than one of Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidilte, thenl'dch of those skills rereives the bonus, butPerfonn (oriltory) only gilins the bonus on~, nomatter how many of those skills the C(lValier hdsranks in.

Order Abilities: An order of the goldenhelm cavalierrereives the following i1bilitieS<lshe incre.1ses in level.

GkJrioo$ Resilience (Ex): Beginning al 2Ild1l'Yt'i, an order of the golden helm C<lV(llierrecei\...-s a number ofglory points each dayequalto 3 + his Charisma modifier. He can spend theseglory points (as weD as those granted by hischalle~) as an immediate action 10 gain a +1bonus to AC OT to a s.r.ing throw of his choke(Fortitude, Reflex, or Will). 1he cavalier mUSIdedaIe that he inlends 10 use this ability beforelearning the result of Iheattack roll if the bonusis to AC, or before rolling his 50J'0'ing Ihrow if thebonus is toa s.Mng throw. 1he benefillastS untilthe beginning of his next tum. The bonusgranled increases by +1 per fourc:av.ilier leYds he~ (toa maximum of +Sat 2OIhleYd).Acon-alil'!" cillWOl spend more than one glory pointin agi\~ round. so a cavalil'!"whoalreadyspenra glory point to gain a bonus on an attack roll, forexample, oou1d tIOI spend a glory point 10

~ hisAC until the~ngofhis nrxtrum.

Glorioos Strike (Ez): Beginningal &h leYd,an order of the golden helm cavalier can spend 4glory points and make a single melee attack as astandard actiolL If lhe attack hits, lhe ~rget:

must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + 1/1 thec.wali.er's I~'l"l + the cavaliel's Charisma bonus)or be dazed fortd4+1 rounds.

Glorious Success (Ez): Beginning at 15thleYd, an order ofthe golden helm CilValiercanspend a glory point as a swift action to gain amorale bonus equal to his Charisma score 10 thenext skill check he makes that round.Additionally, the order of the golden helmcavalier gains 1 glory points whenever he slilYS orsubdues the target of his challenge. These glorypoints remain until they are spent or umil thenext day, when the cavalier gains new glorypoints for the day.

The order of the iron bl.lde is l'dsily thelMgest brandt of the lmights of the crucible, andin many ....<I}'S, it is the one that is most likely tohave an effect on the peasants, townsfolk, andother citizens of the various realms in whichthey operate. Overall, the order of the iron blddefunctions as a standing army, but one not:

beholden to any single crown or country, instl'dddedicated toserving the gteatergood. They putup forts and strongholds anywhere thai ishe.Mly troubled (and where the local popu~....'t'lromes such attention), and generally make ittheir mission to push bad the darkness, andbring civilization,~, and order to every inchof the ",'Odd. As a result, their main function isto put a srop to banditry and otheT threats (suchas ",-andtruig monsters) ",fuch plague thewildiIJl'as of the ....,orld.

Initiation: Joining the order of the ironblade is not a difficult task.. By its "'ery nature,this branch of the lmights of the crucible isal.....ays looking to expand. This constantexpansion means that the order is also al.....ays inneed ofnew reauits, and ~'eIl though it 1"l"Cei\...-sa sready sueam ofwl.unteeJS, it chen finds itsganisons undermanned. No special skills areneeded to join: the order has drillmasters .....hocan teach t"Yl'II the~ fanner .....hich end ofa sv.md OTsp&lT to stick in their roes. AlIlhdt'srequired is a willingness 10 rouow orders.

Anyadult ofsound mind and body can signup to join the order at any ortheir ganisons orforts, and it's not unconunon forthe order 10

acl:iwly send recruiters to lowns and cities in Ihehopes ofcoIWincing people to join up. When acharacter joins the order, he essentially signs arontTilct, and is bound to remain in servi~ 10

the order forthe duration of the rontract. TheserontTilcts (solIll'times referred toas a M tour ofduty,~or a ~stay; within the order), are never forless thdn a year, and can be for one year, twoyears, five years, or ten years.

Because the knights of the crucible spansseveral na.tions, and can't rely on the authorityofany given crown, they do not treat deserters the

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samewaythat most annies do. Theydo not, as ageneral rule, execute deserters, nor do theytypically even go through the trouble ofcapturing them, usually simply letting them go.The real way that they keep their men fromdeserting is through their pdy: until an ordermember's term of service is complete, hereceives almost nothing in the way of pay,receiving the bulk only after he has completedhis stay. Since deserters forfeit the pay that hadbeen being reserve<! until the end of their tenn,relatively few leave early.

