Putting Together Your Team

A good grog captain knows that it is not sufficient to pick your best warriors when heading out on an expedition with the magi. While the grogs might be most called-upon for fighting, it is important to have a full complement of skills to best support the mission. Having the right team provides the grogs with roles in which they can be of more use to the magi. The liber gregis identifies five basic roles that should be fulfilled in any group leaving the covenant. This is not to say that every group of grogs should consist of five individuals; one grog could easily possess the essential skills of two or more of these roles. Furthermore, the team can be supplemented with standard warriors who fulfill no special role within the team.

The limit to the size of any group is determined by the designated leader. An individual can only lead a band of grogs as a trained group equal in size to his score in the Leadership Ability. Another important consideration is the choosing of a vanguard. The temptation is to pick the turb's best warrior, but this might exclude other essential members from the trained group, since there can be no more than a 5 point difference between any of the Combat Totals (Initiative, Attack, Defense, Damage, and Soak) of the best and the worst warriors in a trained group (ArM5, page 172). It is common practice for the drill sergeant of a turb to ensure that all his soldiers are trained to an equal level.

The names used for each of the five roles described later derive from the liber gregis; different covenants might have specific job titles for certain grogs, bands of grogs who are trained to fill specific roles, or else have no official recognition of the difference, yet still choose an adventuring party based on the needs of the magi. Some magi never even bother to learn the names of the grogs with whom they adventure, but instead simply use their titles.

A leader can usually only have a number of men under his command equal to his Leadership score. However, larger groups can be handled through having the leader include subordinates in his command, who each command their own men. For example, a Dux with a Leadership of 4 commands 3 soldiers and an Optio. The Optio has a Leadership of 3, and he therefore commands another 3 soldiers. The effective size of the trained group is 8. There are disadvantages behind indirect command. Firstly, any Leadership rolls made by the overall leader to affect the entire group (such as those under Advanced Group Combat, later) have Ease Factors 3 higher than normal. Secondly, issuing commands that affect the whole group takes up the leader's whole action, although the subordinates can relay the commands as a "free" action.

The leader is the individual who has been trained to coordinate a band of soldiers in combat, and an essential feature is a good score in the Leadership Ability. A leader is also often selected by the magi based on his intelligence, his loyalty, and his ability to speak Latin — or at least, have a language in common with most of the magi present. In addition to commanding the grogs in combat, the leader is often in charge

The team structure suggested here is a common trope in modern literature and visual media, called the Five Man Band (the Hero, the Lancer, the Tough Guy, the Smart Guy, and the Chick). This timetested formula gives a spread of skills to a relatively small group of individuals. It is also a usethe trope even if they are not con-

of the day-to-day running of an expedition: coordinating the purchase or gathering of food; organizing the stops on the way; and maybe even planning the route. Perhaps most important is the role of liaison with the magi; all orders to the grex come via the leader.

The optio is the right-hand man of the dux. His principle role is to ensure that the orders of the leader are carried out, and to assume that role if the leader is incapacitated or killed. The optio should have the second-best Leadership score in the unit. With respect to his other abilities, the optio is often chosen to complement the abilities and skills of the dux. For example, if the leader is a superlative swordsman, then the optio might be a scout or an archer. The personality of the optio is often a contrast with the dux as well: a hardbitten disciplinarian leader is often coupled with a charming second who is much loved by the troops; likewise, a charming and smooth leader who works well with the magi often has a stern taskmaster as optio. His role is rarely combined with that of the vanguard except in small bands. It is common to combine the roles of optio and signifer.

ful shortcut for your players who might subconsciously recognize sciously aware of it. Admittedly, the Five Man Band is a cliché, but clichés are appropriate for grogs, who are supposed to fill a support role rather than be the main figures in the action.

The antesignanus literally stands before (ante) the standard (signum), and is the vanguard in any group of warriors. Another name for this role is the duplicarius, referring to the tradition of awarding the vanguard double pay and rewards, due to the danger inherent in his role. Vanguards are not necessarily the best warriors, but are often the toughest, and Virtues such as Enduring Constitution, Rapid Convalescence, and Tough are the mark of a good antesignanus.

It is generally considered a bad idea for the vanguard and the leader roles to be combined in a single individual. Placed as he is in the forefront of any battle, the vanguard is the most likely individual to be wounded or killed, and if the vanguard is also the leader of the troop, it dissolves into an untrained group immediately.

In the Roman army, the immunes were a class of legionary who possessed specialized skills, which made them exempt from normal duties such as labor and patrol. The liber gregis recognizes the importance of specialists in a troop, and sensibly suggests

that the immune must be chosen according to the nature of the expedition. The most common immune is a chirurgeon; a turb that does not have access to basic first aid is in dire straits. However, like the Roman immunes, there is often a place for skills such as military architects, artillerymen, weapons instructors, carpenters, hunters, and trumpeters. Grogs with Supernatural Abilities such as Second Sight are usually immunes. If an immune does not have basic combat skills, he cannot be a member of the trained group.

In the Roman legions, the signifer carried the signum (standard) of the troop, a spear bearing commemorative medals of the battles they had fought, and topped with an open hand signifying the oath of the legion. It is the rare covenant that carries a standard on an expedition, but the signifer often bears the other responsibilities of his Roman predecessor, being responsible for the distributing the soldier's pay and keeping a record of their savings, and maintaining morale. In short, the signifer takes care of the internal tensions of the troop, and is often chosen based on his social skills, particularly Folk Ken and Carouse. As a consequence, he often acts as the spokesman of the magi when dealing with mundanes. The signifer is occasionally taught how to read and write, so that there is at least one member of the troop who can receive written orders and interpret signs. Like the immune, the signifer is still one of the covenant's warriors, and receives basic training as a soldier.