As players wander across the hexes of Irongaurd, they may very well come across a merchant caravan, which could mean either lots of immediate dice-rolling, lots of ill-formed improv, or both.
Or I can use a premade caravan.
Notes on a caravan modeled after the ones found in the AD&D The Rogues Gallery.
Total Size: this includes all members, also leaders and followers. All caravans are human, but this does not necessarily mean that a caravan cannot have demi-humans or be made up of only demi-humans. It will be up to the DM to decide. For simplicity, we are giving human caravans only. (Remember that the default AD&D world was humanocentric).
Master Merchant: this is the organizer or appointed spokesman of the merchants. His level is indicated in the parenthesis after his title. His alignment will be neutral, or one suited to the campaign.
# of Merchants: These are the merchants under the Master Merchant. They may be associates, underlings, etc. Their alignment will follow the guidelines for Master Merchant. They will have 1-6 hit points.
# of Drovers: Drovers will have from 2-7 hit points.
# of Wagons/Mules: This is dependent on the campaign and the terrain. Other possibilities include camels, elephants, etc.
Mercenary Leaders: Level and class are indicated, followed by any magic items possessed (the capital letters).
Mercenary Guards: There are 7 different types of units, composed as follows:
Unit 1 - heavy warhorse, plate mail and shield, lance, sword (all first level fighters)
Unit 2 - medium warhorse, chain mail & shield, lance, sword
Unit 3 - medium warhorse, chain mail & shield, flail, mace
Unit 4 - light horse, scale mail, light crossbow, sword
Unit 5 - chain mail, pole arm, mace
Unit 6 - chain mail, heavy crossbow, mace
Unit 7 - ring mail & shield, spear, morning star
Adventurer Followers: These are non-merchants travelling with the caravan. Those characters below the highest level of the same class will serve as his or her followers. Magic items are indicated in the same manner as with leaders.
All caravans will have a pay chest containing 2,000-4,000 gold pieces, 100-400 platinum pieces, and 4-16 base 100 gold piece gems. Merchants will usually have types J, K, L, M, N, and Q treasures. Mercenaries will have type K treasure. Leaders will have type M treasure.
Looking at the samples provided in the Rogues Gallery, each caravan has at least 100 guards of the various sorts. This speaks volumes about the dangers of traveling with wealth in the book-standard AD&D world. It also does a fine job of keeping murderous PCs in line; in 5e, the action economy would assuredly NOT be in the favor of the party.
Speaking of 5e, there would need to be conversion, using mostly the Sidekick rules. Merchants and drovers being Experts, mercenaries being Warriors, and leveled folks (those with predecided names) using appropriate PC classes. Alternatively, I can use the stats from the Monster Manual for Veterans and Guards and such.
Despite all the numbers, there are no rules in the Rogues Gallery for actually rolling up the various components of a caravan. For this information, we need the entry in the AD&D Monster Manual, under Men, Merchant (pg 69). A highlight:
Only 10% of any band of merchants will actually be tradesmen. 10% will be drovers. The balance (80%) will be mercenary guards.
The guards will be led by a fighter of 6th-11th level, with a lieutenant 1 level lower (5th-10th). These leaders will have 12 guards of 2nd level.
For every 50 persons in the merchant caravan, there is a 10% chance for a magic-user of 6th-8th level. There is a 5% chance per 50 for a cleric of 5th-7th level. There is a 15% chance per 50 that there will be a thief of 8th-10th level with 1-4 lesser thieves (roll for the level of each, 3rd-7th).
All the leaders, guards, and special characters are in addition to the numbers indicated by the dice.
It then breaks down the seven unit types by percentage of the 50-300 people that make up randomly encountered merchant caravans.
While there are no tables provided to determine the actual trade goods, the Merchant entry closes by telling us that each caravan carries 10,000-60,000gp worth of merchandise, broken down to 10 pack animals or 1 wagon for each 5,000gp worth of goods. This is in addition to the assorted pocket change of the individuals (treasure types J, K, L, M, N, Q).
The same entry for Men in the Monster Manual provides the odds of leveled people having magic items, as well as which type - 5% chance per level, so a 6th level fighter (or cleric or magic-user) has a 30% chance of having one or more magic items.
That's a lot of math. Let's roll some dice.
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50-300 is 1d6 x 50 = 5, so 250 base members.
10% of 250 is 25, so 25 merchants and 25 drovers. That leaves 200 guards. The suggested percentages are based on the remaining guards, not the full number.
Type 1 - 10% or 20 heavy warhorse, plate mail and shield, lance, sword (all first level fighters)
Type 2 - 20% or 40 medium warhorse, chain mail & shield, lance, sword
Type 3 - 10% or 20 medium warhorse, chain mail & shield, flail, mace
Type 4 - 10% or 20 light horse, scale mail, light crossbow, sword
Type 5 - 10% or 20 chain mail, pole arm, mace
Type 6 - 10% or 20 chain mail, heavy crossbow, mace
Type 7 - 30% or 60 ring mail & shield, spear, morning star (two pole arms doesn't make sense, unless 'morning star' here is actually a flail of some sort).
The Guard Captain is a level 6-11 fighter, so 1d6 + 5 = I rolled 6, so the Guard Captain is a salty veteran of 11th level. The Guard Lieutenant is a one-level lower fighter, so 10th level. In addition are the 12 2nd level fighters as personal guards.
