Winter Hyland Remastered - A Re-Statted PC from Night City PD Campaign

So today I thought I'd do something different.  Rather than a writing about a campaign idea I may have had or character concept I'd thought up.   I thought I'd tell you about an old Campaign I once ran and one of the PCs that was involved in that game.  It was back in High School I had just left my first gaming group and struck out on my own.  With the intention of playing games other than Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition.  I'd run a few games of Boot Hill (which was my first non D&D love when it came to Tabletop RPGs) but those had been poorly received.  Clearly the group I started out with enjoyed Roleplaying for different reasons than I did.  So I made the decision to start my own group and run games with them.  Not an easy task at a Catholic High School in a small town in Canada.  It wasn't exactly a breeding ground for players.  Somehow I did manage to get something that resembled a group together.  Though a large part of the recruitment was done by the one friend I'd been able to talk into playing with me.  The rest of the group was made up of co-workers and acquaintances of hers.  In the end it ended up only being her and one of her co-workers that actually played for long.  (One actually left after character creation and never came back, the other never showed up to character creation and proved to be a problem player when he did finally show up.  The single friend from high school who I'd recruited's brother showed up for one session.  Only to get his character's arm blown off by his own grenade!)

This is basically what I had in mind when I was thinking up
this campaign concept.

Now what was the campaign you ask?  Well around this point of my life I was watching a lot of Countermonkeybard videos.  Specifically the ones about Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun.  The idea of playing augmented cyber-criminals intrigued me.  Of course as you may have noticed I never do things the easy way or the way it was intended.  Also around this time I really into Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex (I didn't see the Film until my later teens/early twenties).  It was pretty much the only contact I'd had with Cyberpunk as a genre.  And if I'm honest it's kind of a bad starting point.  Since now being more educated on the subject I'd call the GITS franchise more Post-Cyberpunk.  But I'm rambling, point is I decided that I wanted the campaign to be about Cyber-cops rather than Cyber-criminals.  Specifically a special task force within the Night City Police Department known as SIFT-Div.  (I no longer remember what SIFT was supposed to stand for).  It was supposed to be kind of along the lines of a unit that didn't get tied down by red tape and got results.  I actually had a plot line in mind that never got explored about how the NPC head of SIFT-Div (the PCs' boss) had gotten dirt on the Mayor of Night City and blackmailed him into approving the creation of the unit.

While this image looks nothing like Winter
it does pretty much sum up her approach to
life.  Being a bratty, angst-filled college
drop-out, know it all.  Poking her nose
where it didn't belong.

I'm getting side-tracked again, sorry about that.  I'm supposed to be talking about the character not the campaign overall.  So the character was Winter Hyland the daughter of a Microtech technician.  With a promising future awaiting her in the field of Computer Science when she graduated.  What happened you asked?  She tired of paying off her tuition with money earned tutoring dumb Corp kids.  So she turned to a life of Cyber-crime, stealing money from various places on the net.  She built quite a reputation for herself as the Hacker known as a Lady Cypher.  So-called because of her avatar's appearance as a Victorian era aristocrat with a face of ever-shifting green code.  In hindsight Winter really wasn't much of a hacker, her reputation owed mostly owed to her prolific activities and pure dumb luck.  Her crowning achievement was infiltrating the ZetaTech data fortress.  Her last crime before she was picked up by NCPD's NetSec Department.  She was looking at jail-time if the head of SIFT-DIV (who was in need of a computer specialist) hadn't stepped in to place her under his authority.  It was either work for the NCPD or go to jail, some choice.

Back when we first started this campaign Winter's player didn't know anything about role-playing.  So the approach to character creation went something like this.  I gave her the campaign pitch and told her what kind of roles I had in mind for the SIFT-DIV team.  Then gave her the option of calling dibs on one of the roles listed.  She immediately went for a Netrunner/Tech hybrid.  (Back then I was using the Interlock Unlimited from over at DataFortress 2020.  Which allowed for hybrid role characters.  I've since done away with the Role System in my campaigns).  Rather than rolling the character herself she left that in what she referred to as "your capable hands".  I went home created a character then came back the next day and showed it to her.  She was instantly in love.  I actually wrote up a little biography for Winter which I'm still very proud of.  If you're interested I managed to dig out the original document from my files and upload it to my GoogleDocs.  Despite the fact that I imagined her as sort of a Cyberpunk version of Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  (The Lifepath results for look & style as well as a personality of moody and rash were really pointing towards it).  The character sort of took on a life of her own when the player got ahold of it.  She developed into a huge Johnny Silverhand fan.  (After the player read some quotes by Mr. Silverhand in the Core Rulebook when she finally got around to reading it).  In hindsight Winter probably would've worn a bunch of Silverhand and Samurai patches on her leather jacket.  Proudly displaying her allegiance, not unlike what a metalhead friend of mine calls a battle jacket.  Her fascination with the Rockerboy came to the point of obsession.  (She very easily could've gone the direction of obsessed fan that every musician lives in fear of).  She once actually only went out with a guy because he could get tickets to a Samurai concert on very short notice.

