly if what the party brought in earlier proved a good sales item).

At best, a retailer is likely to be no higher in level than 4th. Most will be thieves or fighters, though very few may be members of a subversive clergy. A very rare number of store fronts (about 4%) will be fronts for some illegal operation.

Wholesaler Encounters

These are traders who act as enablers to trade. They buy from independent growers, herders, miners and other concerns, then sell to storefront traders - or directly to authorities to support the needs of the military and the building of infrastructure. The most important wholesaler in many parts of the world is the religious monastical system, which pays for items such as wool, salt, grain, produce, hemp or stone, then gets rich transferring this product from rural parts of the world to city and town markets.

Wholesalers act locally, often transferring goods a distance of no more than a few miles from farms or crews working in the hinterland onto the nearest trade routes, where the product is then picked up by other wholesalers who specialize in long distance travel. Some wholesalers exist continuously on the move, moving caravans across the desert, ships across the water, barges up and down rivers or merely along roads from market to market. Other wholesalers never move, setting themselves up in large markets and paying for goods as they arrive, only to then warehouse the goods until they are sold - incrementally, to keep market prices high - to retailers in store fronts. Some wholesalers retain a troop of retailers who sell products at the local bazaar (town market) or stockyards.

Local traders deal in products that have short lives: dairy products, fresh meat, fruits and vegetables. Distance traders tend to deal in hard products that can last weeks in a ship's hold or upon a mule train.

It is probable that any wholesaler encountered will be moving raw materials that, as a body, are worth considerable coin but which are impractical for thieves to steal: ores, cereals grains, hulls full of fresh fish, bricks, barrels of oil or wine, cut timber or some other similar cargo. Even if an individual barrel of ale is worth more than 100 g.p., there would be no practical means of moving it due to its weight and no market to sell it to, since barrels are carefully branded and marked and traders keep careful records for who is entitled to sell wholesale from one place to another (not to mention keeping records for who is on what road in what week). Therefore, most wholesale traders don't keep large retinues of guards to protect their wares - they would be sad for the loss, but it is already understood by all that a group of bandits that attempted to rob a caravan would find themselves in possession of too much of something that carried no value for them. In fact, the less guards a caravan has to protect it, the less likely it will draw attention to itself - and thus a ton of expensive fabric, pottery or dried meat can be moved from city to city safely under hundreds of grain sacks.

When meeting a wholesaler, there will be some mistrust; but if a party is prepared to move along slowly, they will likely be welcome as companions to the caravan or as paying passengers aboard ship or barge.

Wholesalers know a great deal about the trade routes they travel; they know little else about the regions they've been. They are reserved about giving trade information to strangers, as it is a competitive business; however, if the party were to do something of value to a wholesaler, such information may be available.

Because wholesalers aren't interested in selling to customers, they have traders waiting at the end of their journeys for prearranged loads that they are bringing. As such, wholesalers won't sell to just anyone, as this would threaten their trade agreements that will keep them in successful business for years. Players have to arrange with wholesalers in market cities to have goods brought specifically for them (which can be done, saving a lot of money, if the players are prepared to wait). Once a wholesaler feels safe around the players' party and that the party is generous with their own sincerely told story, arrangements can be made if the party wants to do business or even buy into the wholesaler's business.

Depending on the size of a moving caravan or train, travelling wholesalers may be anywhere from 5th to 15th level (as some are monarchs of a sort, leading hundreds of animals and humanoids), as it requires great skill to survive along roads that often pass through wild parts of the world. A local wholesaler, dealing around a town or city, may only be 2nd to 6th level. The master of a wholesaling business permanently at residence in a market will control a thriving business and will have had extensive experience fighting off enemies upon the road in his or her younger days - count these as 8th to 12th level (as they settled for a more comfortable life before becoming the sort of masters who have controlled a caravan all their existence).

See Encounters

Functionaries (social group)

This page describes the encounters that players are likely to have with various officials or persons of responsibility. For details regarding the sage ability, see Functionary.

