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Examples of typical Medieval Companies PDF Print E-mail
Written by riprock   
Thursday, 31 July 2008

The following is a pseudo-medieval city statted up for Reign. The City is assumed to have some ruthless and powerful government -- whether that is an autocrat, a council of schemers, a theocracy, etc. is up to the GM. The City Government has access to a certain number of assassins, but these are not battlefield warriors and thus are not reflected as a Might score. 

Taken as a whole, the City might be evaluated as:
Might:3,1,1 (i.e. the City has three armed forces)
Treasure:2 (the City as such does not have much spare cash, although some of its citizens do)
Territory:3 or 4 depending on how one interprets geography
Influence: 3
Sovereignty: 3 (the City is deeply divided but well-managed)

Note that Might 4 would allow two separate Might 3 armies, and this City is not sufficiently optimized to allow that level of force. This city has a high population and a tech level higher than most groups in the Reign rules. The City's elites attempt to enforce a strict system of social class and reputation to ensure that disruptive lower-class elements cannot rise at all, and that ambitious law-abiding elements cannot rise far or fast.

Note that the city changes over time: poachers, bandits, and brothels frequently go out of business; courtiers whose salons cost too much may close their doors and retreat to private life.

Note that many highly-skilled professions, such as physicians, apothecaries, and locksmiths, exist in the city, but charge very steep prices and cater only to the very wealthy. Thus, while they may be attached to a Courtier's Salon, they do not form highly-skilled trade unions.

City-dwellers have access to bathhouses, but they must compete fiercely to make ends meet. In theory, swords are legal within the city, but armor is regulated. In practice, many people wear concealed armor, and the climate is cold enough that normal clothing often functions as padded armor. Frequently ambitious city-dwellers are reduced to poverty. The elites of the City are well-informed about city gangs, and have some notion of where the bandits hide, but they prefer to maintain the status quo. In particular, they prefer all miscreants to concentrate in the city, where they can be controlled and killed if necessary. They also want the rural populace to be healthy, well-fed, and not unfamiliar with weapons, in case a mass levy becomes necessary. While the City Government would prefer to organize such efforts as an increase of troops or an improvement of culture, they are often preoccupied with the details of tax collection and the latest gang wars.

Descriptions follow for seven unique organizations and nine non-unique organization types. Many other demographics within the city are not suitable for organization status. E.g. a mom-and-pop tavern that rents its property from a landlord has no significant wealth, land, or non-family employees, so it is essentially two NPC characters, a husband and wife, rather than an NPC organization. On the other end of the social scale, a solitary, patrician miser with Wealth 5 might be a landlord, but has no personal bodyguards, servants, or organization.


Unique Organizations

1.Squires of the Road (police, tax collectors, road maintainers, building inspectors, gate guards, notaries) (upper class) (During peace, the squires are a competent riot squad; during war they are couriers.) (This is the ideal place to stick a semi-intelligent and socially acceptable son of the gentry while one is trying to find a more permanent place for him. Even if they never advance to high positions of power, these gentlemen are always comfortable. Some of the incorrigibly academic Squires have close connections with the Aquaduct Fraternity. The elite ranks are competent cartographers, and they constantly re-survey the terrain surrounding the city-state. These cartographers have close and cordial ties with the City-State External Professional Army. The Squires of the Road will drag tax debtors to the City Workhouse, but they have no organizational communication with the Workhouse. The Squires of the Road studiously abstain from noticing gang battles until they are mostly completed, whereupon the Squires solemnly ride onto the scene to arrest the losing side as it bleeds to death.)

Might: 1
Treasure: 2
Territory: 1 (all roads, all gates, small tax office)
Influence: 3
Sovereignty: 3

2.City-State Home Guard Militia (mostly elderly middle-class)
(During peace, the home guard is a retirement home for crippled ex-soldiers; during war it is the last line of defense. They are generally irascible, xenophobic war-mongers, and very proud of it. While old and unhealthy, they compensate with extra ferocity. This is sufficient only if the fighting is close to home: these old men cannot march or withstand cold nights in soldiers' tents.)
Might: 1 or 0 (depending on the latest medical developments)
Treasure: 1
Territory:0
Influence:0
Sovereignty:3

3.City-State External Professional Army (rank-dependent class, officers=upper, ranks = middle)
(The external army is professional, well-managed, and well-paid enough to sleep anywhere, eat almost anything, and fight anyone. Their particular concerns are bandits, farmers who might try to evade taxes, and farmers who might try a career transition to banditry. The External Professional Army has quartermasters with numerous caches of weapons, supplies, and food; it likewise has career officers with extensive written plans for how and when to implement martial law if necessary. The army attempts to screen out recruits with prior criminal associations. Many army personnel would strongly prefer to use open violence to exterminate the criminal gangs of the city, but the government refuses permission to such schemes.)
Might: 3
Treasure: 3
Territory:1 (barracks within city, several practice areas and "tent cities" outside city walls)
Influence:0
Sovereignty:3

