Bandit

Outlaws living outside the city and robbing travellers.

There are a handful of bands of outlaws on the outskirts of Haenor who rob the rich to give to the poor. They are empowerd by bravery as they attack imperial mail coaches and tax collectors.

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Bandalero

The Red Grith employs groups of bandits just outside the city to rob and plunder for profits. They share skills amongst each other.

Bandaleros are bandits who have a set of skills that complement each other, but which don't work individually. They operate as a team so they can share skills amongst each other.

They engage in a meditative practice called figgum. This begins with the bandits not learning to fight, but to juggle. They practice this for hours a day until they can juggle five knives with their eyes closed, and then they juggle while meditating. The concept they focus on to meditate is that "one skill is all skills". The idea is that if one learns one skill, that skill can be transformed into another. Thus, they focus on a single skill, becoming elite in it, then use the power of figgum to transform that skill into any other needed skill temporarily. The process of achieving this requires them focusing on the circle formed by the act of juggling, then breaking past it via a meditative process called "moving beyond the circle". This process requires such extreme concentration that one must meditate for months at a time to achieve it, hence why few among the poor and oppressed ever achieve it. They do this together with one another, always matching the pace of their least skilled member, to establish a bond.

In-game, this amounts to an ongoing series of rolling juggling skill, WIL, and AWA against increasing difficulties, with a series of bonuses and penalties for successes or failures, culminating in a roll against a difficulty of 25 for juggling, 25 for WIL to focus, and 25 for AWA to see past the circle. If this is achieved, the bandaleros will gain the ability to move their skill points around their character sheet or those of the other six people in their band as they please. There are some caveats to this - they can't move base stats around, for example, nor innate powers. Only learned skills may be adapted. If they alter their skill in juggling, it may affect their ability to use this power, as they must enter the meditative state via juggling to use their power.

Bandaleros borrow skill points from others in their band by willingly giving them that skill by passing a juggling knife to them while meditating. If they do this seven times in a row, they establish a bond that lasts for seven months. After that, they re-establish it. The bandalero must temporarily give the person some of their skill points in order to gain the skill being provided. The skill points the bandalero has can never go above their skill point total.

Some skills cost more than others, however. Magical skills, for example, are not equivalent to basic language skills, nor are elite-level skills equal to low-level ones. There is a scale of equivalence available if you choose to play a bandalero. Once a bandalero band is formed and bonded, they can trade skills no matter how far apart they are or whether they are working together or not.

Bandaleros who lose their juggling knives will lose their powers.

PRO +2 ATH +2 STR +1 AWA +1 WIL / PRS -1 STH +1

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Cateran

The Violet Grith employs groups of bandits set on causing trouble on the edges of the city, making small raids and generally raising a ruckus.

Caterans can invoke their magic if it will cause trouble for anyone except the Violet Grith. They gain the ability to do this by swearing an oath to a drunken pig on a night with one full moon and none new moons, pouring out all the casks of alcohol in a mile around, and releasing the pig (which does not belong to them) into the wild. After doing this, they must steal six special treasures - milk from a barren cow, a shoe from a one-eyed doll, a drop of dew from a clover, a sigh from a widow, a coin from a tax collector, and a web from a long-lost spider. Once these are gathered, they find the pig, feed them a potion made from the stolen items, and dance with them. If they have succeeded, they will fall into a drunken stupor, awaken a week later with someone else's clothes on, and have six magicks:

• Noisesome whoop: this power allows them to throw their voice such that it sounds like dozens of people are causing trouble up to 500' away.
• Wild dance: if they engage in a dance during combat, their enemies roll against the cateran's ATH or suffer -3 to all attacks against them.
• Powder spark: they can light off a firecracker and trigger a string of events that will bring trouble to a target within 10 rounds or 10 minutes if not in battle, like a mischievous rube goldberg device.
• Pig rush: damage will be done to the room they are in as if a wild boar were rampaging through it, harming only inanimate objects, upending furniture, and breaking anything of value that can be broken. No boars will actually appear.
• Troublesome smirk: they may smirk at someone and force them to have chaotic luck for 1d20 turns. This means the target will roll a random trio of die instead of three d10s. On their turn, they roll three d8s. A 1 means d4, a 2 means d6, 3 means d8, 4 means d10, 5 means d12, 6 means d20, 7 means d100, 8 means reroll.
• Ruckus: the entire band may act and invoke ruckus, causing so much noise, chaotic attacks, and unpredictable actions that their enemies take the low die for the entire combat, all caterans take -3 on dodge rolls, allies risk being hit, and the drunken pig appears and causes their own trouble.