Anyways all this reminiscing about the old days got me going back through the old files.  And I realized how much of a mess Winter was in terms of stats.  I clearly had no idea what the hell I was doing when I made her for her player.  (Keep in mind I was 17 and new to Cyberpunk).  Now that I'm older and have my gaming style a little more established.  I thought it'd be fun to go back and revamp the character a little.  Using the character creation method that I currently use for my campaigns.  (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about I refer you to this link).  Overall I'm quite happy with how the new version of Winter turned out.  She's a great deal more rounded out than when I first built her.  (She actually has a believable level of training in firearms for a Criminal turned Cop in a special unit.  She can somewhat handle herself in a fight with minimal skill.  And she has enough skill in Drive to have a license.  Something she lacked when she was first built).  She also has social stats more in keeping with her personality.

Winter Hyland

INT: 9  REF: 6/6  TECH: 9  COOL: 4 ATTR: 7  LUCK: 7 MA: 6 BODY: 6  EMP: 6/5

RUN: 18  LEAP: 4.5  LIFT: 240 SAVE: 6  BTM: -2
DAM: +0  REP: 7 (As Lady Cipher persona), 1 (as plain old Winter)

Alienation Check: 27  Skill Points: 58

Skills: Athletics +3, Awareness/Notice +2, Basic Tech +9, Brawling +3, Composition +4, Cyberdeck Design +4, Cybertech +2, Driving +2, Education +3, Electronics +6, Fast Talk & Persuasion +3, Handgun +5, Human Perception +2, Interface +2, Know Language: English +8, Programming +6, System Knowledge +2

Advantages: Computer Aptitude 4 SPs, Technical Aptitude 4 SPs

Disadvantages: Compulsion (Johnny Silverhand Groupie) -4 SPs, Criminal Record (Paroled) -4 SPs

Cybernetics:
Neural Processor                            2 1000 EB
Interface Plugs                                1  200 EB
Universal Link                                 4 400 EB
Chipware Socket                              2 200 EB
Cyberaudio Basic Hearing Module 3 500 EB
Phone Splice                                    3 150 EB
Wearman Stereo Music System       7 100 EB
Wide Band Radio Scanner               5 100 EB
Total Alienation: 27, Cost: 2,650 EB

Gear: 
Concealable Armoured Vest (Consult the Datafortress 2020 NCPD Sourcebook)
Shoulder Holster
Armalite 44 Semi-automatic Pistol (equipped with 911 chip, cookie cutter and gun cam)
Street-tech "Burst"
2 spare magazines of 12mm ammo
Badge, Police ID (Acts as a marker for NCPD cookie cutters)
Officer in Distress Button (Consult the Datafortress 2020 NCPD Sourcebook)
2 sets of Plascuffs
Evidence Kit
Notebook
Used Cyberdeck (All she could afford on a student budget).
Tech Toolkit
Electronics Toolkit

Interface
Commands: Detect/Conceal +2, Locate +2, Infiltrate/Login +2, Query +2, Edit +2
Targets: File/Database +5, System +5

Anyways that about wraps it up for me.  If you liked this post be sure to +1, comment below, re-share and follow this blog.  Who knows if things do really well I may re-stat Winter's partner Merli Basmi. Until then have a good day and may you roll many crits.

Update: Came back and edited a few things that I left out and forgot the first time around.
Update #2: For those of you waiting for Merli's re-statting, rejoice.  It's here.

The Mines of Kessel - A Campaign I'll Probably Never Run

I know it's been some time since I posted something on this blog.  And I apologize for that.  When I first started writing posts for Stories and Other Such Distractions a year ago, I prided myself on the fact that I updated at least monthly.  May ended up going by without a single update from yours truly.  A fact that I deeply regret and find inexcusable.  So this is me trying to make up for lost time.  For those of you who still read this blog I am eternally grateful.  Without further ado let's get to what you came here to see.

