Orcs in the Webbe

Racial Types

Before going any further you should decide which fantasy race you wish to play. There are ten races available to play in Dresda, those inhabitants of Valon that band together in (at least some semblance of) a military formation, ranging from solid Dwarves to the embattled remnants of Humanity, from the noble Elves to the brutish and vicious Orcs.

The following fantasy races are available to play in Dresda:

Dwarves
Elves
Goblin
Halflings
Hobgoblins
Humans
Ogres
Orcs
Ratmen
Goblin-weres (a.k.a. "Dogsoldiers")

You may not raise a mixed race unit without the agreement of the GM.

Unit Type

Importantly, you must also decide on what type of unit you wish to raise. There are many differing types of unit, ranging from stout, dependable 'Regular' troops, self-motivated money-grabbing 'Mercenary' groups to unpredictable but glory-seeking ‘Warbands’. However, due to innate temperament or abilities some races may not field certain types of unit, e.g. Goblins are not suited to being Regular troops in a standing army.

Racial Profession Table

To see what military professions members of your chosen race may follow, consult the table above. The benefits (and disadvantages) of each Race and Profession will become apparent during your battles. Once you have decided which troop type you would like to play, you will want to raise your unit, and to do that you need determination, initiative and... money!

Raising Finance

To enable you to raise a force, you need money!

The standard currency in Valon is the ‘Groat’. Exactly how many Groats you have at your disposal depends both on your unit's race and the subtle dictates of Fate (as represented by a die-roll). Roll one d10 and consult the following table:

Initial Groat Table

Cross-reference your units' racial type with the result of your D10 die-roll to discover your initial starting allowance. This is how many Groats you start the game with, both to raise and equip your chosen unit. Write this amount down in the box under Starting Finance on the Finance Roster.

For the purposes of example, throughout the rules we will follow the fortunes of a Unit of Goblin Mercenaries under the command of the legendary Gorbage the Goblin - the infamous 'Blue Oyster Mercenaries '. So, having already decided to raise a unit of Goblin Mercenaries, Gorbage rolls a D10 and scores a good '8', giving him a reasonable 600 Groats to spend. This is noted on the Finance Roster, shown below:

Raising Your Unit

Firstly of course, you will need to recruit a group of fighters to form your Unit, and the only way you can do this is by paying them. Different races and the various types of fighter have different views of their worth, and this is reflected in the able below.

In addition to this initial cost you will also need to pay your troops wages, so after each battle has been fought you will need to ensure that you can pay them, otherwise they may not stay around to fight in the next one for you! (see Maintaining Your Unit).

Once you have your basic troops you will need to equip them with arms, amour and (optionally) mounts. Obviously you will need to put a good deal of thought into how you are going to spread your Groats about, and understandably you may wish to recruit as many high quality troops with the best equipment your money can buy (unless you have other ideas, of course). Therefore you'll need to consider all of the advantages and disadvantages of spending your money in different ways before making your final decision and entering the field of battle.

A final (and vitally important) consideration is that you will also need to maintain your unit, and even if your first battle is a complete disaster and you fail to raise any more Groats (see Raising Further Finance), you will still need to pay your troops before the next action, unless they are to become 'one-game wonders'. Therefore, when raising your unit of highly trained combat-ready elite veterans you should also take into account their correspondingly high maintenance costs. The moral of this point? Don't spend 100% of your Groats raising and equipping your unit!

Initial Troop Cost Table

Costs are for Raw (R) / Average (A) / Experienced (E) / Veteran (V) troops.

A unit raised for the first time can only include a maximum of 40% Average or Experienced troops, 20% Experienced troops and no Veteran troops.

This includes the leader of the unit (i.e. 'you'), who must also be paid for (and equipped, see below).

Returning to our example, Gorbage decides to splash out and hire seven Goblins: four Raw fighters, two Average and one Experienced (himself).

This costs him a total of 228 Groats (4x19 for the Raw, 2x38 for the Average and 1x36 for the Experienced)

Purchasing Weapons and Equipment

Of course, once you have paid for your fighters you will also need to equip and provide for them. You need only purchase equipment for your troops once, unless replacements are needed following loss in a battle, or you wish to buy better equipment for your unit as your finances grow.

Weapons and Equipment Costs

Once you have worked out how much your Unit costs, write this figure down in the Initial Costs box on the Finance Roster, and then calculate and complete the Balance box.

Returning again to our example, Gorbage decides to keep things relatively simple and purchases all his lads a suit of Chainmail and a Shield as well as either a Sword, a Hand Axe or a Mace.

Each of these items costs 10 Groats, so as there is a total of twenty-one items of equipment in total, Gorbage is forced to splash out a further 210 Groats on his lads. Adding this to his cost of hiring his mercenaries in the first place, Garbage’s initial costs reach 438 Groats. We written this on the finance roster, showing the expenditure figure by placing ( ) around it.

This leaves him with a balance of 162 Groats, not unreasonable, but also not enough to maintain his unit without winning some extra finance. Confident lad, our Gorbage...

And that's it. Your unit has been created, now it's time to fill in all the details of your unit on the unit roster which is detailed in the next section.

Webmaster's Notes

The above rules were first printed in the original Dresda rulebook in 1996 and they are included here with the kind permission of the authors.