Requires the use of the d20 Modern™ Roleplaying Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Modern D20
TITLE
CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Definition of a Mercenary . . . . . . . . 3
Why Mercenaries? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 8: Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Employer Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Pecuniary Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Social Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Chapter 1: History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Mercenary Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 2: Mercenary
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Mercenary Background . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Rank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Medals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Role-Playing Mercenaries . . . . . . . . . . . 25
A Day in the Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chapter 9: Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Schools of Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
New Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Appendix A: Annotated
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Generic Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Modern Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Futuristic Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Chapter 3: Mercenary
Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Creating a Mercenary Company . . . . . 30
Leadership Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Recruiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Headquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Prestige . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Requisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Appendix B: Open Game
License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Appendix C: Sample Contracts . . . . . . . 111
Modern Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Futuristic Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Appendix D: Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Chapter 4: Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Advanced Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Chapter 5: Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter 6: Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Existing Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chapter 7: Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Morale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
The Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
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Modern D20
Introduction
INTRODUCTION
Mercenary. The term brings with a host of
images. Soldier of fortune. Adventurer. Hired
killer. The mercenary is all of these things
and more.
This book provides rules for including
mercenaries in a modern d20 role-playing
game. It covers the Modern and Futuristic eras.
The Modern era covers the Roaring Twenties,
World Wars I and II, Viet Nam, and conflicts in
South Africa, ranging from 1600 AD to 1990
AD. The Futuristic era covers our current age,
1990 AD and beyond. Why call our modern
times futuristic? Because this is the rise of the
mercenary company as an international, efficient, and profitable organization.
Each era can be used in different settings.
Modern campaigns can take place in a variety
of settings, such as the pulp 40s, the Wild
West, tactical combat in sweltering hot spots of
the world, or even the final solution to out of
control super villains. Futuristic campaigns
can involve aliens, espionage, post-apocalyptic, or the new age of secret warfare against
cyber-terrorism.
• Îs not a member of the armed forces of a
party to the conflict.
• Has not been sent by a state that is not a
Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.
By 1989, proposals were made to expand
upon just what constituted a mercenary. The
proposal gave a much more precise definition.
A mercenary is any person who:
• Is specially recruited locally or abroad in
order to fight in an armed conflict.
• Is motivated to take part in the hostilities
essentially by the desire for private gain and, in
fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to
the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to
combatants of similar rank and functions in the
armed forces of that party.
• Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a
party to the conflict.
• Is not a member of the armed forces of a
party to the conflict.
• Has not been sent by a State that is not a
party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.
• Is specially recruited locally or abroad for
the purpose of participating in a concerted act
of violence aimed at: Overthrowing a
Government or otherwise undermining the
constitutional order of a State; or Undermining
the territorial integrity of a State.
• Is motivated to take part therein essentially by the desire for significant private gain
and is prompted by the promise or payment of
material compensation.
• Is neither a national nor a resident of the
State against which such an act is directed.
• Has not been sent by a State on official duty.
• Is not a member of the armed forces of the
State on whose territory the act is undertaken.
The Definition
of a Mercenary
The established definition of a mercenary
in international law is set out in Additional
Protocol 1 to Article 47 of the Geneva
Convention (1949). A mercenary:
• Is specially recruited locally or abroad in
order to fight in an armed conflict.
• Takes part in the hostilities.
• Is motivated to take part in the hostilities
essentially by the desire for private gain.
• Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of a territory controlled by
a party to the conflict.
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Modern D20
Introduction
For our purposes, the definition of a mercenary will not be as clearly defined. Instead, mercenaries are defined as combatants who fight in
return for some form of compensation in service
to a country that is not their native homeland.
In other words, mercenaries are combatants that fight for money in foreign lands.
Mercenaries are not likely to be bribed, as dictators are usually the richest in their country.
Ultimately, mercenaries get involved when a
battle of ideologies takes place; fanatics will
do whatever it takes to destroy the person who
stands in their way, and that person is usually a
mercenary. Not every mercenary wants such a
lucrative, but ultimately very dangerous contract.
Finally, there’s raw military might. When
citizens don’t want to go to war, mercenaries
do it for them. When rich citizens don’t want
to go to war, many mercenaries do it for them.
This is a double-edged sword of course; the
more mercenaries there are, the more difficult
it is to disband them when their task is completed. And yet, mercenaries a fast way that
wealthy countries can supplement their military in times of need.