Most functionaries will be interested in speaking with the party only when the party has committed some infraction against the local law or when money for tolls, tariffs, fees or taxes is called for. On the whole, direct encounters would be with lower minions - persons whose function is the management of ordinary people, city quarters, public buildings and so on. Nevertheless, players could "encounter" higher officials, from a distance - a retinue of guards or soldiers defending high ranking religious leaders, heads of state or the military.

Here is a breakdown of the four types of functionary encounter:

• Patrols: watchmen, woodwards (forest wardens), constable, bailiff, master of the watch, marshal
• Bureaucracy: catchpoles (tax farmer), hedge warden, tax collector, customs officer, councillor, herald, magistrate, chamberlain
• Miscellaneous: rat catcher, schoolmaster, courtier, master of the revels
• Penal System: jailer, executioner, solicitor, barrister, prosecutor, judge

Aristocrats (social group)

A group whose wealth and status is equated with the necessary income to own, ride and travel in carriages pulled by horses. The class is typically hereditary and hold a monopoly on all political power in the region. Aristocrats represent an amplification of the control held by elders and chieftains in tribes. The aristocrats monopolize political power in towns and cities, and in the regions at large, so that the highest ranks of authority, land ownership and wealth are withheld from the general populace. As a group, they typically form an oligarchy in the regions in which they dwell.

Unlike manor lords of a feudalistic culture, aristocrats are dependent upon the populations of towns and cities, as it is the size and number of their tribes that have given them power (being the richest and eldest of a large clan guarantees their wealth). They are rarely to be found in villages. In larger settlements, however, their number creates the assembly that holds both local and regional power (one of their number being the regional monarch, typically hereditary), the highest functionaries within a region and the leaders of soldiers. Few aristocrats are traders.

Encounters with aristocrats depend greatly upon the status of the player characters. If the characters are merely ordinary adventurers passing through an area, there is little reason for an aristocrat to deign to speak with them. On the other hand, if the characters have obtained notoriety, or if the characters have established themselves in the region as landholders and persons of importance, then they will likely find themselves directly acquainted with aristocrats of the highest stature.

Once again, I don't prefer to use non-player characters to introduce adventures as set pieces in my world - therefore, the overused trope of having an aristocrat come forward, explain some problem to the characters and then expect the characters to solve it, is not included below. Rather, I try to give three tiers of communication, based on the players' importance to any aristocrats that might be in the

area. Further elaborations can be built from any of these scenarios.

Confronting Strangers

Upon arriving in an area or making themselves known to a community, a well-armed and demonstratively unique party of adventurers brings attention to the locals. Several details may come to life: a) the party is made up of a mosaic of different races, some of which are highly unusual for the region; b) the weapons carried by the party are heavy and numerous, while it will be obvious to everyone that plate mail and war animals of various kinds will indicate considerable wealth; c) the players spend a great deal of money, more than a gold coin for every man, woman and child in the community; d) the players act in a way that distinguishes their lack of respect for local laws or customs; e) there is evidence of wounds, blood on clothing, the dirt that speaks of a wilderness expedition that defines the party as potential outlaws, fugitives or at least persons of desperate nature; f) the party has brought in some questionable items (dead creatures, monster eggs, notably rare items of every stripe) that they wish to sell.

Using the DM's prerogative, it may be appropriate to have a member of the aristocrats - with a small cadre that outnumbers the party by at least 25% - approach and confront the characters regarding their origin, their purpose for being in the area and their immediate intentions for the future. This aristocrat may be a local constable, a town elder, a knight, a baron or any of a dozen other important functionaries. The aristocrat will want satisfactory answers for these questions that accomplishes the following:

• Ensures that the community is SAFE from the party.
• Gives clear and unambiguous details regarding anything about the party's behavior or appearance the aristocrat wishes to ask.
• Indicates that the party respects the local authority, that is, the aristocrat speaking to them.
• Shows the party's generosity in trusting the aristocrat to be part of whatever their forward plans might be.

