Mercenary pay?

FTracer

Mongoose
Anyone have an idea roughly what one would make?

I'm running a Conan backup game when our regular GM doesn't showup. I ran Dr Skull's Lost Garrison adventure and it went pretty well. Reason why I asked about pay is my group asked and I wasn't sure so I told them they'd get payed when they got back to town since it wasn't on payday.

After rolling up pc's and due to how late it got, I ended it the night before the villagers attack. The Zamorian thief brained the poor madman on the road, trying to calm him down. The Nemedan pirate passed out when getting to close to the black stone. I forgot to to have them roll a Terror check vs the man apes. Since there was four pc's I made them lvl 2 but I added another man ape and tweaked the Toad God. The pirate got nearly cut in half by a man ape. It crit on him, doing enough damage to shred the pirate's armor to less than half. I let him use a fate point to cling to life. The Cimmerian crit both man ape's, taking them out himself. The Hykarnian nomad helped with arrows, doing fairly good damage.
 
<edited for clarity>

I thought about commenting on some things in the upcoming Pirate Isles and Free Companies (which left my desk two weeks ago) but...instead, I decided to be a good boy.

Coin:
Mercenaries make very, very little with the exception of Adventurers (when they are mercs...not that common) and the Shemite mercenaries. Not that either of those two 'exceptions' make a heck of a lot either.


Other stuff:
Most mercenary 'income' comes in the form of loot. Mercenary compaines supplement soldier income with an 'equal share of the loot' , but almost all recognize the right of the strong to take from the weak....so if you knock someone off for their share, and do it quietly, no one will complain.

Shannon Kalvar
Mongoose
Current Status: Chained to keyboard
 
In the Lost Garrison adventure the pc's were hired to go out and find why the garrison didn't report in. I didn't think the pc's would be part of the army but mercs hired for temp jobs. My guess for for three to five days work, 8-10sp. Would that be too low? I figured untrainied labor was 1 sp, none of the guys have profession(solidering) skill to get payed more.
 
Shouldn't this follow the gneral rule in the Conan RPG , characters will blow all their cash on ale ' n ' wenches and such like ? If you read the stories where Conan is a mercenary , he seems to come out of it with very little to show for his hard work , having wasted it on wine , women and song . If the GM can decide that the PC's will have lost cash and possessions during adventures as he sees fit , give them occasional bonuses in the form of cash or new possessions every now and then , but let them acquire the real goodies by theft or left overs from their victims , or rewards for their services. This could lead to PC's murdering people just for their stuff , but there are plenty of ways to curb this , just have them get caught by the city guard and sentenced to execution or run out of town , never to return ( not very helpful when the scenario objective is there ) . Some players ( especially the DnD style " Kill the peasant for the last few XP to gain the next level and a couple of gold " ) will complain about this , but it's part of the style of this game . I like the idea of PC's cash being kept " off - screen " . Until Free Companies comes out with the Mongoose solution to this , this seems to be the best option , or you can end up in the situation where player's will say " well you said 3 months have passed since the last game , so I've got 3 months wages to spend , I can afford that Akbitanan sword I wanted ." They tend to forget upkeep and food , and the paperwork to cover this can be a nightmare , especially as adventurers are not known for their prudency .
 
That's pretty much how they play, that money's burning a hole right thru their pocket! I recently read the Coming of Conan book and you're right, he rarerly has any money. But it's that d&d mindset, they GOT to know how much they have.

By next adventure they'll be so hurting for cash they'll have to take another job.
 
I was thinking that the rates of pay for mercenaries would vary quite considerably depending on their quality and the amount that their captain was able to negotiate on their behalf.
For example a renowned company of Gunderland pike under a captain who had never lost a battle would certainly be offered a better rate of pay than a bunch of untested and untrustworthy Zamorian bravos who swaggered into the camp of a prospective general.
Likewise it might also depend on the task at hand. If the general is looking for troops for a pitched battle the Gundermen are the obvious choice but if his army lacks supplies and he needs looters and scavengers to offset this then he might be prepared to pay higher rates to gain the services of those Zamorian brigands.
I definately think that better quality troops such as the Gundermen,Nemedian adventurers and Pelishtim would warrant quite high rates of pay but that the rabble and riffraff who turn up to boost the numbers and loot the corpses would only be paid a pittance in order to secure their loyalty.
 
How about basing it on Reputation?
I think this would be the easiest solution. Sure a whole company of Gunderland Pikemen would command a high price, the Party is probably not that. They are going to be a mix of various races and classes, thus making it a little harder to justify good pay. I figure if they have a good reputation, they will command a higher price, also giving them a good reason to work on their Reputations.
Also, usually food and lodging were included, whether in a mercenary force or a regular army, thus lowering the rate. Oh, and whores and booze aren't cheap !!!
 
I may not have put it very well but that is exactly the point i was trying to make.Reputation and renown whether individual,unit based or racial would definately have a bearing on the rates of pay.
As well as food and shelter being part of the deal I think iread somewhere that established mercenary captains of regular mercenary units would actually sell the required equipment to their new recruits. This would then be deducted over the course of their service from their wages(almost like hired purchase).At the end of their term of service they could then sell the equipment back to their captain at a much lower price but giving them enough coin to live off for a time. Thus these wealthy captains could field numbers of troops equipped to a desired standard and make a profit from their retiring veterans.
 
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