Daily Life: The order of the iron blade,even more than the other two branches of theknights of the crucible, isa militaryorganization, and life in the order is a militarylife. Order members drill and practice, theystand guard, and, most of all, they patrol thearea around the place where they are stationed.

The average order of the iron blade garrisonis a crude affair, with a wooden palisadesurrounding a yard, a few scattered barracks, astable, and a command tower, all also made ofwood. Garrisons that have been around for sometime are often eventually upgraded to stonestructures, but it can be decades before thisoccurs. Each garrison holds somewhere from200 to 1,000 men, depending on the region, theamount of expected difficulty, and howundennanned the order currently is. Eachgarrison is responsible for protecting andmaintaining the peace in the surrounding area,usually for something like an area of 20 miles ineach direction, but possibly as much as 50 miles,or, in areas where the order is particularly sparse,perhaps as much as 100 miles. These areassometimes overlap with those of other garrisons.

Members of a specific garrison are generallytrained in teams of4 to 8 members, who ".,'orkand operate together. Patrols through theterritory the garrison covers follow a setschedule, and teams are sent on patrols throughspecific areas. Some garrison commanders try tohave each team go to the same area over andover, in order to better learn its ins and outs,while other garrison commanders prefer eachteam is somewhat familiar with the whole

territory, and deliberately rotate teams throughthe areas.

In addition to regular patrols, if a garrisoncommander receives word of a specific incidentthat requires theorder'sattention (banditattacks in a particular area, for example, oraninvading army), hewill send one or more teamsto deal with the situation, depending on whatthe situation warrants.

For the most part, the order treats the livesof outlaws and bandits as forfeit, and theywillnot go out of their way to offer a chance tosurrender, though they will typically accept asurrender, ifoffered. In places where the order isnear civilization, they become more lenient inthis regard, taking prisoners to nearbyauthorities to be properly imprisoned and tried.If the garrison is in the wilderness, however, or ifthe local authorities are not willing to work withthe order (perhaps because it is those authoritiesthat the order is ",nrking against, and they areanunjust and tyrannical authority), then they arefar more likely to simply kill outlaW'S, especial.lyif the garrison they are working out of does nothave much in the wayof a prison. In such cases,it isn't uncommon for those who havesurrendered to be returned to the garrison for aquick trial and execUtiOfL

Luckily, the order does not attempt toreplace the local law enforcement authorities,whatever they may be, in the area they operate.Local peasants accused of theft, or, for the mostpart, even murder, need not fear that the orderwill come breaking down their door.

Leadership: The order of the iron blade isthe best organized of the three branches oftheknights of the crucible, having a singlecommand structure that extends all the wayfrom the lord commander, a position currentlyheld by Sir ThOIIlilS Blackburn (human cavalier16), all the waydown to the team leaders ofeachand every patrol team. In essence, the variousregional commanders, each ofwhich oversees ahuge region, usually several hundred or even athousand miles across, each anS'M'r to the lordcommander. Answering to the regional

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coUlllldnders, each of which oversees a hugeregion, usually several hundred or even athousand miles across, each anS'M'r to the lordcoUlllldnder. Answering to the regionalcoUlllldnders are regional-subcommanders, ofwhich there are usually four or five for eachregion, and who oversee specific sub-regionswithin a given region. These have lieutenant­subcoffilnanders, who oversee somewherebetween five and eight garrisons, each ofwhichhas a garrison commander. The men in thegarrison are generally divided into four or fivecompanies, which are further subdivided untilone reaches the individual teams.

Each team has a single team leader, who isresponsible for making any decisions that needto be made while on a patrol. Though the teamleader is encouraged to receive input from otherteam members on such decisions, whenappropriate, all members of the team areexpected to defer to the team leader and abideby his decisions. The position of team leader isvery temporary, and it is not uncommon for it tochange between patrols, especially if the team'ssuperior feels that one member of the team willbe particularly well-suited to make decisionsabout a particular aspect of the mission (forexample, a ranger might be more likely to beteam leader on a mission to hunt down bandits,while a cleric would be more likely to be teamleader on a mission to track down the lair of anevil rult, and a druid would be the most likelyteam leader to investigate why there have beenso manywolf attacks in a certain area lately).