Failure to do any of this will justify the aristocrat acting in whatever unilateral manner the aristocrat sees fit. Parties will very often fail to recognize that in this place, the aristocrat has power, respect and the absolute loyalty of up to one hundred persons within shouting distance. Moreover, the aristocrat that approaches will be 6th to 8th level and be supported by at least two henchmen that are one and two levels removed from the aristocrat's level. Parties that don't behave appropriately will get spanked, and hard. This will probably not mean a jail sentence, but rather a severe fine (everything they own) and a short trip to the edge of the community. This, or the party will be forced to fight to the death against people who are capable of defending their homes and know the lay of the land (making practical flight extraordinarily unlikely). Note that while the party may have horses they can ride to safety, aristocrats are known for owning horses (and presumably, in a D&D world, a wide variety of other animals).

Alternately, impressing the aristocrat on the counts above will likely gain their help and friendship (assuming the party's purpose isn't nefarious). This will potentially mean an invitation to dinner, important information, offers of help and allies, special benefits promised upon success of the players' actions, a friend who will speak positively about the party to other persons and thus expand the party's wealth and status in the region. If the players will be generous to the aristocrat, the aristocrat will be generous to them.

Obviously, there is a small chance that the aristocrat that approaches the party will be the actual enemy of the party that the party is seeking. Such situations are special and must be managed depending on the circumstances of the adventure.

Meeting Allies or Famous Characters

Occasionally, player characters will be sent to speak with aristocrats of various statures, often carrying a token of good will or even a letter of introduction. Once an aristocrat meets a party under such circumstances, it will be presumed from the outset that the party does not represent a danger to the community and that the party's intentions are friendly. However, the aristocrat will still be free judge if the party respects and trusts the aristocrat with information - failing this, the aristocrat will withdraw support and may take steps to have the party confronted by some other person of authority or power (depending on the circumstance).

In such circumstances, the aristocrat will desire most to see the players through to success in their activities on account of the person or body that recommended the aristocrat to the party in the first place. If it happens that the characters lied about their association with the aristocrat' friend or associate recommending them, and this comes to light, there will be dreadful consequences. If the players live up to the recommendation, however, once again there is great likelihood that the aristocrat will be a very good friend to the party in the future.

If it happens that the characters are famous in their own right, and this fame becomes known to the aristocrat, the fame itself will act as a sort of "free-standing recommendation" without the need of a specific person to encourage the aristocrat to trust and act faithfully to the party. As ever, it must be acknowledged that the party had better live up to their reputation or this help will quickly and irrevocably evaporate. People do not like being fooled and played.

Convening With Equals

Where the characters have established that they themselves are aristocrat, then there will be rules limiting the amount of power than another aristocrat has. aristocrats, of course, exist in a hierarchy - but even if a king has an issue with a lesser member of the elite, there cannot be open discord between aristocrats within a given region. Thus, any difficulties between various members of the upper classes must be resolved through competition, a court of approval of some kind (in which an aristocrat' status can be removed) or through subversive action (that cannot be traced to the aristocrat responsible).

Individual aristocrat will always help in circumstances where both aristocrat have something to gain - regardless of personal feeling or emotion. While there may exist hatred between members of a region's oligarchy or ruling members, this hatred can often be overlooked for mutual gain - and then dealt with later through extortion, manipulation, falsified evidence or assassination. A region full of deceit and mistrust can nevertheless pull together against an enemy.

The player characters will be put in situations where they will have to decide which factions in a region to support, which moments are best to take action and which are best to let others do it; and ultimately how to make friends and influence people. This must be done one at a time - but take note, an aristocrat being rude or even directly insulting to an aristocrat will not result in an outright opposition or physical attack. More likely, it will result in a smile - one that is more disturbing than an enemy aristocrat drawing a sword.

Conclusion

Note that the above describes situations in which an aristocrat of personal power or interest approaches the party. Encounters with persons of specific function within a region, who have specific agendas, are also covered on the page describing functionaries (many of whom will also be aristocrat).

See Encounters

Drovers (social group)

Drovers are a form of clan that specialize in raising animals and moving them from place to place by transhumance, the seasonal movement of herds between fixed summer and winter pastures. With knowledge of animal husbandry, the main diet of the drover is meat and dairy products, supported by hunting and gathering to round out the nutritional health of their diet.

