A well-spoken trollkin captain who leads his troops from the front, with a blade and his voice as weapons. A former lone gun mage who has signed on to earn a better living while keeping her old business on the side. A trader from Rhul who takes his business to the battlefield, accompanied by the iron might of a steamjack. A former member of the Cygnaran Trenchers, still in search of a leader worthy of being called korune. Each Meet the Party article gives you an entire group of ready-to-play adventurers (maybe even some heroes) for your gaming needs for a variety of systems and settings. If you’re going to fill your coffers with the wages of war you’ll some muscle-for-hire to do the job, so let’s head to Western Immoren’s more mercenary side as we Meet the Party once again for the Iron Kingdoms RPG from Privateer Press!

Previous Meet the Party articles for the IKRPG visited places like Llael and Khador, drawing from the Kings, Nations, and Gods book to build a party specific to those regions. While interesting concepts that definitely deserve a look, those adventuring company models are a little limited in that they focus the campaign: Godwyn di Perth’s team are members of the Llaelese Resistance, Maxim Descra leads a squad for the Greylords Covenant, and both groups are thusly focused on the actions of those organizations. So, for this offering, I’ve decided to go back to basics: the party has chosen the Mercenary Charter option, making them an officially recognized mercenary company with the right to hire themselves out for whatever work they wish. It’s a hard life, but there’s good money in it if you’re willing, so let’s see who is.

Tassar Firetongue – Fell Caller/Pugilist

Race: Trollkin

Physique (PHY): 7   Speed (SPD): 5 Strength (STR): 5

Agility (AGL): 3  Prowess (PRW): 4

Poise (POI): 4  Intellect (INT): 4   Arcane (ARC): *

Perception (PER): 3     Defense (DEF): 10

Initiative: 12   Armor (ARM): 14  Willpower (WIL): 11

Archetype: Skilled (Starting Benefit: Swashbuckler)

Starting Abilities: Tough, Revitalize,  Fell Call: Signal Call, Fell Call: Sonic Blast, Brawler, Hulking Presence, Natural Leader

Starting Military Skills: Hand Weapon 2, Unarmed Combat 1

Starting Occupational Skills: Command 2, Fell Calling 2, Lore (Trollkin), Oratory 1, Detection 1, Intimidation 1, Streetwise 1

Starting Languages: Molgur-Trul, Cygnaran

Starting Connections: None

Starting Spells: None

Starting Assets: Trench Sword, Knuckledusters, Tailored Plate Armor, 25 GC

Tassar Firetongue is big, strong, and scary, and if that was it he would still be a bad person to pick a fight with. He has the natural toughness of the trollkin on his side, making him annoyingly hard to actually drop. Swashbuckler means that he actually wants to be surrounded, as it makes him capable of attacking everyone within arm’s reach. Although seemingly lacking a ranged weapon, his Sonic Blast is a dangerous spray attack; other Fell Calls will be just as dangerous, while others will help him lead others. Speaking of leading, he’s got a great Command score, the Natural Leader ability, and the only rank in Oratory for the company: if you think he’s bad, wait until he shows up with friends.

Dialta Rosado – Gun Mage/Investigator

Race: Human (Exceptional Potential)

Physique (PHY): 5   Speed (SPD): 6   Strength (STR): 4

Agility (AGL): 4  Prowess (PRW): 4

Poise (POI): 5  Intellect (INT): 4   Arcane (ARC): 4

Perception (PER): 3     Defense (DEF): 12

Initiative: 13   Armor (ARM): 11  Willpower (WIL): 9

Archetype: Gifted (Will Weaver)(Starting Benefit: Additional Study)

Starting Abilities: Craft Rune Shot, Fast Reload, Astute, Language (Any), Hyper Perception

Starting Military Skills: Pistol 2

Starting Occupational Skills: Detection 2, Intimidation 1, Forensic Science 1, Interrogation 1, Law 1, Medicine 1, Sneak 1, Command 1

Starting Languages: Ordic, Khadoran, Cygnaran

Starting Connections: None

Starting Spells: Rune Shot: Accuracy, Rune Shot: Brutal, Rune Shot: Thunderbolt, Rune Shot: Silencer

Starting Assets: Ammo Bandolier, Magelock Pistol (with powder and 10 rounds), Rune Shot Casting Kit, Custom Battle Armor, Repeating Pistol (with powder, 5 rounds, extra ammo wheel), 11 GC

Dialta Rosado is the company’s hottest hand with a pistol, and her magical Rune Shots make her bullets even more dangerous. She’s a decent leader, but her true gifts come into play with her wide variety of skills and solid spread of stats. She’s smart, quick, and sharp-eyed with a proficiency in a number of skills unique among the company that allow her to ferret out secrets and discover information. Of particular note is that between Sneak and Rune Shot: Silencer she can do some particularly nasty assassination work. Finally, she’s fluent in most of the languages that the company is likely to be interacting with, since human conflicts often provide the most mercenary work.

