D&D 5E A "Ronin Legion" Hobgoblin-based Mercenary Company

[Kobold Avenger]

So I'm trying to think of ideas for a special Mercenary Company that has it's origins from a Quasi-religious Hobgoblin order. If Hobgoblins sort of fit into the idea of "Roman Samurai" then this company would be "Ronin Legionnaires".

The overall alignment of the company is Neutral, they've been a legion without a nation for generations. Perhaps they're from a fallen nation, or they are simply no longer welcome from where they came from. In some ways they could be based on the 9th Legion. They've been involved in a variety of causes both righteous and nefarious. Despite being a mercenary company today, they didn't start out as one. Much like how the Sicilian Mafia was once something else before becoming an organized crime syndicate.

While their origins are as a Hobgoblin Legion, they've accepted many non-Hobgoblins into their ranks. The current makeup of the legion is 30-40% Hobgoblin, 20-30% Human, 10% Bugbear and the rest being a mixture of many other races including Dwarves, Goblins, Orcs, Elves, Centaurs, Goliaths and others. But most of the commanding positions in the mercenary legion are Hobgoblins. Legionnaire soldiers make up the majority of the company, but they have many auxiliaries including healers, engineers and mages.

At the top of the Mercenary Company is a council known as the Circle of the Praetors. Each seat in the Circle of the Praetors is occupied by a Praetor Paladin of a different Oath. There's Praetors of Devotion, Vengeance, The Ancients, Conquest (occupied by the one Human in the circle), Redemption, Glory, The Watchers and more. With other seats being potentially home-brewed or 3rd party publisher Paladin Oaths. The Praetors guide the legion in different directions based on their oaths, though for important decisions the Circle of Praetors need to reach a consensus.

 

[HammerMan]

Oh boy... this thread is like ATN:Hammerman!!!

so in my homebrew world I have used off an on for years I have a mix of jedi/roman/fedual Japan Hobgoblins (HHH) the Holy Hobgoblin Hegemony has it's own "lost legion" and they are pretty cool. and my HHH is actually like 70% Hobgob(including that Dragonborn are half dragon half ____ in my world), so let me tell you about how I did it.

My Exiled Forces have left my empire and have 2 Daerrens Instant fortresses and a few casters that can put up Tiny Huts as rituals, and they travel around and keep mostly away from large cities (there are about 50 of them now but they started at 117). They are mercanaries but with there own code. They wont work against the Hegmony, and they wont work with Necromancers. However they often 'conscript' kobolds and goblins they can push around and you often have camp followers that include small races like that.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

At the top of the Mercenary Company is a council known as the Circle of the Praetors. Each seat in the Circle of the Praetors is occupied by a Praetor Paladin of a different Oath. There's Praetors of Devotion, Vengeance, The Ancients, Conquest (occupied by the one Human in the circle), Redemption, Glory, The Watchers and more. With other seats being potentially home-brewed or 3rd party publisher Paladin Oaths. The Praetors guide the legion in different directions based on their oaths, though for important decisions the Circle of Praetors need to reach a consensus.

I kind of like this but it feels like it would very hard to square a bunch of Paladin oaths with being a mercenary company and that so many different oaths would lead to constant conflicts in terms of what they were doing next, which the only solution to would be for people to leave, because you can't just shrug and say "outvoted!" about your oath.

 

[Mind of tempest]

broad strokes cool idea go for it.

 

[Krachek]

I kind of like this but it feels like it would very hard to square a bunch of Paladin oaths with being a mercenary company and that so many different oaths would lead to constant conflicts in terms of what they were doing next, which the only solution to would be for people to leave, because you can't just shrug and say "outvoted!" about your oath.

Might be better to keep each company under a single oath. Which push the conflict between company. But I reRead the OP and it’s not clear what is the company vs the legion vs the council.

 

[Unwise]

because you can't just shrug and say "outvoted!" about your oath.

This reminds me of a funny character IMC. He was a paladin of the goddess of civilization, but more specifically he was from the Church of Democracy. He saw democracy as the way forward to solve all of the worlds ills. He was a rebel freedom-fighter and also a bit of a communist, "power to the people" and all that.

It was funny, as the party would often take votes to do things that were against his interests or beliefs, but his overarching belief is that the "will of the people must be obeyed" so he tended to react with a simple "damn! outvoted!" when it came to working for kings he did not agree with etc.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

This reminds me of a funny character IMC. He was a paladin of the goddess of civilization, but more specifically he was from the Church of Democracy. He saw democracy as the way forward to solve all of the worlds ills. He was a rebel freedom-fighter and also a bit of a communist, "power to the people" and all that.

It was funny, as the party would often take votes to do things that were against his interests or beliefs, but his overarching belief is that the "will of the people must be obeyed" so he tended to react with a simple "damn! outvoted!" when it came to working for kings he did not agree with etc.

I unironically love this. If I was playing a Champion in Arcana Unearthed I might well play something like that.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Might be better to keep each company under a single oath. Which push the conflict between company. But I reRead the OP and it’s not clear what is the company vs the legion vs the council.

Some more thoughts on how they're structured, overall they're a legion. They are commanded by a council who are all Paladins which I guess might be better to name the Praetorian Circle of the Oaths, who I guess are sort of really between Legates and Centurions (if we're using Roman ranks).

From the Praetorian Circle, each Praetorian Paladin has a Cohort which roughly represents an Oath. Then there are Centurions who are commanders in each Cohort though are not mostly Paladins. It's a "Lost Legion", but they aren't as rigidly structured as an actual legion, and the Cohorts don't have exactly 480 soldiers, but they all number in the 100s.

The Praetorian Circle and their Cohorts may have conflicts with each other, but they do generally act within an oath. Redemption might be composed of more healers such with more Clerics, Bards (might be a traditionally feminine profession in Hobgoblin society, though nothing is stopping a male Hobgoblin from being one) and Druids, while Glory is likely to have more Barbarians or Watchers having more Wizards and Rangers.

 

[Krachek]

I like the idea, nice setup for a pool of PCs and Npc, and adventures.

 

[Ancalagon]

But why are they ronin? They are all serving a lord - their lord is a mercenary captain, but those often had ways of becoming real lords