Requires the use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3The Definition of a Mercenary . . . . . . . . 3Why Mercenaries? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 1: History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Mercenary Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Chapter 2: MercenaryCharacters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Mercenary Background . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Rank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Medals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Role-Playing Mercenaries . . . . . . . . . . . 25A Day in the Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Chapter 3: MercenaryCompanies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Creating a Mercenary Company . . . . . 30Leadership Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Recruiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Headquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Prestige . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Requisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Chapter 4: Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Advanced Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 5: Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Chapter 6: Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Existing Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Chapter 7: Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Morale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80The Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Chapter 8: Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Employer Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Pecuniary Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Social Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 9: Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Schools of Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102New Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Appendix A: AnnotatedBibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Generic Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Modern Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Futuristic Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Appendix B: Open GameLicense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Appendix C: Sample Contracts . . . . . . . 111Modern Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Futuristic Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Appendix D: Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

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CONTENTS

Mercenary. The term brings with a host ofimages. Soldier of fortune. Adventurer. Hiredkiller. The mercenary is all of these thingsand more.

This book provides rules for includingmercenaries in a modern d20 role-playinggame. It covers the Modern and Futuristic eras.The Modern era covers the Roaring Twenties,World Wars I and II, Viet Nam, and conflicts inSouth Africa, ranging from 1600 AD to 1990AD. The Futuristic era covers our current age,1990 AD and beyond. Why call our moderntimes futuristic? Because this is the rise of themercenary company as an international, effi-cient, and profitable organization.

Each era can be used in different settings.Modern campaigns can take place in a varietyof settings, such as the pulp 40s, the WildWest, tactical combat in sweltering hot spots ofthe world, or even the final solution to out ofcontrol super villains. Futuristic campaignscan involve aliens, espionage, post-apocalyp-tic, or the new age of secret warfare againstcyber-terrorism.

The Definition of a Mercenary

The established definition of a mercenaryin international law is set out in AdditionalProtocol 1 to Article 47 of the GenevaConvention (1949). A mercenary:

Is specially recruited locally or abroad inorder to fight in an armed conflict.

Takes part in the hostilities. Is motivated to take part in the hostilities

essentially by the desire for private gain. Is neither a national of a party to the con-

flict nor a resident of a territory controlled bya party to the conflict.

s not a member of the armed forces of aparty to the conflict.

Has not been sent by a state that is not aParty to the conflict on official duty as a mem-ber of its armed forces.

By 1989, proposals were made to expandupon just what constituted a mercenary. Theproposal gave a much more precise definition.A mercenary is any person who:

Is specially recruited locally or abroad inorder to fight in an armed conflict.

Is motivated to take part in the hostilitiesessentially by the desire for private gain and, infact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party tothe conflict, material compensation substan-tially in excess of that promised or paid tocombatants of similar rank and functions in thearmed forces of that party.

Is neither a national of a party to the con-flict nor a resident of territory controlled by aparty to the conflict.

Is not a member of the armed forces of aparty to the conflict.

Has not been sent by a State that is not aparty to the conflict on official duty as a mem-ber of its armed forces.

Is specially recruited locally or abroad forthe purpose of participating in a concerted actof violence aimed at: Overthrowing aGovernment or otherwise undermining theconstitutional order of a State; or Underminingthe territorial integrity of a State.

Is motivated to take part therein essen-tially by the desire for significant private gainand is prompted by the promise or payment ofmaterial compensation.

Is neither a national nor a resident of theState against which such an act is directed.

Has not been sent by a State on official duty. Is not a member of the armed forces of the

State on whose territory the act is undertaken.

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INTRODUCTION

For our purposes, the definition of a merce-nary will not be as clearly defined. Instead, mer-cenaries are defined as combatants who fight inreturn for some form of compensation in serviceto a country that is not their native homeland.

In other words, mercenaries are combat-ants that fight for money in foreign lands.

Why Mercenaries? There are a variety of reasons to use mer-

cenaries. For some, a show of physical mightis necessary to intimidate ones enemies. Useof mercenaries shows both political and fiscalpower. The mercenaries may not even have tofight; their mere presence is an indication ofthe power of their employer. Indeed, the mer-cenary makes a rich man a dangerous man.