Golrick Fortros – Searforge Trader/Field Mechanik

Race: Dwarf

Physique (PHY): 6   Speed (SPD): 4   Strength (STR):

Agility (AGL): 3  Prowess (PRW): 4

Poise (POI): 4  Intellect (INT): 5   Arcane (ARC): *

Perception (PER): 4     Defense (DEF): 10

Initiative: 12   Armor (ARM): 11  Willpower (WIL): 11

Archetype: Intellectual (Starting Benefit: Genius)

Starting Abilities: Load Bearing, Appraise, Counter Offer, ‘Jack Marshal, Bodge, Hit the Deck!

Starting Military Skills: Pistol 2

Starting Occupational Skills: Bribery 1, Law 1, Negotiation 2, Command 1, Craft (Metalworking) 1, Mechanikal Engineering 1

Starting Languages: Rhulic, Cygnaran

Starting Connections: Dwarven Clan, Searforge Commission

Starting Spells: None

Starting Assets: Mechanik’s Tool Kit, Hand Cannon (with powder and 5 rounds), Armored Greatcoat, Fountain Pen and Inkwell, Paper (10 sheets), Map Case (with local map), Backpack, Compass, Bedroll, Canteen, Forager Light Laborjack with Flail and Buckler, 3 GC

Golrick Foltros makes sure the money keeps flowing, both for the company and the Searforge Commission of Rhul. He’s adept at wheeling and dealing and is well connected; his work for the Commission actually has money dropping into his pockets every month. When it comes to the work of the company, rather than it’s finances, he contributes through his expertise as a field mechanik and his talent as a ‘jack marshal, able to maintain and command his steamjack in combat. While the steamjack is his deadliest weapon, he’s no slouch with that hand cannon of his either.

Monon Longspear – Trencher/Military Officer

Race: Ogrun

Physique (PHY): 6   Speed (SPD): 5   Strength (STR): 6

Agility (AGL): 3  Prowess (PRW): 5

Poise (POI): 4  Intellect (INT): 3   Arcane (ARC): *

Perception (PER): 3     Defense (DEF): 9

Initiative: 13   Armor (ARM): 13  Willpower (WIL): 9

Archetype: Mighty (Starting Benefit: Counter-Charge)

Starting Abilities: Huge Stature, Bayonet Charge, Dig In, Battle Plan: Call to Action, Natural Leader, Team Leader

Starting Military Skills: Great Weapon 2, Rifle 1, Thrown Weapon 1, Hand Weapon 1

Starting Occupational Skills: Command 2, Detection 1, Medicine 1, Navigation 1, Gambling 1

Starting Languages: Molgur-Og, Rhulic, Cygnaran

Starting Connections: Cygnaran Military

Starting Spells: None

Starting Assets: Ammo Bandolier, Bayonet, Entrenching Spade, Military Rifle (with powder and 10 rounds), Smoke Grenade x3, Trencher Medium Infantry Armor, Officer’s Uniform, Caspian Battle Blade, Grenadier’s Bandolier, Concussion Grenade x3, Explosive Grenade x3, 4 GC

Monon Longspear is a talented battlefield leader whose expertise involves closing with the enemy as fast as possible and laying into them. Whether it involves lobbing grenades, charging with his rifle and bayonet, or grabbing the Battle Blade off his back and getting stuck in Monon is a contender for deadliest fighter in the company. He has a good variety of abilities and a great Command skill that makes him quite probably the best leader of men in the company. He also has some company-unique skills that could prove quite useful.

By choosing the Mercenary Charter option Tassar, as the captain, received the Natural Leader ability as a bonus. Everyone gained a rank chosen from a list of skills: Tassar and Dialta chose Command, Golrick went for Negotiation, and Monon picked Gambling. Tassar is the captain of the company, while Dialta acts as his lieutenant and Golrick serves as company treasurer. Monon, like all PCs who aren’t assigned one of the previous roles, is a sergeant. A thought to consider is giving the company some NPC mercenaries for this command-level party to lead into battle, but perhaps when we meet them they’re just getting started and are on their own.

Pugilist and Searforge Trader are both careers from No-Quarter Presents: Urban Adventure; aside from that, everything comes from the IKRPG’s Core Rules. A player interested in exploring Tassar’s pugilistic capabilities might want to take a look at Urban Adventures‘ ‘Urban Combat’ section, which has new unarmed techniques, improvised weapons, and grappling maneuvers. Tassar isn’t quite there yet, but with a bit more skill he’ll be the dirtiest fighter this side of the Broken Coast.

Who They Are

Tassar Firetongue grew up in the Thornwood, but he didn’t stay there very long. Prospects were few (the United Kriels were yet to be founded), so Tassar left at a young age to see what he could make of himself. He ended up in Corvis for a few years, little more than a thug on the street, until his abilities as a Fell Caller developed. Suddenly able to use his voice to convince or strike others down as he willed, Tassar’s prospects wildly improved. He eventually made his way to the Ordic city of Five Fingers, there to put his talents to good use and found a mercenary company.

