In two weeks' time, Skirmisher will be at GenCon 2018, shaking hands and taking names! We will also, obviously, he running games! Specifically, Brendan Cass will be running Ragnarok: The Great Winter RPG, and I wll be running Ragnarok: Age of Wolves! Mike Varhola will be running "some other game" that probably you will have heard of unless you have been hiding under a rock since the 1970s (can you guess the title?)!

The sessions of Ragnarok: Age of Wolves I will be running will be using some new rules we have been playing with, and playtesting with, that allow you to take your heroes into the Barrowlands, a broad and desolate moor of graves that goes on for miles, Specifically, Into the Barrowlands, allows you to take a small group of heroes ihside the Barrow complex, in a competitive game of looting and survival!

Unlike the sort of battles that we featured in RAW Core, where you would field a small army of twenty or more, heroes and their followers, monsters, etc, Into the Barrowlands focuses on a hero or two and their closest companions, between 4 and 8 people depending on their Ranks (Ranks are the way we determine general power level in RAW). Each player (yes, there will be several, if all works out), takes her little band into the Barrows, where they must deal with the inhabitants, inherent pitfalls (possibly literally) AND each other!

Obviously, a new "setting" for RAW takes some writing, so that is what I have been doing of late. You might have read some of the previous posts about Player Characters for RAW, etc. Well, that ties in with Into the Barrowlands. Of course, with a name like the Barrowlands, we should expect some undead - well Draugar, anyway. So that is what I want to show you today! Below you will find several different types of draugar, ranging in power level from the lowly Barrow Draug, to the Barrow Wight and Wraith. This is not a complete list, but it certainly is enough for you to start fielding hordes of draugar in your own games!

So let's get started:

Barrow Draug  - Follower (Allegiances: Draug)

Rank: Regular (0)

Race and Type: Undead Medium Infantry

Description: Barrowdraugar are the dregs of corpses, drawn from their uneasy rest by greater Draugar like Angantyr. They are not terribly powerful or robust, but they fear nothing, obey the commands of their ruler unquestioningly and attack any living thing they can reach.

Move 4”/Charge 1d6+4”

Defense: 12+1 / Shield

Health: 1

 Attacks: One of Sword, Axe, Spear or Bow, plus Saex

• Sword: Class 3, +1 to Hit, OK 17

• Axe: Class 2, +0 to Hit, OK 18

• Spear: Class 4, +0 to hit, OK 18

• Bow: Range +0 to Hit up to 12”/-2 to Hit up to 24,” OK 18

• Saex: Class 1, +0 to hit, OK 18

 Special

• Shield: Barrow Draugar do not benefit from the Shieldwall.

• Slow: Barrow Draugar have -2” Move, but still charge as normal, hungry for the feast.

• Fear: Undead cause fear. Living troops that are not Berserk or otherwise fearless attack at -1 and do not benefit from their charge bonus (even spearmen do not gain their +2).

• Barrow Draugar will not throw their spears, but can shoot bows if so equipped.

• Barrow Draugar can be summoned on the battlefield via the Spell: Summon Draug

Unhallowed - Follower (Allegiances: Draug)

Rank: Veteran (1)

Race and Type: Undead Medium Infantry

Description: Unhallowed are the remains of venerable warriors of the past, who were not given proper respect by their living descendants. They might have been left unburied on a battlefield, yet escaped the attentions of their families and the choosers of the slain. Or they might have been interred with all honor, but are now forgotten by the living. Because their memories have not been preserved beyond the barrow, most Unhallowed have forgotten all of what they were and merely hunger for the living.

Rank: Veteran normally have 2 Health, but the bones of the Unhallowed are comparatively fragile, and so they only have Health 1.  

Occasionally, a particularly evil warrior rises Unhallowed, with complete remembrance of who and what he was, but with his terrible tendencies magnified by his draugdom. In this way, Unhallowed Named Characters come to be. An Unhallowed Named Character can have 2 Health. See Uhtred, below for an example.

Move 4”/Charge 1d6+4”

Defense: 12+1 / Shield

Health: 1

 Attacks: One of Sword, Axe, Spear, plus Saex

• Sword: Class 3, +2 to Hit, OK 16

• Axe/ Mace: Class 2, +1 to Hit, OK 17

• Spear: Class 4, +1 to hit, OK 17

• Thrown Spear/ Axe, +2 up to 6”, +0 up to 12”, OK 16

• Great Axe: Class 3, +3 to Hit, OK 15

• Saex: Class 1, +1 to hit, OK 17

 Special

• Shield: Unhallowed do not benefit from the Shieldwall.

