Peasant Rebellion Concept by HorizonPointShawn on DeviantArt (original) (raw)
This time I present another individual warband sneak peek, The Peasant Rebellions!
Most of the peasantry of Morgulia live lives of drudgery in dreary subservience, all while harboring a smoldering fury in their hearts. Into this potential powder keg, on occasion, the disinherited child of a noble line will find fertile soil from which to harvest a means to enact the vengeance that the wound to their fortunes and petty pride demands. By tapping into this barely dormant anger, planting the seeds of dissent and fostering it, growing the strength of their new power base in secret, they are potentially able to enact a terrible plot that can bring down a whole Boyar line if allowed to come to fruition unchecked, the wrathful peasants involved little understanding or caring about the horrific consequences should they succeed and the guidance and protection, corrupt and cruel as it is, be lost.
Most of these insurrections are discovered and crushed long before they become a true threat, but some thrive and grow in secret until they deem the time to be right and erupt into an open and highly destructive conflict. However, until that time, their lives stand, as it were, on a razor’s edge and they must seek to expand their power in secret, meeting in hidden ruins to plan and raiding in search of wealth to fund their coming rebellion. Nor are the Boyars the only targets of these groups for the rank and file hate and distrust any outside their cause that would claim authority, an attitude stoked by their manipulative leadership who will brook no power but their own.
So what makes Peasant Rebellions different from the other Outlaws from a game standpoint? Despite seeming like mere rabble on the surface, such rebellions are, in fact, very well organized and can often catch their foes off guard and so may choose to reroll their result when rolling to determine Turn order for each Round. Moreover, despite their brave talk, the leaders of these rebellions are mostly adept at saving their own skins and so their Champions may reroll their result on Injury rolls.
Peasant Rebellion warbands also have access to Abilities and Spells that open up opportunities that can only come to the lowly. The Offensive Odor Ability causes them to count as two warriors for Outnumbering purposes and causes a -1 Command penalty in enemy warriors in close combat with them due to the horrible stench and their Seers have access to the spell "The Threefold Path" which can can grant one of their Champions or Warrior Groups three rerolls that can be used during the battle.
Be careful of the glowering peasantry that you pass, especially if you see them preparing torches!