Drover clans tend to number from 30-60 members. The caloric content of their diet allows a fair number of children, so that these will number between 20-25% of the clan.

Drovers are dependent upon the best meadows and migration routes. They won't be found in the more obscure back-country of a given region.

Drovers will always have 2-4 dogs accompanying them. They do not use mounts. They prefer clubs, slings and javelins as weapons.

See Encounters

Crews (social groups)

This page describes working parties for commercial ventures who work mines, ships, roads and more. For rules describing the effectiveness of ship crews in combat, see Crew Quality.

Crews are work gangs or classes of people who work together in a common activity, generally a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works on land is called a crew yard or a work yard; upon the sea, a crew works aboard ship. The members of a crew are predominantly untrained laborers led by skilled laborers and overseers. Large camps will include one or two managers or administrators (scribes, with a staff), who will act under the orders of a governor, director or owner (who will virtually never be found on site).

Aboard ship, these upper positions will be held by mates, led by a boatswain (bo'sun), sailing master and captain. Specialty positions aboard a ship will be held by a pilot, ship's marksman, ship's carpenter or surgeon. As with land crews, the owner of the ship is rarely present, as the captain has been hired to act on the owner's behalf in the ship's commercial venture.

Crews differ in behavior regarding the quality of leadership, the form of occupation, the season (winter in a cold country or summer in a hot country tend to increase stress and potential violence) and degree of isolation. Land crews may be found hundreds of miles from the nearest civilization; seagoing crews, thousands of miles. Crews may control an entire island or valley, they may be working in the midst of a city or they could be responsible for miles of underground tunnels. Sea crews may be military- or trader-based. Land crews may parties committed to clearing land for agriculture, ditch diggers for irrigation or road builders, dredgers, sappers, miners, sawyers and tree cutters for fuel or for construction (including shipbuilding), quarry stonecutters or trappers/hunters.

There are three probable land crew encounters (among a host of unlikely possibilities):

• Speculators. 2-5 workers are encountered prospecting, exploring, tallying trees for cutting, marking the location of roads or other projects intended to be initiated in the future. The party will be tough adventurers, high minded and educated, most likely working for themselves or hired by others to traverse areas to learn if there is something there to be exploited. These groups are likely to be friendly but distrustful, presuming any party they meet is potential competition interested in making an enterprise of the same valuable land they've examined. As such, they will likely swap for equipment but will not give information on what they've seen or found. A ranger will almost certainly be the leader of these speculators; fighters, thieves, assassins, thieves, mages, illusionists and even a rare cleric may make up their number.
• Incomers. 5-30 workers who have been contracted to set up a working camp, prior to the existence of the camp itself. This may involve building ditches, chutes, minimal fortifications, setting up tents, laying trap lines, clearing trees, dredging river courses, cutting roads/trails and so on. Not all eventual camps will involve permanent dwellings, so that a group of incomers can easily be mistaken for camping bandits and vice versa. These groups will be experienced workers, who have fought enough creatures and threats that they will all have some combat training. They will be led by an overseer who will be 3rd or 4th level and at least 4-9 others that are 1st to 3rd level who will be ex-military of one kind or another. Incomers will work on building a camp from a few weeks to several months.
• Full Camp. Workers who are actively full-time on a commercial venture. Small camps of 10-60 workers are most common, but camp size can be as large as 300. Camps larger than 40 will typically have a few permanent dwellings; camps larger than 100 will manifest as villages. Camps larger than 300 will have transformed into permanent settlements, with other ongoing activities beyond the commercial venture that initiated the settlement's existence. The workers of full camps will be three quarters untrained, inexperienced workers; the remainder will experienced workers with some combat training. For every 10 members of the camp will be one of 1st level; the camp will be led by at least four overseers of 2nd to 3rd level and by an administrator of 6th level. Among the workers there may be a surprise, a higher level character who has taken work amidst poor circumstances, whose real experience is unknown to the others.

