1836 - Half Finished Game

 I started work on this late last year as I was reading The Sabres of Paradise - Lesley Blanch (which is great). I'm never going to finish this but there might be stuff you want to loot. Enjoy

1836

The Mission

You play as hand-picked soldiers of the British Empire. You are attempting to forge a path
through the Caucasus Mountains to meet with the Imam Shamil, delivering weapons and
supplies to support their war against the Russian Empire.

Characters

Most humans have 4 HP.

Saves

Characters have 3 saves. Each of these is equal to 7+1d6.

The saves are:

Reflex - used for reaction and dodging.

Physique - used for strength and toughness.

Will - used for mental fortitude and bravery.

The rules will call for these to be tested. To do so, attempt to roll under them on a d20.
Rolling above the value is a failure.

Roles

Select one of the following.

1.Trooper - Begins with 5HP and has a +1 Duel modifier.

2.Sharpshooter - May negate any one factor halving the Accuracy of a ranged weapon.

3.Surgeon - Using one dose of medicine, may heal a character by 1d6 over the course of an hour.

4.Cavalry - May reroll one or both dice used for Horsemanship checks.

5.Officer - Adds +1 to Morale tests for Group Combat and improves Will of allies by +1.

6.Engineer - 

Troopers begin with a Musket, a Bayonet, a Knife, Ammunition and Tent & Sundry.

Sharpshooters begin with a Rifle, a Knife, Ammunition and Tent & Sundry.

Surgeons begin with a Musket, a Bayonet, a Knife, Medicine, Ammunition and Tent & Sundry.

Cavalry begin with a Carbine, a Sword, a Warhorse, Ammunition and Tent & Sundry.

Officers begin with a two Pistols, a Sword, a Warhorse, Ammunition and Tent & Sundry.

Engineers begin with

Equipment

Encumbrance

Items take up slots according to how cumbersome they are.  Humans take up 4 slots.

Humans may carry 6 slots, assuming the use of a pack - without a pack, only 4 slots may be carried.
This includes items held and worn. Exceeding this causes Exhaustion.
Exhaustion causes all rolls to be made twice, selecting the worse result. 

Items have Value which is used in the case of exchange. Value will change depending on local conditions.

Supply	Slots	Value	Notes
Rations	2	4	Feeds 1 human for 1 week. Spoils if wet.
Animal Feed	1	3	Feeds 1 animal for 1 week. Spoils if wet.
Water Rations.	2	2	Hydrates 1 human or animal for 1 week.
Spirits	1	8	Improves morale if consumed.
Beer	2	6	Improves morale if consumed.
Medicine	1	20	Enough for 3 doses.
Gold	1	25	May cause issues with desertion.
Opium	1	15	May cause issues with abuse.
Tea	2	12	Improves morale if consumed.
Chocolate	1	12	Improves morale if consumed.
Coffee	1	12	Improves morale if consumed.
Furs	2	10	Can be harvested or turned into makeshift Cold Weather Clothes with no value.
Cold Weather Clothes	1	8	Provides +1 bonus to Physique saves related to the elements.
Ammunition	1	10	Enough for one man to fight two battles OR enough to forage for food for a week.
Tent & Sundry	2	5	Equipment needed to set up a tent for one.

Animal	Slots Carried	Value	Horsemanship Bonus	Surefootedness	Notes
Mule	20	15	+1	2+	Requires a horsemanship roll to cajole into danger.
Pack Horse	18	12	+0	3+
Warhorse	12	20	+2	4+	Ignores gunfire.

Ranged Weapon	Accuracy	Reload	Slots	Value
Rifle	16	5 rounds	2	15
Musket	14	3 rounds	2	12
Carbine	12	2 rounds	1	12
Pistol	10	1 round	1	10
Bow	10	None	1	6
Knife	8	None	0	1
Rock	6	None	0	0
Cannon*	6	6 Rounds	15	50

Cannons do not deal d6 damage - those struck must roll a Reflex save.
Those failing are killed outright, whilst those succeeding have a random limb torn
off by a cannonball. Cannons must be unloaded to be moved.

Weapons	Duel Bonus	Slots	Value
Bayonet†	0	0	0
Sword	+2	1	8
Knife	+1	0	1
Club	-1	1	0
Gun	-2	-	-
Loaded Pistol*	+4	1	10
Lance**	+2	2	10

† Bayonets get a +2 Duel Bonus against cavalry

*Pistols are fired regardless of success.

** Lances may only be used whilst Charging on Horseback.

Travel

Travel across the Caucasus is dangerous and gruelling. 

Travel is grouped into days and nights. One block of terrain may be travelled in one of these periods. 

Travelling day and night concurrently causes Exhaustion.

Going without food or water for a day causes Exhaustion.
Going without water for three days causes death, as does going without food for a week.

After a week of Travel, roll 2d6 for each animal in the party, comparing the result to the
Surefootedness score of the animal. The Surefootedness score is modified by the
largest modifier from terrain in the journey. 
A value below that indicated represents that the animal has become lame, and cannot travel any further.

Complications

Per period travelled, the following Complications should be checked for.
Terrain and local conditions will modify these rolls.

• Navigation - roll 2d6 and apply any modifiers.
• 
  

  Rolling 5+ means the route is followed. Rolling below this means the party is Lost.

• Disease - roll 1d6 and apply any modifiers.
• 
  

  On a 6+ all members of the party must make a Physique Save, with those failing contracting an appropriate illness.

• Encounter - roll 2d6 and apply any modifiers.
• 
  

  On a 10+ an encounter occurs - use the Random Encounter tables and the Encounter rules to proceed.

