A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict, who is not a national or a party to the conflict, and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party. The mercenary warrior is a soldier of fortune and world adventurer. Most are rough and tumble warriors without the benefit of noble birth or the expert training available to the knight or palladin. Yet these characters are often natural born fighters, with an innate talent for combat, great strength and the heart of a lion. They may not be knights, but many are as noble, honorable and courageous.

All mercenaries make their living by their sword, fighting abilities and cunning. Most are independent operators with their own agenda. This could be a desire to destroy evil monsters, avenge the innocent, accomplish a quest, defend their homeland, amass great wealth, or the desire to become famous. They dare to travel into uncharted wildernesses, war zones and the domains of monsters in search of fortune and glory. They rummage through ancient ruins in search of forgotten secrets and treasure, and associate with all manner of beings, from elf to goblin, fellow warrior to wizard.

Of course the life of a mercenary is not an easy one. In addition to the obvious dangers, many will find the hand of fortune will bless them at one point and seemingly abandon them at another. When times are tough, mercenaries are likely to scavenge what booty they can from their defeated opponents and sell it for whatever they can get. Likewise, a hungry fighter will consider jobs that he would normally refuse, and may accept a hot meal and a warm bed as payment for his services (especially from the poor who may have nothing more to offer). During these periods, warriors of anarchist or evil alignments may turn to crime to support themselves. Even during the best of times, there will be battles mercenaries fought where their only reward may be the satisfaction of knowing that they have helped somebody.

Traditionally mercenaries are soldiers for hire. They have no roots or allegiance to a particular king, country or cause — when their job is done they are paid and move on. As a result, they are constantly in search of military conflicts and adventure where their services may earn them some money. Thus, many mercenaries offer their sword and skills to any employer who will pay a good salary, often without concern for politics or justice. Such employers are typically a king, queen, baron or ruling council, but might also be a knight, priest, wealthy merchant, wizard, or a person or group representing a particular cause or goal (rescue of a hostage, retrieval of a holy artifact, revenge, theft, assassination of a rival, etc.).

When employed as soldiers in an army, the mercenary fights for pay and will have a commanding officer and chain of command to answer to, as well as his employer. Like any soldier, the mercenary is expected to obey orders, follow some measure of military protocol, and serve his leaders and employer to the best of his ability. To do otherwise is to be dismissed without pay. Many governments, kings, barons, lords and even wealthy merchants find it convenient to hire professional soldiers, rather than train and maintain a large, standing army of their own. In some instances, the employer may think it safer to hire outsiders than to trust their own countrymen. In other cases, the employer may regard the mission as so dangerous that he'd rather hire strangers than risk friends, trusted servants, or troops he holds in high regard.

The warrior's path chosen by the mercenary is a difficult one. He or she sees much more combat that the average soldier, because the character needs a constant state of war to make a living. However, this also means the average mercenary is more experienced and deadly than the average soldier who spends a comparatively small amount of time in actual battle (more time is typically spent on patrols, guard duty, drills, and so on). Another negative aspect to life as a mercenary is the character has few places he can call home, and few friends other than comrades in arms. Furthermore, most mercenaries face countless opponents and terrible danger without ever finding the fame or fortune they seek.

Those who become disillusioned, desperate or bitter may become bandits, smugglers, or black-hearted villains without compassion or honor. Some form their own gang of bandits, others hire themselves out as the henchmen of tyrants and crime lords, or serve as the minions of monstrous non-humans, or evil sorcerers.

Mercenaries are rough and tumble men of adventure who sell their sword and muscle for gold and glory. Their skills are usually directly oriented to combat and self-preservation. They are jacks of all trades when dealing with the fundamentals of combat and adventuring, often skilled in such areas as tracking, trapping, picking pockets and prowling.

However, as with most men of arms, they seldom deal in subtleties. If a door is locked, they kick it in, if a man won't reveal a secret, they slap him around a little; reading and writing are generally considered unimportant on the field of combat. These warriors tend to fight hard, work hard, and play hard.

Employment for Mercenary Warriors

The type of work and payment for mercenary services will vary from place to place, and from employer to employer. Some may pay great amounts, while others pay a handful of gold or a share of the booty. As a rule of thumb, the more dangerous the mission the higher the pay, but this will always depend on the wealth and generosity of the employer and the circumstances involved. A single mission might pay 1D6x100 gold per person or 1D6xl000. Many employers prefer to pay nothing or very little, but allow the mercenary group to keep some percentage, to all the booty they can carry, provided they accomplish the mission they were hired to do. Many employers will include basic room and board as part of the payment. Game Masters, use your discretion and common sense.