As a military organization, the order ofthecrucible frowns on insubordination, and is notabove imprisoning or, in some cases, evenexecuting those who fly in the face ofcoUlllldnds, if their insubordination takes thefonn of something that would brand them anoutlaw.

In the Game

The order of the iron blade is generally astabilizing force anywhere it goes, bringingrelative peace and quiet. In many ways, this is

anathema to the average adventuring party,whose members not only thrive on chaos andstrife as the source of their adventures, but alsotend to create it in their wake. Despite this, andin some ways because of it, the order of the ironblade can add a lot of richness and depth to acampaign, whether the pes are members of theorder, or not.

Player Cha:racters in the Order: On thesurface, the order ofthe iron blade seems a littletoo rigid and militaristic to bea goodorganization for Pes, denying them the freedomthey need to go on exciting adventures. Further,the relatively localized nature of the order meansthat it's unlikely that any PC members will betravelling to far-off and distant lands in theirvarious adventures.

Ifonly one member of the party is amember of the order, this can certainly be true.The rigid, military lifestyle described aboveleaves little time (or, for that matter, inclination)to go on further adventures, especially withpeople who aren't members of the order. On theother hand, not all gilITisons are created equal,and it's possible that the garrison where thispartirularcharacter is based in is more relaxedabout such things, instead allowing its membersto patrol thearea as they please. For that matter,the garrison might have fallen or been destroyed,or the PC might bea sort of "one-man garrison:

lI...p: • c.~ Stod: PbotD lD<. I e-m.

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sent ahead or into an area that the order can't orwon't properly occupy; and taking it uponthemselves (with the aid ofother adventurers) toprotect the area.

If the entire party is comprised of membersof the order, then a campaign becomes muchI'dsier. The Pes area team unto themselves (ifyou prefer, there can be NPCs in the tl'dIIl, aswell, but that might complicate things). Theadventures that they go on generally begin onpatrol: the party might see a set of huge animaltracks, and have to follow them to hunt down adangerous predator, who may be Iairing in adeepdungl'On. Or the PCS might be sent to dealwith bandits in thearea, etc. As time goes on,and the PCS eliminate various threats, they canwatch as nl'drbytowns prosper and grow, roadsget paved, more trade comes through the arl'd,and the wilderness frontier that they werestationed at grmvs to become a peaceful,civilized area. TIlls sort of campaign shouldprovide them with plenty of places, people, andthings that they can grow attached to, who theycan watch grow and change, and who canoccasionally be threatened. Ifdone right, thiscan be a very rl'Wilrding kind ofcampaign.

Similarly, the order is large enough to act asa kind of anny, and has done so before. Ifone ormore of the PCs is stationed in a garrison on theborder of two nations, it might be in a primeplace for the Pes to get involved in stopping awar ofaggression as one side tries to invade theother. Alternatively, a coup might lead to a tyrant(or even a demon or dragon) on the throne of thePCs' nation, and the national annies suddenlybecome the enemy of the local man. In suchtrying times, the order wouldn't refuse help fromable-bodied adventurers, even if they do refuseto join, and the PC member of the order mightbe appointed as an official liaison with the rest ofthe party, for eXdIllple.

The Order As NPCs: If the PCs aren'tmembers of the order, then the order of the ironblade may serve as useful allies, or they mayinstl'dd be enemies, depending on the PCs'actions. Most adventuring parties, at some pointor another, find themselves on the wrong side of

the law, and as a result, they may wind upmaking themselves enemies of the order. Ofcourse, they also tend to bewell-ml'dning, andwill likely be trying to fight the same sort ofevilsthat the order is fighting.

As allies, the order will likely serveprimarily as a SOUTee of information. The order isalways on the lookout for dangers and threats inthe arl'd, and can't always handle them on itsown. While they often call upon the order of thegolden helm for aid in these Cd51'S, no garrisoncolT1IIldnder in his right mind is likely to tumdown adventurers who want to take a stab at thelocal dragon, and so PCs might stop by thegarrison to find out if there's anything that needsheroes in the area. If the PCsaren't from thelocal area, and are just passing through, thesegarrisons also serve as a great place to find out alittle bit about the local wilderness, and manyhave an inn or some other fonn of hospitality fortravelers, as well, either run by the garrison, orelse by an ambitious third party, who wants totake advantage of the safety the fortressprovides.