Opportunities

In addition to the complications, parties may opt to spend time on the following.
For each Opportunity being attempted, add +1 to the Encounter roll as outlined above.

• Foraging - roll 2d6 and apply any modifiers.
• 
  

  Rolling 5+ means the animals have found sufficient food to graze and feed themselves. 

  Rolling 7+ means the party has successfully foraged and hunted for provisions - enough to feed the caravan.

  Only one foraging attempt needs to be successful per day/night cycle to gain either of these benefits.

• Water - roll 2d6 and apply any modifiers.
• 
  

  Rolling 6+ means the party has successfully found potable water - enough to water the party and animals.

  
  

   Only one search for water needs to be successful per day/night cycle to gain this benefit.  

  If potable water is not found, dirty water can be drunk to avoid exhaustion - this gives a +2 modifier to the Disease roll.

  
  

Terrain

Terrain modifies both of the procedures above, as summarised in the tables provided below.
Any of the other terrain types can be Forested - simply summate the modifiers to give a final score. 

Terrain	Navigation	Disease	Encounter	Foraging	Water	Surefootedness
High Mountains	+2	+0	-2	-2	+2	+1
Middle Mountains	+1	+0	-1	-1	+2	+1
Low Mountains	+0	+0	+0	-1	+2	+1
Foothills	-1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+0
Valley	-1	+1	+2	+2	+1	+1
Plains	+0	+1	+2	+2	+1	+0
Forested	-2	+1	+2	+2	+1	+1

Terrain in a journey can be randomly generated. For each period of travel, use the previous terrain type
to determine what type of terrain lies ahead by rolling a d6 and consulting the table below.
Additionally, for each item of terrain, roll a d6 - if higher than the number given in the Forest? Column, the terrain is significantly Forested.

Terrain	1	2	3	4	5	6	Forest?
High Mntns	High Mntns	High Mntns	High Mntns	Middle Mntns	Middle Mntns	Middle Mntns	6+
Middle Mntns	Middle Mntns	Middle Mntns	Low Mntns	Low Mntns	High Mntns	High Mntns	5+
Low Mntns	Low Mntns	Low Mntns	Valley	Foothills	Middle Mntns	Middle Mntns	4+
Foothills	Foothills	Foothills	Low Mntns	Low Mntns	Valley	Plains	4+
Valley	Valley	Valley	Valley	Low Mntns	Low Mntns	Foothills	2+
Plains	Plains	Plains	Foothills	Foothills	Foothills	Valley	2+

Weather

Night makes navigation & foraging harder

Horsemanship

Horses (and related animals) are liable to panic under certain conditions.
When this occurs, a Horsemanship check is called for. Roll 2d6 and consult the table below.

2d6	Result
2-3	Horse rears - rider thrown. Roll damage. Additionally, horse flees, t rampling and kicking those unable to roll a Reflex save.
4-6	Horse spooked - attempts to flee from the stimuli.
7-8	Horse skittish. Shies away from source, but remains steady.
9-11	Horse controlled.
12+	Horse emboldened. +2 to Horsemanship rolls involving this stimuli.

Stimuli which cause horses to panic include:

• Wild animals
• Gunfire
• Fire

The Caravan

The caravan consists of nine Soldiers and one Officer. This includes the player characters.
The roles of soldiers not being played is determined as needed. 

Soldiers not being played have a Musket, Bayonet, Ammunition and Tent & Sundry.

Officers not being played have a Carbine, Pistol, Sword, Riding Horse, Ammunition and Tent & Sundry.

The caravan has nine mules.

• Mule one - Desmond - has ten Rations.
• Mule two - Roger - has ten Rations.
• Mule three - Queenie - has ten Water Rations
• Mule four - Andrew-  has ten Animal Feed and ten Ammunition.
• Mule five - Mary -  has ten Medicine and ten Ammunition.
• Mule six - Claude - has five Gold, five Spirits and five Beer.
• Mule seven - Alice - has ten Coffee and ten Chocolate.
• Mule eight - Sharon - has a Cannon and five Ammunition.
• Mule nine - Tuesday - has a Cannon and five Ammunition

Morale Management

Trade

Encounters

Surprise

Reaction

Where the reaction of a group to the party is uncertain, use the chart below to determine.
If the party has a reputation with this or a related group, it should modify this roll accordingly.

2d6	Result
2	Hostile. If conditions favourable, may engage in combat.
3-5	Negative. Refusal of contact, outright rudeness.
6-8	Neutral. Wary, cautious.
9-11	Positive. Offering to trade.
12+	Enthusiastic. Very willing to help.

Combat

Shooting

To shoot, select a target and then check the following list. All effects are cumulative.

• If the target is distant, halve the Accuracy of the weapon.
• If the target is in cover, halve the Accuracy of the weapon.
• If the weather is inclement, halve the Accuracy of the weapon.
• Add any modifiers to Accuracy.

To hit, roll equal to or below this modified number on 1d20. On a success, roll damage.

Melee

In a melee, both combatants roll 1d20 and add any Duel modifiers.
The highest result wins. The winner may roll damage.

Those charging into a melee may add +2 to the roll.

Cavalry fighting infantry may add +4 to the roll. 

Damage

All weapons deal 1d6 damage, which is subtracted from the targets HP.

• At 0HP, creatures are injured.
• 
  

  If they perform an action which requires dice rolling, they should roll them twice and take  

  the worse result.

• At -1HP, creatures are dying over 1d6 rounds.
• 
  

  Characters may make a Will save to instead be unconscious.

• At -2HP and less, the creature is dead.

Mass Combat

Shooting

Melee

The Caucasus

caspian tiger

persian leopard

asiatic wildcat

tamed cheetah

bears

wolves

bison

boar

goat

russians

cossacks