Marshal
The position of Marshal is one of several Council positions common at every level throughout The Kingdom of Somercrag. They are responsible for the council's military concerns - understanding any threats to the council's lands, maintaining their defences, recruiting and training men-at-arms, drilling their levies, and leading their armies in times of conflict.
Due to the nature of the position the majority of people appointed as Marshal are Knights, as a knight's education should prepare them for the responsibilities of the position. It is not uncommon, however, for a lowborn career soldier to rise to the position. As a result the role is rarely hereditary, though of course if the Marshal has children who have a military leaning they are more likely to serve as Squires or otherwise receive a military education.
A Marshal acts with the authority of their Lord or Lady in all military matters, be that commanding their armies on the battlefield or directing the council's funds to military expenses. They are authroised to parley or otherwise treat with the enemy on the battlefield, including negotiating surrenders or other possible outcomes. It is generally accepted throughout The Kingdom of Somercrag that a Marshal cannot be punished for the choices they make in battle - if the Lord or Lady disagrees with a choice they make, the failing is in their appointment, not in the Marshal for how they perform the role. In such a case they might remove the Marshal from their position, but other punishment is likely to be seen poorly by other Houses.
Council Actions
Each month the Marshal may be directed to take one of the following actions. Bolded actions require the Marshal's presence for the month, making them unavailable for any other duties.- Lead Armies - The Marshal enters the field to command the council's armies. If the council's armies are deployed, the Marshal must take this action unless the council's Lord/Lady or Steward is leading the armies themselves. This has no mechanical effect, other than to allow the armies to be deployed.
- Raise Military Unit - The Marshal spends the month assessing recruits, gathering supplies, arranging accomodations and so on. At the end of the month, a new Ongoing Project is added to the council's seat, as detailed below. Additional rules apply to forming a Military Unit of Household Knights, as detailed on their page.
Raise Military Unit Ongoing ProjectStart Cost: 2
Ongoing Cost: 2
Duration: 2 Months
Outcome: A new Green unit of Medium Combined Arms Infantry is added to the council's military forces.
Options: The unit may choose one or more of the following options for the listed increase to the Start Cost:
- Light Armour: -1
- Heavy Armour: +1*
- Bows: +1
- Crossbows: +2*
- Polearms: +1
- Bills: +1*
- Shields: +1
- Other Equipment Option: +varies*
In addition, the unit may choose one or more of the following options at the listed increase to the Duration:
- Unit Captain: +1
- Skirmish: +1
- Other special rule: +varies
- Irregular Experience Level: +3**
- Regular Experience Level: +6**
Finally, the unit may be formed as a Cavalry unit instead of an Infantry unit, in which case all costs and durations are doubled, and one settlement in the council's lands must pass a dd Trade:Stables or a dddd Trade:Any check. Alternatively you may target an existing unit. If you do, reduce the Duration by the amount required to reach the existing unit's Experience Level (eg if you are training a Irregular unit from a Green unit you would reduce the Duration by the base Duration of 2, training a Regular unit from an Irregular unit would reduce the Duration by 5, and so on. If you are changing the unit's equipment in any way, the unit must pay the additional month for a Captain regardless of if they had a Captain already. Do not pay again for equipment that already exists on the unit, however the base cost of 2 Revenue must be paid each time they begin training. Military Unit Calculator
- Commission Siege Equipment - The Marshal spends the month sourcing supplies and suitably talented individuals to create Siege Equipment. Siege Equipment may have an effect on skirmish battles but is primarily intended for Warmaster scale conflicts. When they begin the project it will have difficulty and target total in both successes and Revenue depending on the project, some examples are given in the table below. Each month that they use their Action to contribute to this project they can contribute any amount of Revenue and take a Marshal skill check against the chosen difficulty. For each s and every aa they add one point to a cumulative score. They cannot make more progress than the amount of Revenue that has been invested into the project so far. Once both totals reach the agreed target the Siege Equipment is completed. This cost also includes the training of a suitable number of engineers, as well as the construction of wagons and purchasing of oxen to allow the siege equipment to be transported to the battlefield.
Siege Equipment
Siege Equipment Difficulty Target Total Bolt Thrower dd 20 Trebuchet dddd 70
- Drill Levies - The Marshal spends the month in one of the council's settlements, training their Levies. This improves the Experience Level of that Levy by 1 (usually from Green to Irregular). At the time this action is taken it must be decided whether the time to train will be taken from the participants' other duties (imposing a +d penalty on all settlement checks for the month), or from the participants' free time (causing a Crime vs Order check, potentially increasing Crime development in the settlement as the citizens become dissatisfied).
- Oppose Crime - The Marshal spends the month in one of the council's settlements, actively opposing crime networks there. Before the settlement generates income next month, the Marshal takes an (Order or Marshal skill) vs Crime check. If they succeed, the Crime does not affect the settlement's income that month. If they fail the Crime affects the settlement's income as normal and there may be damage to the settlement's Order depending on the severity of the failure.
- Root Out Dissent - The Marshal spends the month directly opposing one Development in one of the council's settlements. Before the settlement generates income next month, the Marshal and any forces under their command will have an opportunity to act against the Development. If they succeed the council will be able to begin an Ongoing Project to lower the rating of that Crime Development (with the same Cost and Duration as if they were upgrading that Development). If they fail there may be damage to the settlement's Order and/or the forces involved depending on the severity of the failure.
- Assess Threat - The Marshal spends the month producing a report to the council on the potential threat represent by one Kingdom/Duchy/Holding/Organisation/etc. They take a Marshal skill check against the Scheme Defence of the target, with the resulting report being influenced by the success or failure of this check.
- Attract Courtiers (Martial) - The Marshal performs a Marshal skill vs ddd check and attracts a number of martially skilled individuals to court. This check may be influenced by spending Revenue to upgrade the check. It will also be influenced by recent events (such as the loss of Household Knights or Sworn Swords) as well as the perceived opportunities for personal glory or promotion. Attracted individuals may include knights, potential Military Unit Captains or other noteworthy individuals. This may also involve an event, such as hosting a Tourney, a Noble Hunt or other similar activites.
- Training (Martial) - The Marshal spends the month training an individual's combat skills. At the end of the month they take a Marshal skill vs the target's relevant skill. If they fail nothing happens, if they succeed the chosen skill increases by 1 (to a maximum of 5). For each additional s or every aa they may increase another combat skill that begins lower than the chosen skill. For each h they suffer 1 Strain.
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