The order can also serve as back-up for thePCs, if they can convince the local garrisoncolT1IIldnder to trust them, and they have need oflarger numbers of troops, for whatever reason. Ifthe Pes find themselves needing to quarantine atown to keep a zombie or plague infestationfrom spreading, for example, the order of theiron blade will be there-provided the PCs canoffer proof of their claims. Similarly, the ordermight "I-urk in tangent with the party, assaultinga particularly large bandit camp while the PCsact dSan elite force, using the chaos to slip in tothe bandits' half-giant leader and take him outof the fight.

Ofcourse, if the PCs are scofflaws, then theorder can prove to be a truly implacable enemy.Because the order is a single, unifiedorganization, they are able to spread word oftheir encounters with the party. And becausethey cover such large expanses of territory, it'sentirely possible that the fugitive PCS will bewanted criminals owr an entire continent,instl'dd of just a single kingdom, or, more likely,

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a single town, as most such organizations tend tobe confined to. TIlls can make the order arecurring foil for the PCs, which can either makefor a series of fun adventures as they mustconstantly stay one step ahead of the law whiledoing whatever it is they do, or can serve as apotent warning that actions have consequences(in which case the PCs should be able to deartheir names by turning themselves in, beinghanded over to some other kind ofauthority,and allowed to pay a fine orserve a relativelyshort prison tenn, unless you want the campaignto end). To better personalize things, one singlemember of the order might make it his personalgoal to see the PCS brought to justice, and hemight follow after them, working in tangent withthe local garrison to hunt them down.

Ofcourse, it's also possible that the Pesmight run afoul of the order without actuallydoing anything to deserve it. Their enemiesmight spread slanderous tales about them, orthere might simply bea misunderstanding as apatrol stumbles across the Pes' camp, both sidesmistake the other for bandits, and before longblades are drawn and things go downhill fromthere. The Pes might not find out that thepeople they killed were members of the orderuntil after the survivors have fled to the localgarrison and returned with backup.

Archetypes

The following section provides two newarchetypes and one new cavalier order. Whilethese archetypes are designed for characters whobelong to the order, not all members of the orderwho belong to these classes necessarily takethese archetypes, nor are all characters who havethese archetypes members of the order. Acharacter might have been trained in fighting bythe order, and then left, taking their skills andfighting style with them, forexarnple.

Iron Blade Legionnaire (Fighter

Archetype)

The iron blade legionnaires are the rankand file of the order of the iron blade, and, as

such, make up the largest group of individuals inthe entire order of the crucible. It is these braveand stalwart soldiers who man thewalls of thevarious fortresses and keeps that the order erectsand uses as bases of operations in thecountryside, and it is they who routinely patrolthe king's highways and other major roads insearch of bandits and other dangers, and, in therare times when the order needs to mobilize forwar, it is the iron blade legionnaires who makeup the bulk of itsannies.

Skills: An iron blade legionnaire addsKnowledge (local) (Int) and Perception (Wis) tohis list ofclass skills, but does not countKnowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) or Knowledge(engineering) (lnt) among his class skills.

Dedicated (Ex): Beginning at znd level, aniron blade legionnaire gainsa +I bonus on Willsaves against chann effects. TIlls bonus increasesby +I for every four levels after ;md. TIlls abilityreplaces bravery.

Iron Blade's Quarry (Ex): Beginning at 5thlevel, an iron blade legionnaire can, as a swiftaction, declare a single CJeaturewithin 60 feet tobe his quarry. He gains a +I morale bonus toattack rolls and a +2 morale bonus to damagerolls made against his quarry, as well as a +2

morale bonus on Perception and Sense motivechecks made against his quarry, and on Survivalchecks made to track his quarry. These bonusesincrease at 9th level and every four levelsthereafter, granting an additional +I to attackrolls and an additional +2 to damage, Perception,Sense MotiVl:' and Survival.

An iron blade legionnaire can have only onequarry at a time. Once he has named a creatureas his quarry, that creature remains his quarryindefinitely. Ifhis quarry is slain or otherwisesubdued, he can choose to "dismiss" the quarryasa free action, at which point he can declare anew quarry as a swift action, as normal.Otherwise he must spend a full-round action tomentally "let go" of his old quarry in order to beable to select a new one.