Crew encounters at sea will most likely consist of fishermen, who will take to the water in individual boats. Treat fishermen and their operations as a moving full camp, operating out of a nearby settlement. Some fishing crews on long-range fishing trips will encamp on the shore at night when able; larger fishing fleets will consist of dozens of vessels that may be bound for fishing grounds thousands of miles from their settlement origins.

Details regarding other ship activities, such as traders, pirates, patrols or explorer vessels will be dealt with on other pages in the wiki.

See Encounters

Clans (social group)

Clans are groups of low tech-level nomadic humanoid wanderers dependent on hunting and gathering for survival. They are common in tech 5 and tech 6 cultures.

They usually number about 30-40 persons, including men, women and children. Most of their number will be adults. Because of the difficulties of raising and carrying infants, primitive cultures will practice a cruel birth control, spacing children and even committing infanticide when necessary. Thus, a clan will be 7/8ths full-grown combatants with hit dice commensurate with their mass.

Clans of up to 100 are possible but as the number increases so does the likelihood of a large clan breaking apart into smaller clans. Clans will be led by chiefs, who will be related to most of the clan and will possess an extraordinary ability to find food when it seems impossible to find. Chiefs will also remember the routes that must be travelled from food source to food source. This skill is more important than physical prowess. A chief's power is defended by lesser clan members who fear starvation if the chief is killed or forced into exile.

While primitive, tech 5 clans are aware of the threat - and opportunity - posed by more advanced outsiders whom they meet. Clans will therefore be extraordinarily wary of strangers. Long before the party encounters the clan itself, it is highly probable that the clan will be aware of them through individuals who will have heard or sighted the party beforehand. Remember that the clan is very aware of the environment while the players will not. Unless the players know precisely where a clan is encamped, it is virtually impossible that the party will surprise them.

That said, clans will never ambush strangers. They will know that strangers may have tremendous advantages in equipment and numbers - meaning that the death of ten strangers could result in a magically led vendetta that will inevitably wipe the clan out. Therefore, clans will prefer to make their number known to the party and ultimately meet in a place where the clan has the terrain advantage (different humanoid races would have different definitions of 'advantage'). Clans would then prefer to talk rather than fight.

In most ways, clans will be among the most peaceful of all cultures because they understand that in any confrontation with superior forces, they're bound to lose. They would prefer to trade information and goods, making friends with strangers. This makes them vulnerable to evil strangers - but note that most tech 5 clans can live their entire lives and never see anyone except the members of another clan perhaps once every two or three years.

Because there is no formal training or education, levels occur only because they have had obtained experience through direct combat. No individual will be above level 1. Fighter is the only traditional class. The clan has a 40% chance of having a shaman (see below) who will be a 1st level fighter as well has having very limited magical powers.

The only proficiencies will be the club or the javelin (a headless spear that will be thrown and not used in hand-to-hand combat). Domesticated animals will not be part of the clan. Weapons must be fabricated by hand, from stone, flint or wood. Armor does not exist - not because it couldn't be imagined but because it would be impractical to carry during long migrations.

Drovers are clans that specialize in herding animals. Tribes are agglomerations of clans.

See Encounters

Bandits

Bandits are groups of nomadic humanoid wanderers reminiscent of more primitive bands, dwelling in regions where there is a sufficient capital to sustain a life of theft and predation. While lawless and prone to marauding behavior, not all bandits are necessarily malevolent. On the whole, those who turn to banditry do so as a reaction to oppression or hardship. Bandits often take no action whatsoever against the lower classes, preferring to prey upon elites of all forms - that is, those with money. Occasionally, some bandits ensure their safety by giving generously to local residents who have very little, helping to sustain their lives. In return, these residents will obstruct authorities seeking familiar bandit groups, providing safe lodging, giving false information or giving warning to the bandits that searchers are in the area.
Bandits recognize no authority but their own.

Bandit groups typically number between 10-60 combat-trained members (foragers), about three quarters of whom are males. In addition to this number, there are typically another 5-30 women and children that are kept hidden in some variety of fortified camp/lair, where the bandits feel they can safely return on occasion to reacquaint themselves with loved ones and store their gains. They are led by a bandit chief, typically of 4-5th level. Among the foragers, 3-24 will be 1st level; 1-8 will be 2nd; 1-4 will be 3rd. There is then a 25% chance of a sub-chief, who will be 4th level. 10% of bandits will be supported by a single shaman, guru or cleric.

