Hirelings & Transportation

Hirelings

Pack Handlers

• Cost: 1 GP per week
• These men are trained at loading, unloading, and handling horses, mules, and donkey.

Porters

• Cost: 7 SP per week (0.7 GP)
• These men are unskilled labor with no appreciable skill other than a strong back.

Teamsters

• Cost: 5 GP per week
• These men are skilled at handling draft animals and with the operation of carts and wagons.

Non-fighter (Peasant)

• Cost: 1 GP per week
• Non-fighter (Peasant): AC 9 (no armor) and clubs. These are basically a mix of thugs, toughs, and dispossesed agricultural laborers who can provide basic security. They will be more amenable to performing menial labor than more professional troops. They have Morale 6. These "troops" fight as Normal Men with 1d4 hp.

Light Foot

• Cost: 2 GP per week
• Light Foot: AC 5 (Round (Medium) Shield and either Padded Tunic or Leather Armor) and spathae. These are a mix of wandering barbarians and discharged or deserter frontier troops. If the former, they are more likely to seek glory in combat. If the latter, they are more accustomed to boring frontier duty and more likely to have basic construction skills. They have Morale 7 and fight as Normal Men with exactly 1d3+1 hp.

Heavy Foot

• Cost: 5 GP per week
• Heavy Foot: AC 3 (Chain and Round (Medium) Shield) and spathae. Most of these troops are barbarians from beyond the frontier who are outlaws, outcasts, or the former men of fallen lords. Others are barbarians returning home from years (generally decades) of service in the Legions or former legionaries of Imperial extraction. These latter troops are more disciplined but also more likely to agitate for higher pay as time progresses. All have Morale 8 and fight as veterans.

Foot Archer

• Cost: 5 GP per week
• Foot Archer: AC 7 (Padded Tunic or Leather) plus shortbows and spathae. These troops are either barbarian hunters seeking mercenary work or are discharged (or deserting) men who served with the Imperial frontier troops. They are hardy men but not exceptionally well-suited to hand-to-hand fighting. All have Morale 6 and fight as Normal Men. For every nine Foot Archers hired, the tenth will fight as a Veteran and represents either an exceptionally skilled archer or one who has seen more professional service.

Light Cavalry

• Cost: 10 GP per week
• Light Cavalry: AC 3 (Scale Armor + Round (Medium) Shield) plus lances and spathae. Whether or not they have seen service in the legions, mercenaries of this type are generally of barbarian extraction. These men are accustomed to serving as light cavalry whose primary duties consisted of scouting, screening, skirmishing, foraging, maintaining pursuit on fleeing enemies, or attacking formations in the flanks or rear. They are accustomed to using riding horses due to their speed and thus do not gain a damage bonus with lance attacks. These men are also accustomed to doing without armor when stealth missions dictate this change in accoutrement. All have Morale 9; 75% fight as veterans and 25% fight as Normal Men with 1d2+2 hp. This is determined randomly on a per-man basis.

Mounted Bowman

• Cost: 15 GP per week

• Mounted Bowmen, Western Provinces: AC 5 (Scale Armor) plus shortbow, quiver, and spatha. These troops are veterans of the legions, generally men of Imperial or local barbarian extraction, who have been trained to fight in a style imitating the horse-archers of the east. They are accustomed to using riding horses and they use local bows; these weapons are not as powerful as the bows of the east, but are better suited for the often damp weather of the western provinces. These men have scale armor and spathae, but are not used to close-quarters combat. During their terms of service they were generally used for skirmishing purposes or deployed in an ancillary fashion along the flanks of the army. They prefer to stay mobile and fire arrows at their enemies rather than close and fight with their spathae. All have Morale 8; 75% fight as veterans and 25% fight as Normal Men with 1d3+1 hp. This is determined randomly on a per-man basis.

Transportation

Mule

• AC: 7
• Hit Dice: 2
• Move: 120' (40')
• Attacks: 1 kick or 1 bite
• Damage: 1-4 or 1-3
• No. Appearing: 1-8 (2-12)
• Save As: Normal Man
• Treasure Type: Nil
• Alignment: Neutral

"A mule is a crossbreed between a horse and a donkey. Mules are stubborn, and if bothered or excited they may either bite or kick. If the DM permits it, mules can be taken into dungeons [I certainly permit this. ---JS]. A mule can carry a normal load of 2000 coins (or 4000 coins at most, with its move reduced to 60'/turn). Mules cannot be trained to attack, but will fight in their own defense. (Moldvay, B39)."