At lOth level, an iron blade legionnaire

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automatically collfil1ns any critical threats madeagainst the target of his quarry, and these criticalhits have theircritkal multiplier increased by I

(JU becomes X), foreX<\mple),

1bis ability replaces weapon training andweapon mastery.

Iron Reeve (Ranger Archetype)

Iron tee'\ll!'S are Ihe elite trackers andspeci.ilisr:s ofthe order of lhe iron blade, andgeneraUy serve <U SCOUls and guides, lJnlike mostrangers, theydo not train themsem in magicalarts, and do not rue animals <U companions,choosing loconquer the wilderness rather thanembract' it.. 1beyare the scourge of bandits andoutlaws l"'o"'rywhere, and are also instrumentalin helping 10 track down dangerous "'i1d bNsts.

An iron tee\~ does not gain spellcasring.

Trapfindjng (Ell): Beginning at 3rd l~. aslong <U an iron tee\~ is in one of his~terrains, headds 1/1 his class leYd onallPetcepOon chedcs mMIe to find traps. 1bisbonus stacks with the +2 bonus granted by thefilVO~ tenain ddSS feature,

Alert Allies (Ell): At 4th leYd. an iron tee\~

is able 10 effonless1y keep his aUies apprisai ofdangers. As long <U the iron~ is in one of hisfavo~ lerrains, he grants all allies d}<ll can SlOe

him and arewithin 60 feel ofhim a +2 bonus torheir initiatiYe and Perception checks. 1bisability replaces the hunter's bond class feature.

At 6th~~ healso grants allies within 60feet that can SlOe him a competence bonus equalto lhe iron r~'sWisdom modifier 10AC andsaving throws ~rsus the effects of traps.

At l)th l~l, or if the iron reeve hasuncanny dodge from another source, he grantsall allies wilhin 60 feel that can see him theability to retain half of any AC bonuses that theywould nOlTIlillly lose when fLlt-foote<l, roundeddown, even when they have not yet acted in thecombat (foreXdmple, il Ch<lfdcterw;th d +JDexterity bonus loAC ,md ,1 +4 dodge bonus to

wAC would still hdvea +J DeXlerity bonus and a+2 dodge bonus, even when flal-rooteel), SuchchaTactersare still ronside~ to be "denied theirDexterity bonus to AC for the purposes ofabilities such as sneak attack, however.

Danger Sense (Ex): At 61h level, an irontee\'l' gains a COmpefeI1a- bonus equal to twia­his WISdom modifier to AC and saving throwsVlT.illS the effects of traps.

Uncanny Dodge (Ell): Snrring at 9th 1!!Yd,an iron reeve can react to danger before hissenses ",-auld norm.illyallow him 10 do so. Hecannot be caught fial~footed,nordoes he losehis Dexterity bonus toAC iftheatt~d'erisinvisible. He still loses his Dexterity bonus to ACif immobilized. An iron reeo.~with thisabiUtycan still lose his Denerity bonus 10 AC ifanopponent successfully uses the feint action (seeCombat) against him.

Ifan iron tee\'!! already h<ts unanny dodgefrom a difft=D.t class, hr automaticaUy gainsimproo.'ed uncannydodge (see below) instead,

Imp~ Uncanny Dodge (Ell): An iron~ of l¥hl~ 01" higher can no longer befI.mW.

l1Iis defense denies rogues lhe abiUty tosneak attack the character by flanking him,unless rhe attacker h<ts at iedst foue more roguel~ than the target has ranger levels.

Ifa chacaeter already has uncanny dodge(see abm~) from anot:herddSS. the levels fromrhe classes that grant uncanny dodge stack todetennine the minimum rogue 1e'\"l!1 requi~ toflank the character.

Oroerof the Icon Blade (Cavalier Order)

Cavaliers of the order of the iron blade aretasked with keeping the roads, wilderness, ilndcolllltl'f5ide safe and protected from the variousbandits, demi-humans, and worse threals whichendanger travelers and communities alike, SuchcilVil.liers typically operate out of a keep or fortrun by the order, but sometimes they operate

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alone. In either case, they patrol large S\\lathes ofland, rooting out any dangerous elements intheir territory and either driving them offorbringing them to justice.