Dialta Rosado was born in Five Fingers, and she was always certain that she would die there some day. Gifted with a sharp mind and the arcane abilities of a gun mage, she knew she could make a good living as an investigator on the streets, but such a person only lives as long as their draw is the fastest. She never felt particularly bitter about that; that was just life in the rogue city, and her lot in the meanwhile was pretty good. Now she’s gotten caught up in this mercenary business, using her skills to find work for the company, and while her fate is now uncertain, it is a damn sight more interesting.

Golrick Fortros was an agent of the Searforge Commision in good standing for many years, and still is, serving his homeland of Rhul by trading and selling its goods to the always-eager human nations of Western Immoren. Joining a mercenary company was actually an idea born of trying to cut costs: the Commission often has to hire sellswords to protect its interests, so if Golrick could do both jobs it might make fore a better overhead. It’s also an issue of passion: Golrick has always enjoyed tinkering with and commanding steamjacks, and ‘jacks are in high demand in the mercenary world, letting him do the work he loves instead of being trapped behind a desk all the time.

Monon Longspear is an ogrun bokur, a relative youth who has yet to find his place in the world under a korune, a type of master-servant bond that is nearly sacred in ogrun culture. Like many ogrun Monon went into combat in an effort to find his korune, enlisting in the Cygnaran Army and becoming one of its Trenchers. By the time his enlistment was up and he was honorably discharged, however, he had not found the leader he wanted to follow. He had even climbed the ranks himself, becoming a squad leader in the hopes that his korune was further up the chain of command. The search of a bokur is sometimes a long one, though, so Monon set off to see if perhaps the mercenary life would prove more fruitful.

How They Interact

Tassar first met Dialta on the streets of Five Fingers in yet another bar brawl gone horribly wrong; he was trying to track down a man he needed to approve his nascent company’s charter, she was trying to nab a corrupt official who’d turned to murder. Turns out they were after the same man, and Tassar convinced Dialta to join his company as its second member after the bullets stopped flying. When Tassar went looking for funding and ‘jack marshals he found both in Golrick. The dwarf doesn’t seem to be swayed by Tassar’s words, which is irritating, but he does like the company being profitable, so the relationship works. If Dialta is Tassar’s trusted second, Monon is Tassar’s favored combat partner. The ogrun is just the right blend of stubborn and brave, although he isn’t as married to the mercenary life as Tassar is.

Dialta is often bemused at the well-spoken ‘savage’ from the Thornwood; to this day, she’s not entirely sure how Tassar managed to convince her to be his lieutenant. She likes the big lug, though, and as scary as he can be when he’s angry there’s not a dishonest bone in his body. Having a friend you can trust is worth his weight in gold in Five Fingers, and Tassar’s a heavy one. Golrick is almost too sharp with the coin for Dialta to like the dwarf, but as a natural copper-pincher herself the gun mage can respect the trader’s frugality. In Monon she sees both a fellow professional and a somewhat kindred spirit, in that the ogrun is still searching for his place and she never really had one. While it’s not the same or as strong as with Tassar, she trusts the big Trencher.

Golrick thinks of Tassar as the best thing that ever happened to him: an independent operator who gave Golrick control of all the funds, and asks him to hit people with a steamjack. Profits and passion all in one; a shame the trollkin likes his speeches so much, but at least they’re good for the troops. Dialta’s a clever one in her own way, and the investigator is a good source of work for the company when a battlefield isn’t ideal. Golrick goes to her first when he needs a lead chased down. Golrick greatly respects Monon; while the ogrun is from Cygnar, the Rhulic ogrun back home have a nearly symbiotic relationship with the dwarves, and the bokur–korune bond is of great importance. He hopes Monon finds what he’s looking for.

Monon considers Tassar a possible korune; certainly the Fell Caller is a strong warrior and a good leader. Whether or not he’s good enough for Monon remains to be seen, however. As the first sergeant of the company Monon isn’t that far from captaincy himself, and Monon has climbed the ranks before when necessary. Dialta is a frail little thing, but a friendly one. She somewhat reminds him of Cygnar’s stormcallers, skilled but a little eccentric. She’s also the only other member of the company’s command staff who can (or will, in Golrick’s case) play a round of cards with him. Golrick is a friendly face, and certainly the one who understands the ogrun’s quest more than anyone else in the company. They often talk on the march, trading stories in Rhulic to pass the time.

The Future

There’s plenty of work for mercenaries in Western Immoren. The clashes between Cygnar, Khador, and the Protectorate of Menoth present a lot of battlefields for the company to fight on. There’s also lots of smaller opportunities, from guarding caravans to working the streets of the cities. Will Tassar and his mercs get rich on the wages of war, or be crushed under the iron might of their employers’ enemies? That’s for you (and your dice) to determine!

Originally posted 12/3/15 on the Mad Adventurers Society!