Sunday, June 29, 2008

Barbarians: Gauls

"Their aspect is terrifying...They are very tall in stature, with rippling muscles under clear white skin. Their hair is blond, but not naturally so; they bleach it, to this day, artificially, washing it in lime and combing it back from their foreheads. They look like wood-demons, their hair thick and shaggy like a horses mane. Some of these are clean shaven, but others-especially those of high rank, shave their cheeks but leave a moustache that covers the whole mouth and, when they eat and drink, act like a sieve, trapping particles of food...The way they dress is astonishing: they wear brightly coloured and embroidered shirts, with trousers called bracae and cloaks fastened at the shoulder with a brooch, heavy in winter, light in summer. These cloaks are striped or checkered in design, with separate checks close together and of various colors.
---Diodorus Siculus
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The gallia comata-hairy Gaul-was the boogieman of the Roman world. Hannibal might be who Roman nannies threatened naughty children with, but Gauls be what adults talked about after the children went to bed. Gauls represented everything Romans did not want to see in themselves. They were passionate, excessive, chaotic and undisciplined. To make them more frightening they were savage warriors who wanted Roman lands. In fact the Gauls were, to the game's historical present, the only army ever to sack Rome herself in CCCLXVI a.u.c.

Much of what we know about Gauls comes from Julius Caesar's The Gallic War (Commentarii de Bello Gallo), which is unfortunate since it is a essentially war propaganda writen by an enemy general to justify his one of the most expensive wars in Roman history.
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Advantages: Normal HT score 11, Acute Smell and Taste, 1 point in the following skills: Survival: Woodlands (unless another terrain would be more appropriate), Naturalism, Tracking, Fishing, Intimidation, Weather sense and Herbalist.
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Disadvantages: Tech level 2, No written language (for a Gaul to learn how to read they must learn a foreign language to skill level 6 and pay for a 10-point literacy or 5 point semi-literacy advantage).
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Social Structure:

Status level -2: Outsiders (Gl namhaid) have no place in any tribe and therefore no kin to protect them. They can be killed without fear of reprisal. An outsider might be a foreigner living in Celtic territory or a Celt who has been rejected by his clan for some crime, allowing their war-chief to die in battle or being on the losing side of a power struggle. This is a -10 point disadvantage.

Status level -1: Thralls (Gl sclabhai)are slaves. They have no freedoms and must work for another, however their owner will protect them from harm and a penalty must be paid if they are killed. This is a -5 point disadvantage.

Status level 0: Tribesmen (Gl duime) are the balk of the Celtic population.

Status level 1: Druids (Gl draoithe, Ln druides) are the priests and priestess of Gallic society. They are specialists in natural world, law and moral order. They act as judges, mediators and ritualists. They officiate sacrifices (including, so it's said, human sacrifices). It is believed by many that they have magical powers. This class and this class only gets the following advantages at half price: animal empathy, beast-kin, plant empathy, tree-kin. This class has several sever restrictions, which if broken will lower the character to status level -2. This is a 5 point advantage.

Status level 1: Bards (Gl file) are knowledge specialists. Bards study poetry and lore, though have a broader area of expertise than is indicated by these restrictive categories. They train their memories from a young age and most have eidetic memory (this class and this class only can buy eidetic memory at half price). They are encyclopedias, libraries, propagandists, advocates and entertainers. This is a 5 point advantage.

Status level 2: Lord (Gl tiarna)are the ruling class among Celts. They look after the welfare of their people and maintain order and defense. Each lord is the leader of a community of between 300 and 700 free adult Gauls and can field an army of male warriors equal to 20% of the community (60 to 140 warriors). The lord also has 4 above average warriors as a personal body guard. This is a 10 point advantage.

Status level 3: Chieftain (Gl taoiseach)are lords who lead a community of between 600 and 1100 free Gauls, fielding an army of 20% of this total (120-220 warriors). In addition each chieftain commands the loyalty of between 4 and 8 lords. A chieftains bodyguard is made up of 5-15 fine warriors. This is a 15 point advantage.

Status level 4: King (Gl ri, Ln rix)are really just very powerful chieftains. A king leads a community of between 1000 and 1800 free Gauls, an army of 20% of this total (200-360 warriors), the loyalty of 5-10 chieftains and a bodyguard of between 20 and 40 excellent warriors. Thus the least powerful theoretical king can field an army of 2151 warriors and the most powerful can field an army of 4481 warriors (for comparison a typical Roman legion of this period is 5120 men). This is a 20 point advantage.

(Status level 5: High king usually there is no high king, but occasionally due to circumstances or unusual talent one King will gain the allegiance of 4 or more kings and becomes a high king. The high king leads a community of 2000-4000 free Gauls with 400-800 warriors and a body guard of 60-100 outstanding warriors. Vercingetorix is an example of a high King, so would Boudica and King Artur, though, being Britons, they are not technically Gauls. This is unavailable as an advantage)

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