Edicts: An order of the iron blade cavalieris sworn to protect a large area ofland, and hemust be ever vigilant about this protection,scouring the land for threats and ensuring thatthe weak and innocent are safe within his lands.If the cavalier can arrange for someone capableto take over his duties for a time he can INY!' thearea or pursue other matters, but otherwise hemust remain in thearea he is responsible for andensure its safety.

Challenge: Whenever an order of the ironblade cavalier issues a challenge, he receiY!'s a +I

morale bonus on attack and damage rolls madeagainst the target of his challenge. lhis bonusincreases by +I for every four levels the cavalierpossesses, and lasts forup to I minute. Thebonuses to damage stack with the additionaldamage already provided by the cavalier'schallenge class feature. Unlike other orders,when an order of the iron blade cavalier issues achallenge, the -2 penalty toAC applies toallattacks, including those made by the target ofhis challenge.

Skills: An order of the iron blade cavalieradds PeKeption (WlS) and Survival (Wis) to hislist ofclass skills. Whenever the cavalier usesPerception or Survival to find or follow tracks, hereceives a competence bonus on the check equalto 1/2 his cavalier level (minimum 1).

Order Abilities: An order ofthe iron bladecavalier receives the following abilities as heincreases in level.

No f¥:ape (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, anorder of the iron blade cavalier is better able toharry his opponents. He gains Step Up as a bonusfeat, and additionally gains a +I morale bonus toattack rolls for attacks of opportunity. This bonusincreases by an additional +I for every fiw levelsthe cavalier possesses (to a maximum of +4 at17th level).

Familiar Territory (Ex): By 8th level, anorder of the iron blade cavalier is familiar enoughwith his territory that he starts to know it like theback of his hand. He gains a +2 bonus oninitiatiY!' checks, and on Knowledge (geography),Perception, Stealth and Survival checks madewithin his territory, as well olson any Diplomacychecks to gather information in his territory,Knowledge (local) checks regarding information

------------.~ fC!P ~-----------

Sidebar: Marking Territory

The order ofthe iron blade cavalier's player should work with the GM to determine the exactboundaries of his territory. Generally speaking, the cavalier's territory should be large enough that thereare several places to adventure there, and an opportunity for the cavalier to make good use ofthe benefitshe gains while in his territory, while at the Sdme time being small enough that the scope of the campaignis likely to draw the cavalier out of his territory from time to time. A good aim would be to haY!'somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 ofall adventures take place at least partially within the cavalier'sterritory, and somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of them taking place entirely within the cavalier's territory.

Depending on the scale ofcampaign the GM has in mind, this might make the territory as small asthe area surrounding a fewvillagt'S, or as large as an entire kingdom. Ifworst comes to worst, the cavaliershould be able to change territories (for example, if it eventually becomes clear that the campaign will nolonger involve his original territory). lhis process requires at least 30 days for the cavalier to adjust to hisnew territory before he starts receiving benefits from it.

------~~-------

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in the territory, or Sense Moti~ checks used on.myonewho has lived in the territory for at leastone)'l'ar. These bonuses increase by +1 at 12thI~l, ilIJ.d every four levels thereafter (to amaximum of +5 at 20th level).

Deadly Ch.Jllenge (Ex): At 15th level,",-benever an order of the iron blade cilWlierissues a challenge, inaddidon to the normaleffect, he is also treated as having the Impn:M"dCritical feat for any weapon he is wielding. .md,additionally, increases the critical multiplier ofthat "''Npoll by ... (so a weapon that normallyhad a critical multiplier of:u WQuid hav\o one of",,).

The knights of the crucible-a dr.'efSecolll'diOll of knightly orders deYoced to theO\'~r.ill peaee and prosperity ofall re.llms-is ilIJ.~ent~ for the """rage PC to seek~O)"IIleIll. EYen casual association with theorganization CillJ. have~ benefits for~characters, providing them with side jobs toperform bet.....een grand advenruru, as ...".n ascheap room and board wben they happen to bein tawn, a we'alth ofpotenrial NPC contacts, andsoon. Pes ....ho realJydeYOle themselves to theorganization, hOlO'e\'eT, ...;11 find lheir efforts~-arded ",ilh a number of tangible benefits, asoutlined below.

