Monday, July 7, 2025

Stonehell Broadsheet #2

RULES: On MEN & MORALE


  • PCs may keep a number of Retainers based on their CHA score. There are roughly two categories of Retainers: Hirelings and Henchmen.

  • Hirelings are 0-lvl noncombatants and militiamen who do not accumulate xp during adventures. Henchmen, on the other hand, earn a ½ share of xp while working for the PC and can be played in lieu of one’s main character when indisposed (during training, research, imprisonment, etc) or deceased, earning a full share of xp while operating independently.

  • Retainer availability will depend on settlement size: a small village wouldn’t support many men for hire, while there are always never-do-wells on the lookout for a little extra in a metropolis.

  • High mortality or mistreatment can deplete the local recruit pool, or force the company to deal with unscrupulous elements.

  • Placing advertisements or paying minstrels to sing about the company’s exploits can attract extra manpower (1d6x50 gp for new check).

  • Morale (ML) for Hirelings depends on two factors. The baseline value follows the employer’s Charisma, which shall be modified by a random 2d6 roll for +/– 2.

  • Morale checks must be rolled on the following conditions: first casualty, casualties over ½ starting forces, overwhelming odds, massive destructive effect, or any time the retainer is ordered to do something very risky on behalf of the characters.

  • Roll morale on a 2d6. If the result is below the ML rating, the subject holds ground. If the result is above ML, the subject retreats, flees in panic, or goes on the defensive. In either case, subtract one point from the subject’s ML rating. NPCs with failed morale will suggest to terminate the expedition and retreat to safety, and will not take any further risks.

  • Morale always goes down, and very rarely up (only a major victory or a great boon can help). When ML reaches 3, the retainer leaves the company forever.

  • Morale for Henchmen is a more complicated affair, and will be addressed at a later date.


FOR HIRE at the TWO-HEADED CALF


  •  COURTEOUS CARLO, former squire hobbled by his lord's warhorse, now an aging dandy who works as a VALET and bodyman. 1 gp/day on adventures, 1 sp/day while in town. Requires 5 gp retainer.


  • ROLAND OF ERILLION, seventh (or so) bastard of a prominent nobleman, Roland assures you that he is merely a “temporarily embarrassed graf” who works PORTAGE as a means to “stay in touch with the common man”. 1 gp/day on adventures, 1 sp/day while in town. Requires 5 gp retainer. 

  • STONE-FACE OLAF, a dour and thickly-muscled military veteran who has been reduced to serving as a PORTER due to partial paralysis on his left side from an old war wound. Will only work alongside ROLAND OF ERILLION for 1 gp/day on adventures, 1 sp/day while in town. Requires no retainer, but assures employers that if young Roland should suffer from a misadventure “there would be holy hell to pay”.


  • ROLF AND DOLPH, conjoined twins who have recently come of age, ROLF AND DOLPH having started as a pair of linkboys but who have saved enough to retrain as MILITIAMEN. They maintain a strict code of secrecy regarding former adventures and employers. 2 gp/day on adventures, 2 sp/day while in town. Wearing specially-crafted leather armor and wielding a short sword and a spear, Rolf and Dolph require additional equipment before joining.


SERVICES AVAILABLE at the OLDE TOWYN DIOCESE


  • BISHOP ALFRIC ORDANE, the elderly yet spritely spiritual leader of the LAWFUL LAITY of OLDE TOWYN, said to be a former wandering cleric in his youth, is known to be welcoming to intrepid adventurers who seek to descend into STONEHELL’s depths—and who are generous in their donations towards the improvements of the OLDE GREYSTONE CHAPEL.


  • Holy Water: 25 gp, 2d4 flasks available/wk


  • Antivenom: 100 gp, allows for an additional save vs poison, 1d3 flasks available/wk


  • Spellcasting: prices listed below, must be in good standing with the CHURCH to receive services, those listed in italics require the intervention of ARCHBISHOP CLAUDIO CANTONELLI, the recently-appointed METROPOLITAN OF MUR, a retired crusader-general who served in the AUSTERLANDS against the unholy forces of the ANTIPODAL UNORTHODOX CHURCH. It is said that his long-handled mustachios disguise a stern yet terribly disfigured countenance, the mark of the BLACK GUARD of the ANTIPOPE, whose unholy arms leave wounds that can only be healed by a Cardinal’s blessing.


  • Augury: 300 gp

  • Atonement: 6,500 gp

  • Bless: 25 gp / person

  • Commune: 1,000 + 500 gp per question

  • Continual Light: 500 gp

  • Cure Blindness: 1,000 gp

  • Cure Disease: 1,000 gp

  • Cure Light Wounds: 100 gp

  • Cure Serious Wounds: 350 gp

  • Cure Critical Wounds: 600 gp

  • Detect Evil: 100 gp

  • Detect Magic: 150 gp

  • Dispel Evil: 1,000 gp

  • Dispel Magic: 900 gp

  • Divination: 1,000 gp

  • Exorcise: 9,000 gp

  • Find the Path: 6,500 gp

  • Neutralize Poison: 1,000 gp

  • Protection from Evil: 150 gp

  • Purify Food & Drink: 100  gp

  • Raise Dead: 7,500 gp

  • Remove Curse: 2,500 gp

  • Speak With Dead: 900 gp 

  • Tongues: 500 gp


RARE ITEMS from THE PENNYPINCHER COLLECTION


  •  Carved ivory tusk - 50 GP


  •  Silver cup - 20 GP


  •  Crystal decanter - 45 GP


  •  Jade ring - 250 GP


  •  Dagger with jeweled scabbard - 600 GP


  •  Chill Parasol - 5000 GP

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