There will be three sorts of encounters with bandits:

• Scouting party. 3-12 members are encountered on their return from a reconnaissance or a raid. There's a chance that the party will surprise this number, that some of them will be wounded and that they may be carrying anywhere from 250-1000 g.p. from the treasure they took (if this was a raid). A reconnaissance party will have been scouting a target; if the party chooses to parley, there's a small chance - if the party looks the right sort - that the bandits may ask the party to join in with them on a raid. They'll be moving during the day, camping at night.
• Encampment. 5-40 members will be camped, possibly waiting for raiders or a reconnaissance party to return, potentially celebrating before returning to their lair, more likely sustaining themselves with fishing, foraging, cutting trees, drying hides or other task necessary to sustain the whole bandit group. The season should matter; in fall and winter, the encampment will almost certainly be focused on supplies; in spring, reconnoitering; and in summer, raiding. There's a chance the party may surprise them. If the party chooses to parley, several of the bandits will slip out of the camp while the leaders talk, until a chance comes to feather the party with arrows while the encampment attacks and kills the players. Note that a bandit encampment, from the outside, will not look different from a working crew, except to a thief (who should roll a d12 - a number equal to or less than their level will reveal the truth).
• Ambush. The whole bandit group (10-60) will have decided that the party is worth raiding, or else they will be raiding a village, manor, caravan or some such the party has entered or associated themselves with.

Bandit camps are fervently sought after by authorities. Successful bandits who accumulate enough wealth will sometimes 'retire,' buying their way into the establishment, sometimes obtaining a pardon by bribes or through committing their men to an authorities' cause in times of war.

Bandits will have unusual knowledge of a given hinterland, making them invaluable as spies or smugglers. They prefer mounts in open country but will not use them at all in mountainous or forested regions.

See Encounters

Bands (social group)

Bands are groups of nomadic humanoid wanderers who tend to exist by scavenging, theft, trade or killing, often acting as outlaws and raiders. They typically number 5-30 members, about three quarters of whom are males. Females will fight as formidably as males. There are rarely any children in bands - at most, there will be one child, always belonging to the band leader and his female. Female band leaders who might give birth to a child will not keep it.

Bands are encountered along rivers and trails, preferring established routes. Very rarely, bands are still considered members of a tribe in the region of their birth. More often they are outcasts. They are sometimes employed as adventurers or skirmishers. Very few will be seeking a place to settle.

Bands will often use animals for travel, particularly in desert regions. They will have a single dog with them only 1 chance in 6. They prefer short bows and spears in combat.

See Encounters

Artisans (social group)

Skilled craft workers who make or create things by hand that may be functional, decorative or describes manufactures made by hand-processing. Thus, artisans make house wares, leather work, clothes, foodstuffs, ceramics, glass & stoneware, metalwork and so on. An artisan is any individual who makes or provides services, but does not apply to unskilled manual laborers. Artisans at the top of their class are known as 'masters'; those who have been rated as adequate by guilds are known as 'journeymen,' while those in the learning process are apprentices. All master artisans in the setting, including those within the guild, are self-employed . . . journeymen may or may not, but on the whole will be mostly autonomous while working shoulder to shoulder with a master who owns the business in which they work.

Artisan encounters will always happen in a village, town or city - and for the most part, will be one-on-one meetings. Whereas most campaigns would see these as opportunities to blatantly sell players on committing themselves to an adventure scenario or quest, with the artisan begging the party to retrieve something, break into something, confront an enemy or some such, I perceive that none of those encounter tropes would be common or specific to artisans, as opposed to any person that might be met on the street. Artisans are not inclined to begin fights, organize themselves into gangs or see theft and melee as practical methods for expanding their reputation in the community. Artisans work at their trade: being makers and shop owners, working most hours each day in their own spaces, would have little time to frequent drinking establishments or chase people on the street begging for attention. As a result, most circumstances in which D&D "encounters" are thought to happen simply don't apply.