Conversely, mercenaries might be hirednot to intimidate but to protect their employ-ers. Dictatorships and iron-fisted regimes arenotorious for hiring mercenaries, who are,sadly, the only ones they can trust.Mercenaries are neutral, without political affil-iation. When a dictator hires a mercenary, hecan be sure that as long as the money keepscoming, the mercenary will remain loyal.

Mercenaries are not likely to be bribed, as dic-tators are usually the richest in their country.Ultimately, mercenaries get involved when abattle of ideologies takes place; fanatics willdo whatever it takes to destroy the person whostands in their way, and that person is usually amercenary. Not every mercenary wants such alucrative, but ultimately very dangerous con-tract.

Finally, theres raw military might. Whencitizens dont want to go to war, mercenariesdo it for them. When rich citizens dont wantto go to war, many mercenaries do it for them.This is a double-edged sword of course; themore mercenaries there are, the more difficultit is to disband them when their task is com-pleted. And yet, mercenaries a fast way thatwealthy countries can supplement their mili-tary in times of need.

From a storytelling perspective, the basicnature of mercenaries lends itself to adventure.In fact, many mercenary companies arereferred to as adventuring companies for pre-cisely this reason. Mercenaries make for a veryexciting adventuring life, and heres why:

1. Mercenaries are eclectic. While thereare certainly mercenaries from a particularplace of origin, the very nature of mercenary

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companies encourages diversity. People joinfor their love of money, not their creed, reli-gion, or belief system. Mercenaries tend tocontain a colorful group of characters fromall walks of life, regardless of station, race,or homeland.

2. Mercenaries are not bound by some-one elses code. That is, mercenaries certainlycan follow their own code, but it wont be oneimposed upon them by external government orreligious forces. In fact, it is very difficult formercenaries to find work if they stick to a rigidcode of standards that precludes taking partic-ular jobs.

3. Mercenaries profit from politics, butthey are not directly involved in politics.That is, nations go to war; the mercenary justexecutes. The mercenary might even fight onboth sides, given the opportunity.

4. Mercenaries are loyal to each other.While they certainly are in it for the money, agroup that cannot trust each other is not aneffective fighting group. Individual mercenariesare rare and short-lived. Strength and numbersincreases a mercenarys chances of survival.

5. Mercenaries kill for money. This isusually the first thing other, more civilizedpeoples think of when they think of mercenar-ies. The reality is that money is the primarymotivating factor that gets a mercenaryinvolved but it is hardly the only thing.Money doesnt always come from a contracteither. It often involves looting corpses of thedefeated, or even allies of another group. Apicky mercenary is a poor mercenary.

6. Mercenaries get the job done.Incompetent mercenaries die a bloody death.Therefore, capable, charismatic leaders leadsuccessful mercenary companies. They areusually more cultivated than their detractorsgive them credit. A sophisticated mercenaryspeaks several languages and knows the cus-toms of the lands hes in.

There are downsides, however.1. Mercenaries fight for money.

Mercenaries arent in it for a cause. Theyre init because it pays. And it better pay well, or

2. Mercenaries might renegotiate theirpay. When the going gets tough, the toughrenegotiate. After all, if a mercenary companyis suffering heavy losses, recruiting more men,arms, and equipment will cost money.

3. Mercenaries switch sides. With no realcause to guide them, mercenaries do what theywant, when they want. Sometimes, it may bemore profitable to betray their current employ-er. Although this is rare, its certainly possible.

4. Mercenaries are selfish. They are notinterested in keeping their employer alive,unless they were paid to do precisely that.Therefore, mercenaries are the first in whenmoneys to be had, and the first out whenthings get bad. Mercenaries want to live toenjoy their pay and are not willing to makeneedless (albeit possibly heroic) sacrifices onbehalf of their employer.

Chances are, mercenaries have beenencountered in an adventuring campaign in oneform or another. Every time a bunch of guys gettogether to go fight for adventure, glory, andmost of all money, theyre acting in an age-oldtradition. The tradition of the mercenary.

A WORD ABOUTAUTHENTICITY

Although The Modern: MercenaryManual follows the history of mercenariesthroughout time and even into the future, itis by no means a substitute for actual his-tory books. When convenient, variousaspects of history have been tweaked.

Similarly, the exploits of modern-daymercenaries have inspired tales of swash-buckling and daring as well as violenceand brutality. Some of those mercenariesare still alive today. It is out of respect forthese men that this book only mentionsthem directly in the timeline. All othercharacters are fictionalized.

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