From a storytelling perspective, the basic
nature of mercenaries lends itself to adventure.
In fact, many mercenary companies are
referred to as adventuring companies for precisely this reason. Mercenaries make for a very
exciting adventuring life, and here’s why:
1. Mercenaries are eclectic. While there
are certainly mercenaries from a particular
place of origin, the very nature of mercenary
Why Mercenaries?
There are a variety of reasons to use mercenaries. For some, a show of physical might
is necessary to intimidate one’s enemies. Use
of mercenaries shows both political and fiscal
power. The mercenaries may not even have to
fight; their mere presence is an indication of
the power of their employer. Indeed, the mercenary makes a rich man a dangerous man.
Conversely, mercenaries might be hired
not to intimidate but to protect their employers. Dictatorships and iron-fisted regimes are
notorious for hiring mercenaries, who are,
sadly, the only ones they can trust.
Mercenaries are neutral, without political affiliation. When a dictator hires a mercenary, he
can be sure that as long as the money keeps
coming, the mercenary will remain loyal.
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Modern D20
Introduction
companies encourages diversity. People join
for their love of money, not their creed, religion, or belief system. Mercenaries tend to
contain a colorful group of characters from
all walks of life, regardless of station, race,
or homeland.
2. Mercenaries are not bound by someone else’s code. That is, mercenaries certainly
can follow their own code, but it won’t be one
imposed upon them by external government or
religious forces. In fact, it is very difficult for
mercenaries to find work if they stick to a rigid
code of standards that precludes taking particular jobs.
3. Mercenaries profit from politics, but
they are not directly involved in politics.
That is, nations go to war; the mercenary just
executes. The mercenary might even fight on
both sides, given the opportunity.
4. Mercenaries are loyal to each other.
While they certainly are in it for the money, a
group that cannot trust each other is not an
effective fighting group. Individual mercenaries
are rare and short-lived. Strength and numbers
increases a mercenary’s chances of survival.
5. Mercenaries kill for money. This is
usually the first thing other, more civilized
peoples think of when they think of mercenaries. The reality is that money is the primary
motivating factor that gets a mercenary
involved … but it is hardly the only thing.
Money doesn’t always come from a contract
either. It often involves looting corpses of the
defeated, or even allies of another group. A
picky mercenary is a poor mercenary.
6. Mercenaries get the job done.
Incompetent mercenaries die a bloody death.
Therefore, capable, charismatic leaders lead
successful mercenary companies. They are
usually more cultivated than their detractors
give them credit. A sophisticated mercenary
speaks several languages and knows the customs of the lands he’s in.
There are downsides, however.
1. Mercenaries fight for money.
Mercenaries aren’t in it for a cause. They’re in
it because it pays. And it better pay well, or …
2. Mercenaries might renegotiate their
pay. When the going gets tough, the tough
renegotiate. After all, if a mercenary company
is suffering heavy losses, recruiting more men,
arms, and equipment will cost money.
3. Mercenaries switch sides. With no real
cause to guide them, mercenaries do what they
want, when they want. Sometimes, it may be
more profitable to betray their current employer. Although this is rare, it’s certainly possible.
4. Mercenaries are selfish. They are not
interested in keeping their employer alive,
unless they were paid to do precisely that.
Therefore, mercenaries are the first in when
money’s to be had, and the first out when
things get bad. Mercenaries want to live to
enjoy their pay and are not willing to make
needless (albeit possibly heroic) sacrifices on
behalf of their employer.
Chances are, mercenaries have been
encountered in an adventuring campaign in one
form or another. Every time a bunch of guys get
together to go fight for adventure, glory, and
most of all money, they’re acting in an age-old
tradition. The tradition of the mercenary.
A WORD ABOUT
AUTHENTICITY
Although The Modern: Mercenary
Manual follows the history of mercenaries
throughout time and even into the future, it
is by no means a substitute for actual history books. When convenient, various
aspects of history have been tweaked.
Similarly, the exploits of modern-day
mercenaries have inspired tales of swashbuckling and daring as well as violence
and brutality. Some of those mercenaries
are still alive today. It is out of respect for
these men that this book only mentions
them directly in the timeline. All other
characters are fictionalized.
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