The Pitch

The subject of today's campaign pitch.  The kidney
shaped Prison planet of Kessel and it's
garrison moon(given its appearance
it might be more accurate to
 describe it as an asteroid.

Anyone who is at least the tiniest bit familiar with Star Wars has at least heard of Kessel once or twice.  Who could forget the famous line?  "It's a ship that made the Kessel run in 12 parsecs."  Now in the original novelization of the film of A New Hope Han was just supposed to be talking out of his ass.  (A parsec is a measure of distance not speed for those of you not in the know).  Later on the expanded universe went on to fill in the blanks on the Kessel run (adding in a black hole that the Kessel system orbited known as the Maw that would be smugglers would fly dangerously close to in order to shave time of their route) and the rest as they say is history.  You didn't come here for a lecture on the Star Wars Expanded universe though.  You came here to read about a campaign idea centred around the stinking place.  

Kessel is known for two things, the spice known as glitterstim.  (Which is said to give those who imbibe it the force-like ability to read the thoughts of others, incredibly useful in interrogations.  Which is why the Empire keeps such a tight grasp on its excavation).  The other is its infamous prison facilities where the spice is dug up the cruel Spice Mines of Kessel.  (Imagine something akin to a Nazi concentration camp or a Soviet gulag).  Now many an RPG campaign has kicked off with the escape from such a place.  But very few have taken a look at what it'd be like to have the characters adventure be indentured for an extended period of time in such a place.  

"But..." you say "that's boring."  Is it now?  There's a lot of sources of conflict to be had in an Imperial Prison.  Remember this is a place that's run by what amounts to Space Nazis.  There's bound to be conflict in such a place if you know where to look for it.  Here's a few things just from the top of my head.

• Remember how old Han Solo made the Kessel Run?  Well what was he smuggling?  There's nothing else of value in the whole Kessel system but glitterstim and free prison labour.  Yet both are so highly regulated, that amounts to pretty much nothing.  Unless...someone's been double-dealing under the table.  Perhaps the staff at this mine aren't the tight-asses you think they are.  They're still immoral pricks, they just care about lining their own pockets than they do the Emperor.  Shipments of Spice may be turning up light, or prisoners may disappear.  (The latter sold into slavery, hey prisoners die all the time in the mines).  

• And like in every situation there may be some stickler for the rules that wants to blow the whistle.  Maybe the players can manipulate him somehow?

• In the expanded universe Kessel is described as being littered with ruins of Sith origins.  Up for a little Star Wars dungeon crawl?

• Just like prison in real life it wouldn't be unlikely for the mine the PCs find themselves at to have rival gangs inhabiting the place.  They could join one of the existing ones or start one of their own.  

• The population of the Kessel Spice Mines is 78% Alien, 22% Human.  You could literally have a prisoner of every species for PCs of a particular species to interact with.  You could even have one of the most feared prisoners be an incredibly violent Wookie.  (Don't upset him).

• Then you have the ultimate source of good in the Empire.  A large number of Rebels are sent to the Imperial controlled mines.  As punishment for their betrayal of the Emperor.  If your players tire of being locked up they could mount an escape.  If they take some of these guys with them they've got an in into the Rebel Alliance.  (And you get a way to continue a campaign with established characters if you decide to take a break and come back to Star Wars).

Characters

Now personally I'd use Star Wars d6 for this campaign.  It's simpler than say the Fantasy Flight or Wizards of the Coast games and it has a large online community dedicated to it.  And presents a number of useful templates to base characters off of.  Any one of the following would fit right in in such a campaign.  They could be sentenced for any number of crimes, real or trumped up charges it doesn't matter.  If you manage to piss off someone with the right connections within the Empire.  Your ass just earned a one-way ticket to Kessel.

1. The Smuggler
2. The Gambler
3. The Brash Pilot (remember lot of rebel POWs end up at Kessel)
4. Any of the Alien Templates (Again the Imperials are Space Nazis)
5. Pirate
6. Merc
7. Outlaw
8. Outlaw Tech
9. Slicer

Anyways I think I've rambled on enough for my first effort after my hiatus.  If you liked this post be sure to tell me what you think in the comments below.  Be sure to +1, like and follow this blog.  As always have a nice day and may the dice be ever in your favour.

