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The Army in Ysgard
After being enslaved herself, and learning of the activities of the Black Lotus since freeing some of the other party members, Helga decided to dedicate herself to the liberation of slaves, and in particular to taking down the Black Lotus.
The army that she and the other party members have been raising is stationed in Ysgard,on the Plains of Ida, where they are training and preparing for the upcoming battle. There is a secret two way portal leading to the plains from the Temple of Kord in Sigil.
Their first training exercise was helping Giovanni of the Brotherhood Janko in Torch to fight back against another gang, Tiamat's Chosen, who were extorting money from them. (26)
The Army was infiltrated and attacked by a gnome, a powerful Cleric, likely part of the Evil Party and a group of the Blades of Hel while the Party was destroying the Ship of Chaos (28)
Currently the men are shaken and suspicious of other spies in their midst, and no matter what measures are taken to deal with the problem, the army will take a -2 on all Violence, Espionage, or Negotiation checks for the next month. If the problem persists or grows worse, this negative could last longer.
Helga recruited Gwydion, some of the Bishop's Men, and two Clerics of Kord to check the rest of the Army for more spies, while having the soldiers renew their vows and express their reasons for joining the army to Helga. This flushed out three more infiltrators, who unfortunately left camp before they were discovered.(31)
Members include Helga's followers (from the Leadership Feat-see DMG p.106):
Base Leadership: Level 12 + Cha 2 +(Great Renown 2)=16 25 1st level, 2 2nd level, 1 3rd level + 32 levels (3 max)
The Githzerai(5) level 3 Swordsage (LA+2) 25 Sigurd lvl 3 cleric Four more level one followers
Kes'set and the Githzerai swordsmen
As well as others:
Tyvold Lestermaine, Quartermaster
Various other Fighters, Barbarians, Warblades, Crusaders, Rangers, Druids, and Clerics of level 1-6, up to 50
Using the affiliation rules, your army is a Scale 2 Fighting Company.*
Army Mechanics
There are three abstract rolls that matter for affiliations based on your Scale; Violence, Espionage, and Negotiation. They speak for themselves. If your army needs to interact with another affiliation or group in any way, it'll usually be managed through one of these rolls. As a Fighting Company, your Violence roll is half your Scale. Espionage and Negotiation are one quarter your scale.
At Scale 1 affiliation, all of these scores are at +0. But as your affiliation grows in power, these numbers will increase.
You have a Capital score of 4. This abstracts your relative resources in terms of both money and equipment. As a Fighting Company, most of this would be invested in food, equipment, weapons, etc. The number can change over time as good and bad things happen to your army. The minimum number is 0. The maximum is twice your Scale (4, at present). If your Capital is ever reduced to -1, your army can no longer afford to run itself, and disbands.
You can raise your Capital in several ways, but the most direct way is to donate gold. Donating 1000gp x Scale will increase the Capital score by 1, which can be done as much and as often as you want up to the maximum. If your army keeps its maximum Capital for long enough without losing any money (determined by me) it will increase its Scale by 1. This raises the ceiling for your Capital, and the cycle continues.
Your affiliation can also choose from a list of special abilities. These abilities represent things the affiliation is good at doing, usually through the combined talents and training of its members. You may choose 3 to decide the focus of your training. Each ability is a long term activity that can take anywhere between a week to a month or more to resolve, and you can only use one at a time.
Chosen Abilities:
Plunder: Your army attacks a group or facility with looting in mind. This involves a Violence check. If you succeed, you personally gain a share of gold, and your army has a chance of raising its Capital by 1. You also have a chance of damaging the enemy's Capital by 1.
Terrorize: Your army harasses the enemy with intent to demoralize. This can target an individual or a group, and involves a Violence check. Against an individual, success means they're terrified and make every effort to flee, or else suffer from Shaken or Frightened conditions if forced to confront you or your allies. Against a group, success means the enemy's ranks are paralyzed with fear, and they cannot use any affiliation abilities for the month.
War: You organize your troops and march on the enemy. Every month you engage in war costs both you and your enemy 1 Capital, but an opposed Violence check costs the loser additional Capital. War continues until one group's Capital hits -1 or they surrender.))