Characters and artisans would meet by chance, in the most obvious way: while purchasing things. A character moves from shop to shop, seeking bargains, the best equipment for the right price, equipment for the party (it may take two or three shops to find enough of a rare item) and so on. Some shop keepers talk; some do not. When a conversation is begun, it is done organically - a few words are spoken back and forth, both the character and the artisan find something they like about the other and the conversation begins. It is never about adventuring: it is about the exchange of thoughts, information, ideas. Moreover, it must be emphasized that the shopkeeper is as interested in what the character has to say as the reverse.

Each time the characters make a decision to do some shopping, when they pour over equipment lists (do not give an artisan encounter when a player knows what's wanted and specifically searches for one thing), ask the party if they appreciate that the hunting through shops in the market will take the whole morning or the whole afternoon. If an assent is given, "yes," have each player roll a d20 against their charisma. The player character that beats their charisma by the most will have an artisan encounter, by themselves (sternly inform the other characters not to give advice, though they can comment). If two or more characters tie, either roll it off or prepare to give more than one artisan encounter.

Artisan encounters may be brief, depending on the character. When they have gone long enough, have another customer require the artisan's attention, so that the conversation is cut off that day. Obviously, the player can end the conversation at any time.

Artisan-Character discussions are not set; however, the following topics will be typical, any of which can be used to gain the artisans favor (don't expect immediate bargains - but after 2-5 return visits a given artisan will 'save back' special items or may give away small items for free), which may mean opportunities for further exchanges. Presume that all artisan-character conversations are positive (charisma check was made). Artisans will no do things for the player, however, if asked, nor with the artisan ask anything of the player.

Subjects include the list below; there is no need to stick to any one subject or to cover any subject that doesn't seem relevant to the player's choice of dialogue. The artisan will:

• be interested in seeing anything the characters are carrying that is visually unusual, wishing to know where it has come from; in general, the artisan will be curious to know where the character has come from or what the character is doing in town.
• be interested in showing off things of his or her own creation, not to sell it but to discuss how a particular thing was made.
• express personal opinions on the state of the community, the town or city, the region or the whole country, being either disgruntled at the state of affairs, happy with them or doubtful if such will continue. The artisan will not commit treason but may express a number of blatantly uncomfortable viewpoints. Resist having the artisan make personal comments about the player character - race, creed, whatever - as the artisan still sees this person as a potential or paying customer.
• give a positive opinion or suggestion about where else the character could look, something else the character should buy, something the character ought to see in town (because it is interesting) or worthwhile warning about a particular road or place in the area.
• describe something the artisan did once that was very brave, particularly when speaking to an obvious fighter; the artisan will probably be looking for respect from the fighter while in turn offering it.
• describe the effort he or she has taken to get the shop in order, to survive the economic circumstances and perhaps tell a tale or two about some difficulty that was overcome ("we had a fire two years ago, we're still coming back from it").
• draw the character's attention to the object they've chosen to buy as not one of the best in the shop, offering a better one in its stead (perhaps with a +1 bonus to save against random destruction).
• discreetly express approval for the character's attractiveness or personality, flirting politely.
• offer his or her name for the player to use in seeking out good accommodations or some other minor benefit (depending on how well the character plays the conversation).
• warn the player about a local crime the player may be breaking without knowing it (carrying banned weapons, wearing a disallowed color, showing too much skin, etcetera), or any other thing the player might want to avoid doing in the area.
• thank the player for coming to his or her shop, wishing the player the best in future endeavors.
• make/tell a joke.
• offer a wager.

If the conversation is going well, ten minutes should be the cut-off point. If the other players are showing signs of fatigue at the conversation, cut it off sooner. Try to make the conversation at least a little relevant to the player's present concerns and adventure, but don't reward an obtuse, probing question with an answer and don't be heavy-handed and anvilicious in giving information. In other words, don't be the DM, be the artisan. Let the conversation progress as the artisan would - without an agenda but with vitality.

Be sure and see details for encounters between the players and retailers (see Traders), who differ in style and nature of conversation.

See Encounters