Men of Many Crimes and Countries - Character Concepts for Kozaki of the Steppes

"Dwelling in the wild, open steppes, owning no law but their own peculiar code, they had become a people capable of defying the Grand Monarch.  Ceaselessly they raided the Turanian frontier, retiring in the steppes when defeated; with the pirates of the Vilayet, men of much the same breed, they harried the coast, preying off the merchant ships which plied between the Hyrkanian Ports." - The Devil in Iron by Robert E. Howard

It's not often that I write a continuation to a campaign pitch I've written.  The Kozaki of the Steppes pitch went over so well though that I thought it warranted something special in celebration.  A lot of times I don't have that much to write about a pitch once it's been published.  I find myself in a unique situation though, in that there was more I wanted to explore with the Kozaki Campaign.  I don't know if Game Master does this, but I often indulge myself in fantasies.  Day dreams if you will about the type of characters that players could create for the campaigns I run for them.  Since one of the many fascinating things about the Kozaki is their diverse membership.  It seemed only natural that I'd do some writing about some character concepts that I had dreamed up about that membership.  Without further ado let's dive into the characters that've been floating around in my mind.

The Hetman 

In the foreground Olgerd Vladislav once a
hetman among the Kozaki of the Zaporoskan
river.  Seems to have a bad habit of losing
leadership of one such band and then gaining
it with another.

Every band of kozaki needs someone to lead them.  That man is the hetman.  He it's he who leads them in battle, finds them targets to rob and plunder.  Acts as their captain when they do battle against the Turanians.  This duty comes with its share of privileges.  Such as when it comes time for the loot to be divided evenly among the band.  The hetman gets first pick often taking the finer portion of the plunder for himself.  Add on top of this when the band takes captives, the hetman also gets first pick. If he decides to take all of the captives for himself?  Well that's his prerogative.  Of course all these privileges come with their share of risks as well.  A greedy hetman would be wise to remember that his rank is by no means permanent.  Any man may in the camp may challenge him for leadership.  These challenges usually take the form of single combat between the current hetman and the challenger.  Since the only real condition for membership among the Kozaki is whether you can handle yourself in a fight.  Logic dictates that their leader would be the strongest warrior among them.  As such it behooves a successful Kozaki hetman to keep his followers happy.  This usually involves keeping them occupied with raids on caravans and Turanian outposts.  The best way to a kozak's heart is through his stomach and his purse (the occasional woman doesn't hurt either).  A few generous gifts (read: bribes) from the hetman's share of the plunder to particularly skilled, loyal and daring followers doesn't hurt either.  The hetman does pose some interesting opportunities and problems to a Game Master though.  Some groups won't like having one player have power over their characters.  And while the idea of PvP over leadership makes for a great story.  Players might have a hard time not accepting the results of the subsequent battle, which can lead to conflict among the group.  A GM taking this route would have to be mindful of that.

Raid Leader

Every leader needs a reliable second in command, someone to lead in his absence.  That's the Raid Leader.  Sometimes a target is too heavily defended so you need a decoy to draw the defenders out.  Either to lead them on a wild goose chase across the steppes or to lead them into a pre-arranged ambush.  Whatever the case may be the Raid Leader is the man for the job.  It's incredibly risky and it carries a great deal of responsibility.  With that responsibility comes privileges, when captives are being divided up among the Kozaki.  The Raid Leader is second only to the hetman when it comes to getting first pick.  Conan in the story A Witch Shall be Born is a great example of a Raid Leader.  Of course just like Olgerd Vladislav a Kozaki hetman has to be mindful that his Raid Leader.  Doesn't get too ambitious as his followers may soon call for a change of leadership.

Hetman's Assassin

Possibly what a hetman's assassin would look like.

