An army country

[kanithardm]

I was thinking of creating a major civilization that began as a small city-state. It rose to power from its unique culture and society. When any able-bodied citizen, male or female, hit adulthood, they would be enlisted in the army. They received training, which essentially makes this one high-leveled country(well, relative to your average country). When they completed training the citizens must go on active duty for a minimum of 2 years. If the country is at war, then 5 years. They can choose to remain on active duty, or they can enter the reserves. When a citizen becomes venerable, they are then honorably discharged from the army. The army has a place for all classes.

Comments, constructive criticism or ideas are needed. Anyway you guys can help me expand on this will be greatly appreciated.

 

[haakon1]

Go read up on Sparta, and Plato's Republic or Herodotus too. There's a movie about Thermopylae, Sparta's finest hour, coming out soonish.

The basics of Sparta:
- Babies that don't look strong were killed at birth.
- Spartiate boys are taken from their mothers and begin military training at age 7.
- Boys and men live in barracks and eat with their "mess" their whole life.
- Each Spartiate fights as heavy infantry, backed by helot light infantry.
- Helots are essentially slaves, neighboring Greek tribes who were conquered by the Spartans. The Spartan economy depended on the helots to do the farm work, and the Spartans were not rich, because they were not terribly interested in trade.
- Being a Spartiate was a matter of citizenship by birth.
- Spartans are known for being Laconic -- not talking a lot.
- Sparta had two kings -- one would go to war while the other stayed home.
- Sparta was unusual in having no city walls and no attempt to prevent espionage. They believed the only wall they needed was their shield wall, and that enemy spies would only discover the Spartans were too strong to mess with.
- Sparta eventually led an alliance against the rising, more open, more democratic, more educated city-state of Athens. Sparta ruled on land, while Athens ruled the sea.
- The Helots eventually broke off from Sparta and founded their own city. That plus a few bad loses in battle destroyed Sparta's roll as a great power in Greece.

Also note that white South Africans sometimes viewed the Spartans are role-models: a militaristic, proud, warrior elite, fed and clothed by many oppressed neighbors. That'll give you a clearer idea of what Sparta was about.

 

[Abisashi]

Levels!

Sparta might be a little more militaristic then you want, but it is definitely worth looking into.

I provide some numbers here as a starting place, but while I think they are reasonable, I just made them up on the spot.

Due to their training, the citizens of this country should have PC class levels (this is one thing that can separate warriors from fighters, and it makes sense for this to apply to other classes). Citizens leave training at level 1. The CR numbers below are averages per month, and challenges won't be evenly distributed. Equipment should be as for NPCs as normal. I would suggest having it drop off afterward, but the expansionist nature of this empire probably allows it to equip its soldiers properly.

In peace time, citizens face a CR 1/6 encounter (50 xp until they hit 6th level) every month, putting them at 2nd level 4 months before discharge and at 1200 xp upon entering the reserves. That seems like a reasonable level for a capable citizenry of a peaceful country. A soldier who stays in the army hits 3rd after 60 months (5 years) and 4th after 120 months (10 years).

In war time, soldiers face a CR 1/3 encounter (100 xp until they hit 6th level) every month, and reach levels in half of the listed time.

Characters who are exceptionally talented (those with above-average ability scores) face CRs of 1/3 a month in peace-time and 1 in war time.

 

[Abisashi]

Classes!

Here's how I think classes would work out (PH Only). I based the percentages off of the random NPC table in the DMG, adjusting for the poor ability scores of soldiers. If you have complete arcane, replace sorcerers with warmages:

Barbarian (5%): Shock troopers, these open holes in enemy lines for others to exploit
Bard (5%): Flag-bearer/signaller, these are assigned to unit commanders and stay at the rear of the formation. Bards with good charisma work as back-up medics
Cleric (20%): Combat medics; the weakest can only be surrogate bandages (wis 10), and are generally encouraged to be a different class.
Druid (5%): As clerics, but generally assigned to non-standard units (espionage/sabotage etc)
Fighter (35%): The standard soldier.
Monk (5%): Special ops; Often sent through a hole created by barbarians with the mission to disable spellcasters.
Paladin (0%): Unless this is a good nation, these are esentially non-existant (<1 %). If the nation is good, 1-2% of soldiers are this instead of fighter and are often commanders.
Ranger (5%): Special ops, often work behind enemy lines or scout for the main army, especially in difficult terrain.
Rogue (10%): Special ops, as rangers, but with a larger emphasis on ambushes (sneak attack is excellent in fights between normal humanoids).
Sorcerer (5%): Equipped with a wand/scrolls and used as snipers (Melf's Acid Arrow) or artillery (Fireball).
Wizard (5%): As sorcerers, with an emphasis on making magic items for the sorcerers/themselves.