• Slow: Unhallowed have -2” Move, but still charge as normal, hungry for the feast.

• Fear: Undead cause fear. Living troops that are not Berserk or otherwise fearless attack at -1 and do not benefit from their charge bonus (even spearmen do not gain their +2).

• Unhallowed have sufficient remembrance of war that those so equipped may throw their spears or axes, fighting with saex thereafter.

Uhtred Thorstruck - Named Character (Allegiances: Draug)

Rank: Veteran (1)

Race and Type: Undead Medium Infantry

Description: Uhtred was a violent man with little regard for those who got between him and whatever he wanted. But he was fearless and skilled, and won a number of duels against those who brought lawsuits against him, making his name in the process. Finally, Uhtred crossed the wrong person, a galdr mage by the name of Wodhere, who swore vengeance for the killing of his daughter and her husband. Wodhere sought Uhtred out and blasted him with a bolt of lightning, killing him instantly. Alas, Wodhere was himself, slain before he could either bury Uhtred or destroy his remains entirely. And So Uhtred rose from the dead, his violent ways undimmed.

Move 4”/Charge 1d6+4”

Defense: 12+1 / Shield

Health: 2

 Attacks: One of Sword, Axe, Spear, plus Saex

• Sword: Class 3, +2 to Hit, OK 16

• Spear: Class 4, +1 to hit, OK 17

• Thrown Spear/ Axe, +2 up to 6”, +0 up to 12”, OK 16

• Saex: Class 1, +1 to hit, OK 17

 Special

• Shield: Uhtred can benefit from the Shieldwall.

• Slow: Unhallowed have -2” Move, but still charge as normal, hungry for the feast.

• Fear: Undead cause fear. Living troops that are not Berserk or otherwise fearless attack at -1 and do not benefit from their charge bonus (even spearmen do not gain their +2).

• Unhallowed have sufficient remembrance of war that those so equipped may throw their spears or axes, fighting with saex thereafter.

Barrow Wight - Named Character (Allegiances: Draug)

Occasionally, a powerful and evil human being, knowing that death is imminent, inters himself alive, awaiting the end, with the intent to return as a wight – a potent draug in full possession of whatever abilities he might have possessed when alive. Generally, such beings go into the barrow prepared for their transformation in every way they can, effectively creating a barrow that mirrors the master’s mead hall. Others sworn to the master might follow (and rise as Unhallowed), favored hounds (that return as Tomb Hounds), even friends or lovers (who return as Wights alongside the one who initiated the emtombment). Occasionally, the master or mistress of the Barrow Hall is a magician.

Rank: Elite (2)

Race and Type: Undead Heavy Infantry, Undead Light Mage

Description: Barrow WIghts are ALWAYS Named Characters. Use this write-up, but you may alter the wargear, weapons, or spells to suit the Description you devise.

Move 3”/Charge 1d6+2”

Defense: 15

Health: 2

 Attacks: One of Sword, Great Axe, plus Saex

• Sword: Class 3, +3 to Hit, OK 15

• Great Axe: Class 3, +4 to Hit, OK 14

• Saex: Class 1, +2 to hit, OK 16

 Special: Possibly a Mage of Rank 2

• Slow: Unhallowed have -2” Move, but still charge as normal, hungry for the feast.

• Fear: Undead cause fear. Living troops that are not Berserk or otherwise fearless attack at -1 and do not benefit from their charge bonus (even spearmen do not gain their +2).

• Spells (if appropriate): Two of: Alter Wyrd, Evil Eye, Snowstep, Steal Life, Summon Draug.

Wraith: Swordwraith and Magewraith

Occasionally, mortal malevolence outlives the body, even the corpse of the evil-doer, and it becomes a wraith. Wraiths are almost entirely without substance, but their attacks, whether the weapon of the swordwraith or the Spectral Touch of the Magewraith, are extremely dangerous to the living.

A swordwraith was once a living warrior of great skill and repute with a blade, somehow dragged to his current state rather than going on to Valhalla. A Swordwraith does not have Spectral Touch, instead attacking with the sword it carried in life.  The Magewraith is even more dire, adding the spellcraft of her living days to the dread power of the barrow.