Membership Scores

The knights of the crucible uses amemben.hi.p score to track e.Kh member'sao."r.ill stillJ.ding in the organization. This scoreis based on a number of factors, including howwell the person matches the ideals of theorganization, how capable they are ofperfonning their duties for the knights, and anynumber of specific deeds they have performedwhich either work for or against theorganization's interest. Membership scores areabstract: no member has a record of eachcharacter's "membership score," pennedfeverishly onto parchment and tucked <lway in <I

hall of records. Rather, like class levels and hitpoints, it is a convenience for players and GMs,

ilIJ.d is designed to give <I good indicator of howthe faction as <I whole regards the character inquestion. There are two things which caninfluence a character's membership score: thecharacter's traits and the character's deeds.

Traits: Certain traits (skill at anns, specificalignments, IIlrdsteryofcertain weapons) that acharacter does or doesn't possess ha~ an impacton haw fuvorably his faction views him. Each ofthe t:hret- sub-orders of the knights of lhecrucible has <I diff~t set of traits which lhey~ interested in, and th~ are outlined on thefollowing tables, along with the effect they ha\"on thecharacter's membership score. Acharacter either has a trait, or doesn't: he can'tgain exm. benefit from having the same traittwicto (such itS having 10 ranks in SpeUcraft, foramember of the oider of the bronz.e shield, orhaving WNpon SpKialiution with two different"''Npons, for a member of the ord~of the ironblade). Further. ifthe character _loses th~

trait ....hich is granting the bonus (or penalty), healso lose; the appropriat~adjustmelt.

Deeds: l.1nlike traits, deNs are things acharacter does, as opposed to things a charactersimply is.~ traits, theno~ certain deeds thatC<lUSf'it charact~r'5 faction to think more highlyofhim, and otherd~s ....hich cause that faction(0 think less of him. l.1nlike traits, llO\Il'e'Yel', acharacterwho performs th~ same deed muJtipletimes will find that its effects are cumulath". Forex.unple, a member ofthe oider of the goldmhehn will~ <I +l. bonus for each quest heundertakes, rather than simply gaining twopoints for the fm;t one ilIJ.d thm never gaininganother point. Note that some deeds carryrestrictions on haw often the bonus (orpellillty)CillJ. be applied. Unlike traits, bonuses andpenalties from deeds cannot bedirectly"undone." Ifa character receives a penalty to hismembership score for neeing from a banle, thepenalty doesn't just go away ifhe doesn't runawayduring his next battle. Theonlyway tocounteract <I bonus or penalty from a deed is (0either prove that the deed in question did notreally occur, or to gain a similar bonus or penaltyfrom other deeds (or training oneself to havemore traits. etc.).

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Table 2'1: Bronze Shield MembershipScores

-,-,-,

-,

.,

..-,

...,

-, to '4

"'1 10"'}

.,+1/1 bonus

Membership BonusAdjustments

Not proficient with heavy armorNon-good alignmentNot proficient with at least one martialweapon0.../,

Remain a member for 6 months' ... ,Finds and f«O\'fi$ a relic for ...\ pt'r 10,000 gplhe order's vaults in relic's priceProrides new information aboul anitem in lhe order's possession

Endangers the security of theorder's \'dull in dny way

Is instrumental in pll."\·enting .I theftfrom the order's vaults

Allows .I wdrd he was person.allyresponsible for to be killed or stolenStE'als an item from the order's vault

Use Magic Device 5or more ranksBase Will save 6 or higherHas a CMD of 20 or higherCan caSt del/XI magic. OT de/ecI evil ,or usethem as spell-like abilities......wful Good alignmentNon-lawful alignment

Traits and DeedsTraitsBase Allack BonosSpellcraft 5or more r,mks

The tables here list some of the mostcommon traits and deeds which have an effecton a character's membership status with thevarious sub-orders of the knights of the crucible.1his list is by no rneansall-encompa5Sing. andGMs are free (and, in fact, encoura~) to usethis table iIS a guideline to adjudicate other traitsand deeds which might han'ilIl impact on acharacter's standing in the organization, ilSsuchissues arise in the game.

I _'fhis is cumulath'f. Each oj. monlhs of tnl'm~",hip

grdnlilhi. bonus dsoin.

Sam

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