4.Fraternity of Aquaduct Technicians (maintain bathhouses, reservoirs, pipes, fountains) (middle class)
(This is an ideal place to stick the inconvenient son who refuses to stop reading books and messing around with toy steam engines. They are typical the un-businesslike, impractical sons of the gentry, but they are good at mathematics and civil engineering. They sometimes help the Squires of the Road with highly technical matters, such as how to use gravel and cobblestones to make a solid road. They are officially authorized by the City Government to send the Senior Representative to the Drainage Council. The junior reps are from the Putrefactors and the Barge & Canal Guild.)
Might:0
Treasure:2
Territory:1 (reservoirs, elevated aqueducts, pump houses, small offices)
Influence:1
Sovereignty:3

5.Putrefactors (undertakers, street cleaners, sewer maintainers, garbagemen, spies) (lower class)
(These unique gentlemen have an unusual amount of influence with the City Government because they are the best surveillance system in the city. No one can go on the street without being seen by a Putrefactor. No one can die in public without a Putrefactor taking the body. No one can suddenly take on a secret tenant without a Putrefactor noticing the extra garbage and offal. In times of crisis, the Putrefactors use their semi-secret, highly fortified underground tunnel system for military transport. Most of the time, it is used only by trusted Putrefactors and the City Government elite. Exceptionally skilled Putrefactor spies are given military-quality close-quarters combat training and used as assassins by the City Government. They retain access to the secret tunnels, but they keep their training secret from lower-ranked Putrefactors.)
Might:0
Treasure:1
Territory:1 (semi-secret, highly defensible underground tunnel network, sewer channels)
Influence:3
Sovereignty:3

6.Barge & Canal Guild (maintain canals, transport goods on canals) (lower-lower class)
(These hard-working honest folk are mostly incapable of holding down more pleasant jobs. Steering a barge is the least desired job in the city, even if mules are available for a little extra power. This guild is also responsible for maintaining a few drainage ditches. They are bullied by the Putrefactors much of the time. The canals breed vast numbers of stinging insects and a considerable amount of disease. Many bargemen die from exhaustion, preventable hygiene-related diseases, and contaminated food. Those who quit often drift into criminal street gangs.)
Might:0
Treasure:1
Territory:1 (canal network both inside and outside city walls)
Influence:0
Sovereignty:3

7.City Workhouse (employer of last resort for impoverished citizens) (middle class)
(This unique and highly regulated facility serves to keep most city-dwellers in line by showing them whither the Squires of the Road will drag them if they fail to pay their taxes. The workers are technically not slaves, but rather in debt to the City. Unless ransomed, they will die from hard labor, poor sanitation, and inadequate food. The guards are well-trained and highly disciplined, but not a battlefield force. The overseers and guards are highly disciplined and maintain a very professional attitude, while the workers are prisoners and as such have no loyalty to the organization. The overseers are mostly selected from the most obedient and reliable members of the middle class.)
Might:0
Treasure:1
Territory:1 (prison-like workhouse, with sturdy locks to keep workers in and rescuers out)
Influence:0
Sovereignty:3 (for overseers and guards only)


Non-unique organizations

1.Typical Gentleman's Club (upper class) (more than a dozen in the city)
(These are the resorts of the under-talented scions of privilege. They typically offer rich food, private instruction in fencing, overpriced wine and private parties. They collect steep dues from members and spend lavishly on luxuries. They are the kind of men who will get scratched faces from over-agitated prostitutes, sew salt into the wounds, and tell their friends that the scars were gained in duels against dacoits. They gossip incessantly, but no one listens. All the members are armed, but so completely undisciplined that they cannot eat as a group, much less fight as a group. Very often they will fight duels with each other, so at the GM's option, the club may be able to find a few semi-skilled swordsmen at any given time. Very rarely, they will engage in street battles with lower-class gangs. If any gentleman at this sort of club becomes skilled enough to actually carry out assassinations, the club ceases to be his group and he either starts a new company or transitions to an existing organization -- typically a city criminal gang.)