Wraiths can be followers or Named Characters, but Magewraiths are always Named Characters.

Rank: Elite (2) Named Character or Follower

Race and Type: Undead Medium Infantry

Description: Wraiths can be Named Characters. If so, name the wraith and give it a background, making it a Swordwraith or Magewraith as appropriate.  

Move 4”/Charge 1d6+4”

Defense: 14, Incorporeal Challenge: Rank 2 vs To Hit roll*

Health: 2

 Attacks: Sword (if equipped) or Spectral Touch.

• Sword: Class 3, +3 to Hit, OK 15

• Spectral Touch: Class 1, Rank Challenge +2 to hit, No OK.

 Special: If Magewraith, then Mage Rank 2

* Incorporeal Challenge: A wraith’s incorporeal nature defeats some attacks. Make a Challenge, adding the Wraith’s Rank vs the Attack roll that hit. If the Challenge is successful, the attack does no damage. Note: Magic Weapons and Damage from spells, and any result of Outright Kill against a wraith cannot be challenged.  

• The Normal Move of a wraith is unaffected by walls, doors, or terrain that impedes movement. A wraith’s charge is affected normally by intervening terrain or barriers.

• Spectral Touch: The spectral talon of the wraith reaches through living flesh to drain the life of the target. Make a Rank Challenge against the Target’s Rank (instead of against Defense). On a success, do 1 Health in damage.

• Slow: Wraiths have -2” Move, but still charge as normal, hungry for the feast.

• Fear: Undead cause fear. Living troops that are not Berserk or otherwise fearless attack at -1 and do not benefit from their charge bonus (even spearmen do not gain their +2).

• Spells (if appropriate): Any two possessed in life, or chosen at random. Feel free to give them names more appropriate to a wraith.

Tomb Hounds (Followers)

Monster (Allegiances: Draugar)

Rank: Veteran (1)

Race and Type: Light Monster

Description: Hounds are not uncommonly sacrificed with their masters. Occasionally, these faithful creatures rise as their undead masters do.

Move: 10/Charge: 1d6+6”

Defense: 12

Health: 2

Attacks

• Bite: Class 1, +1 to Hit, OK 17

 Special

• Perceptive: A Tomb Hound has a +2 Bonus to its Rank when perceiving hidden enemy units or finding unknown items such as Victory Objectives that are items or places.

• Fear: Undead cause fear. Living troops that are not Berserk or otherwise fearless attack at -1 and do not benefit from their charge bonus (even spearmen do not gain their +2).

Spectral Beast (Follower)

Monster (Allegiances: Draugar)

Rank: Elite (1)

Race and Type: Light Monster (Large)

Description: A Spectral Beast is to a tomb hound as a wraith is to a barrow draug. Fast, deadly and incorporeal, it is no less deadly that the wraith that it serves.

Move: 10/Charge: 1d6+4”

Defense: 13

Health: 2

Attacks

• Spectral Bite: Class 1, Rank Challenge +2 to hit, No OK.

 Special

• Perceptive: A Spectral Beast has a +2 Bonus to its Rank when perceiving hidden enemy units or finding unknown items such as Victory Objectives that are items or places.

• Spectral Bite: Class 1, Rank Challenge +2 to hit, No OK.

* Incorporeal Challenge: A spectral beast’s incorporeal nature defeats some attacks. Make a Challenge, adding the beast’s Rank vs the Attack roll that hit. If the Challenge is successful, the attack does no damage. Note: Magic Weapons and Damage from spells, and any result of Outright Kill against a spectral beast cannot be challenged.  

• The Normal Move of a spectral beast is unaffected by walls, doors, or terrain that impedes movement. A wraith’s charge is affected normally by intervening terrain or barriers.

• Spectral Touch: The spectral talon of the wraith reaches through living flesh to drain the life of the target. Make a Rank Challenge against the Target’s Rank (instead of against Defense). On a success, do 1 Health in damage.

• Slow: have -2” Move, but still charge as normal, hungry for the feast.

• Fear: Undead cause fear. Living troops that are not Berserk or otherwise fearless attack at -1 and do not benefit from their charge bonus (even spearmen do not gain their +2).

Check back for more next week - After that, you will have to come by GenCon and try it out for yourself!!!!