With leadership so often shifting among the kozaki a chief may often have to rely upon the loyalty of a few choice followers.  To keep him aware of when mutiny is being fomented in the camp.  Sometimes rebellions like this need to be nipped in the bud.  Preferably when these are just unhappy murmurings around the campfire.  Sometimes all the plunder and gifts aren't enough to keep a would-be rebel satisfied.  That's when the hetman's eyes and ears become his blade.  As mentioned before the Kozaki divide loot evenly among themselves, but sometimes members don't feel they've gotten their fair share.  If such is the case a kozak can challenge another kozak to a duel for possession of their share of the loot.  These duels are always to the death as it is part of the Kozaki code that any man who cannot defend his property (that includes his woman) deserves only death.  Such are the harsh laws of the steppes.  These duels make excellent pretexts under which to kill an instigator of insurrection against the hetman.  The assassin gets the deadman's share of loot in addition to his own and possibly a share of the winnings the hetman won from betting on his enforcer.  (You read right Kozaki bet on these duels).  A hetman's assassin can make himself a very wealthy and incredibly feared (possibly hated) man among the band.  It's a good thing that he has a reputation of skill with a blade.  Perhaps too good?  Sometimes a hetman having someone do this kind of dirty work for him creates a monster.  That needs to be put down by a new assassin before he starts getting the idea that he might make a better hetman.

The Outrider

An outrider doesn't always have to travel alone.  Sometimes they travel in
groups of a dozen at most.  Splitting into smaller groups to evade capture
by the Turanians with prearranged members of each group with orders
to return to the main band if their own group should be compromised.

The Kozaki are in many ways much more than a band of mounted bandits.  They're an army of insurgents that not even the soldiers of Turan, the greatest empire of the Hyborian age.  Has been able to completely destroy.  An army needs eyes and ears; scouts.  Someone to do reconnaissance so that group doesn't get crushed between two forces of Turanian (or for that matter Kothic, Zamorian or Shemite) cavalry.  Like metal between a hammer and anvil.  While some hetman like to do their own scouting not unlike Hannibal (yes that Hannibal) it's not always practical.  As a band can't always be relied upon to show up at a prearranged rendezvous (why kill the hetman when you can just abandon him on the steppes) and can't afford to stay in the same place for too long.  Thus outriders serve the critical role of riding out ahead of the band keeping their eyes peeled.  For oasis's/springs to water the band's horses at, possible ambushes and other dangers that could spell the Kozaki's doom.  It also sometimes helps to have someone keeping an eye on your potential target.  So you're not in for any nasty surprises when you attack it.  (That caravan doesn't actually carry any goods and there's a Turanian ambush over the next ridge). Much like the raid leader a good outrider commands special privileges, namely being ahead of the average Kozak when it comes time lay claim to any captives.  

Mystic/Shaman

If you had a guy like this among your band,
it'd probably be wise to worship whatever he
did.

Howard didn't write a lot about about the Kozaki so there are lot of details that missing about them.  One of the missing details is who they worship.  Howard wrote a great deal about the religions of the Hyborian Age.  Creating such deities as Crom, Bel, Ishtar and Mitra.  So it leaves a question up in the air, who do the Kozaki worship?  Are they agnostics?  Living only for the present moment and hedonism?  Leaving the concerns of the afterlife to the priests and those who expect to live long lives?  "Plenty of time for the earth in the grave."  So to speak?  Do they like all thieves and bandits pay lip service to Bel the Shemitish god of thieves?  It seems unlikely that they'd worship Tarim/Erlik the god of their bitter enemies the Hykanian of Turan.  With some of bands having escaped Stygian slaves in their midst, do they turn to the Stygian serpent Set?  Liking the sound of his advocate of the strong devourer of the weak thing.  Or they might not like the idea of having to serve him unquestioningly.  Mitra doesn't seem a likely choice given the Kozaki's propensity for theft, lying and betrayal.  Perhaps they worship the spirits of the natives of the steppes.  A faith not unlike that of the northeastern Hyrkanians.  Whatever the case the Shaman leads this worship and possibly acts as a mixture of healer (the Kozaki trade is violence and that means wounds) and advisor to the hetman.  

Native Kozaki

A lot of Conan Games I've come across rely on character race and homeland.  The problem with the Kozaki are that they are a mixture of foreign slaves, fleeing criminals and deserting mercenaries.  Am I forgetting something?  Oh yeah and the pastoral tribes native to the steppes that they inhabit.  Howard wrote very little about these natives.  Quote, "The non-Hyrkanian dwellers of these territories are scattered, unclassified in the north, Shemitish in the south, aboriginal, with a thin strain of Hyborian blood from wandering conquerors." end quote.  From that we've gained that they are some variation of Shemite, but obviously with some cultural differences due to their different habitats.  When compared to their desert dwelling cousins.  A Native Kozaki comes from one of these tribes perhaps raised in a tradition of resisting the Turanian conquerors of their homelands.  