Standard Unit (add 1 to the listed level for war-time; add 1 for a more experienced unit):
1 Officer (Fighter 3)
1 Flag-bearer (bard 1)
2 Combat Medic (Cleric 1, Cleric 2)
1 Artillery (wiz or sorc 1)
15 Medium Infantry (10 Fighter 1, 5 Fighter 2)

 

[Abisashi]

Back Home

I split these out because I think they are all distinct and it is easier to read, but I can combine them if you/a moderator wish.

Because the citizens spend several years in the military even in peace time, it is likely that slaves/(conquered) non-citizens are used in farming and industry (need to make lots of weapons, armor, shovels, etc). Think Rome or Sparta, maybe.

Because the country is more combat-focused, I think it is more likely to be a meritocracy than normal, but it need not be. A twist on this could be that the noble families have a much higher percentage of PC-stat-array children than commoners; that is how they became the noble families.

Because both men and women are capable combatants, the society is almost certainly gender-egalitarian (if not, rebellion might be brewing). This moral development might give the citizens a morale boost (our enemies are oppresive patriarchic countries, we must free the women they oppress - this could even result in the women staying in the army longer than men, perahps leading to a slightly female-dominated society); this could be true whether or not the country is good (how many people actually believe themselves to be evil?)

To keep reservists in shape, the country could hold seasonal athletic competitions, similar to the olympics, with an emphasis on mock-combat (padded weapons are -1 to hit and deal subdual damage).

Like Rome, soldiers are likely given frontier land to farm upon joining the reserves.

Depending on how poorly the wars are going / how arrogant the leaders are, the country could be paying those engineers/wizards at home to develop new siege engines/combat spells (it is almost certain that some of this is going on, but the degree could vary).

 

[kanithardm]

Thanks man, im just now finishing up the different ranks of the army. All of sections of an army (army, navy, spec ops, mages) all contain a rank with "silver" located in it (Silver Sword, Silver Flame, etc.) The capital's gonna maybe be the silver city, but don't worry i'll unlamify that eventually. I'm going to introduce the country at the end of Red Hand of Doom.

 

[Abisashi]

I'm going to introduce the country at the end of Red Hand of Doom.

Really? I am running Red Hand of Doom right now, and trying to decide what to do next. What were you planning on doing with this country, if you don't mind my asking?

 

[Umbran]

I was thinking of creating a major civilization that began as a small city-state. It rose to power from its unique culture and society. When any able-bodied citizen, male or female, hit adulthood, they would be enlisted in the army.

Well, in modern terms, this isn't at all unique. And it isn't even all that much different than feudal Europe - a feudal lord could call upon his vassals as troops in times of war....

Note that standing armies were rare beasts in ye olden days - they are darned expensive to maintain, mostly because they consume lots of goods and services, but they don't produce any wealth themselves. Only really rich nations can afford to have every able bodied person tied up for a full two years or more of their lives.

Remember - each and every person in the army is eating, and wearing clothes, and using stuff - but they aren't farming, digging ore, or manufacturing goods.

 

[Tiberius]

Remember - each and every person in the army is eating, and wearing clothes, and using stuff - but they aren't farming, digging ore, or manufacturing goods.

Hence helots.

 

[Dykstrav]

I've thought about demographics quite a bit for my own major campaign Empires, and I've came up with only general rules of thumb.

The Tekkan Empire (think the Delian League with more formal legislation) commands sixty-five legions (one legion being 5,000 soldiers). Roughly 325,000 soldiers overall in the entire military: army, navy, and attached specialists such as clerics and magicians. This is the largest standing army in the entire continent, a continent which is roughly 3,000 miles east-to-west and 5,000 miles north-to-south.

All the military forces (of all other nations combined) remaining in the entire continent number somewhere between 35-40 legions at any given time.

Tekkan soldiers are generally 2nd-level warriors. This puts them significantly above the common rabble and above most private militias (which are mostly composed of 1st-level warriors). 2nd-level warriors represent superby trained soldiers with discipline and some battle experience. Officers generally have levels in a PC class (usually fighters or marshalls), while specialists function essentially as adventuring teams.

What I'm wondering about a nation where Joe Farmer was once trained as a fighter is how your demographics pan out. Are there really wizard millers, ranger bartenders, and and cleric cartwrights everywhere? Just how common are adventuring classes?

By extension, what makes your PCs special? I've always treated PCs as special people on the basis that they actually have levels in a PC class. The ruck and run of the general population has ability scores in the 10-11 range. So why are your characters exceptional?