Note: Astute observers will noticed that in the wilderness, mules are encountered in groups of 2-12. In the dungeon, they are encountered in groups of 1-8. Yes, this does mean that your characters can be exploring a dungeon and find 8 mules wandering around, presumably the sole survivors of a previous adventuring party.

Riding Horse

• Armor Class: 7
• Hit Dice: 2
• Move: 240' (80')
• Attacks: 2 hooves
• Damage: 1-4/1-4
• No. Appearing: 0 (10-100)
• Save As: Fighter: 1
• Morale: 7
• Treasure: Nil
• Alignment: Neutral

"This type of horse is smaller than a draft horse or a war horse but is capable of carrying a rider for a greater distance. A riding horse is noted for its ability to exist anywhere there is grass to feed on. Any wild horse can become a riding horse, if tamed. The amount of weight the horse can carry and still move at normal speed is 3000 cn. The maximum weight that can be carried is 6000 cn at half movement. (Cook/Marsh, X34)"

Another advantage of a riding horse is that has the "ability to exist anywhere there is grass to feed on"; in other words it doesn't need specialized feed (grain, oats, etc.) in its diet (X34).

War Horse

• AC: 7
• Hit Dice: 3
• Move: 120' (40')
• Attacks: 2 hooves
• Damage: 1-6/1-6
• No. Appearing: 0 (domestic only)
• Save As: Fighter: 2
• Morale: 9
• Treasure: Nil
• Alignment: Neutral

"This type of horse is bred for its warlike temperament and strength. It cannot be ridden long distances at high speed, but is powerful in a short charge. A war horse can carry 4000 cn at full speed and 8000 cn at half speed. When charging, a rider employing a lance will do double damage (if a hit is successful) [NB: This is nerfed to 1.5x damage in my campaign since no one has stirrups---JS], although the horse may not fight at the same time. After the first (charging) round, both rider and horse can fight normally. (X34)"

The Expert Set states that "[a warhorse] cannot be ridden long distances at high speed, but is powerful in a short charge. (X34)"

Also, remember that the warhorse can move at 120' when carrying 4000 cn, which is over twice as much as a human moving at 30' can carry, so in practice a warhorse is generally faster than an adventurer.

Remember also that "[w]hen charging, a rider [of a warhorse] employing a lance will do double damage (if a hit is successful), although the horse may not fight at the same time. After the first (charging) round, both rider and horse may fight normally. (X34)."

Lance + warhorse damage is nerfed to 150% of normal in my campaign due to the fact that nobody has stirrups, but otherwise lance + warhorse functions the same.

Draft Horse

• Armor Class: 7
• Hit Dice: 3
• Move: 90' (30')
• Attacks: Nil
• Damage: Nil
• No. Appearing: 0 (domestic only)
• Save As: Fighter: 2
• Morale: 6
• Treasure: Nil
• Alignment: Neutral

"This is a large horse bred for its sturdiness and endurance. It is used primarily for plowing, pulling wagons and as a pack animal. A draft horse can carry a normal load of 4500 cn and a maximum load (movement reduced by 1/2) of 9000 cn. A draft horse will not fight; if attacked, it will attempt to flee. (X34).

Camel

• Armor Class: 7
• Hit Dice: 2
• Move: 150' (50')
• Attacks: 1 bite/ 1 hoof
• Damage: 1/1-4
• No. Appearing: 0 (2-8)
• Save As: Fighter: 1
• Morale: 7
• Treasure Type: Nil
• Alignment: Neutral

"Camels are ill-tempered beasts, prone to biting and kicking any creature that gets in their way, including their masters. They often kick with one leg. They are used as pack and ridding animals in deserts and barren lands, treating these as clear terrain. A camel may carry up to 3000 coins of weight and still move at normal speed, but the maximum load that can be carried is 6000 coins [at half speed, obviously---JS]. A well-watered camel may travel for 2 weeks without drinking. Charge attacks with a lance from camelback are not possible. (Cook/Marsh, X28)"

Camels (which have a minimal (at best) presence in this province) have a 150' move and a morale of 7. They can carry up to 3000 cn at full speed and 6000 cn at half-speed. For purposes of wilderness movement, they treat deserts and barren lands as clear terrain, which removes the move reduction to 2/3 in those forms of terrain. Well-watered camels can go 2 weeks without drinking; lance attacks from camelback are explicitly forbidden on page X28.