Red Brotherhood turned Kozak

Step 1. Acquire a ship and a crew
Step 2. Proceed to take the Turanians for everything they have
Step 3. Profit.

The Kozaki aren't the only ones giving the Turanians trouble.  The Hyrkanians have built their cities along all but the northern shore of the inland sea of Vilayet.  There's is an empire built upon trade with numerous eastern nations.  Principle of these is the importation of goods across the Vilayet from distant Khitai.  Such is the bulk of the goods imported that innumerable merchant galleys.  These galleys need to be crewed however and it is often cheaper in the long run to crew them with slaves.  (As the Turanian bazaars are famously glutted with cheap slaves).  The Turanians are cruel masters and as result it is not uncommon for slave crews to mutiny and take to the sea as pirates.  Becoming members of the Red Brotherhood, a nation of pirates known to be even more fierce in their hatred of the Turanians than the Kozaki.  Going so far as to charge Turanian Naval vessels on sight.  They fight for vengeance just as much as they fight for plunder.  Sometimes though it becomes necessary for these pirates to lay low when the Turanians start cracking down on their raids.  So every once in a while pirates will take to the steppes joining up with a Kozaki band.  Raiding with them until the Turanians start cracking down on the Kozaki, thus prompting the pirates to return to the Vilayet.  Rinse, lather, repeat.  This is concepts presents a lot of opportunities for colourful origin stories.  Such as Kushite Corsair captured by the Stygians and sold into slavery in Turan.  Only to be liberated by the Red Brotherhood and return to their life of Pirating, now with a part time job as a Kozak.  Another idea is a Barachan, Zingaran or Argossean expat that's come to the Vilayet to plunder the riches of the Empire of Turan.  Only to now have to go into hiding on the steppes after making too much of a name for themselves.

Brythunian Rescuer

Natala from The Slithering Shadow.
A typical Brythunian female who could
serve as an inspiration for this character
type's loved one.

Brythunian women are like the Hyborian Age equivalent of the Twi'leks from Star Wars.  What I mean by that is if the villain has a harem chances are he'll have at least one Brythunian slave girl in it.   Howard wrote very little about Brythunia and never wrote any stories set there.  The only things we know about the place is that the women are blonde with blue eyes and are often kidnapped into slavery.  (More often than not by Zamorian kidnappers).  After all these damn kidnappings of their women you'd think the Brythunian menfolk would get sick and tired of it.  That's exactly what the Brythunian rescuer is.  A Brythunian male who's tracked a kidnapped female loved one all the way to the slave markets of Turan.  The loved one could be his sister, daughter, wife or fiancee it doesn't matter.  Point is you've found them and fully intend to take them back home.  The problem is Turanian slave owners don't like having their property stolen from them.  (That's right property under Turanian law it doesn't matter that she's your loved one.  To the Turanians she's a slave owned by a master who is their fellow countryman.  Something you are not).  You may have been jailed or enslaved yourself as the result of a failed rescue attempt.  Only to escape to the steppes and take up with the Kozaki.  One day when the Free People (what the Kozaki prefer to call themselves) take the fight to Turan, you'll be at the forefront.  In hopes that you'll see your loved one again and take her back home to Brythunia.

Darfari Cannibal

The Darfari are a tribe of the Black Kingdoms with a fearsome reputation.  They worship a Demon known as Yog whose doctrine demands that they consume human flesh at least once a month.  That's right they're cannibals.  They file their teeth to points and use mud to style their hair into the shape of horns.  Giving them an almost demonic appearance.  You'd think with such a reputation as cannibals the peoples of the civilized Kingdoms would give them a wide berth.  You'd be wrong apparently the Stygians often capture Darfari and sell them as slaves.  (Who would ever want to who could potentially kill them and eat them in their sleep?  Search me).  As such Darfari tribesman are often found abroad, even in Turan with its slave markets.  Zamboula is actually a Turanian city where Darfari walk the streets freely.  Practicing their dark rites to Yog with impunity at night.  The idea of a Kozaki band having a Darfari in their midst is just too good to pass up.  Who should you be more afraid of the cannibal?  Or the guys who knowingly ride with one?  Few players would be willing to play a cannibal though, so maybe this particular case is reformed?  Being something like the Hyborian Age answer to Friday?

The Woman Behind the Hetman

The favourite concubine of a particularly
wealthy Kozaki hetman.