The drunken pig appears every time a cateran rolls triple 7s and causes a random effect.

Caterans are all part of a small band (their mascot being the above-mentioned pig, which belongs to one of the local farmers) who cause all manner of problems in the countryside on behalf of the Violet Grith.

PRO +1 ATH +2 STR +1 AWA +1 WIL -2 PRS +1 STH +1

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Mizraklad

Bandits of the Green Grith operate just outside the city in the wider, pastoral areas, using old abandoned properties to hide out in. They prey on rich travellers and rob trains. They wield seasonal magic - specifically autumnal magic.

The mizraklad are a group of bandits who are attuned to the magic of autumn. They are stronger in that season and weaker in spring.

Mizraklad gain their powers by connecting to the autumn via ritals on the equinox, on Eigenihtes, and on Cearodeg. These three rituals - the Ritual of Night, the Ritual of Wind, and the Ritual of the Tree - each require blood, ritual chants, a fiery sacrifice (either an effigy or an animal), and an oath. The whole band performs this ritual. Each member gives blood, forming a circle around the fire, and they perform the chants, the sacrifice, and the oath together. This bonds them. From this ritual, they each gain magical powers.

• Whisper on the wind: every member of the band can hear the others even if they whisper if they are within 100' of each other.
• Fearsome countenance: wearing even a simple mask increases their intimidation score by 6.
• Turnip lantern: carving even a little bit of a turnip allows them to fill it with a ghostly light that can only be seen by members of the band.
• Hunter's sight: while seeking prey, they gain +3 to sight during the autumn.
• Nightwalker: as the nights get longer, so do their strides, increasing their speed and endurance up until the solstice (+1 to +6).
• Detrital cloak: if they are wearing a cloak and lie down, covered by it, they will appear to be a pile of fallen leaves.

Other powers may be possible.

The mizraklad wield burning staves and crossbows. Their main function in the Green Grith is waylaying trains to stop supplies to factories.

PRO +2 ATH +2 STR +1 AWA +1 WIL / PRS / STH +1

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Outlaw

There are a handful of bands of outlaws on the outskirts of Haenor who rob the rich to give to the poor for the Blue Grith. They are empowerd by bravery as they attack imperial mail coaches and tax collectors.

Outlaws rely on audacity for magical powers. They target the rich and powerful, anyone with a lot of guards, and anyone who robs the poor. They choose the most fearsome opponents and draw strength from doing so.

In order to tap into the magic of bravery, they must be acting without desire for personal gain. They must be acting against an oppressor, exploiter, or abuser, and they must be acting with intention to help others. They must feel both fear and confidence, and they must act in spite of the former. These feelings become their fuel. They tap into them as they fight, and the emotions manifest as scarlet flame. To do this, they must act purely from feeling, letting it guide them, and they must become completely focused on their targets. If they can achieve this, their weapons ignite in the scarlet flame of valor.

Mechanically, this requires them to spend their first round against an opponent with 3 or more above their scores in PRO, ATH, and/or STR attacking without bonuses while feeling their emotions (AWA roll with their attack). Their next round must be spent focusing (WIL roll along with their attack). On the third round, their flames will come, giving them bonuses to PRO and/or stun/wound equal to how much they are outmatched in PRO, ATH, and STR, and another +3 if the opponent has infernal powers (+6 if that power is fear-based). On each subsequent round, another point of bonus will come to their stun/wound or PRO.

If they are attacking multiple opponents, their average scores are used, but the necessary gap goes down by point per opponent, even going into the negative if there are four or more.

If they defeat an opponent who is 6 or more above them in PRO, ATH, or STR, they gain a special power:

• Scarlet plume: scarlet flames erupt from their weapons and lash out at a single target within 20'.
• Cunning mockery: they can mock a more powerful opponent in a way that intimidates the opponent.
• Bold arrival: a surprise attack against a more powerful target gives them two rounds of uninterrupted attacks before the enemy may act.
• Rallying call: they can give everyone around them greater morale with a rallying call, cancelling fear or intimidation effects and giving +1 to reaction, dodge, or parry rolls.
• Direct strike: calling a shot to an opponent's strong point gives them +6 stun/wound instead of targeting a weak point.
• Ferocity: on the sixth round of combat, if their scarlet flame is present, they may take on the form of a large predatory animal.

If the outlaw is in a band that is a third or more outlaws, all of these powers and abilities may be applied on a whole-band level. The Blue Grith arranges this intentionally, so their bandits may take on armies.

PRO +3 ATH +2 STR +1 AWA +2 WIL / PRS +1 STH +1