The types of assignments a mercenary can expect, especially one travelling with a group of comrades typical of the average playing group, can include the following:

• A quest of any kind. This is likely to be for a noble or good cause and may be religious in nature.
• Investigating the ruins of an ancient city, temple or underground catacomb. May involve the retrieval of artifacts.
• Retrieval of a valuable item; typically from bandits, a cult, wizard, monsters, or a terrible evil. Evil or anarchist employers may hire the characters for outright theft, or trick good characters into unwittingly doing their dirty work.
• Retrieval of stolen goods, treasure, heirlooms or magic item; typically from bandits, monsters or a terrible evil. Employer is likely to be a wealthy merchant, noble, or priest/church.
• Rescue! This can be the rescue of a peasant woman, child, or entire village, to the rescue of a merchant, lord, princess, queen, king, priest, holy person, etc. Peasants often need rescuing from an evil force such as a witch and her minions, evil cult, villainous sorcerer, bandits, pirates, dragon, marauding monsters, etc. Pay is often minimal, especially from desperate and impoverished peasant villagers. The rescue of wealthy merchants, churchmen, nobles, and royalty may include the same dangers that plague the peasants, but the culprit behind these acts of villainy are likely to be involved in political intrigue and treachery. The villain may be trying to seize political or military power, and may even be a rogue member of the royal family, a treasonous knight or commander, a sorcerer or any number of elements. These powerful malcontents are likely to wield more power, command more (or more powerful) minions (including fellow mercenaries) and be much more organized than the misanthropes who plunder peasants — so mercenaries beware.
• Search for a lost person(s). A mission to find one or more characters in a wilderness or dangerous setting. Foul play may be suspected and could involve any number of evil monsters, bandits, or settings. A search can easily turn into a rescue mission.
• Bodyguard work requires the characters to either stand guard over someplace, thing, or person, and protect it/him from danger. Merchants and wealthy individuals are often the employers for such a task.
• Defend a caravan. This work involves escorting travelers or a merchant caravan from one place to another, and defending it from bandits, and dangers of all kinds. Merchants, noble families and private individuals are often the employers for such a task.
• Soldiering! This job typically requires the warrior to serve as a soldier in an army. Missions will include infantry combat, siege, defense, reconnaissance and other missions typical of the military, combat and war.
• Militia. Hired as a law enforcement officer and charged with keeping the peace and/or to defend the community. Typically hired by a baron, mayor, or city council in a community with problems from bandits, monsters, rowdy mercenaries, and so on. Often located away from civilization and other authorities.
• Spy work can include reconnaissance along a defensive perimeter or into enemy territory, or undercover work inside an enemy encampment, army, city or stronghold. This can lead to sabotage, retrieval, robbery, rescue, or combat.
• Revenge! The employer hires the mercenary to extract vengeance against an enemy, villain or competitor. This could include a duel to the death, assassination, beating, public humiliation, robbery, vandalism, theft, and similar acts, to an all-out war.
• Robbery: Only evil or anarchist characters are likely to take this job.
• Kidnapping: The mercenaries are hired to kidnap somebody. Only evil or anarchist characters are likely to take this job.
• Assassination: Only evil or anarchist characters are likely to take this job.

Mercenaries & Armour

Most mercenaries prefer the medium and heavy types of armor that provide maximum physical protection when in combat. These include full suits of chain, splint or plate armor, but any type of armor can be used. Typically, the type of armor worn will reflect the character's personal taste and needs. Many meres will have more than one suit of armor. For example, studded leather may be used when stealth and maximum maneuverability is desired, while double mail, scale, splint or plate may be used for heavy combat.

Attribute Requirements: P.S. 7 or higher and a desire to fight. A high P.P. and/or P.E. are also recommended but not required.
Alignment: Any.
Gender: Male or Female
Race: Any
O.C.C. Bonuses: +2 to pull punch, and +1 to save vs horror factor at levels 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12.
O.C.C. Skills:

Math: Basic (+10%)
Athletics (General)
Forced March
Military Etiquette (+20%)
Climb/Scale Walls (+15%)
Languages: Native Toungue at 98% plus two other of choice (+10%)
Wilderness Survival (+10%)
Heraldry
W.P. Shield
W.P. Sword
W.P. Two of choice
Hand to Hand: Expert (Hand to hand: expert can be changed to hand to hand: martial arts or assassin (if evil) for the cost of one "other" skill.)

O.C.C. Related Skills:Select ten other skills at level one, plus 1 per level starting at level 2. All new skills start at Lvl. one proficiency.

Communications: Any
Domestic: Any
Espionage: Any (+5%)
Horsemanship: General or Exotic Only.(+5%)
Labour: Any (+5%)
Medical: Brewing and First Aid Only.
Military: Any (+5%)
Naval: Any (+5%)
Performance Arts: Any
Physical: Any
Rogue: Any (+20%)
Science: Math Only
Scholar/Technical: Any (+10% on language, literacy & lore only)
Weapon Proficiencies: Any
Wilderness: None

Secondary Skills: Choose 4 at level 1, plus 1 per level starting at level 2. All new skills start at Lvl. one proficiency. These are additional areas of knowledge that don't get the O.C.C. bonus.

Armour: Starts with a suit of chain mail (A.R. 14, S.D.C. 44), or studded leather (A.R. 13, 38 S.D.C.); player's choice.

Weapons: Starts with a small shield, a dagger, sword of choice, and one other weapon of choice; all are basic S.D.C. weapons of good quality. Any one of the aforementioned weapons can be of exceptional quality (kobold or dwarven), with a bonus of +1 to strike and parry or +3 to damage. Magic weapons and other equipment must be acquired later.

Experiance Table:

Level	Experience
1	0-2,000
2	2,001-4,000
3	4,001-8,000
4	8,001-14,000
5	14,001-22,000
6	22,001-32,000
7	32,001-47,000
8	47,001-67,000
9	67,001-92,000
10	92,001-120,000
11	120,001-150,000
12	150,001-200,000
13	200,001-265,000
14	265,001-320,000
15	320,001-375,000