The Black Company (aka Rawr, the Lady)

[sword-dancer]

Re: Rackhir's on Target...

I also agree that a big reason for the Black Company's success was keeping their wizards under the radar. Numerous times in the books, the narrative describes how careful they were to keep their "pet" wizards a secret. Most the magics then, were fairly subtle. One-eye, Goblin and Silent (Tom-Tom wasn't around long enough to impact the story) strike me as mid-level (6-8) illusionists with a couple of other levels thrown in (probably a level or two of rogue for silent, a level or two of ranger/fighter for Goblin and One-eye).

I would love to see a d20 Setting released, but I agree with an earlier poster...get thee permission first!

~ Old One

I wouldn`t call it the only or even the main reason.
1 the BC was a force of welltrained, organiced infantry and had a high disciplin, disciplin not blind obedience.
2 They didn`t follow the book to the letter, they were very ressouceful using every trick in their sleeve and then invented a few new.
3 They prepared, and that routinely, think on the combat on the river as example of point 2-3
4 intelligence, which included the wizards of course

 

[hellbender]

How is this project coming along, any news?


H.

 

[Warchild]

Hey all. All this talk about this Black Company has got me interested. I have to check it out now.

I'm looking around places like Amazon and Ebay, but there are a lot of single book auctions and stuff. Can you guys give me a list of the books and how they line up (first book, second book, third book in the series, etc.)?? I'd appreciate it, thanks.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

The Black Company
Shadows Linger
The White Rose
Shadow Games
The Silver Spike*
Dreams of Steel
Bleak Seasons
She is The Darkness
Water Sleeps
Soldiers Live

The Silver Spike is kind of a "spin off". I suggest reading it after Shadow Games, but it can be read after The White Rose without breaking stride.

 

[Warchild]

Thanks Ben!

 

[Storminator]

FWIW, Bomanz is in the 'just barely a heavyweight' category; he's probably on a level with Feather or Journey, but he'd need luck, surprise, or a lot of prep time to handle Whisper.

I put Bomanz a bit higher than that! I just finished The White Rose last night.

Spoilers...

He kills half a dozen people in a few short seconds with his bone melting spells, which is a lot more deadly force than usual for BC stories, and he takes on the dragon singlehandedly. Croaker mentions that even tho Bomanz goesn't get a lot of mention at the end, he's significant, as the dragon was supposed to take on Darling and the Lady simultaneously while the Dominator escaped. Pretty good for old Bo.

All the while he's hiding people keep saying he would have been the greatest wizard of the age as well, and he says if he lives he would be the next Taken.

So I put him pretty solidly in the heavyweight category.

PS

 

[Bendris Noulg]

No prob, WC.

I put Bomanz a bit higher than that! I just finished The White Rose last night.

...

All the while he's hiding people keep saying he would have been the greatest wizard of the age as well, and he says if he lives he would be the next Taken.

So I put him pretty solidly in the heavyweight category.

I'd say that he's well above the BC's casters (likely having gotten a more academic training than our three favorites), but well below The Taken.

AIR, becoming Taken was a rather, shall I say, dramatic experience (killed, raised, killed again, raised again, "used" by demons, eaten alive by snakes, killed again, raised again, wash, rinse, repeat*). To a degree, I'd say that part of The Taken is that this experience basically rids them of most of the mortal inhibitions that exist. Granted, Wizards are usually portrayed as not having many, but this is also when they're mortals being compared to mortals.

Becoming one of The Taken, however, changes that entire frame of reference.

*Consider that Limper was originally Taken by The Dominator, and then re-Taken by Lady later on. Ick.

 

[Falcon]

SLIGHT SPOILER
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I think once you read "The Silver Spike," you will put Bomanz in the heavy-weight category. You get his history, and some of his spells really smack Limper, who at that point, is beyond redemption.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

[Spoilers again]

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Oh, I'm not saying Bomaz is week; I'm just saying that when you look at the entirety of it, you have something like 4 ranks of power:

1. Tricks, such as Raven had.
2. Potent, such as One-Eye, Goblin, Silent and Smoke.
3. Powerful, such as Bomaz and the few Shadow Masters that weren't Taken.
4. Near-godlike, which includes The Taken.

Also, consider that beings like Shiva and The Dominator were most often in the background, but had powers beyond that of even The Taken. Shiva, even striken as she had been hundreds (thousands?) of years ago, was still able to "reach out" and grant magic in a near-deific way. However, even she still had weakness (remember how Lady "embedded" a piece of herself into her), so wasn't quite a deity by D&D's definition.

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[drothgery]

[Spoilers again]

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Oh, I'm not saying Bomaz is week; I'm just saying that when you look at the entirety of it, you have something like 4 ranks of power:

1. Tricks, such as Raven had.
2. Potent, such as One-Eye, Goblin, Silent and Smoke.
3. Powerful, such as Bomaz and the few Shadow Masters that weren't Taken.
4. Near-godlike, which includes The Taken.

I'd stick a few more gradients here and rearrange things a bit, for three reasons. All Taken aren't created equal. Gossamer, Spidersilk, Exile, and Lisa Bowalk all seemed well beyond Goblin and One-Eye, but a long step below the Taken. And Tobo, some of the Circle of 18, and some of the non-Taken Shadowmasters were as strong as some, if not all of the Taken.

1. Some supernatural ability, no concious control. Murgen is the only one that comes to mind.
2. Very minor abilities - Raven, Doj, Sara.
3. 'Minor wizards' - Goblin, Silent, One-Eye, Arkana, Shukrat
4. 'Medium wizards' - Smoke, Gossamer, Spidersilk, the strongest of the Vorshok
5. 'Major wizards' - Exile, Lisa Bowalk
6. Cat I heavyweights - The 'new' Taken except Whisper (Feather, Journey, Scorn, Blister), Bomanz, the weaker of the two non-Taken Shadowmasters, most of the Circle of 18
7. Cat II heavyweights - Most of the Taken, Longshadow, Harden, Raker
8. Cat III heavyweights - Soulcatcher, The Limper, Lady, Tobo, Whisper
9. Near-deities - Kina, Shivetya, the Dominator