Might:0
Treasure:2
Territory:1 (townhouses, mansions, gymnasiums)
Influence:1
Sovereignty:2

2.Typical Courtier's Salon (upper class) (about half a dozen in the city)
(Many offspring of the upper classes, both male and female, end up spending vast amounts of time gossipping in a courtier's salon. These concatenations of privileged idleness require vast sums to maintain, but they produce a fair amount of painting, theatrical performances, musical compositions, etc. The host or hostess is invariably of an old patrician bloodline, and usually has 9 or 10 personal Wealth and threat-level 3 Followers at level 5 (i.e. 15 individual fighters). This salon exists to collect wealth from rented land and buildings, and to re-invest money into fine art. As such, salons contain a diverse array of clever, ambitious individuals, jockeying for social position and access to the host/hostess. Frequently, the ambitious and talented from salons will seek out professional criminals to assassinate rivals.)
Might: 0
Treasure: 3
Territory: 1
Influence:3
Sovereignty:2 or 1 (depending on frequency of assassinations)

3.Typical Warehouse Merchant (middle class) (about four dozen in the city)
(The typical warehouse merchant buys raw materials (e.g. grain, flax, wood) by contracts arranged far in advance with large farm owners. The goods are transported by canal.)
Might:1 (bodyguards available 24/7)
Treasure:2
Territory:1(large stone warehouse with road and canal connections, shop space in front, office space on upper floors)
Influence:1
Sovereignty:3

4.Typical Skilled Craft Guild (lower-middle class) (about two dozen within the city)
(These honest, hard-working folks are proud of various skills, such as carpentry or tailoring, but will never rise socially. They have a vested interest in keeping trade secrets and will try to persuade unskilled workers to go back to the farms. Rarely, for a fee, they will accept apprentices. They are prime targets for thieves from organized criminal gangs.)
Might:0
Treasure:0 or 1
Territory:0
Influence:1
Sovereignty:3

5.Typical Licensed Brothel (prostitution, vices such as exotic drugs, gambling, spies) (upper-lower class)
(variable number in operation: minimum half a dozen operating at one time, subject to frequent bankruptcy)
(The members of this guild do not typically live to very old ages, and their working lives are limited. Their profits are mostly confiscated by the Squires of the Road, who also issue their licenses. Some of the reliable spies are given work as street-cleaners for the Putrefactors after their looks have faded.)
Might:0
Treasure:1
Territory:0 (all houses are rented, usually from a Courtier's Salon)
Influence:2
Sovereignty:2

6.Typical Criminal Organization (upper-lower class) (no more than half a dozen at any one time, subject to extermination in gang wars)
(The members of this guild typically die by violence. They fence stolen goods, they smuggle supplies to bandits, they crave money as a means to power. They frequently loan money to and extort money from brothels. Rarely, for a high price, they will assassinate targets who seem to have no powerful friends. They are dangerous, professional criminals, but the city-state's elite are smart enough to be familiar with them and to anticipate their moves. Frequently, they take out their frustrations by fighting gang wars against each other. Rarely, their pride moves them to fight duels and street battles against patricians. While they could easily assassinate a huge number in the city, that would bring about immediate martial law and a confrontation with the combined forces of the External Army and the Squires of the Road. Very rarely, the City Government assassinates a high-ranking criminal, typically framing a competitor organization. New members typically come from discontented farmers, discouraged poachers, displaced brothel workers, and foreigners. )
Might:2
Treasure: 2 or 3
Territory: 1 (several rented "safe houses")
Influence:1
Sovereignty:2 or 3

7.Typical Large Farm Estate Within City-State (lower class) (many dozens exist, outside the city walls)
(These estates are dominated by wealthy land-owners, propped up by the frequent visits of the Squires of the Road. If the squires ever were to stop visiting, the farms would immediately suffer a crisis as farm workers would either attempt pilfering, riot, public disorder, or contract-breaking. However, the City-State encourages these bucolic peasants to practice archery and spear-fighting, and to volunteer for the External Professional Army if they feel any inclination to violence. Farmers try to keep clean with sponge baths and -- if they are lucky -- saunas.)

Might:0
Treasure:1
Territory:1 (farmhouses, barns, fields)
Influence:0
Sovereignty:3

8.Typical Poacher Gang (lower class) (about half a dozen gangs, outside city walls, subject to slow decay by attrition)
(These runaway farmers don't like getting up early to milk the livestock. They live in the deep forest, refuse to be counted or to pay taxes, and try to poach the city's deer. Much of the time they end up eating rat, chipmunk, and raccoon instead, having discovered that making arrows is harder than it looks. The most competent and ambitious might become bandits some day. The less competent might enter the city and end up working for a Typical Criminal Organization.)

Might: 1
Treasure: 0
Territory:0
Influence: 0
Sovereignty: 1 or 2

9.Typical Bandit Gang (lower class) (less than half a dozen gangs, outside city walls, subject to frequent bankruptcy) (These cut-throats are ruthless, inventive, and completely willing to run away in order to fight another day. Any tax-collecting party that gets too far away from reinforcements will fall prey to these killers. They could be persuaded by a small sum of money to take up terrorism in this land, or in any other. Unlike city criminals, these bandits can barely restrain their bloodlust.)

Might:2
Treasure:1
Territory:1 (several spartan camps maintained to military standards of hygiene)
Influence:0
Sovereignty:2 or 3

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.

 
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