Women are rare among the Kozaki and the majority of those among them are wives, concubines, etc.  Of course the rules of membership are that anyone who can ride and fight is welcome among the ranks.  As such female characters aren't an issue, beyond occasionally having to deal with some harassment over their gender.  Every once in a while.  The Hyborian Age isn't exactly the shining beacon of sexual equality.  Three types of women often show up in Conan stories.  Ones that can hold their own in a fight (Belit, Valeria and Red Sonja), femme fatales (Salome, Thalis, Atali) and the damsels in distress.  It's the second of these archetypes that this concept deals with.  A woman of power within the band, perhaps the hetman's wife or his favourite concubine/slave girl.  She's privy to his thoughts and plans, possibly acting discreetly as an advisor.  Such subterfuge is often necessary in order to survive on the steppes.  Many times when a hetman is slain his women and children are abandoned or killed.  To prevent them from seeking vengeance for the slain husband/father.  A hetman's concubine/wife makes a point to keep him in power.  If that proves to be impossible she does whatever she can to get within the good graces of whoever takes her man's place.  Maintaining her position of power within the band by taking her place at the side of the new hetman.  This really would work better as an NPC concept but if a player wants to try playing this concept.  Hey more power to them, the Temptress Class in d20 Conan is a perfect fit for this.

Anyways that just about wraps it up for me.  I had a lot of fun writing this post and I hope you found similar enjoyment in reading it.  Thank you for tolerating my ramblings about various character ideas for Kozaki of the Steppes.  If you enjoyed this post be sure to +1, reshare, follow this blog and discuss in the comments down below.  May you roll many crits and have a nice day.

Campaigns I'll Probably Never Run: Kozaki of the Steppes

"On the broad steppes between the Sea of Vilayet and borders of the easternmost Hyborian kingdoms, a new race had sprung up in the past half-century, formed originally of fleeing criminals, broken men, escaped slaves, and deserting soldiers.  They were men of many crimes and countries, some born on the steppes, some fleeing from kingdoms in the west.  They were called kozak, which means wastrel." - The Hyborian Age by Robert E. Howard

A lot of people don't like the game made by Mongoose.
Which I can respect, but you gotta admit it has some
damn good looking art.

If any of you weren't aware, I am a huge Conan, the Barbarian fan. Hell, my first official D&D character Thogetor Hawklight was a Conan Expy. More in line with the Schwarzenegger Movies from the '80s than the stories by Howard. (At the time I had only seen the films and read the Tower of the Elephant). It has long been one of my ambitions to run a Campaign; set in Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age. Several factors have prevented me from achieving this goal. One is a lack of players willing to play in such a game. Compared to the Tolkien-esque dungeon crawls that people usually think of when you bring up Tabletop Roleplaying. The Swords and Sorcery setting that Conan inhabits is hurting for popularity. Another factor is that I kept wheedling about what system I'd use to run such a game. Should I use the one from Mongoose Publishing? Hack D&D 3.5/Pathfinder for use in the Hyborian setting? Or use the Conan Sourcebook from GURPS? So it seemed that my dream of a Hyborian campaign would be stuck in development hell for an indeterminate amount of time. 

Some of you regular readers have probably noticed that there's been a lot of inactivity on this blog. Despite my promises and best efforts, I've fallen behind on updating. Rather than putting out my usual four posts a month, I've ended up cutting back to two. This has been caused by a decrease in free time and just generally feeling uninspired when I get a chance to sit down in front of my laptop. In short, I've got writer's block and less time than I used to. A deadly combination when you're writing. I do feel obligated to update when I can, though, so this is me trying to make up for the lost time.

The Campaign

The style of game I eventually settled on.  A Kozak game.

When I first envisioned running a Conan campaign, I always figured that it'd be a thieve's game. Explicitly one set in the Zamoran city of Shadizar. A city that Howard had written notes about but never set a story in. The idea of running a game in a town so wicked that its own creator never set a story in it appealed to me. The fact that there was a great supplement written about Shadizar by Mongoose games helped too. I eventually lost interest in it, though. There just seemed to be no real source of conflict to a game about thieves in the most wicked city in the world. It just lacked that something that would've made it distinctly feel like it was set in the Hyborian Age. There're plenty of settings about playing thieves in a corrupt city. Dungeons and Dragons probably have several of them. I needed something more that would make it feel unique to Hyboria. (I was a little disappointed about not playing in a Zamoran city since The Tower of the Elephant is one of my favourite Conan Stories). My thoughts next turned to a campaign about Piracy (Queen of the Black Coast is another favourite), but again, there are several games like that in regular D&D. That's when I remembered another favourite story of mine, A Witch Shall Be Born.

