CASTLE OLDSKULL – Captains of the Scarlet Tabard is a role playing game supplement written and published by Kent David Kelly. It is aimed at older versions of the Dungeons & Dragons game and, as such, is covered by the Open Game License with some parts considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
The supplement is available from DriveThruRPG as a 47 page Pay What You Want PDF. One page is the front cover, two pages are the front matter, one page is About the Author and two and a half pages are the Open Game License.
The Description explains that the supplement is a sequel to The Order of the Scarlet Tabard and was written to honour those who purchased the Castle Oldskull Bundle of Holding deal.
Grimmest Resolution, Improbable Glory: A Brief History of the Order is, as it says, a history of the order. It starts back to the Empyrean Age – the setting’s version of the Roman Empire, and how gods of other regions banded together to cripple the empire. The empire eventually fractured and legions within the area became known as “federated” legions of pure-blooded natives and “scarlet” legions made of outside warriors. The city-states that succeeded the empire fought to the point of exhaustion.
Then the Chaos Plague happened (Oldskull Plague Doctors is referenced here) and how the Free City of Grimrook stood as a bastion (Game World Generator, Deluxe Edition is referenced for more details). Grimrook’s position near to a planar nexus (Oldskull Trolls is referenced here) made it unique. Grimrook came under attack by various fire-based creatures, led by a demon and a dragon, and the leader of Grimrook’s legions fought them, killing the demon. He was injured in the process and, afterwards, wanted to leave the Overlord’s service. Some bargaining resulted in the formation of the Scarlet Tabard as an independent, yet beholden to Grimrook, mercenary force.
The Magnitude of the Order has the general size of the order. The Nature of the Order is the principles and standards of the order and their soldiers. Paradoxes of Faith: Reputation and Code of the Order goes into the order’s code. The Nature of the Order has what benefits members of the order get from Grimrook, as well as things that are and aren’t allowed. Paradoxes of Faith: Reputation and Code of the Order goes into the order’s code again, and what it means for members of the order and those that hire them.
Three Sides to the Spearhead: Experience Classification of Order Soldiers has different types of members, including non-combat, one of which is essentially ineligible for hiring by PCs unless they are doing something far safer than normal. Then there are details on different classes of soldier that can be hired, and rates of pay for these. Officers of the order may also be hired under certain situations; they are more experienced and will command units. Units themselves in land battles are also considered.
Finally, Goodly Men and Women of Renown: The Great Captains of the Order covers a number of NPC captains in more detail. They are more expensive to hire, are more skilled and have more abilities.
CASTLE OLDSKULL – Captains of the Scarlet Tabard in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of black and white and colour illustrations, both stock and public domain. Presentation is okay.
Unlike The Order of the Scarlet Tabard, this contains rather more detail, rather than being a list of very briefly details NPCs that are not much more than a stat block. There is extensive background on the order (which admittedly won’t transfer easily to another campaign setting) as well as details on how the order operates, what it will and won’t do, costs and types of hirelings that can be employed, as well as several more detailed NPCs. Bar the previously mentioned bit, the rest should transfer pretty easily to another setting. CASTLE OLDSKULL – Captains of the Scarlet Tabard is a decent supplement on an interesting group of hirelings and it can be found by clicking here.
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