A pet magic-user is possible, at 10% per 50 people, so 50%. These merchants have one, of 6th-8th level. 8th level (figure a d6, 1-2 is 6th, 3-4 is 7th, and 5-6 is 8th. I rolled a 5). Clerics are less likely, at 5% per 50 people, so 25% here. No cleric. Thieves? 15% per 50, so 75%. Of course, there is a thief, of 8th-10th level. 9th level, using the same methodology as for the magic-user. By the book, thieves have lesser thieves as escorts, 2 in this case, levels 5 and 6.
100 mounted troops. That's a lot of horses. Plus, the merchants are all mounted (on swift horses), as are the leader sorts and adventurers. 25 merchants + 14 guard leaders + 1 wizard + 3 thieves, for 43 additional horses. We'll call it 150 for seven spares. Then there is the livestock pulling the wagons (oxen make sense, frankly - history suggests six oxen to a team). Before we can decide how many wagons are in the caravan, we need to determine the value of the caravan's cargo. 1d6 x 10,000 = 20,000gp of cargo, so a whopping four wagons of cargo. That makes 24 oxen.
200 guards for four wagons strains belief. I can't help but wonder how many additional wagons would contain food, water, spare parts and gear, and fuel enough to get this party of 268 people, 150 horses, and 24 oxen between point A and B. Something to make it worth someone or something's while to attack the convoy.
I'll dip into history (in a separate post) to determine how much food and water (and how many chuck wagons!) is needed for a caravan this size, which will expand the number of wagons, oxen, and drovers. But first, I want to have some fun.
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Let's consider the possible magic items among this lot. Bold-faced type is what the dice say they have.
Guard Captain - 55% armor, shield, sword, miscellaneous weapon, potion
Guard Lieutenant - 50% armor, shield, sword, miscellaneous weapon, potion
Each of the 12 guards - 10% armor x1, shield x2, sword x2, miscellaneous weapon x2, potion
Each of the 20 heavy horsemen - 5% armor, shield, sword, miscellaneous weapon, potion
Magic-User - 40% scroll, ring, rod/staff/wand, miscellaneous magic (plus spellbook!)
Lead Thief - 45% shield, sword, miscellaneous weapon, potion, scroll, ring, miscellaneous magic
Minion Thief 1 - 30% shield, sword, miscellaneous weapon, potion, scroll, ring, miscellaneous magic
Minion Thief 2 - 25% shield, sword, miscellaneous weapon, potion, scroll, ring, miscellaneous magic
How do these odds compare to possible magic items among NPCs in the AD&D DMG appendices? Specifically Appendix C (Random Monster Encounters) and Appendix P (Creating a Party on the Spur of the Moment).
Appendix C has slightly better odds, but fewer rolls AND item options are limited. For example, those 12 2nd level fighters would each get a 20% chance for 2 items off table 1, so at best someone ends up with several potions or a +1 item.
Appendix P involves lots of math. Using those same 2nd level fighters, each has a 20% for a magic shield, 12% for magic plate (but 20% for magic chain - choose wisely), 12% for a scroll of protection, 16% for 1 potion, then pick a single weapon type and have a 2% through 20% chance of having a magical one.
Just eyeballing things (I have an English degree for a reason), it appears that the version offered up in the Monster Manual provides the best odds of items being found. So I rolled and bolded the individuals' items and have totals for the guards.
Magic Item Specifics (random dice rolls for what items):
6 magic swords - sword +1, +4 vs reptiles; sword +1, +3 vs regenerating creatures; sword +1, +3 vs lycanthropes and shapechangers; sword +2; sword of wounding; sword +1
4 magic shields - shield +2; shield, large +1, +4 vs missiles; shield +4; shield +2
3 magic armor - Splint Mail +2, Scale Mail +1, Plate Mail +1
3 miscellaneous weapons - Javelin +2, Trident (Military Fork) +3, 8x Arrow +2 2-16
2 potions - Gaseous Form, Dragon Control (good dragons)
1 ring - Elemental Command (earth)
1 miscellaneous magic item - Cube of Force
Overall, there are some sweet items that PCs might envy, but are unlikely to end up with, barring an army of their own to take them, although those shields make using the 'All Shields Shall Be Splintered' houserule more difficult.
Personally, I'm a fan of enchanted swords having names, histories, and quirks, so I will need to have these ready.
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The only thing left to determine is the merchant's pay chest contents: 2,000gp, 100pp, and 12 100gp base gems (100, 90, 70, 100, 100, 100, 140, 100, 1 (costume jewelry), 160, 100, 100). Terrible rolls for the gems.
Based on the DMG, pages 28-29, paying for all those guards and adventurer sorts (perhaps the Captain and Lieutenant officer the guards as a complete mercenary company) comes to roughly 2,732 gp per month - with the two high level officers eating up 2,100 of that cost. This doesn't even factor in the Wizard or Thieves (we'll presume they are merely traveling for safety in numbers to make it an even zero cost to the merchants).
Payday is gonna be entertaining if this caravan takes longer than 30 days. I guess retail doesn't pay even in fantasy land!
I made use of the Merchants of the Silk Road tables in Secret Santicore 2011 to determine the cargo and a few of the merchants themselves. The cargo is 5,000 gp in furs, 5,000gp in rugs, 5,000gp in glassware (bound for a potent wizard who will be annoyed if it tampered with), and 5,000gp in silks. In addition, the silk wagon contains the caravan paychest and a special cargo in its own chest.
That special cargo is also bound for the wizard expecting the glassware. Rest assured that this wizard will be even more annoyed if this special cargo goes astray. I have yet to decide that special cargo, but rest assured, it is magical or at least arcane in nature.
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This post is already quite long, so I'll end it and continue in a second, and maybe third, post.
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