It's unique in terms of Conan stories in that Conan himself is hardly in the story. He's reduced to playing the cavalry that arrives after the threat has been defeated by the other heroes. While he does come late, there was something about the forces he's leading that always intrigued me. He's leading an army of eleven thousand Zaugir raiders. Little more than bandits, yet enough to be seen as a threat to a city-state and the mercenaries occupying it. This idea of such humble forces being a legitimate threat to a government is something that I seized upon. From there, it was just a matter of thinking on how to turn that into a game. 

The Kozaki prefer to strike against Turan, but they aren't averse to turning their sights
 elsewhere.  The border regions of Zamora, Shem, Koth and its subject kingdoms
 of Khauran and Khoraja are often targets of their raids.

Once I had the initial idea, though, it went smoother than I thought it would. The characters would be the leaders of a small band of Kozaki. Nomadic bandits that live on the north-western steppes claimed by the Turanian Empire. They dress and fight like the Hyrkanians/Turanians. Riding atop horses, wielding bows, lances and scimitars. Despite wearing the style of their enemies, they are not of their culture. Some were born on the steppes of Shemite stock with some Hyborian blood thrown in. Others came from as far west as Zingara, as far east as Khitai, as far North as Cimmeria and others still as far south as the lands of the Black Kingdoms.

Some were brought here as slaves, other criminals fleeing crimes in their homelands, and some are just mercenaries/military deserters turned bandit. The Kozaki or the Free People as they prefer to call themselves. Aren't picky about who joins their ranks as long as a man displays skill at arms, horsemanship and hatred of Turan. He is welcome. This willingness to take in anyone is excellent for a GM because his players can play whatever character race their little heart desires. The same goes for character classes/types. Though some roles might have a harder time fitting in than others. The beauty of the setting, though, is that you can create characters that come from many walks of life. Having been soldiers, thieves and pirates well before they were Kozaks. Much like Conan himself. The campaign also offers some opportunity to travel, so the characters won't always be out on the steppes. They could visit the deserts of Shem to do some horse-trading with the Zaugir. Perhaps raid a Shemitish caravan on it's way to Aghrapur on the trip back to their homelands. They could take a journey to Shadizar (I still want to have them at least visit it once) to dispose of their ill-gotten gains. The possibilities are endless.

•  Take up mercenary work as caravan guards with merchants who have lost faith in the Turanian Outriders' ability to protect them from Kozak raids. In true Roman fashion, they hire barbarians to defend themselves from other barbarians.
• Raid Turanian outposts, cities and forts. Maybe even one day actually take one of them as their first step in carving out their own empire. 
• Strike up a clandestine alliance with the rebellious Red Brotherhood of the Vilayet Sea. (An opportunity that occurs to me is to have them meet Valeria as their contact with the Brotherhood. I'm aware she's a member of the other Red Brotherhood, but hey, if Conan can traipse around the continent, why can't she?)
• Ally themselves with other bands of Kozaki in hopes of forming an army to face the Turanians head-on. Perhaps even a band lead by Olgerd Vladislav, the former Kozaki hetman who later leads the Zaugir in A Witch Shall Be Born. 
• Evade capture/slaughter by soldiers/mercenaries hired by the Turanians to stomp out the Kozaki. Perhaps led by Constantius the Desert Falcon. The Kothic Mercenary that crucified Conan in A Witch Shall Born, he makes a great villain for the players to hate. 
• Attend an exchange of hostages at the Turanian Fort Ghori. Exchanging Turanian prisoners for the release of their fellow Kozaki. 

Those are just a sample of the ideas that have been bouncing around in my head. I think the concept holds a lot of promise. Too bad I haven't found the right group to play it with. I played with a guy in High School who always wanted to have a character that led an army. I'm sure he would've salivated over the possibility of leading a band of raiders like the Kozaki. Anyways, I think I've rambled long enough. I hope you enjoyed reading this; hopefully, I'll be able to write more than I have been later this month. If you liked this post, be sure to +1, re-share, follow this blog and share any opinions you have in the comments below. Have a beautiful day and may you roll many crits.

Edit: I've written a sequel to this post, dealing with various character concepts that might appear in a Kozaki band.  You can find it by pressing this link.